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Three 4G Discussion Thread (Part 2)


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Old 10-09-2016, 12:33
_m
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2. Apart from locking myself in the cellar, is there an easy way to tell if I have it?
3. Are there any really useful simple programs that will tell me what signal I'm on? IE 1800 LTE - 800 LTE - 3G ect?
Cycling airplane mode might put you on it momentarily which you can check with apps like G-Net or cellmapper where it'll say the sector ID which corresponds to the LTE frequency.
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Old 10-09-2016, 13:48
Brian The Dog
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Cycling airplane mode might put you on it momentarily which you can check with apps like G-Net or cellmapper where it'll say the sector ID which corresponds to the LTE frequency.
Thanks, I'll try that.
I used to have cellmapper on my old phone and was responsible for mapping the whole of my town when Three finally gave us a 1800mhz 4G signal. I even went out walking roads I haven't been down in ages just to map the whole area. (sad)
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Old 10-09-2016, 13:50
Brian The Dog
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If you root it you can force 800MHz.
My old phone was always rooted but this is the first one I have got my Barclays app working on so sadly will have to remain unrooted at the moment.
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Old 10-09-2016, 21:14
finbaar
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Thanks, I'll try that.
I used to have cellmapper on my old phone and was responsible for mapping the whole of my town when Three finally gave us a 1800mhz 4G signal. I even went out walking roads I haven't been down in ages just to map the whole area. (sad)
Three only allow B20 access if you can't get B3 or 3G. Your S5 will lock onto B20 though as I showed a colleague at work on Friday (trying to explain LTE bands was a treat though - she did ask!)

However the best way to see what your phone is actually connected to is the LTE Discovery app - it sticks the band number (or letter) in the notification bar.
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Old 11-09-2016, 11:47
Brian The Dog
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Three only allow B20 access if you can't get B3 or 3G. Your S5 will lock onto B20 though as I showed a colleague at work on Friday (trying to explain LTE bands was a treat though - she did ask!)

However the best way to see what your phone is actually connected to is the LTE Discovery app - it sticks the band number (or letter) in the notification bar.
Thanks for that. I installed LTE Discovery and in certain parts of my house it pops up a 20. So it would seem that I have the required update and it does think that it's a THREE phone. My evil plan has worked!
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Old 12-09-2016, 13:51
Gigabit
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Three going towards the USA contract option?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deRWB3u1mU8
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Old 12-09-2016, 16:14
jonmorris
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Whatever happened to their refresh like scheme? Was meant to happen in 2014, but like the 4G roll out seemed to fizzle out somewhere along the way...
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Old 12-09-2016, 19:22
Brian The Dog
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Three going towards the USA contract option?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deRWB3u1mU8
So instead of getting a subsidised phone for taking out a long contract you now have to take out the same contract but also pay for the phone with finance from a bank (Subject to status)
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Old 12-09-2016, 20:04
Thine Wonk
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O2 did it with refresh and it's hurt them as people aren't upgrading, that's probably why others haven't followed suit.
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Old 14-09-2016, 01:03
frejus19
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Does anyone know when Three are bringing VoLTE and "4G calling" (through Three inTouch - not sure if it's the same thing) to their 1800MHz 4G?
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Old 14-09-2016, 01:56
jonmorris
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Does anyone know when Three are bringing VoLTE and "4G calling" (through Three inTouch - not sure if it's the same thing) to their 1800MHz 4G?
I think it is undergoing testing. I am certain I found this near Windsor a month or so ago, and have read other reports.

I'd hope it's a fairly easy thing to roll out given how quick EE managed it. But handset support is still an issue (like EE). Not everyone had an iPhone.
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Old 14-09-2016, 10:17
Brian The Dog
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It seems from the outset that Three only want people on 800mhz as a very last resort whilst abusing it as some big advertising tool.

They just don't have enough of it for people to use it as a general frequency.
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Old 14-09-2016, 10:30
Gigabit
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It seems from the outset that Three only want people on 800mhz as a very last resort whilst abusing it as some big advertising tool.

They just don't have enough of it for people to use it as a general frequency.
See you say that but the Three phone in my house prefers one bar 4G 800 over full bar 3G Sure Signal, so I'm not sure this priority thing is correct now.
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Old 14-09-2016, 10:34
InfamousTeal
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See you say that but the Three phone in my house prefers one bar 4G 800 over full bar 3G Sure Signal, so I'm not sure this priority thing is correct now.
I agree. Usually it'll stay on 3G but there are a fair few times where there's a good 3G signal and I'm firmly on 4G800 without choice (which is quite nice).
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Old 14-09-2016, 10:41
Carl_Boys
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This threeintouch 4G calling on 1800 is this coming to iOS app anytime soon?
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Old 14-09-2016, 11:20
Gigabit
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This threeintouch 4G calling on 1800 is this coming to iOS app anytime soon?
TiT won't ever support VoLTE on iPhone.
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Old 14-09-2016, 11:34
d123
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This threeintouch 4G calling on 1800 is this coming to iOS app anytime soon?
As gigabit says, won't happen. TiT 4G calling is designed for non-Volte phones. You should already have native volte on any recent iPhone.
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Old 15-09-2016, 07:42
Carl_Boys
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Yeah I got the iPhone 6s Plus. When they enable VOLTE on 1800 band will it just work like normal?
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Old 16-09-2016, 21:06
Brian The Dog
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Not strictly within this threads topic but to save starting another thread, could anyone answer the following problem I'm having on Three?

I'm have a Three PAYG sim with a small amount of credit on it. I also have the £25 All yo can eat data, 3000 texts and 500 calling minutes. When a couple of days ago I was making an important phone call, it used up my small amount of credit and then cut me off saying that I needed to Top Up as my credit had run out. I tried re-dialing but it still said I had no credit. So how do I use the 500 minutes that comes with the £25 addon? Shouldn't it just start using that? I never call anyone and so should have the full 500 minutes left. And this is the second time it's done this to me. The only way to get calls working again is to top up say £10 to the normal account and then that gives me £10 worth of calls again it that runs out. Should I contact them and ask WTF is going on?
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Old 16-09-2016, 22:39
Michael09
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Not strictly within this threads topic but to save starting another thread, could anyone answer the following problem I'm having on Three?

I'm have a Three PAYG sim with a small amount of credit on it. I also have the £25 All yo can eat data, 3000 texts and 500 calling minutes. When a couple of days ago I was making an important phone call, it used up my small amount of credit and then cut me off saying that I needed to Top Up as my credit had run out. I tried re-dialing but it still said I had no credit. So how do I use the 500 minutes that comes with the £25 addon? Shouldn't it just start using that? I never call anyone and so should have the full 500 minutes left. And this is the second time it's done this to me. The only way to get calls working again is to top up say £10 to the normal account and then that gives me £10 worth of calls again it that runs out. Should I contact them and ask WTF is going on?
I would definitely get onto their live chat and see what's going on as that doesn't sound right.
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Old 17-09-2016, 09:52
InfamousTeal
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Not strictly within this threads topic but to save starting another thread, could anyone answer the following problem I'm having on Three?

I'm have a Three PAYG sim with a small amount of credit on it. I also have the £25 All yo can eat data, 3000 texts and 500 calling minutes. When a couple of days ago I was making an important phone call, it used up my small amount of credit and then cut me off saying that I needed to Top Up as my credit had run out. I tried re-dialing but it still said I had no credit. So how do I use the 500 minutes that comes with the £25 addon? Shouldn't it just start using that? I never call anyone and so should have the full 500 minutes left. And this is the second time it's done this to me. The only way to get calls working again is to top up say £10 to the normal account and then that gives me £10 worth of calls again it that runs out. Should I contact them and ask WTF is going on?
Yeah I'd speak to them. Is it definitely a UK mobile or landline you're calling? Intl or premium rate lines will come out of credit.
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Old 17-09-2016, 13:09
Heanor_Man31
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So instead of getting a subsidised phone for taking out a long contract you now have to take out the same contract but also pay for the phone with finance from a bank (Subject to status)
I guess it wouldn't be too dissimilar to using BPF from the Apple Stote (as an example) and then getting a SIMO tariff from Three.
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Old 17-09-2016, 14:17
binary
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...
I'd hope it's a fairly easy thing to roll out given how quick EE managed it. But handset support is still an issue (like EE). Not everyone had an iPhone.
When I heard about VoLTE and 4G 800MHz coming to Three a while back I was quite pleased, as I thought it'd solve a variety of no or weak reception issues I'd had when I was with Three, particularly in building signal penetration.

Then I realised the whole issue of device support wasn't going to be sorted out any time even vaguely soon - this applies just as much to the other networks as Three of course.

As a long time SIM-only customer who doesn't have an iPhone or a high-end Android handset (currently have a Moto G), who doesn't want to be limited to sourcing my phone from my current network (which of course may change), I am resigned to the idea that I won't be taking advantage of VoLTE for quite some time yet.

I wonder that eventually if this issue is not sorted out, it may come to be seen as anti-competitive and anti-consumer? Though before that, from what I gather there's still significant technical work to be done before VoLTE-capable phones could be swapped between networks and then 'just work' for VoLTE.
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Old 17-09-2016, 14:24
jonmorris
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I did post elsewhere that Three is working on improving VoLTE access, but I wasn't given a date. Three is quite keen to talk to me again and had suggested I get an interview with someone to talk about feel at home, VoLTE and other things.

We'll see what happens! I know that there's discussions with Huawei to get the Honor phones supported.
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Old 17-09-2016, 14:34
Gigabit
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I'd like to know why Three's coverage checker is such a lie and seems to think a mast covering a 20 mile radius is considered "good" coverage.
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