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4G? So what!

A

AndroidProfessor

Newbie
Androidians;

Here to ask a question and see what I get.

4G isn't a big step right? I mean so what! Minimal faster connectivity at a nominally more expensive connection charges doesn't sound too attractive to me.

Has anyone used it? Could it possibly be worth it?

I have a few offline applications that i run, including NDrive for Navigation; Wikipok (Wikipedia offline); and Handcent SMS. I suppose that better connectivity will lead to more and better connectivity services. But is the coverage just as poor as 3G? If it is than I simply don't understand.

Can anyone clarify? → CHEERS
 
As far as I know, none of the major carriers are charging any more for 4G than they do for 3G. Secondly, minimal faster connectivity depends on what carrier you're talking about. People have been seeing as fast as 44 mb/s downloads on Verizon's LTE, which is approximately 11x faster than I have ever seen on their 3G. Now, T-Mobile and AT&T's "4G"
is actually slower than their 3G in some places, so it's all in perception and which carrier.
 
3G is typically around 2Mbps. TMobile's "zomg it's not real" 4G is currently providing 21Mbps speeds in 167 markets, and they've already rolled out their 42Mbps speeds in 10 cities so far. Currently no provider has 4G coverage as extensive as their 3G. If you live in an area that gets lousy 3G coverage upgrading to a 4G phone would be a waste of money. I suspect most upgrades are simply a matter of upgrading existing towers not installing new ones, so the crappy 3G coverage will just be joined by crappy 4G coverage.
 
AndroidProfessor said:
4G isn't a big step right? I mean so what! Minimal faster connectivity at a nominally more expensive connection charges doesn't sound too attractive to me.
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Have you used a device connected to wifi? If so make your decision based on that. I'm not sure what your point is here, you may as well be complaining we don't not need broadband because dial-up works for you.
 
AndroidProfessor said:
But is the coverage just as poor as 3G? If it is than I simply don't understand.
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That's an impossible to answer question. Coverage depends on more than just the network tech used. Coverage varies by carrier and even by location with each carrier.

AndroidProfessor said:
4G isn't a big step right?
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Again, you're asking broad, sweeping questions that don't have a single answer. Again, depends on the carrier and the specific 4G tech that they're using. Not all 4G is the same, obviously.

Additionally, "significant" is a highly subjective word. What's significant to one may not be to the next and vice-versa. Either specify your cutoff or Google the 3G and 4G speed tests out there and decide for yourself.

AndroidProfessor said:
Can anyone clarify?
Click to expand...
Sure, if you clarify/focus your questions.
 
Coverage really depends on where you are. Some networks are better in different areas, might have more traffic than others, etc.

That said, I have an anecdote:

I have an Incredible on Verizon, my father has an Evo on Sprint. We live in an area with 4G and his connection is GREAT. It's noticeably faster than my Incredible.

He also pays the same amount I do for service—but I get an employee discount. If I didn't get that I would be paying more than my father for virtually the same plan.
 
zerocool79346 said:
As far as I know, none of the major carriers are charging any more for 4G than they do for 3G. Secondly, minimal faster connectivity depends on what carrier you're talking about. People have been seeing as fast as 44 mb/s downloads on Verizon's LTE, which is approximately 11x faster than I have ever seen on their 3G. Now, T-Mobile and AT&T's "4G"
is actually slower than their 3G in some places, so it's all in perception and which carrier.
Click to expand...

I believe Sprint charges $10 more for 4G.
 
pool_shark said:
I believe Sprint charges $10 more for 4G.
Click to expand...

It started on the Evo 4G and they called it Premium Data Access - but we all called it the 4G tax.

It now encompasses all smartphones, so if you're on Android on Sprint, you're in for the $10 extra, even with a 3G only phone.

From what I've seen, it still works out cheaper than other services given that it's unlimited and unthrottled.
 
EarlyMon said:
It started on the Evo 4G and they called it Premium Data Access - but we all called it the 4G tax.

It now encompasses all smartphones, so if you're on Android on Sprint, you're in for the $10 extra, even with a 3G only phone.

From what I've seen, it still works out cheaper than other services given that it's unlimited and unthrottled.
Click to expand...

Yep
 
EarlyMon said:
It started on the Evo 4G and they called it Premium Data Access - but we all called it the 4G tax.

It now encompasses all smartphones, so if you're on Android on Sprint, you're in for the $10 extra, even with a 3G only phone.

From what I've seen, it still works out cheaper than other services given that it's unlimited and unthrottled.
Click to expand...

A buddy of mine at work is on Sprint. He said he wanted a 4G phone but it isn't in his area and they were charging $10 extra. He went with the Samsung Transform, I have to assume he didn't get hit with the extra $10 or he would have just gotten the 4G.
Then again, he's a bit off so he may not have noticed.
 
pool_shark said:
A buddy of mine at work is on Sprint. He said he wanted a 4G phone but it isn't in his area and they were charging $10 extra. He went with the Samsung Transform, I have to assume he didn't get hit with the extra $10 or he would have just gotten the 4G.
Then again, he's a bit off so he may not have noticed.
Click to expand...

The $10 for all smartphones is a recent change as far as I know.
 
I have 4GLTE in my area, now just need to wait for the bionic to come out.
I'm still rocking a Droid 1
 
Personally, if you're internet speed is fine when you're browsing or using your phone on 3G, then 4G isn't going to be anything spectacular for you.
 
my mifi200 (3g verizon) averaged about 1.6 download and about .5 upload and now I get about 12 download and 4 upload with my samsung 4gLTE mobile hotspot, so I would say there is a difference.

Even when I get kicked out of 4g and am back in 3g, it appears to be faster, although I have not done a speed test in 3g with the new equipment.
 
Tangent said:
3G is typically around 2Mbps. TMobile's "zomg it's not real" 4G is currently providing 21Mbps speeds in 167 markets, and they've already rolled out their 42Mbps speeds in 10 cities so far. Currently no provider has 4G coverage as extensive as their 3G. If you live in an area that gets lousy 3G coverage upgrading to a 4G phone would be a waste of money. I suspect most upgrades are simply a matter of upgrading existing towers not installing new ones, so the crappy 3G coverage will just be joined by crappy 4G coverage.
Click to expand...
Please stop with the marketing talk, those speeds will not be achievable by 90% of the market.

Brucew0617 said:
Well, 4G means nothing in most of countries, and even more, 3G is just a start
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More then you think.


Why 4g?

Let us really look at it.

A few terms.

1.) Radio Spectrum- Is what carries all radio and wireless signals.

2.) Frequencies- Spectrum is divided into a whole bunch of frequencies call Hz, Mhz, Ghz.
Hz is the practical smallest unit of frequency used for radios.
Mhz is basically 1,000,000 Hz.
Ghz is basically, 1,000,000,000 Hz.

I just we get the basic nomenclature (names) down.

3g as it is currently done, the maximal efficiency of of a real tower is about 1.3 bits per second. Which means 1 Mhz will get you about 1.2Mbps connection, with a maximal of 18Mbps per 15mhz.

If we take that same 15 mhz and give it to wimax/lte, lets see what happens. Wimax/lte maximal efficiency is about 16bits/hz (1). Which means for 15mhz frequencies you get about 229 Mbps (not on practice but in theory).

What sounds better, 229Mbps or 18 Mbps? But if you had lets say 100 people on one tower. Everyone at 3g will get about 180kbps connection. If you have everyone on the wimax/lte base station you give everyone about 2.3 mbps connection.

A lot places will skip 3g and go directly for 4g because of the 15x better efficiency. It is not about speed, because to be honest, 2.5Mbps is fast enough for most things you will do on cell phone

(1.) When deployed on the same network, lte and wimax have about the same efficiency, ~ 5 bits/hz, per antenna (currently using only 3 antenas but can use up to 8 antennas) Wimax has a higher efficiency above 2 ghz (spatial multiplexing at higher frequency). 100% possible with Lte but is not currently in development, because lte was created for specific frequency.
 
RiverOfIce said:
Please stop with the marketing talk, those speeds will not be achievable by 90% of the market.
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thank you, and further to that, those of you who are quoting "some people are reporting speeds of..."
those are wildly inaccurate as well. Ookla has already gone on the record to admit that there is a bug between their servers and the LTE networks that's resulting in incredibly inflated numbers using speedtest.net

NOTE: the bug is between Ookla's servers. the argument about using the browser vs the speedtest app is irrelevant.

More levelheaded comparisons have been showing only small differences of 2-4 Mbps between the various so-called 4G technologies. I can't quote you sources off teh top of my head right now so I'll use the Fox News tactic that the verizon fanboys have been using as credible sources and say "some people say" :p
I've also noticed that most people are completely oblivious to what a battery vampire LTE is. Especially considering Verizon and TM seem to have a love affair with cinder blocks rocking 4.3 screens, decent processors but last-gen RAM to support it all being powered by last-gen low mAh batteries
 
JayRu said:
+1 on the Bionic before I move to Verizon :D
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I'll sell you one of the the electro-magnets I made in Grade 3 science with a D-cell battery and some copper wire and a nail so you can upgrade the one Bionic ships with. I've made a killing off of T-bolt owners so far this spring! :p
 
I think it is funny how people worry so much about numbers from a "speed test" application when it has nothing to do with real world speeds. I have seen so many people tout their speed test application results on the thunderbolt 4g (LTE! OMG) with no mention of how my Atrix with its notoriously bad connection and not even half the speed test result still brings up web pages quicker than your thunderbolt.

Don't buy into the hype.
4G? So what... LTE? So what.

Maybe it's just my city but I saw nothing that would sway me towards that phone or any other thusfar. Keep waiting for that Bionic
Motorola Droid Bionic Rumored Dead - GizmoCrave
Motorola Delaying Launch of Droid Bionic, Shares Down - MarketBeat - WSJ
 
omnius said:
I've also noticed that most people are completely oblivious to what a battery vampire LTE is.
Click to expand...

LTE is not really that bad. I have tested thunderbolt and rooted and configured properly it gets a about average on battery life. It is after the carriers get done with it that it really screws up.

2-5mbps is faster then most home connections. But 4g is not about speed it is about efficiency.
 
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