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Three 4G Discussion Thread (Part 2)


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Old 30-07-2016, 00:02
Denco1
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Which phone are you using PorkchopExpress?
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Old 30-07-2016, 00:05
PorkchopExpress
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Which phone are you using PorkchopExpress?
iPhone 6.
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Old 30-07-2016, 00:08
Denco1
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That rules out any problems with SuperVoice compatibility then.
If the networks are good outside of the house, have you considered a home signal booster (femto cell)?
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Old 30-07-2016, 00:15
PorkchopExpress
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That rules out any problems with SuperVoice compatibility then.
If the networks are good outside of the house, have you considered a home signal booster (femto cell)?
It would defeat much of the purpose for me. I want good 4G or even decent 3G at home as a backup for our ropey home broadband which is delivered by a local mast system. But I really want it outside the house too so that I can listen the radio etc while I'm walking the dog, which I do for about 5 miles per day.

Tonight I managed intermittently to do the latter at least.
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Old 30-07-2016, 00:34
Everything Goes
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Just can't believe that in many senses Three is worse than O2 so far. O2 was frustrating in that it was only every GPRS but at least it was consistent and you could make phone calls.

In various parts of my house I'm getting a variety of nothing, 4G and 3G. I go from living room where I have No Service to the kitchen where it goes between 3G and 4G but both of those are very slow.

By going for 4G Supervoice, I'm actually worse off than I was with GPRS on O2 because at least then I could make phone calls.

I though Supervoice was supposed to eliminate black spots but as things stand it's significantly increased the number of black spots for me, despite me asking them to double check the coverage in my area before I signed up.

Mobile network coverage in this country is pathetic.
I live in a poor signal area on Three. I've seen it move to 4G 800MHz of an occasion but it was rare. It will got to 2100MHz 3G or No Service rather than 4G 800MHz. This is down to Three's implementation which is a joke. You pretty much wont see 4G 800MHz.
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Old 30-07-2016, 07:34
PorkchopExpress
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The only 4G I could dream of getting here is the 800MHz and I'm getting that very intermittently with poor speeds.
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Old 30-07-2016, 10:05
jonmorris
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It needs to be fixed as the phone wants to go back to a dodgy 3G connection (with no data flow) over staying on 800. It stutters data flow massively and must affect calls too, in and out.

Frankly, you'd need to disable 3G on your phone if you want 800 to work in most places. That's not really the idea but the reality.

There are obviously some places with no 3G where it might work well, but I've not found them yet. Indoors, it swaps around that causes issues and no doubt impacts on battery life too.

800 should probably be set above 3G and VoLTE on both 800 and 1800.
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Old 30-07-2016, 10:20
Gigabit
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I'm still connecting to a mast 20 miles away. It's been months and Three seem to have enabled literally zero more masts around here.
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Old 30-07-2016, 10:41
PorkchopExpress
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I think as people say the issue is it trying continually to work on weak 3G rather than connecting to the 800 MHz 4G.

Is there no way of disabling 3G on the iPhone?
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Old 30-07-2016, 11:03
Thine Wonk
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I think as people say the issue is it trying continually to work on weak 3G rather than connecting to the 800 MHz 4G.

Is there no way of disabling 3G on the iPhone?
No, but 3G data isn't that different to 4g on Three as all 3G is DC-HSPA which is a newer generation which some other networks never deployed. 4G is rolling out more and more each month.
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Old 30-07-2016, 11:21
Gigabit
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Haven't all networks implemented DC-HSPA though?
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Old 30-07-2016, 11:28
Denco1
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Haven't all networks implemented DC-HSPA though?
They had done, although as Vodafone are migrating to 2*10MHz of L21 in certain areas, those areas are reverting back to single carrier hspa+.

But the argument about Three 3G being not too dissimilar to Three 4G is an incredibly poor one, especially when you compare the propagation between U21 and L08, cell edge performance, or latency.
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Old 30-07-2016, 11:32
d123
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4G is rolling out more and more each month.
Can you give more details on the recent 4G rollout?
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Old 30-07-2016, 11:35
jonmorris
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When you have a good 3G signal, DC-HSPA is fantastic. No denying that. Speeds can approach 30Mbps at times and rarely drop below 10.

But with cell breathing and other issues, you can also have 1 or 2 bars and it all crawls or doesn't work at all.

4G on low signal usually works, albeit slower, and is why I'd sooner have 3G refarmed for 4G as soon as possible.
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Old 30-07-2016, 11:55
Gigabit
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Does Thine Wonk work for Three? They just seem to have a lot of info.
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Old 30-07-2016, 12:18
jchamier
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Haven't all networks implemented DC-HSPA though?
Yes they all had DC-HSPA deployed long before the 4G launches.
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Old 30-07-2016, 12:19
jchamier
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4G on low signal usually works, albeit slower, and is why I'd sooner have 3G refarmed for 4G as soon as possible.
Three need to do a Voda and start moving 2100mhz over to LTE - as I'd expect Three customers to have modern handsets that support LTE.

(Strange idea for Voda as they have a lot of corporate users whom have legacy 3g only handsets!).
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Old 30-07-2016, 13:00
d123
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Does Thine Wonk work for Three? They just seem to have a lot of info.
I think he would like to work for Three, unfortunately it seems all info is currently just made up on a post by post basis...
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Old 30-07-2016, 13:41
-ajm-
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I've noticed a rollout speed up since the decision to block the merge.

Two years after taking out my contract they've finally switched on 4G near my house. I've finished my minimum term as of a few days ago.

Recently stayed in West Cornwall for a week and noticed a wealth of 800 coverage, but found (as others have said) once you loose 3G, 800 is already weak, however did fill in some holes and found it my phone showing 4G (along with 3iT icon) quite often.

Not knowing the full technical capabilities, is it possible to set the handover earlier? Say 3G signal falls under 3 bars and then hands over to 800 or does it have to be almost completely gone? I found a weak 4G signal was much more robust than an weak 3G signal which had practically no data flow.
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Old 30-07-2016, 13:41
Thine Wonk
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No I don't work for Three but I do know that Three deployed a very high percentage of DC-HSPA (something like 90%) and the other networks like O2 and Vodafone have nowhere near that percentage, it was hardly deployed at all on some networks from what I can tell. I have been testing with networksignalinfo, hardly ever shows 42Mbps capable on most other networks, especially O2, Voda.

Stop the personal deliberate attacks where you know full well I don't work for Three. Just because I don't consider 3G 'broken' and unusable when we were all happily using just 3G a few years ago. 3G still works perfectly fine in most cases for streaming, downloads, browsing etc. Three does have a much better 3G network than most others, I don't think anyone here would dispute that.

Not as good for you guy's favourite application though hey
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Old 30-07-2016, 14:45
Gigabit
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I wasn't attacking you Thine Wonk, I was just curious. I don't think I've ever mentioned this before.
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Old 30-07-2016, 14:57
Thine Wonk
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Fair enough Gigabit, I just know how these things go as people have suggested that before and you all join in and start making it personal, rather than just discuss the fact that 3G is still perfectly adequate in most cases and that Three does have probably the best 3G network if not a close tie between EE and Three.

I have said many times that I'd take unlimited handset data and 30GB tethering over capped faster data and that speed isn't the only factor if data works reliably for what you want to use it on, I think that's what the majority of people care about, not so much the symbol that is displayed on the screen or artificial speed tests.
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Old 30-07-2016, 15:08
Gigabit
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I was actually trying to be complimentary. I was quite impressed with your knowledge
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Old 30-07-2016, 15:40
Thine Wonk
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In that case my apologies, my comments weren't necessarily based in reply to you either. it was the follow on comment that I too particular exception to, I think that poster has been banned several times before (4 I think ?) for getting nasty rather than discussing the topic.
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Old 30-07-2016, 16:20
Jack_Wilson2
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Kingston Upon Hull is one the best city's for 4G coverage (Three UK - 1800Mhz) as it stands since MBNL fitted new fibre cables, everywhere i go gets at least 50-100meg.

just look at these cracking Speedtests from this month -

http://i.imgur.com/CbV5GSM.png
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