Using 3G and 2G phones in 2021 and beyond.
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So, I discovered the magnificent feature in UT to limit what networks my carrier can serve me with. So, I can sigh-up with a modern 4G phone, then limit the network in UT software. Old phones are obviously banned by carriers, but the networks are still available.
3G works perfect in 2021. 2G doesn't work at all for me: no signal from my carrier.
However, I scanned the available networks with an old Blackberry and it shows that T-Mobile still has active 2G networks. In other words, it might be possible to go back to the 1990's and use exclusively 2G for mobile communications and leave the matrix of modern networks.
Anyone using a network, such as T-Mobile with active 2G? Does it work when 2G is selected in software?
I thought this would be an interesting point of discussion to watch over the next years. It's hard to tell how long these networks will work. It might be longer than we're told.
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@linux-is-life I may be wrong but these networks arenot going to be shut down but the space they use will be given over to other things the fabeld internet of things and such like.
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Just a small contribution from me. Germany is probably the only country that has switched off 3G. So the contribution is invalid for 2021 to still have a perfect 3G. Our providers advertise with the best network. I'm not naming any names, it can be regional. Only that the worst provider is really the most reliable in terms of network. Especially in the 2G network, it's better than with the big ones. For Germany, it would have been helpful not to switch off 3G. There is one provider that has become a disaster since the 3G switch-off because everything is overloaded.
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@dpitti said in Using 3G and 2G phones in 2021 and beyond.:
... There is one provider that has become a disaster since the 3G switch-off because everything is overloaded.
Are you talking of o2?
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The whole matter depends very much on geography and carrier, so discussion is pointless without mentioning those factors. I believe the situation is very different in north America to that Europe.
For my part in England I always have both 2G and 4G via Vodafone, plus patchy 2G via EE. -
No, so I'm well provided for by O2. I only use this as a test card in my UT smartphone. But the Vodafone network is a catastrophe - even the slightest rain causes the network to fail. I can see the radio tower, but it hasn't been any good for years. I don't need to talk about the Telekom network. I think I'll switch to O2, I don't need a network all the time when I'm on the road, but I do need one at home, which Vodafone hardly has.
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@linux-is-life said in Using 3G and 2G phones in 2021 and beyond.:
In other words, it might be possible to go back to the 1990's and use exclusively 2G for mobile communications and leave the matrix of modern networks.
Isn't 2G the same thing as Edge/HSDPA which are a 2000's thing ?! :flushed_face:
Anyone using a network, such as T-Mobile with active 2G? Does it work when 2G is selected in software?
I pretty much only use 2G in The Netherlands on the T-Mobile network because I have unlimited Calls & SMS and NO DATA subscription at all so I only get 8 KB/s as speed when I turn my Data on!
And it's Unlimited!
Another reason is lower battery consumption!
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I'm living in Germany and I'm also affected from the 3G-shutdown. My BQ E4.5 does not have a LTE-Modem so I'm forced to use 2G. I'm using one SIM-card from T-Mobile and another from O2 for data. It's working (even with the setting "2G-only") and it's enough for checking E-Mails or even online-navigation via Puremaps/uNav. You can lookup something in the browser, but if there are websites with some pictures, animated ads or so on, it's to slow.
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@kristatos Of course, the German networks also run on the 2G network as long as the cell is not overloaded. In any case, I have more speed on the O2 network than Telekom or Vodafone. In any case, the neighbouring countries are better developed than Germany.
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@dpitti said in Using 3G and 2G phones in 2021 and beyond.:
In any case, the neighbouring countries are better developed than Germany.
That's no secret
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@kristatos Just here everything is always done 10 years later
