In reply to a post by mlmclaren:

The EE sim could be connecting to band 20 (800mhz) where the Virgin sim will be restricted from using that band and forced to Band 3 (1800mhz)

Possible, but unlikely. I actually think VM is also able to use Band 20, but maybe only on iPhones. The OP hasn't posted the EE speeds, but just says "slow", so it is hard to tell. The band 20 allocation is only 5 MHz wide, compared to Band 3 which is at least 20 MHz, and in many areas there are multiple Band 3 transmissions (e.g. here we have 2 x 20 MHz ).

I think the unlimited 4G plan was a similar price to the current unlimited 5G plan. I am guessing they assume that only people who want to use the Internet a lot at speed want unlimited and therefore just offer the 5G plan.

I ended up moving from them to BT as I get the same for about half the price as I currently have my fibre with BT as well.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Possible, but unlikely. I actually think VM is also able to use Band 20, but maybe only on iPhones.

Virgin don't support Band 20 at all.

I was out today and getting a better signal than I do inside but still close to my flat.

I was getting 35 ish mb on VM and 6 ish on EE. Disabling the VM sim or moving the EE sim to slot 2 where the VM sim was has made no change to the speeds.

I am checking Cellmapper but I am getting some wonkyness from the app having a dual sim so I am just testing and will post what it says when I wrap my head round it.

In reply to a post by Seansmit17:

I was getting 35 ish mb on VM and 6 ish on EE. Disabling the VM sim or moving the EE sim to slot 2 where the VM sim was has made no change to the speeds.

That is certainly very odd, especially outdoors. Both speeds are not "good" for EE, so it will be interesting to see the network code your VM SIM is connected to. Otherwise its one to call EE about and say "why is it so slow".

Which dual SIM phone are you using? I use a OnePlus Nord, and turn off one of the SIMs when using testing tools to make it clearer.

The OnePlus Nord is a rebadged Realme/Oppo phone and when I've used some with dual network dual standby, I think I have discovered (unless it was pure coincidence) that when you have two SIMs - even if you disable one (but keep it inserted) the phone will not be able to support 4CA, just 2CA.

As a result, you may find a reduced speed on EE that, in many locations, now offers 4CA to provide the best speed. If you lose that ability, you'll potentially find yourself stuck to, say, 800 and 1800 instead of 1800+1800+2600+2600 or whatever.

Please feel free to shoot me down, but when I was testing with two SIMs I could never seem to get 4CA working - and it did when I removed the second (Three in this case) SIM.

In reply to a post by jonmorris:

The OnePlus Nord is a rebadged Realme/Oppo phone and when I've used some with dual network dual standby, I think I have discovered (unless it was pure coincidence) that when you have two SIMs - even if you disable one (but keep it inserted) the phone will not be able to support 4CA, just 2CA.

Interesting, and welcome to the forum! Mine is rooted, so I can run NSG.

Back before Christmas (in Tier 2 days), I was in Sussex in a much larger town with my OnePlus Nord, and it connected to 4CA on my PAYG EE SIM. (There is 5G in the town, but EE PAYG doesn't support 5G). The second SIM (Three) was disabled.

NSG screenshot to show:
https://postimg.cc/sGfc48VS

I also suspect if a phone was limited to 2CA that the mast would choose which CA pairs to use, as long as the phone supported them. B3+B3 is more likely than B3+B20 if two B3 is available.

Edited by jchamier (Tue 05-Jan-21 11:26:04)

Samsung S20 FE

Here are some screen shots.

I had to use 1 sim at a time and reboot the phone in between changing sims as the app was being all wonko with both sims in and disabling one.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7t4AT25EjEbAAkwm6

I'm not 100% sure what I'm looking at tbh but here is what I think:

The Virgin Sim is using 1800Mhz as was posted & so is the EE Sim.

With both sim's in and working at the same time and when the app is not flipping out on me it also shows that both sims are using 1800Mhz

In reply to a post by Seansmit17:

Samsung S20 FE
I had to use 1 sim at a time and reboot the phone in between changing sims as the app was being all wonko with both sims in and disabling one.

Sounds as if Samsung's support for multi-SIM is not quite the same as generic Android.

The Virgin Sim is using 1800Mhz as was posted & so is the EE Sim. With both sim's in and working at the same time and when the app is not flipping out on me it also shows that both sims are using 1800Mhz

Agreed, both SIMs are using Band 3 (1800 MHz) and the same transmission on the mast, EARFCN 1761 which is . They are using the same MAST with the same eNB (enhanced Node B) reference 15469.

1761 tells me this is the EE physical network with a 10 MHz transmission. Unfortunately those screen shots don't tell me if the phone is using two transmissions together (known as CA or carrier aggregation). Your phone is very new, so it WILL do the aggregation when needed, but normally drops to save power when not transferring data.

Checking up the eNB number on the cellmapper website shows me you are receiving signals from the mast on top of the BT exchange (ATE) in the city centre, right next to the Park Inn hotel. The website shows that the mast is transmitting two lots of Band 3 with 1617 at 20 MHz and 1761 at 10 MHz and is also transmitting Band 7 (2600 MHz) on 3350 at 20 MHz and 3179 at 15 MHz.

So EE has allocated 20+10 + 20 + 15 = 65 MHz of LTE capacity to that mast. As a city centre mast it is probably carrying a lot of customers and a LOT of load.

So the fact you are getting faster from Virgin Media than EE has to be down to the price plan that you have paid for.

When Virgin Media moves to Vodafone, there is also a Vodafone mast on the same roof, and Cellmapper shows there is Band 1 (2100mhz) at 10 MHz, and Band 20 (800 MHz) at 10 MHz, for a total capacity of 20 MHz.

So 45 MHz less than EE, so speeds will drop like a stone, unless Vodafone dramatically invest in capacity.

Been messing around with the phone's settings and now both sims are slow as hell. Only getting a few mb.

In the middle of doing a factory reset and see what that gets me.