4G? 5G? Well that was really weird, and a bit disconcerting to be honest. Do we have any specialists in FoP?

[Skygod44]

December 26th, and I'm sat next to my daughter in a private school while she's practicing the impossibly over-complicated "kanji" that all Japanese need to learn.
For example this 頭痛 means headache.
Which is exactly what kanji does to my daft old brain, most of the time.

Anyway, I digress.
As usual

So, I was having fun with a to-and-fro in FoP about camera lenses, and 4K televisions, and I leaned slightly to the left...
...all of a sudden, the little mark top-right changed from 4G to 5G
It was the first time I'd actually noticed it.
So I clicked "post comment" expecting something magical

Well would you believe it? It wouldn't send. There was just a wobbly line moving across the top of my smartphone screen.

I cancelled the "send", leaned back to the right, and that little pesky mark went back to 4G.

So I clicked "post comment" again, and it went, just like that(!), in the blink of an eye.

Is anyone else having 5G do that?

Seemed a bit weird to me, after all the hype about data carrying capacity etc.

Ah-hah...
She's finished, so I can go home and start drinking something that would knock the scales off a cobra

Cheers all

 

[gjl711]

Your in a coverage seam or coverage hole. Depending on your phone and service provider and how things are set up, your phone should always try and use the preferred technology but there are conditions where the signal drops and the phone will switch automagically to keep you connected. Does your phone normally use 4g? If so, it sounds like your set up to do that. Might want to consider turning off the 4G preference and letting the phone decide which tech to use. Anyway, you just happened to find a spot where 4g was most likely marginal and a slight movement put it under the threshold.

 

[Skygod44]

Your in a coverage seam or coverage hole. Depending on your phone and service provider and how things are set up, your phone should always try and use the preferred technology but there are conditions where the signal drops and the phone will switch automagically to keep you connected. Does your phone normally use 4g? If so, it sounds like your set up to do that. Might want to consider turning off the 4G preference and letting the phone decide which tech to use. Anyway, you just happened to find a spot where 4g was most likely marginal and a slight movement put it under the threshold.

Thanks so much for the info.

It was so weird...
I barely moved a muscle, and yet the indicator switched, and then my phone didn't want to send to FoP.

I'll take a peek in the settings.

Thanks again, JJ.

 

[SkedAddled]

JJ's got the right idea.

I was forced to a 'smart' phone during the 4G rise,
and I frequently saw it switch from 3G to 4G, sometimes when moving around
in my desk chair.

5G is now prevalent here, but the signal-strength indicator doesn't reflect data,
it's only an indicator of voice-signal strength. I can have an indicator of 'full'
signal on the network, but that doesn't often translate to data.

I can be inside a building and see that it's connecting at 1G/2G strength for data,
while also showing a maximum strength for voice.

Depends on where you are in relation to the service antennae.

 

[Skygod44]

JJ's got the right idea.

I was forced to a 'smart' phone during the 4G rise,
and I frequently saw it switch from 3G to 4G, sometimes when moving around
in my desk chair.

5G is now prevalent here, but the signal-strength indicator doesn't reflect data,
it's only an indicator of voice-signal strength. I can have an indicator of 'full'
signal on the network, but that doesn't often translate to data.

I can be inside a building and see that it's connecting at 1G/2G strength for data,
while also showing a maximum strength for voice.

Depends on where you are in relation to the service antennae.

Sorry Craig, I didn't spot your reply earlier
I'm still getting to grips with how to track threads and messages in here.

Anyway, yes, that's interesting...

I wonder if the handset itself determines anything important...?
Although considering how much hardware is shared inside almost every "thing" we use these days, I doubt it.

Cheers for now

 

[SkedAddled]

...

I wonder if the handset itself determines anything important...?...

Yeah, I'm sure it prioritizes according to service provider's software,
but some settings can usually be found to set preferences for radio bands.

I know from experience that it's available on Android phones,
while it may be that an iPhone won't even allow you near the
gigantic wall that their garden resides within. I only know Android.

 

[Skygod44]

I'm on Android too...Sony Xperia "something-or-other".
Had a look through the settings, and it looks like it will automatically switch irrespective of what the provider suggests, using signal strength as the main parameter.

Oddly enough, it hasn't switched again.
But I live in the countryside(ish), where the antennas are 4G.
And of course, inside my house we use WiFi.

Thanks again

 

[SkedAddled]

Any recent Android system lets you get into 'Developer' settings:

->Settings
-->About Phone(or Device)
--->Software Information
---->Android Version

Tap on Android Version 5 times or so until you see
"Congrabulations! You're a developer!" or similar.
Go back to settings. Scroll down; near the bottom you'll see "Developer options"
or it'll be inside Android version.
Go into that to find radio preferences settings, if the device supports it.
Alternatively, it's under About-> settings, in the -->Network category.

If it's not there, it's a maker- or carrier-specific thing.
I can still get to it on my old HTC phone, while it's absent on the newer Samsung.

You may aslo be able to update the PRI and/or PRL settings;
that'll force the device to update according to the in-range network signal availability.

 

[gjl711]

Playing with the setting is fun but be wary. If you have a phone that has been set up by your carrier, it most likely has been set up to maximize the user experience on their network. Changing settings might improve one function but it might at the same time degrade performance of another.

 

[Well Bonded]

5G is now prevalent here, but the signal-strength indicator doesn't reflect data,
it's only an indicator of voice-signal strength. I can have an indicator of 'full'
signal on the network, but that doesn't often translate to data.

Both 4G and 5G use the same data stream for voice and data however voice is prioritized.

 

[Skygod44]

Any recent Android system lets you get into 'Developer' settings:

->Settings
-->About Phone(or Device)
--->Software Information
---->Android Version

Tap on Android Version 5 times or so until you see
"Congrabulations! You're a developer!" or similar.
Go back to settings. Scroll down; near the bottom you'll see "Developer options"
or it'll be inside Android version.
Go into that to find radio preferences settings, if the device supports it.
Alternatively, it's under About-> settings, in the -->Network category.

If it's not there, it's a maker- or carrier-specific thing.
I can still get to it on my old HTC phone, while it's absent on the newer Samsung.

You may aslo be able to update the PRI and/or PRL settings;
that'll force the device to update according to the in-range network signal availability.

The only "developer" my brain has ever been capable of fiddling with, was in a darkroom.

Thanks mate.
But I think I'll leave the settings on my phone alone.

Knowing my luck, if I change anything, it'll probably open a portal to one of the dark dimensions, and bring forth creatures which can only eat digital cameras, and anyone holding one!

 

[ChuckMiller]

Do you ever see your phone say it is using/on 5G UW (ultra wide)?

 

[Skygod44]

Do you ever see your phone say it is using/on 5G UW (ultra wide)?

Nope.
I've never even heard of 5G UW.

 

[Joeseph]

Nope.
I've never even heard of 5G UW.

me niether - is that like a 80MHz channel width on 5GHz Wifi?

 

[gjl711]

It's all 5G but dependent on which band you are using and dependent on what carrier you are using. You might also see UC. It gets you faster throughput at the cost of range. You have to be pretty close to the transmitter to see improvements in performance.

 

[ChuckMiller]

... It gets you faster throughput at the cost of range. You have to be pretty close to the transmitter to see improvements in performance.

Ain't that the truth. Whenever my phone shows UW my data download speeds are the worst of the worst. Fortunately we have a cell tower about 3000 feet away so anywhere in the house we have 5 bars for signal strength and good data speeds. Of course, the house wi-fi is the best choice.