Does anyone's network say HSPA+ yet?

[sheanzyy]

They haven't fully rolled out the "4G" yet. Didn't they say by the end of March?

 

[mrro82]

They haven't fully rolled out the "4G" yet. Didn't they say by the end of March?

Apparently they turned it on yesterday for my area. At least that's what the rep said anyway.

 

[Tompoint0]

I have the H+ on my phone screen but they told me that my 4g sim card would be mailed to me.

 

[Slapdaddy]

Do you NEED a 4G sim card to be able to get the HSDPA+ speeds? The rep in the store just put in my older sim card that was in my Fuze and AFAIK, I don't think we'll be needing new "4G" sim cards until they launch LTE...and that's if you get an LTE phone. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[frogstofall]

Seems weird to me that AT&T is selling "4G" phones and their "4G" network isn't even available to us. I said that to a rep over the phone and she was speechless.

Would be nice to see it rolled out to all current 3G areas. From what I understand, it'll be on the same bandwidth as the 3G network. Am I understanding that right?

 

[jkfritcher]

Sprint did this for a long time here in the Bay Area with their 4G phones. I saw them for sale in the local stores for months while WiMax was not available here.

 

[bfrank]

$g+ and HSDPA in settings

 

[sucram6791]

my phone says HSDPA, my status bar say H+ all the time

im a little confused on the sim card situation. 2 at&t reps at different stores mentioned 4g sim cards and a 3rd said to just use the 3g sim card because "it is the same thing", but then he went on to say that there should be 4g sim cards in the next month or so and that at&t will text me to tell me.

i was on the 2gb data with my iphone and they bumped me up to unlimited data on 4g

 

[Roofing Calculator]

I believe the H+ refers to ATT's 4g ... but i think it's misleading, and many here say hspda .... but internet speed seems to be the SAME as my old iPhone 3gs in the same spot with the same sim card. When I was in Boston earlier today, speeds were about the same... So I guess the H+ means nothing, or the 3G on iphone is blazing fast

here are some screenshots:

Inspire 4G

iphone 3gs

I hope these bastards don't send me a letter that I now have to change my contracts or pay more for 4G -

 

[CutRiteFX]

Mine always says H+ here in Charlotte NC and notice there is a check mark under it. When I check Settings/About Phone/Network it says HSDPA

 

[mrro82]

Mine always says H+ here in Charlotte NC and notice there is a check mark under it. When I check Settings/About Phone/Network it says HSDPA

I get that sometimes too.

 

[grasstrout]

i work for att and when i got my inspire i was told my 3g sim would work, but the guy called me back and said they just got 4g sims in...so i stopped by and got my 4g sim but i still don't have hspa+...based on what att has already said, I assumed it was already deployed in 99% of their existing 3G markets...what gives?

 

[loopy12]

they used my sim from my bb9700 in my inspire, they said nothing about a 4g sim....interesting

 

[jdk2]

i work for att and when i got my inspire i was told my 3g sim would work, but the guy called me back and said they just got 4g sims in...so i stopped by and got my 4g sim but i still don't have hspa+...based on what att has already said, I assumed it was already deployed in 99% of their existing 3G markets...what gives?

Something's not right with your phone. In a 3G area, you should see H+ on the notification bar. If you do, then the phone's working the way it was designed to. AT&T hasn't officially turned on 4G yet so you'll have to wait until they do to see the results.

 

[emuneee]

Someone mentioned before that the rep says H+ is an enhanced 3G technology. He was right. From a technical standpoint HSPA+ is not 4G.

HSPA+ is comprised of two technologies, HSDPA (which is enabled) and HSUPA.

For whatever reasons unknown to me, AT&T disables HSUPA on their smartphones (except the iPhone 4). HSUPA enables the higher upload speeds you see iPhone 4 users getting (most times 1+Mbps). Other positive side effects (YMMV) include lower latencies and sometimes higher download speeds. Without HSUPA, the highest cellular upload speeds you will see will be around 400Kbps.

Finally, there is not special SIM card for HSPA+ AFAIK. If you have a recent 3G SIM card, well you should be able to use that same SIM card in yout HSPA+ enabled device, because again, HSPA+ is a 3G technology. The only reason you would need a new SIM is if the one you have is ridiculously old or a 2G SIM (like my wife's SIM when we traded in her BB 7XXX, LOL). You will however need a new SIM when you make the transition to an LTE device.

 

[Trapper]

Just checked with ATT H+ and HSDPA same same

 

[amaranojr]

heres what just happened to me. i saw this forum earlier and in my network info, it said HSDPA. about an hour ago, my internet completely stopped working. this happened when i first bought the phone because by accident they took me off my unlimited data plan and for the time being they put me on the $25 one that entitles me to 2gb...

i called att and they dont know why my internet connection stopped working but they got it back up and also put me back under my $30 unlimited plan.

the thing is though that now when i check my phones network settings, it now says UMTS. is this slower than HSDPA? what is the difference between the 2? i dont really noticed much of a difference, if anything it is a little faster but it could just be in my head. any help or info on this?

 

[JetBlk]

heres what just happened to me. i saw this forum earlier and in my network info, it said HSDPA. about an hour ago, my internet completely stopped working. this happened when i first bought the phone because by accident they took me off my unlimited data plan and for the time being they put me on the $25 one that entitles me to 2gb...

i called att and they dont know why my internet connection stopped working but they got it back up and also put me back under my $30 unlimited plan.

the thing is though that now when i check my phones network settings, it now says UMTS. is this slower than HSDPA? what is the difference between the 2? i dont really noticed much of a difference, if anything it is a little faster but it could just be in my head. any help or info on this?

UMTS is 3G. HSDPA is faster than UMTS

 

[MadMike666]

just got my Inspire today. when i got it in the store I had h+ and in the town i got in and some hit and miss area's. My rep that i dealt with didnt say anything to me about needing a new 4g sim card so all of that was on my 2 year old sim.

 

[NBP Pipsquack Bird]

heres what just happened to me. i saw this forum earlier and in my network info, it said HSDPA. about an hour ago, my internet completely stopped working. this happened when i first bought the phone because by accident they took me off my unlimited data plan and for the time being they put me on the $25 one that entitles me to 2gb...

i called att and they dont know why my internet connection stopped working but they got it back up and also put me back under my $30 unlimited plan.

the thing is though that now when i check my phones network settings, it now says UMTS. is this slower than HSDPA? what is the difference between the 2? i dont really noticed much of a difference, if anything it is a little faster but it could just be in my head. any help or info on this?

I had the identical situation happen to me. And from speaking to the Customer Service center, it seems this - 'oops we lost your Unlimited Data, but we will get it back for yo'u - problem is rather widespread.

As to your question, AFAIK UMTS = vanilla AT&T 3G.


Concern:
--------------------------
After going through the whole expereince of the Inspire and data plans, combined with lurking around numerous forums; I'm starting to get a certain impression of what may be going on.

Methinks AT&T at the upper levels has taken a cue from the current political administration. That being, 'If you have an Unlimited Data Plan, you can keep it;" is sure starting to sound a whole lot like, "If you like your current health insurance, you can keep it."

Of course the devil sometimes is in the details youre not told.

And I'm starting to wonder if, in the end, what we find out is:
1 - Yes you can keep your Unlimited Data if you upgrade your phone.
2 - Yes you can use the Unlimited Plan for your Inspire 4G.
3 - Yes this will continue to be the case after March 1st when we start implementing the 4G backhaul.

4 ** - (the possible uncommunicated gotcha) ... But ... you will only have access to the 3G, non HSPA+ part of the network. If you want HSPA+ youre gonna have to choose a new 4G coded data plan.)

Out of respect let me say I do not in the least believe the intelligent, well meaning, employees of AT&T posting here (or at other forums) are either not knowledgeable or deceptive. To the contrary. But I think they have been told points 1-3 above by their higher ups.

Thing is, points 1-3 do not preclude nor negate point 4 ...


Further musings and questions on where AT&T is going with 4G
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Furthermore, I have read the postings that since HSPA+ is a derivative of the current 3G network, customers dont need a 4G SIM card to use the network.
If the implication is, an Inspire 4G with a 3G SIM will achieve 4G speeds and HSPA+ access once they are done monkeying with the backhaul, well call me skeptical.

If that were true, why waste the money and resources on manufacturing these 4G SIMs in the first place?
Why conveniently are the 4G SIMs only avaiable in the select 4G markets and nationwide after March if the 4G SIM wasn't integral to full usage of the HSPA+ network?
And to those who point to HSPA+ being a derivative of the current network that shouldn't require a new SIM, recall the iPhone and HSUPA. HSUPA is an implementation of AT&T's network everywhere, yet only phones with an iPhone SIM have access to that part of the network. Wouldn't it make perfect equal AT&T sense to also parse the HSPA+ part of the network off to only those who have a 4G SIM, and pay for a special data plan?


I could be entirely wrong here, but posts like the one above and some other AT&T vagueness is leaning toward my current viewpoint.


Maybe the following pointed question worth posting at the various forums would be:

IF you currently have a 4G SIM card in your Inspire 4G, can you confirm you still are on the Unlimited data plan? If yes and you are in a 4G market, please post your speed test results?


-----------------------------------------------------

Again, I do beleive you AT&T employees and gurus that if we have an unlimited data plan we can keep it and our Inspire 4Gs will work on the network.

But I won't be at all surprised if, by the end of March, us Inspire 4G early adopters will all be heading back to our local stores to get a 4G SIM and have yet another data plan hassle.