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The negative press about 4G seems to be building

I was in the Apple store yesterday getting a power supply replaced for my MacBook Air.

I overheard the funniest conversation between a little old lady and the Apple store employee. She was so confused, she said her iPhone 4G seems slow, and the AT&T rep was trying to explain the difference between iPhone "4" and AT&T's "4G" and how AT&T really isn't "4G" nor is the iPhone 4 "4G" or even fake "4G"

She walked out of the store like she'd just seen a ghost, hehehe
 
When I was talking to ATT about geting the inspire, the salesman was very up front with the fact that they haven't yet turned on their 4G network, but that when they do, "this phone will be capable of collecting the HSPA+ signal and will have much higher data speeds."

The COI or COO of ATT (can't remember which) has made it very public to investors that ATT is taking a very different strategy towards "4G." I think it is interesting and ballsy to do what they are doing, but in the long run it may be a wise move. The only 4G LTE provider right now is Verizon, they have zero 4G phones on the market right now, and their LTE coverage is limited to large cities. And when you aren't on 4G with Verizon, you will be on CDMA signal, which is much slower than GSM.

At any rate, 4G isn't happening right now for ATT, but they say it will at the end of March. Do you trust them? I do because they haven't done me wrong in the years I've been with them, and because their strategy has been made very public. A hint of a lie and investors will immediately jump ship.
 
AustinTech said:
When I was talking to ATT about geting the inspire, the salesman was very up front with the fact that they haven't yet turned on their 4G network, but that when they do, "this phone will be capable of collecting the HSPA+ signal and will have much higher data speeds."

The COI or COO of ATT (can't remember which) has made it very public to investors that ATT is taking a very different strategy towards "4G." I think it is interesting and ballsy to do what they are doing, but in the long run it may be a wise move. The only 4G LTE provider right now is Verizon, they have zero 4G phones on the market right now, and their LTE coverage is limited to large cities. And when you aren't on 4G with Verizon, you will be on CDMA signal, which is much slower than GSM.

At any rate, 4G isn't happening right now for ATT, but they say it will at the end of March. Do you trust them? I do because they haven't done me wrong in the years I've been with them, and because their strategy has been made very public. A hint of a lie and investors will immediately jump ship.
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HSPA+ is turned ON in most metro markets. The issue is the backhaul isn't installed, and will take months if not years to improve metro areas to what would even be benefited by having HSPA+. It's no different than if you have a 10mbps internet connection at home. You can get the best 802.11n router money can buy, and you have "802.11n" but it doesn't give any benefit in internet speed over 802.11b or 802.11g...

It's all marketing. In 2011, if the top 100 metros AT&T serves can see 5mbps, most people would be thrilled. To accomplish this they'd need to add 2-3 T1s per tower to the existing 2-3... To be AT&T's "4G" (HSPA+), they have to pass the 7.2mbps mark, which in most cases means they'll put a DS3 or Metro Ethernet, which will take the ceiling off the backhaul. The issue is it's really tough to get metro e and ds3 into many of their locations, so they're having to daisychain, and mish-mesh technologies to scrape it together.
 
awdwrxluvr said:
I did speedtest.net today with a buddys iphone4 and my inspire and the iphone4 was twice as fast on download and 4x upload. both on att with full bars. how can this phone be so slow?
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Becaue ATT is "standing on the hose," it's not the phone's fault.
 
kb58 said:
Becaue ATT is "standing on the hose," it's not the phone's fault.
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I did the same and the iPhone 4 was slightly faster on download, but the Inspire was 50% faster in upload. I think it's like a coin toss, the AT&T network is so inconsistent in many areas like my area (San Francisco)
 
Here's my take on it.

As a long time mobile phone enthusiast, I'm both platform and carrier neutral. I consistently maintain 4 lines on different carriers so I may have a choice of phones to use. I'm not bragging but simply sharing my hands on experience. I'm not advocating for AT&T.

I believe market dynamics forced them to get creative with marketing dialog since the other carriers began to advertise 4G. I was well aware prior to purchasing my Inspire, what the "real world" experience would be.

Therefore in my case, speed of the network is not something I focus on, nor worry about.

The correct way to select a mobile phone is to identify which carrier offers the best coverage in your area _first_ THEN select the phone. Fortunately I live in a very strong AT&T and Verizon area, so the Android phones I have from those companies all perform well.

Higher speeds will follow in due time. For now, it's the other features of the Inspire I'm truly enjoying.

Cheers :)
 
Aatos.1 said:
Here's my take on it.

As a long time mobile phone enthusiast, I'm both platform and carrier neutral. I consistently maintain 4 lines on different carriers so I may have a choice of phones to use. I'm not bragging but simply sharing my hands on experience. I'm not advocating for AT&T.

I believe market dynamics forced them to get creative with marketing dialog since the other carriers began to advertise 4G. I was well aware prior to purchasing my Inspire, what the "real world" experience would be.

Therefore in my case, speed of the network is not something I focus on, nor worry about.

The correct way to select a mobile phone is to identify which carrier offers the best coverage in your area _first_ THEN select the phone. Fortunately I live in a very strong AT&T and Verizon area, so the Android phones I have from those companies all perform well.

Higher speeds will follow in due time. For now, it's the other features of the Inspire I'm truly enjoying.

Cheers :)
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Good points, I agree 100%... at the end of the day people need to realize that getting the best speed in their primary use areas should be the utmost importance :-)
 
It's a shame that the Popular Science review may be seen by some as coming across negatively about the Inspire. If they wanted to rant about ATT's "4G", go ahead and rant - in a separate article, not consuming 95% of what was supposed to be a review of the phone. The Inspire just happens to be at the end of a long series of data limitations put upon it by ATT (along with the Atrix,) and should in no way reflect on the phone's capabilities, but I'm afraid some people reading the PS article just won't get that.
 
kb58 said:
It's a shame that the Popular Science review may be seen by some as coming across negatively about the Inspire. If they wanted to rant about ATT's "4G", go ahead and rant - in a separate article, not consuming 95% of what was supposed to be a review of the phone. The Inspire just happens to be at the end of a long series of data limitations put upon it by ATT (along with the Atrix,) and should in no way reflect on the phone's capabilities, but I'm afraid some people reading the PS article just won't get that.
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Popular science has lacked for many years now and I for one.no longer read or give credence to that magazine. They are almost as bad as consumer reports
 
kb58 said:
It's a shame that the Popular Science review may be seen by some as coming across negatively about the Inspire. If they wanted to rant about ATT's "4G", go ahead and rant - in a separate article, not consuming 95% of what was supposed to be a review of the phone. The Inspire just happens to be at the end of a long series of data limitations put upon it by ATT (along with the Atrix,) and should in no way reflect on the phone's capabilities, but I'm afraid some people reading the PS article just won't get that.
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Popular Science still exists? Well good to know my grandma will think the Inspire 4G sucks, haha. For anyone under 80 years old who reads legit publications, we love Inspire :-)
 
bella92108 said:
Popular Science still exists? Well good to know my grandma will think the Inspire 4G sucks, haha. For anyone under 80 years old who reads legit publications, we love Inspire :-)
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Nobody who knows anything about technology puts any stock in a magazine that's printed on paper and is influenced by whoever is the highest-paying sponsor, lol.
 
While I have been sitting here reading this thread a at&t commercial came on about 4g. I think the main point I can make with this is the fact that it says "at&t is getting faster with 4g". Personally to me that means we are upgrading service to 4g and just look at these 2 new 4g devices we have for you to have in your hand when it 4g available.

Ok, I know its a long shot. I might just be off my rocker, but its just one person view of 4G.
 
bigtoysrock said:
While I have been sitting here reading this thread a at&t commercial came on about 4g. I think the main point I can make with this is the fact that it says "at&t is getting faster with 4g". Personally to me that means we are upgrading service to 4g and just look at these 2 new 4g devices we have for you to have in your hand when it 4g available.

Ok, I know its a long shot. I might just be off my rocker, but its just one person view of 4G.
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That's what I see
 
A couple of thoughts which apply to _all_carriers.

1) As we all know, the cellular phone business is both a challenging & fiercely competitive large scale enterprise.

2) Perhaps the most difficult fact of all, one which is rarely spoken of, is the fact that a cellular phone is just a radio. No more, no less.
 
awdwrxluvr said:
I understand "4g" service might not be out so shouldnt the phone atleast be comparable to other phones 3g speeds?:confused:
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the phone gets the same 3G speeds as captivate, atrix etc etc the only phone that gets different speeds is the iphone 4 because it has a different "handshake"with the network which allows closer to the 7.2 speeds and has HSUPA enabled.
 
awdwrxluvr said:
I understand "4g" service might not be out so shouldnt the phone atleast be comparable to other phones 3g speeds?:confused:
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Yes. But therein lies the problem.

The general public is so clueless about how a cell phone system works, it's way too complex to educate them in a 60 second commercial.

Second, deceptive advertising (of any product) being the norm in the USA, is the very reason confusion reigns supreme.

In my candid opinion, it's the style of deceptive advertising that Apple has refined & mastered so perfectly, that has made them the world class success they are. That, in combination with the very easy to use, convenient & complete Eco system, that has put them where they are today. Banking on the fact that many people are quite lazy & will pay for convenience no matter what the price, has served them well.
 
Aatos.1 said:
Yes. But therein lies the problem.

The general public is so clueless about how a cell phone system works, it's way too complex to educate them in a 60 second commercial.

Second, deceptive advertising (of any product) being the norm in the USA, is the very reason confusion reigns supreme.

In my candid opinion, it's the style of deceptive advertising that Apple has refined & mastered so perfectly, that has made them the world class success they are. That, in combination with the very easy to use, convenient & complete Eco system, that has put them where they are today. Banking on the fact that many people are quite lazy & will pay for convenience no matter what the price, has served them well.
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Quoted for truth
 
Definitely not the inspires fault. processor wise its a beast. the early benchmarks had the zooms quadrant in the 1800s. I get in the mid 1700s. The over clocked to 1.5 g zoom Linpack is around 48mflops. I just got over 40mflops on the inspire.

I know thats a separate issue from its radio strength but it is a sweet phone.

My original point of the thread was not meant to bash the phone, more to express concern for AT&Ts marketing and the possibility of it back firing.
 
bella92108 said:
Nobody who knows anything about technology puts any stock in a magazine that's printed on paper and is influenced by whoever is the highest-paying sponsor, lol.
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Agreed. Unfortunately the "no body knows anything" demographic is probably the majority of cell phones paying customers.

Have you BEEN to the DMV or Walmart lately? Look around, youll see what im driving at.
 
let's face it, U.S. Cell coverage is simply a joke. You get no coverage in the subway, no coverage when you are in the tall building like NYC, you get no coverage when you are in the tunnel and etc. i can keep going out. As for the rest of the world, like China, Japan, we get cell coverage everywhere. Why? Cuz the carrier do actually spend the money to invest on their infrastructure by install repeaters thru out the area. Each office building and subway station would have cell coverage....

So plain and simple, If i am looking for a phone and a carrier who will offer the best coverage and best speed, there is none in the U.S. So i don't really care which carrier i choose, as long as they offer GSM SIM cards since I do plan to use the same phone when I am abroad.
 
lenny.yu said:
let's face it, U.S. Cell coverage is simply a joke. You get no coverage in the subway, no coverage when you are in the tall building like NYC, you get no coverage when you are in the tunnel and etc. i can keep going out. As for the rest of the world, like China, Japan, we get cell coverage everywhere. Why? Cuz the carrier do actually spend the money to invest on their infrastructure by install repeaters thru out the area. Each office building and subway station would have cell coverage....

So plain and simple, If i am looking for a phone and a carrier who will offer the best coverage and best speed, there is none in the U.S. So i don't really care which carrier i choose, as long as they offer GSM SIM cards since I do plan to use the same phone when I am abroad.
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but that's the challenge. How do i know i will get good coverage, say, in my office building until after i choose a carrier and then after i choose a phone? by then it's too late to change, and i'm in a stupid 2 year contract!
 
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