moonhunter Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 Anyone else found what3words to just barely work at all? I think my phone’s GPS must be a bit crap or something. My signal was actually incredible, internet worked probably 90% of the time, but my friends’ didn’t. Relied on calls and texts where I’d give the w3w which often directed them to the approximate right place (eg the right stage) but not much more specific to that. I was better just verbally describing where I was and we ended up just doing that. I also had an issue where every time I refreshed the app it would show me a totally different w3w. It even did this for my tent. Is there something I could do to improve the accuracy? Am I just being stupid/using it wrong? Got a couple more fests this year and would be great to have it working for them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartbert two hats Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 It always got me to where I needed to be. Galaxy A52. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levitz Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 33 minutes ago, moonhunter said: Anyone else found what3words to just barely work at all? I think my phone’s GPS must be a bit crap or something. My signal was actually incredible, internet worked probably 90% of the time, but my friends’ didn’t. Relied on calls and texts where I’d give the w3w which often directed them to the approximate right place (eg the right stage) but not much more specific to that. I was better just verbally describing where I was and we ended up just doing that. I also had an issue where every time I refreshed the app it would show me a totally different w3w. It even did this for my tent. Is there something I could do to improve the accuracy? Am I just being stupid/using it wrong? Got a couple more fests this year and would be great to have it working for them! First of all I thought it wasn't working, but then I realised I hadn't pressed the 'your location' bit as soon as I did that it worked pretty much every time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quark Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 I had a couple of issues, although I have a strong feeling that was down to my mates being absolutely mashed and unable to send me an accurate location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuie Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 Sometimes it look a couple of minutes to get GPS but other than that spot on every time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dizzymoo Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 I've noticed when testing it at home that it circles around a bit before settling on one location. Definitely more use when looking for larger objects like campervans, or one person in an empty landscape! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigpusher Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 I couldn't get a phone signal so anything phone related was a no go for me. I'm on 3. I have always been on EE before. Is it always this bad for other networks or was it just this year? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levitz Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 Just now, gigpusher said: I couldn't get a phone signal so anything phone related was a no go for me. I'm on 3. I have always been on EE before. Is it always this bad for other networks or was it just this year? Signal this year on O2 was abysmal, never been that bad before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maelzoid Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 I have O2 and struggled for signal. All my messages to mates came in an hour or so late... This is one of the big failings of W3W - you have to have an internet connection for it to work. Regular GPS coordinates do not, so much more reliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooner1990 Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 2 minutes ago, Levitz said: Signal this year on O2 was abysmal, never been that bad before there was just me and one other mate out of our group of 16 on o2 and it was basically like being off grid for both of us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigpusher Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 3 minutes ago, Levitz said: Signal this year on O2 was abysmal, never been that bad before Interesting I know it's EE who provide the service but I would have thought it should be for all festival goers and not just EE customers. Mostly I was actually quite happy to be internet free for a week but that's because I had the comfort of my husband having mostly a pretty good signal and he's with EE so we had some contact with the person looking after our dogs. If neither of us had a signal it could have been quite stressful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levitz Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 2 minutes ago, gooner1990 said: there was just me and one other mate out of our group of 16 on o2 and it was basically like being off grid for both of us! Yep, random spots at BBC introducing and JP were good, cue 138 new whatsapps....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigpusher Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 1 minute ago, Levitz said: Yep, random spots at BBC introducing and JP were good, cue 138 new whatsapps....... Yep I only got them after 1am back at the caravan. First time I had over 200 messages. Facebook etc wouldn't load all week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooner1990 Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Levitz said: Yep, random spots at BBC introducing and JP were good, cue 138 new whatsapps....... Yep same....at random points my phone would spring into life with texts from mates who were trying to meet up the previous night flooding through ...sigh... Edited June 30, 2022 by gooner1990 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonhunter Posted June 30, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 1 hour ago, stuartbert two hats said: It always got me to where I needed to be. Galaxy A52. This does make me think if it’s a phone model thing. Mine is an iphone Xs. Had it a few years now and it’s definitely a lot slower / battery is worse / camera quality has suffered etc so wouldn’t be shocked if this got impacted too. 46 minutes ago, dizzymoo said: I've noticed when testing it at home that it circles around a bit before settling on one location. Definitely more use when looking for larger objects like campervans, or one person in an empty landscape! I’ve been testing it just now with wifi off and I can guess from the map what spot is right which it does land on from time to time but it can’t settle. Takes me as far as all the way up the next road. Definitely no help for trying to locate people in a crowd. And tried it with wifi on and it’s only marginally better. 45 minutes ago, gigpusher said: I couldn't get a phone signal so anything phone related was a no go for me. I'm on 3. I have always been on EE before. Is it always this bad for other networks or was it just this year? I was on EE and it was so good that I think I can definitely expect to have absolutely 0 signal whatsoever at the next festivals to bring back the balance. 😂 I’ve never had it as good as that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigpusher Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 4 minutes ago, moonhunter said: I was on EE and it was so good that I think I can definitely expect to have absolutely 0 signal whatsoever at the next festivals to bring back the balance. 😂 I’ve never had it as good as that. Yep my husband was able to upload videos to instagram and I couldn't get a WhatsApp message. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simsy Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 My husband went to see mitski while I went to Macca. Sent him the what 3 words and a photo of the nearest flags and he found me with no problems (although I deliberately picked a less busy area so he'd be able to turn up late). Did have to send all messages to him on WhatsApp and text, because it was hit & miss what would get through (he's on Vodafone, I had no problems on EE). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HyperTechnoHorse Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 Our group agreed to use it this time round but the whole system was unusable all weekend for me basically. My girlfriend sent me a message saying 'absolute fucking w*nker' and I couldn't find this square anywhere on site? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooner1990 Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 23 minutes ago, gigpusher said: Yep my husband was able to upload videos to instagram and I couldn't get a WhatsApp message. Yep...one of my friends was uploading instagram stories, facebook etc and I couldn't even get WhatApp messages (on o2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigpusher Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 6 minutes ago, gooner1990 said: Yep...one of my friends was uploading instagram stories, facebook etc and I couldn't even get WhatApp messages (on o2) Looks like at least my husband is stuck with EE so that we have some coverage at the festival. Only time I hated not having any coverage was when trying to meet up with my friend for Macca. She was there with her husband and 3.5 year old daughter. They put her to bed each night and one of them went out on their own to see a headliner. Wanted my friend to meet up with us and my husband tried sending her messages but she also had a shit reception so she ended up watching Macca on her own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troop Dogg Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 Didnt work for me trying to find where my friends had set up camp. Got me within about 100 metres and said I'd reached destination. Maybe I wasn't using it properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troop Dogg Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 Also seems its not much use in a massive field with no permanent landmarks or roads that show up on Google maps etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrelarmy Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 I used it the first morning to get everyone to where we were camping. Beyond that I stuck to analog methods of locating people throughout the festival. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essjay2009 Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 I used W3W a few times and it was accurate to within about 5 metres. I'm on an iPhone 13 Pro. Used it for the tent, car, and people, so got a fair bit of use! I'm sure I could have got it to be even more accurate if I waited for more GPS satellites to lock but I'm impatient. Internet on EE was actually incredible! You could see a few masts they'd installed around the site and one of the big advantages of 5G, even more so than speed which is only a meh upgrade, is that each mast can handle many more connections than the old 3 and 4g ones, so I think that really paid off for them. EE was better on site than 3 is in London, which admittedly isn't saying much because 3 is basically unusable in London but that's my most recent comparison! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august1 Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 I'd never heard of this app and a girl camped next to me said she'll be using 3 words to find her tent. I suggested '4th post down' as we were 4 light poles down from the top of the field. Explains the confused look she gave me 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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