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

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


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murtaza12

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I have a noob question.

is VoLTE better than WhatsApp voice quality?
Varies on a lot of factors.

VoLTE will be mostly consistent (and will sound great if AMR-WB is being used) but on WhatsApp the audio bitrate will vary a lot depending on connection speed and latency of the people in the call.
 
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shaheerk

Well-known member
Feb 5, 2013
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I have a noob question.

is VoLTE better than WhatsApp voice quality?
Here a bad analogy which should help explain:

VoLTE is like PTCL calls but on steroids (assuming both you and the receiving party are on a similar level). It's consistent and generally reliable. Does not require an internet connection, and can be used to call other landlines or phones.

WhatsApp calls and other VoIP calls are - well - VoIP. Latency matters, and each app has their own preferences as far as sound quality is concerned. Some sound softer but clear (e.g. WhatsApp - which, in my experience, has the most latency vs. other apps) some sound harsh but clear (e.g. Skype, Duo/Hangouts), some sound good even on poor connections (Teams) some don't sound well in poor connections (e.g. Zoom). But all are free, are bound by the network effect (no cross-network calls) and only require an internet connection. And in my experience, as I said, WhatsApp has a higher latency than the other apps (I had tested it myself a year or two back using an audio recorder and checking the wave samples between the sound sent from one phone and received at another, and recording the audio waveform via my computer's mic, and analyzing the delays - it may not seem much but it makes it a bit unnatural while the rest sound as natural as standard phone calls as far as delays are concerned - not sure why).

So - it's not about which is better, but which fulfills your requirement. They both can. Or not. Depends. 3G and VoLTE have very similar sounds (because of AMR Wideband) but 4G will be a ton more consistent than 3G (which falls down to 2G), as are other VoIP calls.
 

zafarabbasrizvi

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Aug 24, 2016
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Here a bad analogy which should help explain:

VoLTE is like PTCL calls but on steroids (assuming both you and the receiving party are on a similar level). It's consistent and generally reliable. Does not require an internet connection, and can be used to call other landlines or phones.

WhatsApp calls and other VoIP calls are - well - VoIP. Latency matters, and each app has their own preferences as far as sound quality is concerned. Some sound softer but clear (e.g. WhatsApp - which, in my experience, has the most latency vs. other apps) some sound harsh but clear (e.g. Skype, Duo/Hangouts), some sound good even on poor connections (Teams) some don't sound well in poor connections (e.g. Zoom). But all are free, are bound by the network effect (no cross-network calls) and only require an internet connection. And in my experience, as I said, WhatsApp has a higher latency than the other apps (I had tested it myself a year or two back using an audio recorder and checking the wave samples between the sound sent from one phone and received at another, and recording the audio waveform via my computer's mic, and analyzing the delays - it may not seem much but it makes it a bit unnatural while the rest sound as natural as standard phone calls as far as delays are concerned - not sure why).

So - it's not about which is better, but which fulfills your requirement. They both can. Or not. Depends. 3G and VoLTE have very similar sounds (because of AMR Wideband) but 4G will be a ton more consistent than 3G (which falls down to 2G), as are other VoIP calls.
Best thing about VoLTE call (both ends) is ANC. you will not hear anything other than next person's voice. No matter how much noisy environment he is in.
 

shaheerk

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Feb 5, 2013
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Best thing about VoLTE call (both ends) is ANC. you will not hear anything other than next person's voice. No matter how much noisy environment he is in.
That depends on your smart phone, actually. You need two mics for noise cancellation to work. If the network does some more fine-tuning, then that's different but your phone and its two mics are needed in the first place.

3G AMR-WB has similar effects.
 

ShuAK

Active member
Jun 21, 2008
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Islamabad
Salam

Some how jazz has registered me on VoLTE users and now my phone (Note 9 Korean varient flashed to F rom) is connected to VoLTE. I have not contacted jazz or dm on twitter.

Screenshot_20211025-234238_Settings.jpg



Few findings:

Sim if inserted in S10 5G having default korean rom is not registering on volte. Despite entering IMS apn.

If i force phone to LTE only it does not connect to VoLTE. Phone needs to be set on automatic.

Phone doesnot fallback to 3G or 2G when calling.

Now suggest me what to test?
 

murtaza12

Global Moderator
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Oct 27, 2011
10,721
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Salam

Some how jazz has registered me on VoLTE users and now my phone (Note 9 Korean varient flashed to F rom) is connected to VoLTE. I have not contacted jazz or dm on twitter.

View attachment 87567



Few findings:

Sim if inserted in S10 5G having default korean rom is not registering on volte. Despite entering IMS apn.

If i force phone to LTE only it does not connect to VoLTE. Phone needs to be set on automatic.

Phone doesnot fallback to 3G or 2G when calling.

Now suggest me what to test?
Same issue that @ASKnASK is having. Default Korean ROM will not register on Jazz IMS server.

Forcing to LTE and manually adding the IMS APN will not do anything. The actual IMS profile is downloaded from Jazz server during IMS registration.
 

NaNoW

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Feb 5, 2008
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Karachi, Pakistan
boys @murtaza12 I need super stable internet with almost 100% uptime rate for a month. I need to work from home in Karachi. Need to be decently fast speed, but even if electricity goes away, it is still working..so leaning towards 4G ...any suggestions ?
 

shaheerk

Well-known member
Feb 5, 2013
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They're all just as reliable as the next one. The only way to ensure you can hedge your downtime is to take two different ISPs using different routes, configure it accordingly, and that's your best bet. Toss in 4G as a backup, and not as a primary connection.

But since you said one month, buy a dongle from all four operators and that'll be the most reliable connection you'll ever get.
 
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NaNoW

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They're all just as reliable as the next one. The only way to ensure you can hedge your downtime is to take two different ISPs using different routes, configure it accordingly, and that's your best bet. Toss in 4G as a backup, and not as a primary connection.

But since you said one month, buy a dongle from all four operators and that'll be the most reliable connection you'll ever get.
bhiya kuch reasonable solution batao...buy 4 dongles and use them all se thora behtar - is Zong still better in internet in from of all others.


@Shary Bhallu TC @EternalBlizzard need some advice here
 

EternalBlizzard

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Oct 29, 2011
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bhiya kuch reasonable solution batao...buy 4 dongles and use them all se thora behtar - is Zong still better in internet in from of all others.


@Shary Bhallu TC @EternalBlizzard need some advice here
Don't have much experience but I'd say get Stormfiber/Fiberlink plus any mobile company, preferably Zong 4g usb as a backup.

StormFiber rarely goes down but when they do, they might take hours. On the other hand cable net like DreamNet has also switched on fiber. This goes down like 3-4 times a week but takes like 15 minutes to come back. This heavily depends on the area though. If you are in an area with no loadshedding, then you are good to go.

EDIT:- I missed that you said for a month. Stormfiber usually takes a month or more to get the connection installed afaik. Go for Dreamnet + 4g USB as backup if you don't have much time.
 

Quadzilla

Rock n Rolla
Nov 1, 2009
551
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Karachi, Pakistan
Pretty simple problem, a connection for one month rules out all broadband options which leaves you with the telcos exclusively. Now all telco services are highly dependant on your 'exact' geolocation and by exact I literally mean on the chair that you'll be working from. My 2 cents, get Zong first, sit where you need to, and run speed tests during different hours of the day - this will do a few things;
1- tell you baseline speeds for Zong
2- tell you how consistent signal reception is at your exact location (this is the biggest factor that causes variations)
3- tell you what to expect during different hours of the day (rush hours, late night, etc)

If any of the above are unsatisfactory, rise and repeat with Telenor/Jazz.

Again, I cannot emphasize how important location is, so make sure your dongle is not buried somewhere with tons of interference. Hope this helps.
 
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murtaza12

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Oct 27, 2011
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boys @murtaza12 I need super stable internet with almost 100% uptime rate for a month. I need to work from home in Karachi. Need to be decently fast speed, but even if electricity goes away, it is still working..so leaning towards 4G ...any suggestions ?
More or less gonna repeat what has been said by others, but location matters a lot when it comes to 4G.

Borrow Zong or Jazz SIM from someone if you can and test extensively at the location you plan to work and use it the most. Whichever comes out on top in your testing, get a dongle / data-only SIM from them.

Zong and Jazz both use 4G+ but neither of them offer dongles that can take advantage of it, so I would honestly lean towards getting a data-only SIM and put that in a smartphone and enable hotspot. Will probably perform significantly better than the cheapo dongles they sell.

Also it goes without saying, but even if they agree to install a tower inside your house and give you the SIM for free, avoid Ufone and Telenor.
 

NaNoW

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Feb 5, 2008
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Karachi, Pakistan
Zong and Jazz both use 4G+ but neither of them offer dongles that can take advantage of it, so I would honestly lean towards getting a data-only SIM and put that in a smartphone and enable hotspot. Will probably perform significantly better than the cheapo dongles they sell.
perfect ..thanks
 

Shary Bhallu TC

Bhallu is dead, legacy remains
Jun 2, 2009
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Karachi.
Stormfiber is very reliable in some areas but bad in other areas. Thats because they use KE poles for their fiber optic lines which KE cuts occasionally. My cousin at Shahra-e-Faisal says that their corporate internet goes down weekly. I also face similar issues in DHA Phase 2 at my office. Whereas the Stormfiber internet works flawlessly at my home in Nazimabad. I even get amazing pings (30ms nowadays to UAE and 50ms to India). The speeds are also a solid 20Up/Dn. I was finally able to backup a butt-load of data to my OneDrive after getting rid of PTCL :D. But do note that Stormfiber takes city-wide maintenance outages every 2 or so months. This outage occurs in late night hours and only happens for like 2~3 hours.

If you want to go for 4G route then I have no experience there since their speeds fluctuate so much in urban areas and signal issues are ever present. It seems like Telenor takes maintenance shutdown every 2-3 weeks for their towers here because I would get nearly ZERO signals from 9~5 here on those days. So I would say that this is not reliable.
 

iNCEPTiON

iNCEPTiON
May 19, 2011
5,236
4
44
Rawalpindi/Islamabad
Guys, How's telenor now a days regarding signals (4g) and data speed and all?
I am testing Telenor 4G in Rawalpindi nowadays as I am having issues with Jazz. I do have a separate sim for Telenor though as I have not moved to Telenor (ported) . It works really good where ever needed. Their 2G/3G coverage is good at my home whereas Jazz doesn't have 2G/3G coverage indoor. So Its good enough for me.. However everyone has their own usage and priorities. You can go ahead and test the network by getting a new sim card and if it works fine then just port your number. I am not willing to port the number as that causes problems too.
 

iNCEPTiON

iNCEPTiON
May 19, 2011
5,236
4
44
Rawalpindi/Islamabad
More or less gonna repeat what has been said by others, but location matters a lot when it comes to 4G.

Borrow Zong or Jazz SIM from someone if you can and test extensively at the location you plan to work and use it the most. Whichever comes out on top in your testing, get a dongle / data-only SIM from them.

Zong and Jazz both use 4G+ but neither of them offer dongles that can take advantage of it, so I would honestly lean towards getting a data-only SIM and put that in a smartphone and enable hotspot. Will probably perform significantly better than the cheapo dongles they sell.

Also it goes without saying, but even if they agree to install a tower inside your house and give you the SIM for free, avoid Ufone and Telenor.
Ufone & Telenor are not that bad yar :) LOL..
 
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