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Three 4G Discussion Thread (Part 2)


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Old 09-09-2015, 11:20
tarzion
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I have got the Moto G 3rd Gen and I have been getting some good speeds on 4G in the office.

I wonder if there is a way to check which band it is connecting to.

The service menu code above doesn't seem to work.
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Old 09-09-2015, 11:30
GavinAshford
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I have got the Moto G 3rd Gen and I have been getting some good speeds on 4G in the office.

I wonder if there is a way to check which band it is connecting to.

The service menu code above doesn't seem to work.
Try downloading G-NetTrack Lite from the Play Store, I think the CELLID value (CI in the lower table) indicates which band it is.

I'm not 100% sure but I think 1 = 1800, 6 = 800 (anyone that knows better feel free to correct this!)

Edit: ...found the thread with the CELLID values
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2058551
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Old 09-09-2015, 12:19
tarzion
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Cell ID = 2 which I think is 1800Mhz
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Old 09-09-2015, 13:21
gardensleeper
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I've done a bit more scraping of Three's site but this time with the map coverage layer's (again found by lightspeed)
I've created the following image showing the 800 layer (red) overlaid with the current LTE coverage (blue).

N.B. this is a big image - 23MB - so probably not mobile friendly!
http://gdurl.com/k7hV
That's an impressive piece of work - nicely done.

What it does show is how much coverage Three are hoping to claim from single cells. A great example of this is the High Hunsley site on the East Yorkshire wolds.

The 800mhz area takes in most of the city of Hull, large swathes of East Yorkshire, the towns of Beverley, Brough and Barton Upon Humber, and long stretches of the Humber Estuary. It's an absolutely vast area containing at least a couple of hundred thousand people.



One cell (at the moment at least).

5mhz.

Serving populations of 100,000's....

Do you see what I'm getting at??


I predict they're going to have to ration this very, very carefully. Whether that will be limiting the service to a very specific range of devices, or in speed caps, I don't know. I assume the VoLTE voice traffic will have to be prioritised to protect calls.

Also, the coverage level itself seems to be very optimistic - we're talking about a 15 mile radius, which, even with line of site, must be pushing it a bit. We all know how optimistic the 1800 mhz coverage is. That might be just about possible for data cards with external aerials, but for your average Samsung user, I think that's pushing it a bit. What's the maximum output power of a 4g cellphone? 1 watt?

It all seems very optimistic to me. So whilst people may see their 4g indicators light up, I'd be very surprised to see speeds at anything like the 4g we've been enjoying so far.

4g, but not as we (currently) know it.
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Old 09-09-2015, 13:37
Zee_Bukhari
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On windows 10 Mobile there is a setting added to update network carrier details like in iphone...
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Old 09-09-2015, 13:39
Stereo Steve
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3G speeds are more than enough for most people. So I don't think that's an issue as yet. I'm guessing what 3 are hoping for with 800 is that they can infill a lot of cities with 1800 and also soon combine with O2's 800 and other 3G / LTE frequencies (+2G 900) which would be a pretty good network overall.
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Old 09-09-2015, 14:16
DevonBloke
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As I pointed out, this is probably the reason they are doing a staged rollout.
Anyone hazard a guess why the iPhone 6 won't be till later???

Probably because there are loads of them so yes, they'll get some more 1800 out before letting them loose.
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Old 09-09-2015, 14:17
Zebb
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So much for the works;

"We carried out essential works in your area recently. We're really sorry if you couldn't use all your services. Good news - everything's working fine now".

Well Three, your my3 still doesn't work and it hasn't for some time;

There is a problem:

This service is currently unavailable.

Please try again later.
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Old 09-09-2015, 14:41
GrannyGruntbuck
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I have just noticed that my S6 Edge in Broadstairs is momentarily showing 4G on a regular basis. Does this mean I am momentarily getting 4G or is the phone just searching for a signal and trying every type of signal to get one?
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Old 09-09-2015, 14:52
Redcoat
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HOORAY! Truly a glorious day, 4G from 3 in Northern Ireland, at last
Better late than never.
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Old 09-09-2015, 15:07
Zebb
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Edit; *#*#4636#*#* seems to access Testing menu now
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Old 09-09-2015, 16:39
jaffboy151
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Coincidentally I saw my fastest ever speed test on three 4g this morning, just shy of 68mbps, no such hopes for the 800mhz side of things, looking at the maps via lightspeeds workaround you can work out the mast locations and I really had hoped there would be a bit more done at launch then there is,it's wafer thin coverage at best.. as gardensleeper said the predicted range seems a bit optimistic, data speeds aside for a sec it's going to be a challenge to maintain a call connection moving about when connected to a cell over 15 miles away, does anyone know the priority levels yet? Will 4g 800mhz be lower then 3g? My phone already drains very quick and goes into a spin at home connecting to about a dozen distant masts, some with 4g some with out, switching between them all the time, add in a distance 800mhz... 😲
Not long now until some people might find out for us I guess
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Old 09-09-2015, 17:01
Denco1
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Speed tested at 6.6down / 0.3up (up really struggled and looked like it'd almost fail)
http://gdurl.com/QM80

Edit: (wishfully) tried to make a call over the 4G 800, wouldn't work and I just got the failed call tone.
Are you still able to connect to 4G 800?
Just forced my LG G4 to it and it didn't work, so I'm wondering either if it was temporary with it officially going live tomorrow, or whether the Nexus 6 is reporting as VoLTE capable so Three are allowing access to the 800MHz band.
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Old 09-09-2015, 17:04
jabbamk1
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I've done a bit more scraping of Three's site but this time with the map coverage layer's (again found by lightspeed)
I've created the following image showing the 800 layer (red) overlaid with the current LTE coverage (blue).

N.B. this is a big image - 23MB - so probably not mobile friendly!
http://gdurl.com/k7hV
Someone give this guy a medal!
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Old 09-09-2015, 17:27
GrannyGruntbuck
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Just went out in the garden and I have 1 bar of 4G.

There was work on my transmitter on the 7th. There was supposed to be a 6 - 8 hour outage today, but I have not seen any evidence of this and there is the same planned for the 17th.

I just hope that they can make the signal stronger as I am only about 700 metres from the transmitter as the crow flies and have mostly had very poor signal from 3.
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Old 09-09-2015, 17:39
GavinAshford
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Are you still able to connect to 4G 800?
Just forced my LG G4 to it and it didn't work, so I'm wondering either if it was temporary with it officially going live tomorrow, or whether the Nexus 6 is reporting as VoLTE capable so Three are allowing access to the 800MHz band.
Yeah I can still connect - Band 20, -120dB, 54ms ping, 3.55down/0.23up.
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Old 09-09-2015, 17:42
aioderek
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Just went out in the garden and I have 1 bar of 4G.

There was work on my transmitter on the 7th. There was supposed to be a 6 - 8 hour outage today, but I have not seen any evidence of this and there is the same planned for the 17th.

I just hope that they can make the signal stronger as I am only about 700 metres from the transmitter as the crow flies and have mostly had very poor signal from 3.
Least it's going in the right direction. I've had work apparently on several days and nothing!! Still the same dodgy indoor 3G signal.. I really hope it changes in a few months. I'll even settle for a decent 3G indoor signal, I'm not greedy
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Old 09-09-2015, 17:46
Denco1
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Yeah I can still connect - Band 20, -120dB, 54ms ping, 3.55down/0.23up.
Hmm very interesting, I hope I'm actually able to access it tomorrow, maybe even finally test VoLTE.

Like jabbamk1 I'd like to thank you for your contribution regarding maps and postcodes etc, it has been very helpful.
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Old 09-09-2015, 18:09
aioderek
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Hmm very interesting, I hope I'm actually able to access it tomorrow, maybe even finally test VoLTE.

Like jabbamk1 I'd like to thank you for your contribution regarding maps and postcodes etc, it has been very helpful.
I've had more information on this chat room than anywhere on the web.. Thanks to all you guys for digging and using your expertise in IT to find the 800 maps and more.. jabbamk1, GavinAshford and Lightspeed ( Not sure if that's correct) the info and knowledge I've gained has been immense.
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Old 09-09-2015, 18:28
GavinAshford
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No problem guys - being on Three I'm as eager as anyone else to know what's likely to come and where.

@Denco1 - I'm seeing 2 cells (CI 6 and 7) here, depending which side of my house I'm on, though its hard from the Three map to distinguish which mast this could be coming from, but the Network Signal Info app suggests its coming from Camberley.
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Old 09-09-2015, 21:28
GavinAshford
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Some 'official' news from the Three LTE blog regarding Northern Ireland:

Moderator: Claire September 9, 2015
@Matthew – Hi, we are on track to get 4G to 98% of the population by the end of this year. We are also testing 4G in parts of Belfast at present so keep an eye out

http://blog.three.co.uk/2015/04/23/v...omes-to-three/
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Old 09-09-2015, 21:31
Zebb
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Yep, 2½ hours to 4G, the tension is building.
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Old 09-09-2015, 22:06
lightspeed2398
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It'll be interesting this rollout. It'll be great for coverage but at the end of the day to me it's still desperation to get coverage up on the absolute cheapest. I'd rather they'd gone 10MHz of 800 and 20MHz of 2600 and rolled 2600 exclusively out until now and then run 800 at full power. Considering how low the power is at the moment I don't think it would have made the biggest difference.
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Old 09-09-2015, 22:23
mupet0000
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Yep, 2½ hours to 4G, the tension is building.
You think it's gonna go live at 00:00?
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Old 09-09-2015, 22:28
jonmorris
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I think Three might just want to announce it first, then state the introduction dates/times and how it's going to work.
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