Hi all,

Currently I have a unlocked IPhone 6s with a PAYG 3 sim. I recently got the SIM and downloaded the new carrier update- 23.1.

I have checked the coverage checker and my 6S is apparently compatible with 4G super voice AKA Volte 800 mhz?

VoLte is currently not enabled as I have 4G, attempt a call and it switches back to 3G, also there is not 4G where there should be with the 800mhz bands just the original 4g.

Anybody able to comment if this is switched on, I thought it was?! Enable 4G is also set to data and voice so I cannot see why it's not working.

Regards

Three don't want people to use 800Mhz, it's currently prioritised under 3G so if you have even a weak 3G signal the phone will drop to that from 1800Mhz 4G, not to 800Mhz.

Well as long as the system can detect that the 3G signal is usable I guess it doesn't matter.

Regardless though, I thought VoLTE was active, but I guess it isn't yet?

It is, you just need a miracle to use it...

*Or an LG G4.

With Three's LTE network I wouldn't be locking my phone onto just using LTE only, the minor benefit of playing with VoLTE is far outweighed by the loss of using the 3G network.

Using Three just on 4G is like wearing an extremely motheaten jumper and wondering why it doesn't keep you warm...

Is the 800Mhz coverage not said to be very good though? Or are there still large patches where there's 3g only?

The coverage map would suggest that huge areas of Hampshire for instance are covered but I've driven from Winchester to Farnham (where Hampshire ends, Surrey begins) and had no VoLTE coverage whatsoever.

I'm amazed Three are allowed to publish a coverage checker that is just a downright lie.

There are some because there are very few 800MHz masts on three's portfolio. This means that you're much more likely to be close to a 2100MHz than an 800MHz.

No regulator input to coverage checkers. Trading standards would need a complaint.

It's spread that thin to almost be invisible in many places, it seems Three have upgraded single masts to 800 for large areas (like entire towns) just to be able to colour the map in with pretty colours.

Yep. Lots about this on the Three thread. It's one of the biggest cons out there. If you put in a compatible handset you'll probably get back a picture that shows loads of 4G coverage. It's just a con given the way it's implemented and is a trading standards/watchdog etc complaint waiting to happen.

I get some 800MHz 4G at home on my iPhone 6 and have successfully made calls over VoLTE on 3.
I get 1800Mhz 4G upstairs, drops to 3G downstairs but if I stuff my phone down the side of the sofa, I get three bars of 800Mhz which it sticks with for a while until falling back over to 3G.
It is there, and it does work. As previous posters have said its the priority set on the network side meaning most people won't see it.

Plus weird situations where large towns/small cities have been ignored by 1800MHz 4G, yet it's been deployed to single cell sites covering small villages

Stuff your phone down the sofa to get 800MHZ, classic!

Unfortunately it seems like the only way!

Not just 3 that has been guilty of that. EE, Vodafone & O2 rolled out 4G to my village before nearby towns with much larger populations got such service.

Instead of doing all this make it right crap couldn't they use an ad line something like, "SuperVoice from Three, Works down the back of your sofa"!

On my iphone6 on three i can force 800mhz volte by switching aeroplane mode on and off, It will first lock on to 800 for a while so if i want to make a volte call as i have one bar of weak 3g at home I switch aeroplane mode on off then dial the number and it then works over 4g

Forgot to add that the three coverage checker says good indoor coverage where i am for 800mhz but only got one or two bars of 800mhz indoors downstairs and 3 bars upstairs with line of site to the mast and get about 30mb of speed from it so i think i might be the only one using it.

The 4g 800 coverage map is very wrong around my area it show outdoor coverage for places when in fact there is none,

So the other day I was down the Pub in a village called Dedham on the Essex/Suffolk border.

Myself on EE - no 3G and weak 2G.

My mate on 3 - one dot of 4G (iPhone 6)

I assume 800mhz on three due to the lack of 3G from EE and also the coverage checker displays coverage only on 800mhz for 4G. Interestingly the mast proving this coverage (based off the coverage checker) is not the local mast and is some distance away. Shows the potential in 4G 800mhz if they can roll it out probably and sort the priority situation out

Basically what it seems to be, is there are very, very few 800MHz masts actually up and running.

Any 800MHz signal I can pick up is from a mast miles and miles and miles and miles away. Which yes, shows how far 800 can travel but is rubbish for capacity and because the mast is so far away, blocking the signal is relatively easy so the signal isn't very robust.

Perhaps they saw 4G as a threat to their company name (I mean did no one see 4G coming back then?) so they have only enabled 3 800 masts to make a point.
They are 12,000 metres high and the priority level has been set to "only when the UE battery is flat".

Matty hard to say as EE's frequency priorities are different to Three, switch down thresholds are too. Could just be more clingy to 4G1800 on Three.

I manually forced my phone to 4G and nothing unless of course the site was only 4G 1800 for 3?