T-Mobile "4G" / HSPA+

[sniffs]

Actually none of the companies provide "True 4g". Though in terms of technology the closest to actual 4g is Long Term Evolution(LTE) which is a more advanced then HSPA+ though by how much is unknown. I think verizon's 4g lte might have the placebo effect right now . I hear great things about T-mobile's 4g, Wimax not so much. And the reason no one has true 4g is their networks aren't strong enough to be considered true 4g, but they were given the thumbs up to brand 4g to their networks for retailing. Blame the FCC lol.

Tmobile's "4G" is riding on the 3G airwaves with upgraded backhaul. Let's see their ping response times. Yeah they may provide decent bandwidth but let's check out their pings.

Verizo's LTE provides great bandwidth AND cable-style pings. I get 30ms-50ms

None of the fake-4G networks will provide that.

 

[INK]

Tmobile's "4G" is riding on the 3G airwaves with upgraded backhaul. Let's see their ping response times. Yeah they may provide decent bandwidth but let's check out their pings.

Verizo's LTE provides great bandwidth AND cable-style pings. I get 30ms-50ms

None of the fake-4G networks will provide that.

Verizon's LTE is just as much 4g as Wimax and HSPA+. Read This! And LTE and HSPA+ are very similar in design. LTE is just subject to Verizon fanboyism and Placebo Syndrome. Not to mention thats HSPA+ and wiMAX are both more bogged down by users then LTE at the moment.

 

[Droid800]

Tmobile's "4G" is riding on the 3G airwaves with upgraded backhaul. Let's see their ping response times. Yeah they may provide decent bandwidth but let's check out their pings.

Verizo's LTE provides great bandwidth AND cable-style pings. I get 30ms-50ms

None of the fake-4G networks will provide that.

I got a 59ms ping on t-mobile today.

 

[INK]

I got a 59ms ping on t-mobile today.

That is a great ping level. Who really needs anything under 50ms ping? We are getting as close to instant as possible 59 milliseconds thats less then a second, I'm satisfied with that.

 

[Droid800]

That is a great ping level. Who really needs anything under 50ms ping? We are getting as close to instant as possible 59 milliseconds thats less then a second, I'm satisfied with that.

I should have also added that shortly after that I got a 179ms ping on Verizon LTE.

 

[sniffs]

Verizon's LTE is just as much 4g as Wimax and HSPA+. Read This! And LTE and HSPA+ are very similar in design. LTE is just subject to Verizon fanboyism and Placebo Syndrome. Not to mention thats HSPA+ and wiMAX are both more bogged down by users then LTE at the moment.

Hey, I dont drink the faux 4G coolaid. Read just about any half decent blogger on ANY reputible website and they'll agree that the ITU caved into American carrier demands and now upgraded 3G is now called 4G. Plain and simple.

WiMax and LTE are based on 4G technologies. HSPA+ isn't.

If you take a Fiero and plop a Ferrari bodykit on it.. it's still a Fiero.

 

[anon62607]

Hey, I dont drink the faux 4G coolaid. Read just about any half decent blogger on ANY reputible website and they'll agree that the ITU caved into American carrier demands and now upgraded 3G is now called 4G. Plain and simple.

WiMax and LTE are based on 4G technologies. HSPA+ isn't.

If you take a Fiero and plop a Ferrari bodykit on it.. it's still a Fiero.

Would you consider LTE r8 deployed in 1.4 MHz 4G? What are those "4G technologies" that you are talking about? 64QAM? IP network? OFDMA?

 

[sniffs]

LTE Advanced and WiMax 2 are "4G" technologies that were branded so by the ITU.

OFDMA yes.
To my knowledge, 64QAM wasn't part of LTE-A but 128QAM is.

AT&T themselves called T-Mobile's 4G network fake and refused to do so until the ITU caved in.. SUDDENLY AT&T has a 4G network!

What are they going to call their LTE network once it's up and running? 5G? since HSPA+ is 4G? Why not?! Consumer confusion is what carriers do.

 

[anon62607]

LTE Advanced and WiMax 2 are "4G" technologies that were branded so by the ITU.

OFDMA yes.
To my knowledge, 64QAM wasn't part of LTE-A but 128QAM is.

AT&T themselves called T-Mobile's 4G network fake and refused to do so until the ITU caved in.. SUDDENLY AT&T has a 4G network!

What are they going to call their LTE network once it's up and running? 5G? since HSPA+ is 4G? Why not?! Consumer confusion is what carriers do.

LTE as deployed now uses 64QAM, just like HSPA+ in it's higher categories, HSPA+ when deployed in the same spectrum will get very close or even a little better theoretical performance compared to LTE (84 Mbps vs 50 Mbps for example) and HSPA+ does include the potential for an IP network, and for just about every purpose you could come up with, HSPA+ can match LTE (compare tmobile and metropcs LTE)

The reason Verizon's LTE performs so well as it is now is it's fairly unloaded and deployed in 20 MHz.

The whole G thing is a bit ridiculous anyway. HSPA+ is a very good performing technology and closer to LTE than it is to what were traditional 3G technologies like Verizon's EVDO revA system.

 

[DB303]

In stumbling around checking out various topics on this site, I came across something I haven't been able to find much information on.

How can you find out if you are in an upgraded backhaul zone? I realize there may not be anything official but can anyone point me in the right direction on this? A little off topic but I think it (how common these upgraded backhaul sites really are) is relevant to this discussion.

 

[Droid800]

In stumbling around checking out various topics on this site, I came across something I haven't been able to find much information on.

How can you find out if you are in an upgraded backhaul zone? I realize there may not be anything official but can anyone point me in the right direction on this? A little off topic but I think it (how common these upgraded backhaul sites really are) is relevant to this discussion.

Are you talking about T-mobile? If so, they have their 4G zones marked on their coverage maps. AT&T hides theirs because a very, very limited number of their customers have access right now.

 

[DB303]

Are you talking about T-mobile? If so, they have their 4G zones marked on their coverage maps. AT&T hides theirs because a very, very limited number of their customers have access right now.

Yah I am not looking for 4G zones. I am looking for their overhauled 3G areas. Referring to this:

T-Mobile to double 3G network speeds in 2011

Found a couple articles that were a little more recent, like maybe January of this year, not this older article is much more detailed.

 

[Droid800]

Yah I am not looking for 4G zones. I am looking for their overhauled 3G areas. Referring to this:

T-Mobile to double 3G network speeds in 2011

Found a couple articles that were a little more recent, like maybe January of this year, not this older article is much more detailed.

Those ARE their 4G zones. T-mobile has branded their HSPA+ as 4G. Those zones are very clearly marked on their coverage maps.

 

[rldev]

Tmobile's "4G" is riding on the 3G airwaves with upgraded backhaul. Let's see their ping response times. Yeah they may provide decent bandwidth but let's check out their pings.

Verizo's LTE provides great bandwidth AND cable-style pings. I get 30ms-50ms

None of the fake-4G networks will provide that.

Seriously? I have both, Tmobile has the best ping times consistently, period.

 

[NMherron]

I'm not sure what all the hullabaloo is all about. I think Tmo is doing a good job with it's HSPA+ rollout. They have been faster at upgrading their towers and their backhaul than Sprint, Verizon and rediculously slow AT&T.

Yes, it's technically not 4G. But their specs are equal or better than the LTE or WiMax networks that have currently been deployed. Check out this article on their new dual-carrier HSPA+. T-Mobile rolls out dual-carrier HSPA+ to put it on par with Verizon's LTE

Speeds are right on par, or better than Verizon LTE (depending on market and other variables). And blow Sprint/Clearwire out of the water. AT&T? Well let's not even go there. And since real world pings are in the 50ms range, performance is everything you could ever want. Also, Tmo is considering bumping their dual-carrier HSPA+ up to 84mb download. The average American only has 10mb at their home. Heck, I am limited to 6mb in my rural market for DSL.

Considering all this, T-Mobile's HSPA+ deployment is right on par with the other 4G's that are out there. If Tmo shouldn't be calling their HSPA+ 4G, then no one should. And there should probably be a revision in the 4G definitions now any way. It should be between 5mb - 100mb. A bridge standard. Let 5G be between 100mb to 1gb. I'm not sure there is much of a market for 100mb+ mobile internet anyway. Especially since with data caps, you'll hit it in minutes. I think sub 100mb speeds will be sufficient for a good 10 years. Providers will need to worry about coverage, backhaul and capacity, not faster speeds. In a sub 100mb world, Tmo would be fine to keep dual-carrier HSPA+ as their 4G technology even. LTE would not give them performance improvements, just capacity improvements. They could then jump to LTE Advanced whenever the 100mb+ wave in mobile broadband is necessary.

T-Mobile also deserves props for rolling out their very competitive 4G service faster than their competitors. I jumped to Sprint last June because they got 4G service first, however Tmo has been much faster at deploying. T-Mobile USA rolls out dual-carrier HSPA+ in more markets than expected - FierceBroadbandWireless

T-Mobile has been faster than expected? I'll take some of that action! Heck, Sprint has been 10x slower than expected! At my home in New Mexico, currently T-Mobile is the only carrier so far to cover me with 4G service. Sprint is 30 miles away, Verizon is 500 miles away in Denver and AT&T's HSPA+ is 600 miles away in Phoenix (and don't ask about their LTE).

T-Mobile deserves a lot of credit. Most companies that are in the process of being bought out would halt expensive capital improvements. But they are still steaming along. Updated: T-Mobile USA launches dual-carrier HSPA+ in 41 new markets - FierceBroadbandWireless

I'm staying with Sprint for awhile, because I'm waiting to see how the LightSquared LTE deployment works out. I like the thought of nationwide satellite 4G LTE service. However, if I was out looking for a new carrier today, I'd go with T-Mobile's"inferior" 4G product than going with Verizon or AT&T.

Areas in pink show Tmo's HSPA+. They definitely have the largest "4G" network deployed to date.

Although I am currently suffering from buyers regret for changing from AT&T to Sprint last year, I'm sure I will have another opinion next year. This industry is very fluid right now. Stay tuned!

 

[FloridaPhil]

At what point does a network become 'fast enough'?

I don't care what it's called, so long as it's quick. And this is quick enough for me....