My friend has the exact same subscription to the exact same moibile operator as me (MTC-Vodafone in Kuwait). We both have the same access point and proxy settings.
His Nokia E90 says "3.5G" right under the signal strength bars when he starts a data connection. But my O2 Atom Life just says "3G" in the white square box at the top of the screen and also in the smaller white box above the signal strength bars when I start a data connection.
Does anyone know why that is? I thought that 3.5G is the same as HSDPA. Is that true? And if so, isn't my O2 HSDPA-capable? And shouldn't it say "H" in the white box?
I'm running WM5 if that makes any difference . . .
Please help. I want my 3.5G!
3.5G
Probably you have to consult your Mobile Service provider regarding the speed they are offering at the point you connecting to their 3.5G network.
Some Mobile Service provider cater for certain amount of 3.5G connection and hence the rest of the connections/users may get slower connection. Maybe 3G or 2.5 (GPRS).
I own a Atom Life as well, it connected and shown with "H" in certain areas. Like what i say, Mobile Service provider may not offering full coverage and support for all users at blashing speed...
Good luck finding back your 3.5G...
Related
Have just upgraded to an o2 exec and want to experiment with video calling .
there is no 3g signal, it always comes up 'no signal at present' even though the signal has 3 - 4 bars on it. I'm with o2 and unhappy with the service I phone tech support and they tried to tell me to move to another part of the house ....this may have been helpful if I lived in the eiffel tower but i LIVE IN THE uk.
Im beginning to think that the whole o2 3g network is substandard
Any ideas?
4arm
Look at the little square icon next to the signal strength indicator - is it a 'G' or 'U'?
A 'G' indicates normal GPRS signal while a 'U' indicates UMTS (3g) service is available.
It's normally G and very very occassionaly turns to a u?
OK, when it shows a 'U' you can make video calls. When it's a 'G' only normal calls can be made.
G being GPRS and U being UTMS which is 3G. I think you can video call via wifi but I've not tested this yet.
I doubt whether the o2 coverage is bad, otherwise why would hutchinson three use them as a carrier for their network, seeing as they are a 3G company? The signal strength bars IIRC dont bear any relation to the 3G strength.
Tim 45 said:
I doubt whether the o2 coverage is bad, otherwise why would hutchinson three use them as a carrier for their network, seeing as they are a 3G company? The signal strength bars IIRC dont bear any relation to the 3G strength.
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LOL you have the wrong end of the stick m8, Hutch "3" 3G is a pure 3G network (the biggest in the UK) with around 80% coverage. The network is wholey owned by hutch, however if your unlucky to wander out of coverage (into that last 20 %) then it will switch to O2 2G Gprs (no video calls) just so you can at least make voice calls / emergency calls. O2's 3G network has much less coverage than "3"'s but it's ok because it can seamlessly transfer to it's own 2G network if necessary
I am of the understanding that O2's 3g network is not the best in terms of coverage (voda and 3 are afaik). Interesting what is said above about 3 and O2 both being hutchingson compaines and sharing infrasturecture - can anyone verfiy?
they are 2 very diffrent companies, 3 just have a deal with O2, they pay O2 to allow "3" customers to use O2's network when "3"s is unavailable
Ward said:
G being GPRS and U being UTMS which is 3G. I think you can video call via wifi but I've not tested this yet.
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That would be funky, but don't see how it ould be possible.
I too only get a UMTS signal in Belfast (which is supposed to be a strong 3G area) when I'm upstairs...
They need to pull the finger out if they want video calling to be the norm.
O2 3G around London is okay, not as good as T-mobile of Vodafone from my experience. Using a O2 data card I can get the higher 384kbps download speed, and it really is quick.
Video calls on O2 are part of the normal call allowance, so if can get it to work it wont be as expensive as on "3".
No i thought 3 used the O2 masts and technology, i cant remember where i heard it though.. Of course i could be very much mistaken
HI All
Can someone help me out?
When I'm connected, how do I tell if I'm connected to '3G' or 'GPRS'? Does the 'G' with the arrows at the top mean it's 3g or GPRS
What's the difference between the speeds of each. I know 3g is faster...but how much faster
Thanks
The small "G" means you are connected on GPRS. When you have a 3G connection a small "U" is displayed.
A 3G connection should be nearly as good as a broadband connection.
Ralph
Thanks for the information. Any where I can look to see the coverage of 3g with O2. I'd like to make full use of my investment
You can look on the O2 website, but i happen to know that their coverage is feeble compared to Vodaphone.
Cheers...
Good idea....
after updating my jamin with the latest rom the network icon now shows "E" instead of "G" although I dont have EDGE technology and I use GPRS. I successfully made a GPRS connection and after disconnecting it shows "G" for a while then turns back to "E"!!!! anyone experience the same problem!?
this is not a problem. If your network is able to work with Edge, it will appear "E" and than when you connect it will appera "G" (because your device don´t have EDGE). This icon it represents what your network is able to offer.
the problem is; I KNOW THAT MY PROVIDER DOESNT HAVE EDGE!!!
rasmy said:
the problem is; I KNOW THAT MY PROVIDER DOESNT HAVE EDGE!!!
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who is your provider? as far as i know all providers in the use who is capable of using this phone on thier network is edge capable. outside of the small mom and pops. cingular/tmobile/cellularone are all edge capable.
sorry just read this thread over at hf.
I've had this . It momenterily shows the E and then reverts back to G. I am with Orange UK and I am in a Strong 3G network cell. I know that Orange are suposed to running edge out to areas with no 3G but not sure when.
I can only assume that it is picking up an edge signal from somewhere. To tell you the truth I wish I saw the E all the time . That would at least give me edge speeds .
This is defo a problem (Well doesn't hinder the phone). I was using my Jamin with copilot which was connected the whole time to Copilot Live via a GPRS connection. If I come out of the copilot screen and initiat a call the G symbol changes to an E . It then reverts back to a G when the call finishes.
Maybe your provider is doing some EDGE testing?
My friend has the exact same subscription to the exact same moibile operator as me (MTC-Vodafone in Kuwait). We both have the same access point and proxy settings.
His Nokia E90 says "3.5G" right under the signal strength bars when he starts a data connection. But my O2 Atom Life just says "3G" in the white square box at the top of the screen and also in the smaller white box above the signal strength bars when I start a data connection.
Does anyone know why that is? I thought that 3.5G is the same as HSDPA. Is that true? And if so, isn't my O2 HSDPA-capable? And shouldn't it say "H" in the white box?
I'm running WM5 if that makes any difference . . .
Please help. I want my 3.5G!
WinCE displays the signal it can achieve. Maybe it's not getting an HSDPA signal where you're at.
omarabdallah said:
My friend has the exact same subscription to the exact same moibile operator as me (MTC-Vodafone in Kuwait). We both have the same access point and proxy settings.
His Nokia E90 says "3.5G" right under the signal strength bars when he starts a data connection. But my O2 Atom Life just says "3G" in the white square box at the top of the screen and also in the smaller white box above the signal strength bars when I start a data connection.
Does anyone know why that is? I thought that 3.5G is the same as HSDPA. Is that true? And if so, isn't my O2 HSDPA-capable? And shouldn't it say "H" in the white box?
I'm running WM5 if that makes any difference . . .
Please help. I want my 3.5G!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I can say is that you can only see "H" when you have HSDPA signal and also when your using your O2 to surf the web or checking email or doing some data transfer via 3G.
Other than that, you will only see "3G"
That is what's happening for my Dopod 838 pro.
I'm getting my Atom Life later in the afternoon
omarabdallah said:
My friend has the exact same subscription to the exact same moibile operator as me (MTC-Vodafone in Kuwait). We both have the same access point and proxy settings.
His Nokia E90 says "3.5G" right under the signal strength bars when he starts a data connection. But my O2 Atom Life just says "3G" in the white square box at the top of the screen and also in the smaller white box above the signal strength bars when I start a data connection.
Does anyone know why that is? I thought that 3.5G is the same as HSDPA. Is that true? And if so, isn't my O2 HSDPA-capable? And shouldn't it say "H" in the white box?
I'm running WM5 if that makes any difference . . .
Please help. I want my 3.5G!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have exactly same problem, my Hermes works perfectly well but the Atom Life never shows the H, I spoke to my operator and they showed me an Atome life (Chinese version) and that showed the H, no problem whatsoever but mine (English version) no way it will show, so the people at the operator said I should get it repaired as it should show an H when in HSDPA coverage.
O2 have now had it in for repair twice and last time even said that it does not support HSDPA, I just hope your service center in Kuwait is better than the one in Hong Kong coz they have absolutely no idea about mobile phones.
It should not matter whether WM5 or WM6 according to the operator.
3.5G is the same as HSDPA so there you are correct.
I'm not getting the H sign after I upgraded to WM6. When I was using WM5, the H sign appear when there is 3.5G service.
I contacted O2 support and they ask me to connect to internet when I am in the 3.5G area. I did and the indicator changed to H. So, I replied back to them stating that this is not what it supposed to be (in WM5, you do not need to connect) and they replied that it will be in the list of improvement... sigh...
normally without data passing thru it will fall back to 3G connection, when there is data going thru it will use 3.5G (HSDPA) if available. however i think the today screen or signal update is bugged it never show the current status when changed.
u can try downloading a big file and turn off the screen (hit the power button once) then turn it back on again. it will update the current connection speed.
btw I am using Atom Life WM6 CHT
Will someone kindly explain to me, in plain English, the difference between the different types of data services available on the Athena and other 3G devices?
Here's what I know now:The basic voice/data protocol when not in a 3G coverage area is GSM. Since I use AT&T, the 2G (or 2.5G) data service is EDGE. When in the most rural of areas, I'm using simple GPRS for data service, represented by a G on the status bar. When EDGE is available, the G changes to an E.
So far, so good.
Where I'm getting confused is when I enter a 3G service area. It seems that there are two levels of 3G: UMTS (represented by 3G on the status bar) and HSDPA (represented by an H). Also, when in a 3G area, the phone application (and the Wireless Today plugin if it's enabled) show "AT&T UMTS." Now, as I understood it, UMTS is an entire cellular protocol, designed to succeed GSM, and not a data service specifically. HSDPA is the data service.
So, what is the practical difference between a "3G" on the status bar and an "H" on the status bar?
Can someone in the know please sort this out for me?
Thanks.
In simple English the '3G' symbol shows when we are in a UMTS active area. It will show the large "3G" connected to the small "3G" when attached to the UMTS data network but not downloading/uploading anything.
If you then open an application (like Outlook and hit send/receive) the ["3G" 's] both change to ["H" 's] as the HSDPA compression kicks in. This is, of course, depending on having the HSDPA active.
Once the data exchange has ended, it returns to ["3G" 's] to show that we are still in a high speed data 'available' area. If we leave the "3G" area, we get handed of to the "E" 's for the Edge network. If we leave the Edge area, we get downgraded again to ["G" 's] for the GPRS. As you have correctly noted, it's all about speed.
You should only see the ["H" 's] on for an extended time if you are downloading a large file or perhaps streaming media to your device. The "H" shows that the compression algorithm is active, otherwise, the 3G shows when the service is available, but idle.
You may see a single '3G' meaning you are in a UMTS active area but not connected. You should never see a single "H", only a double "H" during a "3G" connected session. I have tested this by turning off HSDPA and the double "3G" remains during downlink, meaning the data is still at a higer speed than Edge, but not using the HSDPA compression. Hope this answers your question.
raskell said:
In simple English the '3G' symbol shows when we are in a UMTS active area. It will show the large "3G" connected to the small "3G" when attached to the UMTS data network but not downloading/uploading anything.
If you then open an application (like Outlook and hit send/receive) the ["3G" 's] both change to ["H" 's] as the HSDPA compression kicks in. This is, of course, depending on having the HSDPA active.
Once the data exchange has ended, it returns to ["3G" 's] to show that we are still in a high speed data 'available' area. If we leave the "3G" area, we get handed of to the "E" 's for the Edge network. If we leave the Edge area, we get downgraded again to ["G" 's] for the GPRS. As you have correctly noted, it's all about speed.
You should only see the ["H" 's] on for an extended time if you are downloading a large file or perhaps streaming media to your device. The "H" shows that the compression algorithm is active, otherwise, the 3G shows when the service is available, but idle.
You may see a single '3G' meaning you are in a UMTS active area but not connected. You should never see a single "H", only a double "H" during a "3G" connected session. I have tested this by turning off HSDPA and the double "3G" remains during downlink, meaning the data is still at a higer speed than Edge, but not using the HSDPA compression. Hope this answers your question.
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Excellent explanation. Thanks. Not that I needed it, but many noobs to 3G based devices might.
Thanks for your positive comments, mackaby007