Three launching 5g broadband on Monday

Darc19

As per the title, 5g home broadband being launched on Monday by three.

I'm due a call Monday morning to switch from 4g, hope to have the router midweek and it will be interesting to see the speeds.

My 4g goes from about 5mb in evenings to about 20mb early mornings

No price update yet.

JTMan

Hopefully Three drop the 750 GB cap with the 5G packages.

kippy

JTMan wrote: »

Hopefully Three drop the 750 GB cap with the 5G packages.

Are that many people hitting the 750 cap on 4g?

barneygumble99

I have 3 home broadband and yesterday evening the WiFi was abysmal, as in couldn’t use it at all, but my wife’s was perfect (non 5g phone). Went into my WiFi settings on my phone and saw it was connected to 5g , changed it back to 4g and it was perfect. I didn’t change anything on my phone before this happened. Hope it’s not a sign of their 5g signal strength.

richie123

barneygumble99 wrote: »

I have 3 home broadband and yesterday evening the WiFi was abysmal, as in couldn’t use it at all, but my wife’s was perfect (non 5g phone). Went into my WiFi settings on my phone and saw it was connected to 5g , changed it back to 4g and it was perfect. I didn’t change anything on my phone before this happened. Hope it’s not a sign of their 5g signal strength.

It's a joke.3g coverage countrywide is shocking and they're launching 5g?? Get 3 or 4 g right first then do 5g!

celtic_oz

Darc19 wrote: »

hope to have the router midweek and it will be interesting to see the speeds.

Where did you get the router..I dont see any 5g routers on their website ?

Does it take an external aerial ?

theguzman

richie123 wrote: »

It's a joke.3g coverage countrywide is shocking and they're launching 5g?? Get 3 or 4 g right first then do 5g!

5G will never be country wide, it won't even be city wide, each 5G cell has a range of around 300 metres compared to around 15kms for 4G and even higher for GSM and 3G. If you were driving along in a bus you would want a 5G cell tower on every telephone pole for continuity of signal. Unless you have a 5G cell outside your house then it will be of no great benefit. It is a marketing gimmick really and of no huge additional advantage unless you spend alot of time within the 5G signal area.

richie123

theguzman wrote: »

5G will never be country wide, it won't even be city wide, each 5G cell has a range of around 300 metres compared to around 15kms for 4G and even higher for GSM and 3G. If you were driving along in a bus you would want a 5G cell tower on every telephone pole for continuity of signal. Unless you have a 5G cell outside your house then it will be of no great benefit. It is a marketing gimmick really and of no huge additional advantage unless you spend alot of time within the 5G signal area.

I know that. 5g is a gimmick.more resources should have being put into 3g and 4g.

The Cush

theguzman wrote: »

5G will never be country wide, it won't even be city wide.

This will change once they eventually rollout 5G in the 700 MHz coverage band, spectrum auction due early 2021with rollout likely starting late 2021.

theguzman

The Cush wrote: »

This will change once they eventually rollout 5G in the 700 MHz coverage band, spectrum auction due early 2021with rollout likely starting late 2021.

Is this MM wave? I really am not familiar with 5G. I remember VHF used for analogue TV and that had some range prior to the switchover to Saorview in 2012. Would 5G be like a modern version of VHF?

Darc19

barneygumble99 wrote: »

I have 3 home broadband and yesterday evening the WiFi was abysmal, as in couldn’t use it at all, but my wife’s was perfect (non 5g phone). Went into my WiFi settings on my phone and saw it was connected to 5g , changed it back to 4g and it was perfect. I didn’t change anything on my phone before this happened. Hope it’s not a sign of their 5g signal strength.

5g is not on every mast yet. And of course your phone / router has to be 5g

Darc19

celtic_oz wrote: »

Where did you get the router..I dont see any 5g routers on their site ?

Today is Sunday, tomorrow is Monday. As per the OP, it launches Monday. Eg. Tomorrow.

heroics

richie123 wrote: »

It's a joke.3g coverage countrywide is shocking and they're launching 5g?? Get 3 or 4 g right first then do 5g!

This +1 I can’t even make a phone call on my phone in my house and outside get about 1 bar. According to the three coverage map I should have 5g 🀣

The Cush

theguzman wrote: »

Is this MM wave? I really am not familiar with 5G. I remember VHF used for analogue TV and that had some range prior to the switchover to Saorview in 2012. Would 5G be like a modern version of VHF?

5G refers to the 5th generation of mobile standards and doesn't refer to any particular frequency range.

mmWave refers to the frequency range above 24 GHz, in the EU the 26 GHz band is one of the three 5G pioneer bands, the initial bands coordinated for the rollout of 5G mobile services. This would be a high capacity band but small coverage area. Could be used for broadband from the lamp-post on the street outside your house for example.

Of the other two pioneer bands, the 3.6 Ghz band, starting at 3.4 GHz up to 3.8 GHz. The three mobile network operators are currently rolling out 5G services in this band. Imagine broadband also use a small portion of this band for their 4G fixed wireless broadband to the home. Also a capacity band with a limited coverage area.

The final pioneer band, the 700 MHz band, a coverage band, is part of the UHF frequency range. It was cleared of TV broadcasting back in March in preparation for a large spectrum auction next year.

The 700 MHz band consists of low frequency spectrum which by virtue of its propagation characteristics is particularly well suited for providing wide-area and indoor mobile coverage, because signals carried in the 700 MHz band are able to travel long distances and penetrate obstacles such as buildings.

ED E

Note 700Mhz has been used in Finland etc for years. Where ~1800Mhz cells were providing 100Mb+ the 700Mhz LR cells were doing 12Mb. It won't be some miracle saviour.

The Cush

ED E wrote: »

Note 700Mhz has been used in Finland etc for years.

There was a reason for this, due to Finland's long border with Russia and the 800 MHz coordination difficulties therein.

Finland was one of maybe two European countries pushing for a 700 MHz DD2 even before the 800 MHz DD1 was completed due to the Russia coordination issue, IIRC I posted about it here at the time. They were the third EU country after France and Germany to auction the band back in Nov 2016.

Russia at the time weren't planning to use the band for mobile services due to its use for aeronavigation services, not sure about now.

basill

What routers are available that pick up the 5g spectrum? I only seem to see 4G mobile routers on amazon.

The Haven

JTMan wrote: »

Hopefully Three drop the 750 GB cap with the 5G packages.

Unlimited*
*3 Broadband Unlimited fair usage of 750GB per billing cycle applies.

I could go through that in one day on 4G
250gb to download call of duty for example.

That's 3 games and your monthly limit is done.

JTMan

What happened with the launch that was scheduled for today?

Darc19

€45 per month (44.52 until vat changes back)

1000gb limit.

JTMan

A big increase in price from the 30 euro per month for 4G broadband.

Is the router free with the new 45 GB packaged?

Putting a PAYG sim in a 5G router might be the best option.

Simi

JTMan wrote: »

Putting a PAYG sim in a 5G router might be the best option.

The cost of 5G routers will need to come down a serious amount for that to be a viable option.

If the router is free then €45 is likely to subsidize the cost.

brav

Yep, the internal router they are using is nearly €400: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08L6L777Z

ED E

The Balong SoC (made by them) must be massively expensive for them to price it that high. If thats Huawei's pricing then Qualcomm based gear is going to cost the price of a small family car.

Darc19

€149 for the router and 24 month contract.

For me to get fibre I need to have some trees cut, and also deal with eir.

So this looks like a reasonable deal for my circumstances.

Seems to be a couple of things to finalise before launching, I'm hoping for a call back tomorrow.

tiny timy

Darc19 wrote: »

€149 for the router and 24 month contract.

For me to get fibre I need to have some trees cut, and also deal with eir.

So this looks like a reasonable deal for my circumstances.

Seems to be a couple of things to finalise before launching, I'm hoping for a call back tomorrow.

Are you a business customer or private? Just curious because they are saying online that 5g is only for business customers as of yet.

TimHorton

kippy wrote: »

Are that many people hitting the 750 cap on 4g?

I hit 1TB most months on Vodafone 4g , ( 2 Business a/c's with 500 GB Each)

TimHorton

The Haven wrote: »

Unlimited*
*3 Broadband Unlimited fair usage of 750GB per billing cycle applies.

I could go through that in one day on 4G
250gb to download call of duty for example.

That's 3 games and your monthly limit is done.

Idiot

rogue-entity

The Cush wrote: »

This will change once they eventually rollout 5G in the 700 MHz coverage band, spectrum auction due early 2021with rollout likely starting late 2021.

Not really.

First, a radio signal's ability to propagate and penetrate objects is more or less inversely proportional to its frequency and second, the amount of data that a radio channel can carry is defined by the Shannon Limit, lower frequency bands support fewer large channels needed for high bandwidth data transmission than higher bands but allow for wider coverage areas and vice/versa.

700Mhz will allow for larger cells which is great for coverage, but not for capacity. I don't frankly see the advantage in auctioning off 700MHz in most of Europe as 800Mhz has good building penetration, particularly as the auction process doesn't provide any advantage to the consumer, only the regulators looking for a cash windfall.

richie123 wrote: »

It's a joke.3g coverage countrywide is shocking and they're launching 5g?? Get 3 or 4 g right first then do 5g!

Have they ever bothered launching VoLTE or WiFi calling?


With all the talk about using 2.6, 3.5, 3.9, ~5.6, 24 and 60GHz for 5G, or in putting a cell on every lamppost, you'd think deploying conventional WiFi hotspots with EAP-AKA, enabling seemless roaming across deployed hotspot infrastructure and rolling out WiFi Calling would be cheaper; particularly if more bands were opened up to unlicensed use instead of screwing operators for spectrum licences that end up coming out of our pockets anyway *shrug*

Darc19

tiny timy wrote: »

Are you a business customer or private? Just curious because they are saying online that 5g is only for business customers as of yet.

Where I work we are business customers. But I would be a contact for three.

Never got the chance to call him back due to other priorities, so hopefully sort it this Monday.

The plan I was sent is targeted to domestic users as prices included vat. All business pricing is ex vat

The Cush

rogue-entity wrote: »

Not really.

lower frequency bands support fewer large channels needed for high bandwidth data transmission than higher bands but allow for wider coverage areas and vice/versa.

700Mhz will allow for larger cells which is great for coverage, but not for capacity.

I never indicated that the 700 MHz band was a capacity band, as I said in my post "this will change once they eventually rollout 5G in the 700 MHz coverage band", in reply to the previous post that said "5G will never be country wide, it won't even be city wide". No mention of capacity in either post, only coverage.

See my later post that evening where I discuss the 26 GHz and 3.6 GHz capacity bands and the 700 MHz coverage band - https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=115228403#post115228403

rogue-entity wrote: »

I don't frankly see the advantage in auctioning off 700MHz in most of Europe as 800Mhz has good building penetration, particularly as the auction process doesn't provide any advantage to the consumer, only the regulators looking for a cash windfall.

The 800 MHz band is in full use for 4G LTE, so no available capacity for new 5G services and there will be no overnight switchover from 4G to 5G, hence the requirement for new low frequency spectrum in the 700 MHz band.

I agree with you about the national exchequers and the cash windfall they will benefit from the auctioning of spectrum but on the other side the MNOs are chomping at the bit to get their hands on more and more "sweet spot" UHF spectrum, not only the 700 MHz band but at least another chunk in the 600 MHz band. The USA has already allocated the 600 MHz band for mobile services.

In preparation for WRC-23, a full review of UHF band spectrum (470-960 MHz) in Region 1, is being carried out under Resolution 235 (WRC-15), Item 1.5 (WRC-23). This could mean a decision may be taken at WRC-23 to allocate further UHF spectrum below the 700 MHz band to mobile services post 2030.

tiny timy

Darc19 wrote: »

Where I work we are business customers. But I would be a contact for three.

Never got the chance to call him back due to other priorities, so hopefully sort it this Monday.

The plan I was sent is targeted to domestic users as prices included vat. All business pricing is ex vat

Thanks, let us know.

rogue-entity

The Cush wrote: »

I never indicated that the 700 MHz band was a capacity band, as I said in my post "this will change once they eventually rollout 5G in the 700 MHz coverage band", in reply to the previous post that said "5G will never be country wide, it won't even be city wide". No mention of capacity in either post, only coverage.

See my later post that evening where I discuss the 26 GHz and 3.6 GHz capacity bands and the 700 MHz coverage band - https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=115228403#post115228403

Apologies, I missed where you mentioned coverage (not Capacity); you're correct.

The Cush wrote: »

The 800 MHz band is in full use for 4G LTE, so no available capacity for new 5G services and there will be no overnight switchover from 4G to 5G, hence the requirement for new low frequency spectrum in the 700 MHz band.

And we still operate 2G voice and low-speed data services in the 900MHz and 1.8GHz bands, 3G in the 900 and 1.9/2.1GHz bands and 4G in the 800MHz and 1.8HGz bands - some of those legacy technologies should be sunset. Some countries moved to shut down legacy 2G networks, another suggestion I read was to shut down 3G and keep 2G for voice-only capacity but I believe that shunting voice over to 4G (VoLTE) with offloading to WiFi would let both 2G and 3G networks be sunset, gifting the 5G networks with reusable 2.1GHz spectrum for urban areas and 800MHz or 900MHz for coverage depending on requirements.[/QUOTE]


Perhaps because other operators (e.g. Eir, Vodafone and Virgin) are in a position to offer a seamless WiFi/4G/5G experience: WiFi when at home or visiting a friend, 4G/5G when out and about; 3 feel the need to push 5G coverage into more places to compete?

Either way I welcome the news, though I still feel they should 'walk' before they 'run' and fix other issues they've not addressed to my knowledge.

ED E

rogue-entity wrote: »

Perhaps because other operators (e.g. Eir, Vodafone and Virgin) are in a position to offer a seamless WiFi/4G/5G experience: WiFi when at home or visiting a friend, 4G/5G when out and about; 3 feel the need to push 5G coverage into more places to compete?

Either way I welcome the news, though I still feel they should 'walk' before they 'run' and fix other issues they've not addressed to my knowledge.

This doesnt make any sense as Virgin are an MVNO and operate on 3's network.


If we sunset 3G then 3's customers would be in total blackspots all over the place as they don't have any real 2G footprint (what they have is ex 02). Never going to happen. Dropping 2G is feasible and likely depending on when the next license expiry is @Cush?

Also 3s 5G is NSA so its not "competing" its just an add on to their 4G footprint. Doesnt add anything bar a little data capacity.

The Cush

ED E wrote: »

Dropping 2G is feasible and likely depending on when the next license expiry is @Cush?

The 800/900/1800 MHz liberalised licences expire Jul 2030.

As they are liberalised licences theoretically I suppose they could switch off 2G whenever it suits them but realistically Comreg would have to have an input so that 2G voice subscribers are not left without a service.

ED E wrote: »

Also 3s 5G is NSA so its not "competing" its just an add on to their 4G footprint. Doesnt add anything bar a little data capacity.

Is 5G SA in any way near ready as standard? Could it be an option for the rollout of 700 MHz 5G here next year?

ED E

The Cush wrote: »

Is 5G SA in any way near ready as standard? Could it be an option for the rollout of 700 MHz 5G here next year?

Nope, everywhere is doing NSA for the foreseeable I think.

rogue-entity

ED E wrote: »

This doesnt make any sense as Virgin are an MVNO and operate on 3's network.

Virgin being an MVNO is irrelevant, the key point is they operate a fixed-line broadband service as do Eir and Vodafone.

Eir and Virgin both operate a network of commercial WiFi hotspots and sharing of customers bandwidth via 'eir_WiFi' and 'Horizon Wi-Free'. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to capitalise on this in a way that was actually secure and gave their customers a nice bonus.

If we sunset 3G then 3's customers would be in total blackspots all over the place as they don't have any real 2G footprint (what they have is ex 02). Never going to happen. Dropping 2G is feasible and likely depending on when the next license expiry is @Cush?

In the US and Australia, the 2G networks have been shut-down and plans are to shutdown the 2G networks in Germany in 2021; when I had read up on this to find any plans in Europe, it was floated that using 2G for voice-only backhaul while sunsetting 3G in favour of expanding LTE coverage was seen as the more likely approach. As far as I know there was no edict from Government to sunset 2G, the networks opted to decommission their legacy networks in the way that Bell Canada and Telus decommissioned their outdated CDMA networks.

Will be interested in hearing from anyone using 3 (or any network's 5G service) what the experience is like

Orebro

Sooooo...anyone try out the Three 5G broadband service yet?

FourFourRED

I'm getting 600mbps down and 1000-1200mbps down outdoors on Three 5G on my iPhone.

I'm considering going for the Three 5G mobile broadband - is the speed capped for the mobile broadband in anyones experience? I'm seeing a maximum of 150 Mbps on the actual contract but I'm wondering has anyone tested this and achieved better speeds?

joe123

Is there a coverage map up yet of live areas / planned? How strong coverage is etc?

jdon72

joe123 wrote: »

Is there a coverage map up yet of live areas / planned? How strong coverage is etc?

https://www.three.ie/coverage-checker/