AWS LTE compatible?

[kanai]

Verizon 4G LTE data traffic in NYC (esp. lower and mid Manhattan) is so congested that the download speed often gets unusably slow. I heard Verizon will start using AWS LTE network in NYC this winter, and I really need to get an AWS-compatible phone. Does anyone know if HTC One supports the AWS LTE? Samsung Galaxy S4, Moto X and new Droids are all compatible.

 

[disneyf1]

Yes, I saw AWS in the spec sheet, but no LTE-A.

LTE-A might not matter for a year or more, though. I understand that even though Big Red is promising to lead in roll out of LTE-A, Magenta is actually the only carrier with this hardware already on its towers.

 

[Ali Fazel]

On newer LTE RRUs, LTE-A is a software upgrade. I believe the current version is LTE v9 and LTE-A is supported on LTE v10, and Sprint's NV upgrades all have compatible RRUs on the towers.

 

[derichio02]

I cant find this information anywhere. Where did you see this posted?

 

[karn101]

Yes, I saw AWS in the spec sheet, but no LTE-A.

LTE-A might not matter for a year or more, though. I understand that even though Big Red is promising to lead in roll out of LTE-A, Magenta is actually the only carrier with this hardware already on its towers.

Where? I don't see that it has AWS/Band 4.

 

[Ali Fazel]

I cant find this information anywhere. Where did you see this posted?

If you were asking me, it's on s4gru.com

 

[disneyf1]

Hey, sorry I'm late replying, I just walked in.

I can't remember which sure I found the aws mentioned. I was looking to see if it had LTE-A and noticed it.

 

[radioguinea]

Has anyone found out if this is possible? I am not sure we got a clear answer yet. I was curious as well, since I work downtown NYC. I know the S4 is official for AWS via a software update coming very soon, and VZ mentioned most 4G devices going forward would be AWS compatible, but no mention of the One yet. Not sure why they dont just mention in the spec list that it will be.

 

[Kiddo_24]

I was at Verizon Tuesday to open a new line asking this question about the HTC One. The Galaxy S4, Lumia 928, BlackBerry Q10 are among the phones that are AWS ready and supposedly the new Droid line. The Verizon reps could not find any information leading me to believe that the HTC One on Verizon is NOT AWS ready. That's why I didn't buy it. I'm still researching, and still hanging on to my HTC One on T-Mobile.

BTW, I did a speed test at the VZW store with their HTC One and mine on T-Mobile. Verizon's pulled 7mbs & 3mbs on two tests. T-Mobile pulled down 27mbs consistently. Location: Orange County, CA.

 

[kanai]

HTC website says HTC One is compatible with AWS bands for T-mobile and AT&T. Are AWS bands the same for all the carriers?

HTC One Overview - HTC Smartphones

4G - CDMA:

Verizon: 800/1900MHZ, UMTS/HSPA 1900/2100MHz,GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz, LTE 700MHz (Band 13)

4G - LTE:

Europe/ Middle East/ Africa: 800/1800/2600 MHz
Asia: 1800/2600 MHz
T-Mobile (US)/ AT&T/ Canada/ Latin America: 700 MHz and AWS band
Sprint: 1900 MHz

 

[WickedRabbit]

BTW, I did a speed test at the VZW store with their HTC One and mine on T-Mobile. Verizon's pulled 7mbs & 3mbs on two tests. T-Mobile pulled down 27mbs consistently. Location: Orange County, CA.

That's not surprising. T-Mobile and AT&T LTE are faster than Verizon's. The trade-off, especially for T-Mobile, is the incredibly small footprint of where it's available. I recently tried T-Mobile around Long Beach, CA and couldn't even keep a consistent LTE signal there. When traveling it was virtually non-existent. But yea, it was fast... when I had it... I'd take coverage over a little more speed any day. AT&T faired better with more LTE coverage than T-Mobile, but still far behind Verizon - especially when traveling. If you live in a major area though and never really leave it wasn't that huge of a deal or if you at least have a decent HSPA+ area then those speeds were often times still faster than Verizon's LTE. But really once you get past say 6mbps down you don't really notice the difference unless you're downloading gigabytes of data at once. Small app updates and whatnot seem virtually the same speed.