GSM Bands

[Biggles]

Hello All

 

I know there are 4 bands in the UK or at least my phone is a quad band maybe not using them all.

 

My question really is which band in the UK is best at picking upjust TXTs?

 

The reason is I am having trouble receiving TXTs in a basement.

[nicknorman]

Quad band phones are for use worldwide, for example USA uses a band that is not used in the U.K. Anyway, it is less about which band and more about which carrier (Three, EE etc). Which is best will just depend on your location, perhaps with the exception of Three which is a 3G only service and whilst you can send texts via 3G, you only need a basic phone signal to send a text. So my expectation would be that Three probably gives you the worst service in terms of texts. Three used to allow roaming to Orange when no Three signal could be received but I seem to recall this has mostly but not exclusively been rescinded.

[Alan de Enfield]

The Tri-Band / Quad band phones are for use in different areas of the world.

 

When I was travelling on business I had to have at least a Tri-band phone because the 'systems' (bands) in the USA and Asia and Europe are all different.

 

If you take a 'European single band' phone to the US it will not work, similarly in Asia.

[NB Lola]

Three is a 4g service

[nicknorman]

Three is a 4g service

Not exclusively. In fact around here, not even mostly! Plus of course if a signal is too poor for 4g it will drop back to 3G.

 

Ok what I should have said is that Three is AT LEAST a 3G service (the clue is in the name!)

Edited January 2, 2017 by nicknorman

[john6767]

The Tri-Band / Quad band phones are for use in different areas of the world.

 

When I was travelling on business I had to have at least a Tri-band phone because the 'systems' (bands) in the USA and Asia and Europe are all different.

 

If you take a 'European single band' phone to the US it will not work, similarly in Asia.

That is how it used to be, I can remember 20 year ago having to change work phone from a Nokia to a phone that was tri band so it would work in the US, these days they are all quad band, and different LTE frequencies, so the same phone works anywhere.

 

Wether it is 3G or 4G is not related to the frequencies being used, that is down to the network and which ones they got in the auctions.

[Biggles]

I am using EE and the Sim module in the device is 1800 / 1900 mhz but it could be replaced with an 850/900/1800/1900mhz. Would this be better for simple TXTs?

[nicknorman]

I am using EE and the Sim module in the device is 1800 / 1900 mhz but it could be replaced with an 850/900/1800/1900mhz. Would this be better for simple TXTs?

Lower frequencies would likely be better indoors/below ground level but there is no point in selecting a lower band if there is no service provider using that band. You'd have to look at the bands that the different providers use but I have a feeling they all use the same band in the U.K.

 

Edit: no it seems they don't. EE can use 800MHz in rural areas but that's for 4g (anyway you said 850). 1800 is for 2g which is what you have. First step I suggest, is to ask EE what band they use in your local area.

Edited January 2, 2017 by nicknorman

[NB Lola]

Nick,

 

Your statement was"......Three which is a 3G only service...". This is what I was correcting. It is not, in fact I am on Three 4G as I type. Like you, I always prefer to rely on accurate information, and correct where there was an error.

[Richard10002]

Nick,

Your statement was"......Three which is a 3G only service...". This is what I was correcting. It is not, in fact I am on Three 4G as I type. Like you, I always prefer to rely on accurate information, and correct where there was an error.

I think he means that Three don't revert to anything less than 3G, whereas other providers can revert to 2G... on my phone with Giffgaff, it sometimes shows an E, or a G.

 

So if there is no 4G and no 3G service on the Three network, there is no service. With other providers there probably will be, albeit very slow in terms of data.

[nicknorman]

Nick,

 

Your statement was"......Three which is a 3G only service...". This is what I was correcting. It is not, in fact I am on Three 4G as I type. Like you, I always prefer to rely on accurate information, and correct where there was an error.

 

You are quite correct, I am not arguing. What was behind my comment is that unlike other carriers, Three doesn't fall back to 2g / gprs since their network doesn't support it (although as I mentioned, they do or did allow roaming for phone calls sometimes, when no Three signal is available). So when I said "only" I was thinking " ie it doesn't do 2g" but of course as you say, it does do 4g. So I should have said eg "Three has only a 3g or greater service".

Edited January 2, 2017 by nicknorman

[Stuart Davies]

LTE 2600 is available in Europe but is not used on iphone or iPad.

 

Free, in France only use this band.

 

Fairly random information, I know, but it is an answer to the original question. Even though that question probably wasn't the problem the questioner was experiencing ....... if you know what i mean

[Giant]

2G networks in the UK use the 900Mhz and 1800MHz bands. 3G is on 900MHz and 2100Mhz, 4G is on 800MHz, 1800MHz and 2600MHz.

 

Different network providers use different bands. So in practice you can only choose bands by selecting your network provider.

 

In practice it's a question of which network has good signal at your location, not which band they happen to use.

[Martin Megson]

deleted

Edited January 3, 2017 by Martin Megson

[bigste]

If your situation is that you are often in a basement with poor signal your best option may be to install a repeater. Following that just put it in the bin. lol

[Jess--]

for building and ground penetration you want the lowest possible frequency.

 

this fact rules out the Three mobile network as they have no allocation lower than 1800 Mhz

 

after that it comes down to which network offers the best signal in your area as all of the other networks have frequencies in the 850 - 950 Mhz range.

The two that are likely to offer the best low frequency coverage are O2 and Vodafone simply because they have the oldest networks with the greatest low frequency coverage (newer networks tend to have more operations on the higher frequencies).

 

Some phones may help with the ability to disable 3g (dropping back to 2g & gprs for data) again using the older standard will tend to be on the the lower frequencies (although from memory EE have some 3g in operation on lower frequencies).

 

for 2g operation in the UK I use GiffGaff sims (they piggy-back on the 02 network) and seem able to get a signal in most places

[WotEver]

Which is best will just depend on your location, perhaps with the exception of Three...

In practice it's a question of which network has good signal at your location, not which band they happen to use.

If your situation is that you are often in a basement with poor signal your best option may be to install a repeater

^^^^ these

[alan_fincher]

for building and ground penetration you want the lowest possible frequency.

 

this fact rules out the Three mobile network as they have no allocation lower than 1800 Mhz

 

 

You would think this, but since I switched to Three, I find it consistently better in just about every situation where you might expect the very high frequencies to work against you.

 

Generally if outperforms EE, O2 & Vodafone, (which I have listed in descending order of success, Vodafone having proved almost universally crap before I switched to Three - I can't understand how they can still sell a service.

 

So whilst theory might appear to enter into it, I agree it is actually about what works best for you.

 

Incidentally here, at home, we are far from out in the sticks. We live at the top of a big hill, on the edge of a very large town, and don't have to walk far along a nearby road before we can see antenna on various masts. Nonetheless every network is patchy, or often non-existent, in our home, not just for Internet, but also no signal for txts or phone much of the time, (we have phones here for all the providers, and all are unreliable).

 

Yet I can walk less than 50 yards from my house and it becomes spot on. In my experience coverage maps guarantee nothing.

[nicknorman]

You would think this, but since I switched to Three, I find it consistently better in just about every situation where you might expect the very high frequencies to work against you.

 

Generally if outperforms EE, O2 & Vodafone, (which I have listed in descending order of success, Vodafone having proved almost universally crap before I switched to Three - I can't understand how they can still sell a service.

 

So whilst theory might appear to enter into it, I agree it is actually about what works best for you.

 

Incidentally here, at home, we are far from out in the sticks. We live at the top of a big hill, on the edge of a very large town, and don't have to walk far along a nearby road before we can see antenna on various masts. Nonetheless every network is patchy, or often non-existent, in our home, not just for Internet, but also no signal for txts or phone much of the time, (we have phones here for all the providers, and all are unreliable).

 

Yet I can walk less than 50 yards from my house and it becomes spot on. In my experience coverage maps guarantee nothing.

I'd say Three is generally best for getting usable data transfer. But for a basic phone call (which includes SMS/ texting) I don't find them very good in remote areas.

[Paul C]

I'm not 100% sure but I think signal penetration is based on a logarithmic scale, not a linear one. So, just because the frequency is half, doesn't mean its penetration is twice as good. If it were 1/10th, then it would be. Thus, a signal frequency difference of 1/2 leads to an increase in penetration of about 30%. (No doubt others can correct my science!)

[Richard10002]

 

for 2g operation in the UK I use GiffGaff sims (they piggy-back on the 02 network) and seem able to get a signal in most places

Except in a densely populated part of M21, where I often go for a drink, or sit outside houses waiting for people to turn up, or not Edited January 4, 2017 by Richard10002

[Lampyrichard]

for building and ground penetration generally you want the lowest possible frequency.

 

 

 

(Slightly OT Pedant Edit) :

 

The reason I ended up with an original Orange phone on 1800Mhz was that the then other options of 850Mhz Vodaphone & Cellnet signals wouldn't penetrate the building I was working in... (1950s built BBC studio with a Faraday Cage).

 

Even more OT - Orange then offered 3 models of phone- Nokia, Motorola & Ericcson.

 

The sales pitch from shop staff was Nokia - easy to use, great OS, it has games on it, but lousy signal. Motorola - rubbish OS, pain to use, great signal. Ericcson - we don't have any!

 

I got a Motorola & spent the next 2 years sitting next to Nokia owners(also on Orange) when they could play games & I could make phone calls...

[Chewbacka]

 

(Slightly OT Pedant Edit) :

 

The reason I ended up with an original Orange phone on 1800Mhz was that the then other options of 850Mhz Vodaphone & Cellnet signals wouldn't penetrate the building I was working in... (1950s built BBC studio with a Faraday Cage).

 

Even more OT - Orange then offered 3 models of phone- Nokia, Motorola & Ericcson.

 

The sales pitch from shop staff was Nokia - easy to use, great OS, it has games on it, but lousy signal. Motorola - rubbish OS, pain to use, great signal. Ericcson - we don't have any!

 

I got a Motorola & spent the next 2 years sitting next to Nokia owners(also on Orange) when they could play games & I could make phone calls...

Sounds like my sort of employer that lets you play games at work

[mross]

My Three SIM card has the option to connect using 2G, 3G, or 4G but when I tried just now it could not get a 2G connection although several networks were listed.

 

My Orange/EE SIM card has the option to connect using 3G or 4G.

Edited January 4, 2017 by mross

[Jess--]

My Three SIM card has the option to connect using 2G, 3G, or 4G but when I tried just now it could not get a 2G connection although several networks were listed.

 

My Orange/EE SIM card has the option to connect using 3G or 4G.

Three (in the UK) does not support 2G in any way shape or form, they were created as the first pure 3G network