I was going to say this, but I cancelled the post. It's absolute rubbish. Ping times are usually < 100ms with 3 as their network is typically more built for mobile internet and has a lot less network hops than the others. However that will of course depend on load and other conditions.
Low ping is great for VOIP, gaming etc, but makes no difference to streaming as the TCP protocol adapts to longer ping times and more packets are sent ahead of ack until loss is found to find the best transfer rate regardless of a bit of ping latency, streaming as you say buffers, meaning there's absolutely no issue.
Thanks for the correction, I'm clearly no expert on the matter
Thanks for the correction, I'm clearly no expert on the matter
You are right for VOIP and gaming and with the speed of pages loading. Although as I understand it the whole point of the buffer on streaming media is to get around latency issues and lost packets etc.
I was going to say this, but I cancelled the post. It's absolute rubbish. Ping times are usually < 100ms with 3 as their network is typically more built for mobile internet and has a lot less network hops than the others. However that will of course depend on load and other conditions.
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I agree, i rarely see a ping of above 90/100
On the new iPad every time i've done a speedtest i've had a ping of around 50. even 40 in some cases which is the same as my home broadband. So not bad.
On 3 wherever you are you usually see many less hops on a traceroute to break out to the internet than on some of the other networks. They built a high performance data network as their big USP, the more you get sent around their LAN before breaking out the higher the ping times are likely to be, this is a difference between 3 and the others.
I'm surprised someone did not just repeat the 3 UK marketing hype and state that '3 is the network built for the Internet'!
They are upgrading for sure but 40% is not many cities to cover for DC-HSPA+. There is no great need for them to roll out the speed upgrade to less populated areas anyway as the speed improvement has more to do with more efficiently using the bandwidth resulting in increased capacity where it's needed most. DC-HSPA+ looks like being a slightly longer term project due to the handset support. Very limited presently which is probably why both 3 and O2 are restricting DC-HSPA+ upgrades to major urban areas where they can get most benefit from it.
I'm surprised someone did not just repeat the 3 UK marketing hype and state that '3 is the network built for the Internet'!
The thing is that's not hype, it's true. The other networks were primarily phone networks with data added, where as 3 has built and gone after mobile broadband customers and high speed data.
That's how they handle more of the UK's mobile data traffic, more than Vodafone and O2 put together, who carry 17% and 16% respectively.
It is fact that the lower ping times are due to a better built data network and that the capacity has been added. The network has been designed and built for the mobile internet, even you, a hardcore O2 fan and a Vodafone customer chooses not to buy either of their mobile broadband packages in favour of 3.
I had confidence that my last post would attract attention and personalised remarks from someone!
Fact is I don't use mobile broadband other than in emergencies and rarely in the UK! With plenty of WiFi at home and work and a motorway drive each day its not a major requirement and most of my mobile data use is simple browsing of news and other simple websites.
3's network was like all others designed to carry circuit switched voice calls and 3 were the last network in the UK to allow their customers to access the Internet! All of the mobile operators can claim some sort of technology advantage over others, we have seen this as EE launched their 4G damp squib. Vodafone are the only network that operates their own national fibre optic backbone for example.
I don't think folks here need constant marketing statements promoting one operator's services. Most can make up their own minds and the most reliable feedback about any service comes from local contacts who have experience of the it. Next best is customer reviews on the web like this independent site: http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews12640.html which gives real accounts of present levels of service from genuine customers across the UK. I would advise anyone considering a network provider to research as detailed above and not to be blinkered with techno specs which may look good on paper but as with all things, the proof is in the actual user experience.
Anyway I am sure some predictable personalised remark will follow because the very reasonable advice provided does not suit an agenda. So be it!
I don't think folks here need constant marketing statements promoting one operator's services. Most can make up their own minds and the most reliable feedback about any service comes from local contacts who have experience of the it. Next best is customer reviews on the web like this independent site: http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews12640.html which gives real accounts of present levels of service from genuine customers across the UK.
So why did you post it?
In 2 years this is the first outage anyway. Apart from this i can stream youtube/iplayer no problem at all. Even in the middle of no where. But of course thats just marketing blurb isn't it. Its not actually true.
In 2 years this is the first outage anyway. Apart from this i can stream youtube/iplayer no problem at all. Even in the middle of no where. But of course thats just marketing blurb isn't it. Its not actually true.
Very good but not everyone has that fortunate an experience otherwise there would not be so many negative reviews. I have no problems with youtuibe either when I use it but that's not to say others on the same network will enjoy the same where they are.
As for the middle of nowhere...... I live in the West of Scotland and ALL networks have areas with no coverage less than 10 miles from me! Anyway coverage is another subject that has been discussed in depth already.
Very good but not everyone has that fortunate an experience otherwise there would not be so many negative reviews. I have no problems with youtuibe either when I use it but that's not to say others on the same network will enjoy the same where they are.
As for the middle of nowhere...... I live in the West of Scotland and ALL networks have areas with no coverage less than 10 miles from me! Anyway coverage is another subject that has been discussed in depth already.
Obviously i just posted anecdotal experience. But still they have a massive customer base, so cant be that bad. All all products and services receive bad internet coverage. People dont sign up to places to praise very often, but they will to complain. So its disproportionate.
But still they have a massive customer base, so cant be that bad. All all products and services receive bad internet coverage. People dont sign up to places to praise very often, but they will to complain. So its disproportionate.
Not really!
They have the smallest customer base of any UK network (around 8 million at the last count Vs 28M EE, 23M O2 and 19M Vodafone.
Ofcom's customer satisfaction and escalated complaints are averaged figures which take account of the number of complaints per 1000 customers and 3 have managed to come bottom of those surveys for years. I'm sure 3 would like to improve their standing re these but have yet to do so. A major part of the problem seems to be the offshore customer support which they stubbornly refuse to change.
But O2 are just about to offshore a call centre and have sold half their shops to franchises rather than being run by the network. Same old links though wave, nothing new to see.
You are right for VOIP and gaming and with the speed of pages loading. Although as I understand it the whole point of the buffer on streaming media is to get around latency issues and lost packets etc.
Exactly.
Think of ping as how long it takes you to actually start sending the data over the network.
With something like Skype, that would mean that your call is always so many milliseconds behind. The higher the ping, the more out of sync the call is.
The same is true of a game. The higher your ping, the more out of sync you are with the server (and therefore the other players).
With buffering, it might take your computer an extra 1/10th of a second to start the buffering process (with a ping of 100ms), but once it's started, as long as the data comes through at a high enough rate (i.e. the speed measured in mbps), then you will not see a problem.
The other concept key to buffering is to cache more data than you actually need to play the video/audio. This ensures that if there is packet loss or the connection slows temporarily, then the video continues playing.
It will be really interesting to see what happens with churn with other networks now that the 4g pricing has been released by ee and customers realise that data on 4g networks is expensive , when compared to unlimited 3g plans such as the full monty and one plan.
I know that for myself I am now going to three along with at least 3 other people that I know from orange and t-mobile because their coverage is good (despite having 0 bars in places I can still make calls and have faster data speeds than with Tmob/ee).
Also people are wanting to save money and three seem to have got the balance very right which I expect will lead to huge numbers of people switching over the next 6 months.
In not going to lie, I've already met 3 people 2 of whom purchases s3 lte handsets on t-mo and orange and now believe they are on 4G already. Another person was going to get it but only just realised he would have to sign up to more expensive plans with ee
In not going to lie, I've already met 3 people 2 of whom purchases s3 lte handsets on t-mo and orange and now believe they are on 4G already. Another person was going to get it but only just realised he would have to sign up to more expensive plans with ee
I bet there will be quite a few who have got LTE enabled handsets from orange and T-Mobile and will be very disappointed when they upgrade to EE's 4G. In reality for most browsing the net and watching Youtube and the iPlayer on a mobile the speed will make very little difference. I suppose you can always show others the LTE indicator to try to impress them!
When i plug my postcode in to the three checker it tells me I have maintenance on the local mast(s) for not longer than 6-8 hours! I wonder if thats the DC upgrade going in...
When i plug my postcode in to the three checker it tells me I have maintenance on the local mast(s) for not longer than 6-8 hours! I wonder if thats the DC upgrade going in...
It's probably just ordinary maintenance, they did some on my cell a few weeks ago and it's not DC enabled. Mine was to improve coverage at a retail park.
Comments
Thanks for the correction, I'm clearly no expert on the matter
You are right for VOIP and gaming and with the speed of pages loading. Although as I understand it the whole point of the buffer on streaming media is to get around latency issues and lost packets etc.
I agree, i rarely see a ping of above 90/100
On the new iPad every time i've done a speedtest i've had a ping of around 50. even 40 in some cases which is the same as my home broadband. So not bad.
Are the speed test still going over 10mb ?
They are upgrading for sure but 40% is not many cities to cover for DC-HSPA+. There is no great need for them to roll out the speed upgrade to less populated areas anyway as the speed improvement has more to do with more efficiently using the bandwidth resulting in increased capacity where it's needed most. DC-HSPA+ looks like being a slightly longer term project due to the handset support. Very limited presently which is probably why both 3 and O2 are restricting DC-HSPA+ upgrades to major urban areas where they can get most benefit from it.
The thing is that's not hype, it's true. The other networks were primarily phone networks with data added, where as 3 has built and gone after mobile broadband customers and high speed data.
That's how they handle more of the UK's mobile data traffic, more than Vodafone and O2 put together, who carry 17% and 16% respectively.
It is fact that the lower ping times are due to a better built data network and that the capacity has been added. The network has been designed and built for the mobile internet, even you, a hardcore O2 fan and a Vodafone customer chooses not to buy either of their mobile broadband packages in favour of 3.
Fact is I don't use mobile broadband other than in emergencies and rarely in the UK! With plenty of WiFi at home and work and a motorway drive each day its not a major requirement and most of my mobile data use is simple browsing of news and other simple websites.
3's network was like all others designed to carry circuit switched voice calls and 3 were the last network in the UK to allow their customers to access the Internet! All of the mobile operators can claim some sort of technology advantage over others, we have seen this as EE launched their 4G damp squib. Vodafone are the only network that operates their own national fibre optic backbone for example.
I don't think folks here need constant marketing statements promoting one operator's services. Most can make up their own minds and the most reliable feedback about any service comes from local contacts who have experience of the it. Next best is customer reviews on the web like this independent site: http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews12640.html which gives real accounts of present levels of service from genuine customers across the UK. I would advise anyone considering a network provider to research as detailed above and not to be blinkered with techno specs which may look good on paper but as with all things, the proof is in the actual user experience.
Anyway I am sure some predictable personalised remark will follow because the very reasonable advice provided does not suit an agenda. So be it!
Nothing to see here, nothing new, just the same old reposts from Wave.
So why did you post it?
In 2 years this is the first outage anyway. Apart from this i can stream youtube/iplayer no problem at all. Even in the middle of no where. But of course thats just marketing blurb isn't it. Its not actually true.
Very good but not everyone has that fortunate an experience otherwise there would not be so many negative reviews. I have no problems with youtuibe either when I use it but that's not to say others on the same network will enjoy the same where they are.
As for the middle of nowhere...... I live in the West of Scotland and ALL networks have areas with no coverage less than 10 miles from me! Anyway coverage is another subject that has been discussed in depth already.
Obviously i just posted anecdotal experience. But still they have a massive customer base, so cant be that bad. All all products and services receive bad internet coverage. People dont sign up to places to praise very often, but they will to complain. So its disproportionate.
Not really!
They have the smallest customer base of any UK network (around 8 million at the last count Vs 28M EE, 23M O2 and 19M Vodafone.
Ofcom's customer satisfaction and escalated complaints are averaged figures which take account of the number of complaints per 1000 customers and 3 have managed to come bottom of those surveys for years. I'm sure 3 would like to improve their standing re these but have yet to do so. A major part of the problem seems to be the offshore customer support which they stubbornly refuse to change.
Exactly.
Think of ping as how long it takes you to actually start sending the data over the network.
With something like Skype, that would mean that your call is always so many milliseconds behind. The higher the ping, the more out of sync the call is.
The same is true of a game. The higher your ping, the more out of sync you are with the server (and therefore the other players).
With buffering, it might take your computer an extra 1/10th of a second to start the buffering process (with a ping of 100ms), but once it's started, as long as the data comes through at a high enough rate (i.e. the speed measured in mbps), then you will not see a problem.
The other concept key to buffering is to cache more data than you actually need to play the video/audio. This ensures that if there is packet loss or the connection slows temporarily, then the video continues playing.
Yes. Test 4 minutes ago HERE
I know that for myself I am now going to three along with at least 3 other people that I know from orange and t-mobile because their coverage is good (despite having 0 bars in places I can still make calls and have faster data speeds than with Tmob/ee).
Also people are wanting to save money and three seem to have got the balance very right which I expect will lead to huge numbers of people switching over the next 6 months.
I bet there will be quite a few who have got LTE enabled handsets from orange and T-Mobile and will be very disappointed when they upgrade to EE's 4G. In reality for most browsing the net and watching Youtube and the iPlayer on a mobile the speed will make very little difference. I suppose you can always show others the LTE indicator to try to impress them!
It's probably just ordinary maintenance, they did some on my cell a few weeks ago and it's not DC enabled. Mine was to improve coverage at a retail park.