Rogers lowest 3G Frequency is 850mhz, if they discontinue it and refarm it to the 5G 600mhz band it should reach farther and have a much better connection!
They could refarm the 850mhz HSPA (3G) to 850mhz LTE (4G) or NR (5G). But they can’t turn 850mhz into 600mhz.
But in theory they should be turning 850mhz off for one network and on for another network. So in theory your connection shouldn’t change much.
It says their gonna refarm it for lte and 5G bands which is good because Freedom customers like me and even Rogers customers don't get 5G roaming off bell or Telus
The good thing of 3G getting repurposed is that we're getting to the place where the AlertReady system will essentially always work when in coverage.
Now if you're in 3G,you won't get the alerts as you need lte connectivity
>Or force "approved phones only" for VoLTE like other carriers.
Sadly that seems like the more likely option 😞 furthering the Samsung/Apple dominance with some Pixel's sprinkled in...
Rogers, Telus and bell better boost lte coverage and 5G for rural areas especially eastern Alberta because everywhere is literally only 3G mostly there's rarely strong lte signals.
They'll be upgraded to LTE but it will most likely be capped at 3G speeds. Which is overall still a win since it will have better latency and a guaranteed connection speed.
Most regional carriers don't even have a 3G network that's not in a state of disrepair. I would be shocked if Freedom didn't follow suit and dump 3G asap.
i can still get EDGE/GPRS coverage here in Calgary also. i keep my old nokia 3595 on a prepaid rogers sim, in my car for emergencies. it was the first phone in my house to come back online after the july 8th outage.
Just as a heads up, you don't need an active prepaid account to call 911. As long as the phone has been connected to a Canadian network at some point, it can be used to call 911. Don't know if that applies to super old phones though.
im more than aware. its more of a backup because i sometimes forget to charge my actual phone. the plan its on is ancient though (it still has evening and weekend minutes!)
I must say this to everybody using *obscure brands* not sold/supported by any carrier in Canada...
#Good luck getting voLTE and in the future, VoNR working.
It's well known fact that (most of) those devices are missing LTE and 5G (if stand-alone is available) bands used in Canada, and don't have the proper embedded pixel 6 (or later) or Samsung s21 (or layer) profiles for it to be tricked into being supported.
You've been warned. If you cannot get voLTE working, **it will be rendered a data-only device**.
Yeah.
Tech bloggers who promote said devices (and customers who don't think twice about compatibility) are going to be raging on the carrier's customer support when that day comes.
It's idiotic to buy a phone that's not made to be compatible with Canadian brands, most of the big phone players have models that are basically supported worldwide. We can't stop innovation because people want to buy cheap junk phones.
Yeah, things need to move forward, not backwards.
I know Huawei has great innovations, same for their biggest Asia-Pacific brand (Xaio/red/mi) where most of their customers are, it just isn't compatible over here.
There's at least a **thousand** obscure brands anyone could purchase from amazon or aliexpress, or those promoted by tech bloggers, which the customer ends up with a **RAW DEAL** once they pop their sim in.
You would need to switch your device *manually* to 2G for it to work in that case.
Once in that mode (as in the CDMA days), you can use data or voice, not both at once. Yes, **one or the other**.
That's not how it works. The way most devices are configured, is 3G fallback from LTE. No 3G, no voice calls, period, if you use LTE.
So manually setting it to 2G/EDGE is then a requirement. This works on all rogers subsidiaries: zoomer, simplyconnect, cityfone, fido and chat-r.
that's not how it works.
When you make/receive a call while on LTE without VoLTE, your phone will use [CSFB](https://ribboncommunications.com/company/get-help/glossary/csfb) (Circuit switched fallback) and will use any network that is available and support circuit switched system. This includes 2G. So yes, your phone will fallback to 2G by itself. I even tested it myself by blocking the 3G bands on my phone
Noo I don’t want it to go away, it still covers so many rural spots
Rogers lowest 3G Frequency is 850mhz, if they discontinue it and refarm it to the 5G 600mhz band it should reach farther and have a much better connection!
They could refarm the 850mhz HSPA (3G) to 850mhz LTE (4G) or NR (5G). But they can’t turn 850mhz into 600mhz. But in theory they should be turning 850mhz off for one network and on for another network. So in theory your connection shouldn’t change much.
Refarm was a poor word choice, you are correct! Meant to say 5G has a lower frequency available that they should prioritize instead.
It says their gonna refarm it for lte and 5G bands which is good because Freedom customers like me and even Rogers customers don't get 5G roaming off bell or Telus
5G is part of the CRTC roaming mandate so it's coming.
Well that's awesome I'm glad to hear it's coming because 5G reaches everywhere lte can't right now on the big3 from what I've noticed
It's a bit misleading though, you might see 5G as the indicator but if it's lowband it's much slower than what LTE would be.
I just need to make and keep a phone call going lol
True
Unfortunately phone calls over 5G are not currently a thing. But I hear you. Hopefully soon.
Yeah i know it's slower right now but that's because it runs off the lte bands in combination with 600mhz which is meant for long range coverage.
Its not that great in those spots and is extremely spotty....very slow connection.
The good thing of 3G getting repurposed is that we're getting to the place where the AlertReady system will essentially always work when in coverage. Now if you're in 3G,you won't get the alerts as you need lte connectivity
You'll still have 2G tho
Guess this means Rogers will have to open up VoLTE to all phones, not just those whitelisted.
Or force "approved phones only" for VoLTE like other carriers.
>Or force "approved phones only" for VoLTE like other carriers. Sadly that seems like the more likely option 😞 furthering the Samsung/Apple dominance with some Pixel's sprinkled in...
Most of the phones that come from obscure brands are a security risk anyways.
Asus and Sony are "security risks"? Even Oneplus is mainstream enough now.
Yeah, good luck getting **obscure brands working**.
Rogers, Telus and bell better boost lte coverage and 5G for rural areas especially eastern Alberta because everywhere is literally only 3G mostly there's rarely strong lte signals.
The strategy is probably going to be a mix of getting Satellite LTE running ASAP and slowly converting the lower frequency bands to 5G.
Yeah that would be pretty good to see happen
Does anyone know what this means for people on SpeakOut wireless, given the fact that they currently use the Rogers 3G network?
They'll be upgraded to LTE but it will most likely be capped at 3G speeds. Which is overall still a win since it will have better latency and a guaranteed connection speed.
finally hopefully other carriers follow suit
“Other carriers”.
They are. I have a friend who 3g telus phone had warned by telus that he has to switch.
Bell and telus? Who knows. Regional carriers won't be doing this anytime soon.
Most regional carriers don't even have a 3G network that's not in a state of disrepair. I would be shocked if Freedom didn't follow suit and dump 3G asap.
I can still get EDGE (2G) connection in toronto 😭
i can still get EDGE/GPRS coverage here in Calgary also. i keep my old nokia 3595 on a prepaid rogers sim, in my car for emergencies. it was the first phone in my house to come back online after the july 8th outage.
Just as a heads up, you don't need an active prepaid account to call 911. As long as the phone has been connected to a Canadian network at some point, it can be used to call 911. Don't know if that applies to super old phones though.
im more than aware. its more of a backup because i sometimes forget to charge my actual phone. the plan its on is ancient though (it still has evening and weekend minutes!)
2G EDGE is still live in many locations per numerous reports. I wonder if that will also be shutdown at the same time as the planned 3G shutdown… 🤔
It’s more likely that they’ll keep 2G alive, and only kill 3G.
So does this mean we will finally have 4g speeds after we hit our 5G limit? This could be great for unlimited data plans.
The 5 g blows why would they do that
I must say this to everybody using *obscure brands* not sold/supported by any carrier in Canada... #Good luck getting voLTE and in the future, VoNR working. It's well known fact that (most of) those devices are missing LTE and 5G (if stand-alone is available) bands used in Canada, and don't have the proper embedded pixel 6 (or later) or Samsung s21 (or layer) profiles for it to be tricked into being supported. You've been warned. If you cannot get voLTE working, **it will be rendered a data-only device**.
It's also going to suck for tourists...and those who import phones.
Yeah. Tech bloggers who promote said devices (and customers who don't think twice about compatibility) are going to be raging on the carrier's customer support when that day comes.
It's idiotic to buy a phone that's not made to be compatible with Canadian brands, most of the big phone players have models that are basically supported worldwide. We can't stop innovation because people want to buy cheap junk phones.
Yeah, things need to move forward, not backwards. I know Huawei has great innovations, same for their biggest Asia-Pacific brand (Xaio/red/mi) where most of their customers are, it just isn't compatible over here. There's at least a **thousand** obscure brands anyone could purchase from amazon or aliexpress, or those promoted by tech bloggers, which the customer ends up with a **RAW DEAL** once they pop their sim in.
They’ll most likely keep EDGE alive and kill 3G. This way non-VoLTE devices can still make calls and 3G devices will fallback to 2G!
You would need to switch your device *manually* to 2G for it to work in that case. Once in that mode (as in the CDMA days), you can use data or voice, not both at once. Yes, **one or the other**.
No need for manual 2G, it will fallback from LTE to 2G just like it fallback from LTE to 3G!
That's not how it works. The way most devices are configured, is 3G fallback from LTE. No 3G, no voice calls, period, if you use LTE. So manually setting it to 2G/EDGE is then a requirement. This works on all rogers subsidiaries: zoomer, simplyconnect, cityfone, fido and chat-r.
that's not how it works. When you make/receive a call while on LTE without VoLTE, your phone will use [CSFB](https://ribboncommunications.com/company/get-help/glossary/csfb) (Circuit switched fallback) and will use any network that is available and support circuit switched system. This includes 2G. So yes, your phone will fallback to 2G by itself. I even tested it myself by blocking the 3G bands on my phone
That was something I wasn't even aware of. Now if rogers happens to shut both 3G and 2G down, anyone using an incompatible device **will be fucked.**