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just how fast is verizon's 4G?

THE W

THE W

Android Expert
THE W said:
i've seen this:

4G speed test results are in, Verizon's LTE is fastest, but T-Mobile holds the fort in smartphone speeds

but that was over a year ago.

how fast is verizon now? im not talking about what it gets at speedtest.net. im talking about how fast does it download a 500MB file. are there a lot of drops?

one of my friends who is on verizon told me the speeds werent all that great and that its better just to use 3g. we both live in detroit.

so whats the scoop on verizon 4G speeds?
Click to expand...

Verizons 4G speeds are much faster than their 3G speeds, if the connections are good and similar. However, it's possible your friend is in what Verizon calls an "extended 4G" area. This is the fringe area where your 4G connection is somewhat questionable. This area would be subject to being dropped at times and if that was the case, then using the 3G connection would most likely be faster when downloading a large file because the signal wouldn't be subject to being "dropped" periodically.

But like I said when everything is equal, 4G is far and away faster than 3G.

I'm sure there are other possible explanations but this is one possibility.
 
never heard of "extended 4G area".

im gonna go take a look at their website coverage map.
 
THE W said:
never heard of "extended 4G area".

im gonna go take a look at their website coverage map.
Click to expand...

Verizons coverage map calls it "Verizon 4G LTE Extended". I'm familiar with it because I miss the 4G LTE coverage where I live by about 2 city blocks.
 
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4G LTE

as opposed to
178411671.png

3G EVDO

That seems to be a typical speed around here. I've seen up to 30 Mbps, and 7 Mbps, which at that point is better than my home's wired cable connection.

Its actually pretty damn quick and really nice if your in an area that has it. It makes 3G almost seem like dial-up (especially compared to our 3G). Although Verizon is pretty generous around here, since it seems that the interstates and most fairly populated towns and surrounding areas have it.
 
does anyone know how far in the extended 4g does it start sacrificing quality? I live about 400 feet from where it goes from 4g lte to 4g lte extended. Im just curious if i'm going to be getting spotty coverage.
 
sully5981 said:
does anyone know how far in the extended 4g does it start sacrificing quality? I live about 400 feet from where it goes from 4g lte to 4g lte extended. Im just curious if i'm going to be getting spotty coverage.
Click to expand...

I can't say from experience but my guess is possibly based on weather conditions and the "lay-of-the-land", if you're in an extended area, you will be subject to a degrading of your connection. I would guess Verizon would be leaning towards trying to make thier 4G coverage look as large as possible.
 
I average 15-20mbps down on LTE and have gotten over 40mbps down before. This is in the New Orleans metro area.
 
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