#4ky #network #improved #significantly #Orange #Deficiencies #persist
The competitor helped the 4th player more than he had to. Clients will improve especially with data.
Orange started a month ago turn off your 3G network and this process will finish tomorrow in Eastern Slovakia. According to the operator, this process takes place without any problems, he repeatedly declares for Živé.sk.
Paradoxically, this step is more important for 4ky clients, who will soon get into the competitor’s 4G network. In the editorial office, we test and verify what has changed and how the customer experience at the youngest provider has been improved.
In many cases, there have been significant improvements, especially in terms of data and 4G availability. Nothing changes with the basic 2G layer – which is mainly used for calls, SMS and very slow data.
Take a look at our findings in the following article and we will be happy if you share your observations in the discussion.
Editor’s tip
According to our information, operators are constantly making changes to the 4G network, which until recently functioned as 3G. It is a good idea to restart your mobile device now to save the new network settings. Without it, there may be problems or bad switching between your own network and a competitor’s network.
Orange helps 4ke a lot
It is clear that competitor Orange is helping 4ke with the new network in several ways. However, the competitor has not yet made available all the frequencies for the 4G network, which we write about below.
Orange has agreed to mark the 4G network to which 4ky clients can access with a code that belongs to the 4th operator. For the clients of the smallest player, this network also appears as their own network. Nor is the “R” displayed, which on selected mobiles indicated that it was a national access – that is, access to a competing network.
For this reason, the operator is going to add information to the application about how much data the customer used in the competitor’s 4G network after the changes. This information is important for clients with two unlimited programs that offer 20 GB in the Orange network and then it may slow down to 0.26/0.26 Mbit/s. Unofficially, 4ka accesses it only after 40 GB minutes:
Read also 4ka was invented: The customer will no longer find out that he is in Orange’s 4G network. He is preparing a clever…
After the switch, the devices can “think” that Orange’s 4G network is also their own network – and the switch should take place almost instantly. Cases where the client’s network goes out, especially when traveling, are to be eliminated. However, it is still true that if there was not even a 3G network in a location until now and there is not even an own 4ky network, the client will “fall” into the own or Orange 2G network.
The competitor also agreed that 4ky clients can use calls via the 4G network (VoLTE) in 4G Orange. During calls, they do not switch to the 2G network, and during a call in the 4G network, it is possible to make calls and data at the same time.
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The shutdown of the 3G network will end tomorrow. Source: Orange
Frequencies over the 3G network
For now, the competitors have agreed that 4ky clients will not be able to access the entire 4G network of Orange. It is still only about the 900 and 2100 MHz frequency bands, through which the 3G network has operated until now.
Specifically, it concerns two frequencies of Orange:
- 5 MHz v 900 MHzwhich is mainly used in smaller villages and on roads,
- 10 MHz v 2 100 MHzwhich is in cities, larger villages and more frequented locations.
So far, the Internet has reached a maximum speed of 21 and 42 Mbit/s over the 3G network, depending on the location. However, the LTE network uses the band more efficiently and the theoretical maximums are now 30 percent higher according to 4ky.
It is worth emphasizing that, especially at the border of the coverage, where there was a weak 3G signal, the coverage could have changed. If you had only one “stick” of 3G signal in a certain location, it may no longer be there after the new one, but the signal may appear elsewhere due to different 3G and 4G coding. Orange clients can also connect to the 4G network via the 900 and 2,100 MHz bands.
In some cities or other specific locations, a 4G network on 900 MHz may not be available at all, it may only work on 2,100 MHz. Such a location is, for example, the capital city.
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Orange launched 4ku in its 4G network. The 800 MHz band, which is for 99.1 percent of the population, has not been turned on yet. Source: istock
A special day after the switch
Since the end of January, our colleague in the capital has been testing the changes after turning off the 3G network. However, this is a location where the operator has almost completed the network, and clients there have a problem only inside some buildings.
We mapped in more detail the situation after the shutdown in Area 11, which mainly includes Orava, Liptov and Turiec. The change was supposed to take place on Thursday night – and in the morning the clients were supposed to be switched to Orange’s 4G network or their own network.
We used a pair of OnePlus Nord CE 5G (Android) and iPhone 11 (iOS) smartphones for the test. In both cases, however, we were covered by our own network, so we decided to go on roads where 4ka does not have its own network.
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In our case, the network did not work at all on the first day. On one of the devices, we were able to log in at least up to 2,100 MHz. Correctly, the network started working the next day. Source: editors
However, we were not successful on Thursday. Despite the fact that the 3G network was no longer working, neither device was able to connect to the 4G network in 900 MHz. Devices outside their own network remained only on the 2G network, and the OnePlus Nord CE 5G briefly connected to Orange’s 4G network at 2,100 MHz in some places. On the iPhone 11, fast data only worked in its own network.
For the sake of completeness, we add that despite the fact that the phones do not show which 4G network it is, we can find out through which frequency the device is connected through several tools.
Change a day later
The change came only a day later. When we chose to test Orange’s 4G network again via 4ku on Friday, OnePlus started connecting to Orange’s 4G network almost immediately after losing its own 4G network. First of all, it was a transfer from Námestov to the Polish border via Bobrov. The device switched from its own network (1,800 MHz) to 2,100 MHz without losing signal or losing 4G connectivity. The device “fell” into the 2G network just before the state border.
However, we also tried a longer route from the metropolis of upper Orava to Martin. There are several sections on this route where the signal did not work at all until now, or only 2G data was available.
Both devices now coped with the route from Námestov to Párnica with an available 4G network – switching between the 900, 1,800 and 2,100 MHz 4G network was automatic.
In the case of the OnePlus Nord CE 5G, there was a short transition to the 2G network in two sections (before the Orava Podzámek and then after the Široká section). Here, too, the difference between the terminals is shown – both of these sections the iPhone 11 remained connected in the 4G network with functional data.
4G data did not work between Párnica and Kraľovani, where, however, no 3G network was available until now. Although the own network worked on both devices in Kraľovany, data was not available for about another kilometer (one device only had a signal for calls, the iPhone had no signal) until the devices switched to 4G at 900 MHz.
All the way to the center of Martin, the devices were connected in the 4G network – either in their own network or Orange’s 4G network. Calls in the 4G network also worked correctly on both smartphones.
Speeds in the 4G network over 900 MHz ranged from approximately 4 to less than 20 Mbit/s during our testing. At 2,100 MHz, there were also values over 30-40 Mbit/s.
We achieved the best results in our own network, where the operator has the most capacity in most areas (except selected districts in the west, where it has 10 Mhz for LTE). It is often about speeds of 50-90 Mbit/s:
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In the own network, speeds approach 90 Mbit/s. In Orange’s 4G network at 900 MHz, you can rather count on speeds of less than 20 Mbit/s. Source: editors
In the last part of the article you will learn:
- What is the experience of other people?
- How has the highway experience improved?
- How will the 4G network be further improved?
- How many new transmitters will be added?
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