# newbie smart phone questions



## ska invita (Dec 3, 2015)

I'm new to internet phones and keep having questions... Help a newbie out please!

Two in my head are
Can I upload a photo to urban having taken a photo on my phone?

When on the move, say on train or bus, I rarely get a good net connection.. Often unusable. Is that normal? Anything I can do to improve it?

My network is giffgaff which is 02 I think. 3g. Would having 4g help that, or is that just speed?

One more question, what about roaming? I don't really understand what roaming is!

Thank you


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## editor (Dec 3, 2015)

What phone are you using? 

Yes, you can upload images to urban on the move, but you may need a photo editor app to reduce its size down. Roaming is about using your phone abroad.  4G promises faster download speeds, but that's only going to happen if you've got a decent signal - depending on where you live, that can be variable. It's not unusual to struggle to get a decent signal on the move.


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## Callie (Dec 3, 2015)

In Edinburgh they have WiFi on buses and trams. Gits.


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## 5t3IIa (Dec 3, 2015)

I use imgur.com app to post pics. 

I get 4G if it's available... I'm on vodafone and it used to be just 3G at home but 6 months ago it changed to 4G, I think that's just because it became available in my area. 

Have you logged into Virgin (?) wifi on the Underground?


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## ska invita (Dec 3, 2015)

editor said:


> What phone are you using?
> 
> Yes, you can upload images to urban on the move, but you may need a photo editor app to reduce its size down. Roaming is about using your phone abroad.  4G promises faster download speeds, but that's only going to happen if you've got a decent signal - depending on where you live, that can be variable. It's not unusual to struggle to get a decent signal on the move.


nokia windows lumia 520
8.1 update windows


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## ska invita (Dec 3, 2015)

5t3IIa said:


> Have you logged into Virgin (?) wifi on the Underground?


isnt that just at stations? i havent tried though...


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## 5t3IIa (Dec 3, 2015)

ska invita said:


> isnt that just at stations? i havent tried though...


Yes, at stations. It's so quick between stops though I can listen to streamed music and stuff


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## 5t3IIa (Dec 3, 2015)

According to this you have 3.5G


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## hash tag (Dec 3, 2015)

Sometimes the net can be smoother if 4g is switched off.


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## Wolveryeti (Dec 3, 2015)

ska invita said:


> When on the move, say on train or bus, I rarely get a good net connection.. Often unusable. Is that normal? Anything I can do to improve it?


Yeah - change your mobile provider - naff naff are a joke.


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## TheHoodedClaw (Dec 3, 2015)

5t3IIa said:


> According to this you have 3.5G



3.5G is HSDPA which shows up with an "H" on my phone. It's certainly easily fast enough for browsing and streaming music, and it's OK for video.


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## Throbbing Angel (Dec 3, 2015)

What's H+?


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## RubyToogood (Dec 3, 2015)

Wolveryeti said:


> Yeah - change your mobile provider - naff naff are a joke.


I've never had any trouble with them. And yes, it is actually the O2 network.


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## Fez909 (Dec 3, 2015)

Throbbing Angel said:


> What's H+?


*HSPA+*

Evolved HSPA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's nearly as fast as 4G


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## Throbbing Angel (Dec 3, 2015)

Fez909 said:


> *HSPA+*
> 
> Evolved HSPA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> It's nearly as fast as 4G


Ta very much


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## Throbbing Angel (Dec 3, 2015)

RubyToogood said:


> I've never had any trouble with them...



Same here


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## Wolveryeti (Dec 4, 2015)

RubyToogood said:


> I've never had any trouble with them. And yes, it is actually the O2 network.


Maybe it's a case of where you live, but I was getting precisely zero 3G in the middle of Oxford while my wife (O2 customer) had full H+.

I think that naff naff customers must just get their traffic given the lowest possible priority on O2's network...


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## ska invita (Dec 4, 2015)

Thanks, I was going to ask about the H thing... Speed doesn't feel like an issue, when the net is connected pages load quickly, it's more the irregularity of the loading when not on WiFi and using satellites that would be nice to improve and I don't really know if its just me or if this is just the way it is. 

Is the only way to improve this to be with a different network?

Also not surprisingly some very loaded pages like a YouTube link thread crash the browser.


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## ska invita (Dec 4, 2015)

Wolveryeti said:


> Maybe it's a case of where you live, but I was getting precisely zero 3G in the middle of Oxford while my wife (O2 customer) had full H+.
> 
> I think that naff naff customers must just get their traffic given the lowest possible priority on O2's network...


That sounds possible.... Also what's all this Run By Our Members guff? It's run by O2! When my friend told me about GG he made it sound like a soviet phone network!


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## ska invita (Dec 4, 2015)

As a  kid of the late 80s calling it Naff Naff just makes it sound trendier...Naff Naff puffers were all the unaffordable rage at the time...


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## Wolveryeti (Dec 4, 2015)

ska invita said:


> That sounds possible.... Also what's all this Run By Our Members guff? It's run by O2! When my friend told me about GG he made it sound like a soviet phone network!


The infrastructure is provided by o2 but the customer support is done via their forums.


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## ska invita (Dec 4, 2015)

Wolveryeti said:


> The infrastructure is provided by o2 but the customer support is done via their forums.


Yeah I've had a little go on the forums, but it still feels like false advertising to me. Do the forum knowledge providers get paid?


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## Wolveryeti (Dec 4, 2015)

ska invita said:


> Yeah I've had a little go on the forums, but it still feels like false advertising to me. Do the forum knowledge providers get paid?


Yeah - they are full of shills (e.g. claiming that naffnaff and O2 speed are the same). You get bill credit for being 'helpful' on the forums (take from that what you will...).


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## tony.c (Dec 4, 2015)

Wolveryeti said:


> Yeah - change your mobile provider - naff naff are a joke.


Is EE any good? I just want a pay as you go tariff, but most of them want £10 per month minimum. Giff Gaff and EE do a £5 a month option. I don't use £10 in a year on my current basic mobile phone.


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## Wolveryeti (Dec 4, 2015)

tony.c said:


> Is EE any good? I just want a pay as you go tariff, but most of them want £10 per month minimum. Giff Gaff and EE do a £5 a month option. I don't use £10 in a year on my current basic mobile phone.


EEs 3g and coverage is decent IME, also Three


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## ddraig (Dec 4, 2015)

I got naff naff too
is it contract?
if not and you are using your phone out and about a fair bit with data on then i suggest getting a goodybag otherwise you will cane your credit, i've started doing this as don't want to use computer in new job for my web activity.
signal can be patchy but not had many probs with nn over the last 3 years or so (apart from the network going down for ages twice!)


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## ska invita (Dec 4, 2015)

£10 a month goodybag for me - thats just about the right amount for me - dont have a landline


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## ska invita (Dec 5, 2015)

Must say internet phones really help pass the time waiting for night busses...


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## ska invita (Dec 6, 2015)

I've another question relating to windows phones specifically...o I've turned off the voice activated search thing but I regularly find the phone goes into a mode where it says  Listening... Does anyone have any tips to stop that happening?


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## 8115 (Dec 6, 2015)

Stop pressing the wrong button, no but seriously it happened to me both times I got a new smart phone, stops after a little while.


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## ska invita (Dec 6, 2015)

What button is it? Seems to do it of it's own accord with no pattern as to why


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## 8115 (Dec 6, 2015)

I don't know, to be honest. It is annoying. The first phone I had, a Samsung Galaxy Ace used to ask "what would you like to do?" out loud out of the blue.


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## Throbbing Angel (Dec 19, 2015)

ska invita said:


> *What button is it?* Seems to do it of it's own accord with no pattern as to why



I think it is pressing *and holding* the Windows button


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