For pedantic reasons:
I did a test last night, outside Bahria Phase... 4? On GT Road. And got this:
Observe how it says LTE+, and how average the signal strength is.
Moving on to today, it's clear Telenor's 4G coverage isn't it's strongest suit - but where it does work, it... sorta works? Results can vary from 3Mbps to 17Mbps by moving a mere 10 feet. I was in Rainbow Cash and Carry (it's next to the Bahria head office in phase 8) and first, got this:
This was, actually, WITH carrier aggregation enabled (no screenshot to prove, sorry).
Moved a few feet (around 10 or so) because I was stuck in a line, and got this:
The signal strength for this reading was as follows (didn't take a split screen shot - but did take the readings and forgot about it):
That's... pretty good for mediocre Telenor.
When I got out of the store and sat in my car (in the parking), I got this:
The network didn't enable CA where my car was parked. But when I drove off by around 50 or so meters, CA was in swing. I didn't do a test then.
When I reached home, I got this:
This was WITHOUT carrier aggregation.
So here's why I'm posting:
- Telenor has coverage holes. In those holes, 3G will keep you running. Their 4G isn't going to be as fast as Mobilink or Zong (poor decision planning by Telenor back then), but they're trying to overcome that shortcoming.
- CA helps. A lot. Except when it doesn't. In most cases, it helps but there are times when it doesn't make much of a difference. That's how radiowaves are. My home has average signal but the download speed (on the driveway) was pretty decent (for comparison, Mobilink gives me ~40Mbps in the same area with a similar signal level).
- There are times when the phone throws me off 4G, and 3G, and I was signal-less for about a minute until I toggled airplane mode. Then I got onto 2G. Took a while before I got back onto 4G. This happened on the way to Bahria's office. This should NOT happen, Telenor!
- On the way back from Bahria's office, 4G got strong - then weak - then it fell back onto 3G (band 5) - then it fell down to 2G. At least that was there. But why did it go all the way down? Their urban planning is nada! zilch! kapoot! I didn't test their 3G speeds here.
- I decided to place a call on their 2G to their IVR. It was okay. Nothing special. There was a part where there were quite a few tower handoffs involved so the voice was garbled there - but it didn't cut off (Mobilink cuts you off, I think, and then puts you back on).
- I did test their 4G in one place - behind a mosque. 4G didn't go beyond 2Mbps. 3G was around 3.5 Mbps. I moved to the other side of the mosque, and 4G jumped to 12Mbps. The building, it appears, was hindering everything.
I remember last time, Telenor had signals in places but no CA and their 3G was iffy. Now, they still don't have signals in place but do have CA and their 3G performance has shown some improvements (speed-wise). But coverage is hardly blanket. I wonder how they are in the smaller cities (considering they're just... average... in the suburbs). But not bad at all. I think these issues could be alleviated (not gone) if they improve their coverage.
At least with them, things work - where there's signal. Decent pings, working self-care app, decent call quality (in my limited testing - but you can only be the judge of that when you constantly use it).
