Confused about 3g!

A_Traveller

Hi All.

When on the phone to Three, I asked if their sim card could be used with a non-3g phone to only make calls and text and not use the Internet, but they said that even for just calls and texts, the phone still has to be a 3g phone.

Now what I am confused about is that why is EE (which is on 3g) working fine on a 2g phone (Samsung GT-B3210)?

Does that mean that a Three sim will work in the above mentioned 2g phone as well or will a 3g phone definitely be required?

Any help with would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Tony5101

The difference is that 3 don't have a 2G network. They purchase very limited fallback to Orange in some areas where their own coverage is patchy ie you would ROAM onto the Orange network which 3 always paid for - but this is gradually being scaled back.
All of the other legacy networks were originally 2G, subsequently upgraded to 3G, and now adding 4G.

A_Traveller

Thanks for your reply, Tony5101, but I still don't understand.

The T-Mobile website says 'As a T-Mobile customer, you're already using EE's 3G network, the biggest in the UK, which is why you now see 'EE' on your device screen.'

Why is it working on a 2g phone then? Are you saying that T-Mobile/EE still have 2g coverage and that is what the 2g phone is working on and not the 3g?

Another thing I wanted to ask while I'm here is that the networks who had/have 2g, will there always be 2g available from networks or will it soon be a case of 2g phones no longer work with any network?

Thanks.

Tony5101

A_Traveller wrote: »

Why is it working on a 2g phone then? Are you saying that T-Mobile/EE still have 2g coverage and that is what the 2g phone is working on and not the 3g?

Another thing I wanted to ask while I'm here is that the networks who had/have 2g, will there always be 2g available from networks or will it soon be a case of 2g phones no longer work with any network?

Thanks.

The phone will be using the Orange/Tmob 2G spectrum.
2G capable phones will only work on the 2G spectrum.
3G capable phones will work on both the 3G and 2G.
4G capable phones (depending on the phone) will work on some or all of the UK's 4G (and future 4G) spectrum, as well as both the older 3G and 2G technologies.
BUT - if the phones drop to 2G - then they will lose their data capability (but I think you already got that?)

It is a distinct possibility that some or all of the older 2G spectrum could be swallowed up by the upgrade to 4G - so in a similar situation with the old analogue and digital TV signal - it might be time to upgrade your hardware (although I think you'll still have a while yet)

Hope this helps - and sorry if some of that is "telling Granny how to suck eggs"!

A_Traveller

Thanks for the helpful info Tony5101. That answers my questions and none of it was like telling granny how to suck eggs!