Australia's 3G network shutdown begins this Friday. Here's what you need to know (www.abc.net.au)

submitted 9 months ago by Tau@aussie.zone to c/news@aussie.zone

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[-] Tau@aussie.zone 11 points 9 months ago

It'll be interesting to see how this affects reception in the fringes of current service. There's plenty of places once you get a bit away from town where I've noticed the phone drops back to 3g to get any trace of reception, and while it's generally not enough to get you data that might be enough to get an emergency call out if necessary.

[-] vividspecter@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago

Most 3g towers will be replaced with 4g and 5g so it should be similar (or better in throughput) but some phones will have issues in band support. My phone is missing one of the popular 4g bands, for example, so that may impact rural coverage in particular.

[-] bestusername@aussie.zone 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Doesn't 4G and 5G also have a shorter range?

You don't just need to replace 3G towers, you likely need to add more towers.

[-] vividspecter@lemm.ee 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

They'll be using the same frequencies for the most part so should have the same range (and use the same towers). "Low band 5g" is the search term if you want to know more.

[-] Tau@aussie.zone 1 points 9 months ago

You would think so, but I notice this even in areas where you'd think every tower would also have 4G coverage (in the hills near Canberra for example) so I feel like the 3G cells just have a little edge when it comes to coverage.