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Three 4G Discussion Thread (Part 2)


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Old 15-01-2016, 23:20
d123
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I'm surprised you can still use the S4 to be honest. That thing is a dog. To be honest, even the S6 is a dog.

Touchwiz...
I'm quite happy with my s5, still works fine, I never see Touchwiz (courtesy of Nova).
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Old 15-01-2016, 23:32
beans0ntoast
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I'm surprised you can still use the S4 to be honest. That thing is a dog. To be honest, even the S6 is a dog.

Touchwiz...
The S4 is still pretty good for what I need - much better than my previous old phones (Galaxy Ace Plus and ZTE Blade 3). I don't mind Touchwiz.

I wouldn't buy the S6 because of the battery and SD card issue.

Oh, and I've heard reports online that the S6 picks up a worse signal than the S4. That's no good at all, I need every last drop of 3G I can get

Odds are, I doubt you will still be wanting to be using that s4 at the end of 2017.
Depends on how long most apps support Android 4.2...

No. What i said is that they will start refarming 2100MHz spectrum from 2017 but there will still be at least 2x5MHz on 3G until well into the 2020s so you won't need VoLTE for voice. You might need to upgrade before 2030 though
Okay, thanks for clarifying. So I'd still be able to use voice, texts and a bit of data as well? I doubt that 2x5MHz would be able to provide anywhere near as fast as currently (DC-HSPA+ giving about 20Mbps on most masts) but so long as I'd be able to get a constant 320kbps, that's all that matters. Oh, and also being able to use voice and texts.

Will the S4 even get VoLTE?

The S4 is almost 3 generations (years) back now though, the S7 comes out this spring, and we're talking another 2 years before Three does this AND 3G will still be available to fall back to for voice, it'll just have a lot less spectrum than now. Turning off 3G is a long way off, we're talking a reduction in 3G spectrum in 2 years time.
I got the S4 at the time because the S3 was too old and the S5 (being current generation then) was too expensive. Perhaps in a few years time, when support for most apps have dropped (a bit like how my old Galaxy Ace Plus with Gingerbread is), I will upgrade. But why upgrade now when things still work?

Oh, and if Samsung continue their "non SD card and no removable battery" approach, I won't get a Galaxy S*whatever* at all - it'll be something else!
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Old 15-01-2016, 23:53
DevonBloke
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Anyone heard any more about ThreeInTouch allowing 800 / VoLTE access?
I'm sorry but I just don't see the point. You have an app that kind of works but has issues, connecting to a service no one can access!
This really is starting to do my head in.
Just do WiFi calling already!!!
What is the matter with them?
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Old 16-01-2016, 00:01
DevonBloke
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That seems quite a drastic step to take considering VoLTE by them has so far been a f*ck up! Effectively ending DC-HSPA+ within the next two years sounds very cut-throat. If the Hutchinson deal for O2 gets approval then that can ease such pressure, but if not?...

Also are 3 presently selling handsets/MiFi/dongles that can support LTE Band 1?
Yeah, I think as has been said band 1 is quite common.
iPhone 5 does LTE bands 1, 3 and 5 so Apple had it over 3 years ago. I suspect most other phones have it.
Both Three and EE will be looking to get that 2100 over to 4G where it can carry 4 times the data.
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Old 16-01-2016, 00:05
DevonBloke
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My thought is that there isn't enough of it to prioritise it over 3G, I think that's the main issue. As they continue to upgrade more sites I think they'll increase the priority more and more and then they can add ThreeInTouch access I guess.
Priority has to be either higher than or lower than 3G. They can't do it bit by bit.
Unless you meant per mast but I don't think that is possible. Priority covers the whole network as far as I know.
ja will blow me out of the water now.....
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Old 16-01-2016, 00:07
moox
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I'm sorry but I just don't see the point. You have an app that kind of works but has issues, connecting to a service no one can access!
This really is starting to do my head in.
Just do WiFi calling already!!!
What is the matter with them?
It shouldn't be either/or. Three inTouch, if they can tame it, will mean a greater degree of compatibility than proper VoLTE and/or wifi calling alone.

They are hopefully working on all three systems.
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Old 16-01-2016, 00:09
d123
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What is the matter with them?
It's Three, all policy decisions are made by a purple puppet...
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Old 16-01-2016, 00:20
Gigabit
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Three: because things don't need to work. #makeitright
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Old 16-01-2016, 00:23
DevonBloke
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I just don't get it.
EE are forging ahead, rolling out ALL features of a product and making sure it works properly before we get it and all the rest of them seem to have reduced to doing half arsed stuff all the bloody time.
Why don't they all just merge together and call it "Bodge it and Scarper Mobile".
I mean Three are using an IMS system right?
I know WiFi calling doesn't come working out of the box but I assume also they have clever people who can get it working?
Vodafone clearly only have half wits who can only get it half working. Just what is with that? it simply beggars belief in the 21st century.
I'm not even doing an "EE is better than everyone else" thing here. I'm annoyed that EE have no competition. It's pathetic. It will mean higher prices for all probably. I'm prepared to pay but why don't the others stop pussying around and do some bloody thing.
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Old 16-01-2016, 01:52
Yossi
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Three Intouch is the biggest pile of bs I've ever installed on my phone.
Now, every single time a call is interrupted due to low wifi signal, the app "forgets" the network configuration and consequently I need to walk outside my building, wait for 3G signal, and reconfigure the app.

it did this to me at least 5 times today.
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Old 16-01-2016, 12:37
PrinceGaz
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I'm surprised you can still use the S4 to be honest. That thing is a dog. To be honest, even the S6 is a dog.

Touchwiz...
Nought wrong with the S4 that rooting it and sticking CyanogenMod on won't fix. That's certainly the case with the inferior S4 Mini that I use.

Now all we need is Three to enable 800MHz and VoLTE on all devices that support them, which includes my S4 Mini running CM12.1 (VoLTE Provisioning is enabled, and the phone supports LTE Band 20).

Or at least update the TinT app to allow an 800MHz connection; I rarely make voice calls, I'd be happy with a bit data in some places which their map says has indoor coverage on SuperVoice capable devices, but which I would probably have to climb on to the roof to get a signal at the moment.
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Old 16-01-2016, 13:37
InfamousTeal
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I think inTouch is great, but only as a temporary solution for anywhere you'd otherwise have no signal. And only really for texts.

If I had no service at home, I'd want a signal box, inTouch is far too unstable to use long term. But if I'm in a restaurant or something and have no service, it's handy as a backup.

That's really all it's good for though!
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Old 16-01-2016, 13:40
lightspeed2398
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Or at least update the TinT app to allow an 800MHz connection; I rarely make voice calls, I'd be happy with a bit data in some places which their map says has indoor coverage on SuperVoice capable devices, but which I would probably have to climb on to the roof to get a signal at the moment.
As someone pointed out a while back they're trying to do this. On the coverage checkers there's the TinT Test Device and if you look in the APK code there are loads of reference to it. It looks like you'll enable it and then it'll talk back to the network to confirm that it's active and then the network will give you 800 access. I presume then we'll be able to lock to LTE Only on Android.
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Old 16-01-2016, 14:20
moox
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Three Intouch is the biggest pile of bs I've ever installed on my phone.
Now, every single time a call is interrupted due to low wifi signal, the app "forgets" the network configuration and consequently I need to walk outside my building, wait for 3G signal, and reconfigure the app.

it did this to me at least 5 times today.
I haven't had this problem on my Nexus 5. It has stayed provisioned for as long as I can remember.
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Old 16-01-2016, 14:30
nigelbb
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You appear for some reason to be not seeing the asterisk (Star) at the beginning and the end.
You dial exactly this.......

*3001#12345#*

Are you confusing them with quotes? They aren't.

Star, 3001, Hash, 12345 Hash, Star
OK, got it. However I don't see 'Serving Cell Info' anywhere. I dial *3001#12345#* & get a screen that says Field Test
SIM Info
PDP Context Info
GSM Cell Environment
UMTS Cell Environment
MM Info

Even delving down through the screens the only one that has any values is SIM Info
If I do the one that looks the likeliest GSM Cell Environment>GSM Serving Cell Info>GSM Serving Cell I get
C1 Value
RSSI
ARFCN etc but no indication anywhere bout the frequency of the tower I am connected to.
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Old 16-01-2016, 14:31
Thine Wonk
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Same, no issues for me on LG G4 or my new V10, I wonder if it's the OP's router? there's an option on the menu for keepalives if it keeps disconnecting, not normally needed, but needed with some wireless routers which disconnect the SIP connection.
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Old 16-01-2016, 14:35
jchamier
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ARFCN etc but no indication anywhere bout the frequency of the tower I am connected to.
You'll only get the LTE screen when you're on a 4G signal, given that list of choices you were on 3G signal at the time you went into Field Test mode.
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Old 16-01-2016, 14:39
packages
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OK, got it. However I don't see 'Serving Cell Info' anywhere. I dial *3001#12345#* & get a screen that says Field Test
SIM Info
PDP Context Info
GSM Cell Environment
UMTS Cell Environment
MM Info

Even delving down through the screens the only one that has any values is SIM Info
If I do the one that looks the likeliest GSM Cell Environment>GSM Serving Cell Info>GSM Serving Cell I get
C1 Value
RSSI
ARFCN etc but no indication anywhere bout the frequency of the tower I am connected to.
You have to be connected to 4G to get the Serving Cell Info option. The 2G/3G menu options are different compared to the 4G ones.
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Old 16-01-2016, 19:18
red_snow
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Is the phone 'unlocked'?
Nope, stock EE!
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Old 16-01-2016, 19:20
GrannyGruntbuck
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Then it won't work with 3 uk firmware.
It needs to be unlocked.
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Old 16-01-2016, 19:24
red_snow
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OK thanks for letting me know. When I'm feeling brave I might get it unlocked and give it a go ..... if I get the time :-/
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Old 17-01-2016, 10:03
lightspeed2398
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Having just got 30mbps on band 20 I was thinking what could be a solution to the capacity/priority problem. Could they restrict it to a coverage area, maybe the equivalent 2G1800 per mast then up the priority to above 3G. This would give a good coverage but not overextend each mast capacity wise. 4G1800 would cover a lot of that as well. Then once all the masts in an area are upgraded they could boost the power even further and by then supplement capacity on 800 with 1400SDL. Or am I barking up the wrong tree?
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Old 19-01-2016, 14:22
FmBandScan
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http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/1686338080

At last Three finally upgraded the mast at work to 4G, I wish I could get these kind of speeds at home!!
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Old 19-01-2016, 16:34
Zebb
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3 updated the mast just south of Tollbar roundabout recently to 4G.
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Old 19-01-2016, 16:49
FmBandScan
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3 updated the mast just south of Tollbar roundabout recently to 4G.
That's probably the one I'm connected to!
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