END OF SUPPORT FOR G2 AND G3

[meldron]

Can anyone explain in words of one syllable to 2 almost 80year old Samsung Galaxy A14 users with a BT broadband, landline, TV and mobile contracts (lately switched to EE brand) what are implications of BT, EE and the industry I understand, withdrawing support for anything less than 4G mobile network.

This is particularly pertinent to my wife who was sold a new phone/3 year contract in the summer by EE and now has a message from EE saying she will need to upgrade ........... to what and what does that mean? Her phone mobile network info says she has 4G connection capability.

As for my phone I got the same message from EE in November so went into EE shop for advice and was advised to stay on my sim only plan but change to A14 phone as my existing phone, A10 I think, had only 2G and 3G connectivity.

I bought a new A14  and took it into EE shop to be set up but now when I look at the connectivity info it is the same as my previous A10 ie 2G and 3G so am I going to be failed by withdrawal of 3G support and what do I need to do.

Hopefully armed with your feedback we can have confidence and knowledge to go back into EE Shop?

PS Has this topic got anything to do with the threatened switch off of landlines and move to broadband/fibre connectivity? Just asking for a friend (me, my wife for info and elderly relatives who rely on landline for emergency buttons etc as well as only having landline for communication but no broadband or mobiles!)

What are we oldies supposed to do (even the ones who thought they were tech savvy)?

Mel 

[StuartHK]

It appears from Googling it that the A14 is 4g capable, so you should not need to do anything.

There is no link between the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) withdrawal and the withdrawal of 2/3g.

In fact, the copper “phone” line will continue to deliver broadband.  It’s just the separate phone line service that will cease and the phone will now become part of the broadband service, whether it is delivered by copper or fibre optic.

To add a bit more clarification...the local phone mast may not be currently 4g, hence the phone saying it is connected at 3g.  The service will be upgarded before the switch off though.  As far as EE trying to sell you a new phone, well, that's just marketing.

[meldron]

Thanks for that Stuart.

Sounds like we don't need to do anything and your response is concise which makes it easy to discuss with EE if necessary.

Cheers

Mel

[StuartHK]

You're welcome.

In terms of what mobile signals are available locally, I'd try these websites:

https://bidb.uk/

https://www.cellmapper.net/map?MCC=234&MNC=30&type=LTE&latitude=52.43784449999998&longitude=-1.47454...

[Les-Gibson]

@meldron 

You might find this link helpful

The UK 3G network switch-off: what you need to know - Which?