You are absolutely right, I did what you said and I spotted the same cell id on 3G under long cell id. Nice one figuring that out! Disappointed it's not 800MHz.

I'd say if you're in an area already covered by 1800MHz, there's a fair chance you'll get 800 sooner rather than later (if it doesn't already cover you).

I don't use Three regularly but I've been keeping an eye out on 800 expansion in different parts of the country and it really is quite widespread now albeit in areas that also have 1800. Earlier this week I was in Nottingham and it was present there.

As I mentioned though, hardly anybody will actually use it at the moment unless they can force it as it will always switch to 1800 or 3G first. Also every site I've seen has followed the cell id pattern of 6,7,8 for 800 and 0,1,2 for 1800.

(wrong thread)

A new one to add to the list.


EE 800MHz (band 20) - Cell IDs 12, 13, 14

Good info here, but it is much easier to use an app which reports the info in hex, as you don't need to use a decimal to binary converter to read the relevant info, as it is obvious from what the app natively displays.

LTE Discovery is the app I've gone with, and it displays the required code under the 'Signals' tab, as GCI. Take the last two digits of that and it is your required Cell ID in hex format. For any number up to 9, it is the same as decimal which covers EE and Three. according to the provided info.


Any half-decent computer user will be able to interpret any of those values in hex format. In fact I'm pretty sure the Vodafone decimal "10,20,30" and "18,28,38" codes are the result of originally being coded as such in hex but ending up as decimal, as it certainly looks like it is.

Hex presentation used to be far more common in apps that showed cell IDs and I agree if looking at the full ECI it does have advantages.

The real problem though is the confusion it causes. I'd dispute that any half decent computer user is familiar with hex. Programmers might be but not end users. You also have to appreciate who the apps are aimed at. Most people seeing the number 100 will assume it means 100 in decimal and not 256. That's why most apps moved to decimal presentation. iOS used to show cell identities in hex but now shows decimal. You could append an h to the end to signify it's hex but that's clumsy and as it's used inconsistently it makes matters worse.

Some apps do give you the choice of decimal/hex. I wouldn't recommend LTE Discovery though as it just won't work on some Android phones. Even worse, if you rely on its band information you have to be happy with the wrong answer sometimes!

Just out of curiosity then what apps would you recommend for this kind of thing on Android?

I mentioned G-NetTrack in the OP and that does the job fine. But really any app that split the ECI into an eNB and a cell id will do fine. If you only want to look at the full ECI then I'd agree that looking at in in hex makes things easy (as I also mentioned in the OP). But if you're happy to split it into its component parts then it's just as easy to use an app that shows it in decimal.

I have an even better question.......
What are EE going to do with 3, 4, 5 and 9, 10, 11 ?

EDIT: Or to rephrase the question, did they pick 12, 13 and 14 for 800Mhz at random after a heavy drinking session?

Although it's not on my list EE didn't jump from 8 to 12 with 800MHz so probably no Buckie was involved (this time).

Todays quiz question. If you are on EE with a cell id of 10, what does that signify? Correct answers will qualify for a 4G upgrade to their local mast.

I'd say from a guess that perhaps it was first assigned to their 2nd 2600 carrier that they used in their cat 9 demo or something like that?

lightspeed by name and answers come at the speed of light

Correct (although it's no fun that you got it straight away) .

It's actually in use in London.

Haha.

I do wonder though what kind of speeds you'd get on those without the cap. But impressive, that would mean they've got 2x65Mhz of spectrum around London if my maths is correct?

2x55 (20@1800, 20@2600, 15@2600). I wouldn't say around London yet as the 15MHz 2600 carrier is only in a few locations.

When they become part of BT, they could make that second 2600 carrier a full 20MHz one as BT's spectrum is contiguous with theirs. Having said that, BT have started using this spectrum themselves. I'm told it's apparently for their One Phone service.

Oh, what I'd do for that 2nd carrier....
Oh wait, I don't have any 4G at all.......

Personally what I think they should do (which they will never do) is to get another 10Mhz of 1800 across to 4G then just have the 10Mhz + the 15 of 2600 for older phones (with lower power/CSFB etc.) and have the current 20 1800 + 20 2600 + 5 800 running at full power for VoLTE phones.
That would be awesome.
Not if you had an older phone and were paying for double speed of course.
But hey, get with the program and upgrade....

Yeah, not really going to work.....

LTE Discovery app updated, now shows band in use.

Yep it works!!

Does O2 have any 1800Mhz 4G live?

Yes, quite a bit and largely in their half of the country. Cell IDs are 114,124,134 etc (800MHz IDs are 110,120,130...)

On Six Sector Masts (Vodafone and O2), the IDs increase on the three additional sectors like the first three.
O2 800: 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160. Same with 1800, so 114...154, 164. O2 Six Sector Mast/ Screenshots and O2 Capacity Approaches Video
Vodafone is similar, so 800 is: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 for 800. I have not yet come across six sector VF on any other bands.