In reply to a post by bobble_bob:

When 5g was announced and then rolled out we were told we would have lightning fast speeds of 100mbps+ and would open up the potential for unrestricted video calls which would help many businesses.

In reality thats not happened.

Yes it has, in many places, even with the current non-stand alone implementation.

In reply to a post by bobble_bob:

Im on o2 so maybe that speaks more about their network.

Yes, this.

Where I am, EE and Three upgraded their main macro sites in 2020/2021 with a good amount of 3500MHz spectrum and 10Gbps backhaul. Both provide speeds of several hundred Mbps and I’ve used Three as my main home broadband connection for the last 2 years.

Then O2 recently enabled what they call 5G using a tiny 10MHz slice of 700MHz spectrum from a distant mast and set up all the surrounding 4G masts to act as the 4G anchor for it. So a small amount of 5G capacity from one mast is shared over the area covered by several other 4G masts. I’ve never seen this go faster than 50Mbps, and 10-20 is more normal. It looks good on the coverage map but anyone who has experienced this version of 5G will find it totally underwhelming. I hope this is a stopgap arrangement to deal with the “we know our network is busy in this area” problem while they work on a programme of proper 5G upgrades, but this is O2 so who knows.

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

Whatever Max's personal circumstances are (and whether his posting which prompted your diatribe is fully aligned with the facts), it is the wrong move to personally attack him. If you have a problem with people acting within the law and claiming benefits to which they are entitled you should be attacking the law not those who are behaving perfectly legally and in an economically rational manner.

If there was a like function here, I would use it,
Agree 100% with you.

In reply to a post by bobble_bob:

When 5g was announced and then rolled out we were told we would have lightning fast speeds of 100mbps+ and would open up the potential for unrestricted video calls which would help many businesses.

It is possible, but 5G is still being rolled out, and you will get a very different experience on each of the 4 main networks (O2, Vodafone, EE, Three) and how close you are to a modernised mast.

Majority of high capacity 5G in the UK is in the 3.5 GHz band known as N78, which due to is high frequency is poor indoors. The Three network has the most capacity here, (100 MHz in a block, plus a 40 MHz block) so with todays phones will always get the highest speeds if they have rolled out this capacity. O2 has a single block of 80 MHz after a trade with Vodafone, whom has two blocks 50+40 MHz (total 90 MHz). and EE has two 40 MHz blocks.

Some networks bid for additional capacity at low band, but this is not going to give the high speeds. Most networks are starting to move capacity from 4G LTE to 5G NR, some using "dynamic spectrum sharing" and this is likely to happen for the next 10 years as more and more handsets are replaced with 5G capable units.

In reality thats not happened. Im on o2 so maybe that speaks more about their network.

Sadly O2 (owned by Telefonica, the national telco of Spain) have had cash flow problems for 10 years and have not been able to invest in the same way as the Hong Kong owners of Three have done.

But ive done speedtests where i live, and in a few major cities in the UK like Leeds & Manchester. At best i got 20mbps down and similar up. At peak times that drops to 9mbps down. Its often faster to go on 4g

You may actually be on 4G..

All mobile networks around the world agreed to show a 5G indicator on the phone even when you are not connected to 5G Your 5G Icon Is Virtually Meaningless The only way to be sure is to check the Speedtest.net app and see if it shows 5G or LTE in the corner ( you don't need to run a test to see this ).

Edited by jchamier (Mon 13-Feb-23 14:02:42)

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

Saying that, I know a few people in different parts of the country and some say it is great and others say it is useless, most of the problems seems to be when you are in between building, more so high rise buildings in larger cites.

If your contacts are on Vodafone or O2 then be aware these networks are quite different across a line up the middle of England. Generically in the west Vodafone is better and in the East O2 is better. London is different and major cities are starting to be 'unwound' from this agreement, so change is afoot. This doesn't apply to EE or Three.
https://pedroc.co.uk/content/vodafone-o2-beacon-1-and-2

I can get decent high speed Three 5G speedtest results in quite a few areas of Central Manchester. As you know and others here have commented, the prevalence of high buildings there (many from the magnificent cotton trading days) knock it for six. Near to the trunk roads is obviously best, as the Three rollout in the north-west seems to be aimed at commuters.

In Hazel Grove we are almost swamped by Three 5G coverage, with no other provider having any 5G presence at all. I happen to be in one of the few almost not-spots for it except upstairs. I shall be upgrading to their 5G Home Broadband in June/July when my minimum term expires, and see how that does. The router sits on a window-sill on the same side of the house as the new-style Three mast installed last year.

(Nineteen months ago I had a choice of getting my unlimited everything 4G router price dropped to £15pm from around £23 or getting a better/faster 4G one plus a free LG smart TV at £22pm. I chose the latter and gave the TV to my niece's daughter).

I don't need the 5G but who knows!

In reply to a post by pluralist:

I can get decent high speed Three 5G speedtest results in quite a few areas of Central Manchester. As you know and others here have commented, the prevalence of high buildings there (many from the magnificent cotton trading days) knock it for six. Near to the trunk roads is obviously best, as the Three rollout in the north-west seems to be aimed at commuters.

Yeah, 3.5 GHz is quite easily attenuated by buildings so you can see why Three are deploying lots of new masts.

In Hazel Grove we are almost swamped by Three 5G coverage, with no other provider having any 5G presence at all. I happen to be in one of the few almost not-spots for it except upstairs. I shall be upgrading to their 5G Home Broadband in June/July when my minimum term expires, and see how that does. The router sits on a window-sill on the same side of the house as the new-style Three mast installed last year.

Farnborough has 3 new poles, where 5G is fast, but only reaches about 150m from the pole. Everywhere else is stuck with the original 15 MHz 4G, so speeds of 30 Mbps on average. O2 is worse, and Vodafone and EE are faster, in my estate EE manages 150 to 200 Mbps on 4G.

I think Three are still going with their upgrade, but there were rumours the owners (CK Hutchison Holdings) in Hong Kong were upset the amount of investment wasn't bringing in the customers.

I don't need the 5G but who knows!

Better to be ahead of the curve, the new masts / streetworks poles have multi-band transmitters and antenna, so Three can use any of the spectrum for 4G or 5G transmissions. This won't be going backwards.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

If your contacts are on Vodafone or O2 then be aware these networks are quite different across a line up the middle of England. Generically in the west Vodafone is better and in the East O2 is better. London is different and major cities are starting to be 'unwound' from this agreement, so change is afoot. This doesn't apply to EE or Three.
https://pedroc.co.uk/content/vodafone-o2-beacon-1-and-2

I am not sure what they are using, i think one said they use EE and 99% of the time their phone changes back to 4G and another say they have turned 5G off on their phone as it is so unreliable, but I don't know what network they are on.

Makes no difference to me at the moment, the chance of me using 5G in the next couple of years or so is pretty slim unless I drop my phone and break it, or it has some other fault and then I will look for another phone, but not bothered if it has 5G or not.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

I am not sure what they are using, i think one said they use EE and 99% of the time their phone changes back to 4G and another say they have turned 5G off on their phone as it is so unreliable, but I don't know what network they are on.

Probably not a bad idea, might save some battery power. If the 4G is meeting the needs.

Makes no difference to me at the moment, the chance of me using 5G in the next couple of years or so is pretty slim unless I drop my phone and break it, or it has some other fault and then I will look for another phone, but not bothered if it has 5G or not.

It should come free in any phone you have to replace it with.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Probably not a bad idea, might save some battery power. If the 4G is meeting the needs.

I was told the reason for 5G was to save energy, or is that just for the mast?
Saying that yes if the phone is trying 4G and 5G it will use more energy.
I notice that my phone battery goers down very quickly at the other half house if I am out in the garden, as the signal is weak .
She is looking at getting a mesh system for her Wi-fi and putting an extender in her conservatory, Then can use Wi-fi calling and that sort of thing out in the garden as long as we don't go too far in the garden

It should come free in any phone you have to replace it with.

Depends on what I buy, the phone I got was pretty cheap for what it offers, looking at Oppo phones now to be honest I don't really like what I see, but then I don't really like the format of the phone I have now, the silly screen ration, multiple camera on the back and a pin hole in the front. I prefer the format of my old Huawei p10 lite. I found my old Nexus 4 a couple of days ago, I loved that phone, as much as you can love a phone . It was nice and small and for it's time pretty fast and was just Android with no other UI rubbish, like what Samsung does.
Oppo is not too bad in that way, Color Os is okish.

As i said, Oppo don't seem to have much in my price range that I like, maybe the A54s, but it has a notch and i hate them more than the pinhole. the A54 5G looks ok.
I will not avoid a phone because it has 5G, I know someone who would, but I would not, but it would not bother me if it did not have 5G.
Everything I do on my phone I can do fine with 4G and most of the time it is reliable, but then 90% of the time the phone is connected to some Wi-fi. Here, at the other half's, at work, even if I am in the pub, that is one of the reasons why I got a VPN.

Sounds like I don't really need fibre thing, doesn't it? Sorry,

In reply to a post by japitts:

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

EE has close to 100% 4G coverage but barely 3% 5G coverage, Looks like BT as new owners of EE stopped the previous EE investment on new masts.

4G capacity adds & 5G tech-adds are onto existing sites.

EE's 4G & 5G expansion is very far from being stopped.

I think I have been misinterpreted.

I didnt mean they stopped building new masts, but rather stopped the previous investment approach.