3G cell phone service ending, includes alarm systems

[Bill Dufour]

Cell phone companies are shutting down 3g phone service and going to 4 g or higher. Problem is many of those "I fell down and can't get up services" and burglar alarm systems use 3g and will no longer work. Ditto for older on star car systems etc. No real way to know it is gone until you try it and find you are paying for nothing.
Bill D

[Bruce Wrenn]

Not only that, but truck driver's electronic log books. Currently there is an eighteen month back order on new ones. There are HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of drivers who have never filled out a paper log book. The truck did it for them, as the truck is part of this system. The truck will also need upgrades to work with new electronic log books. GPS systems too. Don't forget "Help I've fallen down" devices are on this list. Progress?

[Myk Rian]

My pacemaker monitor that is in the bedroom, was using 3G to call in its once a month reports on my device. I got a USB adapter in the mail that I plugged into the side of the monitor. It's a 5G modem that the monitor will use.

[Jim Becker]

The carriers announced this long ago. Unfortunately, many entities that have embedded cellular ignored that and are now faced with a real problem. Don't buy any exclamation of "surprise" from the device providers and manufacturers...the turndown of 3G to free up spectrum and eliminate the cost of old equipment been planned for years with notification given. Most embedded systems are not easily retrofitted to new radios, either, so full replacement is required. In some cases, there is a kluge...Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge/RAM, for example, can be retrofitted to 4G on T-Mobile to replace the Sprint 3G using an OBD dongle, but it doesn't work for all vehicles. Those can cannot use the dongle can no longer participate in telemetry or other services that use vehicle cellular connection that's pegged to 3G.

[Brian Elfert]

Not only that, but truck driver's electronic log books. Currently there is an eighteen month back order on new ones. There are HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of drivers who have never filled out a paper log book. The truck did it for them, as the truck is part of this system. The truck will also need upgrades to work with new electronic log books. GPS systems too. Don't forget "Help I've fallen down" devices are on this list. Progress?

Isn't ELD a requirement now with written log books no longer allowed? But, is a cellular connection required for ELD?

My employer has a fleet of trucks to deliver a product we produce daily. We use Android tablets with dongles to do the ELD. They have 4G cellular, but I don't know if data connectivity is a requirement while out on the road or not. I am almost certain there are areas our trucks go that don't have T-Mobile service.

[Brian Elfert]

Verizon has postponed their 3G shutdown multiple times. They first said end of 2019, then end of 2020, and now they say end of 2022 with no extensions. AT&T is end of February 2022. T-Mobile is shutting down the remains of the Sprint network in the first half of 2022. T-Mobile 3G is also going away in the first half of 2022.

Verizon first discussed shutting down their 3G network in 2012. They announced in 2016 that 3G would be shut down at the end of 2019. It seems like Verizon gave plenty of notice. Even by 2012 or 2013 device manufacturers should have realized they needed to be switching to 4G.

[John Lanciani]

Any company that sold a 3g device in the last 5 years has committed outright fraud on their customers. As has been said this has been expected for a long time. The only reason 3g even still exists is the fact that many industrial users have devices and contracts with very large and expensive repercussions. Think of things like utilities with millions of end points (electric, gas, and water meters) that use 3g.

[Jim Becker]

Generac recently started offering a new WiFi module for their generators to replace the cellular telemetry device that was pegged to VZ 3G. Folks do have to pay for it, however, if they want to continue using remote services such as the smartphone app...the upgrade isn't free.

[Brian Elfert]

I wonder why Generac wouldn't offer an upgraded 4G/5G cellular module? I don't believe any phone company has even hinted at a date for shutting off 4G yet. It is common in the solar industry to offer a cellular module along with a five year contract for data. I don't know if the manufacturers intend to offer new modules after five years, or what? Most solar inverters will have been replaced with new models within five years. Enphase uses a generic USB cellular "modem" from Multitech so in theory the modem could be replaced in the future. (I have Enphase, but use WI-FI, not cellular.)

At least with solar it is not the end of the world if the cellular data stops working. It simply means no more monitoring of solar production over the Internet. If your solar inverter manufacturer goes out of business you will most likely lose your data connection anyhow.

[Derek Meyer]

At my employer, both our stores use 3G interfaces in the alarm systems, and one location uses it for the emergency line in the elevator. The elevator module can likely be upgraded, but the alarm systems are old and the only way to upgrade them is to replace the panels, which will require a complete new system in each store. We priced an upgraded system for one store and the price tag was around $55,000, so we'd be looking at over $100k to do both stores. That's a big capital investment for our business, but one we will likely have to do as we have no landline phone service in either store, and I'm not sure how the systems would interface with our VoIP system, as it is now a hosted solution (RingCentral).

In addition, our delivery truck fleet uses Verizon's Fleetmatics software, and I believe the hardware is 3G in the vehicles, so when they end 3G service we will have to replace all the hardware in those trucks with new equipment. We have somewhere on the order of 4 dozen vehicles so it's not a small undertaking.

Derek

[Jim Becker]

Derek, when were you made aware of the issue by your vendors? As has been noted, this change was first noted something like 9 years ago and delayed a couple of times. Did your vendors not point out that there would be a coming change?

[Larry Frank]

My Home security system was recently upgraded for this reason. There was no charge to me for the upgrade.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Isn't ELD a requirement now with written log books no longer allowed? But, is a cellular connection required for ELD?

Older trucks, and there are tons of them out there still do paper log books. Truck doesn't support ELD, so it's still paper and pencil. That and emission requirements are why older trucks are in high demand. Just can't take them into California. Docks at Long Beach don't allow trucks over eight years old into staging area. Want to see an old truck running, check out FSC Trucking on Youtube. !984 Peterbuilt cab over with a Cat 3406 engine. Truck is named Orwell, for the book 1984.

[Wade Lippman]

Verizon has postponed their 3G shutdown multiple times. They first said end of 2019, then end of 2020, and now they say end of 2022 with no extensions. AT&T is end of February 2022. T-Mobile is shutting down the remains of the Sprint network in the first half of 2022. T-Mobile 3G is also going away in the first half of 2022.

Verizon first discussed shutting down their 3G network in 2012. They announced in 2016 that 3G would be shut down at the end of 2019. It seems like Verizon gave plenty of notice. Even by 2012 or 2013 device manufacturers should have realized they needed to be switching to 4G.

Is there an official date for Verizon? We have two phone we like, except they don't have Volte; and our ATT will die in February. If we can milk 10 months out of switching to Verizon, that might be a temporary fix.

[Brian Elfert]

Is there an official date for Verizon? We have two phone we like, except they don't have Volte; and our ATT will die in February. If we can milk 10 months out of switching to Verizon, that might be a temporary fix.

Dec 31, 2022. An AT&T phone may very well not work with Verizon as Verizon and AT&T use competing standards. Some phone models work with both networks. You must really, really like your phones if you're willing to switch carriers to get an extra ten months.

One of the issues is 3G coverage is getting cut back as carriers add more 4G and 5G coverage. My friend has a phone that only does calls on AT&T 3G. They did upgrades on the local tower and now his phone can no longer make calls. His phone supports voice over LTE, but he has to turn it on and I have no idea why he has not done so. He also had to get a new SIM, but he got a new SIM back in August.

[Wade Lippman]

The phone works on GSM and CDMA. I put the IMEI into Verizon's website and it confirms that I can use my phone there.

I have heard that ATT has stopped repairing their 3G equipment; perhaps that is why your friend's phone is having problems. Sadly, my phones only came out 3 years ago but don't have volte.

[Brian Elfert]

My friend could see work being done on the tower at the same time he lost his 3G calling. I would not be surprised if they removed the 3G equipment entirely during the work as my friend hasn't been able to make a call since. He went and bought a cell phone amplifier so he can make calls. I don't understand why he doesn't just take the couple of minutes to turn on LTE calling on his phone.

[Derek Meyer]

Jim, our current vendor has not been very responsive to our inquiries, and part of our search for new hardware is a change of vendor as well. There aren't a lot of providers in our area, so we are expanding our search to a larger area to see what is available.

From what I could find, there is no LTE module available for our panels, so we're stuck unless we want to bring landline service back, which comes with its own issues.

[Jim Becker]

Dec 31, 2022. An AT&T phone may very well not work with Verizon as Verizon and AT&T use competing standards. Some phone models work with both networks. You must really, really like your phones if you're willing to switch carriers to get an extra ten months.

One of the issues is 3G coverage is getting cut back as carriers add more 4G and 5G coverage. My friend has a phone that only does calls on AT&T 3G. They did upgrades on the local tower and now his phone can no longer make calls. His phone supports voice over LTE, but he has to turn it on and I have no idea why he has not done so. He also had to get a new SIM, but he got a new SIM back in August.

Pretty much any SIM equipped phone will work with any carrier (technically) and it's been that way for years. However, phones obtained from carriers, including the smaller resellers, are typically 'SIM locked" while under contract or dedicated to a pre-paid service. The proprietary networks (like the 3G we are talking about) were where VZ and "old" Sprint used CDMA which was different than the methods used by ATT and T-Mobile "back in the day", however.

[Jim Becker]

From what I could find, there is no LTE module available for our panels, so we're stuck unless we want to bring landline service back, which comes with its own issues.
I had a similar situation with the DSC system that was in our old home for a long time...there was no way to upgrade from "landline" to Ethernet without a full replacement. So that's what I did. I installed a RING alarm system myself for a fraction of the cost of a brand new setup from the alarm company we had been using. That's not a solution for your commercial business, but is a similar situation where I was stuck with buying new. I'm glad you are shopping options...it's a good time to do that since you must and since your current provider sounds like they have their heads stuck in the mud!

[Brian Elfert]

If a phone still depends on 3G for phone calls the technology used for 3G certainly matters. LTE not so much, but some LTE/5G phones won't work on certain carriers because the phone manufacturer doesn't care to make the phone compatible with all carriers. Not all carriers use the same frequencies for their LTE. 5G is just as bad as a number 5G phones can't use Verizon's millimeter wave 5G network.

There have certainly been SIM based phones in the past that had 4G data, but 3G calling.

[Jim Becker]

Yes, I mentioned that. But anyone with a 3G phone needs to move on at this point anyway...

That said, the majority of phones sold today are compatible with the majority of frequencies used in their country of destination. Phone makers do not want the extra cost that comes with producing different devices. Some still do it to make inexpensive devices, but it's not the industry direction. Along that line, it's true that there are currently "5G" phones that don't support wideband and because VZ (and ATT) made the decision to deploy wide-band in urban areas first, leaving mid-band and low-band for longer time deployment, those phones are not going to work in 5G on VZ/ATT in many areas. T-Mobile took the opposite approach deploying low-band first across its entire network followed by mid-band that was made easier by the sucking up Sprint's network and spectrum. ATT is now kicking up install of low- and mid-band outside of urban areas and I believe VZ is also starting to move along on that, too, because T-Mo really smacked them with competitive advantage by doing the entire network first with the low- and mid-band up front, leaving the super-high speed thing as an add-on.

[Kev Williams]

Déjà vu ...