Poster: A snowHead
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I've just spent 6 days in Grandvalira (Andorra) and my smartphone never picked up ANY wifi network, yet my partner's laptop and smartphone picked up plenty. I began to suspect my phone was faulty, and even reset its network settings (with no joy).
Upon further investigation, it appears that all wifi networks in Grandvalira are 802.11n and my elderly smart phone only works with 802.11b or 802.11g.
Having returned home to the land of normality, my phone once again picks up wifi networks that support the older protocols.
Anyone else come across this phenomenon?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Wow, 802.11n equipment has been around since 2006, so it's not exactly new and has now been superseded by 802.11ac. How old is your phone?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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How old is your phone? I can't say I've ever noticed a WiFi standard limitation, but then again I've never kept a smart phone for more than 3 years.
802.11ac has been around for 7 years and 802.11n for 10 years.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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My phone is a cheap'n'nasty 50€ Chinese thingy I bought a couple of years ago. Never noticed its lack of 802.11n until now.
I've also noticed that wifi routers are coming out without support for b & g.
However, it's pretty bizarre that an entire ski resort (on piste too) has no support for b/g. I was even wondering if Andorra was a peculiar country that had never approved b&g, and only approved ac/n. There's plenty of b&g in French Pyrenees resorts.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@crosbie, am guessing that you might have a US spec phone which doesn’t cover all EU channels ...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@under a new name, that is a distinct possibility.
So you're saying there may well have been b&g wifi available, but, coincidentally, it always happened to be on channels that my phone didn't support.
ok... so naff phone on my part.
[but I have NEVER had this problem in UK or France]
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Mon 30-12-19 22:45; edited 2 times in total
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@crosbie, you expect to pick up WI-FI on piste? How?
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@telford_mike, by 'on-piste', I meant cafe/snack bar type places (perhaps 'slope side' is better?). In Grandvalira they have piste-wide wifi with credentials printed on ones lift pass.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Sounds like they've made a conscious decision to implement n/ac only then. And that would be a good decision. The old protocols are slow and insecure.
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The only grief I've had was not getting a normal cellular phone reception in Andorra. When I got back to the UK I called O2 to question them about it, they said if you had called them whilst in Andorra they could have sorted it out then and there. I'm not sure they completely understand the issue sometimes......
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@king key, you mean your phone had no reception at all, or was camped but only for emergency calls? If it's the latter then it's O2's fault for not having roaming agreements with the Andorra networks (though O2 is owned by Telefonica and I would assume Telefonica is present in Andorra). If it's the former then the networks in Andorra are simply crap. Not much O2 can do about that.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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The phone could not connect to any network at all. I had no need to try the emergency services so no idea if that would have worked. The phone magical worked again upon re-entering France. This is about 5 years back things may have improved. My friend's phone using the Three network worked fine the whole time.
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Steilhang wrote: |
@king key, you mean your phone had no reception at all, or was camped but only for emergency calls? If it's the latter then it's O2's fault for not having roaming agreements with the Andorra networks (though O2 is owned by Telefonica and I would assume Telefonica is present in Andorra). If it's the former then the networks in Andorra are simply crap. Not much O2 can do about that. |
You assume wrong; Andorra is in the iron grip of Andorra Telecom, and the network is excellent. You'll pay a pretty penny for it via roaming, though...
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