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[Q] No 4G until May?

I stopped by a corp store on Monday and compared speeds of the Inspire to my Captivate. After getting same speeds on both phones I spoke to the store manager that assured me 4G would be operational the following day. I stopped by again today and ran speed test on both devices. The Captivate actually had slightly faster speeds at 2.77 up and .37 down while the Inspire did 2.61 down and same(.37) up. When I asked CS rep about 4G today, I was told that 4G will not be implemented until May. What BS! They are advertising 4G everywhere as if it is running now. How many of you are getting 4G speeds? Anyone hear anything different regarding time frame?
I am strongly considering the Inspire and am looking for a few good reasons to purchase it! Aside from no 4G speeds until May, I have read about, crappy speaker, choppy video playback, poor call quality, crappy camera, and terrible battery life. I have owned the Aria and I gotta say, some of it sounds familiar. Any input will be appreciated.

i was told they're start rolling out 4G in march but i guess it might depend on your area, i'm in chicago.
edit: my speaker is fine, louder then my iphone, excellent call quality, camera is fine, only thing i noticed is when sending a mms, it compresses it too much. batter life seems fine, i've been using it more then my phone (setting it up and playing with it) and its comparable considering the huge screen over a iphone.

http://www.att.com/network/?
Click on the "coverage" button on the bottom, that should show you where the 4G coverage is.

that explicitly says 4G not represented in that map in fine print

where are you in the US?

d00mz said:
where are you in the US?
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North Florida. Jacksonville

yeah, if you mouse over your area, there is no popup for 4g. Greater DFW has it, and if you mouse over it, you can then see a detailed 4g map.

d00mz said:
yeah, if you mouse over your area, there is no popup for 4g. Greater DFW has it, and if you mouse over it, you can then see a detailed 4g map.
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Being in DFW has its advantages.
Not many, but enough.

Thanks for the responses. I do see that there is no 4G coverage for my area listed on the map.
I guess I just have a problem being told by a store rep on Monday, that there would be 4G coverage, in my area, on Tuesday. I guess they are kept informed about as much as we are, or are just saying whatever customer wants to hear in order to sell a phone??? 4G was MY primary reason to upgrade phones now as opposed to later.
Oh well, I am glad I didn't grab the Inspire right away. I did that with the Captivate and well................... Actually, I have no issues with the Captivate after having it replaced with a new unit.

The FCC should launch an investigation into AT&Ts deceptive advertising. They are advertising a 4g network that doesn't exist for the most part.

d00mz said:
yeah, if you mouse over your area, there is no popup for 4g. Greater DFW has it, and if you mouse over it, you can then see a detailed 4g map.
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Have you ran any speed tests in a supposed 4g area? What kind of speeds are you getting if you have?

simulatordos said:
The FCC should launch an investigation into AT&Ts deceptive advertising. They are advertising a 4g network that doesn't exist for the most part.
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where is verizon when you need them? this BS about backhaul not implemented yet! if backhaul is not implemented yet, then dont call it hspa+/4G! cus you dont have hspa+/4G yet!
that is like saying we're the first in the world to have 5G!!!!! then telling people when we upgraded our networks! haha
btw: i'm in bayarea, CA which att map shows it DOES have hspa+/4g coverage, but my speed is the same! never over 3mb! i'm on rooted phone with attn1 rom. maybe i get higher speed with stock rom?

You won't get true 4G until they give out the 4G sim cards. I live south of Dallas and the most i've gotten is 4.3 down and 1.39 up.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

I got a new 4G SIM card on Sunday

No 4G here...I was getting faster speeds on my nexus one
Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

klquicksall said:
You won't get true 4G until they give out the 4G sim cards. I live south of Dallas and the most i've gotten is 4.3 down and 1.39 up.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
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The 4G sims are to be compatible with LTE. They have nothing to do with data speeds on hspa+. You can use your old sim and it won't make a difference. They have not "flipped the switch" on it yet in most areas so we should see differences soon.

I got a new sim card as well when I purchased mines on launch day but it says 3g on it. Correct me if I'm wrong but the Inspire 4G isn't a true "4G" phone. I kind of knew this going in. It doesn't have LTE hardware (which is where everything is going). It has software tweaks that enables HDSPA+ which gives 4G speeds, but not real 4G.
I have to admit that my HSUPA enabled Captivate was faster in both DL and UP but the Inspire isn't bad and has a more consistent connection. It's also a much better phone overall but that's another story.

Today the Oaklawn Dallas AT&T store manager told me that they were not going to "flip the national hspa+ switch" for a month and a half. There is testing in some markets but not Dallas, the AT&T headquarters city. Per an internal email he showed me, the new SIM card is necessary for LTE. It also said 4g data must be enabled on the "user account configuration". My Aria data is configured for my old Blackberry and works fine so I question this. BTW, at the store my geeked out Aria (thanks attn1) had almost double the download speed of the demo Inspire. The response: speed tests are unreliabe, haha!

this is just thought but look for speed increase with the release of the atrix. this is obviously going to be there flagship phone for 4g. there has been no advertisement whatsoever for the inspire. I think for some reason that htc has a exclusive deal with these carriers to be the first 4g phone. Att has been advertising the atrix since January starting with that teaser and when on their website the atrix was on their main page with not even the mention of the inspire. Maybe they will turn hspa+ on once atrix is released tuesday. I wouldnt be surprised if the fooled the atrix people too. Ill keep the inspire but i do think its pretty cheap releasing phones before the network is ready.

ATT has done this over and over. First capped the max data plan. Now they rename their network to 4G and sell phones and cant even max out their network speed. I mean I wonder why they dont get in trouble for this kinda crap. Sprint released evo 4g with a bang with wimax ready to go, and AT&T cant even launch their fake 4g right.
They should be sued for faking the H+ symbol on top, but I dont sue people unless my life depends on it. I am just going to return this phone if thunderbolt comes out before my 30 days are up.
Why show h+ symbol when the network settings show you are only connected to HSDPA not HSDPA+. come out and say when you fake 4g network will be ready. Their graph says I have 4G all over my area up to like 60 miles, yet my crappy hacked captivate was getting the same speed as inspire plus 10 times better upload speeds. I get around 150kb upload speed.

HSPA+ Backhaul

I know this isn't just about the Inspire, but kept seeing people write that AT&T will have the backhaul turned on or complete on March 1.
Anyone know if this has happened? I have not seen any increase in speeds at all.

I believe it has been turned on for the areas at&t has the enhanced backhaul deployed. It's not available everywhere yet.
http://www.att.com/network/#fbid=Cfb68NsnGk7 - Check the coverage map and scroll over it to see where at&t currently has 4G.

Huh. It says I am in a prime area for 4G Coverage...

What kind of speeds are you attaining?

Rooted stock rom, 2 Mb down 1 Mb up.

Map currently does not depict 4G
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App

darkbluexplorer said:
Map currently does not depict 4G
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
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Scroll over it.

derekroper said:
Rooted stock rom, 2 Mb down 1 Mb up.
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That's strange, I regularly see over 4.5Mb down, 1.2Mb up.

here is what att told me

I have seen some improvements. By my work during the day I was getting 1500 down. Now I am getting 3500 down on average. Check my sig, that was the best I have yet to see on my phone 6496 down and 1321 up.

Woke up this morning and ran a speed test for fun. Was consistently getting 4.1-4.3 mbps down (topped out at 4.5) with 1.3 mbps up. Previously i was getting around 3.3 down and 1.3 up. Running Android Rev 2.1. Will be traveling a bit today and will do more tests.

derekroper said:
I know this isn't just about the Inspire, but kept seeing people write that AT&T will have the backhaul turned on or complete on March 1.
Anyone know if this has happened? I have not seen any increase in speeds at all.
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that is just att BS excuess! the real truth is they just rename their 3G networks as 4G! funny, those people "claim" they have hspa+ speed (over 4.5mb per sec) but no one have youtube to prove it! haha

2kgt said:
I believe it has been turned on for the areas at&t has the enhanced backhaul deployed. It's not available everywhere yet.
http://www.att.com/network/#fbid=Cfb68NsnGk7 - Check the coverage map and scroll over it to see where at&t currently has 4G.
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I live smack dab in the middle of the 4G coverage in San Francisco, and my phone is still showing HSDPA and getting about 1.5mbps-3mbps... certainly not the "4G" like speeds they depict.

netnerd said:
that is just att BS excuess! the real truth is they just rename their 3G networks as 4G! funny, those people "claim" they have hspa+ speed (over 4.5mb per sec) but no one have youtube to prove it! haha
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I agree with your comments 100% here. I've yet to see a snapshot of network settings showing HSPA+ ... everyone still shows HSDPA.... and the speeds are reflective of such.

netnerd said:
that is just att BS excuess! the real truth is they just rename their 3G networks as 4G! funny, those people "claim" they have hspa+ speed (over 4.5mb per sec) but no one have youtube to prove it! haha
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How many times are you going to post these ignorant comments? Your statements have absolutely zero credibility and you've consistently displayed the fact that your knowledge of at&t's network is nonexistent.
HSPA+ has been officially recognized as 4G and the speeds attained by it are similar to current capabilities of WiMax and LTE. T-Mobile's 4G network is also HSPA+.
The network enhancements have not yet been rolled out to all areas, so you will not get 4G speed simply by using an 4G capable phone. I personally have seen over 4.5 Mbs down and I'm in an area where at&t doesn't even show the enhanced backhaul to be deployed.
You're more than welcome to do actual research into at&t's ongoing network improvements, so you will be better informed on this matter.

2kgt said:
How many times are you going to post these ignorant comments? Your statements have absolutely zero credibility and you've consistently displayed the fact that your knowledge of at&t's network is nonexistent.
HSPA+ has been officially recognized as 4G and the speeds attained by it are similar to current capabilities of WiMax and LTE. T-Mobile's 4G network is also HSPA+.
The network enhancements have not yet been rolled out to all areas, so you will not get 4G speed simply by using an 4G capable phone. I personally have seen over 4.5 Mbs down and I'm in an area where at&t doesn't even show the enhanced backhaul to be deployed.
You're more than welcome to do actual research into at&t's ongoing network improvements, so you will be better informed on this matter.
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Wow, you're the poster child for AT&T's marketing campaign.
He is actually 100% right. It's 3G rebranded as 4G, hence why AT&T is legally obligated to put fine print on everything, saying "4G-like speed" ... HSPA+ is NOT accepted as 4G, it's only MARKETED as such to try and gain acceptance from consumers.

If you don't like AT&T then switch.......... If you don't have AT&T leave us alone.
netnerd said:
that is just att BS excuess! the real truth is they just rename their 3G networks as 4G! funny, those people "claim" they have hspa+ speed (over 4.5mb per sec) but no one have youtube to prove it! haha
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droe411 said:
If you don't like AT&T then switch.......... If you don't have AT&T leave us alone.
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I don't have a problem with the speeds I'm getting. Compared to Verizon and Sprint, AT&T is 2X as fast in every major metro area TODAY.
I don't care if it's real 4G or 3.5G or 3G... even at 3G their average speed nationwide IS faster than Verizon. Great I can use Verizon LTE in San Francisco, but what about when I'm in Billings, or Ft Lauderdale, or Scottsdale? Back on their 3G network, which runs at about 700k... no thanks!
The bottom line is I think those of us on this forum are just upset that they're trying to sell the network as 4G, and it's not. However if you were a business and both Sprint and Verizon are deploying 4G, you have to do something to compete or watch customers flock to the next best thing. By advertising 4G-like speeds, they get around the legal issues surrounding false advertising, and at the end of the day, the consumer really gets the same experience. YouTube doesn't look any better at 8mbps than it does at 1mbps... and www.tmz.com loads just as fast at 2mbps as it does at 5mbps... The only impact is on those who tether\use data cards, really.
If they marketed it as "ATT 4.0" or "Verizon 4.0" and both delivered 4.0 mbps speed, would you really CARE what technology they use? No, but stupid Americans only respond to silly marketing names (aka Inspire, Desire, Droid, Aria, Evo, MyTouch, Captivate, Intercept... blah blah blah)... if they called it a HTC 5450, or a Samsung X9014, people would be afraid of it.... the only reason Blackberry was able to break into the consumer market was by adding names like Bold, Curve, Storm... BOOM, you have my attention! lol
So thank all of the dumb people (mostly those 99% not on this forum), for requiring things dumbed down for them that caused the whole 3\3.5\4G naming debacle. hehe

Here is a speed test I just ran.

2kgt said:
Here is a speed test I just ran.
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Mine to your same server.
**** My results are common for middle of the day on a business day in San Francisco. The network here usually runs at about 50% of the speed as it does at night... it's real bad, but always been this way ****

Sprint possibly to acquire T-MoUS

So I read this article today.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2011/03/08/report-sprint-t-mobile-usa-talk-tie/#
I really have no opinion on the matter, but I am curious what that would mean for all of us.

Hmm, very interesting indeed. If this happens, I'd imagine all existing TMO customers would automatically become a customer of the new merged entity. Maybe they'd give the option to opt out of contract early with no fees? Idk...

Yeah that's what I was thinking. It would almost surely alter the contract, in which case they would have to offer customer's to cut the cord, no charge.
Pretty sure that was the case when Sprint acquired Nextel as well.

IIRC contracts and technologies did not change at the time of the 2004 merger. They permitted customers to switch to the other "side" at will, then combined into a single set of plan offerings in 2005. They still offer Nextel iDEN technology with some handset products.
I was once a Sprint CDMA customer, but left them in 2002 or 2003 to go with T-Mobile and GSM, so I didn't live through the merger as a customer myself.

WHAT!
Sprint has a good reputation around here but T-Mobile by far is the better company IMO... A merger between these two companies is weird... Even though i think in the pass this was talked about before...
If this happens Sprint would oviously be the company coming out and T-Mobile just being pushed to the back of the company untill there are few customers left and they would shut it down
How would sprint befite from this? Besides customer merging over... Even thought a fair amount would end their contract then go with sprint

I hate sprint so ugh lol
*Sent from Carmen diva*

carmeng4evr said:
I hate sprint so ugh lol
*Sent from Carmen diva*
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gurl, yoo sew krayzee.

T-Mobile might be number 4 in terms of number of customers
but Sprint is bringing up the rear when it comes to the 4G
coverage area an number of 4G phones.
I'm not a Sprint fan at all.
I hope it doesn't happen.

So, how does a CDMA company merge with a GSM company and still grow both technologies? My guess is that one has to be dropped eventually. Which one will it be?

PuffDaddy_d said:
So, how does a CDMA company merge with a GSM company and still grow both technologies? My guess is that one has to be dropped eventually. Which one will it be?
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I'm guessing tmobiles will drop cuz if sprint is looking for 4g then it should turn to T-Mobile cuz H+ isn't offically considered 4g
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You know I just dropped that crap called sprint for tmobile. I hope this doesn't happen
Sent from my HTC Glacier

Hope it don't happen I been a happy T-Mobile customer for over 10 years and I see nothing but problems with people that have sprint
Sent from my femine toy Looking something a kid would use HTC Glacier device he he *sarcasm* ;-)

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Julianmgn said:
I'm guessing tmobiles will drop cuz if sprint is looking for 4g then it should turn to T-Mobile cuz H+ isn't offically considered 4g
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App
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Yes it is. It was made an official 4G technology a while ago.
Sent from my DeLorean using a Flux Capacitor

ELBdelorean said:
Yes it is. It was made an official 4G technology a while ago.
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Look up what 4g speed actually is defined as. I believe its around 100 mbps. No where near what we can get. It's like 3.5 g
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Cdma would be dropped since sprint is most likely moving to Lte. Keeping hspa+ and moving from wiimax would be sprints best decision at least we would have truly unlimited data. Let's hope carriers don't become full dominant with lte since they have full control of it. I don't want to be charged for youtube or facebook.
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paczek said:
Look up what 4g speed actually is defined as. I believe its around 100 mbps. No where near what we can get. It's like 3.5 g
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This used to be correct, but the definitions for what is considered "4G" have changed after it was recognized that HSPA+, WiMax, and LTE are all technologies that are delivering significantly faster speeds and an enhanced user experience when compared to 3G; so, HSPA+ is technically considered an official 4G technology.
There would be ups and downs to a Sprint- T-Mobile merger. I all depends on how it is executed.
T-Mobile NEEDS more spectrum - Sprint/Nextel has a lot of it. From a technology standpoint it used to seem impossible to merge the companies - After all sprint already has a CDMA & iDen network, plus WiMax, but T-Mobile operates off of GSM/UMTS technology.
The reason this speculation is different now is due to the fact that both companies have "loosely" discussed moving to LTE "eventually" and have been apprehensive about comitting to it. If they pair up, then migrate to LTE, it will allow the networks to be on the same playing field (as well as put the combined company in a competitive position against AT&T/Verizon).
As much as I hate to say it, this is very possible (maybe even probable) but would take a lonnnggg time to be a reality.

I dont see why so many people are complaining. With the merging of the two companies, we get better coverage and faster 4G speeds and much more phones will be developed for us. Tmobile was lacking as far as great smartphones before the glacier and g2. Were just now coming around.
So stop complaining, I'm actually excited if this happens.
Sent from my myTouch 4G using ThunderBolt

dbiggss said:
This used to be correct, but the definitions for what is considered "4G" have changed after it was recognized that HSPA+, WiMax, and LTE are all technologies that are delivering significantly faster speeds and an enhanced user experience when compared to 3G; so, HSPA+ is technically considered an official 4G technology.
There would be ups and downs to a Sprint- T-Mobile merger. I all depends on how it is executed.
T-Mobile NEEDS more spectrum - Sprint/Nextel has a lot of it. From a technology standpoint it used to seem impossible to merge the companies - After all sprint already has a CDMA & iDen network, plus WiMax, but T-Mobile operates off of GSM/UMTS technology.
The reason this speculation is different now is due to the fact that both companies have "loosely" discussed moving to LTE "eventually" and have been apprehensive about comitting to it. If they pair up, then migrate to LTE, it will allow the networks to be on the same playing field (as well as put the combined company in a competitive position against AT&T/Verizon).
As much as I hate to say it, this is very possible (maybe even probable) but would take a lonnnggg time to be a reality.
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http://theunlockr.com/2010/12/20/hspa-lte-and-wimax-now-officially-called-4g/
^^ Article that says that it will be consider officilly 4G
I agree.. It not something that would happen overnight or for that matter a year or so... Sure the names and prices and everything in between wont take long but merging the two companies into a single Wireless technology would take years...
But in the end sprint would have a huge wireless footprint.. GSM/UMTS with CDMA/WiMax and eventually LTE
If Sprint decides (if it merges) to continue supporting those frequencies.. it will have if not the biggest wide variety of phones

I only care if the pricing of data plan will change.

Inspire or Sensation?

Per my other post regarding service plans, I was hoping for some feedback from you guys.
A couple weeks ago I renewed my contract and got an Inspire. I'm still within the return window, and heard about the Sensation. Obviously the Sensation is the more powerful phone and would be preferable over the Inspire. And of course, Tmobile's $80 unlimited plan is very attractive when compared to $110 for the same plan features from AT&T.
However there's some rumor going around that the Sensation's bootloader is locked down tight and that it might not be able to be cracked so that we can flash custom ROMs. That's obviously a deal-breaker to me since I need root, and just hate the bloatware carriers put on a phone. I'd want it unbranded.
So, what would you guys do? Return the Inspire, go with Tmobile and get the Sensation when it comes available in the hope that it can be unlocked by then? Or stick with the Inspire and let it be?

That is a tempting phone but I think I would hold off and stick with the Inspire. There are a couple of reasons.
1. This phone is already hacked wide open and fully customizable. There is no guarantee the same thing will happen with the Sensation. (I am sure it will, but we never really know)
2. What happens if the AT&T T-Mobile merger goes through and they make you switch phones back to something with the AT&T banding within a year. The only good news is that you would come over at a better grandfathered price, but I am sure they will rip that away when LTE comes in.
3. T-Mobile Coverage leaves something to be desired. It rocks where it is present, but it isn't present in a lot of places. If you travel at all take a good look at that coverage map.
4. I believe the Sensation is only going to be capable of 21mb down (only... ha) not the 42mb down T-Mobile is deploying to cities like Vegas. This makes me wonder what their future plans are and if there is something... dare I say it... even better coming in 3 months.

bmolloy said:
The only good news is that you would come over at a better grandfathered price, but I am sure they will rip that away when LTE comes in.
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You make good points.
I presume that LTE is the AT&T 4G network, which the Inspire is designed for? Y'see I posed the above question on the assumption that the Sensation would operate on AT&T's 4G network as the merger goes forward, and/or that AT&T would offer an equal or better phone as the Tmobile customers were migrated over, but that might not be correct. Can you comment?
The problem I face is that I need to make a final decision by the end of today and either return the Inspire and revert to my no-contrast status, or stick with it. But if I stick with the Inspire, I'm locked into it for 2 years.

BillTheCat said:
Per my other post regarding service plans, I was hoping for some feedback from you guys.
A couple weeks ago I renewed my contract and got an Inspire. I'm still within the return window, and heard about the Sensation. Obviously the Sensation is the more powerful phone and would be preferable over the Inspire. And of course, Tmobile's $80 unlimited plan is very attractive when compared to $110 for the same plan features from AT&T.
However there's some rumor going around that the Sensation's bootloader is locked down tight and that it might not be able to be cracked so that we can flash custom ROMs. That's obviously a deal-breaker to me since I need root, and just hate the bloatware carriers put on a phone. I'd want it unbranded.
So, what would you guys do? Return the Inspire, go with Tmobile and get the Sensation when it comes available in the hope that it can be unlocked by then? Or stick with the Inspire and let it be?
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Not to mention the Sensation will be tied to T-Mobile and if the merger with AT&T goes through, eventually the data will no longer work. T-Mobile has been rumored to be contracting for phones that have quad band HSDPA+ radios. But the latest info is that the G2x doesn't have it. And the G2x was clearly stated it would have the quad band HSDPA+ radio. If the G2x doesn't have, I would not trust the Sensation would have it.
Stick with the Inspire. It's the safer bet.

BillTheCat said:
You make good points.
I presume that LTE is the AT&T 4G network, which the Inspire is designed for? Y'see I posed the above question on the assumption that the Sensation would operate on AT&T's 4G network as the merger goes forward, and/or that AT&T would offer an equal or better phone as the Tmobile customers were migrated over, but that might not be correct. Can you comment?
The problem I face is that I need to make a final decision by the end of today and either return the Inspire and revert to my no-contrast status, or stick with it. But if I stick with the Inspire, I'm locked into it for 2 years.
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My understanding about the merger is that T-Mobile runs their "4G" HSPA+ on different bands than AT&T does so the phones will not be compatible. AT&T wants that company so they can have all that bandwidth, all of those users and all of the towers in the densely populated areas like SF, NY and LV that are notorious for dropping calls when the towers get crowded.
AT&T has plans on rolling out LTE (which the inspire is NOT capable of using) within the next year, T-Mobile does not have any announced LTE plans because their HSPA+ is so good and I am sure they are waiting to see if they do get sucked up.
One other note, the T-Mobile "Unlimited Plan" is now saying they will throttle your data speeds when you reach 2GB. That means that blazing fast 21mb/s download speeds you get will be slowed way down until your billing cycle is up. For the time being AT&T's unlimited is unlimited.
I got the Inspire because I am locked to AT&T with the 4 phones with data plans I have on my contract. I look at this as an awesome phone that will definitely hold me over until they release a phone with LTE, which by that time being that I pay an obscene amount of money to them every month I will be elegible for my 15 month or so upgrade. In reality the only time I feel like my phone is inferior is when I am doing speedtest.net tests with friends of mine that have Thunderbolts which where I live get 20mb down and up. In reality though this phone is absolutely sick and it's only downside is that AT&T doesn't seem to be rolling out a very fast HSPA+ network like they advertised.

Great feedback, guys. I appreciate the help. Still on the fence, but getting closer to a decision.
MartyLK said:
T-Mobile has been rumored to be contracting for phones that have quad band HSDPA+ radios.
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This spec says that the phone is quad-band, or am I confusing data with voice radios?
http://www.cellhut.com/HTC-Sensation-Pyramid-30632.html?INO=518754
bmolloy said:
AT&T has plans on rolling out LTE (which the inspire is NOT capable of using) within the next year...
One other note, the T-Mobile "Unlimited Plan" is now saying they will throttle your data speeds when you reach 2GB...
In reality though this phone is absolutely sick and it's only downside is that AT&T doesn't seem to be rolling out a very fast HSPA+ network like they advertised...
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All good points. Here are my thoughts:
* If the Inspire isn't capable of LTE, then it's not really a 4G phone, is it? So maybe I should return the sucker now and wait to see what happens?
* I can't see myself ever going over 2G of data per month, and I have WiFi at home and office, so Tmo's throttle isn't much of an issue for me.
* If AT&T's data network isn't as robust as Tmobile's, then maybe I should really be looking to leave then, no? And if the voice network will eventually merge, wouldn't that be another reason to jump ship and go with Tmo?

BillTheCat said:
This spec says that the phone is quad-band, or am I confusing data with voice radios?
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Yeah, that would be the cell radio, which is compatible with AT&T, as well as Edge data network (2G).
According to this Engadget article, the G2x may not have the quad band HSDPA+ radio.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/24/t-mobile-g2x-getting-gingerbread-sooner-than-youd-expect-may/

Looking at those specs the Sensation says that it's 3G bands are 2100/900 MHz. AT&T uses 850/1900 MHz bands for 3G. The 2G radio is quadband so it looks like it will work on EDGE. I have an Nexus One that is unlocked but I had to wait for the AT&T banded one because the T-Mobile unlocked one would not work on AT&T 3G bands.
As for the AT&T not having 4G, that battle has been being fought for a long time here. Really what they did is call their HSPA+ network 4G, just like all of the other cell companies that have the same infrastructure starting doing about a year ago. They aren't exactly lying but they are not exactly telling the truth either. They do actually explain what they are doing on their website, but you have to look for it. I am not a fanboy here, I just think people are flaming AT&T even though they aren't exactly hiding what they are doing. They are just taking advantage of the lack of a universal definition for 4G.
http://www.wireless.att.com/answer-...locale=&_dyncharset=UTF-8&solutionId=KB115944
That Sensation is a great phone, honestly if it is unlocked and works on AT&T 3G bands and developers can root it and get some good ROMS I might just have to sell a kidney and buy one off contract to run on AT&T's network.

That is weird because if you go to the ATT site under inspire it says
4G* - HSPA+/LTE HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul
I just assumed it was capable of LTE
Humm

swatcop1 said:
That is weird because if you go to the ATT site under inspire it says
4G* - HSPA+/LTE HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul
I just assumed it was capable of LTE
Humm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is their definition of what comprises 4G, not what this particular phone is capable of.

swatcop1 said:
That is weird because if you go to the ATT site under inspire it says
4G* - HSPA+/LTE HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul
I just assumed it was capable of LTE
Humm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet! If AT&T says it's so, I would more believe them than HTC. But in all actuality, the AT&T LTE will likely be their 4G network. This means, probably, that the Inspire is compatible in the fact that it uses 4G. This would also make the Atrix compatible.
But I'm not all that familiar with LTE to begin with.

swatcop1 said:
That is weird because if you go to the ATT site under inspire it says
4G* - HSPA+/LTE HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul
I just assumed it was capable of LTE
Humm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None of the current phones they are pushing out with "4G" labels have LTE radios. Part of that "What is 4G?" battle. I really think we are at least 1 year away from an LTE phone on AT&T. Just a guess, but I have had them for a long time and watched how slowly they move on stuff like this. An example would be launching the iPhone on only the 2G network when they had a fully deployed 3G network, and rolling out this HSPA+ way after T-Mobile and many international carriers. Not exactly committed to bleeding edge technology here with the big blue ball.

bmolloy said:
They are just taking advantage of the lack of a universal definition for 4G.
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Click to collapse
To my way of thinking, 4G is about a speed standard, not a protocol standard. I don't care if the phone speaks Greek or German, as long as it does so at 4G speed. That said, I do agree with you that AT&T (or other large companies) tend to get into the crosshairs because it's easy to pick on the 800 pound gorilla.
bmolloy said:
That Sensation is a great phone, honestly if it is unlocked and works on AT&T 3G bands and developers can root it and get some good ROMS...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm smellin' a lot of 'if' comin' off this plan. Lots of variables - timing, hardware, rooting, unlocking, ROM availability... there's a lot of uncertainty. Might just stick where I am. Besides, there's no saying that even IF everything went well with Tmo and the Sensation that when they're absorbed by AT&T that users won't be forced into an Inspire or other phone anyway.

Understood thanks

MartyLK said:
Sweet! If AT&T says it's so, I would more believe them than HTC. But in all actuality, the AT&T LTE will likely be their 4G network. This means, probably, that the Inspire is compatible in the fact that it uses 4G. This would also make the Atrix compatible.
But I'm not all that familiar with LTE to begin with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually AT&T's plan is to be the only carrier that has LTE and HSPA+ so those in areas that don't have LTE can fall back on HSPA+ and still have somewhat of the 4G experience.
Like it has been said, none of their current phones have LTE radios. The Inspire will see 4G HSPA+ type speeds once the backhaul has been completed in your area but will never see LTE speeds when they roll out.

Any last thoughts on this? I have only until tomorrow to make my decision.

Verizon's LTE is fast now, but wait till it gets saturated like ATT. It'll go downhill just like Sprint's WiMax did.
I personally, would stick w/ ATT because of the Tmob merger. When that's done, the ATT network will get better for us the consumers.
If you have an Unlimited data plan, that's enough reason to stay IMHO. All the carriers are going the way of tiered data plans as an attempt to make the "experience" the best for all of us. I don't like it but don't have a choice either.
I think that if you'll fight the urge to have the best now, you'll be better off in the long run when all the wrinkles get ironed out w/ the ATT-Tmob merge.
My $.02
Tx

I say sensation because its newwer.LOL

I'm not ENTIRELY certain... but I believe the incredible S's bootloader is signed, and has yet to be cracked (or whatever needs to be done for custom Kernels/Roms) I'm not sure if HTC will continue the trend of signing bootloaders, etc, but seeing as how it's a newer phone, it would most likely follow that pattern.
If you're into hacking/modding/tweaking to the extent of a fully unlocked phone (read:custom kernels, more rom choice) then get the Inspire 4G.
If you find yourself pleased with Sense 3.0/ HTC's offerings in general, get the Sensation.
As a side note, I'm sure root will eventually be found for it, but no telling when with HTC changing their phone security game up.

Clearwire goes LTE

Now that Clearwire announced the move to LTE what happens to all of us with WiMax antennas in their phones stuck in a city where there is no towers? Can they do a software upgrade and change our phones to support LTE? I heard that if they implement LTE on the same frequency as WiMax is currently, the software upgrade would be possible.
http://m.cnet.com/Article.rbml?nid=20087725&cid=null&bcid=&bid=-266
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

whether its possible or not is regardless no carrier would let you upgrade your 2 year old phone to work as nice as the current ones when you can come in and buy something new and shiney.
afaik they are using lightsquared for lte and supplementing it with clear wimax/lte

Well I'm foreseeing a lawsuit case for every city which doesn't have and will never get WiMax for all the devices sprint is currently selling. New models still come out with 4g WiMax antennas built-in and it seems like it would be in sprint's best interest to make sure they can switch all these phones to work on the "new" LTE network. Especially when they force people to carry that $10 / mo charge which started as a 4g charge and since had been changed to be called "premium data" charge.
Too many phones on sprint have that big 4G title on the box for consumers not to notice that there are no 4g connections anywhere.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

sprint has their ass covered with a coverage may vary. no lawsuit would be taken serious after that. sprint has no obligation to "upgrade" users to lte (if its even possible). yes there were rumors of it but if they use different freqs well then sorry sucks to be you. besides by the time lte is available to most everyone on saprint there will be new faster phones etc etc.
as for the 10 dollar charge, i had mine removed thanks to a very nice csr on both lines., and i have 4g here

shabbypenguin said:
sprint has their ass covered with a coverage may vary. no lawsuit would be taken serious after that. sprint has no obligation to "upgrade" users to lte (if its even possible). yes there were rumors of it but if they use different freqs well then sorry sucks to be you. besides by the time lte is available to most everyone on saprint there will be new faster phones etc etc.
as for the 10 dollar charge, i had mine removed thanks to a very nice csr on both lines., and i have 4g here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like there is already one lawsuit in progress. An then there is this website which I'm not sure who owns.
Judging from the past consumers lawsuits, it really doesn't matter what you put in the fine print. Walk into any Sprint store or Best Buy and the 4G now network signs could be very much misleading consumers because of other carrier’s which do offer nation wide 4G. Some people could be simply switching to sprint thinking they'll get 4G phone which has 4G speeds.
But I may try to get that $10 charge removed. Thanks for the tip.