In reply to a post by adslmax:

Huawei 5G N5368X are not safe security due to China

So you don't use stuff that's made in China? Sorry, but no-one is going to believe that.

Huawei is no more or less subject to Chinese law than any other brand,

I observed in Leicester suburban areas, only Three has reasonable level of 5G coverage, EE is very spotty with hardly any masts covered.

I admit I didnt check O2 though but your comment seems to indicate that isnt great here either.

It might be about capacity, but they still need to roll out transmitters for it, hence I guess the not working well comments.

In reply to a post by Philce:

O2 here in Leicester 5G is useless, even on a normal afternoon, I have to turn it off. Its all about increasing capacity, but its either not set up correctly within the network, or its just overloaded?

O2's previous owners (spain's Telefonica) have well known financial woes, that limited their investment money.

So fundamentally they haven't rolled out very much 5G at all, probably you are showing a 5G indicator when being actually connected to 4G.

See below for the insanity. The only way to confirm is to use the Speedtest.net app (iPhone or Android) to confirm the real connection type.
https://www.lightreading.com/mobile/5g/your-5g-icon-...

In reply to a post by ian72:

There are many drivers on motorways that will confirm to you that indicators are not required to change lanes

Yep, I spend too much time on motorways... a better analogy didn't come at the time!

In reply to a post by jchamier:

It does work, very well, but UK deployment so far is at high frequency as there is still 3G and 4G in the lower frequencies. As capacity needs increase over the next 10 to 15 years, then the lower frequencies will be used for 5G and 4G replaced. Think longer term.

From what some of the people I chat to have said about 5G it doesn't work a lot of the time, that is why they turn it off on their phone as their phone as they have more problems with it on than off. Some of these people live in large cities and they still have problems, more so when they go between buildings. Here the signal is just awful around most of the city, by all accounts.

If you notice it causing a problem, feel free, but more and more phones will not let you do this, as the networks don’t want you to as they need to balance capacity.

Imagine driving down the M6 with 3 lanes and everyone using the left lane only, causing huge traffic jams and complaining “its rubbish this motorway” because everyone had removed the indicator letting them move right and use additional capacity… Its that insane your suggestion.

I don't have phones from providers, I buy my own phone and use sim only packages, providers don't have the control over my phones that they do with the phones they provide with the rubbish they stick on them.
So I doubt very much if they will be able to stop me turning 5G off.


I realise what you are saying, but 4G works fine for me, anyway the way our council is refusing permission for masts the chance of a good 5G signal is pretty slim. 4G struggles in some places.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

5G can flick between 5G and 4G on the mobile that caused drain the battery. I just turn off 5G on my mobile. Just using standard 4G. I only use 5G at home using 5G Hub.

Bad signals always drained batteries, even on older non-smart phones

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

I don't have phones from providers, I buy my own phone and use sim only packages, providers don't have the control over my phones that they do with the phones they provide with the rubbish they stick on them. So I doubt very much if they will be able to stop me turning 5G off.

Actually you do... Apple or Samsung or OnePlus or similar. The "provider" is the maker of the phone in my paragraph. The provider has the software configured to follow the rules in the SIM card from the mobile network operator. (MNO).

I realise what you are saying, but 4G works fine for me, anyway the way our council is refusing permission for masts the chance of a good 5G signal is pretty slim. 4G struggles in some places.

Some networks (notably Three) are trying to flood the country with additional masts for 5G, but others (notably Vodafone, O2, EE) are adding 5G to the existing mast, often in many cases without visually changing them.

Your argument is identical to that in 2012 when people said "I don't need 4G, 3G is good enough", luckily the networks ignored that argument.

The UK has a major problem with saying "this is good enough", we should be more like the rest of the world, Singapore, Germany, USA etc, where customers demand more and crucially get more.

They also don't have council planning departments that ignore scientific experts... we have a major problem as a country that our local and central government roles attract people without scientific, engineering or technology backgrounds. This is our biggest crisis

Edited by jchamier (Sat 11-Mar-23 09:58:08)

To be fair I cannot think of a use case where a phone needs gigabit speeds.

I get 150mbit down here on 4G and have now agreed to a capped 100mbit service as thats absolutely fine for a phone.

But I guess those in poor 4G coverage areas or on providers like O2 which perform horrible are hoping 5G is the solution to their woes hence the mixed reception.

My own observation is I think only Three are grasping the bull by the horns and might end up been the new market leader as a result.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

Bad signals always drained batteries, even on older non-smart phones

My smart phone is Samsung A53 5G

All around Manchester Three are predominantly siting the new masts on or very close to every trunk route, of which there are many. However in the city centre, which is quite large itself, although there is theoretical coverage, at pavement level it is really bad and will worsen.

We have a large number of Victorian and other multi-storey office blocks and converted warehouses plus loads of new skyscraper apartment blocks already built and increasing. The 5G signal on streets with those old buildings is non-existent. Get into a suqare or green space and it's excellent.