Verizon 4g... WOW!

[Ricky]

How is that article suppose to tickle me into thinking that true 4G is here? It's not. Yes, I do find it ironic that the ITU recently stated that Verizon's and AT&T are now "real" 4G? Follow the money would be my guess. The fact remains that Verizon (for an example) has guaranteed speeds of a maximum 12mbps. Why am I suppose to get a hard on over that, when true 4G is suppose to be 100mbps? The false advertising (yes, I realize that most adverts are based on fallacies and emotion) is what I've been against.
What's available in the States now should be called 3.5G.

This has been my gripe in the 3G world for years. Verizon saying their 3G network is better, when really there's no comparison because they aren't the same technology...

Why do we need 4G, when 3G hasn't even reached its peak yet? I typically see between 1.5 and 2mbps with AT&T, but HSPA+ is capable of 80+mbps. Providing even 15-20mbps on Verizon 4G when it's capable of many times that, is lame.

[modette99]

^^^ Yep I heard that from many sources...its mainly marketing and laymen will not know.

[Ricky]

Yeah, and that's what sucks... The industry has taken a simple term and tried to equate it to someone else using that same term.

THAT, is why Apple chose AT&T for the iPhone. AT&T has a network that is far beyond what Verizon is, no matter how reliable the phone calls on a CDMA network are. 3G is not the same as 3G.

[JustSomeDude]

This has been my gripe in the 3G world for years. Verizon saying their 3G network is better, when really there's no comparison because they aren't the same technology...

Why do we need 4G, when 3G hasn't even reached its peak yet? I typically see between 1.5 and 2mbps with AT&T, but HSPA+ is capable of 80+mbps. Providing even 15-20mbps on Verizon 4G when it's capable of many times that, is lame.

I understand everyone being pissy about what is being touted as "4G" here in the states. But marketing aside, real world situations really define my mobile experience. The dropped calls and often inaccessible network on AT&T ultimately just drove me insane. (For what it's worth, I had a great experience with AT&T for most of my 10 years as their customer. I really only started having connectivity issues the last few years... and I attribute the network issues to iPhone congestion that AT&T never adequately addressed.)

Now almost one month into my VZW contract I have had 0 dropped calls, and a WiFi tether that is twice the speed of my home DSL connection. I'm also paying $17 less for unlimited 4G than for the identical plan I had on AT&T.

So yea, maybe the hard science behind what's being sold in the U.S.A. as "4G" doesn't satisfy the die-hard techies... but the real world performance and impact on my wallet mean more to me than anything else.



Test results from 4.10.2011

[modette99]

Yeah but I just ran a test there...I have Comcast

Last Result:
Download Speed: 14677 kbps (1834.6 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 4059 kbps (507.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
Sun Apr 10 2011 12:17:33 GMT-0600 (Mountain Daylight Time)

So why would I want 4G phone tethered to my PC? I can not help it if you have a slow DSL connection...LOL :-P

[JustSomeDude]

So why would I want 4G phone tethered to my PC?

Beats me!

I don't think anyone here was saying that a 4G phone should replace hardwired data service; but people ARE curious about its speed performance, so I'm reporting it. But replacing a wired data service isn't the issue at all. My main point is just that Verizon's "4G" has been far faster for data, and extremely more stable for voice, than the AT&T service I've had over the last 2-3 years (note: AT&T was great for voice the 7 years before that).

Quite honestly, from a tech standpoint, Verizon could be marketing their network as "BananaSandwich-G" for all I care. All I know is that it's very fast, and it works reliably and consistently, and I've yet to experience an area with no signal (when dropping back to 3G). Granted this only encompasses one month of testing, with the majority of use in Denver, and travel along I-70 to Brush, and Breckenridge.

[TransNone13]

Any idea on the Springs?

[JustSomeDude]

Any idea on the Springs?

LTE is launching in Co. Springs this year, but no specific date...

http://news.vzw.com/news/2011/03/pr2011-03-23r.html

Also, many of the planned LTE markets for 2011 have already had their LTE "turned on", even though Verizon's official coverage map doesn't show it yet. For example, my brother lives in Allentown, PA and is already getting 4G, even though VZW's official map doesn't indicate it.

Here is a complete list of cities getting LTE this year... http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/p...rkets-end-2011

Although I think it's best to call a local store for more details, as the service may already be available in the Springs, just not shown officially on VZW's LTE maps.

[d3spair]

Those are great speeds for a cellphone, regardless of what it's called!

[Ricky]

Now almost one month into my VZW contract I have had 0 dropped calls, and a WiFi tether that is twice the speed of my home DSL connection. I'm also paying $17 less for unlimited 4G than for the identical plan I had on AT&T.

So yea, maybe the hard science behind what's being sold in the U.S.A. as "4G" doesn't satisfy the die-hard techies... but the real world performance and impact on my wallet mean more to me than anything else.

It has nothing to do with techie satisfaction. It has everything to do with consumer confusion, and not using a technology to its fullest extent. Here we are implementing 4G in a place where 3G (HSPA+) was never used beyond 5% of its capability. Sad.

I just don't experience these problems with dropped calls and data speed issues. The occasional dropped call at home, yup... my signal gets weak at the center of the house, so I expect it. But no matter what phone I have, I just don't have these problems. not with any of my ghetto phones, not with any of my windows phones, and most definitely not with my iPhone. Even with the grip of death, I couldn't get it to actually drop a call, or show any difference in actual data speed.

But I agree with you. Get what works best for you.

[Fernman]

Verizon is supposed to come out with the Bionic, it should be fast, dual processors in that mug. you have 30 days from the purchase date to trade.

[JustSomeDude]

Verizon is supposed to come out with the Bionic, it should be fast, dual processors in that mug. you have 30 days from the purchase date to trade.

Sadly, the Bionic will be coming out after the elimination of the 1-yr. contracts.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2383335,00.asp

[JustSomeDude]

It has nothing to do with techie satisfaction. It has everything to do with consumer confusion, and not using a technology to its fullest extent. Here we are implementing 4G in a place where 3G (HSPA+) was never used beyond 5% of its capability. Sad.

My #1 issue was actually not dropped calls, I just didn't want to make one long winded post. But since we're getting into it, I'll discuss it in detail...

What I've come to experience the last few years on AT&T's 3G network is what I refer to as the "full bars - no dice" syndrome. This typically only happens in areas of large crowds such as football games, baseball games, parades downtown, etc. However, since I live in downtown Denver, the situation occurs more often than I'm comfortable with (3-4 times a month).

Essentially, I have full bars on my phone, but whenever I try to make a call or send a text, or do ANYTHING on the network, I get a network failure notice and the requested action stops. This usually lasts for a few hours while the event is taking place, or until I leave the region to establish a connection on an tower with less congestion. The best part is once I do travel outside the congested area, or the crowds dissipate, I get a massive download of all the emails, calls, voicemails, and text messages that were missed when I was "out" of service. The phone sounds like it's in some type of psycho audio mode with all the notifications going off!!!

Now, if we are not using 3G to its "fullest extent" as you put it, then why do these problems occur, and why did AT&T spend $1.5 million last fall at Coors Field to alleviate the exact scenario I described? Note - Verizon never has this issue on CDMA. I've read reports on user forums where AT&T users can get a call out when these logjams occur by requesting an emergency call through an AT&T operator (which strangely, you can still connect to) - but that seems ridiculous to me for the amount of money I pay for cell service.

My last straw in deciding to leave AT&T was when I almost missed a Broncos game at Invesco. I had plans to meet my friend who had the tickets, but lo and behold, the dreaded "full bars - no dice" occured yet again outside the stadium, and I was unable to make any phone call or send/recieve any texts due to AT&T network congestion. About 5 minutes prior to kick-off, just as I had given up hope and was ready to bail, I randomly ran into my friend and got to see the game. Interestingly, he pointed out how he had sent me 5 texts and left 3 voicemails on his Verizon phone, trying to find me.

I eventually got all of those messages about 25 minutes after the game ended, when I was well clear of Mile High Stadium, and could finally establish a network connection.

So maybe this is "cool" for some people, and just part of the untapped power of 3G you're referring to. But living downtown, I can tell you the "full bars - no dice" is a very real part of being with AT&T. If they fix the problem in other areas outside of Coors, I'd very seriously consider switching back. Until then... "no dice."

[Ricky]

Jesus... That's crazy. That's something I've not experienced before. CDMA and GSM are quite different technologies. And being that Verizon is moving away from CDMA, you might want to start getting used to some of those AT&T type things. Dropped calls are more common on GSM networks than they are on CDMA, when doing a tower handoff. Verizon's CDMA network is at least double the age of AT&T's GSM network. It's understandable they are going to have more stability and capacity. However, my understanding is that your voice calls aren't actually 4G and are still running over the CDMA network. When phones are strictly LTE, it will take away a bit of stability being that CDMA has better call handoff.

Still, AT&T is not pushing 3G technology to its extent. Being that HSPA+ is capable of 80mbps, and your 4G phone isn't even hitting that speed (maybe I'm being hasty, and one day soon it'll be better), wouldn't it be cheaper for AT&T to expand their 3G network? It doesn't matter because of the confusion with the 4G term. AT&T must evolve into a 4G technology to compete with another company with 4G. And for the first time Verizon and AT&T will have identical networks. I think it will be interesting to see which does best as 4G becomes the standard in a few years.

[JustSomeDude]

However, my understanding is that your voice calls aren't actually 4G and are still running over the CDMA network. When phones are strictly LTE, it will take away a bit of stability being that CDMA has better call handoff.

Correct. On Verizon's 4G network the voice is still handled via CDMA. And when you are on strictly 3G, voice transfers down to the old 2G network... which is a neat trick implemented on the Thunderbolt to get around the old VZW simultaneous voice/data limitation. So you are correct, voice is all on CDMA, which is likely why Verizon has such stable voice connections.

Still, AT&T is not pushing 3G technology to its extent... wouldn't it be cheaper for AT&T to expand their 3G network?

Possibly, but at this point it seems almost too little too late, now with them admitting that their network sucks dogsh*t due to so much iPhone traffic...

http://bit.ly/gF8A7z

I really don't know what AT&T's best move is at this point... solve the atrocious 3G logjam issues, or just move on to new tech? I'm sure they are trying to find the best answer to that question every single day. But in hindsight, that iPhone exclusivity deal looks more like a burden than a blessing for them.

[modette99]

I think Verizon should have pushed to use 3G's full potential, that would have been better marketing...OUR 3G is faster then AT&T's 4G....LOL It would have made AT&T embarrassed or forced to try and use all of 4G's potential.