Which mobile operator is best in Escrick?
This question arises frequently, and many people offer conflicting opinions. This page tries to explain why different people have different experiences, and provide recent measurements of signal strength.
Vodafone, O2 and EE all have 2G, 3G and 4G coverage. There is no 5G coverage in Escrick. Three has limited coverage on 3G only
Vodafone and O2 have better coverage on 2G and 3G, but EE has better coverage on 4G.
However, not all phones, nor tariffs, allow voice calls to be sent via the 4G network (see below)
Vodafone, O2 and EE all have masts on Stillingfleet Hill, but only Vodafone and O2 share a mast much closer at the sewage works near the A19.
Signal strength was measured in various locations around the village, and is reported below.
This shows that EE has the strongest 4G coverage, including some coverage in the higher bandwidth 'band 3' frequency range. However, EE has only partial 3G coverage, and poor 2G coverage.
Generally in Escrick the 4G coverage is better than 2G and 3G, therefore your experience will depend on your phone and tariff's ability to use the 4G network - particularly if you use a service based on EE's network.
Some old phones do not support 4G at all. If that applies to you, you can ignore this section.
Even if your phone is 4G capable, it might not be possible to make voice calls via the 4G network. This requires a compatible handset, and a tariff that supports '4G calling' (sometimes called VoLTE). Otherwise your phone will revert to the 2G or 3G network to make voice calls, and will only use 4G for data. This can mean that your phone appears to have coverage (on 4G), but is unable to make/receive voice calls because the 2G/3G coverage is insufficient.
Some handsets and tariffs allow voice calls to be made via your home WiFi network. This can be useful if you have good WiFi but poor mobile reception. (If your WiFi is not robust, however, it can make things worse).
As with 4G calling, this is not available on all tariffs, and requires a compatible handset. In most cases, it also requires enabling in your phone's settings.
Other networks are essentially resellers, using capacity of one of the above four networks. Remember, however, they tend not to support 4G calling and WiFi calling, so may have worse performance in practice.
See this listof virtual network operators, the physical network they use, and support for WiFi calling.
O2's mast at the sewage farm was only added around ~ 2015 - prior to then, coverage was noticeably worse than Vodafone.
EE only migrated their 4G coverage to the 'better' 800MHz frequency in summer 2018 - prior to that coverage was poor. The move to 800MHz has significantly improved 4G coverage for those with suitable phones.
4G capabilities make a key difference to coverage in Escrick, so it is worth noting the section above regarding 4G calling. If different people are getting significantly different experience on the same network, this may well be the cause. (Of course, coverage does vary across the village too, and not all handsets are equal either).
(This page is based on publicly available information as at June 2021 - inevitably things will change over time - so always check before you buy)
Related pages: Broadband in Escrick