4 ms·

I had a similar experience (also on Three) when 4G first rolled out. Blazing speed, low latency, low contention. Unfortunately as the technology became more mai

by davb 7y ago

I had a similar experience (also on Three) when 4G first rolled out. Blazing speed, low latency, low contention. Unfortunately as the technology became more mainstream, the speeds dropped and peak contention increased. A small scale roll-out is absolutely not indicative of real-world performance. In Glasgow, I'm getting around 5Mbps on Three over 4G. In Japan and South Korea I regularly got far in excess of 100Mbps over 4G. It's more about backhaul bandwidth and capacity planning than radio technology. 4G is more capable than you'd think, and any speed real-world increase we see with 5G is almost certainly down to better network design. Edit: autocorrect typo - "tech logo" to "technology"

renaudg 7y ago
In the particular case of Three there's a simpler explanation and it means things will be very different this time : they completely lost the 4G spectrum auction war to competitors (EE and Vodafone mainly), but they didn't repeat that mistake with 5G : they're the only carrier with >100Mhz of spectrum and are likely to dominate performance comparisons for a while.
- johnnycab 7y ago
  Your comments contain fundamental errors. I won't go into great detail, why Three failed to acquire 4G spectrum and how it was subsequently awarded significantly valuable frequency from EE in the process. However, there is a lot more to how Three (Broadband) came to acquire frequency in the 3.4─3.8GHz spectrum. There was no auction neither were there any wars. It was via the acquisition of UK Broadband & Relish, which was already a part of PCCW. It was originally awarded the spectrum, contingent upon certain stipulations ie. building, maintaining and continued investment in telecoms infrastructure. The current 5G product might bear the moniker, but it is still using the infrastructure put in place by UKBG Relish in parts of Central & Greater London. The speeds are also dependent upon relevant upgrades to the masts, operator equipment, backhaul etc., more importantly the UE has to be up-to-date to take advantage of any speed boosts. It will still not count as real 5G for sometime yet, as there are standards which are still being ratified and other players have yet to join the game. It would be naive to assume that Vodafone, the biggest operator by spectrum holdings, followed by BT/EE, will just defer their incumbent position, without bidding next year! https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/08/three-uk-aim-for-fastest-mobile-broadband-crown-as-5g-goes-live.html https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/08/three-uk-aim-f... https://www.capacitymedia.com/articles/3659839/Three-UK-agrees-to-buy-PCCW-owned-UK-Broadband-Limited-in-250m-deal https://www.capacitymedia.com/articles/3659839/Three-UK-agre...

by davb 7y ago

renaudg 7y ago

In the particular case of Three there's a simpler explanation and it means things will be very different this time : they completely lost the 4G spectrum auction war to competitors (EE and Vodafone mainly), but they didn't repeat that mistake with 5G : they're the only carrier with >100Mhz of spectrum and are likely to dominate performance comparisons for a while.

johnnycab 7y ago
Your comments contain fundamental errors. I won't go into great detail, why Three failed to acquire 4G spectrum and how it was subsequently awarded significantly valuable frequency from EE in the process. However, there is a lot more to how Three (Broadband) came to acquire frequency in the 3.4─3.8GHz spectrum. There was no auction neither were there any wars. It was via the acquisition of UK Broadband & Relish, which was already a part of PCCW. It was originally awarded the spectrum, contingent upon certain stipulations ie. building, maintaining and continued investment in telecoms infrastructure. The current 5G product might bear the moniker, but it is still using the infrastructure put in place by UKBG Relish in parts of Central & Greater London. The speeds are also dependent upon relevant upgrades to the masts, operator equipment, backhaul etc., more importantly the UE has to be up-to-date to take advantage of any speed boosts. It will still not count as real 5G for sometime yet, as there are standards which are still being ratified and other players have yet to join the game. It would be naive to assume that Vodafone, the biggest operator by spectrum holdings, followed by BT/EE, will just defer their incumbent position, without bidding next year! https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/08/three-uk-aim-for-fastest-mobile-broadband-crown-as-5g-goes-live.html https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/08/three-uk-aim-f... https://www.capacitymedia.com/articles/3659839/Three-UK-agrees-to-buy-PCCW-owned-UK-Broadband-Limited-in-250m-deal https://www.capacitymedia.com/articles/3659839/Three-UK-agre...