Categories 3GNews

Check Availability of 3G Services in Your Area [Tutorial]

While we know that 3G services will be commercially launched – in major cities of Pakistan – with-in few days, it would be a good idea to check if 3G services are already available at your location or not.

This can be specifically good because cellular companies are already testing 3G services at major locations in Islamabad / Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore. In Multan too, we have heard.

One more thing, at least two operators are allowing its customers to experience 3G services. Meaning that you can just join their 3G networks and start using 3G services.

Here’s a simple way to check if 3G services are available at your location or not:

3G Ready Phones

First of all, to use 3G service, you need to have a compatible 3G handset. No, not all handsets are 3G ready.

You can check compatibility of your handset with 3G networks by simply checking the network specification of your respective handset on GSM Arena or any other similar website.

Let’s take Huawei G610 as an example. According to GSM Arena, its network specifications are as following:

2G Network: GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 – SIM 1 & SIM 2
3G Network: HSDPA 900 / 2100 – SIM 1

So its apparent that Huawei G610 is 3G compatible and hence can be used for below test.

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Checking 3G Availability in Your City

As we mentioned above, cellular companies are already rolling out 3G networks in major cities. During this, you can switch to their 3G network and start using the service even before the commercial launch.

P.S. I am using 3G network for last few days, and experience has been smooth so far.

Note: We are using this Android phone running Android 4.3 for this Tutorial. iOS users and those using other platforms can follow the steps required with their own menus.

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Also read: Telenor’s Free 3G Can Cost You Thousands of Rupees

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Go to

Settings
click “More”

Now click on “Mobile Networks”

Now on next screen, click on “Network Mode”

Here you will have to select “WCDMA (preferred) / GSM. This will enable your handset to search for 3G networks as well.

Now go back to “Mobile Network” screen and click on “Service Providers”

Now your phone will search for all available networks (both 2G and 3G) at your location.

When I searched, below was the result shown to me:

As it may appear to you, Ufone and Telenor networks have enabled 3G services at this location. Warid, Zong and Mobilink have just 2G networks here.

If your network has 3G enabled in your location and it is appearing in the list, then simply select the 3G version of your operator and you are done.

Once your phone is connected with 3G network, you can go to Settings->About Phone->Status to see “Mobile Network Type”, which in my case was HSPA.

Please Note

While we have confirmed that 3G services during the trial period are free, you must keep an eye on your balance to make sure that you are not charged with any data services. Data charges with 3G networks can be explicitly high.

Do let us know if you were able to experience 3G network in your area or not.