You're not actually moving to 3G, you're still on LTE/ 5G, but the speeds are capped at 3G speeds, so the technology is the same, but the speeds are slowed down.
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Verizon Shutting Down 3G Network on December 31, 2022
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Yep. Some kindle devices use 3G because LTE isn’t really necessary (ebook files aren’t very big).
It is long past time for auto manufacturers to start developing modular systems that can be upgraded. I tend to own cars for 7-10 years. That’s a long time. The car works just fine. 7 years later (which happens to be the age of my current car) my car is just as efficient as any other non-hybrid on the road, it’s safe, reliable, it works fine. But the audio system is woefully outdated.
But it is what it is. It’s not the responsibility of telecom companies to support old hardware for eternity (though supporting it for a long time is a good thing). These auto manufacturers need to build modular systems that are upgradable. Half the new cars you can buy today have outdated systems that have limited features. And often these don’t get updated during mid year refreshes. So while we get a new phone every year, we don’t see upgrades to car infotainment systems for several years. All of this could be solved if they were designed to be upgradeable.
I live in one of those places. I'm not far from a 4G area but a couple of miles is pretty much the same as 100 when you don't have service.
Spend some time here and see if you want to try an mvno
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Visible and US mobile are popular and offer Verizon services.
Thanks for the tip! I just paid off the wife's iPhone today (forgot the payment plan was active) so we own our phones outright. AT&T/Sprint/T-Mobile don't work in our town but Verizon does so if I can get something on Verizon's network via an MVNO, that may be an option
4G is technically the speed of 5G. But if you get 5G Ultra-Wide Band, then the real speed comes in.
Interesting indeed! I figured it had something to do with some smallish company having complete control over the spectrum in that area.
And while the National Radio Quiet Zone definitely comes into play, the area where wireless communications are completely prohibited is a relatively small part of that rectangle.
It's gotta be bothering VZW to have to keep sitting on remaining spectrum for 3G for that 1% of customers as it says in the press release.
I plan on suing...no particular reason.
Verizon is planning to shut down its 3G network at the end of 2022, effectively ending 3G support, the company announced today. Verizon has pushed back the sunsetting of its 3G network several times now, but it sounds like a concrete end date has finally been established.
Verizon first announced plans to shut down its 3G network in 2016, and at that time, said that 3G would cease working on December 31, 2019. Verizon ultimately delayed until the end of 2020 to give impacted customers more time to figure out their plans, and then in January 2021, said that the network would not be shut down in the near future.
Though Verizon has kept 3G up and running, it stopped activating 3G phones in July 2018. Verizon says that it has been working with customers who still have 3G devices to transfer them over to 4G and 5G phones, and less than one percent now use the 3G network.
Verizon is encouraging customers with a 3G device to transition to a 4G device now, and as the cutoff date approaches, 3G customers could see a degradation or complete loss of service, with service centers offering "limited troubleshooting help."
Article Link: Verizon Shutting Down 3G Network on December 31, 2022
Nope, no impact on voice/ texts, just data.
WiMax wasn't CDMA... and GSM died at 2G (EDGE was its 3G candidate). 3G is UMTS, which is W-CDMA. 4G is yet another different technology in LTE which uses OFDMA. And 5G, well its name is even New Radio. What the GSM Association did was enforce interoperability between technologies when the 3GPP was formed.
Thank you! I’ll be the first to admit I’m not anywhere near a wireless network aficionado. 😅
I wish there is a Pin feature on MR forum. Every single thread there is a simple answer to some obvious question that is buried sort of pages deep into the discussion. Lucky this is on the first page.
Although not everyone reads the comment.
Not *totally* true. There are directional signal repeaters you can setup in a zone that does get service, and the repeater will beam a boosted signal toward a location significantly far away that would otherwise not get signal. But that's a very atypical option.
Cellular repeater - Wikipedia
That was a triple dog dare from Verizon. First it was then end of 2020. Then sometime in 2021. Now it the end of 2022.
Nope. While iPhones have a ridiculous number of spectrum bands it can use, at a minimum every phone sold going back to the Galaxy S4 (possibly further) on Android has at least the same 2 bands that CDMA runs on available for LTE (2 and 5). Caveat: you also mention 5G, so of course you’d need a 5G phone, but those bands are present on those phones.
Yes, Starlink works fine with VPNs. It is not like other satellite services.
Not *totally* true. There are directional signal repeaters you can setup in a zone that does get service, and the repeater will beam a boosted signal toward a location significantly far away that would otherwise not get signal. But that's a very atypical option.
Cellular repeater - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Verizon (in my area) will allow calls to be routed through our WiFi so in my home I have no problems with calls. Since I frequently Zoom and it works fine I am assuming that any app that might need cell service can use this feature.
My problem only shows up when I am near home but not in my own house’s WiFi range. This includes walking in my neighborhood or driving, unless I drive south, which is the direction that the 4G towers are located. It really isn’t a very long distance until I can get a solid 4G signal, about 3-5 miles. But get within the 3 mile range of my home and the signal drops to 3G. Most times i don’t lose a call if I or my wife are talking but I am curious what will happen when Verizon kills their 3G towers. I’m not sure that there are going to be new towers put up to fill in this dead area because there aren’t that many people living here and if you are at home you can call using your internet connection. It’s only when you aren’t home that you may have connection problems.
