| [Mobile] What is 4G? What is 4G?
I keep hearing advertisements on TV for mobile phones with 4G. So what the heck is 4G? |
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| Wikipedia works for me.
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G |
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| That's a lot of big words and technical mumbo-jumbo. I'm looking for easy to understand Cliff Notes version. What are the benefits to the end user? Why should I care about it as a user looking to buy a phone and get a service provider? |
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jcremin
join:2009-12-22
Siren, WI
kudos:2 | said by TomBrooklyn:That's a lot of big words and technical mumbo-jumbo. I'm looking for easy to understand Cliff Notes version. What are the benefits to the end user? Why should I care about it as a user looking to buy a phone and get a service provider? Here's the consumer-friendly version. 4G is faster than 3G. Some people will get their panties in a twist because some carriers are deploying technologies that are technically 3.5G but have about the same performance as the other carrier's 4G networks. But if you're a light user, it really doesn't make a difference. If you're just checking your email and watching an occasional video, any 4G carrier will work. But 4G's footprint is limited, so if you are outside of a metro area, there's a good chance that you'll only be getting 3G service, which is still plenty fast for most casual activities. |
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| Hi. I see. Can the speed be described in terms of upload / download speed ? That seems to be the way wired home service is usually described. |
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LLigetfa
join:2006-05-15
Fort Frances, ON
kudos:1 | 4G is just a concept. Speed is not clelar cut. The underlying technology described in the Wiki determines the speed. |
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WHT
join:2010-03-26
kudos:3 | reply to TomBrooklyn
3G is typically between 300 Kbps and 1.8 Mbps.
4G is a marketing term that loosely translates as "You'll burn through your monthly cap and pay for overages sooner".
/edit
The Wiki description describes the speeds the International Telecommunication Union was wishing for, but U.S. carriers decided to ignore that, forced the ITU to redefine it so a fraction of 100 Mbps.
You might get up to 20 Mbps with 4G. |
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 tiger72SexaT duorPPremium
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO
kudos:1
 ·T-Mobile US
| reply to TomBrooklyn
Re: [Mobile] What is 4G? It's marketing fluff. Plain and Simple. Disregard it and move along with your life.
And for your own sake, please don't make a decision on your wireless carrier based upon their "4g" claims.
If speed really matters to you, ask a representative to let you run the "speedtest.net" app over their CELLULAR network on any iPhone or Android device.
Don't forget to verify that you're on cellular data and not wifi, as disreputable reps (as well as many display models) will be happy to let you test via wifi as it's always going to be higher than you'll experience on cellular data.
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"What makes us omniscient? Have we a record of omniscience? ...If we can't persuade nations with comparable values of the merit of our cause, we'd better reexamine our reasoning."
-United States Secretary of Defense (1961-1968) Robert S. McNamara |
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| said by tiger72:...ask a representative to let you run the "speedtest.net" app over their CELLULAR network on any iPhone or Android device.
Don't forget to verify that you're on cellular data and not wifi, as disreputable reps (as well as many display models) will be happy to let you test via wifi as it's always going to be higher than you'll experience on cellular data. How do you know if your on cellular or wifi? |
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 AlcoholPremium
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI
kudos:3
 ·Comcast
| reply to TomBrooklyn
4G is faster data speeds.
Means you can browse the web faster, and your videos will load faster. Also, big email attachments will load without much wait.
Depending on which 3g and 4g you have it can be be twice as fast to 20 times as fast. Some 4G is faster than your broadband at home.
Since you are in Brooklyn, here is a speed test of AT&T 4G in NYC. 
If you plan to buy a new smart phone, make sure it has 4G. Since you will be stuck with the phone for 2 years.
Don't get fooled into buying a 3G only phone such as iphone. |
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AlcoholPremium
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI
kudos:3 Reviews:
·Comcast
| reply to tiger72
said by tiger72:It's marketing fluff. Plain and Simple. Disregard it and move along with your life.
And for your own sake, please don't make a decision on your wireless carrier based upon their "4g" claims.
If speed really matters to you, ask a representative to let you run the "speedtest.net" app over their CELLULAR network on any iPhone or Android device.
Don't forget to verify that you're on cellular data and not wifi, as disreputable reps (as well as many display models) will be happy to let you test via wifi as it's always going to be higher than you'll experience on cellular data.
What? It's not marketing. 4G gives you faster speeds, even if it's the wanna-be 4G like hspa+.
You should absolutely make a decision on your wireless carrier based upon their 4g claims. Any 4G is better than no 4g.
said by TomBrooklyn:said by tiger72:...ask a representative to let you run the "speedtest.net" app over their CELLULAR network on any iPhone or Android device.
Don't forget to verify that you're on cellular data and not wifi, as disreputable reps (as well as many display models) will be happy to let you test via wifi as it's always going to be higher than you'll experience on cellular data. How do you know if your on cellular or wifi? If you haven't logged into your wifi manually, you will be on your carrier's data.
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I found the key to success but somebody changed the lock. |
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| reply to TomBrooklyn
Where is the wifi typically available?
Is cellular the signal that comes from the towers located all over the place, like regular cellular phones?
Will the phone automatically switch from cellular to wifi when wifi is available? |
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| said by TomBrooklyn:Where is the wifi typically available?
Is cellular the signal that comes from the towers located all over the place, like regular cellular phones?
Will the phone automatically switch from cellular to wifi when wifi is available?
WIFI will only work if you're connected to that AP and if your WiFi radio is turned on.
And my Verizon wireless 4G LTE is about 20Mbps down and 3/5Mbps up. |
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 tobyTroy Mcclure
join:2001-11-13
Seattle, WA
 ·OlyPen, Inc.
·CenturyLink
| reply to Alcohol
"What? It's not marketing. 4G gives you faster speeds, even if it's the wanna-be 4G like hspa+."
It is marketing mostly.
Just because my phone is connected to XYZg, it doesn't mean it will get those super duper XYZg speeds.
Depends on many items like how many people are connected to the tower, how fast the backbone is from the tower, how far you are from the tower, how strong the signal is on your phone. |
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AlcoholPremium
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI
kudos:3 Reviews:
·Comcast
| said by toby:"What? It's not marketing. 4G gives you faster speeds, even if it's the wanna-be 4G like hspa+."
It is marketing mostly.
Just because my phone is connected to XYZg, it doesn't mean it will get those super duper XYZg speeds.
Depends on many items like how many people are connected to the tower, how fast the backbone is from the tower, how far you are from the tower, how strong the signal is on your phone.
Ofcourse. But that has nothing to do with 4g not being superior to 3g and just being marketing.
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I found the key to success but somebody changed the lock. |
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Reviews:
·AT&T Wireless Br..
| reply to TomBrooklyn
I use AT&T 4G mobile broadband, not with a phone but with a SierraU313 aircard in a router, and then wifi and wired to my LAN. We just last week got upgraded from HSPA+ to LTE and the speed jump was impressive.
Now some of you out there are getting even faster, may 2x faster downloads, but I am happy as a pig in shit with these, considering (1) we don't have dsl or cable where we live, and (2) Hughes was a total waste of blood and treasure, and (3) my previous Sprint/Millenicom 3G service became unbearably slow. For what I paid S/M, I can have 7Gb, and we can live with that.
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Sierra 313U/AT&T 4G LTE in Cradlepoint CTR500 router, 2 LinkSys WiFi a/p, 4 XPPro units, FireFox everywhere. |
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 SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Douglasville, GA | reply to TomBrooklyn
Simple version? Data network. If all you expect from your phone is phone calls or text than don't buy into the hype. Currently no carrier uses lte for voice. |
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SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Douglasville, GA | reply to Alcohol
Re: [Mobile] What is 4G? However it is hype. Many websites or ftp servers have hard limits on how many connections and throttle those connections so not to saturate their uplink. Example think about how much faster dslreports loads on dsl vs cable vs 3g vs 4g, not much. |
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