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EE 2G/3G/4G Discussion Thread (Part 2) |
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#3351 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 873
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Could it also be 800mhz-related I wonder?
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#3352 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: a land filled with trolls
Posts: 12,010
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Quote:
Could it also be 800mhz-related I wonder?
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#3353 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 873
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Yes, it could well be - but I think there's more to it than that. I am expecting they're going to be adding more 4G+ and increased backhaul. 800 is all very good, but this is town/city centre work.
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#3354 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Back of beyond
Posts: 1,928
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Quote:
I recommend anyone having similar problems call 150 and ask to speak to someone in the network team. Anyone having problems might be very happy when it's all fixed! However, shouldn't EE be making it a bit clearer to the public what's going on? How many people will be saying 'enough is enough' and ditching EE as a result of problems that have been on and off for a few weeks?
Regards |
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#3355 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Cheshire/Shropshire Border
Posts: 589
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Quote:
Your distant mast is the one that is half a mile from me and yes, it's definitely been up and down the last couple of days. It was off when I went out at 6pm yesterday, then it came back, but was off at 7am today aswell. Don't know if these are related, but there was a power failure last week that also knocked out EE 2G (which usually stays on, I'm pretty sure) and the old Vodafone 2G gear on the mast has recently been upgraded to CTIL 2/3/4G.
Bizarrely, and also could be related, I got a text yesterday that said "Great news! Next week we're rolling out superfast 4GEE in Ellesmere..." and warning that there may be some disruption whilst they do the upgrades. Our mast has had 4G for ages, and two others in and just outside Ellesmere have been switched on in the last few weeks. Perhaps they're messing with different configurations to integrate the new masts? 150 claim the mast is being 'upgraded because of the bad service it's given of late' ![]() They also claim it will be back up by 6pm tonight, but I'll believe that when it comes up and stays up. Supposedly the status checker doesn't reflect reality because it's being 'upgraded rather than fixed'... ![]() One day, a mobile operator will get the balance between network brilliance and customer communications right, and I'll be a very happy man. That day seems a very long way off though! ![]() Quote:
I recommend anyone having similar problems call 150 and ask to speak to someone in the network team. Anyone having problems might be very happy when it's all fixed! However, shouldn't EE be making it a bit clearer to the public what's going on? How many people will be saying 'enough is enough' and ditching EE as a result of problems that have been on and off for a few weeks?
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#3356 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Cheshire/Shropshire Border
Posts: 589
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Just got a status update to say there's no problem with the mast...
![]() https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ahjj61QCjK5mhtRwkKvKzNtfHUTBlg |
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#3357 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Totnes, Devon
Posts: 6,685
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Just got a status update to say there's no problem with the mast...
![]() https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ahjj61QCjK5mhtRwkKvKzNtfHUTBlg |
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#3358 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 36
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Quote:
Just got a status update to say there's no problem with the mast...
![]() https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ahjj61QCjK5mhtRwkKvKzNtfHUTBlg Mind you, both postcodes show "We recently fixed a problem" on the status checker, so what do I know?
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#3359 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: a land filled with trolls
Posts: 12,010
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Forget 150 ---- email the CEO of EE direct with a BRIEF explanation of the problem .
Regards |
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#3360 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Cheshire/Shropshire Border
Posts: 589
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That mast getting 800 do you know?
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May not be material in this case, but that postcode is for the centre of Ellesmere, which now has closer 4G coverage from the recently-enabled mast at the edge of Lakelands Academy playing field. Try SY12 9HW, which is the postcode for Brow Farm where "our" mast is sited.
Mind you, both postcodes show "We recently fixed a problem" on the status checker, so what do I know? ![]() I'm accusing EE of giving a raft of conflicting messages, when to be fair I'm probably feeding them duff information in the first place!
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#3361 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 731
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I try not to go to the top for every enquiry. I called 150 and spoke to two VERY helpful, keen and knowledgeable people (Darlington I would guess first, then later someone in Ireland). I got my issue resolved and had a long chat with the Irish lady, who would have probably been happy to keep talking to me now about local sites had I wanted to!
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#3362 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Totnes, Devon
Posts: 6,685
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Is the CEO email easy to find.
E.G. firstname.lastname@company.co.uk That nearly always works. Just a reminder to all here though, please don't post the actual email addresses on DS. It's happened a few times and it's strictly against the rules for obvious reasons
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#3363 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 118
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#3364 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,985
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Is the CEO email easy to find.
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#3365 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 932
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We're back! My local mast has 4G once more!
Download speeds are virtually the same as 3G - anywhere between 10 and 15 Mbit/s - this is likely due to microwave backhaul resulting in the mast being "single speed". Upload is good though at 25Mbit/s - that's 5x faster than Virgin Media broadband (and VM Broadband caps your speed after a while...) I have had close to 30Mbit/s on my mast (on 4G) before but that must have been when no one was on it as the micro backhaul is the limiting factor (and is probably why 3G is also a bit slower than before 4G was launched, by about 5Mbit/s). When this gets fiber to it, it'll be doing good strong 4G and 3G - plus hopefully 800MHz (certainly towards Chelveston, if they don't put 800MHz on the old Orange telegraph pole). |
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#3366 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Totnes, Devon
Posts: 6,685
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All Orange telegraph poles should have 800MHz.
It should be the law! |
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#3367 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 97
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All Orange telegraph poles should have 800MHz.
It should be the law! I get the impression that further upgrades to EE's coverage in a lot of areas will need new panels fitting and in many cases a new monopole entirely. 800 MHz can fit into a Hutchison Jupiter pole, VO2 style. |
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#3368 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: This forum
Posts: 3,388
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I've seen quite a few Orange poles upgraded to 4G, without replacing the pole with one of those giant lollipops (think Pedro said they're Alifabs). The old poles obviously have very compact antenna, and many were originally Omnidirectional GSM. I assume they fit compact tri-sector antenna into the top of the pole for 4G.
For the big macro sites covering a large area then it may make sense to replace panels (especially if they are worn out, rusty etc) to increase the footprint - but if you have a lot of smaller sites, then it may not make sense. In some areas Orange fitted a lot of smaller sites due to the terrain, and so there is likely no need for 800 on these, if they all get 1800mhz 4G and new backhaul then very fast (80mbps) speeds can be achieved. For example this is near a mate of mine, at the start of Oct this site was upgraded to 4G, and the pole and antenna are the same: Google streetview has the 2G/3G cabinets and pole: https://goo.gl/maps/UYC8gLwGaED2 my pic of replaced cabinets: http://i.imgur.com/2gBqkXB.jpg |
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#3369 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 932
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Quote:
I've seen quite a few Orange poles upgraded to 4G, without replacing the pole with one of those giant lollipops (think Pedro said they're Alifabs). The old poles obviously have very compact antenna, and many were originally Omnidirectional GSM. I assume they fit compact tri-sector antenna into the top of the pole for 4G.
I get the impression that further upgrades to EE's coverage in a lot of areas will need new panels fitting and in many cases a new monopole entirely. 800 MHz can fit into a Hutchison Jupiter pole, VO2 style. Jupiters are good because they can have triple input panels in a reasonably compact mast - in VO2's case, usually lo, lo, high (for 800, 900, 2100) and in EE's case they are lo, hi, hi (for 800MHz, 1800/2100MHz and 1800/2100/2600MHz). Though I am sure that most of them will be 800/1800/2100. My local Orange mast remains a telegraph pole (and I think that's how it is staying) so 1800MHz and 2100MHz only is my guess? |
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#3370 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 427
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And.... we have a problem!
4G is not working on my local mast - it instead gives a signal (as it should) but Emergency Calls Only. 3G is working as expected, so I'm using that for now (as our Virgin Media Wifi has got severely congested - pages weren't loading). Trouble is, trying to convince EE-CS via 150 or the forum that I know the site reference of the faulty cell etc, it's like talking to a brick wall. I'm extremely fortunate to have resolved the problem through unofficial channels several times, but I'd far rather official routes work - or better still, the site is swapped out for MBNL and the (clearly knackered) kit put in the nearest skip. |
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#3371 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 149
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I know there's been a few posts since, but I'm continuing to have periodic issues with a local legacy OUK site where the 3G element periodically locks up and goes to sleep - beefs out full signal but 100% call and data failures. And EE/MBNL don't seem to notice as the site doesn't fail as such.
Trouble is, trying to convince EE-CS via 150 or the forum that I know the site reference of the faulty cell etc, it's like talking to a brick wall. I'm extremely fortunate to have resolved the problem through unofficial channels several times, but I'd far rather official routes work - or better still, the site is swapped out for MBNL and the (clearly knackered) kit put in the nearest skip. |
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#3372 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 97
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Quote:
Most of the Orange telegraph poles are 2G 1800MHz only, so they will have single input panels in them. (I don't think they are omni's.) If that is the case then they can leave the single input panels in and do 2G/3G/4G through them, or they can replace the top with more modern single input panels. 800MHz would require a dual band antenna, likewise with 3 1800MHz.
Jupiters are good because they can have triple input panels in a reasonably compact mast - in VO2's case, usually lo, lo, high (for 800, 900, 2100) and in EE's case they are lo, hi, hi (for 800MHz, 1800/2100MHz and 1800/2100/2600MHz). Though I am sure that most of them will be 800/1800/2100. My local Orange mast remains a telegraph pole (and I think that's how it is staying) so 1800MHz and 2100MHz only is my guess? Orange used GSM omni monopoles, and sectored monopoles. The GSM Omni monopoles have a very narrow top section. You can see them in Peter C's very informative YouTube video about Orange masts. |
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#3373 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 97
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Quote:
Given most of the older Orange and T-Mobile sites had 1800mhz for 2G, and 2100mhz for 3G, then adding 4G at 1800 doesn't require any panel or pole changes.
For the big macro sites covering a large area then it may make sense to replace panels (especially if they are worn out, rusty etc) to increase the footprint - but if you have a lot of smaller sites, then it may not make sense. In some areas Orange fitted a lot of smaller sites due to the terrain, and so there is likely no need for 800 on these, if they all get 1800mhz 4G and new backhaul then very fast (80mbps) speeds can be achieved. For example this is near a mate of mine, at the start of Oct this site was upgraded to 4G, and the pole and antenna are the same: Google streetview has the 2G/3G cabinets and pole: https://goo.gl/maps/UYC8gLwGaED2 my pic of replaced cabinets: http://i.imgur.com/2gBqkXB.jpg |
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#3374 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 932
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Quote:
I've seen that type of upgrade too. You essentially just notice the appearance of a new cabinet.
Will be interesting to see what this mast will provide at the end of it all. |
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#3375 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 133
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Possibility of some new EE SIMO deals this week. I heard perhaps 20GB unlimited/unlimited for 21.99 ...... Anyone else heard of potential offers?
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