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Testing a backup service

Tony Gamble

ULTIMATE Member
I live next door to a block of flats covered in cellphone aerials.

By luck, and guidance from here, I ventured from BT copper wire to broadband using Smarty. It works superbly and I get speeds of over 200 down most of the time.

The experienced folk around here countenance me to have a back up for when either Three goes down or my Huawei router does the same.

I wanted to test the other signals nearby so took advice on the least expensive way of getting sims to test them with.

I got a 1p sim for a tenner. That gave me the EE signal but as it is only around 100 down I assume that either EE has no 5g on the building or that it is capped/curbed. I guess it is more likely to be the latter but I am not sure how else to test.

I bought a £1 Lycamobile to test o2 but it would not let me in without paying any more money.

As I already had a GiffGaff sim for o2 that had not yet been activated I bought a ten pound package and decided to forget Lyca. It produces around 100 which is adequate for a short term substitute. I also feel GiffGaff will suit me as I can keep the sim and simply re-activate it when I need it.

Voxi cost me a tenner and that is a good 5g speedster and the speed is 5g and similar to my Three. Maybe i can reactivate that sim when my tenner's worth dies. Worth a thought.

Final thoughts.

I wonder if EE and o2 are really that slow. My postcode is SW6 3UP. Maybe there is 5g around that I am not getting for some reason.

Is GiffGaff the only system that allows you to retain a sim card and only activate for a month as a backup.

Safety first is a boring old subject so I don't expect this thread will last long - but it will always be there for newbies like me who follow on.

Tony
 
Well spotted JP. Both of those are marginal according to their maps. I have tended to assume there was so much clutter on the building that all four were there with 5g.

Voda is showing good 5g coverage on their map.
 
Well spotted JP. Both of those are marginal according to their maps. I have tended to assume there was so much clutter on the building that all four were there with 5g.

Voda is showing good 5g coverage on their map.
Don't look at their maps, look at your device(s), are they saying 5G or not?
 
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But I'm interested on whether I should be getting 5g and if not then why not. Just as my questioning the other day about drop in speed in the evening.

Someone was going to guide me as to whether my Huawei was set up to get the best signal rather than any old signal. Do all these devices work hard to use 5g instead of 4g - or do they benefit from a bit of TLC.
 
I think all newer 'cheaper' (by EE standards) EE phone sims are now capped at 100 Mbps (classed as 'Excellent speeds') while for slightly even more money an 'unlimited' (not really unlimited) sim will offer 'our best speeds - no max Mbps'. I am hoping that data only sims for use in routers do not suffer the same restrictions - there are no indications of this.

I find it a bit strange offering 5G capped at 100Mbps but suspect 'discouraging' us from using phone sims in routers may be one of the factors affecting the changes? In any case, it makes testing local capabilities, with newer sims, more challenging with EE.
 
Tony
Just inserting a SIM and doing a speed test is not enough. You/we need to know the cell the signal is coming from, it’s band/frequency etc. I am assuming you are testing these SIMs in your Samsung A22 first.

1p Mobile say their SIMs are not capped. However, speed can be plan specific so even if being sold now without caps there may be other SIMs in circulation. Also check the account to ensure there are not any speed, data use or tethering switches. My EE SIMs both old and new no longer are capped.

The building near you may have lots of kit but the signal for some providers may be coming from other directions. The assumption of 5G THREE coming from the building (by reflection) is that the building is centrally positioned in their coverage map. The other providers 5G appears to be coming from elsewhere. That is why it is important to use an app to show the connectivity detail (Cell, Frequency/band and signal). That will then confirm what is available and provide the information that may help choose equipment or band locking if that is what you want to do.

Remember there is 5G SA and 5G NSA. The most common is NSA which requires connectivity over 4G LTE. So even if 5G is present for a provider you can't use it unless the 4G control bearer is also good.

As you are after a backup service for 5G and it is only likely to be utilised infrequently a cheaper 4G router and "superfast" LTE service may be more cost effective currently.
 
Meatball.

"You/we need to know the cell the signal is coming from, it’s band/frequency etc. I am assuming you are testing these SIMs in your Samsung A22 first."

Yes, I simply put them in the A22. Is there an app that will tell us/you more?

"As you are after a backup service for 5G and it is only likely to be utilised infrequently a cheaper 4G router and "superfast" LTE service may be more cost effective currently."

Totally agree. It is only something to keep me going if the Three service fails and the speeds I am seeing from the 4g feeds are more than adequate. But you know ME. I don't like stones unturned and if more speed is there for the offering I'd like it.

Tony
 
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Those with rooted Android use Network Signal Guru as the best but I find NetMonster should display what is needed on normal Android. It should list the active connection and other signals near by.

As with all backups the idea is to eliminate any common component to the live service. Choosing another provider is the first step, then different mast, power supply, backhaul etc.

If the Voxi is good that is promising. If Voda comes across the Thames, then even better.

Shame O2 is poor. Sky SIMs on data rollover piggy bank are a good option for backup. However, if you don't need failover a SIM in the draw is fine for 180 days.
 
Thanks Meatball.

I'll reload NetMonster on to my A22 but I don't think it worked last time and only found o2.

I'll do some more fiddling today. I'll look again at o2 as Smarty seems a good option since, as I read it, the card remains activatable even when uncharged with cash.

A similar deal with something using the Vodaf feed would be better as, apart from Three, it seems to be the only 5g I can get.

The journey continues.

Tony
 
Meatball.

So much more to discover.

I put my Vodafone card back into the A22 with the o2 as it is a dual sim phone.

Netmonster is showing Vodafone as 4g LTE 2600 and sometimes A 2600. I have looked that up and get the impression that it is similar to 5g and that is why I got the so much better speeds yesterday.

For o2 Netmonster shows 4g LTE 900 and sometimes 5g NSA disconnected.

You will know much more than I do about the above info.

In the meantime I intend to look into whether once I have a Vodafone sim card I can opt out of any contracts and load it when the emergency occurs. That was what I liked about GiffGaff but if I can get a fast feed in the emergency I might as well have it.

EDIT. I see with Voxi I can do just that. There is no contract so I can opt out and back in when I want.

The other thing I will look at is as Vodafone seems to be as fast as my Smarty Three it might be a better long term solution. I am seeing 180 at ten in the morning on Three but it can drop to 60 at night. That can't be the marker of a resiliant service, can it? Smarty I get for £16 a month. I have yet to see what the best deal is with Vodafone in one of its guises
 
Now I have NetMonster I have swopped the GiffGaff o2 card for the 1p EE one.

I am seeing 4g LTE 2600 and 5g NSA 3600 but getting speed of 105 whilst the symbol at the top of my screen is showing LTE1 5g.

This EE sim must be not a normal one? I see nothing in the t&c to suggest it is. Any suggestions folk?

Tony
 
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Netmonster is quite useful though I also don't understand the 5G disconnected on O2 on my phone as it does show a 5G icon next to my signal but the speeds are definitely not 5G so I guess that is misleading.
 
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