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Three 4G Discussion Thread (Part 2)


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Old 14-11-2015, 00:27
DevonBloke
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Three's roll out of 800 is one major f*** up I'm afraid.
It's a shame as I used to like them.
They have rushed it out to beat EE.
EE don't give a shit as they are going to roll it out properly so it actually works.
It's frustrating waiting, but like WiFi calling, once they did get it out it actually did what it said on the tin.

Three clearly don't have SRVCC working and more importantly since they have chosen to do 800 at a lower priority than 2100 (not a bad thing in itself) , they don't have reverse SRVCC working either.

Without a proper threshold and handover between 2100 and 800 you might as well not bother. What the hell are they thinking??

It's actually pretty sad as it would be nice to have a real competitor to EE.

Mr Bennett is going to release 800 and VoLTE on EE and it's going to wipe the floor with Three's effort. We might well have to wait till April, (like we did with WC) but I bet you it bloody works when it happens.
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Old 14-11-2015, 00:33
hybridtheory
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This may or may not be of any help, I was contacted by Three today regarding a lack of signal in LA15 postcode area, and the operator told me there was a major update being rolled out out 13th December, Fingers crossed
Hi

Major Update roled out to the LA15 post code area or national?

Thanks

Baz
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Old 14-11-2015, 08:00
Icaraa
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I don't think the general public will care enough about 800Mhz though. As much as I'd like them to enable it on iPhone it wouldn't cause me to leave Three. I value my unlimited data too much.

If Three told me I could no longer have unlimited data I'd be off to EE though, especially as I'll get a staff discount soon
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Old 14-11-2015, 09:04
jonmorris
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The general public don't care about 800 because they have no idea what it is. Even since the days of Orange/One2One and Vodafone/Cellnet where you could talk about the pros and cons of 900 and 1800 for things like indoor coverage vs capacity, I doubt most people got it.

Given the coverage of the UK with 800 compared to 4G at 1800, ignoring the speed on maximum speeds, and the result that many people indoors who currently get no service, or 3G but with dire speeds or no data flow at all, I doubt any customer would say they didn't want it if they knew.
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Old 14-11-2015, 10:43
Gigabit
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My problem with Three lately is that they seem to have become really closed and secretive with all their plans.

A few years ago they were always really open and honest about everything. They were kind-of like T-Mobile USA is now.

I think they essentially know that they're gonna get O2's network at this point and so a lot of investment is pointless at this stage.
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Old 14-11-2015, 10:57
Denco1
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Three clearly don't have SRVCC working and more importantly since they have chosen to do 800 at a lower priority than 2100 (not a bad thing in itself) , they don't have reverse SRVCC working either.
They have implemented SRVCC just that it will only be used when leaving a 800MHz area, so it will only be used on a very long car/coach/train journey or on the border of a 800MHz coverage area.
Once a call is started on 800MHz it will start connected until it is out of range of 800MHz and then SRVCC will come into play, at least I think that was the case with my short period of testing. Unfortunately I smashed my G4 so haven't tested in a while.
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Old 14-11-2015, 11:15
Gigabit
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But in what situation would you be out of range of 800MHz and then have 2100MHz 3G or 1800MHz 4G?
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Old 14-11-2015, 11:34
Denco1
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But in what situation would you be out of range of 800MHz and then have 2100MHz 3G or 1800MHz 4G?
In the areas where 35-50% of the population is not covered by 800MHz. Like I say if you live in London somewhere with good 800MHz coverage you aren't going to walk into a building and fallback onto 2100MHz. But if you go on a long car journey say somewhere like Devon you will likely fall out of 800MHz coverage because not all areas have been upgraded yet, and onto 2100MHz.
SRVCC is just a stop gap solution, when the 800MHz rollout is finished it shouldn't ever need to be used.
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Old 14-11-2015, 11:39
Gigabit
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If you forced 800, I think you would find that it covers a lot of areas, even if only one mast several, several miles away is enabled.

For instance in my area, despite what the Three coverage checker says, I believe I am being served by an 800 mast perhaps 10 miles away.
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Old 14-11-2015, 11:44
Denco1
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If you forced 800, I think you would find that it covers a lot of areas, even if only one mast several, several miles away is enabled.

For instance in my area, despite what the Three coverage checker says, I believe I am being served by an 800 mast perhaps 10 miles away.
It does reach far, but looking at the maps Gavin_Ashford makes it is clear to see 800MHz is still some way off 2100MHz. That's even if it is presumed the official coverage is understated in many locations, where in fact it is probably still overstated in a lot of places.
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Old 14-11-2015, 13:29
DevonBloke
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They have implemented SRVCC just that it will only be used when leaving a 800MHz area, so it will only be used on a very long car/coach/train journey or on the border of a 800MHz coverage area.
Once a call is started on 800MHz it will start connected until it is out of range of 800MHz and then SRVCC will come into play, at least I think that was the case with my short period of testing. Unfortunately I smashed my G4 so haven't tested in a while.
Ok, well if you've tested it, I stand corrected.
What you really need though is reverse SRVCC so starting a call on 3G, where it would normally drop, you would hand over to 800. That surely is the whole point of 800 isn't it?
Have you tested that to see if it works? It appears when idle a handset will only get 800 when there's no 3G at all. I wonder if an active call works differently?
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Old 14-11-2015, 13:34
DevonBloke
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In the areas where 35-50% of the population is not covered by 800MHz. Like I say if you live in London somewhere with good 800MHz coverage you aren't going to walk into a building and fallback onto 2100MHz. But if you go on a long car journey say somewhere like Devon you will likely fall out of 800MHz coverage because not all areas have been upgraded yet, and onto 2100MHz.
SRVCC is just a stop gap solution, when the 800MHz rollout is finished it shouldn't ever need to be used.
Yeah, plenty of places here where you could start an 800 call and would need to drop back to 2100. Just driving the 3 or so miles from Totnes to my bunker as you came down our lane you would lose 800 from The TV transmitter at Marldon (Paignton) and would connect to the 3G from my mast....
Did I mention we have no 4G from this one yet? Not sure I did......
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Old 14-11-2015, 13:37
Gigabit
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It does reach far, but looking at the maps Gavin_Ashford makes it is clear to see 800MHz is still some way off 2100MHz. That's even if it is presumed the official coverage is understated in many locations, where in fact it is probably still overstated in a lot of places.
Oh yes it's definitely overstated. According to the coverage checker all the masts around here have it but I know of only one that does and it's miles and miles and miles away.
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Old 14-11-2015, 13:48
Denco1
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Ok, well if you've tested it, I stand corrected.
What you really need though is reverse SRVCC so starting a call on 3G, where it would normally drop, you would hand over to 800. That surely is the whole point of 800 isn't it?
Have you tested that to see if it works? It appears when idle a handset will only get 800 when there's no 3G at all. I wonder if an active call works differently?
Yes I tested that too and no rSRVCC exists as of yet. I guess if the priority of 800MHz is increased as Three keep promising it is then it will be much less of a problem, but as of now a cell reselection priority of 0, no rSRVCC and continued lying about priorities, data only devices and confusion around whether an updated ThreeinTouch app will arrive are the reasons I dislike Three.
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Old 14-11-2015, 14:04
GrannyGruntbuck
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I have read many posts stating that the new volte signal travels for miles.

Can someone explain then why I only get 1 bar of signal level and only for seconds at a time when I am under 1/2 a mile from the transmitter?

I very often have no signal when indoors.

The volte situation is exactly the same outdoors even though I am allegedly well within an area with 'Excellent superpumped service'.
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Old 14-11-2015, 14:59
Gigabit
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Are you sure that it is actually coming from the mast you think it is?
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Old 14-11-2015, 15:35
GrannyGruntbuck
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Are you sure that it is actually coming from the mast you think it is?
I can't be absolutely sure, but it is my nearest mast and I always get very low level of signal even with 3G & normal 4G.

When 3 first updated the coverage map for my area because of 'superpumped', the strong area was around my closest transmitter including my location. Then after a few weeks, they changed it to show a wider area of 'superpumped' service.
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Old 14-11-2015, 15:43
Skippy2005
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Hi after last night's rant I have decided to switch to three, got home and selected 800 only on the LG G4 the signal goes straight to full then drops right down to 1bar so the signal checker isn't quite accurate, as three state excellent indoor! Could this be due to a fault or rollout still in place? 2100/1800 doesn't work indoors in my city centre apartment never has! My post code is wf1 1de if anyone know any inside info that would be great thanks.
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Old 14-11-2015, 17:48
DevonBloke
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Hi after last night's rant I have decided to switch to three, got home and selected 800 only on the LG G4 the signal goes straight to full then drops right down to 1bar so the signal checker isn't quite accurate, as three state excellent indoor! Could this be due to a fault or rollout still in place? 2100/1800 doesn't work indoors in my city centre apartment never has! My post code is wf1 1de if anyone know any inside info that would be great thanks.
I think it's a lot more likely that it just isn't working as it should. See Granny's previous posts. Doing the same as yours. Signal there, then not there.
They need to sort this out.
God I hope EE prioritise 800 above 2100. If they do we will have network awesomeness!!
They'd only need to put it on the 5 main masts surrounding me and in this area I would never see 2G or 3G ever again!
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Old 15-11-2015, 19:09
jonmorris
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Wow.

https://goo.gl/photos/PtjJngRyWDixyDfi6

In a field near Tewin and Hertford, Herts.

Must be my fastest ever speed test result, bar some results I got pre-launch.
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Old 15-11-2015, 19:29
Pedro_C
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A 3 1800MHz monopole went live in Guildford recently, only about 6 months after the planning application got approved and in an area with supposedly great 800MHz, so they still care about 1800.
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Old 15-11-2015, 19:45
Booster1573
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Wow.

https://goo.gl/photos/PtjJngRyWDixyDfi6

In a field near Tewin and Hertford, Herts.

Must be my fastest ever speed test result, bar some results I got pre-launch.
I achieve higher results in a business park. Usually between 90 and 98mbps. Unless you mean specifically in London.

http://m.imgur.com/YoxnqR1
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Old 15-11-2015, 19:55
Booster1573
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I've finally got the S5 update to fix the SMS failure problems. It did though get rid of the VoLTE settings in the call setting and it no longer has the arrows at the top when on LTE. Despite that, it still connects to 800MHz and still makes VoLTE calls.

P.S It's unfortunate that it works now as I can't get another free month on that SIM.

P.P.S Now all the compatible phones work successfully on VoLTE, they would be enabling it for iPhones surely.
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Old 15-11-2015, 22:08
Booster1573
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Wow.

https://goo.gl/photos/PtjJngRyWDixyDfi6

In a field near Tewin and Hertford, Herts.

Must be my fastest ever speed test result, bar some results I got pre-launch.
I must have either misread your post or you have since changed the wording because my reply no longer applies or makes any sense. I also feel like I tend not get any conversation going or any feedback from my thoughts. Maybe you see me as an outsider without any relevant or new information. So I've just answered my own question.
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Old 15-11-2015, 22:22
Pedro_C
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I must have either misread your post or you have since changed the wording because my reply no longer applies or makes any sense. I also feel like I tend not get any conversation going or any feedback from my thoughts. Maybe you see me as an outsider without any relevant or new information. So I've just answered my own question.
How much speed can 15Mhz of 1800 Provide-I'd guess somewhere in the region of 120-150mbps?
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