Thick walls i guess? lol

In reply to a post by leexgx:

Three should be getting the 800 band for LTE (unless O2 Stop the preallocation of the 800 band before its even sold to Three) as Three do not have as much 3h spectrum compared to the other networks

if three can get VOIP working under LTE wall issues should go away

but Three Need LTE like last 2 years ago (more like LTE 100mb at least to take on the load of the network but first every one has to wait until they upgrade there 2 year contracts)

3G - 2100mhz spectrum by operator (most to least)
Everything Everywhere
Three
Vodafone
O2

All operators will move to a IP core network (all are currently circuit switch core networks)
Once the operator has built this they will move to a all IP core and start taking voice over LTE.
I would expect all initial LTE deployments in the UK to be LTE for data only (even on handsets) the handset will drop to 2G or 3G when a call is made / rcd.

When LTE comes to the UK market it will change how everyone uses the mobile networks. People need to get away from using a data stick as a way to download masses of data, it's not really designed for that, not enough spectrum to service that bandwidth demand.

With the higher data rates LTE will bring to the CPE device the cell sites need larger backhaul but it will only be used in a very bursty fashion.

I have the HTC Desire S on the one plan.

It indeed is great, as I have used it as a hotspot when on the travels or here when sky has gone down.

Talking about that sky went down as the electric tripped for the second time due to a dodgy thermostat on the boiler.

It did not go down, it reset the wireless password to default.

Crazy eh? not the first time I have seen this but well done to the One Plan for the backup

I always thought it was the reverse. my battery drains like anything when I use 3G. When I am on wireless it lasts longer. The phones not always searching to keep the signal going on wireless.

Im on PAYG on 3. I don't tether but it's brill for my personal needs.

Yes WiFi is much lower power than 3G so using WiFi will mean that the battery would last longer. Although if you have no WiFi and therefore have to use 3G then disabling it 'can' make the battery last longer ... not by anything you'd notice though. You'd get better gains by dimming the screen brightness to the lowest.

Wait until 4G LTE arrives

Here in Canada you can expect about 3-10Mbit/s on HSPA+. On LTE I regularly get >25Mbit both directions. Rather splendid on a mobile It's ridiculous for the first few weeks as generally mobiles are usually far from "instant". On LTE it's comical how fast it feels. You do speedtests just to laugh at how good it is.

Edited by orly (Tue 07-Aug-12 01:24:03)

Recently moved from o2 for my iPhone contact to Three with the release of the 4S.

To say I'm impressed with the service is an understatement. Amazingly good value -- £99 upfront on the 'one' plan when I signed up, but £150 quidco back which was paid swiftly. For 2000 minutes, 5000 SMS and unlimited data it's a steal.

Three have some fantastic deals which is why I stayed with them so much.

Coverage is *vastly* better than o2 in Edinburgh and on the main train lines (to Glasgow; east coast and west coast). I wasn't expecting such an improvement with it being 2100MHz vs 900/1800 for o2, but they've obviously done something right.

I'm genuinely really shocked about this. I hover between London and Sheffield and honestly my 3 coverage has been terrible in both places. 3 doesn't cover my home in Sheffield - well it does but with 1 bar going in and out... In London I was constantly getting 1 bar even in giant populated areas such as shopping centres. Even in parts of Westfield shopping centre. o2 has consistent near on full signal in these same areas.

I've also not had a single dropped call on three yet, something which was a massive issue at peak times on o2.

I've just switched from 3 to o2. I used to get 'call failed' all the time with 3. Dropped calls are often caused by a lack of masts around you. So the local mast just gets over busy.

E.g. your mast can support 100 calls (this is an example). You switch over to this mast and you are the 101st caller. Your call drops. o2 is generally very good in this respect as o2 has lots of masts. So usually you just switch to another mast seamlessly and there's not a dropped call. 3 on the other hand often don't have an alternative mast within range so the call just drops.

It's probably just a case of 3 have far less customers than o2 so you're fine for now..
In London with so many people having 3 and 3 only installing the bare minimum number of masts there's very often a capacity issue and a dropped call. o2 on the other hand seem to have masts on every building in sight.

At times on 3 I was getting 0.1mbps down and up in London. o2 is better than this hands down...

And the speeds on HSPA+ are very impressive indeed. I'm currently using my iphone as a hotspot (which is inclusive in the package as far as I can tell) as o2s home broadband service is horrendously congested. Getting over 950kB/sec vs 20kB/sec on o2.

Yes 3 allow you to tether. I used to do it lots. They do operate a fair usage system nowadays though so don't go absolutely wild.

Glad to see you're happy with Network 3. The ONLY thing I miss about 3 is the almost constant 3g coverage. That said it very often had no coverage whereas my o2 always at least has GPRS.

Each to their own. 3 is very good in some areas. I just don't believe they can handle their customers in some areas. In particular London it feels very congested and awful to use.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Tue 07-Aug-12 01:45:01)

i agree with @ukhardy07 statements with the issues with 3UK main issue been network not working but still got an signal (calls text data stops for about 1-2 mins before the Radio detects its Really not connected to the cell any more and forces an reconnect) second issue black spots signal (full bars or 1-2 bars and phone is unreliable {above issue}) or no signal spots

and all of that = bad battery life as well as the phone has to keep the power on high to try and find an network or get the signal to the mast when low signal (and no 2g to get batter battery life as well as 3g is an power hog)

where i live they Need to stick an mast right next to me on the pub that's 100m from me as there are 3 three/t-mobile Masts that cover me but issue is they are all at there range limit due to the amount of houses where i am, if the put on on the pub next to me no more black spot hole (unlikely to happy any more as t-mobile will no bother to pay 50/50 with Three to place it there as t-mobile has orange masts to connect to now{quite shocking how bad t-mobile coverage is compared to orange})

around Warrington and its connected areas i found hardly an spot where o2 (and t-mobile/orange) does not work,O2 seem to be the only network actively building Pole masts that are norm 1-2 miles apart from each other
Three does not overlap the masts enough that's the issue (and they cant as they do not have enough mhz frequency space compared to the other 3 networks)

Three do have normaly the Best deals on phones and plans, but its no good if the phone does not work indoors (three good for Open greenbelt land or out side away from house) 1-3 bars out side norm = 0 bars indoors

every spot in the UK has its good spots and bad spots

The problem I had with 3 and the reason why I left them was indoor coverage.

Outdoors, out in the middle of no where you can find yourself with a decent 3G signal, unlike other operators.

Deep inside a metal building I got nothing, because they had turned off the Orange 2G back up.

O2 and Vodafone = full 2g with 3g outside.

I've been with Vodafone 2 years now and can't think of many places where I get 'No Service'.

I myself have just moved from o2/giffgaff (been with them around 10 years)

I travel a lot around the country, and the fact that o2 cant even get a 3g signal on a lot of the motorway network is bad!

Where ever i go with 3, i get constant 3g.

With my 3 mobile broadband, i often get hspda+ and its brilliant.