Poor Voice Call Quality With Mobile?

SJMALBA

PHK said:

SJMALBA said:

PHK said:

SJMALBA said:

alanjones60 said:

I think the only true payg,where you only top if you want to which offers 5g,volte and wifi calling is three.

No 5G in this part of the world AFAIK, and Three seems to be a non-starter in this area in general, according to mobile coverage checkers.

EDIT: Out of curiosity, put Samsung Galaxy A23 5G in their checker and Three's coverage now says 5G good outdoors/variable indoors, and 4G great outdoors/good indoors?!
Why would the Nokia 105 4G show no coverage for 4G from Three?
Even modern phones have differences between what they will/won't offer, from the same network??

Yes, there are different bands for 4G . Whether you can access that band depends both on the handset supporting it and the service provider allowing access to it (for example they may choose to restrict access to certain bands to pay monthly customers)

Thanks - this is becoming more and more complicated by the second...!   

This is why I recommended a good quality mid-range phone or a refurbished recent ‘flagship’. As these will cover all the bands used in the UK and so you’ll only need to be concerned about the service from whichever provider. 

What sort of prices would I be looking at for these kind of things?

PHK

A New Motorola G31 (Android) will be around £120. An iPhone 8 refurbished around £150. A refurbished Samsung A52 refurbished around £180. (other makes available)

You can check which bands the various operators use here: https://www.4g.co.uk/4g-frequencies-uk-need-know/ 

matelodave

PHK said:

A New Motorola G31 (Android) will be around £120. An iPhone 8 refurbished around £150. A refurbished Samsung A52 refurbished around £180. (other makes available)

You can check which bands the various operators use here: https://www.4g.co.uk/4g-frequencies-uk-need-know/ 

although the link above points to the frequency bands that the operators have allocated to them and can use, they are not necessarily available where you live .You need to be able to determine where the masts are that serve you to narrow it down to the bands that are allocated where you live.

Cellmapper.net shows you where the cell towers are situated and which bands are allocated to which tower. Have a look here, zoom into where you live and see which towers are near your address and which bands they are using in the segment that serves you.

https://www.cellmapper.net/map?MCC=234&MNC=30&type=LTE&latitude=51.61490816578197&longitude=-0.13771071322382814&zoom=13.355129222756627&showTowers=true&showIcons=true&showTowerLabels=true&clusterEnabled=true&tilesEnabled=true&showOrphans=false&showNoFrequencyOnly=false&showFrequencyOnly=false&showBandwidthOnly=false&DateFilterType=Last&showHex=false&showVerifiedOnly=false&showUnverifiedOnly=false&showLTECAOnly=false&showENDCOnly=false&showBand=0&showSectorColours=true&mapType=roadmap&darkMode=false

PHK

matelodave said:

PHK said:

A New Motorola G31 (Android) will be around £120. An iPhone 8 refurbished around £150. A refurbished Samsung A52 refurbished around £180. (other makes available)

You can check which bands the various operators use here: https://www.4g.co.uk/4g-frequencies-uk-need-know/ 

although the link above points to the frequency bands that the operators have allocated to them and can use, they are not necessarily available where you live .You need to be able to determine where the masts are that serve you to narrow it down to the bands that are allocated where you live.

Cellmapper.net shows you where the cell towers are situated and which bands are allocated to which tower. Have a look here, zoom into where you live and see which towers are near your address and which bands they are using in the segment that serves you.

https://www.cellmapper.net/map?MCC=234&MNC=30&type=LTE&latitude=51.61490816578197&longitude=-0.13771071322382814&zoom=13.355129222756627&showTowers=true&showIcons=true&showTowerLabels=true&clusterEnabled=true&tilesEnabled=true&showOrphans=false&showNoFrequencyOnly=false&showFrequencyOnly=false&showBandwidthOnly=false&DateFilterType=Last&showHex=false&showVerifiedOnly=false&showUnverifiedOnly=false&showLTECAOnly=false&showENDCOnly=false&showBand=0&showSectorColours=true&mapType=roadmap&darkMode=false

This is correct the final step would be to confirm with the provider if your particular account can access all bands. (Eg some providers limit 800Mhz access to pay monthly)

To limit the amount of work needed I would suggest getting a phone that covers all the bands and taking out a sim-only contract with a bigger provider. 

SJMALBA

Thanks, everyone, for all the help. 

I had started to think that, for me, a mobile may not be a feasible/practical option for calls, given all the apparent issues/complexities/costs for a (generally) non-mobile user such as myself; however, it has just occurred to me that I have used my current phone to make a few previous calls, with an O2 PAYG SIM, a few years back (within the last decade, certainly), from home and out and about, and it was fine - While I can't rule out a fault with/degradation of components in the phone since then, it does make me wonder if the network/RWG SIM is the (main?) problem? Or does technological change within that timescale mean that the phone still can't be ruled out as the main problem? 

If I was to get a Lebara or Lyca SIM (both cheap for the first 6 months, and O2 & Vodafone seem to offer best coverage in my area), would I be able to port my current number to it if the new SIM proves suitable, or is this something that has to be done when ordering the new SIM?
(If I did have to change the mobile number registered with the various banks etc. that I use, it wouldn't be the end of the world, so not a major issue)

PHK

There has been significant change in the last decade (eg the re-farming of 2G spectrum to 4G) So I would only take into account recent experience. 

To be brutally honest, I think you are in a situation where the more economical options will require much more work on your part. It’s a question of how valuable your time is. In your circumstances I would spend a little more to get one of the handsets mentioned above and a sim-only contract directly with a major provider that shows good coverage in your area. 

As for porting, all the major providers allow you to port in at any time. Some of the budget providers would prefer you did this at the outset. 

flaneurs_lobster

Order both the Lebara and Lyca sims and try them, the most it can cost is a month's fee each (99p/80p) if you remember to turn off auto renewal/topup. 

Yes you can port your current number to them if you want, it does not have to be done at the time of ordering.

ProDave

This which band / which phone / which provider question is really complicated.  Another "gotcha" is some resellers do not use the full network of their host, e.g. i found Plusnet only use a subset of the EE network meaning poorer coverage than the full EE network.

Get the cheapest PAYG sim from your chosen network to try it.  If it works, port your number and upgrade to pay monthly if that is what you want.

SJMALBA

Update:

Got the Lycamobile (O2) SIM to try as an alternative to the RWG (EE) SIM, made a couple of calls (to different people), and... absolutely fine. Not 'audiophile' sound quality , but much better than RWG, and, initial impressions suggests, perfectly usable, so it seems the (main?) problem was inadequate coverage in my area, with EE, for voice calls.

Potentially. a 4G phone would be better still?, but I'll see how things go with 2G before deciding if that's necessary.

Thanks again for all of the invaluable assistance. 

flaneurs_lobster

SJMALBA said:

Potentially. a 4G phone would be better still?, but I'll see how things go with 2G before deciding if that's necessary.

Thanks again for all of the invaluable assistance. 

A 4G phone would not improve voice service using Lyca since they don't use VoLTE (as it's known).