[OT] .::The Official 3G/4G LTE Thread::.

Which 3G/4G is going best so far?


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murtaza12

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Yeah, I've noted something is off with Mobilink there.
It's really quite frustrating. I complained ages ago and they said we're aware of the issues in Bahria but can't give a time frame on when it'll be fixed.

Clearly they're not even close to fixing anything. Call connection is still slow, takes at least 10 - 15 seconds for it to start ringing after hitting the dial button, sometimes SMS won't go through and they'll just get stuck on 'Sending' or message failed and won't send at all and then the 4G which completely shits itself if you try to do anything other than load Google's homepage.
 

shaheerk

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Feb 5, 2013
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It's really quite frustrating. I complained ages ago and they said we're aware of the issues in Bahria but can't give a time frame on when it'll be fixed.

Clearly they're not even close to fixing anything. Call connection is still slow, takes at least 10 - 15 seconds for it to start ringing after hitting the dial button, sometimes SMS won't go through and they'll just get stuck on 'Sending' or message failed and won't send at all and then the 4G which completely shits itself if you try to do anything other than load Google's homepage.
Well, 3G is dead here. I've generally been alright with their services now that they have a functional billing counter in their app (the SMS codes still isn't fixed, but the app works) but they have poor, unusable, jammed signals here.

And they aren't fixing it because some exec lives here and they think him seeing full bars means usable service.

Which is why I want to go back to Zong since at least I can use that for making calls... But the employee package, free data, and generally very fast 4G...

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 

murtaza12

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[MENTION=63376]shaheerk[/MENTION]

So most sites in Islamabad seem to have CA enabled. The speed improvement is not noticeable at all, but coverage is slightly better in areas where one would previously get 1-2 bars.

Checked in F-6 and F-8, and in Blue Area as well. Weirdly enough, there was no CA when passing by Jazz Headquarters.
 

shaheerk

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Feb 5, 2013
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So... I had another detailed chat with the guy handling Mobilink's network (the vendor). Key takeaways:
- Mobilink had swapped the Ericsson equipment (Warid) with ZTE/Huawei. And it was said to me that there IS a difference in the vendors - the person gave the example that Ericsson's antennas were able to provide signals on weaker signals vs. the Chinese vendors (I won't get into the example they gave me, but suffice to say, Mobilink - like the other operators - preferred to opt for a cheaper solution rather than a quality solution, as per the guy)
- Telenor was on ZTE. They've partially migrated to Nokia. The source said, in their opinion, that Jazz is surviving because Ericsson's managing their network - but that Ufone is pumping in money because it's a "special project" for Huawei. And - Ufone customers are loyal as well.
- The source ranked the operators in their opinion: (1) Telenor (because of the Nokia swap, which is partially underway) (2) Zong (because last I recall, they were trying to invest and improve their network as well, and because of their 4G coverage, despite not having the same quality signal), (3) Jazz, and (4) do I really need to mention the name?

Also, it turns out that the signals being jammed where I live is not because of Mobilink's shoddy signal strength - something else is interfering within the area (either it's a leak from the other operator's antennas - or some knucklehead is broadcasting some signal) and there really is no way of figuring out how to fix it.

The point of this post? Someone who's responsible for maintaining Mobilink's network KPIs is no longer recommending Mobilink as the first choice simply because they know the inside story. They suggested Telenor because of Nokia and Telenor being smart in their strategy (tap the rural markets, earn from Easypaisa --> use this money to fix the urban markets - which is now Telenor's focus in 2019, as stated by StrikerX), and Zong because... well... maybe market reputation and some random network upgrades? Not that he doesn't NOT recommend Jazz (as in, he has nothing against it), but he says other operators have taken over.

We live in interesting times. I wonder how Telenor's 2G vioce quality is these days, how frequently calls fall back from 3G to 2G, and how bad their data speeds are in Islamabad/Rawalpindi (I don't have CA here since there's only one band 5 signal coming towards our house, and it's weak).
 

murtaza12

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Oct 27, 2011
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So... I had another detailed chat with the guy handling Mobilink's network (the vendor). Key takeaways:
- Mobilink had swapped the Ericsson equipment (Warid) with ZTE/Huawei. And it was said to me that there IS a difference in the vendors - the person gave the example that Ericsson's antennas were able to provide signals on weaker signals vs. the Chinese vendors (I won't get into the example they gave me, but suffice to say, Mobilink - like the other operators - preferred to opt for a cheaper solution rather than a quality solution, as per the guy)
- Telenor was on ZTE. They've partially migrated to Nokia. The source said, in their opinion, that Jazz is surviving because Ericsson's managing their network - but that Ufone is pumping in money because it's a "special project" for Huawei. And - Ufone customers are loyal as well.
- The source ranked the operators in their opinion: (1) Telenor (because of the Nokia swap, which is partially underway) (2) Zong (because last I recall, they were trying to invest and improve their network as well, and because of their 4G coverage, despite not having the same quality signal), (3) Jazz, and (4) do I really need to mention the name?

Also, it turns out that the signals being jammed where I live is not because of Mobilink's shoddy signal strength - something else is interfering within the area (either it's a leak from the other operator's antennas - or some knucklehead is broadcasting some signal) and there really is no way of figuring out how to fix it.

The point of this post? Someone who's responsible for maintaining Mobilink's network KPIs is no longer recommending Mobilink as the first choice simply because they know the inside story. They suggested Telenor because of Nokia and Telenor being smart in their strategy (tap the rural markets, earn from Easypaisa --> use this money to fix the urban markets - which is now Telenor's focus in 2019, as stated by StrikerX), and Zong because... well... maybe market reputation and some random network upgrades? Not that he doesn't NOT recommend Jazz (as in, he has nothing against it), but he says other operators have taken over.

We live in interesting times. I wonder how Telenor's 2G vioce quality is these days, how frequently calls fall back from 3G to 2G, and how bad their data speeds are in Islamabad/Rawalpindi (I don't have CA here since there's only one band 5 signal coming towards our house, and it's weak).
Very interesting stuff. Thanks for posting.
 

ShuAK

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Jun 21, 2008
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Islamabad
Few jazz speed tests I did. All the tests are done on 900 mhz (3g & 4g). Peak and off peak times. Exact same place. (I-8/2)






3G




 

shaheerk

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Feb 5, 2013
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I tweeted Asif (their CTO, maybe) about the "blackout" in 3G outside my house. He says whilst there's nothing wrong with the stats, he'll pay a visit with the teams sometime this week.

1. I wonder if he will - it's possible he will because he tends to show these things on Twitter.
2. if they can fix this issue, boy, would I be very happy. I don't want to let go of the employee package (because it reduces my phone bill significantly). But there are a number of reasons why I am edging towards Zong more and more. And another reason is that ported numbers sometimes have troubles receiving SMSs from Pakistani services, and their 4G speeds are decent.

Can more users in this thread test out how well Zong's 4G is performing now? Mention the area you're in as well. And whether speeds have improved across the board or not in your experience.
 

murtaza12

Global Moderator
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Oct 27, 2011
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I tweeted Asif (their CTO, maybe) about the "blackout" in 3G outside my house. He says whilst there's nothing wrong with the stats, he'll pay a visit with the teams sometime this week.

1. I wonder if he will - it's possible he will because he tends to show these things on Twitter.
2. if they can fix this issue, boy, would I be very happy. I don't want to let go of the employee package (because it reduces my phone bill significantly). But there are a number of reasons why I am edging towards Zong more and more. And another reason is that ported numbers sometimes have troubles receiving SMSs from Pakistani services, and their 4G speeds are decent.

Can more users in this thread test out how well Zong's 4G is performing now? Mention the area you're in as well. And whether speeds have improved across the board or not in your experience.
CTO isn't on Twitter... AFAIK.

Asif is CCO, but he's doing a damn good job.
 

zafarabbasrizvi

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Aug 24, 2016
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[MENTION=63376]shaheerk[/MENTION]

Its not only Telenor, Jazz's calls are also dropping from 3G to 2G everytime in Faisalabad and I am speaking about it for a while now.

I too tweeted to Asif Aziz CCO Jazz and told him that their Network is shit bad in Faisalabad as far as coverage and speed is concerned, He promised to visit soon and meet me to discuss locations.
He finally visits few days ago here. When I reminded him on twitter about network coverage and speed, he replied that He met with business partners (Franchisee) and few of them did speak about coverage gap which he promised to investigate personally and also promised to visit again soon and wish to meet me to roam around the city and show him loose spots.
He also told that he does not find loose coverage because he only was in main city but does not talk about speed because I know Jazz 4G speed is shit at Jazz Experience Zone area and at Serena Hotel area where He was staying.

Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk
 

shaheerk

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Feb 5, 2013
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[MENTION=63376]shaheerk[/MENTION]

Its not only Telenor, Jazz's calls are also dropping from 3G to 2G everytime in Faisalabad and I am speaking about it for a while now.

I too tweeted to Asif Aziz CCO Jazz and told him that their Network is shit bad in Faisalabad as far as coverage and speed is concerned, He promised to visit soon and meet me to discuss locations.
He finally visits few days ago here. When I reminded him on twitter about network coverage and speed, he replied that He met with business partners (Franchisee) and few of them did speak about coverage gap which he promised to investigate personally and also promised to visit again soon and wish to meet me to roam around the city and show him loose spots.
He also told that he does not find loose coverage because he only was in main city but does not talk about speed because I know Jazz 4G speed is shit at Jazz Experience Zone area and at Serena Hotel area where He was staying.

Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk
So it's good to read a first hand experience with one of their reps coming to meet you.

As for 2G fallback - I know Zong does it too. It's evident because the voice stops being as "clean" as it should be.

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zafarabbasrizvi

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Aug 24, 2016
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So it's good to read a first hand experience with one of their reps coming to meet you.

As for 2G fallback - I know Zong does it too. It's evident because the voice stops being as "clean" as it should be.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
When I dial a number it connects a call from 3G and phone says HD call. But within a minute(s) HD sign disappears and call quality changes drastically. And when I open network cell info during call, it says GSM instead off UMTS.

And Yes, it will be great for them if he meets me, because there network really need to be fixed here. Otherwise this has happened today, and it seems more authentic than Ookla. And its not taken by 3 cities and 5 handsets only.

https://twitter.com/Zongers/status/1112032311581782017?s=19

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shaheerk

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Feb 5, 2013
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When I dial a number it connects a call from 3G and phone says HD call. But within a minute(s) HD sign disappears and call quality changes drastically. And when I open network cell info during call, it says GSM instead off UMTS.

And Yes, it will be great for them if he meets me, because there network really need to be fixed here. Otherwise this has happened today, and it seems more authentic than Ookla. And its not taken by 3 cities and 5 handsets only.

https://twitter.com/Zongers/status/1112032311581782017?s=19

Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk
Yeah... I'm interested on the methodology of determining their winner.

Ookla published the number of tests and cities those tests were conducted in.

But you know what else Ookla's report said? That Zong is still a formidable competitor. And there are still several areas where Zong doesn't cover, so all operators have their strengths and weaknesses. But in the report, look at the upper, median and lower quartile results and in each result, Mobilink tops Zong.

So essentially, Mobilink's competitor is Zong. And Telenor's competitor is Ufone.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 

zafarabbasrizvi

Well-known member
Aug 24, 2016
2,473
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Yeah... I'm interested on the methodology of determining their winner.

Ookla published the number of tests and cities those tests were conducted in.

But you know what else Ookla's report said? That Zong is still a formidable competitor. And there are still several areas where Zong doesn't cover, so all operators have their strengths and weaknesses. But in the report, look at the upper, median and lower quartile results and in each result, Mobilink tops Zong.

So essentially, Mobilink's competitor is Zong. And Telenor's competitor is Ufone.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
Telenor is even worst than Ufone. Ufone at least has a respectful and useable 3G speed (due to less users). Even Telenor's 4G can not run YouTube videos more than 240p.

Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk
 

zafarabbasrizvi

Well-known member
Aug 24, 2016
2,473
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58
Just received new Android Pie built and March security update. Still no Telenor VoLTE support. Or there is no VoLTE available in Faisalabad.
[MENTION=11094]StrikerX[/MENTION] can you confirm that VoLTE is enabled across their 4G network or only in selected locations of Islamabad?

Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk
 

khanorak

Active member
Jan 14, 2012
434
7
23
Kohat
I have bought Honor 8C today and I am getting Ufone 4G signals.. I didnt change the sim. Is this even possible?

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You must have replaced the sim. They had been selling 4G sims for long.

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shah95

ExceptionaL
Dec 26, 2017
105
0
11
Sahiwal
Just received new Android Pie built and March security update. Still no Telenor VoLTE support. Or there is no VoLTE available in Faisalabad.
[MENTION=11094]StrikerX[/MENTION] can you confirm that VoLTE is enabled across their 4G network or only in selected locations of Islamabad?

Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk
Same here, got march security patch but no volte settings. Just a new line i think in others.xml where it says something about volte (dont remember exact string). Its likely old flagships may never receive volte update either..

Sent from my S7 Edge using Tapatalk
 
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