Best mobile network for streaming music on the move?
Discussion
I currently have a Virgin Mobile SIM with a 1GB data bundle on a 30 day contract which I use with an ageing Nexus 4 which I keep threatening to replace.
My favourite radio station has gone off DAB and is now online only so I've finally emerged from the dark ages and just spent a few minutes getting the bluetooth hooked up to my car so I can stream music from the phone app to the car - and I have to say that it works fantastically sat on the drive, the true test will come when I'm on the move.
I know this is very much a YMMV one, but in general terms who is the best choice these days for a decent data allowance, 30 day contract (ideally), and the best data coverage?
I'm in the midlands in and move around a fair bit so it's not like I spend all my time in a large city etc.
My favourite radio station has gone off DAB and is now online only so I've finally emerged from the dark ages and just spent a few minutes getting the bluetooth hooked up to my car so I can stream music from the phone app to the car - and I have to say that it works fantastically sat on the drive, the true test will come when I'm on the move.
I know this is very much a YMMV one, but in general terms who is the best choice these days for a decent data allowance, 30 day contract (ideally), and the best data coverage?
I'm in the midlands in and move around a fair bit so it's not like I spend all my time in a large city etc.
3.
Simple as. I travel nationally and do around 1-2k miles a week. I use soundcloud and spotify all day live streaming and I rarely have ever lost signal other than in tunnels etc. Line speed is always good. The same cannot be said for my O2 contract which has murderously punitive data fees and patchy reception.
Simple as. I travel nationally and do around 1-2k miles a week. I use soundcloud and spotify all day live streaming and I rarely have ever lost signal other than in tunnels etc. Line speed is always good. The same cannot be said for my O2 contract which has murderously punitive data fees and patchy reception.
What about 3G vs. 4G is there any real world benefit?
I"m assuming it's more to do with throughput which isn't an issue here.
My Nexus 4 isn't 4G capable anyway and whilst I keep meaning to upgrade it I've not yet found anything worth spending any money on - it's still a damned good phone.
I"m assuming it's more to do with throughput which isn't an issue here.
My Nexus 4 isn't 4G capable anyway and whilst I keep meaning to upgrade it I've not yet found anything worth spending any money on - it's still a damned good phone.
The other thing to remember is that presently so far as I am aware 3 are the only network who do not recognise a difference between 3g and 4g. other networks tend to charge more for 4g with 3 if there is 4g thats what you get no extra charges apply.
This means if you are presently 3g phone if you upgrade to 4g at a later stage there wont be a price penalty for you to do so if on 3.
This means if you are presently 3g phone if you upgrade to 4g at a later stage there wont be a price penalty for you to do so if on 3.
The coverage checkers are quite interesting, though I assume they're also a little optimistic? 
3 do indeed appear to be the best option. I guess 4G is academic until if/when I get a 4G capable phone, but is the switch between bands seamless i.e. you wouldn't see a stream drop out and then kick in again?
I had put a lot of stock in DAB in my car for choice, but if I can basically say that anything I can hear on the phone I can stream over Bluetooth it suddenly gets a bit more interesting.
3 do indeed appear to be the best option. I guess 4G is academic until if/when I get a 4G capable phone, but is the switch between bands seamless i.e. you wouldn't see a stream drop out and then kick in again?
I had put a lot of stock in DAB in my car for choice, but if I can basically say that anything I can hear on the phone I can stream over Bluetooth it suddenly gets a bit more interesting.
I do exactly this - I too have a nexus 4 on 3. I stream google music (ie all my own music in the cloud) I usually use if to drive from south Birmingham to Telford - never had an issue, I think there is a certian amount of buffering but it works well and never seem to lose connection.
Depends on where you are but 3 and EE are by far the best.
3G is all you need for streaming. If you want Spotify or it's main rivals then pay for premium and you can store offline, well worth the money in my eyes.
Go here and check by network and 3g coverage in your area: http://infrastructure.ofcom.org.uk/#
3G is all you need for streaming. If you want Spotify or it's main rivals then pay for premium and you can store offline, well worth the money in my eyes.
Go here and check by network and 3g coverage in your area: http://infrastructure.ofcom.org.uk/#
robbocop33 said:
Oh,Oh,here's my chance,EE are absolutely bloody atrocious!!Only company i've ever been with where my screen often shows 'emergency calls only' and i can't even send a text quite often,so there's my answer,'NOT EE'!!
The other issue with EE is the dreaded 4g premium where you have to pay more for 4g unless they have scrapped it??b
hstewie said:
hstewie said: The coverage checkers are quite interesting, though I assume they're also a little optimistic?
3 do indeed appear to be the best option. I guess 4G is academic until if/when I get a 4G capable phone, but is the switch between bands seamless i.e. you wouldn't see a stream drop out and then kick in again?
I had put a lot of stock in DAB in my car for choice, but if I can basically say that anything I can hear on the phone I can stream over Bluetooth it suddenly gets a bit more interesting.
Yup seamless. Only thing you would see realistically is the little symbol change from 3G/H+ to 4G. You wont see any kind of interruption in signal or anything.3 do indeed appear to be the best option. I guess 4G is academic until if/when I get a 4G capable phone, but is the switch between bands seamless i.e. you wouldn't see a stream drop out and then kick in again?
I had put a lot of stock in DAB in my car for choice, but if I can basically say that anything I can hear on the phone I can stream over Bluetooth it suddenly gets a bit more interesting.
As said I think I am a fairly good marker of networks due to my driving 150-300 miles around the country every day. Of all the networks 3 are by far and away the best for data/signal reliability. I find their voice used to be a bit patchy but it seems to be better of late.
Fingers crossed things seem OK on Virgin/EE so far.
The main app for the station I wanted is st and seems to not buffer, and if the signal drops for a second the app stops, but the station is available via TuneIn which I'll try on the way home - it seems to offer more options and should simply be more robust.
Regards Three, I know I can get a SIM and try it, presumably you can port a number across at any time, not just when you initially subscribe?
The main app for the station I wanted is s
t and seems to not buffer, and if the signal drops for a second the app stops, but the station is available via TuneIn which I'll try on the way home - it seems to offer more options and should simply be more robust.Regards Three, I know I can get a SIM and try it, presumably you can port a number across at any time, not just when you initially subscribe?
I'd second EE.
I was on 3, and got my contract terminated by them because I was only get 1.5mb/s on 3g, and 2.5 on 4g.
Switched to EE, 3G signal is about 8-10, 4g is about 20mb/s.
and the EE signal is just as good as the 3 coverage, I've been to one place where I couldn't get any, and It effects multiple networks, not just EE so it doesn't worry me.
I was on 3, and got my contract terminated by them because I was only get 1.5mb/s on 3g, and 2.5 on 4g.
Switched to EE, 3G signal is about 8-10, 4g is about 20mb/s.
and the EE signal is just as good as the 3 coverage, I've been to one place where I couldn't get any, and It effects multiple networks, not just EE so it doesn't worry me.
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: Fingers crossed things seem OK on Virgin/EE so far.
The main app for the station I wanted is st and seems to not buffer, and if the signal drops for a second the app stops, but the station is available via TuneIn which I'll try on the way home - it seems to offer more options and should simply be more robust.
Regards Three, I know I can get a SIM and try it, presumably you can port a number across at any time, not just when you initially subscribe?
I'm guessing this is TeamRock? Haven't tried the app yet, one of the hosts more or less implied it's a bit sThe main app for the station I wanted is s
t and seems to not buffer, and if the signal drops for a second the app stops, but the station is available via TuneIn which I'll try on the way home - it seems to offer more options and should simply be more robust.Regards Three, I know I can get a SIM and try it, presumably you can port a number across at any time, not just when you initially subscribe?
t still, but I think a new version was out soon?I need to work out what to do about it too, I was listening to most of the time while commuting and have been since it started testing on DAB. There's no 3g coverage until a few miles down the A38 from here, but fingers crossed I can get Tunein going at low bitrate from the driveway on GPRS. If that doesn't work I could try predownloading the podcasts.
Does Tunein handle being stopped by the car then restarting? I listen to audiobooks sometimes too and might swap back to R5 or talksport for a bit, occasionally when moving back to BT audio it starts the stock Android music player playing at the same time as the audiobook app
mizx said:
'm guessing this is TeamRock? Haven't tried the app yet, one of the hosts more or less implied it's a bit st still, but I think a new version was out soon?
I need to work out what to do about it too, I was listening to most of the time while commuting and have been since it started testing on DAB. There's no 3g coverage until a few miles down the A38 from here, but fingers crossed I can get Tunein going at low bitrate from the driveway on GPRS. If that doesn't work I could try predownloading the podcasts.
Does Tunein handle being stopped by the car then restarting? I listen to audiobooks sometimes too and might swap back to R5 or talksport for a bit, occasionally when moving back to BT audio it starts the stock Android music player playing at the same time as the audiobook app
Good guess t still, but I think a new version was out soon?I need to work out what to do about it too, I was listening to most of the time while commuting and have been since it started testing on DAB. There's no 3g coverage until a few miles down the A38 from here, but fingers crossed I can get Tunein going at low bitrate from the driveway on GPRS. If that doesn't work I could try predownloading the podcasts.
Does Tunein handle being stopped by the car then restarting? I listen to audiobooks sometimes too and might swap back to R5 or talksport for a bit, occasionally when moving back to BT audio it starts the stock Android music player playing at the same time as the audiobook app
Yes it is, and whilst I don't want to sound too dramatic you know how good that station is if you like that kind of thing, so losing them off DAB was pretty annoying to say the least.The app seems a bit crap right now, fair enough it's a new app and I've only tried it once but I don't think it does any buffering or anything smart like reconnects, so I've downloaded the free TuneIn app which I'll try on the drive home tonight and see how that copes.
Personally I'd be happy enough just downloading the shows and chucking them on an SD card but they don't seem to have that option, it's live or on-demand only.
Last I heard, and it was 6 months ago, Virgin didnt have any kind of plan to get 4G off EE, which is one of the reasons I switched from them to 3.
Having said that though, stood outside Euston last week and I got better HSDPA/whatever speeds than I did 4G, dont know if it was congestion or whatever
Either were fine for TuneIn though
Having said that though, stood outside Euston last week and I got better HSDPA/whatever speeds than I did 4G, dont know if it was congestion or whatever
Either were fine for TuneIn though
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