LTE-Is there a point?

[grkM3]

I have 4500 songs on my Google music acc and stream it to my cell every day.I'm also on unlimited data and no throttling.

I take full advantage of it and enjoy lte everyday.

http://db.tt/2lYH1bMl

 

[ViRGE]

LTE also brings a lot of other enhancements that make the network better for everyone, even if they aren't apparent to the end-user.

Indeed. Don't underestimate the importance of higher spectral efficiency and faster connection setup/teardown times. It's not just more bandwidth, it's having enough resources to keep the network from getting crushed under heavy use.

 

[ctark]

LTE has a better ping. Makes for a better hotspot and it makes the phone more responsive.

 

[MrX8503]

In the city 3G is unusable where with LTE I'm still able to connect.

 

[Jinny]

who cares, after 2 gig cap it goes to shit.
can easily hit that with 3g.

 

[Eug]

Night vs day. LTE is awesome in comparison to HSPA, in the real world, in the locations where I use cellular data. YMMV.

Note, I only have a 2 GB cap, and in Toronto I still highly recommend LTE. In fact, personally I think it's foolish to buy a mid to upper range smartphone in 2013 without LTE, unless you're getting a killer price on it.

 

[bearxor]

The speed of your connection has nothing to do with you hitting your bandwidth cap as long as we're talking EVDO/HSPA to LTE. Your usage matters.

Unless you're a first time smartphone buyer with no idea what you're going to do, most of us are pretty settled into our usage patterns and its going to take a shift in that to change your data usage, not a shift in your connectivity speed.

But LTE provides numerous back end efficiencies in spectrum usage that pave the way for more devices to connect. Take someone like me. I have a phone, a iPad and a computer. That's three devices for one person. That adds up quick as people start to pile multiple devices per person on the network.

 

[lopri]

I would like to try "proper" LTE. I'm sure I will like it. Trouble is that most folks around me hopped on AT&T when iPhone 4 came out and still with them, and from what I've seen AT&T's LTE isn't impressive around here. I believe Verizon is much better but no one around me has Verizon LTE phone. Maybe I should give a visit to a Verizon shop to find out.

But truth to be told, the biggest thing that keeps me from going LTE is its complete lack of inter-operability. I've finally gotten off of contracts, and when I look at LTE with or without contracts you are stuck with a network-branded device. (or so it seems, correct me if I'm wrong) This makes GSM v. CDMA look like a child's play and I am really disappointed by whatever the regulatory body that sells/controls the bands.

 

[dlock13]

The area where I am does not get the fastest of LTE. I mean I can get around 10-20 Mb/s. I'm in a small city. It's nothing major, but with Verizon's 3G, I could barely pull 800 kb/s or sometimes I struggle to get half of that.

LTE is a great improvement. Yes, you go through data quicker, but it's just so much nicer.

 

[lopri]

Can someone link to a Youtube video or something that shows side-by-side difference of LTE and 3G/HSPA? Preferably a fair comparison. (both at normal/optimal speeds)

 

[chin311]

I love LTE on my iPhone 5, I still had an unlimited data plan on my 4S with Verizon, so I bought an off-contract 5 and haven't looked back.

Verizon 3G SUCKSSSSSS, I'd get 1.5megabit tops , now with LTE if it's below 20 it's a rare occasion. I don't even turn on Wifi unless I have no service/3G service or if I want to do an iCloud backup.

Use it for a little while and then when you get into a 3G only zone you will think your phone is broken.

It's comparable to when I had AT&T and went from EDGE to 3G. Night and day IMO.

 

[Oyeve]

Most LTE bands are better at going through walls and car roofs. Meaning, it's better IRL.

Nah. I'm at home today and my Verizon lte iPhone is one two bars getting 5mbps. My tmobile sgs3 is getting 4 bars and I just got 19mbps. These are in NYC, side by side. Lte is over rated. At least Verizon's is. I'm lucky if it gets 3 bars.

 

[grkM3]

just looked at our data usage as its the last day of the billing cycle and my brother used 17gb and that's not even doing anything illegal like downloading movie torrents on his bone stock iphone 5.He also does not tether his internet either.

 

[s44]

Nah. I'm at home today and my Verizon lte iPhone is one two bars getting 5mbps. My tmobile sgs3 is getting 4 bars and I just got 19mbps. These are in NYC, side by side. Lte is over rated. At least Verizon's is. I'm lucky if it gets 3 bars.

This is just NYC daytime overload on the Big 2. You in Manhattan?

Let's hope T-Mo holds up after April 12.

 

[WelshBloke]

That is exactly right. My wife and I are both on Verizon. I have a 4S and the wife has a SG3. I can type a url in on my iPhone, set it down and then type in the same on the SG3. Every time the page will be loaded and ready on the SG3 before it is on the iPhone. Most times the page will still be about half loaded on the iPhone in fact. The speed difference is quite noticeable and well worth it.

I doubt that thats just down to network speed though.

Just look how fast things load on a PC with a 6Mbps ADSL connection, and 3G HSPA+ devices should get that. Unless you are a very fast typist I doubt you could type an URL in before a page loads on a desktop.

 

[s44]

I doubt that thats just down to network speed though.

Just look how fast things load on a PC with a 6Mbps ADSL connection, and 3G HSPA+ devices should get that. Unless you are a very fast typist I doubt you could type an URL in before a page loads on a desktop.

(1) Latency > speed. Especially when you have to connect to a bunch of different sites, like most modern webpages. Only LTE offers desktop-level latencies.
(2) He's not on HSPA+, he's on EVDO. That's what "Verizon" indicates.

 

[WelshBloke]

(1) Latency > speed. Especially when you have to connect to a bunch of different sites, like most modern webpages. Only LTE offers desktop-level latencies.
(2) He's not on HSPA+, he's on EVDO. That's what "Verizon" indicates.

Yeah but the general question was about 4G over 3G.

 

[Phokus]

seeing as VZWs network is such crap it cant handle streaming music over 3G properly yes LTE is needed

I'm on straight talk (AT&T version)and i can stream music on 2G lol... 3G is overkill.

 

[s44]

Yeah but the general question was about 4G over 3G.

EVDO *is* 3G. In fact, it's probably the version of 3G that most Americans are stuck with.

Given that DC-HSPA+ and current implementations of LTE are also either both 3G or both 4G, I actually think the general question doesn't apply to what you're talking about.

 

[WelshBloke]

EVDO *is* 3G. In fact, it's probably the version of 3G that most Americans are stuck with.

Given that DC-HSPA+ and current implementations of LTE are also either both 3G or both 4G, I actually think the general question doesn't apply to what you're talking about.

OK keep it simpler.

Is it necessary for a phone to have 21 mbps download speeds regardless of the type of connection, which is basically what the OP was asking.

 

[lopri]

just looked at our data usage as its the last day of the billing cycle and my brother used 17gb and that's not even doing anything illegal like downloading movie torrents on his bone stock iphone 5.He also does not tether his internet either.

What is the most data-consuming activity for you and your brother? Not my business, I know, but out of curiosity. Are 17 GB for just two phones, or are there more devices?

 

[lopri]

LTE's technical merits outweigh their consumer merits. HSPA+ is just as fast as current iterations of LTE, if not faster. So why LTE? For the same reason HSPA supplanted EDGE which supplanted GPRS in the long term: Better bandwidth efficiency. The better the efficiency, the more people per tower carriers can pack on and the less in infrastructure costs which directly show up as returns in terms of profits.

That seems about right. No one will deliberately avoid faster networks, other things being equal. Unfortunately other things are rarely equal and LTE itself has troubling fragmentation issue from my viewpoint. Free-market often doesn't work for "channels" of commerce.

 

[Eug]

LTE fragmentation is bad in the US. Not a significant problem in Canada.

 

[JAG87]

Nah. I'm at home today and my Verizon lte iPhone is one two bars getting 5mbps. My tmobile sgs3 is getting 4 bars and I just got 19mbps. These are in NYC, side by side. Lte is over rated. At least Verizon's is. I'm lucky if it gets 3 bars.

Ridiculous.

I get a far better experience with 2 bars of LTE coverage than I do with 4 bars of DC-HSPA coverage. This is in Canada on Rogers, which has both DC-HSPA and LTE. With those signal strenghts, bandwidth wise they are the same (although LTE still has higher upload), but the experience is just better on LTE due to latency. Sure, it's not like moving from EDGE to 3G... but it's still very tangible and appreciable.

 

[Eug]

Sure, it's not like moving from EDGE to 3G... but it's still very tangible and appreciable.

Yep. It's sort of like going from 802.11g to 802.11n. Very nice improvement, even if it's not anywhere near as big an improvement as going from 802.11b to 802.11g.

Same goes for USB 3 over USB 2. Very nice improvement, even if it's not anywhere near as big an improvement as going from USB 1.1 to USB 2.