According to ATT Rep Infuse is: "LTE upgradeable"

[Jalarm]

I was talking to an ATT rep about true 4G and non 4G. He said the only device capable of getting LTE upgrade is te infuse. I never heard that...

 

[monels11]

I was talking to an ATT rep about true 4G and non 4G. He said the only device capable of getting LTE upgrade is te infuse. I never heard that...

This would be... interesting, but good if its true!

 

[nicoled985]

the rep told me the same thing as well

 

[saxplayer]

I'm pretty sure they don't know what they are talking about. I had two separate reps here at AT&T stores tell me that the Infuse will NOT be LTE compatable... it doesn't have any of the proper hardware.

 

[Terrigno]

Thats also what I herd. Something about neither the Infuse or Atrix has the proper LTE radios installed. I dont know. It would be sweet if it was. But that sucks that they release 4G phones and knowing that LTE is the leader right now, the phones arent capible of using it. I guess Ill have to get an LTE phone when it finally comes out. Its just messed up that they keep pushing out phones like that.

 

[Dreven]

It's not true at all. LTE isn't even a public trial period yet and laptop cards will come out before phones. We're probably 6 months to a year away from seeing an at&t phone you can buy that will support LTE.

 

[aapold]

But the infuse is capable of much higher speeds than we get now, moreso than some of the other phones AT&T calls "4G". Whether or not AT&T ever bothers to support this capability is another story altogether...

 

[Jalarm]

I can actually believe it. ATT would be the one to pull that.

 

[mjlash22]

My rep said something along the lines of that the phone is capable of higher speeds than what it is currently set to, but I dont remember if he said LTE or not.

 

[vamp07]

Most reps don't have a clue.

 

[Jalarm]

Most reps don't have a clue.

That is so true.

 

[NMherron]

None of the specifications I read online mention an LTE radio with the Infuse, just GSM, UMTS, HSPA and HSPA+.

• PhoneArena.com says NO - Samsung Infuse 4G specs - Phone Arena
• CNET says NO - Samsung Infuse 4G Specs (AT&T) - Smartphones - CNET Reviews
• Giagom says NO - REVIEW: AT&T’s Big and Bold Samsung Infuse 4G — Mobile Technology News
• Engadget says NO - Samsung Infuse 4G review -- Engadget
• and the final on the subject, SAMSUNG says NO - Features and Specifications - Samsung Infuse

AT&T's reps need to be informed. It would be really sad if someone bought an Infuse thinking it would work on their LTE network when it showed up in their market, but be locked in to the phone for the remainder of their contract. It's shameful.

The Infuse is a wonderful phone, don't get me wrong. But it appears that AT&T is moving to LTE before upgrading their entire network to HSPA+. Half the country will probably go from UMTS/HSPA to LTE and never have HSPA+ service at all.

If I was an AT&T customer (and thank God I am not), I would wait to upgrade until an LTE/HSPA+ phone came out. It's got to be just around the corner as AT&T is starting to rollout LTE this summer.

 

[aapold]

I do worry that once they go full steam with LTE they won't bother to also increase their HSPA+ coverage while they're at it.

 

[NMherron]

It is possible for them to do both, since HSPA+ piggy backs on existing spectrum in the 850mhz/1900mhz bands, and their LTE is being deployed on the 700mhz band. But, my guess is that they won't.

HSPA+ is seen as a bridge standard. Since they have now crossed the bridge to LTE, they will likely focus money on it only. The window in which they are selling HSPA+ devices is small. So relative to the total number of customers they have, only a fraction are HSPA+ users. I think they'll just move on. But I hope I'm wrong.

Atrix and Infuse owners deserve more. They deserve a fully deployed HSPA+ network that their devices were created for.

 

[phaggard]

Accordiing to ATT the LTE which stands for "Long Term" Evolution will not be fully implimented on any carrier until around 2014. The other carriers are now switching to LTE phones which will only have spotty coverage for a couple of years. ATT has the interim HSPA that will now give ATT phones full near 4G coverage until the LTE is fully implimented. ATT phones will have some sort of higher speed coverage now while the other carriers will have spotty coverage for a while. The reason that ATT is purchasing T-Mobile is to use their existing GSM network as the ATT HSPA network while they convert their network to LTE over the next couple of years. All other carriers will be stuck on 3G until they get LTE.

 

[NMherron]

Accordiing to ATT the LTE which stands for "Long Term" Evolution will not be fully implimented on any carrier until around 2014. The other carriers are now switching to LTE phones which will only have spotty coverage for a couple of years. ATT has the interim HSPA that will now give ATT phones full near 4G coverage until the LTE is fully implimented. ATT phones will have some sort of higher speed coverage now while the other carriers will have spotty coverage for a while. The reason that ATT is purchasing T-Mobile is to use their existing GSM network as the ATT HSPA network while they convert their network to LTE over the next couple of years. All other carriers will be stuck on 3G until they get LTE.

This is typical misinformation from AT&T. AT&T still hasn't even rolled out 3G over their entire network (after nearly 8 years!). Verizon will have their LTE complete in 2013. Verizon will have LTE complete in almost 200 markets by the end of this year. This will cover 85% of the American population in just 6 months from now.

AT&T will have LTE out in 12 markets by the end of 2011. And they will start selling LTE devices this year so people in those 12 markets can use it.

I'm not sure what you mean that everyone will be stuck with 3G when AT&T is fully implemented. Sprint and Verizon are already way ahead of AT&T on their 4G rollout. Currently, AT&T is scheduled to be the last carrier to complete their 4G network. And if we use AT&T's 3G deployment as a means of indicating future performance, then we can all safely assume AT&T will be the last carrier with a full 4G network.

AT&T's HSPA+ networks are a great bridge standard for them. They just need to fully deploy it now. T-Mobile is way, way ahead of them. 150 cities vs. AT&T's 50 cities. Heck, Verizon has more LTE cities than AT&T has HSPA+ cities. The problem for AT&T customers though is that they are not being transparent and open that their 4G phones will not work on LTE.

If you live in Dallas and bought a Motorola Atrix this month that is labeled a 4G phone, then LTE gets turned on next month (as scheduled) and you cannot use it, you are going to be one unhappy camper. And justifiably so.

I'm not picking on AT&T only. All the carriers have their issues. I'm for all of them opening up, being honest and delivering a quality product, as we consumers are shelling out big bucks for. And the Infuse/Atrix LTE fiasco is going to qualify as the blunder of the year in the industry. Although, they will have to compete with Sprint for their woefully slow WiMax rollout. Who will win (or lose)? Stay tuned.

 

[aapold]

Its not just Infuse/Atrix... they are also selling the HP Veer and calling it 4G, and it is using HSPA+. I wouldn't be surprised if they ship a few more phones with the same thing as well.

Even where they have HSPA+ it isn't reaching anywhere near what the radios in say the Infuse is capable of.

FWIW its not that big a deal to me most of the time. I was annoyed at AT&T awhile back and turned off my unlimited data plan for a time and relied on wifi only (which I have at home, at work, and like 90+% of the places I go). I turned it back on for things like maps when travelling, but not doing stuff like streaming movies to it over cellular.

I didn't really buy the phone for the "4G". Had they not advertised it as such there would be no problem. It does make their commercials even more ridiculous (the one with the guy who apparently took several minutes to download a message about his flash mob event's time being changed is probably the worst.....)

 

[Egidio]

Well, so when is the class action law suit going to be announced? I bought this phone because of the 4G capability primarily. I was familiar with Sprint's 4G and thought that instead of switching providers, I'd just switch OS.

 

[aapold]

The main problem is that there is no legal definition of "4G". If it is 1% faster than 3G they can call it 4G and I'm not sure there is much you can hang them for. Its completely misleading on their part... "Faux G" I think is how sprint described it.

They probably have a massive team of lawyers that signed off on it before they did it. That doesn't mean they can't be sued.

I did find this online, may be of interest.

 

[davidusr]

The HTC Holiday is in the works, which, from what I've heard, is an LTE phone, and is coming to ATT, before year end. And it will be a beast. DC 1.2ghz processor, 4.5" screen and so on.