Great-Elevator3808

Yes, I've had this in relation to the first gen smart meter - apparently there was an issue with them where a certain type of fault (which I was assured was rare) could lead to the meter going into a state where the main relay in it could potentially overheat so it had to be swapped out ASAP. Booked it in, they sent ENWL to replace the meter - about 15 mins work then all was good. Pretty much our whole street had them swapped out at roughly the same time - I genuinely wouldn't worry about it and just get it booked in and done.

Doesn't bother me! Live right next door to a TMD so get diesels 24/7 except Christmas day! You become totally immune to the noise, v and really notice when it's not there (ie. Christmas eve into Boxing day - almost 48hrs of absolute silence).

sodabear.co.uk - cheapest I've found so far and pretty good service.

Arthur Miller - The Crucible. Hated it. Farrukh Dhondy - Come to Mecca Loved it.

Energy drink in Poundland... I'm 48 lol

Probably only viewable on IE4 as it'll blow up Netscape ;)

They look like they've come out of the dog after it's had incredibly cheap and nasty food from the 1970s. They'll go white in sunlight.

Yup, I was an ST Fan in the late 80's/early 90s. One of my close friends was an Apple Mac fan who insisted his Mac Classic was a better machine. He was absolutely livid to find out that my ST with Spectre GCR ran Timeworks at least twice as fast as his Mac Classic did - and with a bigger screen (still monochrome though). He also couldn't get his head around the fact that the I/O on every other 68k based machine was based on IRQ rather than the Macs software polling.

It's not bad in the North-West either (from the Lake District) - London water is the worst in the UK IMO - but even that is perfectly safe to drink, just full of scale.

The radios went solid state, .but the (analogue) transmitters still use Klystron tubes or TWTs for high power RF. Digital modes are increasingly solid state too now though due to the lower powers required.

Pretty much the same as buying them anywhere. If you're buying them in a supermarket and don't want to face the cashier - just go through the self-scan checkout. In honesty, in 2025, no one cares whether you're buying condoms and lube or bananas and doughnuts.

I give you 1200/75 and 150/150 for something slower (Viewdata 1200/75 when uploading was hellish. So much so you'd ring back to connect at 300baud just to upload. (Yes, I'm that old!)

I'm pretty sure incandescent Christmas tree lights are still allowed (if virtually impossible to get), as are some types of pygmy, panel indicator and very low voltage lamps (such as automotive types)- but I'm happy to be corrected.

In 47, but still get ID'd at the local Poundland when bulk buying energy drinks! 🤷‍♀️

Not possible in Manchester due to the Guardian Telephone Exchange taking up most of the city centre underground. (Used to work in it!) Runs from Bridge Street in Salford right through to the Apollo in Ardwick - so simply it's just in the way and too complicated to dig above or below it.

More to the South/East of Manchester, quite common on the Derbyshire border/West Yorks border. Rarer to the north of Manchester. In Glossop you get a cheese n' onion batch.

Or a muffin, cob, cobbler, barm... Anything but a 'roll'. :)

And Mancunia.

Yeah, I've bought similar for my mum (same issues, can only work with simple phones). I've had decent luck though - Alcatel, Nokia and the 'bigger' names haven't had any issues. Tried two Chinese ones, a Cubot and a 'noname' - they both worked with VoLTE on the main carriers (Voda, EE, Three) but didn't like some of the MVNOs, specifically Lyca, Spusu and 1p mobile (which at the time were on Voda and EE respectively). Depending on who you're going with service wise though, if you're picking O2, EE or Voda you'll still have the 2G network to fall back on for calls and texts for at least another 8 years!

In theory, yes. In practice - no. VoLTE profiles are usually either updated with the radio firmware in the handset (IE. When you get a system update) or copied from the uSIM. In theory all VoLTE compatible handsets should run on all VoLTE networks, but the reality is there are some older handsets that no longer get software updates that week not be able to use VoLTE on MNVOs or MNOs that started up after their last software update. Similarly, some Chinese cheap mobiles can't/don't import the voLTE profile or APNs from the uSIM - so need the APN manually entering to use mobile data, but may never get an appropriate VoLTE profile to use on certain networks. tldr; Modern (5 years old or less) handsets will work on VoLTE/VoNR straight off. Older phones or cheaper Chinese imports may not work and fall back to 2G.

Probably because 90% of us all have had the misfortune to meet the scary flasher in the park... ...Top tip - they hate it when you laugh at them :)

That's only on the national express, when you're down and your life's in a mess. There's no trolley dolly service on the 143 into town.

Dogs aren't bad either :-)

More health inspectors...

You might not, but O2 and Vodafone often switch to 2G when iin standby or when the cell side itself is in low power mode. EE also does this on some sites, but they are upgrading sites so at least 1x4G carrier stays 'awake' all the time (usually band 1 or band 28).

Only works on 4G and 5G networks, if you were on 3G or 2G you wouldn't of got one.

It depends on the phone settings. On some Androids you can change the sound. Nearly all let you set the volume though.

Having to wait until after 6pm to ring your mates... Then only being allowed 10 minutes. Oh, and the bollocking every three months when the phone bill arrived!

Rarely, but yes some people did. Prestel, Telecom Gold and CIX were quite popular as well as some BBSes. Very slow though, 300baud (bps) was common and if you were lucky and the wind was in the right direction, 1200/75 for downloading then dialing back at 300/300 for uploading.

Yes! I think it's because we have had a very hot and dry summer - so lots of flies for the spiders to munch on. It's also going to be interesting over the next few weeks as we're in spider breeding season - so probably will see loads around September/October - but probably not as big! Personally I don't mind the little critters.

Depends on your viewpoint and the type of filter used. Admitted some reverse osmosis filters remove some harness but replace it with potassium salts which some people don't notice at all (me) but others notice them straight away (my mother). Guess it depends on your individual taste and what you're used to. Thankfully where I live now, we have very soft water that is ok straight from the tap. (North West UK)

Your tea will be noticeably better! Enjoy!

Scale. Yes it's safe to drink but can leave scummy film in your tea. London water is some of the hardest in the UK. Couple of ways to prevent it : Use a filter jug to fill the kettle (such as a Brita jug/etc) or, if you don't mind the scale in your drinks but want your kettle to last, you can add a mesh ball to the kettle which will scrape the scale off as you boil it (and depending on the type, some will deliberately attract the scale).

1p mobile still have simple PAYG (they use the EE network) and Three also still have a classic pay as you go option too. You can get a PAYG Three SIM free from any three shop. If all else fails, something like a simple plan from Spusu may work for you at £2.75pm with unlimited calls and 1gb of data (data after that is PAYG at 3p/mb so not the cheapest, but ok as a standby)

Sadly yes - about 10 years ago I used to be a fairly regular cinema goer. We had a really great UCI cinema (Printworks Manchester) which was excellent quality and affordable - £12 would get you a premier seat, drink and munchies and great technical quality projection... ... Then it became an Odeon. Cheapest evening tickets went up to £18, and snacks and drinks became a rip off. Also, the few times I went as an Odeon the technical quality was awful compared to what it used to be - so I just stopped going as for the price of a single evening ticket could buy/rent a DVD, watch it at home with generally a much better quality print/sound and not be ripped off for £7.90 for a coke :) The Odeons pricing strategy pretty much killed cinema for a general evening out. Unsurprisingly, The Odeon in question sold out to Vue Cinemas, but I've been so put off by the previous owners cash grab that, unless it's a once-in-a-lifetime movie event, I'll wait until I can buy or rent the Blu-ray!

That and Robin... From the old days of the paramount comedy channel.

175 - Engineering Test 17070 - FastRAG bell test 179 - UXD5 Trunk availability test...

As an (ex) wild camper in the UK, this is quite normal - that or using the ground and a poopascoop to bog it :)

Energy drink, one can - Poundland wanted ID as you have to be over 18... I'm 46 and look about 60 lol

Ah yes - I can now tell you why this worked... Pretty much *any* call through the international tandem at Mondial House had to be unfiltered, yes mostly for in-band signalling, but also for line-reversal signalling plus OOB stuff that was used for internal billing etc. So, if you knew a certain set of 071-0xx/ or an appropriate BT net number (*11xxxxx) you could dial one end of a loop (deadtone for 18 secs, two breaks and a dialtone) then you could direct dial pretty much any number you liked, both international and national if you dialed 0144 first of course). Of course this is long gone, but some bizarre loops do still exist, a great odd one is the whole Sheffield range of 0114202xxxx being linked to 016160xxxxx - many in use by BT for their call centre routing, but I'm told quite a few ranges give DT from the local JTSU but I wouldn't personally know about this of course - just something an Elf told me at a Christmas party :) Oh yeah, as a telecoms dude now, I really really kick myself at how easy it would have been to avoid my mum getting a £2k bill when I was in my teens - more than repaid my debt both financially and in gratitude and love though.

Yeah, a 60+ page itemised bill 😬

In the UK, blue boxes didn't work on System X or AXE10 exchanges, only on the Strowger and crossbar exchanges. We went System X in 1991 sadly. BT also actively filtered lines on mechanical exchanges to stop phreaking. The irony is that I ended up working for BT so learnt all the tricks ;)

Ours was just under £2k once - I was banned from using the phone for about 6 months. (Dialling international BBS's)

I was working at BT in 1998-2003 and yes, we launched home broadband in late '99 on a very slow rollout, but yes, 512kbps ADSL was incredibly popular in 2000-2001. I had internet access in 1994 via dialup until 2002 when (as BT staff) I was finally able to get ADSL. Until then though it was CompuServe (92-96), Freeserve (96-99) then BT Internet unlimited on an 0800 number (heavy friaco).

Yup, I appreciate that. There are lots of areas with no service at all on any network - yet are built up areas. There is a very technical reason for some of this, but the bad news for now, is those areas that were on the fringe of service will have found it has got much worse since about March this year. Good news is that it will get significantly better within 18 months as network configuration and reformed spectrum is introduced. (Techy bit - 4G moving to 650-900 and 1800 (huge increase in coverage) 5G will sit at n1 and also up at 3GHz) These changes are literally only done though on a cell by cell basis, so it takes time and of course you have to juggle with the actual frequencies so cells don't talk over each other! But yeah, UK networks are crap - partly due to legacy (GSMs 36KM range per macrocell) as adding anything after 2G was simply bolted on to the existing 2G cell tower, but at much higher frequency which of course doesn''t illuminate as bigger area - and partly due to not being able to actually install a cell site where it would have the best parameters due to planning issues and (certainly for 3G and again for 5G) NIBYism and ignorance.

Yes. 4G is LTE, 5G(NSA) is non-standaline LTE+NR and 5GSA is full NR. 3G is WCDMA and 2G being GSM (not US CDMAone), the former only now an O2 service and of course no GSM on ThreeUK but on all other nets.

Yup. O2 has the advantage outside of towns and cities in that it is based on lower frequencies and can still fall back to 2G and 3G (GSM/WCDMA) which offer capacity when the 4G and 5G networks are congested (Your o2 SIM is set up automatically to switch to the best BTX for service. Three is much better in terms of service where there is signal - however, with the closure of 3G services on (most) of Three, their 4G network has become particularly patchy while 5G is quite underutilised at the moment - hence there are many parts of the country where Three offers little to zero service - but where it is (and where it has been refarmed) it is one of the fastest and most reliable networks - but useless in a not-spot and is very reliant on B1,B3 and B20 (although B28 is coming to sites where 3G has gone). B1 and 3 don't propagate as well as B20/28 - which offer the coverage for O2 but not the capacity. You're doing the best thing by running two USIMs - O2 definitely has better coverage while Three offers the best speeds (where available). Voda is a mixed bag at the moment and EE is good for 4G and 2G but their 5G offerings aren't yet very fast or reliable. Incidentally, I work on the backhaul for all three MVOs - and to be honest - the best advise for anyone is to try all the networks on a PAYG sim to see what works best in the areas you're going to actually rely on your device as a network that is excellent in one area may be crap in another - and likewise, a network having big bandwidth (looking at you Three UK) is pointless is the actual cell site only has a 650Mbps link for \*all\* it's users (surprisingly common!). Excuse the long reply, I could talk telecoms all day :-) :geek:

Yeah, O2 is the UKs most congested network as, overall, it has less bandwidth to play with than the other networks - plus they have massively oversold their capacity due to the number of MVNOs they support. In central London, on O2, you'll get better service (for now) switching your phone to 3G only as, ironically, there is more spectrum available on 3G than on O2s 4G and 5G networks. Central London is a challenge on all networks, however O2 is the worst performer, Three and EE are best for central LDN with voda being OKish. This will all change during late 2025/early 2026 though.

Telecoms dude here - While this is true of the upper bands (think n78 up at 3GHz), 5G is deployable also on low frequencies such as n20 (800MHz), n28 (700MHz) and of course the older 3G and 2G frequencies on n1 (2.1GHz) and n3 (1.8GHz) and doesn't have the timeslot limitations of GSM (where a cells maximum reach is dependent on the time it takes the signal to travel, not the actual radio power - hence even with the highest available power, the maximum reach at 800/900MHz is 36km). So 5G(SA) deployed on these lower frequencies actually can have better range and performance than GSM or WCDMA. The issue in the UK is that, while some 5G is deployed on lower frequencies - especially where there is very good 4G coverage, there is virtually no 5GSA services yet, so almost all of the time you are on 5G(NSA) - which actually is 4G with the 5G element simply an SDL (supplimental downlink). As such, the actual speed and range is reliant on the 4G signal despite your phone showing 5G - and 4G is either low frequency (good coverage, but quite slow) or high frequency (fast, but lower coverage). What all this means in English, is that when you're connected to 5G currently - your device essentially is listening to a 5G tower and a 4G tower at the same time BUT is absolutely reliant on the 4G tower which may not be as "strong" as a 5G tower. Similarly, when on 4G - most devices use multiple channels and towers at once to attain good speed and signal quality - so you might be on B1, B3 and B20 at the same time. When you're using 5G, the radio in your device can't use as many 4G channels as it's now listening to a 5G tower as well as a 4G one - so you'll be connected to, say, B20/28 on 4G and n78 on 5G. As your device is reliant on the B20/28 4G signal to actually work at all, the general performance will be limited by the 4G element. So - tl;dr - there are many places where using 4G only will actually outperform 5G-NSA at the moment, however when 5G-SA is deployed and your device won't need the 4G element, it will perform much better. Currently, if you're on O2 or EE especially, it's the worst of both worlds. The 5G is there, but patchy and deployed on too lower frequency to provide massive speed - but increases coverage for now - and of course while you're using that, you loose some carrier aggregation on 4G making the latency and uplink speeds considerably slower than you'd see on 4G only. Things will slowly improve though as stuff is refarmed - but it's a painfully slow process here in the UK - but most of the kit to do this at the MSC and eNBs is "ready".