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difference between H and 3G?

C

clockwork

Member
i always thought H to signify HSPA, which is normally what shows as my connection when in areas of good reception for O2 in the UK, so why does it sometimes show up with 3G? is that not the same thing, isint HSPA 3G?

thanks in advance for any help provided
 
I believe HSPA is an extension of 3g, you get it if the signal is good enough and the cell is not too congested. It also is faster than 3g.
 
I think HSPA is 3.5G (7.2Mb/s), 3G is 3.6Mb/s. It's not available everywhere, although I get in most of my local neighbourhoods and I'm in the middle of nowhere, in UK terms.
 
stupendo said:
I believe HSPA is an extension of 3g, you get it if the signal is good enough and the cell is not too congested. It also is faster than 3g.
Click to expand...

As far as I am aware, this is correct. HSPA is a collection of two protocols (HSDPA, HSUPA - the D and U stand for downlink and uplink respectively) that basically make better use of the available radio bandwidth than the original 3G standard. When using a 3G phone on a 3G network, with both being HSPA capable, it is often referred to as 3.5G, or 3G+.

I wiki'd it before I posted, and other than being extremely confusing, it seemed to agree with what both I and stupendo are saying.

The confusion is in part due to the fact that "3G" actually refers to a set of standards concerning all aspects of mobile phone communications, HSPA being one of those standards. It defines the data protocols (how it is sent and received); i.e., HSPA is an extension and subset of the 3G standards, rather than being a completely different system altogether, as "3G" and "H" icons might imply.

EDIT:
Quboid said:
I think HSPA is 3.5G (7.2Mb/s), 3G is 3.6Mb/s. It's not available everywhere, although I get in most of my local neighbourhoods and I'm in the middle of nowhere, in UK terms.
Click to expand...

Completely forgot to mention any numbers in all of that. The maximum download speed you're going to get with HSPA at the moment is 7.2Mbit/s (though it's theoretically possible of up to 14.0Mbit/s). As for 3G speeds, according to the wiki article there isn't actually any specific minimum speed associated with it, but I'm fairly sure most UK networks do the 3.6Mbit/s Quboid stated. I know Orange definitely do.
 
Here's a page from the User Manual:

notifications.jpg
 
Fuuuuu-
I complained to Orange about not getting 3G when I was getting H (occasionally G/E but usually H).
I'm releived I am getting >3G :P
 
My Hero is strange when it comes to 3G and H. I get the 3G icon, then when i use an appthat requires data it changes from 3G to H, but can take 10-15 seconds to do this which gets really annoying. I have no idea why it does this, but it didn't used to do this and only does it when im at or near to my house.
 
TR21 said:
My Hero is strange when it comes to 3G and H. I get the 3G icon, then when i use an appthat requires data it changes from 3G to H, but can take 10-15 seconds to do this which gets really annoying. I have no idea why it does this, but it didn't used to do this and only does it when im at or near to my house.
Click to expand...

Your house is probably on the edge of an HSPA zone, and to save your battery, the phone turns down the signal strength when it's not necessary. When you start up a data app, it boosts the signal to reach that HSPA network, giving you better throughput. It just takes a couple seconds for the protocol to switch over.
 
quantumrand said:
Your house is probably on the edge of an HSPA zone, and to save your battery, the phone turns down the signal strength when it's not necessary. When you start up a data app, it boosts the signal to reach that HSPA network, giving you better throughput. It just takes a couple seconds for the protocol to switch over.
Click to expand...

I think thats probably right. And i think i know the reason it wasn't always like this. Im on O2 and they have a sharing agreement with Vodafone. The O2 mast i might have been using could have been decommissioned and now im using the Vodafone mast, which could be farer away.

To stop the annoying 10-15 seconds connection i've set up 'Locale' to turn on my wifi while im at home.
 
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