Three Ireland 5G

Tzardine · 19-12-2020 12:10pm

JeffKenna wrote: »

Thanks for that. One more question if you don't mind. I tried to buy a broadband plan from three but they won't let me because there's no broadband network. I'm on 5G on my phone but the agent told me the phone and broadband 5G networks are different. Is this true? It seems strange to me.

Yes, they are only rolling it out in certain areas it seems, even thought there may be 5g coverage in an area, they are not selling it.

Not sure why this is, and in fact I dont know anybody that has been able to successfully order it.

For example, if I put my eircode in of my office, which in in Dublin City Centre and definitely in 5g coverage, it still says its not available.

JeffKenna · 19-12-2020 12:11pm

Tzardine wrote: »

Yes, they are only rolling it out in certain areas it seems, even thought there may be 5g coverage in an area, they are not selling it.

Not sure why this is, and in fact I dont know anybody that has been able to successfully order it.

For example, if I put my eircode in of my office, which in in Dublin City Centre and definitely in 5g coverage, it still says its not available.

Suppose I'll have to give it a few months and hope they'll roll it out soon. Thanks for that.

ED E · 19-12-2020 7:42pm

Tzardine wrote: »

Yes, they are only rolling it out in certain areas it seems, even thought there may be 5g coverage in an area, they are not selling it.

Not sure why this is, and in fact I dont know anybody that has been able to successfully order it.

For example, if I put my eircode in of my office, which in in Dublin City Centre and definitely in 5g coverage, it still says its not available.

Probably preserving the experience for now. If their new 5G product is been tweeted about doing 10Mb in Dublin it looks bad.

SeanaciousD · 24-12-2020 4:07pm

I mentioned previously in the thread I would test my parents local mast with the 5G phone, which I did.

The result was quite strange, as it now seems the 5G n78 signal has been switched off at the mast completely, where it was on before. Neither the phone or the 5G box can see the signal anymore, where before the 5G box could detect it but could not connect. I'm guessing they're having some issues with the rollout.

I was shopping yesterday and I went in to the local 3 shop when I was passing by. The sales rep was actually quite helpful and told me that the coverage map is accurate in terms of which masts will have 5G, but 5G home broadband won't be rolled out nation-wide until February. So if you put in your Eircode and it doesn't let you choose the 5G option then it hasn't been rolled out to your mast yet.

Just figured I would give an update.

Nuphor · 25-12-2020 11:07am

SeanaciousD wrote: »

I mentioned previously in the thread I would test my parents local mast with the 5G phone, which I did.

The result was quite strange, as it now seems the 5G n78 signal has been switched off at the mast completely, where it was on before. Neither the phone or the 5G box can see the signal anymore, where before the 5G box could detect it but could not connect. I'm guessing they're having some issues with the rollout.

I was shopping yesterday and I went in to the local 3 shop when I was passing by. The sales rep was actually quite helpful and told me that the coverage map is accurate in terms of which masts will have 5G, but 5G home broadband won't be rolled out nation-wide until February. So if you put in your Eircode and it doesn't let you choose the 5G option then it hasn't been rolled out to your mast yet.

Just figured I would give an update.

Seeing this as well at a rural mast that was previously showing a 5g signal. Has been turned off altogether.

JeffKenna · 25-12-2020 11:47am

Are all masts the same strength? In cork city I have 500mbps download speed but in my rural home I only have 25mbps even though the bars look the same on my phone.

Teothican · 25-12-2020 2:45pm

i will be buying the Oneplus Nord 5G next week and was wondeing if i have to call into Three to get a 5G sim? i am on all you can eat data top up every 28 days

doc22 · 25-12-2020 2:55pm

JeffKenna wrote: »

Are all masts the same strength? In cork city I have 500mbps download speed but in my rural home I only have 25mbps even though the bars look the same on my phone.

I'm going to guess congestion on rural mast as people use that as their primary internet access or lack of backhaul at rural site thats causing the issue. It's the same were I live. Signal strength has little to do with the actual mast capacity

1huge1 · 26-12-2020 10:58am

Teothican wrote: »

i will be buying the Oneplus Nord 5G next week and was wondeing if i have to call into Three to get a 5G sim? i am on all you can eat data top up every 28 days

OnePlus 5g phones aren't allowed access the Three 5G network yet, (unless the situation has changed in the very recent past).

Three and OnePlus are supposed to be working on an update that will allow this.

Oneplus Nord 5G issue (Firmware solved)
http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2058117299

celtic_oz · 26-12-2020 11:10am

this €160 phone be ok with 3 5G ?

https://www.kimovil.com/en/where-to-buy-realme-v3#open-prices

Ten Pin · 26-12-2020 12:36pm

this €160 phone be ok with 3 5G ?

https://www.kimovil.com/en/where-to-buy-realme-v3#open-prices

Not sure if it has 700 band, check it out further...
https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/88345441

ED E · 26-12-2020 5:19pm

Nuphor wrote: »

Seeing this as well at a rural mast that was previously showing a 5g signal. Has been turned off altogether.

SeanaciousD wrote: »

The result was quite strange, as it now seems the 5G n78 signal has been switched off at the mast completely, where it was on before. Neither the phone or the 5G box can see the signal anymore, where before the 5G box could detect it but could not connect. I'm guessing they're having some issues with the rollout.

Just got a 5G handset, not seeing promotion to 5G where I'd expect it.

Anyone currently seeing 5G live? Havent been able to test many locations with Covid/Christmas.

Cork981 · 26-12-2020 8:50pm

ED E wrote: »

Just got a 5G handset, not seeing promotion to 5G where I'd expect it.

Anyone currently seeing 5G live? Havent been able to test many locations with Covid/Christmas.

Have 5G on my iPhone 12 in most places in Cork City.
I’m surprised how well indoor coverage is working.

Outside I’m seeing generally >500mb down and over 1000mb in a few locations.

celtic_oz · 27-12-2020 11:39am

Ten Pin wrote: »

Not sure if it has 700 band, check it out further...
https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/88345441

I thought it just had to say N78 ?

realme phone :

Ten Pin · 27-12-2020 12:37pm

I thought it just had to say N78?

There's also a 5G 700MHz band (not in use yet). It'll be used in rural areas.

https://www.spectrummonitoring.com/frequencies.php/frequencies.php?market=IRL

Also, it doesn't have 4G 800 band either so IMO it's best to look for another phone.

Teothican · 27-12-2020 12:39pm

do any of the oneplus phones work on the Three 5G network?

27-12-2020 3:40pm

Ten Pin wrote: »

There's also a 5G 700MHz band (not in use yet). It'll be used in rural areas.

https://www.spectrummonitoring.com/frequencies.php/frequencies.php?market=IRL

Also, it doesn't have 4G 800 band either so IMO it's best to look for another phone.

All we need in the Country is a decent reliable wireless service not Fibre, I don't need 1GB fibre it's a huge waste of money in my opinion rolling it out to many country areas and half might not even sign up for it.

westyIrl · 27-12-2020 4:03pm

Deleted User wrote: »

All we need in the Country is a decent reliable wireless service not Fibre, I don't need 1GB fibre it's a huge waste of money in my opinion rolling it out to many country areas and half might not even sign up for it.

Unfortunately fiber is the only decent reliable service, for premises and cellular backhaul infrastructure alike but that's for another thread.

Jim

27-12-2020 7:00pm

westyIrl wrote: »

Unfortunately fiber is the only decent reliable service, for premises and cellular backhaul infrastructure alike but that's for another thread.

Jim

I find 4G quite reliable to be honest. Vodafone have had their issues lately though which has effected all their systems including fibre. 4G could do with being a lot faster but other than that I think 5 G would be fine for most People if it proves fast enough at peak times.

JP Liz V1 · 28-12-2020 2:40am

I barely get 3G to work for me

28-12-2020 8:39am

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

I barely get 3G to work for me

You could probably get it to work a lot better or get 4G like I did by putting an external 4G Antenna on a pole on the Chimney that's the only way I can get it to work. I can get 3 G on my phone in the house but it's crap, the Antenna outside and on a pole on the Chimney the difference was night and day.

As the old saying goes, a radio is only as good as it's antenna and basically this is all 3 or 4 G is, Transmitter to Radio, the radio being the modem.

Now if I could get 5G I wouldn't need fibre, maybe I can get 5G I don't know yet.

4G off peak is around 30-40 Mbs which is fine, if I could get a good 30-50 Mbs via 5G at peak times I'd be happy enough. Currently capped at 300 Gb per month on Vodafone though, 3 gave I think 750 Gb but the service was so bad you'd never use it.

ED E · 28-12-2020 5:18pm

Teothican wrote: »

do any of the oneplus phones work on the Three 5G network?

Another poster got it going after an update (baseband).

celtic_oz wrote: »

this €160 phone be ok with 3 5G ?

https://www.kimovil.com/en/where-to-buy-realme-v3#open-prices

Ten Pin wrote: »

Also, it doesn't have 4G 800 band either so IMO it's best to look for another phone.

Also its MTK. MTK radios just dont match Qualcomm. Like it or not they're market leader for a reason.

bazrushe · 01-01-2021 10:12pm

Hi all and happy new year to ye.I was using the nperf app today which is great to track where 5g coverage can be got so in the town where I live there is no 5g signal for three ,eir is available.The 5g for three has coverage about 2 miles from town I went to where it showed on the nperf coverage map and it's very accurate I picked up 5g signal was surprised I was close to the mast full bars,done a speed test and got 58mbps.I presume they don't have it up and fully running yet or have some adjustments to do.Just thought I'd share the information with ye.

celtic_oz · 18-01-2021 11:34am

These are the bands that support 700Mhz, do the phones have to support all of them ( n12,n14,n28,n29 and n83 ? ) + n78 to be futureproof

n12 FDD 700 Lower SMH[A 5] 699 – 716 729 – 746 30 5, 10, 15
n14 FDD 700 Upper SMH 788 – 798 758 – 768 −30 5, 10
n28 FDD 700 APT 703 – 748 758 – 803 55 5, 10, 15, 20[A 7], 30[A 7]
n29 SDL 700 Lower SMH[A 8] N/A 717 – 728 N/A 5, 10
n83 SUL 700 APT 703 – 748 N/A N/A 5, 10, 15, 20

The Cush · 18-01-2021 12:20pm

celtic_oz wrote: »

These are the bands that support 700Mhz, do the phones have to support all of them ( n12,n14,n28,n29 and n83 ? ) + n78 to be futureproof

n12 FDD 700 Lower SMH[A 5] 699 – 716 729 – 746 30 5, 10, 15
n14 FDD 700 Upper SMH 788 – 798 758 – 768 −30 5, 10
n28 FDD 700 APT 703 – 748 758 – 803 55 5, 10, 15, 20[A 7], 30[A 7]
n29 SDL 700 Lower SMH[A 8] N/A 717 – 728 N/A 5, 10
n83 SUL 700 APT 703 – 748 N/A N/A 5, 10, 15, 20

Europe uses the lower duplexer of the APT-700 band (n28) 703-733/758-788 MHz. The others are sub-bands of this not used in this part of the world and one of them overlaps the EU's 800 MHz band.

n78 if you want 5g now, it will be rolled in the lower bands in due course

celtic_oz · 18-01-2021 3:23pm

I live in a rural area

im trying to buy a phone now that can be used to detect if 5g for rural is in my area ( probably not for a long time )

it will probably be three

what bands ( n78 etc ) do I need to ensure I have such that the phone will be able to detect 5G for rural in the future, thanks

The Cush · 18-01-2021 3:29pm

celtic_oz wrote: »

what bands ( n78 etc ) do I need to ensure I have such that the phone will be able to detect 5G for rural in the future, thanks

The 700 MHz band is one of the EU's three 5G pioneer bands together with the 3.6 GHz and 26 GHz band, so n28 would be required.

The 2.3 and 2.6 GHz bands are also up for auction, the 2.6 band will also likely be used for urban areas.

celtic_oz · 18-01-2021 3:34pm

thanks .. N28 + N78 is on this phone so should be perfect

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001895947193.html

specs : 5G NR: n1/n3/n5/n7/n8/n20/n28/n38/n40/n41/n77/n78

The Cush · 18-01-2021 4:25pm

celtic_oz wrote: »

specs : 5G NR: n1/n3/n5/n7/n8/n20/n28/n38/n40/n41/n77/n78

Also covers the 2300 and 2600 MHz bands, n40 and n7/n38 respectively.

PTH2009 · 18-01-2021 4:27pm

Anyone use 5G from three yet

Paid big bucks for the New S21 Ultra and want the best out of it. €5 a month extra for 5G coverage

ED E · 18-01-2021 7:45pm

PTH2009 wrote: »

Anyone use 5G from three yet

Paid big bucks for the New S21 Ultra and want the best out of it. €5 a month extra for 5G coverage

Have a 5G phone, havent bothered to change plan. LTE-CA (4G+) is plenty for any mobile use.

Heraldoffreeent · 19-01-2021 12:29am

PTH2009 wrote: »

Anyone use 5G from three yet

Paid big bucks for the New S21 Ultra and want the best out of it. €5 a month extra for 5G coverage

Yeah, had to go into work last Monday week, one location is near Three's office on the Quays, got about 950Mbs in the office, and 1200Mbs in the open air smoking area. Later that day I was in a location near Trinity College, only 4g in the building, outside smoking area was weird, one minute 7-800Mb on 5G next, no 5G only 4g/lte.

No 5g where I live even though its in the IFSC.

celtic_oz · 19-01-2021 1:18pm

celtic_oz wrote: »

thanks .. N28 + N78 is on this phone so should be perfect

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001895947193.html

specs : 5G NR: n1/n3/n5/n7/n8/n20/n28/n38/n40/n41/n77/n78

Order in € 193,10 delivered for the next 2 days

Donegal Overlanding · 19-01-2021 4:56pm

Anyone using 3 5g with info on speeds at specific distances from the mast? I read that the range is awful. Im 2.2km direct line of sight with a mast, waiting on the S21 Ultra to arrive from 3.

Sunny!! · 21-01-2021 1:06am

Donegal Overlanding wrote: »

Anyone using 3 5g with info on speeds at specific distances from the mast? I read that the range is awful. Im 2.2km direct line of sight with a mast, waiting on the S21 Ultra to arrive from 3.

0.8km from mast speed below.
Overall average for me is about 200.

Donegal Overlanding · 21-01-2021 7:11am

If it dropped to 200 at less than a km, I'm not expecting much at 2.2 even though I can see the mast directly from my office window.

I have a large 1500wh lithium energy case with a solar panel....I wonder if I could put some kind of repeater up in the field between the mast and myself and maybe have a signal booster at my office window at home!

Nuphor · 21-01-2021 11:01am

Testing with a 5G coverage location again with a E6878-870 and noticed a new (to me) error. Just confirming what we all know I guess - 5G access to devices is being restricted on purpose.

Ten Pin · 27-01-2021 10:39pm

"Three takes ComReg to court over plans to cap radio spectrum purchase"

Three Ireland has initiated court action against the communications regulator ComReg over new licences for radio spectrum, which allows operators to roll out additional services, such as 5G.

The company is unhappy with plans by the regulator to impose caps on how much spectrum individual operators can purchase, in a move to rebalance competition in the market. Three currently has more spectrum than other operators following its €850 million acquisition of O2 from Telefa in 2014.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/three-takes-comreg-to-court-over-plans-to-cap-radio-spectrum-purchase-1.4465347
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/three-claims-comreg-decision-will-put-it-at-competitive-disadvantage-1.4468201

CyberGhost · 27-01-2021 11:13pm

Nuphor wrote: »

Testing with a 5G coverage location again with a E6878-870 and noticed a new (to me) error. Just confirming what we all know I guess - 5G access to devices is being restricted on purpose.

That is such nonsense! You pay for the service, you should be able to use it in whatever device.

ED E · 28-01-2021 2:05am

Ten Pin wrote: »

"Three takes ComReg to court over plans to cap radio spectrum purchase"

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/three-takes-comreg-to-court-over-plans-to-cap-radio-spectrum-purchase-1.4465347
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/three-claims-comreg-decision-will-put-it-at-competitive-disadvantage-1.4468201

Three are doing a good job but Im with CREG here. If willing to open their wallet either Three or VF could outbid for everything and near monopolise the country within 5yrs. The three MNO stack benefits consumers.

The Cush · 28-01-2021 2:16am

Ten Pin wrote: »

"Three takes ComReg to court over plans to cap radio spectrum purchase"

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/three-takes-comreg-to-court-over-plans-to-cap-radio-spectrum-purchase-1.4465347
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/three-claims-comreg-decision-will-put-it-at-competitive-disadvantage-1.4468201

Lets see what Three said to Ofcom when the positions were reversed. Basically they don't want a sub-1 GHz cap here but did want a spectrum cap in the UK.

ComReg also noted that Three’s submission was in stark contrast to Three UK’s submissions to Ofcom concerning the UK’s proposed award of the 700 MHz and 3.6 GHz – 3.8 GHz spectrum bands and, in particular, that Ofcom should impose a sub-1 GHz cap taking into account existing spectrum holdings, similar to what is being proposed by ComReg.

Three UK submitted in its submission of 12 March 2019 at page 33 that:
“Ofcom should address the risk of further concentration of sub-1 GHz spectrum in the hands of Vodafone and O2 by the imposition of an 80 MHz (37%) sub-1 GHz cap, in addition to the overall cap.

The proposed cap would avoid extreme asymmetry in sub-1 GHz spectrum, by constraining Vodafone and O2 to acquire a maximum of 2×10 MHz of 700 MHz FDD and 5 MHz of 700 MHz SDL spectrum. This would preclude Vodafone and O2 from bidding strategically, and leave a minimum of 2x10MHz FDD and 1x10MHz of 700MHz SDL for Three and BT/EE to expand their low frequency holdings.

As we note in section 4.7, the risks of imposing a sub-1GHz cap are asymmetric – with significant upside for consumers in terms of ensuring continued effective competition in mobile services and limited if any loss in efficiency in terms of spectrum allocation.”

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/143493/three.pdf

ComReg notes the following points raised by Three UK to Ofcom “The 700MHz award is the last opportunity for MNOs to buy low frequency spectrum. Any competition issues that arise due to concentration of sub 1GHz spectrum will persist indefinitely.”

Donegal Overlanding · 28-01-2021 1:40pm

S21 Ultra arrived this morning.

As previously mentioned, we are in direct line of sight of the mast but at 2.3km from the mast.

Seem to have a decent signal and we are getting 5G. I drove to within 100m of the mast and tried several tests along the way. Getting closer actually made no difference at all, if anything it got a little slower. There is no way it's coming from another mast as this is by a long way the nearest mast in this rural area.

Inside the house with the phone sitting at my desk, it's getting around 15 down and 30ish up. If I sit the phone on the window ledge it's peaked at 50 down and 60 up, but seems to be 30 down and 50 up during most tests so far this morning.

Pings to a server in Dublin typically 19-22ms with 6-8% jitter using the speed test app.

What was a true game-changer for gamers, is that I tested Call Of Duty on my PC while tethered to the phone's hotspot, and the connection was rock solid. We have been living rurally for many years in various locations, each time having to use 3G/4G fixed line of sight solutions.

Currently, we have Imagine using a dish on the house. The distance from the mast is 18km, but we do have a perfect line of sight. We have had Imagine for about 15 months and this PC is used for gaming about 4 hours+ every night. Speeds with Imagine vary from 70-250 down and 20 up. However, the pings to European servers are always around 70+ms, with Three 5G that's 50+ms and a noticeable improvement. You might think that 20+ms wouldn't make much difference, but it really does make all the difference.

28-01-2021 7:20pm

Holy crap 4+ hrs a night playing games ? is that the norm for gamers ?

Donegal Overlanding · 28-01-2021 8:39pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Holy crap 4+ hrs a night playing games ? is that the norm for gamers ?

It's normal for everyone in our gaming clan. Many a time we spend way longer than that. We often comment how Covid regulations don't really affect us as we are still socialising as normal using TeamSpeak/discord with all our friends from around Europe.

1huge1 · 28-01-2021 11:17pm

Donegal Overlanding wrote: »

It's normal for everyone in our gaming clan. Many a time we spend way longer than that. We often comment how Covid regulations don't really affect us as we are still socialising as normal using TeamSpeak/discord with all our friends from around Europe.

Absolutely, it's a great way to remain social with friends as well, lot of people would sit in front of the tv for 4 hours an evening and think nothing of it but without the social aspect.

Personally, though I'm somewhere in between, spend all day in front of a screen for work so enjoy being away from it when I can.

29-01-2021 6:21pm

Ha ha, I talk via Amateur Radio, no internet or phone required.

Tzardine · 29-01-2021 6:59pm

ArrBee · 02-02-2021 1:13pm

So is there any consensus yet on the following?

-Put a PAYG sim (with 5g addon) into a 5g modem from amazon? works, or not?
-Put a PAYG sim (with 5g addon) into a 5g modem bought from three?
-difference in performance between three's internal/external installs?

I'm about 3km (I guess) from the mast and had seen 30Mb on 4g without external aerial before three throttled it down to 20Mb With contention I get anything from 1 - 10Mb during my waking hours.

I am hopping that at least the 5g connection would be less congested.
If anyone has the external connection and some comparison data using external aerial vs inbuilt, that would be awesome.

celtic_oz · 03-02-2021 11:03pm

I just ordered a PAYG SIM with 5G(28day) booster to test in a new 5G phone

In the contract emailed out they seem to infer they will limit the speeds to 25mbs for phones and 100mbs for their 5g routers?

1huge1 · 04-02-2021 10:08am

celtic_oz wrote: »

I just ordered a PAYG SIM with 5G(28day) booster to test in a new 5G phone

In the contract emailed out they seem to infer they will limit the speeds to 25mbs for phones and 100mbs for their 5g routers?

I've seen that in the fine print from other carriers, I believe its just them covering themselves regarding a minimum speed.

You won't be limited by this.

Three Ireland 5G

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