67
submitted 2 days ago by merompetehla@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

still deciding to fully degoogle with GOS or muddling through with what I have (proprietary, data grabbing and bloated).

To understand the question, compare with my main hardware with debian on it: a regular notebook I bought in 2016 and I've used heavily for all kinds of stuff: working, writing papers, downloading and playing media including AV1, editing audio, torrenting...

One of the best investments I ever made, considering what I paid and how prices nowadays are. Debian offers regular upgrades and I don't have to check if my hardware is going to support the software on a level comparable with android devices (GOS only runs on pixels, other open-source, privacy focused Android operating systems have similar hardware restrictions).

I want this kind of ROI for the device I buy and the software I use, but I don't know if that's possible:

GOS drops support for older pixels but I don't know how many years any particular device is supported by GOS: 3 years? not enough. There's no way I'm buying a new pixel every 3 years. I'd even consider 6 years restrictive.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] OhVenus_Baby@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 day ago

Just an FYI for those who think like this. I DID TOO.

Your cellular chip and network carrier will often phase out your frequency bands 2 to 3 years before the 7 year mark. Thus your service (internet/data) will not work long before your device loses updates. You will get fed up with your device and buy another pixel roughly every 3 generations to keep with reliable internet connectivity.

[-] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 7 points 1 day ago

This has not been my experience, at least on a 4G device. My internet/data still work fine on a 5 year old device.

[-] OhVenus_Baby@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Its very carrier dependant for how much gets invested in infrastructure, but in the US carriers seem to be updating frequency bands almost every generation model of phone.

Go look at a few models of the same phone for instance pixel 6 vs 7 vs 8 vs 9. Carriers are phasing out antiquated cellular bands. They try to keep the most widely used bands like n71 or other most common 4 or 5 bands but then tweak or change another 10 bands inside the phone sometimes 20 bands in all.

But I assure you this is the case. Cellular bands change as towers get serviced and replaced.

*source phone repair tech for the past few years.

[-] Feitan@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Not a pixel owner but I have a one plus 7 (so 6 years old phone) and I don't experience any problem with internet or data. Why would the frequency band change so often ?

[-] OhVenus_Baby@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Because carriers and manufacturers together are trying to find bands that work how we want during life conditions. For instance inside hospitals with multiple floors of concrete we need high frequency bands to keep the speed we want and need for today's uses especially with multiple devices are in the same vicinity. We need the high frequencies to get through barriers and connection quality in dense urban areas. But high frequencies don't travel far.

On top of health laws and regulations.

Lower frequencies travel further but the speeds aren't as fast and any barriers in between the device and tower or transmitter for low frequencies will interfere with objects. Which is why 2g is good for rural areas but it's insecure and antiquated for modern speed and usages like we expect.

*phone repair tech for the last few years.

[-] who@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Nope. 8 years after release, mine still has network service and still works well.

this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2025
67 points (97.2% liked)

Privacy

40410 readers
327 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS