3UK 14.4mbps

Just after christmas I upgraded my phone to an iPhone 4S, and being the kind of personI am I did a speedtest on my 3G connection as there is a 3 mast nearby.

6.56mbps, not bad I thought.

Never managed to get it higher since. So I'm thinking that the mast I am connected to is a 7.2mbps site.

The iPhone 4S is a 14.4mbps handset, but do 3 have any 14.4 mbps sites? and if so, how do know if they are or not?

On sitefinder my postcode (AB25 1GS) shows a 3 site nearby, UMTS. But they don't state which HSDPA standard they are running,

I would really like to try this phone on a 14.4 connection and see what I could get. At those speeds it's just a couple of meg below my home DSL!

3 are actually deploying 21 MBPS mobile broadband across their network at present. I am a 3 customer also in the AB12 area. I live about 250 metres from the three mast at Portlethen and also get around 6 MBPS presently.

They are not too forthcoming with informatiion on which sites they will be upgrading but the blog at blog.three.co..uk is promising an update on progress soon. The blog is actually quite informative on other areas of the three network and is a good source of information.

21Mbps would be nice. Shame most phones are only capable of 14, but I suppose the could be upgraded with firmware.

TBH, i've always been impressed with 3's speeds. and coverage.

I drive all over the North-East of Scotland for work and find myself getting 3G signal in places where I can;t even get FM Radio!

I've tried getting this information out of Three before. It's like pulling teeth ("Which cells have what capacity/speed?")

I gave up trying to find out and went for a fixed antenna and a Solwise router which can only do 7.2Mbps so as to make the kit permanent (no need to keep putting the modem outside)

The day that arrived my E367 modem went from around 5Mbps average up to 8Mbps average and 11Mbps tops. So, the cell was upgraded.

Now I have the kit installed, I'm stuck at about 6 meg down 1.6meg up and have to wait for an HSPA+ router to come on the market, just couldn't find one (the type you put the SIM in) to get the higher speeds back again.

So the upgrades do happen, but trying to get any news or specifics from Three isn't easy.

In reply to a post by connormill:

21Mbps would be nice. Shame most phones are only capable of 14, but I suppose the could be upgraded with firmware.

Most phones are 3.2 or 7.2, only 1 or two that i know have 14.

Usually the HSPA Ones are 14 (Not hsdpa i meen HSPA)

Doesnt like living outdoors stuck to the top of the window in the rain, though The E367 went all mouldy. But then it isn't meant to go outdoors.

That was the main reason - for a permanent setup. The loss of 5Mbps is annoying though after forking out £350 for kit + install (now down to just 6Mbps from 8Mbps to 11Mbps) for the kit since it really turns a very slow basic connection into something quite usable.

OK the MiFi might produce 3Mbps or 4Mbps indoors at a push with a fair wind, but I do need all the speed I can get as it's so slow anyway.

With hindsight I'd have kept the E367, got a different antenna and got a more simple router, and wired the lot together and kept the higher speeds.

I'm sure an HSPA+ capable router box will come along at some point. When I spoke to Solwise they said there was no market or demand for it yet.

In reply to a post by FNSDan:

In reply to a post by connormill:

21Mbps would be nice. Shame most phones are only capable of 14, but I suppose the could be upgraded with firmware.

Most phones are 3.2 or 7.2, only 1 or two that i know have 14.

Usually the HSPA Ones are 14 (Not hsdpa i meen HSPA)

Most new phones are going 14.4 now. This is a slide from the iPhone 4S keynote showing all the phones that claim to be 4G (in the us anyway)

http://images.anandtech.com/doci/4943/Screen%20Shot%...

4 phones right there, and there are load more

I get 12mbs on my s2 on three.

3UK are currently trialing the 21Mb/s HSPA+ Huawei "WebCube" but only in Leeds, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
And it's wifi only with no ethernet ports.

I lost Three coverage overnight on my iPhone 4S about a week ago though it mysteriously had reappeared by the morning. Just happened to do a speed test on a cell site that typically achieved around 1-1.5Mbps - now pumping out close to 10Mbps over HSPA+.

It's fantastic that there's still one network thinking about its users and offering decent speeds with unlimited usage.

In reply to a post by Kiggs:

I lost Three coverage overnight on my iPhone 4S about a week ago though it mysteriously had reappeared by the morning. Just happened to do a speed test on a cell site that typically achieved around 1-1.5Mbps - now pumping out close to 10Mbps over HSPA+.

It's fantastic that there's still one network thinking about its users and offering decent speeds with unlimited usage.

Im waiting for this to happen to me lol in the right position i could get 4 meg last week (HSDPA) got a text from three 4 days ago saying on the 3/2/12 you may suffer loss of service were upgrading your mast this will be done as quick as possible (i thought that meant HSPA+) but i never lost signal once and my SGS2 still only gets H and now seams to only get about 1.8meg lol so i got a downgrade haha.

Ash

Hi folks

3uk are actually rolling out 42MBPS HSPA+ this year which in my view will provide a good stopgap until we finally get 4G in hopefully 2013.

Trouble is I don't see a lot of devices that can support this speed, does anyone know of any either now or coming soon.

Well a little google and the HTC Amaze 4G and Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G both support 42Mbps HSPA+ (they are not 4G as the names suggests).

Was looking at this just this evening.

Netgear have launched the 42Mbps model but predictably, it's for the US and the Netherlands. You can't get it here (yet)

In my (regular) searches I've yet to find an HSPA+ capable router of the type that you put the SIM card into. Plenty in other countries, nothing here, so for the meantime I'm capped at 7.2Mbps despite the cell being able to deliver 11Mbps+ seen with a dongle.

If anyone knows of a UK compatible HSPA+ router (which accepts the SIM card, no dongle) I'd love to know.

I just got this on a 21 mast in middle of hospital so i'm quite impressed.

Test Date: Mar 22, 2012 1:09:56 am
Connection Type: Hspa
Server: Leeds
Download: 9.06 Mbps
Upload: 3.63 Mbps
Ping: 68 ms

External IP: 92.40.253.88
Internal IP: 10.24.182.208
Latitude: 53.57050
Longitude: -1.50653

A detailed image for this result can be found here:

http://www.speedtest.net/android/156625009.png

and a second one

Test Date: Mar 22, 2012 1:46:53 am
Connection Type: Hspa
Server: Leeds
Download: 10.17 Mbps
Upload: 1.60 Mbps
Ping: 109 ms

External IP: 92.40.253.88
Internal IP: 10.24.182.208
Latitude: 53.57050
Longitude: -1.50653

A detailed image for this result can be found here:

http://www.speedtest.net/android/156636224.png


Ash

Edited by acpsd775 (Thu 22-Mar-12 02:39:26)