Compare 
Over the first half of 2015 RootMetrics has carried out 1.1 million tests, across roads, big cities, small towns and rural areas, as well as testing 1,484 indoor locations, so to say its tests are comprehensive would almost be an understatement.
In doing so it found that EE has maintained a strong lead, even as rival networks rapidly increase their 4G coverage.
The network came out on top in every single area, including reliability, speed, mobile internet performance, call performance, text performance and overall.
Its overall score was an impressive 89.4, closely followed by Three with 84.7, then trailed by Vodafone with 74.5 and O2 in last place with 72.7.
While EE and Three being at the head of the pack isn’t a surprise O2 coming last is, as in the past it’s Vodafone which has typically struggled the most.
The only area which O2 didn’t lose out to Vodafone on was call quality, though it almost tied with Vodafone for text performance. RootMetrics notes that O2 moving to the bottom of the heap doesn’t necessarily mean that its performance is getting any worse, just that the other networks are improving faster.
Vodafone meanwhile is showing signs of improvement and Three is remaining a close second to EE. It didn’t win any category but it came second in five of them, being pushed into third by Vodafone for network speed.
RootMetrics puts this down to the fact that other networks continue to advance their 4G rollouts faster than Three, so if that continues then Three’s network speed could slip further down the chart.
EE though seems stronger than ever, even edging ahead of Three for reliability, where the two are traditionally tied. This is down to both EE’s expanded 4G footprint and improvements in its blocked call rate.
In all then EE is the clear winner, particularly excelling when it comes to network speed, though this partially comes down to its larger footprint, with RootMetrics noting that in areas where the networks all have similar coverage results are a lot closer.
Three meanwhile is the most consistent network and while it’s not the fastest its performance rarely drops dramatically outside major cities.
O2 and Vodafone obviously have some catching up to do, but when 4G is available on the networks it’s fast and reliable, so as their 4G footprints grow we should hopefully see improved results and a closer contest between the four networks.
