South of Cambridge used to get 4G now 2G for days

[johnnybaloney]

Hello,

I used to consistently and reliably get 4G in the south of Cambridge but recently (for at least a week) only get 2G. The satnav struggles, opening websites is slow etc. and I see the dreaded 'E' by the signal strength indicator. Any idea what's happening?

[bristolian]

That site carries 4G on Bands 3 (dual-carrier) and Band 20 (single-carrier) - it would be interesting to know which are affected.

If you are on a 4G-VoLTE call outside your area and travel in, does it maintain VoLTE and attach to the site in question? If so, is it using B3 or B20?

It would be a good test as to whether incoming handovers work even when idling/setups don't.

[johnnybaloney]

This was the situation yesterday. I took the first screenshot about 3 miles from the mast shown above. The second right outside of the mast.

[johnnybaloney]

There is another mast, or two masts, along the same route about 1.5 miles from the one above. They are separated by a small hill. I seem to be connecting fine to this one as I travel away from the suspect mast once I've gone over the hill.

[bristolian]

I'd strongly recommend the use of Cellmapper in these instances. The mapping data is much more reliable for one, the radio parameters also easier to read. The frequent reference to B4 in these screenshots is intriguing.

If you start a 4G-VoLTE call outside your area and travel in, does it maintain VoLTE and attach to the site in question? If so, is it using B3 or B20?

It would be a good test as to whether incoming handovers work even when idling/setups don't.

[johnnybaloney]

Thanks for keeping me company here @bristolian. I installed Cellmapper as you suggested and discovered it can dump data into a CSV, handy! Shame no header or timestamp, can't have everything...

I did a test drive with another phone on Lebara where 4G works flawlessly. I drove until I reached the point where I could get 4G on EE. BTW it is much further than the double mast I mentioned earlier, it's just 4G 'sticks' on the way back and drops much further than where it is first acquired as will be clear in the data and that made me believe I was getting 4G from those masts.

I made a call and 4G dropped on EE temporarily for the duration of the call. Below is a complete data dump from the trip that I annotated with points of interest.

---

[johnnybaloney]

1/4

timestamp	latitude	longitude	altitude	MCC	MNC	LAC	CID	signal	type	subtype	ARFCN	PSC	notes
19:52:50	52.13205164	0.16080753	76	234	30	2627	9107	-63	GSM	GSM	657		Huckeridge Hill mast outbound
19:52:55	52.13301405	0.15911864	77	234	30	2627	9107	-79	GSM	GSM	657
19:53:00	52.13399327	0.15739064	77	234	30	2627	9107	-95	GSM	GSM	657
19:53:05	52.13471194	0.15613299	76	234	30	2627	9107	-85	GSM	GSM	657
19:53:10	52.13471194	0.15613299	76	234	30	2627	9107	-85	GSM	GSM	657
19:53:15	52.13531184	0.15423173	70	234	30	2627	9107	-97	GSM	GSM	657
19:53:20	52.1352857	0.1541508	70	234	30	2627	9107	-95	GSM	GSM	657
19:53:25	52.13528075	0.15414647	69	234	30	2627	9107	-99	GSM	GSM	657
19:53:30	52.13530066	0.15360041	67	234	30	2627	9107	-97	GSM	GSM	657
19:53:35	52.13608382	0.15306437	65	234	30	2627	9108	-71	GSM	GSM	667
19:53:40	52.13699059	0.15241152	67	234	30	2627	9108	-79	GSM	GSM	667
19:53:45	52.1380986	0.15143622	65	234	30	2627	9108	-91	GSM	GSM	667
19:53:50	52.13900569	0.15045601	64	234	30	2627	9108	-85	GSM	GSM	667
19:53:55	52.13995257	0.14968815	66	234	30	2627	9108	-93	GSM	GSM	667
19:54:00	52.1411077	0.14941515	69	234	30	2627	9106	-87	GSM	GSM	655
19:54:05	52.14024778	0.14962021	67	234	30	2627	9108	-95	GSM	GSM	667
19:54:10	52.14141029	0.14922738	69	234	30	2627	9106	-85	GSM	GSM	655
19:54:15	52.14210565	0.14864237	67	234	30	2344	56964	-65	GSM	GSM	653
19:54:20	52.14188801	0.14881783	68	234	30	2344	56925	-65	GSM	GSM	660
19:54:25	52.14210565	0.14864237	67	234	30	2627	4158	-95	GSM	GSM	669		'The Rose’ pub masts outbound
19:54:30	52.14304781	0.14817192	67	234	30	2344	56954	-59	GSM	GSM	658
19:54:35	52.14315637	0.14859253	63	234	30	2344	56954	-65	GSM	GSM	658
19:54:40	52.1432178	0.14914739	65	234	30	2344	56954	-73	GSM	GSM	658
19:54:45	52.14319227	0.14963752	63	234	30	2344	56954	-71	GSM	GSM	658
19:54:50	52.1431167	0.15059562	62	234	30	2344	56954	-71	GSM	GSM	658
19:54:55	52.14313679	0.15082517	62	234	30	2344	56954	-73	GSM	GSM	658
19:55:00	52.14318446	0.15165344	65	234	30	2344	56954	-83	GSM	GSM	658
19:55:05	52.14313758	0.15148642	65	234	30	2344	56954	-83	GSM	GSM	658
19:55:10	52.14312223	0.15020462	63	234	30	2344	56954	-75	GSM	GSM	658

[johnnybaloney]

2/4

timestamp	latitude	longitude	altitude	MCC	MNC	LAC	CID	signal	type	subtype	ARFCN	PSC	notes
19:55:15	52.14316617	0.14947726	62	234	30	2344	56954	-73	GSM	GSM	658
19:55:20	52.14317879	0.14829472	61	234	30	2344	56954	-67	GSM	GSM	658
19:55:25	52.14318316	0.14824352	63	234	30	2344	56954	-65	GSM	GSM	658
19:55:30	52.14319197	0.14811934	62	234	30	2627	9106	-89	GSM	GSM	655
19:55:35	52.14318645	0.14824167	63	234	30	2344	56954	-63	GSM	GSM	658
19:55:40	52.14319197	0.14811934	62	234	30	2344	56925	-69	GSM	GSM	660
19:55:45	52.14319197	0.14811934	62	234	30	2344	7199	-93	GSM	GSM	650
19:55:50	52.1435698	0.14751331	62	234	30	2344	56964	-57	GSM	GSM	653
19:55:55	52.1439953	0.14676815	64	234	30	2344	56964	-73	GSM	GSM	653
19:56:00	52.1444002	0.14562446	66	234	30	2344	56964	-87	GSM	GSM	653
19:56:05	52.14470246	0.14466533	66	234	30	2344	56964	-99	GSM	GSM	653
19:56:10	52.14542947	0.14272061	68	234	30	2344	7199	-93	GSM	GSM	650
19:56:15	52.1456297	0.14221528	69	234	30	2344	7199	-91	GSM	GSM	650
19:56:20	52.14624419	0.14060427	70	234	30	2344	7199	-87	GSM	GSM	650
19:56:25	52.14647665	0.13995166	70	234	30	2344	7199	-89	GSM	GSM	650
19:56:30	52.14719254	0.13843172	62	234	30	2344	7199	-91	GSM	GSM	650
19:56:35	52.14761026	0.13787063	63	234	30	2344	7199	-93	GSM	GSM	650
19:56:40	52.14855908	0.13689089	61	234	30	2344	7199	-89	GSM	GSM	650
19:56:45	52.14918199	0.13641733	63	234	30	2147483647	0	-113	GSM	EDGE
19:56:50	52.14949604	0.13630075	64	234	30	25151	7876353	-107	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:56:55	52.14897252	0.13654652	61	234	30	2344	7199	-87	GSM	EDGE	650
19:57:00	52.15011549	0.13613263	64	234	30	25151	7876353	-108	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:57:05	52.15030687	0.13607171	62	234	30	25151	7876353	-109	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:57:10	52.15041535	0.13596635	61	234	30	25151	7876353	-111	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:57:15	52.15043426	0.13598487	63	234	30	25151	7876353	-111	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:57:20	52.15029176	0.13618587	59	234	30	25151	7876353	-104	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:57:25	52.1502747	0.1361935	58	234	30	25151	7876353	-103	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:57:30	52.15027686	0.13620104	58	234	30	25151	7876353	-103	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:57:35	52.15027861	0.136201	59	234	30	25151	7876356	-105	LTE	LTE	1761	244

[johnnybaloney]

3/4

timestamp	latitude	longitude	altitude	MCC	MNC	LAC	CID	signal	type	subtype	ARFCN	PSC	notes
19:57:40	52.15027967	0.1362004	58	234	30	25151	7876356	-103	LTE	LTE	1761	244
19:57:45	52.15028021	0.13620101	58	234	30	25151	7876356	-102	LTE	LTE-A	1761	244
19:57:50	52.1502805	0.13620113	58	234	30	25151	7876356	-103	LTE	LTE-A	1761	244
19:57:55	52.1502809	0.13620044	58	234	30	25151	7876356	-101	LTE	LTE-A	1761	244
19:58:00	52.15028105	0.13620018	58	234	30	2344	7199	-77	GSM	GSM	650		1st call (answered)
19:58:05	52.15028113	0.13619975	58	234	30	2344	7199	-85	GSM	GSM	650
19:58:10	52.15028132	0.13619943	58	234	30	2344	7199	-79	GSM	GSM	650
19:58:15	52.15028134	0.13619939	58	234	30	2344	7199	-83	GSM	GSM	650
19:58:20	52.15028157	0.13619905	58	234	30	2344	7199	-87	GSM	GSM	650
19:58:25	52.15028178	0.13619875	58	234	30	2344	7199	-83	GSM	GSM	650
19:58:30	52.15028173	0.13619877	58	234	30	2344	7199	-91	GSM	GSM	650
19:58:35	52.15028203	0.13619762	61	234	30	2147483647	0	-113	GSM	EDGE
19:58:40	52.15028201	0.13619775	59	234	30	2344	7199	-83	GSM	EDGE	650
19:58:45	52.15028203	0.13619762	61	234	30	2147483647	0	-113	GSM	EDGE
19:58:50	52.15028219	0.1361975	59	234	30	25151	7876353	-107	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:58:55	52.15028219	0.13619724	59	234	30	25151	7876353	-103	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:59:00	52.15028264	0.13619655	59	234	30	25151	7876353	-102	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:59:05	52.15028264	0.13619655	59	234	30	25151	7876353	-102	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:59:10	52.15028269	0.13619639	59	234	30	25151	7876356	-105	LTE	LTE	1761	244
19:59:15	52.15028275	0.13619598	59	234	30	25151	7876356	-103	LTE	LTE-A	1761	244
19:59:20	52.15028267	0.13619546	59	234	30	2344	7199	-77	GSM	GSM	650		2nd call (unanswered)
19:59:25	52.15028266	0.1361954	59	234	30	2344	7199	-79	GSM	GPRS	650
19:59:30	52.15028283	0.13619482	63	234	30	2147483647	0	-113	GSM	EDGE
19:59:35	52.15027215	0.13619374	60	234	30	25151	7876353	-105	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:59:40	52.14987905	0.1362615	59	234	30	25151	7876353	-106	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:59:45	52.14942211	0.13636277	58	234	30	25151	7876353	-106	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:59:50	52.14867526	0.13687382	59	234	30	25151	7876353	-106	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
19:59:55	52.14805234	0.13744913	63	234	30	25151	7876353	-111	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
20:00:00	52.14753461	0.13801356	63	234	30	25151	7876353	-109	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244

[johnnybaloney]

4/4

timestamp	latitude	longitude	altitude	MCC	MNC	LAC	CID	signal	type	subtype	ARFCN	PSC	notes
20:00:05	52.14729645	0.13835375	62	234	30	25151	7876356	-110	LTE	LTE-A	1761	244
20:00:10	52.14671123	0.13945467	64	234	30	25151	7876356	-109	LTE	LTE-A	1761	244
20:00:15	52.14624458	0.14066282	66	234	30	25151	7876356	-116	LTE	LTE-A	1761	244
20:00:20	52.14570269	0.14201314	63	234	30	25151	7876356	-120	LTE	LTE-A	1761	244
20:00:25	52.14523968	0.14318757	65	234	30	25151	7876356	-119	LTE	LTE-A	1761	244
20:00:30	52.14474787	0.14459194	66	234	30	25151	7876356	-116	LTE	LTE-A	1761	244
20:00:35	52.14434269	0.14588208	64	234	30	25151	8615680	-97	LTE	LTE	1617	96
20:00:40	52.1445103	0.14532003	66	234	30	25151	7876353	-110	LTE	LTE-A	1617	244
20:00:45	52.1446288	0.14495164	66	234	30	25151	7876356	-115	LTE	LTE-A	1761	244
20:00:50	52.14386316	0.14705713	66	234	30	25151	8615680	-88	LTE	LTE	1617	96
20:00:55	52.14327599	0.14801609	64	234	30	25151	8615680	-68	LTE	LTE	1617	96
20:01:00	52.14233196	0.14850543	61	234	30	25151	8615681	-63	LTE	LTE	1617	97	'The Rose’ pub masts inbound
20:01:05	52.14258217	0.14837976	62	234	30	25151	8615680	-66	LTE	LTE	1617	96
20:01:10	52.14147483	0.14924995	61	234	30	25151	8615681	-72	LTE	LTE	1617	97
20:01:15	52.14051006	0.14961429	59	234	30	25151	8615681	-111	LTE	LTE	1617	97
20:01:20	52.14023034	0.14967054	61	234	30	26271	5302274	-119	LTE	LTE-A	1617	314
20:01:25	52.14023034	0.14967054	61	234	30	26271	5302274	-119	LTE	LTE-A	1617	314
20:01:30	52.13995265	0.14974829	60	234	30	26271	5516288	-110	LTE	LTE-A	1617	473
20:01:35	52.13865343	0.15092332	66	234	30	26271	5516288	-110	LTE	LTE-A	1617	473
20:01:40	52.13828161	0.15129231	66	234	30	26271	5070339	-108	LTE	LTE-A	1815	297
20:01:45	52.13738512	0.15209768	69	234	30	26271	5516291	-100	LTE	LTE-A	1815	473
20:01:50	52.13668312	0.15287104	72	234	30	26271	5516291	-96	LTE	LTE-A	1815	473
20:01:55	52.1358752	0.15415626	73	234	30	26271	5516291	-84	LTE	LTE-A	1815	473
20:02:00	52.1358752	0.15415626	73	234	30	26271	5516291	-84	LTE	LTE-A	1815	473
20:02:05	52.13497179	0.15572892	74	234	30	2627	9106	-59	GSM	GSM	655
20:02:10	52.13434763	0.15681028	74	234	30	2627	9106	-59	GSM	GSM	655
20:02:15	52.13383553	0.15770518	71	234	30	2627	9106	-61	GSM	GSM	655
20:02:20	52.13338114	0.15851017	71	234	30	2627	9106	-67	GSM	GSM	655
20:02:25	52.13253515	0.16001639	74	234	30	2627	9108	-63	GSM	GSM	667
20:02:30	52.1316675	0.16151572	79	234	30	2627	9108	-51	GSM	GSM	667		Huckeridge Hill mast inbound
20:02:35	52.13078105	0.16318398	73	234	30	2627	9108	-75	GSM	EDGE	667
20:02:40	52.12977319	0.16498986	70	234	30	2627	9107	-65	GSM	EDGE	657
20:02:45	52.13005559	0.16450968	70	234	30	2627	9108	-87	GSM	EDGE	667

[bristolian]

Cellmapper's use here is to easily confirm which your serving site is at a given moment. As per my previous posts - if you start a 4G-VoLTE call outside your area and travel in, does it maintain VoLTE and attach to the site in question?

I'm trying to establish here, if there's any difference in RAT-selection (i.e. 2G/4G?) depending whether you're already in an active call or not. You need to test this using your EE SIM, not that of an MVNO who use another operator.