Understanding Your Mobile Service

Mobile technology can be confusing, especially with all the jargon. We’ve put together a simple guide to help you understand how your service works and what can affect it.

What Is Mobile Service?

Your mobile service includes messaging, voice calls, and data (internet). This is delivered through a network of masts across the country that connect your device to the mobile network.

Types of Networks:

2G: Used for voice calls and SMS, with slow data speeds.
3G: Faster than 2G, supports voice calls and better data speeds.
4G: Faster data speeds, supports internet services and VoLTE (voice over data).
5G: The latest, much faster than 4G, but still being rolled out.

Things That Can Affect Your Service:

Location: The further you are from a mast, or if you're in hilly or remote areas, the weaker your signal may be. Try moving around to find a better connection.
Buildings: Thick walls in new buildings can block your signal, affecting your speeds or coverage inside. Try moving to a different room or stepping outside for a better connection.
Busy Areas: High traffic areas like busy streets or events can cause congestion and slow your speeds, or even prevent calls or texts from going through.
Your Device: Not all devices support the latest networks. If your phone doesn’t support 4G or 5G, you won’t get those faster speeds. Also, outdated software or full storage can slow things down.
Apps: Some apps need more data than others. Watching videos or downloading large files uses more data and can be affected by slower speeds.
WiFi: If you're using WiFi, you might not realise you’re not on your mobile network. WiFi can sometimes be less reliable, so switching back to mobile data may improve performance.