[UPDATED 28 May below the break.]
FOR MORE THAN three years in County Tipperary, I used an O2 Hotshot to enjoy solid 3G service. But since early May, my service consistently downshifts to 2G after 10 minutes of use.
I need to figure out what has changed because when my connectivity rolls back to 2G, only my email works. I have become dependent upon multi-socket broadband while using a host of cloud services. Those critical services simply fail to work when the connection speed drops to 2G.
I am trying to stay on the O2 3G pipe while living six miles from O2's mast near Golden, County Tipperary. The little Mifi works fine in Dublin, Limerick and Cork when I am on the road.
I wondered if @O2Irl has any suggestions to improve my service in County Tipperary and their customer service team offered several ideas via direct message on Twitter.
-- They wanted to know what Speedtest.net said about the service speed. I've a whole photo album on Flickr from Speedtest that shows the pattern of service through the years and in different locales.
-- They wanted to know if I knew how to change my Hotshot to 3G-only connectivity. I know the menu (see below) but it doesn't toggle to anything other than "3G Preferred".
I'm off to Dublin for three days and I'm certain my little Hotshot will deliver consistently fast connectivity. It's just in the location where it's most needed that my service speed is most dismal.
More: Photos and screenshots of my long-term relationship with O2-Ireland.
