How to tell if I am in HSDPA coverage?

When you are in 3G network antenna indicator change to a 3G indicator...

ProyectHunter, you have not understood the question. srw985 knows very well about the '3G' indicator - that's not what he's asking about.

srw985 wrote:Im using T-Mobile UK and I know that they have a HSDPA network, how can I tell if im on that and not just normal 3G?

IS their any idicator.

You can't. There's no indicator for HSDPA enabled 3G network so when you have the "3G" symbol you may, or may not, have HSDPA coverage.

srw985 wrote:Im using T-Mobile UK and I know that they have a HSDPA network, how can I tell if im on that and not just normal 3G?

IS their any idicator.

HSDPA is an 3G extension, if your network has HSDPA, and you have a 3G indication on the phone, you already using it, the 3G is for telephone use, surfing web, whiles HSDPA is just surfing the net for ultra fast upload and download speed, it has nothing to do with phone calls.

kms

Sorry... :P

HSDPA isn't 3G, is 3.5G actually, but 3.5G is 3G with steroids... If you have a phone with only UMTS (3G) you can use 3.5G network anyway, but with lower speed. If you have a HSDPA phone like N95 you will always use 3.5G, but a wireless network is unstable and sometimes it speed down... so you can stay connected to a HSDPA network and can't use it "completely"

I've noticed that sometimes when I have a 3G connection active the packet data icon (the two arrows facing each other) sometimes gets an extra fin. Maybe this is an indication of an HSDPA connection? Also, HSDPA is only available on the Web'n'Walk Plus or Max plans, not the standard Web'n'Walk.

kms108 wrote:HSDPA is an 3G extension, if your network has HSDPA, and you have a 3G indication on the phone, you already using it, the 3G is for telephone use, surfing web, whiles HSDPA is just surfing the net for ultra fast upload and download speed, it has nothing to do with phone calls.

kms

Well, this is only partially truth. A 3G network may well have only partial HSDPA coverage since HSDPA is not only software but hardware dependent. That means that HSDPA coverage may vary from transmitter (=base station) to transmitter. It's the same principles as for GPRS vs EDGE (which is Enhanced GPRS). Although a network provider have support for EDGE (..or in this case HSDPA) it's not a guarantee that it's available on all transmitters. In Norway today it's a guite noticeable fact since they've just started to make the changes required on the base stations in order to provide HSDPA => the have started enhance/upgrade the base stations in the most central areas...

q7buzz wrote:I've noticed that sometimes when I have a 3G connection active the packet data icon (the two arrows facing each other) sometimes gets an extra fin. Maybe this is an indication of an HSDPA connection? ...

This is very interesting 🙄
Haven't noticed this myself but I have to test it. I contacted Nokia about this question earlier (..wether there is an HSDPA indicator or not..) and they said that there is none but they have been known to be "inaccurate" before...
Should be quite easy for me to "verify" since the HSDPA coverage in Oslo where I live today is limited to some very specific and named areas.

Perhaps you could test it as well where you live? There is a setting to enable vs disable use of HSDPA (Tools\Settings\Connection\Packet data\High speed packet access\...).

superswede wrote:This is very interesting 🙄
Haven't noticed this myself but I have to test it. I contacted Nokia about this question earlier (..wether there is an HSDPA indicator or not..) and they said that there is none but they have been known to be "inaccurate" before...
Should be quite easy for me to "verify" since the HSDPA coverage in Oslo where I live today is limited to some very specific and named areas.

Perhaps you could test it as well where you live? There is a setting to enable vs disable use of HSDPA (Tools\Settings\Connection\Packet data\High speed packet access\...).

I have the extra fin with EDGE, I think it is a mark that you have more than one connection.

pasoderb wrote:I have the extra fin with EDGE, I think it is a mark that you have more than one connection.

What do you mean with "...more than one connection.."?, EDGE is packet switched data right?!

Sure you're not meaning that you have two arrows facing each other?

I've tried downloading stuff now using only EDGE and I never get anything else but the two arrows facing each other, one of the arrows never get a "second" fin...

In short, there is no indication of whether you are using HSDPA or plain vanilla 3G. This has been a particular gripe of mine since I got the phone on April 3rd.

Motorola's HSDPA-enabled phones, for example, will display 2 different "H" symbols when you are interacting with a 3.5G network (a small one during data transfer and a bigger one during standby while you are connected). The N95 only shows "3G" or Edge (an "E" I think... can't remember off-hand). It's explained in the manual, and unfortunately, the documentation doesn't miss anything out on this count.

The solid and broken line arrows simply indicate instances of interaction and data transfer with your networks. You'll get the same ones during Edge/GPRS sessions.

My tests come from logging on in areas where I know for sure that HSDPA is active. And the only way I can judge if it's actually working is when the web pages on my connected notebook (seem to) load substantially faster than during 384kbps 3G sessions.

Hope this helps.

superswede wrote:What do you mean with "...more than one connection.."?, EDGE is packet switched data right?!

Sure you're not meaning that you have two arrows facing each other?

I've tried downloading stuff now using only EDGE and I never get anything else but the two arrows facing each other, one of the arrows never get a "second" fin...

I ment that if I have 2 different packet switched data connections for i.e. "Saunalahti Internet" and "Saunalahti WAP" active for different applications I get the extra fin.