“We're Shutting Down Our 3G Network” • Hacker News Board

Re: “We're Shutting Down Our 3G Network”

#11

Post by toomuchtodo » Sun, Jul 18, 2021, 7:27 PM UTC

brianwawok wrote: post #10

miked85 wrote: post #9

BMW recently sent out an email of impending loss of 3G connectivity. > The decision to phase out 3G network technology was made at the discretion of the respective cellular carriers and lies beyond the control of BMW. As a result of the sunset of 3G service by wireless carrier partners, by February 2022 your vehicle will no longer be able to receive any ConnectedDrive/BMW Assist services, such as BMW Assist eCall, Ad…

Old Teslas (like 5+ years) will lose net when 3g goes. You can do a computer upgrade but I don’t think it’s cheap ($500-$1500 range offhand)

It’s really annoying this isn’t software defined for future proofing. As long as your RF hardware is robust onboard, the rest can be done in software.

Re: “We're Shutting Down Our 3G Network”

#12

Post by baybal2 » Sun, Jul 18, 2021, 7:32 PM UTC

mod50ack wrote: post #4

VoLTE is so damn frustrating. LTE works via plug and play with any phone that supports the correct bands, but VoLTE doesn't. I have a Sony Xperia phone here in Canada and it's just not possible to use it on VoLTE without rooting to install specific provisioning files and whatnot. And that's not even counting how you can't just go from country to country without changing firmware. I've always used a local SIM whenever…

My very old rooted huawei maimang 5 somehow manages to even get VoLTE roaming without problems, and it automatically got VoLTE settings on every network I tried.

I still have to see how my new Xiaomi will fare.

Re: “We're Shutting Down Our 3G Network”

#13

Post by johnchristopher » Sun, Jul 18, 2021, 7:37 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #11

brianwawok wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Old Teslas (like 5+ years) will lose net when 3g goes. You can do a computer upgrade but I don’t think it’s cheap ($500-$1500 range offhand)

It’s really annoying this isn’t software defined for future proofing. As long as your RF hardware is robust onboard, the rest can be done in software.

Are you suggesting some 3G RF hardware can be retrofitted with software patches to be compatible with 4G networks ?

Re: “We're Shutting Down Our 3G Network”

#14

Post by jsnell » Sun, Jul 18, 2021, 7:40 PM UTC

> The problem I have with both phones [Pixel 4a, Galaxy S10e], especially the Galaxy, however is that they are several years old

That appears untrue. The Pixel 4a was released in August 2020, so less than a year ago. It has guaranteed software updates until August 2023. (Or maybe until November 2023, unclear which model the author is referring to.)

Re: “We're Shutting Down Our 3G Network”

#15

Post by toast0 » Sun, Jul 18, 2021, 7:45 PM UTC

miked85 wrote: post #9

BMW recently sent out an email of impending loss of 3G connectivity. > The decision to phase out 3G network technology was made at the discretion of the respective cellular carriers and lies beyond the control of BMW. As a result of the sunset of 3G service by wireless carrier partners, by February 2022 your vehicle will no longer be able to receive any ConnectedDrive/BMW Assist services, such as BMW Assist eCall, Ad…

My 2013 Ford was delivered with a 2G modem, and had a recall to upgrade it to 3G. I guess when that goes offline, the online features will be totally abandoned. The final (presumably) radio firmware already significantly reduced utility of them anyway, the system no longer wakes up for network to car requests, so might as well not make them.

Re: “We're Shutting Down Our 3G Network”

#16

Post by ksec » Sun, Jul 18, 2021, 7:47 PM UTC

The author appear to be using OnePlus 3T which uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 with X12 LTE Modem. It support VoLTE with AMR-WB but not EVS. I doubt EVS is a hard requirement until VoNR in 5G. But not supporting it seems strange.

In the old days Network require certification for phones to work. I am not sure if that is the case in US but for many part of the world that is no longer required.

It could also be the lack of band support if AT&T forces VoLTE on certain band, but I also think that is extremely unlikely.

Edit: Turns out AT&T operate on a whitelist system [1] ( What ? ) with a list [2] of phones. Sort of surprised but also not so surprised coming from an US Mobile Carrier.

At least US is moving quickly to drop 2G and 3G and refarm those spectrum along with dropping circuit switch backend. But mobile cost is still ridiculously expensive.

[1] https://www.xda-developers.com/t-mobile-att-require-volte-ph...

[2] https://www.att.com/idpassets/images/support/wireless/Servic...

Re: “We're Shutting Down Our 3G Network”

#17

Post by reader_mode » Sun, Jul 18, 2021, 7:48 PM UTC

jsnell wrote: post #14

> The problem I have with both phones [Pixel 4a, Galaxy S10e], especially the Galaxy, however is that they are several years old That appears untrue. The Pixel 4a was released in August 2020, so less than a year ago. It has guaranteed software updates until August 2023. (Or maybe until November 2023, unclear which model the author is referring to.)

I have S10e, I'm not sure I would get it today camera is not great by today standards and not sure how long it will be supported. But the form factor and the power button fingerprint reader have been great usability features - I'm sad there is no newer variant.

Re: “We're Shutting Down Our 3G Network”

#18

Post by Hamuko » Sun, Jul 18, 2021, 7:56 PM UTC

brianwawok wrote: post #10

miked85 wrote: post #9

BMW recently sent out an email of impending loss of 3G connectivity. > The decision to phase out 3G network technology was made at the discretion of the respective cellular carriers and lies beyond the control of BMW. As a result of the sunset of 3G service by wireless carrier partners, by February 2022 your vehicle will no longer be able to receive any ConnectedDrive/BMW Assist services, such as BMW Assist eCall, Ad…

Old Teslas (like 5+ years) will lose net when 3g goes. You can do a computer upgrade but I don’t think it’s cheap ($500-$1500 range offhand)

$500 to $1500 sounds relatively cheap for a Tesla repair since a battery issue can be in the tens of thousands (because they want to replace the entire battery) and even relatively minor body damage can be in the thousands or the tens of thousands.

Re: “We're Shutting Down Our 3G Network”

#19

Post by wmf » Sun, Jul 18, 2021, 7:56 PM UTC

johnchristopher wrote: post #13

toomuchtodo wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s really annoying this isn’t software defined for future proofing. As long as your RF hardware is robust onboard, the rest can be done in software.

Are you suggesting some 3G RF hardware can be retrofitted with software patches to be compatible with 4G networks ?

This is theoretically possible (SDR) but it's very expensive.

(Before anyone replies about $20 SDRs, those aren't even close to 4G/5G capable.)

Re: “We're Shutting Down Our 3G Network”

#20

Post by blfr » Sun, Jul 18, 2021, 7:57 PM UTC

ksec wrote: post #16

The author appear to be using OnePlus 3T which uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 with X12 LTE Modem. It support VoLTE with AMR-WB but not EVS. I doubt EVS is a hard requirement until VoNR in 5G. But not supporting it seems strange. In the old days Network require certification for phones to work. I am not sure if that is the case in US but for many part of the world that is no longer required. It could also be the lack…

> Turns out AT&T operate on a whitelist system [1] ( What ? ) with a list [2] of phones. Sort of surprised but also not so surprised coming from an US Mobile Carrier.

Pretty sure all carriers in Poland operate on a white list of phones.

https://wificalling-volte.pl/