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Three 4G Discussion Thread (Part 2)


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Old 05-11-2015, 21:07
DevonBloke
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Really? I naively thought that seemed quite good!
Cornerstone don't feel like they've been doing anywhere near this, EE on the other hand seem to be powering forward,
EE covered the whole of Devon and Cornwall in the six months between Sept 14 and March 15 with a nice thin and crispy covering.
Then all quiet.
Now since September again they are lighting up the fill-in masts every 1 - 2 weeks.
That must be quite a few a week over the whole country.

I thought EE said they had done 10,000 (2G refresh / 4G) and they started that 4 years ago. About 48 a week I make that so Three aren't doing too bad.
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Old 05-11-2015, 21:11
Gigabit
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The best device for testing 800MHz IMO is the LG G4.
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Old 05-11-2015, 21:26
Skippy2005
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The best device for testing 800MHz IMO is the LG G4.
How do you find the LG G4's signal compared to other handsets like Samsung or IPhone, I'm aware the Samsung handsets have poor antennas, or should I just say compared to other handsets.
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Old 05-11-2015, 21:30
Gigabit
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How do you find the LG G4's signal compared to other handsets like Samsung or IPhone, I'm aware the Samsung handsets have poor antennas, or should I just say compared to other handsets.
Really good coverage from the LG G4 actually. It's one of the best smartphones I've tested this year.

Now it may well be optimised for Three as it is originally from them but either way it performs great on Three and has given me coverage in areas I previously didn't have it.

I'd say it beats the S6 (the S6 was an improvement over the horrible S5 and the average Note 4) and is about equal with the Sony Xperia Z3 and perhaps a tiny bit worse than the Moto X 2014 but not enough for you to notice.
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Old 05-11-2015, 21:33
Skippy2005
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Really good coverage from the LG G4 actually. It's one of the best smartphones I've tested this year.

Now it may well be optimised for Three as it is originally from them but either way it performs great on Three and has given me coverage in areas I previously didn't have it.

I'd say it beats the S6 (the S6 was an improvement over the horrible S5 and the average Note 4) and is about equal with the Sony Xperia Z3 and perhaps a tiny bit worse than the Moto X 2014 but not enough for you to notice.
Well if it compares well to a Motorola handset I'm all for it then!!! Motorola are known for being the dogs!! Cheers,
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Old 05-11-2015, 21:35
Pedro_C
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The S5 seems to pick up signal better than my Moto G 1st gen and 3rd gen.

I'm using it on a 3 PAYG SIM, so even the 800 speedtests do cost a reasonable amount.
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Old 05-11-2015, 22:28
Thine Wonk
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Waiting for the LG v10 to come to Three, it's about 4 weeks away, hopefully that will have 800Mhz support added.
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Old 06-11-2015, 00:52
d123
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The S5 seems to pick up signal better than my Moto G 1st gen and 3rd gen.

I'm using it on a 3 PAYG SIM, so even the 800 speedtests do cost a reasonable amount.
I would agree, I've been testing 800mhz on Three with an s5, I've been quite surprised at how good it's signal ability has been.
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Old 06-11-2015, 08:27
Skippy2005
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I would agree, I've been testing 800mhz on Three with an s5, I've been quite surprised at how good it's signal ability has been.
Are the phones still suffering big battery drain with 800/VoLTE?
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Old 06-11-2015, 08:47
GrannyGruntbuck
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Are the phones still suffering big battery drain with 800/VoLTE?
On my S6 Edge, yes. Very much so.
The annoying thing for me is that I only get a volte dignal for seconds at a time both at work and at home so I get no benefit from bolte at all.
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Old 06-11-2015, 09:13
Gigabit
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I would agree, I've been testing 800mhz on Three with an s5, I've been quite surprised at how good it's signal ability has been.
What I've found is that on most supported devices 800MHz continues to work essentially forever. It's incredible.

On other frequencies I've found the S5 to be average. Not terrible, just not extraordinary.
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Old 06-11-2015, 09:14
Mark in Essex
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Are the phones still suffering big battery drain with 800/VoLTE?
Mine did have a very big battery drain on my S5 until I did a factory reset to sort out the SMS sending problem and since then it's been a LOT better (can get through the whole day now).

I thought it may not need the factory reset not being a major update, but I think it does.
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Old 06-11-2015, 09:36
GrannyGruntbuck
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Mine did have a very big battery drain on my S5 until I did a factory reset to sort out the SMS sending problem and since then it's been a LOT better (can get through the whole day now).

I thought it may not need the factory reset not being a major update, but I think it does.
Hmmm, perhaps my S6 Edge needs a reset too. I can't remember if I did one when the firmware updated.
I will do it after work.
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Old 06-11-2015, 10:53
FmBandScan
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Noticed today that my phone will roam onto Vodafone or o2 800mhz when three goes out of range. Then I have to restart my phone to get back on to three 800, don't know why
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Old 06-11-2015, 18:53
aioderek
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Has anyone got any info on the iPhone carrier update? Three are being their usual helpful self and saying "soon".... So does that mean Nov? Dec? Jan? ... Just "soon".... Cheers Three ..
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Old 06-11-2015, 21:19
mupet0000
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Has anyone got any info on the iPhone carrier update? Three are being their usual helpful self and saying "soon".... So does that mean Nov? Dec? Jan? ... Just "soon".... Cheers Three ..
I tweeted them the other day, they are still sticking to sometime before the end of the year.
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Old 06-11-2015, 22:04
d123
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I tweeted them the other day, they are still sticking to sometime before the end of the year.
Have they confirmed which year?
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Old 06-11-2015, 22:06
aioderek
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Have they confirmed which year?
Ha ha yeah exactly..
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Old 07-11-2015, 17:29
Zebb
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Popped into my local 3 shop this afternoon and asked about the forecasted work next Thursday, looked up my postcode and they said "There's a new mast coming near you next month". Only 400m away. I'm still in shock, won't need a VoLTE phone now at home. Wonder what bands it will have, 3G, 4G?

Must be an early Christmas pressy. Gone are the days of carefully placing the phone near the window to get a signal.
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Old 07-11-2015, 17:38
Gigabit
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Check your local planning applications to see if they were telling the truth.
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Old 07-11-2015, 17:59
mupet0000
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Popped into my local 3 shop this afternoon and asked about the forecasted work next Thursday, looked up my postcode and they said "There's a new mast coming near you next month". Only 400m away. I'm still in shock, won't need a VoLTE phone now at home. Wonder what bands it will have, 3G, 4G?

Must be an early Christmas pressy. Gone are the days of carefully placing the phone near the window to get a signal.
If they were telling the truth, let us know when it goes live, maybe within the next 10 years?
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Old 07-11-2015, 18:01
Zebb
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Mmm, thinking about it... I'll be calling 333 next week. Nothing in the planning applications.

But it was on their intranet coverage map, I saw it, a blue circle.
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Old 07-11-2015, 18:17
DevonBloke
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Mmm, thinking about it... I'll be calling 333 next week. Nothing in the planning applications.

But it was on their intranet coverage map, I saw it, a blue circle.
Is it possibly an MIP mast? (Government not spot program).
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Old 07-11-2015, 18:30
Pedro_C
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I went underground today and the S5 went onto 800MHz because the 2100MHz just died and it was displaying a cell id of 7. It appears that 3's 800 produced cell IDs of 6. 7 and 8 like EE 2600MHz. I was very impressed with 3's 800 underground though, even my Vodafone adn O2 devices were flitting between no signal, GPRS and Edge.
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Old 07-11-2015, 20:24
DevonBloke
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I went underground today and the S5 went onto 800MHz because the 2100MHz just died and it was displaying a cell id of 7. It appears that 3's 800 produced cell IDs of 6. 7 and 8 like EE 2600MHz. I was very impressed with 3's 800 underground though, even my Vodafone adn O2 devices were flitting between no signal, GPRS and Edge.
You went underground?? Why, who's after you?
So it will switch once there's no 2100 at all.
I assume you were back using the original APN? So no 1800 required like before. That was a weird one.

So from the current set up you don't get continuous data and a smooth transition from 2100 to 800. Surely it's possible to set a threshold.
Maybe they haven't done this because SRVCC isn't implemented?
Does an active call stay on 800 for the duration even if you move to an area of strong 3G mid call?
Of course in order to get an active 2100 call to hand over to 800 they would need to implement reverse SRVCC. Apparently this is harder than going from 4G to 3G.
I guess this is why there is a gap between the technologies.

This kind of makes the whole thing pointless since the current major problem is calls dropping when going out of 2100 coverage. the call is supposed to handover to 800 at this point.

I take it then that we still have a situation where a Three handset will doggedly hold onto a useless 3G signal when there is great 800 available.
Same as EE 3G refusing to drop to 2G when you know it's there.
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