Question

3G connection when good 4G signal available

  • 11 September 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 345 views
E
Rank

My son and myself have iD mobile sims and my wife has a Three sim.
My son lives in Portsmouth and we live near Macclesfield
My son has an Honor 20e, I have an iPhone 8 Plus and my wife an iPhone 12 Pro.

Recently my son has been complaining that he rarely gets a 4G connection in Portsmouth.
At home in Macclesfield both my wife and myself get a good 4G connection.

However, today I visited Buxworth (SK23 7NS) and noticed a similar problem that my son has.
My iPhone 8 plus on iD showed a 3G connection but my wife’s iPhone 12 on Three showed a 4G connection.

Stranger still, when I briefly went into aircraft mode and back the phone connected on 4G for about a minute and then drop back to 3G.

Have iD mobile stopped using 4G in some areas? Or do iD mobile not have access to Three’s 800MHz band anymore?

3G really limits speeds but also 3G coverage is reducing with Three’s reduction 3G masts in preparation for 5G.

Here are the screen shots from my mobile.

4G after initial association
switch to 3G

 

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3 replies

Will
Rank
Userlevel 6
Badge +8

Thanks @Eeeps,

 

This is really quiet interesting. on your handset, where you able to toggle between 3G and 4G in the manual network selection settings? If so, how long did 4G stick around for when doing so?

 

Will

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E
Rank

Hi Will,

I did this (selected 3G preferred and then back to 4G) and it stayed on 4G for about 1 minute.

I also tried manual network selection. Selected another network and waited until I got ‘No Service’. Then selected iD and it initially connected at 4G and dropped back to 3G after about 1 minute.

The area I was in seems to be served by a 800Mhz mast. (The standard coverage map shows a limited signal for standard 4G). The iPhone 8 is ‘super voice’ compatible.

Kash
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

@Eeeps,

 

Is it possible to check if the SIM works any better in a different handset?

Please check if there is any difference in coverage as this will help us rule out a faulty handset.

 

Kash

 

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