We know how frustrating it is when you can’t to make a call or connect to the internet on your device. But, if you’re experiencing O2 network issues, we’re here to help. Get useful advice on what may be causing problems with your O2 service – as well as practical tips on what you can do.
What should I do if I’m having O2 network issues?
The first thing to do is visit our O2 network status checker to check if your local mast is working. Sometimes, we may carry out maintenance work on it. Sign up for My Network Portal and you can get status updates about our network and permanent masts – such as planned maintenance, unexpected issues and when things will be fixed.
What can cause poor O2 signal?
We know how important our network is to you – and we always do our best to keep you connected. To keep improving our network, we occasionally have to carry out essential work, which may cause some problems.
You can keep up to date by checking the network status checker.
But are also other factors that could affect your signal.
Buildings
Your signal will always be stronger outside. When you’re inside, signal strength will vary depending on the type of building you’re in. Thick concrete walls or lots of steel beams/pillars are factors that can impact your signal, for example.
Location
The closer to a mast you are, the stronger your signal will be. Things like trees and hills will also play a part.
Temporary structures
If there’s a crane or scaffolding around, you might find your signal is worse than usual in a certain area.
Check your device
If there’s no known network issue in your area, the problem may be with your phone.
Try re-connecting to the network
Turn Airplane mode on and off.
Turn your phone off and on again.
Check your settings
Check your device supports 4G calling.
Making sure mobile data is turned on in your settings.
Choosing the O2 network manually in your network settings.
Try manually resetting your device
Reset your network settings Note that this will also reset Wi-Fi networks and passwords, cellular settings, VPN and APN settings that you’ve used before.
Instructions on how to take these steps can be found using our device-specific trouble-shooter.
Check your SIM
Try your SIM in a different O2 phone.
Try a different O2 SIM in your phone.
Check for issues with your account in My O2.
Get in touch
If you need more help with solving signal issues, visit the O2 Community where our Gurus will be able to offer more advice.
Or if you’re still having issues, get in touch with us.
Other ways to stay connected
Our network connects you to the people and things you love. If the O2 network is down for maintenance or your device is struggling to connect, however, here are some other ways to get a great experience – wherever you are.
Experiencing slow data speeds at a busy central location? See if you can connect to one of our 16,000+ free O2 wifi hotspots – and boost your speed by up to 10x
No signal? No problem. Wifi Calling means you can use wifi to call as normal if you have a signal problem – whether you’re at home, in a coffee shop or at the office.
O2 Customers can enjoy access to wifi on the Underground with Wifi Extra. Wifi Extra is available in ticket halls, walkways, on escalators and platforms at over 250 Tube stations – that’s over 95% of the London Underground network. Learn more about Wifi on the Underground.
With O2 satellite connectivity, we’re bringing you a new way to stay in touch and stay curious – so you can open up your world even more.
O2 Satellite
O2 Satellite is a satellite-to-mobile service that sits alongside our main network, providing coverage in areas the O2 network previously didn’t reach. That means you can stay connected with services like location sharing, and apps that matter like WhatsApp, Messenger and maps. So you can do more of what you love without your signal bars holding you back.
It’s available as a Bolt On for an additional £3 a month if you’ve got a Pay Monthly contract with us, and is included with Ultimate Plans at no extra cost (compatible device required). It will work with compatible devices – no extra hardware or apps needed.
O2 Satellite is available as a Bolt On for an additional £3 a month if you’ve got a Pay Monthly contract with us and a compatible phone. You can get O2 Satellite by signing in to My O2, visiting an O2 store or by giving us a call.
Or, get O2 Satellite included with any Ultimate plan (compatible device required).
Make sure you add O2 Satellite before you go into satellite coverage, and remember to check you have a compatible phone and the latest updates are installed on your device.
Once you have the O2 Satellite Bolt On, your compatible phone will automatically connect to the satellite network when our main network isn’t available and where there is satellite coverage. You’ll see your network name change to ‘O2 Satellite’ when you’re connected, and your device might also show a satellite indicator.
O2 Satellite works in areas not covered by the main O2 mobile network and performs best in open, outdoor environments with a clear view of the sky. There will be some areas that aren’t covered by O2 Satellite.
You can see a map of the areas covered by O2 Satellite on our coverage checker.
Satellite connectivity is impacted by factors like your location in the UK, the position of satellites in space, weather conditions and network congestion.
Steps to take if you’re experiencing issues with satellite connectivity:
You may need a free SIM card or eSIM upgrade to access the service. If so, we’ll be in touch after purchase to arrange this.
Try turning Flight / Airplane mode on and off again in your device settings. If you don’t know how to do this, check out our device support guides. By turning Flight / Airplane Mode on and off, it’ll refresh your connection.
Make sure your phone’s software is up to date. Check out our device-specific troubleshooter for more help with this.
Make sure your compatible apps are up to date.
If you’re still experiencing issues, get in touch.
Network issues support FAQs
Use the My Network app to keep an eye on your coverage, wherever you are. Download the app and you’ll be able to:
• Check the status of our network in your area – you don’t even need to enter your postcode
• Test your O2 network speeds
• Report any issues with your O2 service
• Sign up to receive updates on any reported O2 network issues
It is simple to use – and you can check the network right from your phone.
There are lots of O2 masts located in the UK. Each one has its own coverage footprint – and they transmit or receive signals for the devices within that footprint. Your calls and messages are converted into a digital signal and sent via electromagnetic waves to the person you’re contacting.
If you’re moving between different mast coverage areas, their footprints overlap so that you continue to have signal. This overlap is only very slight, however. Otherwise, signals may interfere with each other and impact your service. We do need to regularly test and adjust our masts, however, to keep things working smoothly.
This is called network optimisation.
There are so many reasons why your local mast might have an issue. In winter, a mast can get iced-up and stop it working properly. Meanwhile, animals and other creatures might chew through a cable and break an important connection in our network.
So, that’s just two examples of how issues can occur. But, at O2, we’re monitoring our network 24/7, 365 days a year – so that we can spot any problems as quick as we can.
If an automatic alarm goes off, we can investigate the problem and fix it remotely from our control centre. If we can’t do that, we’ll send an engineer out to see what’s wrong – and how to fix it. This can mean coming back again with replacement parts.
Learn more about how we monitor and fix network issues by watching the video above.
You can call the emergency services by dialling 999 from your O2 phone – as long as you are in range of our network. If you are not within range of our network, or if the network is not available for any reason, your device or mobile phone may try to use another mobile network to connect your call to the emergency services.
Your approximate location (using network, GPS network information and wifi data) may be shared with the emergency services via functionality built into the device – although this will depend on the device you use.
Last updated: 21/04/2026
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