Time for a re-re-think about PSTN/POTS?

[Peter Able]

"I have Plusnet for phone and FTTC at about 1km straight-line from the nearest Cabinet. I plan to rely totally on a mobile using a *smart phone as a wifi hotspot. Unlimited calls/texts and some data for, at least for a while, 49p/month! Long term, for less than £5 a month - way less than Plusnet's £25+ offer to renew.

"Incidentally, Plusnet are offering me Data only - but it costs more than data + telephone. Perhaps I've missed something?

"My latest Plusnet profile is 9Mbps. It drops to about 3MBps at busy times. Way less than the "expected 16 to 31 Mbps" estimate at the last Plusnet renewal. The mobile does data at about 14 - 15 Mbps.

"This is from August onwards. O2(Lycamobile) and Vodaphone(Lebara)'s 4G one-bar signal holds up in the house. Better Mbps upstairs than down**. Wifi works throughout the house with the smart phone at the point of best 4G signal.

"Can anyone see any problems I haven't thought of?"

Just thought of a possible problem.

What will my SAMSUNG S5s do when 3G is switched off?

At present, the S5 falls back to 3G - which only (at present) means that the Data rate drops back from 14Mbps to about 3Mbps. But with 3G gone?

PA

Talkmobile 70G, monthly contract @ £9.95/mo ordered today. Plusnet will disconnect 2nd August 2023.

[Andy Burns]

The phone is 4G capable, no coverage in your area?

If it can't get 4G, and 3G is gone, it'll drop to GPRS and EDGE which are in low hundreds of kbps, and will be painful nowadays ...

[SH]

why not get a 4g router and an external 4g aerial? you will get far more than one bar and a more reliable and robust data connection.

[Peter Able]

Thanks, Andy,

S5s are 4G-capable. Otherwise my project would be SNAFU from the get-go. I just don't get good 2G or 4G, although in the optimal place in the house the 4G can deliver 14-15Mbps and the more-bars 3G is 5 times slower.

Is "GPRS and EDGE" 2G? I guess it'll be faster than dial-up and still be able to handle texts and calls. Hopefully it won't come to be an issue as the S5 used in this project will be in a fixed position where I currently get a dot and two bars on 4G.

Presumably for others it may be a serious issue? Quite a precipice to fall off. Actually, 2G is not brilliant here. My old GSM (2G?) T280i sometimes loses sight of O2. The loss of 3G may well degrade some of the rooms in this house?

And if it like that here, where my local railway station is a London Transport one - how will this pan out for those really in the Styx?

Again, thanks for your input.

PA

[John Rumm]

A dedicated LTE router[1] with an external antenna would likely give solid 4G all the time.

[1] these are pretty cheap these days.

Some called Edge 2.5G

The difficulty is restricting the users of data these days - so much software will think nothing of checking for updates and automatically downloading 10s or 100s of MB when it fancies.

I remember the end of the dial up era when your internet connection could be almost unusable for the first 15 mins just with all the competing demands for data suddenly sensing connectivity and letting rip!

Perhaps... it may also push other users to switch to 4G thus putting more load on the service you now depend on.

Really out in the wilds tends to get priority for FTTP since it is cheaper and easier than trying to run other technologies out (no street cabinets required, no mains power etc). I got the impression that the whole run of FTTP out to our area was probably done by a single chap in about a week...

[Andy Burns]

often called 2.5G and 2.75G

I can only think of one location I can't get 4G, but there will be others I'm unaware of.

Can the S5 handle 4G on all frequency bands? OFCOM used to be quite rigid about using this frequency for 2G, that for 3G, the other for 4G, now they can use any frequency that's theirs for any technology ...

Probably not easy to find accurate information for an older phone.

[Andy Burns]

Depends what technology (4G/5G) they re-allocate the 3G bands to ...

[Theo]

Galaxy S5 G900F (Europe): Technology GSM / HSPA / LTE

2G bands GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G bands HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 4G bands 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20 Speed HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A Cat4 150/50 Mbps According to: bands 1, 3, 7 and 20 are in use. So the S5 should support all those bands.

However I think that is a bit out of date. According to here:

8, 28, 32, 38 and 40 are also allocated for LTE, but I'm not clear if they are in use.

Theo

[Max Demian]

I posted this earlier:

I did some research and the following are available from Argos:

TP-Link M7350 4G LTE Mobile Wi-Fi Router: £74.99

SMARTY UNLIMITED 30 Day Pay As You Go Data Only SIM Card: £1, then £20 pcm for unlimited data I pay about £35 pcm for line rental (BT) plus Internet (PlusNet).

Probably worth considering as backup of PlusNet goes t*ts up/is amalgamated and I lose my email address and 250 MB webspace.

[Andy Burns]

or for 50p more, TP-link 4G router with wired ethernet as well as wifi, and option of external antenna.

[SH]

or go to Three's website and get a 5g router and unlimited broandband for £20 a month, minimum term of 24 months.

and 1st 3 months is free...

Then after 24 months you can then cease the Three sim and use a different providers sim.

The router has external aerial sockets so you can buy a 5g aerial from the likes of solwise.

[SH]

and the 5g modem has actually cost you nothing and you've had the 1st 3 months of the 3 sim for free instead of paying 20 quid on a PAYG unlimited SIM. :-)

[Nick Odell]

I've already been doing something similar with a mifi device and a SMARTY sim - both of which have been mentioned elsewhere. No problems so far.

It's a four storey house. Best 4G reception is with the mifi on the top floor: best wifi coverage is with the mifi in the middle. Bandwidth in that location is good enough for me but if I want to squeeze the last drop of performance out of it I think placing the mifi on the top floor with a decent wifi transmitter would help.

Nick [e-mail]

[Nick Odell]

My redundant ADSL router (TP-Link TD-W9970) has three operating modes including 3G/4G and if the OP has something similar attached to his Plusnet service maybe he won't have to buy anything new.

Unfortunately, although I have switched the TP-Link router over to 3G/4G mode and it registers the connection to the mifi device I can't actually persuade it to fi any 4G wi. Any suggestions for me about what else I ought to do to make the TP-Link device work in this set-up? It would be useful to me and possibly for the OP as well should they decide to go down the same path.

Nick [e-mail]

[Peter Able]

All points taken.

As the 4G reception seems to be OK in one part of the house. As that is where the Samsung S5 will live. As its WiFi can reach the other rooms in the house, then my sub-£10 S5 will, I hope, will be fit for purpose. If not, it isn't all set in stone!

PA

[Peter Able]

Technology GSM / HSPA / LTE

2G bands GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G bands HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 4G bands 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20 Speed HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A Cat4 150/50 Mbps

PA

[Peter Able]

Could do, but I can get 15Mbps with the sub-£10 SAMSUNG S5. That's enough for me.

Just hadn't realised that my 3G safety net was about to vanish!

PA

[Peter Able]

Gosh, my plusnet phone and unlimited broadband is/was £26

PA

[Peter Able]

No RF socketry on my Plusnet Modem/Router.

PA

[Peter Able]

Tried Three 4G. -126dbm and no connection holdable. Tried O2 (Lyca) 4G. Works, but consistently weaker/slower than Vodafone. I note that Lyca have switched to EE - no chance.

PA