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T-Mobile's 3G HSPA+ Vs. WiMax 4G
T-Mobile's service does offer speeds comperable to current 4G

T-Mobile recently took some heat (including from AT&T) for a recent announcement that insisted that their HSPA+ service offered "fourth generation speeds" -- though the service itself is third generation technology. But Phone Scoop ran a series of tests that found that T-Mobile's more than justified in using the phrase -- given their HSPA+ network matched and in some cases far exceeded (particularly upstream) the speed provided by Sprint/Clearwire Mobile WiMax. You can see the full testing data here, and they discuss what hardware they used in testing here. T-Mobile continues to insist that they hope to have their faster HSPA+ service live in over 100 major metro markets by the end of this year.

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iLive4Fusion
Premium Member
join:2006-07-13

iLive4Fusion

Premium Member

Both are equal

When it come's to Network size and customer's.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: Both are equal

True - the 'HSPA+' (vs. HSPA) is probably not that much different in size.
WiMAX -> EVDO where there's no 4G
HSPA+ -> HSPA where there's no HSPA+ network

Sprint has a larger EVDO network to fail back to, and roaming agreements.

iLive4Fusion
Premium Member
join:2006-07-13

iLive4Fusion

Premium Member

Re: Both are equal

said by en102:

True - the 'HSPA+' (vs. HSPA) is probably not that much different in size.
WiMAX -> EVDO where there's no 4G
HSPA+ -> HSPA where there's no HSPA+ network

Sprint has a larger EVDO network to fail back to, and roaming agreements.
Good thing with Sprint is the majority of their native coverage has EVDO Rev. A to fall back too off of 4G, T-Mobile on the other hand, even indoor's around Birmingham which isn't terribly small will fall down to GPRS!! Sprint in ATL at least 4G will fall back to EVDO indoors and sometimes to VZW 1X.
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon to en102

Member

to en102
I've compared EVO to Overdrive and found the phone is consistently slower than dedicated device.

I get 3-7Mbps indoors on my EVO at home (site is a few blocks away). Never could get over 8Mbps anywhere with EVO. The Overdrive starts at 6Mbps in same spot at home, up to 10Mbps. Some can get up to 12Mbps other places.

»/archi ··· -wmx.net

Am satisfied. Using EVO as a hotspot to PS3, I can stream Netflix HD with no rebuffering. That's all I need. Am thinking of using a Buffalo router as a repeater to cover whole condo and dump cable modem.

Doesn't matter to me what it's called, it meets my needs.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: Both are equal

I'm not surprised. I have seen similar reports from people using dedicated HSPA or HSPA+ dongles having significantly better performance than that of a Phone/PDA device.

equus
Funny, It Worked The Last Time
Premium Member
join:2000-10-02
Milpitas, CA

equus

Premium Member

Staying Alive...

Unless they attract some business customers its hard for them to stay above water. Its sad that in US we only get two GSM carriers, to top it they are on TWO different frequencies!!. I don't see that as any competition which in turn does no good for public.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Staying Alive...

said by equus:

... to top it they are on TWO different frequencies!!
is it technically possible for them to share frequencies?

Gbcue
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA

Gbcue

Premium Member

Re: Staying Alive...

said by ArrayList:

said by equus:

... to top it they are on TWO different frequencies!!
is it technically possible for them to share frequencies?
Technically, yes, but there are no phones that are hex- or sep-band 3G.

ipwonderboy9
@cox.net

ipwonderboy9

Anon

Re: Staying Alive...

Nokia (has plans for this fall) and iPhone 4 are both 5 band GSM.

Gbcue
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA

Gbcue

Premium Member

Low Latency

Way lower ping times as well as faster speeds than Sprint's "4G".

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Low Latency

said by Gbcue:

Way lower ping times as well as faster speeds than Sprint's "4G".
yea I have actually been able to play Team Fortress 2 over T-Mobile 3g before. It is definitely in the green for latency.
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon to Gbcue

Member

to Gbcue
It get as low as 50ms and as high as 300ms on EVO. Depends on location, distance from tower, obstructions of course.
bdon78
I didn't do it
join:2009-05-18
Decatur, GA

1 edit

bdon78

Member

Clear WiMax is NOT 4G

Sprint/Clear just call it that. Enough said

Gbcue
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA

Gbcue

Premium Member

Re: Clear WiMax is NOT 4G

said by bdon78:

Sprint/Clear just call it that. Enough said
Yup, it's not 100mbps...
bdon78
I didn't do it
join:2009-05-18
Decatur, GA

bdon78

Member

Re: Clear WiMax is NOT 4G

Correct.. amongst other things...

And the first implementation of the AT&T/VZW LTE networks technically won't be 4G.

Either way, most consumers don't care, it works or it doesn't. But considering the audience of this site (what I would call the exception, not the rule) lets call the Clear network what it is in its current state... 3.5G+
sonicmerlin
join:2009-05-24
Cleveland, OH

sonicmerlin

Member

Re: Clear WiMax is NOT 4G

3.9G
villanim
join:2010-08-18
Warren, MI

villanim to Gbcue

Member

to Gbcue
Sorry, but WiMax is 4G. Sprint is using WiMAx version 1.0. Version 2 of the WiMax standard has just been finalised and that does support 100Mbps speed. WiMax in it's current form, still has a fatter pipe and longer range than LTE does. Verizon and AT&T will use WiMax as the infrastucture to deliver the content to the towers and LTE from there, because it WiMax is faster. Why they do not just deploy it across the board, I have no idea. WiMax is currently in over 145 countries, with over 1 billion people currently having access to it. LTE is jsut in Baltimore.
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon to bdon78

Member

to bdon78
I agree that it's not reaching 4G potential yet but isn't another difference between 3G+ and 4G is that 4G can handle many more users simultaneously? It's an all IP network with no 3G legacy to be compatible with.

In the case of Clear, they also have much more spectrum, meaning they can provide same level of service to more users, if the backhaul is there.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72

Premium Member

Re: Clear WiMax is NOT 4G

said by xenophon:

I agree that it's not reaching 4G potential yet but isn't another difference between 3G+ and 4G is that 4G can handle many more users simultaneously?
Yes. Ironically, that's yet another reason why WiMax as deployed is NOT 4g. 802.16d/e's spectral efficiency is worse than HSPA+.

OldschoolDSL
Premium Member
join:2006-02-23
Indian Orchard, MA

OldschoolDSL

Premium Member

iPhone T-mobile

I'm very happy to hear this.... So any chances of T-mobile getting the iPhone AFTER ATT's contract is up?

(I want it, I want it... I'll sign a new contract. LOL )
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon

Member

Re: iPhone T-mobile

The iPhone 4 only has HSPA, not HSPA+.

Gbcue
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA

Gbcue to OldschoolDSL

Premium Member

to OldschoolDSL
said by OldschoolDSL:

I'm very happy to hear this.... So any chances of T-mobile getting the iPhone AFTER ATT's contract is up?

(I want it, I want it... I'll sign a new contract. LOL )
You can already bring an unlocked iPhone from AT&T to T-Mobile.

Only thing is, it doesn't support T-Mobile 3G nor its HSPA+ network because iPhone 4 doesn't even have HSPA+ radios for AT&T.

OldschoolDSL
Premium Member
join:2006-02-23
Indian Orchard, MA

OldschoolDSL

Premium Member

I'm aware of it, but was wondering if anyone could imagine it finally being offered through T-mobile in the future "after" ATT loses their contract?

I'm kind of hoping they do. T-mobile already sells the iPhone in Europe.

Jim Kirk
Premium Member
join:2005-12-09
49985

Jim Kirk

Premium Member

Re: iPhone T-mobile

The whole problem is that the IPhone (incl v4) does not support UMTS band IV, which is where Tmobile USA operates its HSPA network.

Technically there's no reason why Apple couldn't do it, they just don't want to (and AT&T doesn't want them to either).

b1bopFFGFF
@cox.net

b1bopFFGFF

Anon

Re: iPhone T-mobile

Maybe (like the Android and 802.11N) its in the hardware, but not turned on yet (maybe a clue to it going to T-Mobile soon?)

FCC Filings showing hex band GSM on iPHONE-4:
»www.engadget.com/2010/06 ··· comments

Gbcue
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA

Gbcue

Premium Member

Re: iPhone T-mobile

said by b1bopFFGFF :

Maybe (like the Android and 802.11N) its in the hardware, but not turned on yet (maybe a clue to it going to T-Mobile soon?)

FCC Filings showing hex band GSM on iPHONE-4:
»www.engadget.com/2010/06 ··· comments
No, that's a penta-band phone, not hex-band.

Second, it doesn't have UMTS IV/AWS, which is the T-Mobile frequency area.

Ref: »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UM ··· cy_bands

Alcohol
Premium Member
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI

Alcohol to OldschoolDSL

Premium Member

to OldschoolDSL
said by OldschoolDSL:

I'm aware of it, but was wondering if anyone could imagine it finally being offered through T-mobile in the future "after" ATT loses their contract?

I'm kind of hoping they do. T-mobile already sells the iPhone in Europe.
They'll probably go to Verizon instead of T-mobile. T-mobile isn't a big enough customer base.
compton
join:2002-02-08
Brooklyn, NY

compton

Member

Re: iPhone T-mobile

said by Alcohol:

said by OldschoolDSL:

I'm aware of it, but was wondering if anyone could imagine it finally being offered through T-mobile in the future "after" ATT loses their contract?

I'm kind of hoping they do. T-mobile already sells the iPhone in Europe.
They'll probably go to Verizon instead of T-mobile. T-mobile isn't a big enough customer base.


You do know that T-Mobile carries the iPhone in Europe right?

Alcohol
Premium Member
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI

Alcohol

Premium Member

Re: iPhone T-mobile

said by compton:

said by Alcohol:

said by OldschoolDSL:

I'm aware of it, but was wondering if anyone could imagine it finally being offered through T-mobile in the future "after" ATT loses their contract?

I'm kind of hoping they do. T-mobile already sells the iPhone in Europe.
They'll probably go to Verizon instead of T-mobile. T-mobile isn't a big enough customer base.
You do know that T-Mobile carries the iPhone in Europe right?
Yes. And that has nothing to do with T-mobile in US.

OldschoolDSL
Premium Member
join:2006-02-23
Indian Orchard, MA

OldschoolDSL to Alcohol

Premium Member

to Alcohol
said by Alcohol:
said by OldschoolDSL:

I'm aware of it, but was wondering if anyone could imagine it finally being offered through T-mobile in the future "after" ATT loses their contract?

I'm kind of hoping they do. T-mobile already sells the iPhone in Europe.
They'll probably go to Verizon instead of T-mobile. T-mobile isn't a big enough customer base.
NOT going to happen. Apple likes to control things. Their apps store & services are all controlled by them (no exceptions). Verizon also has their own apps store & services and EVERY phone they ever sold had to agree to their terms also.

The two could not play well with each other.

Alcohol
Premium Member
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI

Alcohol

Premium Member

Re: iPhone T-mobile

said by OldschoolDSL:

said by Alcohol:
said by OldschoolDSL:

I'm aware of it, but was wondering if anyone could imagine it finally being offered through T-mobile in the future "after" ATT loses their contract?

I'm kind of hoping they do. T-mobile already sells the iPhone in Europe.
They'll probably go to Verizon instead of T-mobile. T-mobile isn't a big enough customer base.
NOT going to happen. Apple likes to control things. Their apps store & services are all controlled by them (no exceptions). Verizon also has their own apps store & services and EVERY phone they ever sold had to agree to their terms also.

The two could not play well with each other.
Nope. Google has it's own market (app store) that has nothing to do with Verizon. Just like the app store.
Google refused to lock down the phones as Verizon requested.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

The top of the line on 4 carriers

Here is a link listing the technical specs for the high end smartphone on the 4 major US carriers:
»www.tipb.com/2010/06/07/ ··· h-specs/



•••••

SteveLV702
Premium Member
join:2004-04-22
Las Vegas, NV

SteveLV702

Premium Member

Clear lol

comparable to Clearwire well thats easy seeing how when I had clear I never got over 0.5Mbps and thats if the horrible service even worked....

•••••••

knewman
@omcastbusiness.net

knewman

Anon

I can attest to this

I can routinely get 4.5-5mbps on my Nexus One while in the Philadelphia region and about 2.5-3 in the far suburbs (which I beleive is a backhaul issue more than anything). Upload is always consistent at 2mbps.

Whereas our Clear connection over a motorola stationary modem gets about 3mbps down and 1.5 up. I think the Clear connection has top trumps on latency however, we are trialing a VOiP solution that runs solely over 4G.