2g phone on 3 network

jimbo321

I have a Nokia 3210 on the 3 network. It's a 2g phone, and was working fine until recently. Now it connects briefly, then cuts out. Has 3 stopped supporting 2g completely ? Can I keep using this phone if I switch to a different company --Vodafone / Eir / Meteor ?

ED E

Three never had any 2G.

Initially they paid Vodafone for access to 2G. Then when they acquired o2 they inherited their footprint but appear to be mostly shutting it down once 3G mostly overlaps.

Move to Vodafone would be my advice.

Bob24

And I would say it won't be too long before all networks will stop supporting 2G to free-up more frequencies for 4G and upcoming 5G.

Since you are on 2G I assume you are only interested in voice calls and texts and are using a basic phone? If yes a good idea might be to just buy a new simple phones which supports 3g or 4g (they are *very* cheap if you don't need a smartphone).

ED E

The idea of the 3210 I assume is the fact that its a blockia. Modern feature phones just dont have the heft or retro aesthetic. Having grown up on them I can see the appeal.

Hop on Vodafone and you'll get at least a year before COMREG allow LTE on the GSM bands.

Bob24

Don't Nokia do cheap and basic feature phones which are 3g capable?

ED E

Bob24 wrote: »

Don't Nokia do cheap and basic feature phones which are 3g capable?

They do, but its kinda like suggesting somebody who wants to drive a 1970 Beetle drive a 2002 Punto because its easier to insure. A classic is a classic.

Bob24

ED E wrote: »

They do, but its kinda like suggesting somebody who wants to drive a 1970 Beetle drive a 2002 Punto because its easier to insure. A classic is a classic.

Ahh ... I liked my 3210 / 3310 but I don't think it is the same ;-) We's more talking 1970 Beetle to 2010 Beetle and I am not even sure that makes sense when talking about technology products (it's not about being easier to insure, it is about having something which is useable - I am pretty sure your will still be able to drive a 1970s car in 5 years time, yet *not* able to use an early 2000s mobile phone).

ED E

ED E wrote: »

Three never had any 2G.

Initially they paid Vodafone for access to 2G. Then when they acquired o2 they inherited their footprint but appear to be mostly shutting it down once 3G mostly overlaps.

Move to Vodafone would be my advice.

Are they actively closing down the ex-O2's 2g network? I tend to set my Android phone on 2g only when driving down the country. 2g is all you need when driving for voice calls anyway. Better coverage I find. Alot of Three's coverage is patchy even in urban areas for 4G. One bar coverage on 4g jumps to full strength coverage on 2g in alot of places I notice.

Ten Pin

Can I keep using this phone if I switch to a different company --Vodafone / Eir / Meteor ?

I'd go with Meteor, better chance of the phone working with a Meteor SIM.

I got a replacement Vodafone SIM for a smartphone that uses micro SIM size (I had a mini SIM, the next size up from micro). Anyway, the replacement SIM would not work in the old phone that I had or any other old phone from the 3210 era. The replacement SIM fit in the phone (using the adaptor) but gave a "SIM error" on startup.

However, I tried a Meteor SIM (micro SIM size with adaptor) in the old phone and it worked without any error.