# Who's on 4G then?



## skyscraper101 (Nov 13, 2013)

Thought I'd start a thread for discussion about 4G in the UK.

Who's on it? What are your experiences? What tariff/provider are you on? Have you noticed significantly better reception in buildings or at home compared to 3G? What speeds are you getting? Has it had a profound and everlasting effect on your life? etc.

This is obviously still limited to major cities and still being rolled out by Vodafone and O2. EE seem to have stolen a march on things at the moment. But if you're lucky enough to live in Birmingham, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Glasgow, Southampton and Edinburgh then as of the end of last month you should be able to get it with at least one of the networks by now.

Currently, I don't have it because I'm on giffgaff £12/month when I'm in the UK and can't really justify the huge price to switch to a contract just for the added speed increase, nice as it would be. Oh and I don't got a 4G handset yet either. But surely prices will come down in time and hopefully some of the MVO networks will be able to do better deals for people like me who just want a sim only contract with limited minutes but unlimited data (I won't' hold my breath though).

For now though I am interested in whether it has had any benefits to anyone in getting better signals for voice/data indoors, as that was one of the many promised benefits of 4G as the waveband penetrates walls more effectively.


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## dogmatique (Nov 13, 2013)

I've had a couple of 4G mifi's for a while on EE, which when they work are great, but coverage is entirely random.  Got a 4G iphone 5S yesterday on o2 and was expecting coverage to be shit at home (we rarely get 3G) and was amazed to get speeds of around 30-35MB.  Huge difference.  Web pages load instantly, videos similar.  Yet to try and watch something like a footie match, which always buffers on 3G, pretty much.  The real problem, other than spotty coverage is the shitty tariffs the mobile companies get away with.  It's all well and good having great speeds, but not much use other than for occasional web-browsing and maybe a little bit of video if  you're limited to 3GB a month - and that at a premium above 3G too...


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## skyscraper101 (Nov 13, 2013)

dogmatique said:


> It's all well and good having great speeds, but not much use other than for occasional web-browsing and maybe a little bit of video if  you're limited to 3GB a month - and that at a premium above 3G too...



That's kind of my thinking on the matter too. They're charging a hefty premium for faster speeds and expecting people to stick to a measly 3GB a month


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## pinkychukkles (Nov 13, 2013)

Am using 3 - they are upgrading all their customers to use 4G for free _as long as they have a 4G compatible device _by the time it's rolled out wherever they are. For me, that meant acquiring a 4G compatible phone before the start of December when the rollout of 4G is supposed to begin in London where I am. However, not expecting fireworks though, the 3G signal I have where I live is woeful.


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## Ted Striker (Nov 13, 2013)

What they don't tell you is that 4g doesn't carry voice calls (voip/skyp aside)...So when the phone's sitting in the default 'best we can' speed/network (4g), if anyone calls you, the phone has to disconnect the 4g signal, then reconnect to 3 or 2 g, when which a lot of connections will time out. My inbox is peppered with "xxx tried to call you but didn't leave a message" messages.

That said the data speeds are pretty amazing.


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## beesonthewhatnow (Nov 13, 2013)

I've got a 5s, on EE, with 50 gig a month, it's fantastic.


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## bi0boy (Nov 13, 2013)

I suspect my webpage loading times are CPU-limited so can't see a reason to end my current 3G unlimited data deal. I don't watch movies on my phone ffs.


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## farmerbarleymow (Nov 13, 2013)

I'm on orange so can't get 4g although my phone is compatible. To be fair 3g is fine for my purposes though.


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## skyscraper101 (Nov 13, 2013)

beesonthewhatnow said:


> I've got a 5s, on EE, with 50 gig a month, it's fantastic.



How much is that a month?


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## skyscraper101 (Nov 13, 2013)

Ted Striker said:


> What they don't tell you is that 4g doesn't carry voice calls (voip/skyp aside)...So when the phone's sitting in the default 'best we can' speed/network (4g), if anyone calls you, the phone has to disconnect the 4g signal, then reconnect to 3 or 2 g, when which a lot of connections will time out. My inbox is peppered with "xxx tried to call you but didn't leave a message" messages.
> 
> That said the data speeds are pretty amazing.



I didn't know that. That's a bit of a pain eh? That'd actually put me off upgrading if even voice calls are getting dropped because of it


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## beesonthewhatnow (Nov 13, 2013)

skyscraper101 said:


> How much is that a month?


32 quid


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## skyscraper101 (Nov 13, 2013)

beesonthewhatnow said:


> 32 quid



Thats not bad. Limited offer or standard deal at the moment?


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## beesonthewhatnow (Nov 13, 2013)

skyscraper101 said:


> Thats not bad. Limited offer or standard deal at the moment?


Not available to the general public as far as I know.


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## Mapped (Nov 13, 2013)

I'm ditching Orange next week and moving onto a three sim only deal £12.90 p/m all you can eat data, which should be 4G some time next month.


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## Fingers (Nov 14, 2013)

Voice over LTE should be enabled on the networks soon so that should sort out the call dropping issues


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## Callum91 (Nov 14, 2013)

EE 4G for me here. Had it a few months now, £35 per month with the iPhone 5. No complaints from me here, shit hot speeds and decent coverage, trounces 3G by a mile. The price is probably the only downfall right now but who doesn't want to pay less for something?


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## mog1976 (Nov 14, 2013)

b. eesonthewhatnow said:


> I've got a 5s, on EE, with 50 gig a month, it's fantastic.


Fifty gig . Thats massive . My kids ment to have unlimited on giff gaff but thay keep turning hers off for tethering and shes not even gone up to 6 gig


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## Yata (Nov 15, 2013)

mog1976 said:


> Fifty gig . Thats massive . My kids ment to have unlimited on giff gaff but thay keep turning hers off for tethering and shes not even gone up to 6 gig


make sure you're on the right plan, it has to be a giga-bag or whatever theyre called. if you try to use the standard tariff internet allowance for tethering instead of on your phone they will switch it off


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## sim667 (Nov 15, 2013)

beesonthewhatnow said:


> 32 quid



Thats what I pay for 3G on 3, but unlimited data, including tethering.

If they upgrade me to 4G, same contract Ill be dead chuffed.


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## beesonthewhatnow (Nov 15, 2013)

mog1976 said:


> Fifty gig . Thats massive


Yep. I spend a lot of time away with work and it means I no longer have to pay extortionate hotel wifi fees. Can stream films/music etc without having to worry about running out of data allowance


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## beesonthewhatnow (Nov 15, 2013)

Blimey, just done a speedtest.

34.9 down, 36.5 up.

That's approx. 3 times faster than my home broadband


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## skyscraper101 (Nov 15, 2013)

beesonthewhatnow said:


> Blimey, just done a speedtest.
> 
> 34.9 down, 36.5 up.
> 
> That's approx. 3 times faster than my home broadband



Is tethering allowed on your contract?


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## beesonthewhatnow (Nov 15, 2013)

skyscraper101 said:


> Is tethering allowed on your contract?


Yes.


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## Fingers (Nov 15, 2013)

sim667 said:


> Thats what I pay for 3G on 3, but unlimited data, including tethering.
> 
> If they upgrade me to 4G, same contract Ill be dead chuffed.


They will upgrade you for free, probs in a  couple of weeks or so. They are currently testing 4G so I reckon 1st december


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## Fingers (Nov 15, 2013)

beesonthewhatnow said:


> Blimey, just done a speedtest.
> 
> 34.9 down, 36.5 up.
> 
> That's approx. 3 times faster than my home broadband




I ditched my home broadband from three on their ultra fast network.  The up speed is what I am waiting for as I often have to upload huge files which currently take forever


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## sim667 (Nov 19, 2013)

Fingers said:


> They will upgrade you for free, probs in a  couple of weeks or so. They are currently testing 4G so I reckon 1st december



O rly?

Nice.


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## Barking_Mad (Nov 19, 2013)

Can barely get 3G and that's on 3 Mobile!


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 19, 2013)

I live in a small town in the peak district, so makes me smile all the phone shops are advertising when you won't be able to get the here.


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## Citizen66 (Nov 19, 2013)

Pay roughly £50 a month for 5gig on ee (with phone, natch). Which is better than the £42 I was paying initially for 1gig. I found I was easily burning that watching youtube. 

When back in the north I'm lucky to get a 3g signal even. It's usually 'H' whatever the hell that means. Hopeless, probably.

I do think its vastly over priced but it should drop as the tech is rolled out and more people jump on.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 19, 2013)

That's mental!


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## Citizen66 (Nov 19, 2013)

What is?


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 19, 2013)

50 quid a month for a phone bill. I know it's new tech and all, just seems on the steep side.


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## Citizen66 (Nov 19, 2013)

Global Stoner said:
			
		

> 50 quid a month for a phone bill. I know it's new tech and all, just seems on the steep side.



I suppose it is comparatively.

But someone might tell you they paid £50 for a gramme of charlie which was 80% baking powder and you wouldn't even blink.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 19, 2013)

I think coke is a rip off as well, but then I'm tight, although I see your point.


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## Citizen66 (Nov 19, 2013)

Global Stoner said:
			
		

> I think coke is a rip off as well, but then I'm tight, although I see your point.



I need some way of justifying being a mug!


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## TheHoodedClaw (Nov 19, 2013)

Citizen66 said:


> When back in the north I'm lucky to get a 3g signal even. It's usually 'H' whatever the hell that means. Hopeless, probably.



"H" is HSDPA, which is faster than 3g, at least in theory.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 19, 2013)

Apparently some US networks count it as 4g. When it's good and I'm tethered to my laptop, browsing urban and other lower demand stuff is identical in feel to my home broadband.


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## Citizen66 (Nov 20, 2013)

TheHoodedClaw said:


> "H" is HSDPA, which is faster than 3g, at least in theory.



Doesn't feel it in practice!


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## TheHoodedClaw (Nov 20, 2013)

Citizen66 said:


> Doesn't feel it in practice!



On my Vodafone phone, if I've got three or four bars it works great, less than that it is well flaky.


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