Poor signal since 3g switch off

[JAMESORCHARD]

Any one else got poor service/signal since 3g switch off? Think vodafone 3g switch off is a step backwards. My s22 ultra is always warm from always searching for signal since 3g switch off! Before I could get a steady 8mbps now I'm either getting nothing or  rarely 150mbps when 5g appears I've got to put my phone on silent at night to stop all the no service notifications 😑 poor show vodafone I'd rather have a reliable signal than this occasionally 1bar 4g or 1bar 5g

[BandOfBrothers]

Totally understand and appreciate your viewpoint on 3G @JAMESORCHARD 

Many struggle to get a usable signal so any under 5G and 4G was a blessing but networks I understand need to progress with updating the infrastructure. 

[AnnS]

As you have mentioned this will be due to a network issue at the location @JAMESORCHARD The first thing to do is check the network from the coverage checker by following the information in this thread Network Issues if you complete the template on the link and copy and paste the results back on this thread, this will will give an example of the issue and something for the Social Team something to go on when they get back to you.

If you don't have WiFi calling set up follow the device guides here Device Guides , this is ideal for when there is a network issue and will stop your phone dropping connection. You can also set up the phone for 4G calling by following the guide here 4G calling 

[JAMESORCHARD]

It's not a network issue signal been going down hill for last few years 😕 WiFi calling is useless for me because I use my phones hotspot for all my Internet needs. I live in the country side beside m4 motorway the local mast postcode sn147pb is approx 1 mile away and just couple of small villages 1.5 miles away  from it. Why commuters need 150mbps for 2 minutes on there journey on the m4 doesn't make sense to me. Surely reliable signal is more important.

[JAMESORCHARD]

Would 5g ultra improve things? There's not much information out there? My understanding is 4g/5g doesn't travel as far as 3g? My contract is out the end of next month what's the bets if I renewed 🤔 there would be no improvement with 5g ultra/standalone. 

[japitts]

5G Ultra just relates to using 5G in standalone mode, without having an underlying 4G network. The coverage pattern obtained - "doesn't travel as far" as you describe - is dictated by the frequencies in use, not the technology used. Low-band coverage tends to cover a larger area than high-band, with certain trade-offs. so if 4G or 5G is deployed on 700/800Mhz, it will "travel" further than 3G on 2100Mhz - all else being equal.

[letterkenny]

I doubt it. The actual range of true 5G is about 500 metres and that’s directional compared to 12 miles line of sight for 3G. I live in Devon and now can’t hold a call on the M5 from Exeter to Tiverton and can’t hold a call at home (4 bars 3G to 1 bar 4G). This has been a bit of a disaster. 

[Racal-Yodafone]

O2 must be chuckling heartily about all this. Don't misunderstand me, I'm sure they'll follow shortly but, as of now, they still have 3G on 900 MHz and 2.1 GHz as well as 4G on seven frequency ranges including 700, 800 and 900 MHz. Since the Vodafone 3G switch-off, for around three months, I had good / excellent 4G signal strength but, since July, this has changed to become only one or two bars signal strength. Meanwhile the O2 handset I have for my second job has good 4G signal but, if I move out of 4G range, nine times out of ten, 3G comes in on three or four bars just like I'm back in 2008 or some time like that. A question I ask frequently is, "Who is driving this crazy race to increase mobile data speeds and the adoption of, frankly, unnecessary 5G?". Very few people I ask say they are happy with or even need 5G. Just a couple of months ago, and I suspect atmospherics were mostly to blame, I experienced a day where most of my phone calls dropped in and out of 2G, some were in fact, completely in 2G! Now I got my first mobile phone, a 1G BT Pearl handset on the Cellnet network, 31 years ago so a call dropping back to 2G is, for me, quaint, nostalgic and amusing but for a modern young person like my niece, I imagine that the sudden change in call quality is pretty concerning, not to mention the lack of data (2G) or treacle trickle of data (2.75G). I really think that all the mobile network operators are dancing to a tune that is not being played by their customers. The government? The Establishment? Their biggest shareholders? I don't know but, from asking people, most of them only want 5G because they were told to want it by news media and social media. I wonder what the mobile network landscape would be like if it was modelled purely on what the paying customers need?!

[Racal-Yodafone]

Hi James, just wondering whether you opted for 5G Ultra or moved to another network? In answer to your question about how far the mobile signals can travel, both to and from a mast, it's not to do with what mobile generation is involved, e.g. 2G, 3G, 4G, but what affects the transmission and reception of radio waves is:

1) Transmission frequency. I got so excited when Vodafone started re-farming some 900 MHz spectrum for 4G. The lower the frequency, the further any given transmission can travel. The same transmission, in terms of power and location, will go further on 900 MHz than it will at say, 2.1 GHz.

2) Transmission power. This is limited by the licence and, possibly, by the specifics within planning permission.

3) Sensitivity and proper tuning of the receiving antenna.

Vodafone has 5G masts operating on 900 MHz, 2.1 GHz and 3.5 GHz. In your location, what you need ideally is for your nearest Vodafone mast to be running 5G on 900 MHz as that will travel the furthest and require less transmission power both from the tower and from your handset. Hope this information is of help and hope you reached a solution, one way or another 🙂

[Racal-Yodafone]

You remind me of the train journey scene, in the movie Hot Fuzz, where PC Nicholas Angel is travelling to his new posting. As he gets further and further west, toward Sandford (filmed in Wells), his Vodafone reception drops, bar by bar, until he has no reception at all 😄  Anyway, I hope you eventually get a solution to your issue. Too much reliance is now placed, by the mobile network operators, on people having Wi-Fi calling compatible handsets and also relying on customers not realizing or remembering they're paying for a mobile connection, not facilitation to the phone network via their or someone else's Wi-Fi! Making a Wi-Fi call on your mobile phone means you're either paying twice or someone else is paying for half the cost of your call by providing a Wi-Fi connection. I was at a family event, Saturday, and also on-call with my main, safety critical, job. I walked into the restaurant and my mobile connection went to NIL. There was "free" Wi-Fi and, for the duration of my time in the restaurant I had to stay connected to the Wi-Fi in case I got an incoming call to alert me to an incident. My employer's policy is that public Wi-Fi shouldn't be used but, in that instance, I had little choice aside from leaving the family gathering. I also had to get a family member to make a test call to my phone, to ensure that incoming calls were being received. But again, and related to your issue, why should we, as mobile connection customers, have to arrange, provide or otherwise figure out a Wi-Fi back-up because the mobile network provider is failing to provide the advertised mobile connectivity? If I'm at home, and my phone connects a call via Wi-Fi, also provided by Vodafone, instead of via the nearest cell tower, do I get a discount for paying twice? No.