[sterandroids]

Ok so LTE just got released here in our country a couple of days ago and i cant help but feel a little left out. I see people posting on Facebook & Twitter of the fast LTE connection compared to my HSPA+ only Note 2. So i kinda made this post to hear feedback from other people regarding LTE (and hopefully to make me feel better LOL). Is LTE really that good?

I have some thoughts to ponder on here and i'd appreciate it if you guys help me out here.

-LTE is ultra fast, but it drains battery like hell, right? How much of a battery drain is LTE? When i was still with my iPhone 5 my battery almost NEVER lasted a day with 3g. What more with LTE?

-The people who post their speedtest.net of LTE network is only fast because it's just new here, am i right? What happens when every LTE capable handset jumps on the LTE bandwagon and eats up all the bandwidth to the point that it wont be that fast anymore. Right?

- In our country Telco's are offering the LTE for free since it's new but eventually i think they'll charge more for the service. Is the extra fee per month worth it in your opinion?

- Not all areas have LTE yet, Yes but this Note 2 N7100 of mine is locked for 2 years so come 2014 wont i feel like a b**** when everyone is using LTE and i'm like a chump still using HSPA+? Could Telco's adopt LTE that fast that in a year, LTE will be available nationwide?

Damn those Telco's that market HSPA+ phones as 4G LTE ready phones. Should have done my research before i bought the N7100. Please share your LTE experience if you guys have any. Thanks

[roberte1342]

I have the LTE Verizon model and have no battery issues even while running wifi hotspot all day. The biggest battery drainer on this phone is the screen. I think it is safe to say that modern LTE radios have reached a level of efficiency that it isn't noticeable anymore. Even with hotspot active all day I get a comfortable full days use out of a single charge. If I transfer more than 1 GB, battery drain begins to be noticeable.

When Verizon rolled out LTE in my city two years ago early testers/reviewers were getting ridiculously high speeds up to 80mb/s. Reps from Verizon warned that the network was unsaturated and these reported speeds will not reflect reality when it does become saturated.
Two years later and fully saturated I average 20mb down and 10mb up. It is faster than my high speed cable internet especially with upload.

Family members on T-Mobile do not complain about HSPA+. It is plenty fast for them.
I've personally never used GSM so I can't offer much of an opinion but others here can.
The only reason I'm on Verizon is the coverage and reliability nothing more. LTE is just a perk to me and I'd be just as happy on a 3G/psudo 4G HSPA+ network if it were equally reliable with as good or better coverage at a lower cost.

Sent from my SG Note 2 [Tapatalk]

[sterandroids]

Marketing really screwed me over, i got apple'd. My fault for not doing research.


How much is the premium you pay for LTE in your country?

Yeah probably im feeling this way because LTE just got released here. Thanks!

[aquafusiondane]

Family members on T-Mobile do not complain about HSPA+. It is plenty fast for them.
I've personally never used GSM so I can't offer much of an opinion but others here can.
The only reason I'm on Verizon is the coverage and reliability nothing more. LTE is just a perk to me and I'd be just as happy on a 3G/psudo 4G HSPA+ network if it were equally reliable with as good or better coverage at a lower cost.

Sent from my SG Note 2 [Tapatalk]

I am on T Mobile network and using it pseudo 4G HSPA+ on my Note 2. It is really fast and I get 25 mbps down and I am in the area that don't have LTE. It is fast enough for me if I am not using my wifi. Even I can run highest quality that Netflix can provide to my phone without any hiccups. I flew to Savannahs in Greogia to visit my brother there, I used the T Mobile network there and it faster than my brother business class wifi which is 20 mbps. My home wifi have 150 mbps, hooray for Verizon FiOS here.

Sent from my T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 2 on Tapatalk 2

[sterandroids]

Well thanks for the comments. I hope when people move to LTE the 3g/hspa+ networks will free up a bit haha



Sent from my GT-N7100 using Android Central Forums

[Mike-Mike]

I am on T Mobile network and using it pseudo 4G HSPA+ on my Note 2.

I just switched from Sprint to T-Mobile, with Sprint i was lucky to get 0.8 meg, with T-Mobile I'm getting 10 meg down pretty steady... my co-worker has AT&T and they have LTE here, he gets 22 meg down, which is cool, but 10 meg down is more than respectable

[Scott Kenyon]

I have Verizon and straight talk. There is definitely a speed test difference between HSPA+ and LTE. The impact of that speed in my use isn't all that noticeable.
I don't download files or watch a lot of video on my phone. For many people out doesn't matter that much. For people who use a ton of data it may be.
As work most things, YMMV.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Android Central Forums

[zmann]

Yes,, be jealous, lol. When your out and about and have no access to wifi and you need to download something quickly it is a very nice asset.

Note 2, it's true, ,size is everything!

[dodong27]

I'm sorry to jack you thread but it somewhat relates to it... Is there a difference between 4G and 4G LTE..??? or are they the same?
Pardon my ignorance, still learning here...

[Scott Kenyon]

Last I checked there is no real 4g. 4g is a specification that has not been met. The carriers use 4g as a marketing term for either hspa+ or LTE.
The term 4g is like saying "lite" on an edible product. Is it no fat? Low Cal? Free of trans fat? Who knows.
Hspa+ in real use can hit as high as 25+mbps while brand new unsaturated LTE can hit 80. The usual averages I see are about 7mbps for HSPA+ and around 15 with LTE. This varies depending on your phone, carrier, market saturation, atmospheric conditions etc.
Hope I sorta answered that, but read up on hspa+ vs LTE to understand.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Android Central Forums

[zmann]

Last I checked there is no real 4g. 4g is a specification that has not been met. The carriers use 4g as a marketing term for either hspa+ or LTE.
The term 4g is like saying "lite" on an edible product. Is it no fat? Low Cal? Free of trans fat? Who knows.
Hspa+ in real use can hit as high as 25+mbps while brand new unsaturated LTE can hit 80. The usual averages I see are about 7mbps for HSPA+ and around 15 with LTE. This varies depending on your phone, carrier, market saturation, atmospheric conditions etc.
Hope I sorta answered that, but read up on hspa+ vs LTE to understand.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Android Central Forums

What ever lte is, for me it is 20 times faster then 3g.

Note 2, it's true, ,size is everything!

[SpookDroid]

OK, here's my two cents. LTE is fairly new to my town as well, and no, they're not charging a premium for it (don't think they ever will). HOWEVER, think about this:
1) Data caps. Most plans right now have them. Hate them, love them, they're there. And data caps mean you moderate your data usage on your mobile while not on WiFi. LTE only means that you get to use that data even faster.
2) Do you REALLY need the speed? Netflix works just fine on HSPA+ (but say goodbye to your data cap in a few movies). Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, even YouTube are fairly light on data transfers. Even 'data heavy' HQ videos on YouTube can play OK on HSPA+.

That being said, personally, I don't NEED LTE and don't miss not having it. So far I've yet to encounter a situation where I say 'man, I really wish my phone downloaded this faster' except when I'm streaming on WiFi.

BTW, LTE WILL have an impact on your battery life not only because it inherently consumes more energy but because it's so new, especially in new markets like ours, that the coverage is smaller and antennae further appart from each other. This means weaker signals and weaker signals, be it 3g, 4g, or plain, old GSM mean more strain for your phone, draining your juice even faster.

[zmann]

Love my sprint,, no data cap,, unlimited.

Note 2, it's true, ,size is everything!

[dodong27]

Last I checked there is no real 4g. 4g is a specification that has not been met. The carriers use 4g as a marketing term for either hspa+ or LTE.
The term 4g is like saying "lite" on an edible product. Is it no fat? Low Cal? Free of trans fat? Who knows.
Hspa+ in real use can hit as high as 25+mbps while brand new unsaturated LTE can hit 80. The usual averages I see are about 7mbps for HSPA+ and around 15 with LTE. This varies depending on your phone, carrier, market saturation, atmospheric conditions etc.
Hope I sorta answered that, but read up on hspa+ vs LTE to understand.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Android Central Forums

I kinda understood your explanation, so correct me if I'm wrong, 4G and 4G LTE ARE two different things, depending on your phone, carrier, etc... I have a Note 2 from ATT that has 4G on the top bar, so this means ATT doesn't offer 4G LTE in my area (yet)???

thanks.

[UsedName]

Yes!!!
Be very jealous without LTE 4g....
This is my very first LTE phone and the first month I almost got "throttled" back for using it to much.
Once you see how fast your GN2 can be you''ll be happy with LTE 4g... I'm getting 20mbp on average with my AT&T GN2. :-)

[TheOtherBill]

I kinda understood your explanation, so correct me if I'm wrong, 4G and 4G LTE ARE two different things, depending on your phone, carrier, etc... I have a Note 2 from ATT that has 4G on the top bar, so this means ATT doesn't offer 4G LTE in my area (yet)???

4G is the generic term for 4th generation technologies. LTE and HSPA+ are both 4G. For most people (note I said most, it will for some) it won't make a difference because, as was mentioned, data caps will prevent you from DLing things that are so big you need the super fast speeds. There's no LTE where I live and I don't even miss it. There's free wifi all over the place, so I use less than 1/2 gb most months.

For coverage in your area take a look here (click the "Coverage" map).

[sterandroids]

Can you choose to turn off just LTE from the dropdown or you have to go to settings? Like when you turn off and on the mobile data button in the notification window, can that be done with LTE?


Sent from my GT-N7100 using Android Central Forums

[Droid_Evo_8]

BTW, LTE WILL have an impact on your battery life not only because it inherently consumes more energy but because it's so new, especially in new markets like ours, that the coverage is smaller and antennae further appart from each other. This means weaker signals and weaker signals, be it 3g, 4g, or plain, old GSM mean more strain for your phone, draining your juice even faster.

Yes, LTE have an impact on our battery life but it doesn't bother me as long as I can use it this much: (and this is just my average, as you can see on my pics down below.)

[sterandroids]

Just did some research and it really does drain the battery more. And what surprised me more was that even when your lte is off the battery life is significantly lower than the n7100 because of the addtl lte antenna. I originally thought that the lower battery life will happen ONLY if the lte is activated, so in short your battery life will suffer regardless if your lte is on or not. This turned me off since one major factor I switched to a note 2 is because of the great battery life. not to mention hspa+ isnt that bad as well. If I wanted a phone with a substandard battery I would have gotten an s3 or just stuck with my iphone 5. So meh, ill get lte on my note 3. Thanks for the comments!

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Android Central Forums

[zmann]

Just did some research and it really does drain the battery more. And what surprised me more was that even when your lte is off the battery life is significantly lower than the n7100 because of the addtl lte antenna. I originally thought that the lower battery life will happen ONLY if the lte is activated, so in short your battery life will suffer regardless if your lte is on or not. This turned me off since one major factor I switched to a note 2 is because of the great battery life. not to mention hspa+ isnt that bad as well. If I wanted a phone with a substandard battery I would have gotten an s3 or just stuck with my iphone 5. So meh, ill get lte on my note 3. Thanks for the comments!

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Android Central Forums

In all honesty I am on lte always and get 16 hours of heavy use out of a charge. Thats more them I need so lte power consumption is irrelevant for me.

Note 2, it's true, ,size is everything!

[Scott Kenyon]

Change your terminology and you're spot on. Regular 4g indicator means hspa+. You can go into settings, about phone, status and see the network type you are connected to. If it says lte, it's lte. The speed test app also tells you this when testing.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Android Central Forums

[tirith]

Thankfully I have Sprint so I don't have this whole confusing hspa stuff... I get lte mostly where I go, I keep my radio on, see on avg 20-25mb down, and get great battery...

Swyped from my Galaxy Note II on the Now Network

[gollum18]

No lte is overkill, for the everyday user its not even needed.

Sent from my SPH-L710

[dodong27]

Change your terminology and you're spot on. Regular 4g indicator means hspa+. You can go into settings, about phone, status and see the network type you are connected to. If it says lte, it's lte. The speed test app also tells you this when testing.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Android Central Forums

Just checked and it says: Mobile Network Type: HSDPA:9
But at the top bar of my phone it says 4G not 4G LTE...
What does this tell me..?

[gollum18]

Just checked and it says: Mobile Network Type: HSDPA:9
But at the top bar of my phone it says 4G not 4G LTE...
What does this tell me..?

I'm no expert on HSdPA+ but maybe its present 4glte tech like wimax was for sprint and clearwire.

Sent from my SPH-L710