2degrees to close down 2G access in March 2018

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › 2degrees to close down 2G access in March 2018

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#1866864 15-Sep-2017 13:32

SumnerBoy:
Yep - that is an option - but 2D have a great plan where you can data share so my trackers effectively run for free. Probably cheaper in the long run to buy a new device rather than pay $6/mnt per device for VF SIMs.

Pretty sure you can data share for free on the current VF plans and get the sims for free before the end of Sept? @sbiddle @linux may be able to confirm

SumnerBoy

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#1866865 15-Sep-2017 13:33

Good to know, but I am locked into a 2yr business plan with 2D so have to stay put for now.

coffeebaron

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#1866882 15-Sep-2017 14:18

New ad campaign. Is your 2G 2D network ditching you? Move to Vodafone and give that old phone some more use!

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tripp

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#1866888 15-Sep-2017 14:23

Well guys say good bye to good battery life on your trackers. 2g is nice for battery, 3g/4g not so much :(

xpd

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#1866901 15-Sep-2017 14:52

Linux:

xpd:

So what about those in areas with no 3G coverage ? Tough luck ?

How many areas have no 3G coverage? I suspect zero if any they will go throw 3G on the site

Linux

Looking at their coverage maps, quite a number of areas are not covered, not exactly highly populated areas but still, was thinking more along the lines of safety for farmers etc in the hills and so on.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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#1866985 15-Sep-2017 16:00

I wonder how many GPRS alarm modules use 2D?

My $10/pots line with voda is not such bad value after all, and I'm sure things will be clearer in 5 years

#yeahright

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DjShadow

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#1866987 15-Sep-2017 16:02

So what happens after this switch off if you need to roam onto the Vodafone network? Will their GSM network let you connect?

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old3eyes

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#1867006 15-Sep-2017 16:36

DjShadow:

With the spectrum they will free up with switching GSM/EDGE off, is it safe to assume they will just expand 3G capacity or is there an LTE band which could take its place?

Going by overseas practice the spectrum has been redeployed as LTE..

Regards,

Old3eyes

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#1867008 15-Sep-2017 16:38

scottjpalmer: Vodafone still have 2G?

Yes. For smart power meters mainly I think..

Regards,

Old3eyes

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#1867011 15-Sep-2017 16:41

DjShadow:

So what happens after this switch off if you need to roam onto the Vodafone network? Will their GSM network let you connect?

Doubt it 2Degrees will request no 2G / GSM roaming

Linux

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#1867061 15-Sep-2017 19:51

xpd:

Looking at their coverage maps, quite a number of areas are not covered, not exactly highly populated areas but still, was thinking more along the lines of safety for farmers etc in the hills and so on.

I suspect they'll reallocate the spectrum so they have dual-carrier UMTS/3G in the 900 MHz band (bringing their rural 3G service on par with Vodafone who has done dual-carrier 3G in the 900 MHz band for some years). Spreading connections over two carriers rather than squeezing everyone in one carrier should improve the 3G service. Not sure if I'm understanding it right but could improve coverage due to less impact from cell breathing? Happy to be corrected.

At the end of the day I find 3G coverage is already very good where 2degrees have coverage of any kind (and this applies to Vodafone too). So good I rarely see my phone drop to 2G in rural areas. And when it does drop to 2G it's usually practically unusable by that point anyway so kind of a moot point in my experience.

What I'd like to see is high power LTE 700 MHz at every rural site. That would trump 2G coverage easily.

- James

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#1867126 15-Sep-2017 22:30

I only find the dreaded edge on 2degrees when in malls etc where it gets 1 bar of it and is basically useless for anything. If they can get the 3g coverage the same, or better still turn up 4g then that is all good. When I see edge its as good as nothing so falling back to no signal is the same result.

Richard rich.ms

tardtasticx

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#1867128 15-Sep-2017 22:44

The other week I saw the edge icon on my iPhone for the very first time. I've owned the thing for 2 years and never seen it before. Safe to say I don't think I'll miss 2G but it's served it's time well.

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#1867129 15-Sep-2017 22:58

I have an old Nokia 6310, It amazingly still works with Vodafone Sim. Will be sad when the networks do shutdown 2G completely, I wont be able to use this phone as a party trick anymore. Most people don't believe me it still works, and I wont be able to prove it.

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#1867170 16-Sep-2017 07:33

Wiggum:

I have an old Nokia 6310, It amazingly still works with Vodafone Sim. Will be sad when the networks do shutdown 2G completely, I wont be able to use this phone as a party trick anymore. Most people don't believe me it still works, and I wont be able to prove it.

Maybe you could try an even cooler party trick. (Just remember, the spectrum is licensed so technically it would be illegal for you to transmit on it outside a big metal box).

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

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