o2 LTE frequencies

[Anonymous]

I'm in the Northwest of England. Following some googling I've come to the conclusion LTE / 4G is served by O2 round here, on the following frequencies:

852MHz - 862MHz uplink, 811MHz - 821MHz downlink in the 800mhz FDD band 20

.. or maybe

around 1713MHz & 1808MHz in the 1800MHz paired band

Am I correct, are these the correct figures to base buying decisions and antenna design considerations on?

[Anonymous]

this is what I found http://www.4g.co.uk/4g-frequencies-uk-need-know/ maybe also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O2_(United_Kingdom)#Network

http://www.4g.co.uk/02-4g-network-summary/ to check if your city is covered by 4g 

[MI5]

O2 4g is on band 20 all over the country and also band 3 but only in some areas.
Work on getting a phone on band 20 and you'll be OK.

[Cleoriff]

Interesting question and one I had to look at recently when I was thinking of buying a Note 5 from an EU supplier...You can end up buying a phone that doesn't work fully, if you don't get this right. Incidentally the one I  selected wouldn't have got 4G... but thanks to knowledgeable members on here, I was quickly directed to the correct model.

[Cleoriff]

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@MI5 wrote:
O2 4g is on band 20 all over the country and also band 3 but only in some areas.
Work on getting a phone on band 20 and you'll be OK.

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That's ok for you to say @MI5 but still leaves some folk confused (me) 

When I was looking at the phones I never saw mention of 'Band' just MHz ...For instance "O2 spent £550,000,000 to secure 2 x 10MHz of 800MHz spectrum, but didn’t come away with any 2.6GHz and has no 1.8GHz either.*

To me, that would mean if I was staying with O2... I should be looking for a phone showing 800MHz (which is probably the reason I would always ask first)

[MI5]

In simple terms, Band 20 is 800mhz and Band 3 is 1800mhz

[Cleoriff]

Thanks for that.....(I do like it kept simple)

Looking at that graph showing what frequency each provider has ...it looks as if EE is the best in terms of having more than anyone?

Oh and as I love to learn ...I have just discovered the lower the frequency (800MHz) the further it will travel. Blimey..who knew?

[MI5]

Higher frequencies can carry more traffic and will penetrate buildings better so all swings and roundabouts.

[Anonymous]

I'm particularly interested in the precise frequencies (rather than just the bands) because I have a huawei B593s-22 router (it's basically a phone with 2 'proper' SMA external antenna ports) & I'm just outside the coverage area for my nearest tower.

Using the B593 set to use it's internal antennas, I can get a sporadic one-bar and a just-about-useable slow 4G connection.

Using a pair of directional yagi antennas intended for TV set top use, (400-odd to 800-odd MHz) with their 4G filters chopped out, I can get up to 3 bars and a goodish connection.

I was hoping to use ham radio operator VK5DJ John Drew's Yagi design software to build a pair of Yagi antennas out of coathangers and broom handles, for the centre of the precise frequencies in use, and see what happens :lol:

[MI5]

Good luck