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Three 4G Discussion Thread (Part 2) |
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#2426 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 2,876
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Thanks for the explanation and the maps now make sense.
I wonder if an advancement would be to do a postcode comparison between each map change. I recall there being a spreadsheet with lots of postcodes in but I don't recall if that had to have data entered manually or whether it was automated. |
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#2427 |
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Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 469
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Quote:
I wonder how many engineer teams Three have working to achieve this? It looks like ~35 sites changed on 1800 and ~23 on 800. That's much better than I expected for 2 weeks. |
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#2428 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 229
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Quote:
Thanks for the explanation and the maps now make sense.
I wonder if an advancement would be to do a postcode comparison between each map change. I recall there being a spreadsheet with lots of postcodes in but I don't recall if that had to have data entered manually or whether it was automated. These maps can be done within a few minutes but the postcode spreadsheet is automated but takes like 16-18hours to cycle through though - like Three has a rate limit on number of requests (they probably do). I'll probably do a spreadsheet refresh at the end of the year when they're supposed to have their 98% population coverage of 4G. |
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#2429 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 622
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Is the OpenSignal site accurate?
I was checking the masts around my area today and I noticed a new mast appearing very close to my house but I can't physically see it. The old mast I was connecting to all the time has disappeared. |
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#2430 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Totnes, Devon
Posts: 6,693
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Quote:
Is the OpenSignal site accurate?
I was checking the masts around my area today and I noticed a new mast appearing very close to my house but I can't physically see it. The old mast I was connecting to all the time has disappeared. It uses a combination of triangulation, guesswork and witchcraft to mark where a site might be. Can be fairly accurate or completely inaccurate. When I tried it it put a known mast I was looking at about 1km the other side of the road. It was at this point I uninstalled the app! ![]() EDIT: For Three, to find any masts installed up to 2012 it's better to use sitefinder. Not accurate after 2012 though. http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/search Also has no 4G info either. |
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#2431 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 91
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Quote:
Is the OpenSignal site accurate?
I was checking the masts around my area today and I noticed a new mast appearing very close to my house but I can't physically see it. The old mast I was connecting to all the time has disappeared. |
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#2432 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 622
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Quote:
For new masts, it may be possible to check your local planning applications.
All I can see on my local councils website is building planning applications. EDIT: Finally found it. |
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#2433 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Woore, Cheshire/Shropshire
Posts: 1,675
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Searching the half dozen local authorities around my area I've found what masts I can find upgrade details on a bit hit n miss. Very few of the large site upgrades from any of the network found, mainly all Street/road side masts. Wrekin council in Shropshire & East Cheshire seems the worst, East Cheshire is impossible to search anything on and Wrekin seems to have detailed info on some masts and none on others like the pole swap & three 4g cabinet install on Whitchurch drive, or the Vodafone/O2 mast upgrade taking place on halesfield industrial estate next week.. Very annoying,
Quick note on site mast searchers, there all pretty crap, particularly open signal & LTE Discovery which seem to just invent locations based on no obvious logic, network signal info app gives me a bit more joy to roughly find things, |
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#2434 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 2,876
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Super-Voice is showing all around Hampshire now but even if I force it on my G4 it is never picked up so I can only assume it isn't actually live yet?
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#2435 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Warsop, Mansfield, Notts
Posts: 90
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Quote:
Super-Voice is showing all around Hampshire now but even if I force it on my G4 it is never picked up so I can only assume it isn't actually live yet?
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#2436 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 2,876
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Trust me it does travel for miles! Miles and miles and miles...
I can pick it up - it's a very weak signal - but it is not on any mast that is near to me despite what the coverage checker suggests. But believe me, when all masts are enabled, it will be pretty incredible, coverage-wise. |
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#2437 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Woore, Cheshire/Shropshire
Posts: 1,675
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800mhz does travel incredibly far and reach indoors far far better then 2100mhz, my 2 nearest masts both have three 2100mhz 3g and Vodafone 900mhz 2g, not quite 800mhz but if I sit in my living room I have -79db Vodafone yet no three signal to speak of at all. In the same place I also get low power 800mhz 4g from a Vodafone mast nearly 10 miles away. Trouble with travelling so far on such narrow available bandwidth unless they protect it as they are doing it will get swamped and not work, just like Vodafone's 3g 900mhz does.
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#2438 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 2,876
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The bandwidth is certainly an issue. As long as Three can maintain a 5Mb speed for most people I think 800MHz will work well enough.
Even at -115dBm I've been able to get 25Mb on 800MHz wwithThree for example. |
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#2439 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Surrey, UK
Posts: 660
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Called up 3 second line again who said that there should be more capacity installed on my local site come the 23rd of this Month. If it brings me above 0.00mbps, I'll be happy
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#2440 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 925
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Is there any reason why Three won't allow everyone with a compatible phone to access the 800 band 4G data now? Or is it linked into the super voice capability? To be honest I couldn't give two hoots about clearer phone calls currently.
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#2441 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Hedge End, Southampton, Hants.
Posts: 2,814
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Wish 1800 would be increased in Hampshire. Still nothing here.
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#2442 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 1,303
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Quote:
Called up 3 second line again
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#2443 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 249
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Quote:
Thanks again for doing this. It's an excellent way to see the progress.
I wonder how many engineer teams Three have working to achieve this? It looks like ~35 sites changed on 1800 and ~23 on 800. That's much better than I expected for 2 weeks. |
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#2444 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 14,543
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Quote:
So at that rate, only 10 years or so to complete the rest! That's simply nowhere near the rollout speed of the other networks.
Of course the other factor is cost and what you get for your money. Not all networks have the same strategy, you can pay a lot more if you want crazy speeds, or you can get a lower cost package from Three with 98% population DC-HSPA and also an ever growing 4G LTE layer with VoLTE as well. |
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#2445 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 2,876
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Quote:
Wish 1800 would be increased in Hampshire. Still nothing here.
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#2446 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Surrey, UK
Posts: 660
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(Semi) forcing 4G 800MHz on the S5
A bit of background:
My area has a 3G2100MHz strength of around -70dBm, speeds are basically 0mbps 4G 1800MHz at about -110dBm, speeds around 5/5 on a good day, cell ID 0. This area should have good VoLTE, but obviously the phone will not connect due to priorities. So I decided to play with APNs. I created a new APN with exactly the same details as the normal H3G one, but with bearer set to LTE. Then when I connected to that, it sat on 1800 for a few seconds, before connecting to a signal with Cell ID 6 and a signal of -96dBm, this signal let me make calls without it dropping to H+ too. Speeds were much higher than the 1800 too. The LTE APN only seems to connect when I'm in an area with 1800, so if the phone cannot pick up an 1800 signal, it deselects the LTE APN and moves back to the H3G normal one. EDIT: Pics here: http://pedroc.co.uk/semiforcevolte.htm |
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#2447 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Woore, Cheshire/Shropshire
Posts: 1,675
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Quote:
So at that rate, only 10 years or so to complete the rest! That's simply nowhere near the rollout speed of the other networks.
Cornerstone don't feel like they've been doing anywhere near this, EE on the other hand seem to be powering forward, |
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#2448 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Totnes, Devon
Posts: 6,693
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Quote:
A bit of background:
My area has a 3G2100MHz strength of around -70dBm, speeds are basically 0mbps 4G 1800MHz at about -110dBm, speeds around 5/5 on a good day, cell ID 0. Hahahahaha I must go find that coat..... again..... Quote:
This area should have good VoLTE, but obviously the phone will not connect due to priorities. So I decided to play with APNs. I created a new APN with exactly the same details as the normal H3G one, but with bearer set to LTE.
Then when I connected to that, it sat on 1800 for a few seconds, before connecting to a signal with Cell ID 6 and a signal of -96dBm, this signal let me make calls without it dropping to H+ too. Speeds were much higher than the 1800 too. The LTE APN only seems to connect when I'm in an area with 1800, so if the phone cannot pick up an 1800 signal, it deselects the LTE APN and moves back to the H3G normal one. EDIT: Pics here: http://pedroc.co.uk/semiforcevolte.htm If 800 will only connect when you have 1800 then it will simply not connect at all since it will then also have 3G (most of the time). What the hell is the point of that? What is the point of what they are doing? Surely if for example you are outside a building with 1-2 bars 3G and go inside where it would normally drop, it should then connect to a, 2-4 bar 800 signal? If not, what the hell is the point of having 800 in the first place? Did that make sense? What are your thoughts on this? |
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#2449 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 14,543
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Quote:
A bit of background:
My area has a 3G2100MHz strength of around -70dBm, speeds are basically 0mbps 4G 1800MHz at about -110dBm, speeds around 5/5 on a good day, cell ID 0. This area should have good VoLTE, but obviously the phone will not connect due to priorities. So I decided to play with APNs. I created a new APN with exactly the same details as the normal H3G one, but with bearer set to LTE. Then when I connected to that, it sat on 1800 for a few seconds, before connecting to a signal with Cell ID 6 and a signal of -96dBm, this signal let me make calls without it dropping to H+ too. Speeds were much higher than the 1800 too. The LTE APN only seems to connect when I'm in an area with 1800, so if the phone cannot pick up an 1800 signal, it deselects the LTE APN and moves back to the H3G normal one. EDIT: Pics here: http://pedroc.co.uk/semiforcevolte.htm |
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#2450 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Surrey, UK
Posts: 660
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Quote:
What phone? only 2 or 3 devices work with 800Mhz on Three at the moment, with more due to be enabled in the coming days and weeks. You also need to have Three firmware in most cases.
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