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Three Coverage Map Gone Weird (Again) 4G Blanket coverage

Nope, because the 3G in my area was never what this map now shows for 4G so you cannot be correct.
Did you ever look though previously? It’s highly doubtful Three are claiming as much 4G landmass for indoor coverage on their alleged remodel.

The other way round fits
 
Did you ever look though previously? It’s highly doubtful Three are claiming as much 4G landmass for indoor coverage on their alleged remodel.

The other way round fits
Oh yeah i look quite often, trying to spot 3G only masts and i know for a fact that 3G coverage has some holes, as far as i can see the 3G coverage map hasnt changed, i remember entering devices into the checker and the B20 map looking like this new one. Does anyone know of a device we could enter that wont support b20? maybe it will then revert to the old map and they are now assuming most modern devices will work on B20.

Update: i entered HTC One S (an old lte device) and got the old map.
 
Oh yeah i look quite often, trying to spot 3G only masts and i know for a fact that 3G coverage has some holes, as far as i can see the 3G coverage map hasnt changed, i remember entering devices into the checker and the B20 map looking like this new one. Does anyone know of a device we could enter that wont support b20? maybe it will then revert to the old map and they are now assuming most modern devices will work on B20.

Update: i entered HTC One S (an old lte device) and got the old map.
This is what I did earlier and made me think they had switched the maps possibly by accident? 3G coverage is the same map just the 4G looking funny for my area
 
This is what I did earlier and made me think they had switched the maps possibly by accident? 3G coverage is the same map just the 4G looking funny for my area
Looks like the B20 map has been switched but might not be accidental.
 
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I would definitely say that’s most peoples phones would support band 20 these days. This clearly is the band 20 map as a default now and honestly, it’s about time..

People in this thread saying ‘There’s no way this is how good their 4G coverage is this far reaching’ I have to say I disagree, Three’s 4G coverage is quite sporadic on band 20 and pretty good indoors with the signal strength with a huge caveat. Their band 20 was designated to help address indoor coverage problems that Three were known for.

The caveat of course is that when you’re on band 20, just don’t expect much throughput because a lot of people who are indoors will be connected to a band 20 signal. Three’s band 20 is horrifically slow because it is absolutely swamped, they’ve been relying on it to provide 4G service for too long.

The only time I ever actually see 3G these days is when I’m somewhere kinda rural. In Glasgow, I do often see band 20. I have seen band 28 once and it was when it was prioritised below 3G within a building with tons of thick walls. If I recall the throughput was a consistent and very usable 40mbit/s.

On the subject of the coverage map. I don’t think it’s wrong of them to use the band 20 map nowadays. If you have an older device not supported and you search for it, they will advertise the band 3 map.
 
On the subject of the coverage map. I don’t think it’s wrong of them to use the band 20 map nowadays. If you have an older device not supported and you search for it, they will advertise the band 3 map.
Can you give an example of a device to see that map?
 
On the subject of the coverage map. I don’t think it’s wrong of them to use the band 20 map nowadays. If you have an older device not supported and you search for it, they will advertise the band 3 map.

EDIT: Ignore, see Gavin's post below.

I agree. Most devices since 2015 support band 20, even cheaper ones like the Moto G (2015).
 
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You're right Gavin. I didn't know that. Did a quick test on an old Moto G and while the device can see band 20, I can't use it:

BKASD8W.png
 
Doing the VoLTE restriction makes sense as it prevents the situation where you could have B20 signal but are unable to make a call as you could be outside of the 3G/2100MHz coverage.

While I think we'd probably all argue that a data connection with (no calling ability) would be preferable over no signal, to the general public that'd be very confusing.

And I suspect it might also be to do with emergency calls too - with no signal an emergency call will roam onto another available provider, but if there was a B20 connection I don't know how easy it is to program the network to drop that connection and fall-back to another provider in the situation where an emergency call needs to be made.

My guess is that was probably seen as too difficult/not worth putting the effort in to do, as over the years, as devices get replaced in their natural lifecycles more and more new ones will be VoLTE capable and the situation resolves itself.
 
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AFAIK B20 access on Three requires a VoLTE capable device, so older 4G devices could have B20 capability but those that do not have VoLTE baked in won't gain access. For example my old Pixel 2 doesn't.
My Redmi note 8 could see and connect to 3 B20 even though it wasn't a VoLTE phone (this was a huge reason I upgraded). If I was in my kitchen I'd have 4/5 bars of B20 4G, but as soon as I went to make a call, I got nothing and it wouldn't connect.


edit:::: this wasn't my phone not being able to call at all, it was trying to drop to the non existent 3G in my kitchen (hence the no service)
 
My Redmi note 8 could see and connect to 3 B20 even though it wasn't a VoLTE phone (this was a huge reason I upgraded). If I was in my kitchen I'd have 4/5 bars of B20 4G, but as soon as I went to make a call, I got nothing and it wouldn't connect.


edit:::: this wasn't my phone not being able to call at all, it was trying to drop to the non existent 3G in my kitchen (hence the no service)
Ha, so the exact example I mentioned above - though clearly Three's B20 block/connection limitation doesn't work in every case - do you know what vendor your serving site uses? I assume its Huawei or Ericsson since you get 5G there don't you? And is it a new pole of wonder or traditional lattice type site?
 
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Ha, so the exact example I mentioned above - though clearly Three's B20 block/connection limitation doesn't work in every case - do you know what vendor your serving site uses? I assume its Huawei or Ericsson since you get 5G there don't you? And 926 on cellmapper. it a new pole of wonder or traditional lattice type site?
I believe it is a hauwei site since it was upgraded quite early on in the 5G rollout. It's a lattice mast on a hill.

edit::it had B32 added just the other day. It's Cell eNB ID 2936 on cellmapper.
 
That makes sense then - I think the VoLTE restriction implementation is better/more strictly enforced on Ericsson than Huawei.

There is also the thinking that for the PoW they actually VoLTE restrict all bands, so if you're on an old device near a PoW you might actually find yourself connected to a more distant B3/B1 site (or 3G from the PoW if for some reason it doesn't have coverage from another site).

Edit; actually, if its just had B32 added then that might have been a vendor swap from H to E. I don't suppose you've gone to take a look and see if anything on the site looks shiny and new?
 
That makes sense then - I think the VoLTE restriction implementation is better/more strictly enforced on Ericsson than Huawei.

There is also the thinking that for the PoW they actually VoLTE restrict all bands, so if you're on an old device near a PoW you might actually find yourself connected to a more distant B3/B1 site (or 3G from the PoW if for some reason it doesn't have coverage from another site).

Edit; actually, if its just had B32 added then that might have been a vendor swap from H to E. I don't suppose you've gone to take a look and see if anything on the site looks shiny and new?
I dont think they've vendor swapped since the site was only off for a day, but the speeds on 5G have gotten worse. I haven't gone up to the mast yet to look.
 
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