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Discontinuing of 3G devices


crstrm

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Greetings,

 

We currently have a “dumb phone” – a Convoy3 3g phone. We were told by the local Verizon rep that this particular phone, and other 3G phones, would no longer work on the network by the end of this year. I certainly expect that to happen with the eventual rollout of 5G but I’ve read that we would have until the end of 2019, not 2018, to purchase another phone.

 

Has anyone else heard about the 3G device discontinuation?

 

Thank,

Art

2016 Leisure Travel Van Serenity S24CB

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I have not heard that, but I did read a report the other day that said 30% of Verizon's towers already do not have CDMA (3G) on them. It's going to suck, because CDMA has a further reach than LTE, and here in NE Oregon there are areas where you can get a good lock on the tower with CDMA, but LTE bounces in and out.

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1 hour ago, AquaDawg said:

It's going to suck, because CDMA has a further reach than LTE, and here in NE Oregon there are areas where you can get a good lock on the tower with CDMA, but LTE bounces in and out.

The relentless push for more quantity (bandwidth, compression) over quality (range, stability).  As bandwidth increases, range decreases for a given power level.  Before long, cell towers will need to be spaced as close together as telephone poles.  I used to marvel at new technology - now I just shake my head. 

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10 minutes ago, OregonJim said:

The relentless push for more quantity (bandwidth, compression) over quality (range, stability).  As bandwidth increases, range decreases for a given power level.  Before long, cell towers will need to be spaced as close together as telephone poles.  I used to marvel at new technology - now I just shake my head. 

Yep, we saw the same decease in coverage thing when they forced us from analog, to CDMA 1x, to CDMA EVDO, to LTE. Every time they changed we lost more coverage. GSM was even worse. I long for the days of my old 3 watt bag phone and the coverage I could get with it, and being able to make the call when I needed to.

Unfortunately with the push for 5g, building out new towers in remote areas is going to get pushed way down to the bottom of the priority list.

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1 hour ago, carstrom said:

Greetings,

 

We currently have a “dumb phone” – a Convoy3 3g phone. We were told by the local Verizon rep that this particular phone, and other 3G phones, would no longer work on the network by the end of this year. I certainly expect that to happen with the eventual rollout of 5G but I’ve read that we would have until the end of 2019, not 2018, to purchase another phone.

 

Has anyone else heard about the 3G device discontinuation?

 

Thank,

Art

Here is some corroboration for you Art:

https://www.droid-life.com/2018/07/16/verizon-3g-phones-rip/

"For several years we’ve been been publicly saying that our 3G CDMA network will remain available through the end of 2019. Virtually all traffic on our network is on our 4G LTE network.
To facilitate a smooth transition to 4G LTE capable products and services, we are no longer allowing devices that are not 4G LTE capable to be activated on our network."


 

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I thought 3G went away years ago.3G is really old technology.

Helen and I are long timers ..08 F-350 Ford,LB,CC,6.4L,4X4, Dually,4:10 diff dragging around a 2013 Montana 3402 Big Sky

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I just took a trip to/from Seattle/home by train.  A good majority of the time, when I had a signal, it was the older technology (CDMA?), and SLOOOOOOOW!

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39 minutes ago, richfaa said:

I thought 3G went away years ago.3G is really old technology.

3G is 20 years old.  4G is 10 years old.

 

Electricity is several hundred year old technology. Radio is well over 100.  Why are we still using them ?!?

 

My point being that the "technology" hasn't changed in over 100 years.  It's still electricity converted to radio waves.  Everything else - CDMA, GSM, LTE, 3g, 4g, whatever - it's just software that we've been conditioned to treat as new "technology".  And moving around a few transistors, resistors, and capacitors on a silicon die is another form of software.  Technology is still the same.

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8 hours ago, AquaDawg said:

Yep, we saw the same decease in coverage thing when they forced us from analog, to CDMA 1x, to CDMA EVDO, to LTE. Every time they changed we lost more coverage. GSM was even worse. I long for the days of my old 3 watt bag phone and the coverage I could get with it, and being able to make the call when I needed to.

Unfortunately with the push for 5g, building out new towers in remote areas is going to get pushed way down to the bottom of the priority list.

DW still has her AT&T bag phone out in the garage. Sure wish it worked, but analog is long-gone.

 

2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD, ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA ." And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.  John F. Kennedy 20 Jan 1961

 

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To bad we can’t do like the rest of the world and have satellite phones. Europe, Asia etc do not use cell towers to my knowledge. 

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1 hour ago, Twotoes said:

To bad we can’t do like the rest of the world and have satellite phones. Europe, Asia etc do not use cell towers to my knowledge. 

You can get sat phones here, too.  They've actually started to become almost affordable (almost).  But, they're still used mostly by government agencies where international travel is part of the job.  

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10 hours ago, Ray,IN said:

DW still has her AT&T bag phone out in the garage. Sure wish it worked, but analog is long-gone.

Analog was really great! Had my phone number back then cloned and Southern Bell tried to bill me 1bout $2,000.00 for calls I never made! What a quagmire trying to explain that the calls were made from a city 1500 miles from where I resided. My employer even vouched that I was working in the area I resided at the time! they wouldn't even give me a new number while they investigated who cloned my phone! I turned the phone equipment in. never heard from them again!

:) Living Life One Day At A Time!

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8 hours ago, Twotoes said:

To bad we can’t do like the rest of the world and have satellite phones. Europe, Asia etc do not use cell towers to my knowledge. 

Who told you they run sat phones? They're just better at disguising cell towers. The population density makes it easier to justify tech improvements.

I have been wrong before, I'll probably be wrong again. 

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18 hours ago, richfaa said:

I thought 3G went away years ago.3G is really old technology.

No, it's still out there.  We just traveled through an area the last couple of days that had only 3G service.  A strong 3G signal is *OK;* one or two bars of 3G sucks!

LindaH
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Thanks for your comments and insights including link from AquaDawg confirming what our local rep says. Being Verizon, I hate to rely on just one source :)

We'll probably move forward this year to replace our phone and old aircard both of which are 3G. You may see more posts from me with questions on Smartphones, etc.

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2 hours ago, carstrom said:

We'll probably move forward this year to replace our phone and old aircard both of which are 3G. You may see more posts from me with questions on Smartphones, etc.

If you've lived this long with 3G then you may not need to get a smartphone.  My wife's sister has a 4G/LTE flip phone from Verizon that cost practically nothing and meets her needs.  I'm not advocating that, but if you haven't felt the need to upgrade so far you don't have to let the change to 4G/LTE force you to do anything more than change phone instruments, not how you use it.

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6 hours ago, docj said:

If you've lived this long with 3G then you may not need to get a smartphone.  My wife's sister has a 4G/LTE flip phone from Verizon that cost practically nothing and meets her needs.  I'm not advocating that, but if you haven't felt the need to upgrade so far you don't have to let the change to 4G/LTE force you to do anything more than change phone instruments, not how you use it.

I've got one of those Verizon flip-phones, $15/month prepaid plan. Phone cost me $15 too. Only drawback , texting is difficult and frustrating.

 

2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD, ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA ." And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.  John F. Kennedy 20 Jan 1961

 

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We still have one of the $5/mo 3G only flashed Verizon Jetpacks that we use from time to time in weak AT&T areas. With a 3-4 bar signal, it works surprisingly well, and we've even streamed TV programs at times with minimal buffering. We have run into areas where it used to work, but no longer does, but there haven't been many of them. Our AT&T 4G/LTE Connected Car Plan is still our primary ISP of course.

Dutch
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We have not seen 3G service for a very long time. We use the verizon jet pack and the 40 gig plan. The service is our link to the outside world, family, bill paying,banking, etc and we need it to be the best we can afford. This month we have used  15.717 gig of our 40 gig plan with 9 days to go  

Helen and I are long timers ..08 F-350 Ford,LB,CC,6.4L,4X4, Dually,4:10 diff dragging around a 2013 Montana 3402 Big Sky

SKP 100137. North Ridgeville, Ohio in the summer, sort of and where ever it is warm in the winter.

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