So my two year contract is up and I wanted to see what network was best to go with, my biggest concern is LTE and wich network is better that means T-mo is out, Sprint not ready in my area so that leaves AT&T and Verizon. Now I talked to reps at both AT&T and Verizon and nither one knew what they were talking about making outragous statements about why their LTE network was better than their compettitors. On my way out of the AT&T store the rep said one of their techs just came in and can explain it all to me. The tech seemed to know what he was talking about he showed me they are testing LTE in my area right now and showed me it was working on his phone. He told me if I got a LTE phone right now today I would get the fastest LTE around because no one is the network in the area right now unless they have an LTE phone already and have it turned on for LTE. He also told me once LTE is offically turned on here that I will lose LTE speeds because of all the other devices plugging into it but even with speeds being reduced after testing I would still get LTE speeds faster than Verizons LTE because LTE is a GSM technology and works better with GSM phones and GSM networks. Verizons network is CDMA and has to be reworked to make it compatable with LTE and right now isn't all that stable and it crashes all the time, and since the phones are set for CDMA/LTE the phone has to work harder causing more/faster battery drain. I forget all the technical words he used but the guy really seemed to know his stuff and did say that Verizon is working to make it's LTE stable and believes theyt would have everything fixed by the end of year but because it's CDMA/LTE it can never be as fast as GSM/LTE.
Anyway my question is Is he correct and AT&Ts LTE is faster than Verizons? or is that more BS with alot of technical terms thrown in?
For the most part, the number of devices connected to the network is the biggest factor. The more devices connected, the slower it will go.
There might be some truth to the fact that Verizon's LTE network is newer and therefore unstable (as we've seen in the past) but that doesn't mean it will be necessarily slower while it's working for that reason, and AT&T's LTE network is newer so I don't see how that would be a plus for them. It's true that AT&T phones are GSM, and LTE is based on GSM, but implying that strong UMTS/HSPA+ network coverage is going to magically supplement LTE coverage sounds like BS to me. This might make it easier for AT&T to roll out their LTE network for that reason, but that doesn't mean that they've even come close to meeting Verizon in coverage yet.
So, in a nutshell, there's some truth to it. It's faster for the time being since there's no one on it, but there's nothing technically BETTER about AT&T's LTE as far as I know. LTE is LTE; it just depends on the carrier's infrastructure (internet connections to towers, tower locations and coverage, etc) to determine the the quality and speed of connection.
Besides, if AT&T's abilities to keep up with new subscribers on their 3G network is any indication, it won't be long before their LTE networks is slower than Verizons
Thanks
Thank you for clearing this up for me so your saying there is no difference between Verizon and AT&Ts LTE other than Verizon having a Larger Network right now.
Related
I know how At&t are gonna have HSPA+ 4g, I'm confused about the new devices they're gonna have that support HSPA+. Are they going to be able to connect to HSPA+ on T-Mobile's network.
So for example, I buy an unlocked HSPA+ tablet from AT&T, straight from their store. Is it going to be able to use T-Mobile's HSPA+ network if I put a T-Mobile SIM card inside?
Also, one last question, if I use T-Mobile's SIM card, do I have to do some special stuff to get it to work on their cell network? Like how you have to unlock an iPhone for it to work on T-Mobile?
Thanks
xAliceNine said:
I know how At&t are gonna have HSPA+ 4g, I'm confused about the new devices they're gonna have that support HSPA+. Are they going to be able to connect to HSPA+ on T-Mobile's network.
So for example, I buy an unlocked HSPA+ tablet from AT&T, straight from their store. Is it going to be able to use T-Mobile's HSPA+ network if I put a T-Mobile SIM card inside?
Also, one last question, if I use T-Mobile's SIM card, do I have to do some special stuff to get it to work on their cell network? Like how you have to unlock an iPhone for it to work on T-Mobile?
Thanks
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Hello,
Unfortunately you will not be able to use HSPA+. HSPA+ is just an extension/revision of the current 3G. Effectively it is also called 3.5G/3.75G in some reports. They use the same 3G band of each respective company. The At&t tablet would work on 850/1900 band and T-mobile will work on their AWS (1700) band. So if you bought an At&t tablet, you may need to get it unlocked, not sure if they lock the sim on tablets. At best you would get Edge service with a T-mobile sim.
thanks man, argg
do you think it's worth it to change to at&t because I just heard of the Motorola Atrix and it sound PRETTY BAD ASS!
I don't know since people I know are always angry at AT&T for their service either..
xAliceNine said:
thanks man, argg
do you think it's worth it to change to at&t because I just heard of the Motorola Atrix and it sound PRETTY BAD ASS!
I don't know since people I know are always angry at AT&T for their service either..
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NP. I have had every major carrier offered in the US. I have had at&t, t-mobile, and sprint within the last year. I had verizon a while ago and dropped them because they could never get my bill right. Honestly, the service is about the same. The question is how is the service in your area. I mainly stay in my area about 90-98% of the time. I live in a major city so all carries have great service. But I have stayed with At&t for the last few years. Every time I go to another carrier I kept my at&t service, go figure. So I would just look at coverage to where you travel the most and go with a carrier that will give you the best coverage for the best price. Do i prefer a carrier over another, yeah. I like GSM carriers better because I do like to surf and talk at the same time. Sprint can do this if your in a 4G coverage area and have a 4G phone. Verizon is a no go with this feature until they release their LTE phones. But At&t has a better coverage footprint than T-mobile that is why I stick with them. Hope it helps.
Wondering a bit about this too.
I have service through Bendbroadband using a HSPA+ SIM with USB modem Dongle by bandluxe. The service is stellar on the speed, but I can't use the dongle with everything (iPad), so looking for alternate routes before i decide to move to a different provider.
I noticed that the CTO of the company said in a comment regarding their service that any unlocked UE that supports HSPA/HSPA+ in the AWS band could be used, but also had an unclear reponse on cell phones with HSPA+.
I have a Huawei Comet (unlocked), it lists the same AWS Bands compatible, but says HSDPA (which I thought HSDPA + HSUPA = HSPA+ but at higher speeds, correct me if I am wrong), and has hotspot tether that works with tmobile web service no problem.
I plugged the SIM in, and it updates the bar with BendBroadband but I get no data. (might need to provide the IMEI or something)..
Curious if you think it should work, before i go knocking on their doors.
Some other specs:
the mytouch 4g (HSPA+) lists the bands as:850 MHz;900 MHz;1800 MHz;1900 MHz;UMTS: Band IV (1700/2100)
The comet is listed as: 850 MHz;900 MHz;1800 MHz;1900 MHz;UMTS: Band I (2100);UMTS: Band IV (1700/2100)
I am fairly sure the comet is HSPA+ but not advertised that way.
According to comments on the site, Bendbroadband technicians do not actually support moving of the SIMs. Bummer.. trying to keep my business local.. Bumping and moving to Tmobile once the month is up.
Does TMobile not have a 3G speed?
Im always on EDGE unless I go Downtown. Then its HSPA+
Its never HSPA.
Verizon has 3G AND LTE coverage? wtf
BUMP.
I really want to know the reason for the issue
T-Mobile's '4G' network is just an enhanced version of their 3G network. So when you see 4G in some areas, you might actually be running on 3G speeds.
aNYthing24 said:
T-Mobile's '4G' network is just an enhanced version of their 3G network. So when you see 4G in some areas, you might actually be running on 3G speeds.
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I know that much,
but I never get HSPA (3G) unless Im directly under HSPA+(4G)
Basically I am always on EDGE unless I'm downtown.
Other TMO phones and VErizon have 3G coverage nearly everywhere..they never drop to EDGE or 2G
Correct me if I'm wrong, but t mobile does not have true 4g. When you get the 4g icon on your phone, that's just their enhanced 3g. So you are getting 3g. From what I've read i think they just upgraded their 3g towers with hshpa+ which only hsdpa+ enabled phones like the sensation 4g can take advantage of. What you're really missing is true 4g
burnie022 said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but t mobile does not have true 4g. When you get the 4g icon on your phone, that's just their enhanced 3g. So you are getting 3g. From what I've read i think they just upgraded their 3g towers with hshpa+ which only hsdpa+ enabled phones like the sensation 4g can take advantage of. What you're really missing is true 4g
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I feel as no one is fully understanding what I'm trying to say.
I know 4G is really an overmarketed 3G+
Now, Tmobile phones and other services receive 3G where I only receive "2G" .
But I do receive HSPA+ when I go downtown.
Why dont I receive normal 3G speeds like other devices?
Its either EDGE or HSPA+
Never an inbetween
Check T-Mobile's website, where you live probably doesn't have or hasn't been upgraded to the 3G/4G service yet. Layman's term; the towers around your house don't support 3G/4G. Call T-Mobile and have them check.
This is common in a lot of suburbs that have a low population. Like you mentioned when you go downtown, you'll have 3G but not at home.
xdviper said:
Check T-Mobile's website, where you live probably doesn't have or hasn't been upgraded to the 3G/4G service yet. Layman's term; the towers around your house don't support 3G/4G. Call T-Mobile and have them check.
This is common in a lot of suburbs that have a low population. Like you mentioned when you go downtown, you'll have 3G but not at home.
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Hopefully your right. Hate it to be a problem with my SIM or phone.
I dont live but 5minutes from downtown.
Very residential but still out of the way, so like i said hopefully your right
I can directly relate to your problem. First off, I didn't know that T-Mobile's 4G is just 3G+, but that's good to know. I've had the HTC Sensation 4G for over 3 months, and I've travelled all over LA and the only services I've seen are 4G, 2G, & G. I've yet to see 3G.
I'll see my Sensation jump between "H" and "3G" all the time - essentially the same thing, as noted.
(in case this was part of your question) "Standard 3G" (such as what AT&T offers) isn't available on TMOUS because they missed out on buying part of the "standard 3G" spectrum.
Before my Sensation I had a Legend (still do actually) - it's a "standard GSM/3G" phone. Without the TMOUS-specific radio, best data I could get was EDGE. (though if I went to UK and used a local SIM, I'd get 3G just fine due to compatibility with their 3G nets)
Hellos,
Was wondering and wanted to know from others, their experiences with using a D2G with different carriers/services.
I have a D2G on simple mobile currently. Switched from Sprint using an EVO 4G, data in my calling areas just stunk and never got better, forget ever getting a 4G signal..
But, it seems I am in an area between towers, because I seem to get the same result using Simple Mobile connected to Tmobile Towers. Signal drops from nothing to 3 bars if I turn around. And I only get an Edge data connection (I understand it's a frequency issue).
I was told by a Walmart Rep, that they use Family Mobile powered by Tmobile and don't have the throttle issue as with Simple Mobile, but 250mb data cap at the same $45/month as Straight Talk (even thought I'd be stuck at Edge with the D2G anyways) is too low a cap, especially if I were to switch phones later on.
So I recently read into Straight Talk as an option, after reading how bad H2O data is and that Simple Mobile's 3G is throttled to 119kbs (tested on a SK4G, yeap confirmed 119kbs max).
So I wanted to know from others, what kind of data rates they are getting on various providers using a D2G.
-CC
clockcycle said:
Hellos,
I was told by a Walmart Rep, that they use Family Mobile powered by Tmobile and don't have the throttle issue as with Simple Mobile, but 250mb data cap at the same $45/month as Straight Talk (even thought I'd be stuck at Edge with the D2G anyways) is too low a cap, especially if I were to switch phones later on.
So I recently read into Straight Talk as an option, after reading how bad H2O data is and that Simple Mobile's 3G is throttled to 119kbs (tested on a SK4G, yeap confirmed 119kbs max).
So I wanted to know from others, what kind of data rates they are getting on various providers using a D2G.
-CC
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I would not know about Droid using 2G (on my old phones what I used as T-Mobile EDGE) or what I call "100K data" connection since I don't get it around here. I am sure that my data connection at times has degraded to 2G, but I have not noticed that as being the issue, so I have not been able to perform a speed test while in 2G mode.
Last June 2011 I used a Droid style phone on Virgin Mobile USA prepaid. That was the Motorola Triumph. I can't recall as a MVNO who was providing Virgin Mobile's signal, but I think it was Sprint by that point (Sprint bought Virgin Mobile USA prepaid). In any event, I was not pleased with the VM speeds (that is, if I was not using WiFi). My speeds were consistently about 300K to 700K.
Currently I use Straight Talk and I am VERY VERY pleased with the service. When I bought a phone and a Straight Talk SIM card I opted for GSM AT&T service since it had better GSM phones than T-Mobile did.
Since Straight Talk is an MVNO (buying its signal or "tower space" from other carriers and spectrum resellers) one's Straight Talk signal and data connection will only be as good as the provider you chose to use with your Straight Talk account. I assume the same principle applies to CDMA and Droid (Motorola) handsets.
Where I live in San Francisco I get a better signal from GSM-based AT&T than I did with T-Mobile GSM handsets, so on Straight Talk's SIM purchasing site I chose to buy an AT&T GSM SIM.
Whereas with T-Mobile 4G I would often get 2G in most parts of my residence, with AT&T 4G (again, this is with Straight Talk) using an Samsung Galaxy S II and ATT HTC Inspire, I consistently get a strong 4G signal (says "H+" on notification bar). And speed tests have been outstanding, (using speed test net 2286 kbps download, 1130kbps upload). Those speeds are in the "slower part of the house). This does not matter most of the time, however, since I use WiFi 90% of the time.
Bottom line: I suspect one's physical locale, handset model, and provider (CDMA, GSM, or specific carrier) all play an important part in the speed and quality of a data connection. In other words, everyone's experience may differ, even with someone who has the exact same setup as I, but who lives down the block.
I thought I would bring this up.
I have the T-Mobile US One S carrier unlocked and I have used it both on ATT and Tmobile.
With all the network flopping going on I noticed something between the two. When i use the phone on ATT, I rarely see 3G. It's always H. And the speeds reflect that.
When I use the phone on T-Mobile, it's always on 3G. I only see the H when the phone needs to do something data intensive. For instance, I start a speed test.. It will start 3G and flop to H for the test. I can sit with the screen on playing around with the phone and it will not switch H at all. I am in a good 4G coverage area.
I know many users are looking for a update to fix the flopping. However, to me it seems more like a power management thing and perhaps on Tmobile's network side.
Just a thought.
I was wondering if you've been able to use AT&T's network with your T-Mobile sim? I haven't, but I thought the Roaming agreement was all set. Am I wrong?
Droidificator said:
I was wondering if you've been able to use AT&T's network with your T-Mobile sim? I haven't, but I thought the Roaming agreement was all set. Am I wrong?
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According to the coverage maps, postpaid and prepaid are identical. However, I have seen this as well. I can have full ATT coverage and zero T-Mobile coverage.
Yesterday I received an email from my carrier (Pure Talk USA, using ATT towers) telling me that it's time to buy a new phone. They're (presumably ATT) sunsetting 2G service, rendering my phone unusable. I know the "4G" in the name is probably meaningless, but is the Relay really that old? Has anyone else received notifications like this?
We've never had data service in the US. We were in England a few weeks ago, on a travel SIM which did have data. I found it almost unusably slow, and saw "G" and "E" by the signal bars.
Is it really time?
EDIT - After a little searching, I find that the Relay does both GSM (2G) and UTMS (3G). I had a setting limiting it to GSM, which is the right thing to do to save power, though once I had data in London I should have opened it up to either, in order to get decent speeds. I have only ever used it with GSM in the US, which might be why they think it needs to be replaced. This afternoon I switched to the "either" setting, and I'll need to write to my carrier about this. They sell data also, so I may want to pick that up for a month, and see how well it works with UTMS enabled. It was certainly close to worthless with just GSM.
I've also seen some reference to the phone doing HSPA+, with is either 4G or partial 4G, or at least better than 3G, but that doesn't show on the Cyanogenmod page.
https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Apexqtmo_Info
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT&T_Mobility#Radio_frequency_summary
The relay is a 3g phone, but it also supports 2g networks as a fallback. Pure Talk probably just broadcasted that message across the 2g network, and any phone that could receive it, did.
I got an email back from their support, and it's basically as you say. Some time later I plan to disable GSM and make sure I can still talk over 3G.
More information here...
As mentioned previously I had limited the phone to GSM - 2G. The menus in the phone were a bit confusing, because it gave the option of GSM-only, WCDMA-only, GSM/WCDMA-auto, or GSM/WCDMA-preferred. When I first bought SIMs and service for the phone, I looked at WCDMA and said, "That's a Verizon thing, irrelevant for my GSM phone," and set it to GSM-only. In reality that labeling is misleading, because it's not WCDMA, it's UTMS/HSPA - 2G or 3G+. When the phone calls itself "4G" it's not LTE, it's HSPA+, which is better than 3G, but not as good as LTE. So it's a bit disingenuous. However I did test it, and though I don't have data service, when I turn data on, even with no registered APN, it tells me I have HSPA+ service available. ("H+" on the status bar)
I just wish I'd known this before going to England, where I had a travel SIM with data service, tried it, and thought it unusably slow. I was getting "G" or "E" on the status bar, which I have now learned is essentially dialup or a bit faster.