The Issue

One of the neighbouring offices at my place of work has recently added an EE signal booster box to their office, which effectively acts as a 3G mast which then routes all calls though their internet connection. You can't opt in or opt out to this like on Vodafone or other networks, if someone has one on EE, your EE phone will simply use that connection when in range.

I used to get a moderate 4G signal in my office without any call quality issues, but now my phone has a full 3G signal instead. Their internet connection is terrible and my mobile internet often cuts off and calls drop off frequently.

Ofcom

I've done a bit of research regarding these boosters, and have found that 3G booster boxes are only legal for consumers if provided by a service provider such as EE, as long as they don't cause interference to other people / customers.

My complaint with EE

I called up a few times, and was told that there is nothing I can do about it, apart from turn on WiFi calling. I can't use WiFi at work. Eventually after speaking to the cancellations department, I got through to someone who seemed to be genuinely interested in helping me. He said I can't cancel without paying the rest of my contract. I quoted the Ofcom document I found, he literally read half of it while I was on the phone to him. We ended the call with him saying he would find out more information.

The next day, he calls and says he's spoken to lots of people internally but as it's a brand new issue they've never faced, they went away to look into it more. Eventually coming back with that there is nothing I can do, and nothing they can do about it. They did suggest I speak to the people that have the signal booster, but there is literally around 20 offices that it could be. I suggested about proving me with a signal box but they said they wouldn't because that would cause interference

(My phone cut out around 5 times while on the calls with EE due to this bloody signal box and WiFi calling)

Possible resolution

As my job requires me to be contactable at work, I got permission to use WiFi at work, and so I could use WiFi calling at work, the next time EE called, I told the guy this, and he agreed to end the complaint, and credited me with 1 month free.

WiFi calling simply doesn't work

I've made several calls at work, and with WiFi calling on, the line is dead on my side, but the other side's phone rings, and is also dead when picking up. I miss a lot of calls now where my phone just doesn't ring.

Why I'm posting this

I cannot use my mobile phone in the one place I use it the most which is in the office. I need to be contactable as often as possible. I feel like they are breaking the law by having providing a signal box which is causing interference to other devices. I feel that EE should have an opt out feature to allow my phone to avoid using other peoples signal boxes on bad internet connections, otherwise there is nothing stopping anyone from connecting a signal booster to a internet connection designed to drop out every few seconds.

Am I overreacting or are EE breaking the law?

why not approach the firm that's installed the new EE box?

it might be near your wall etc or beaming you way

a slight re orientation or a tin foil bag or A4 covered tinfoil sheet could be used to screen the signal your way.

we used to install Wi-Fi repeaters throughout multi floored building

an extremely simple box covered in tin foil where required solved inter floor / room roaming perfectly.

Depending on your phone, in settings you may be able to tell your handset to ignore 2g & 3g networks, meaning that it only connect to a 4g signal.

Of course, that'll be a pain in the neck if you're not getting a 4g signal, and you might have to change the settings when you get to (and leave) the office (if the 4g signal isn't too great in your area), but it would at least solve the immediate problem.

 

One of the neighbouring offices at my place of work has recently added an EE signal booster box to their office, which effectively acts as a 3G mast .......

 

 

They did suggest I speak to the people that have the signal booster, but there is literally around 20 offices that it could be.

why not approach the firm that's installed the new EE box?

it might be near your wall etc or beaming you way

 

a slight re orientation or a tin foil bag or A4 covered tinfoil sheet could be used to screen the signal your way.

 

we used to install Wi-Fi repeaters throughout multi floored building

an extremely simple box covered in tin foil where required solved inter floor / room roaming perfectly.

Which of the 20+ offices should the OP try first?

How will the OP know that the person at that office (if they say “not us guv”) actually has any idea what a femtocell is......