EE comes out on top as Vodafone flops in network performance

EE comes out on top as Vodafone flops in network performance
The results are in...

Rootmetrics has published a report that it's claiming to be "the most comprehensive study of UK mobile network performance," aiming to highlight the best carrier in the country.

It's good news for EE, as the report shows it coming top in all five test categories: reliability, speed, call, data and text.

It's not such good news for those on Vodafone though. According to RootMetrics it was the worst performing network coming bottom in four of the five categories.

Vodafone's big downfall was its reliability, but when a good connection was established network speeds were similar to those on O2 and Three - so it's not quite as bad as it sounds.

Reliability issue

RootMetrics RootScore Report

Meanwhile Three and O2 ploughed similar furrows in second and third, but overall Three pipped the bubbly network to the number two spot.

In its quest to compare networks RootMetrics drove more than 23,000 miles to collect over 840,000 test samples during the second half of 2013, which equates to it getting data from roughly one in 100 handsets in the UK.

Visiting not only cities but out of town locations and rural areas too, RootMetrics looked to cover all aspects of life and environments to try and paint the clearest picture of the services available to us.

Coverage is still a very localised thing however and you may find that in your particular area Vodafone actually comes out on top so it's worth checking before heading to the phone shop.

John McCann
Global Managing Editor

John joined TechRadar over a decade ago as Staff Writer for Phones, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He's interviewed CEOs from some of the world's biggest tech firms, visited their HQs and has appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC and BBC Radio 4. Originally specializing in phones, tablets and wearables, John is now TechRadar's resident automotive expert, reviewing the latest and greatest EVs and PHEVs on the market. John also looks after the day-to-day running of the site.