Confused on this LTE dibacle for the Inspire

[mthorn79]

Ok so looking at the specs of the Inspire vs. the T-Bolt & seeing that the T-Bolt will be capable of LTE but reports are saying that the Inspire won't be truly LTE capable once AT&T gets that mess figured out.

My question is, why won't the Inspire be capable of LTE when these phones are almost identical in specs? Is there something in the hardware thats disabled in the Inspire phone itself that's making it unable to accept LTE service?

Whats the deal?

 

[Silas0220]

It's a completely different radio. The Thunderbolt has an LTE radio in it, the Inspire does not. The Inspire only has a radio capable of HSPA+, which has no real connection to LTE at all.

 

[mthorn79]

Ok so wouldn't this easily be a radio OTA fix? I know on my Droid there were many a baseband update for it. I mean, hell there's already a fix for making it compatible with root, surely they could do it the 'right' way by issuing an OTA when LTE becomes available right? Seems like something they COULD do unless they (HTC) are being limited on how fast they can actually make this phone because of AT&T rules and/or caps (because it's not their flagship iPhone).

Or am I just being pessimistic?

 

[stevehsteveh]

You are being wrong. LTE is not a flashable upgrade as it requires a separate piece of hardware on the logic board. Nothing to flash here.

 

[mthorn79]

You are being wrong. LTE is not a flashable upgrade as it requires a separate piece of hardware on the logic board. Nothing to flash here.

Do you have a link to the source you've found that shows the Inspire lacks this piece of hardware? Or were you just stating what you've heard?

 

[stevehsteveh]

It's very simple, there is no LTE radio on the Inspire. If you question this call HTC.

 

[Silas0220]

Trust me, if there was an LTE radio in the Inspire, AT&T would have marketed it as such. If you don't understand the difference between LTE and HSPA+, do a little research before getting uppity.

LTE: 3GPP Long Term Evolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

HSPA+: Evolved HSPA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's quite simply a piece of hardware the Inspire does not have. What you're saying is like implying that we could update the firmware on a Wifi radio and get it to work with Bluetooth. Just doesn't work that way.

 

[Silas0220]

Additionally, LTE operates in the 700 MHz band here in the US. The Inspire does not support 700 MHz bands. See the following from this site (HTC Inspire 4G Full Specifications - Gadgetian)

Network
2G Network GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
3G Network HSDPA 850, 1900 MHz

Compared to the specs on the Thunderbolt: HTC ThunderBolt specs - Phone Arena

 

[mthorn79]

Trust me, if there was an LTE radio in the Inspire, AT&T would have marketed it as such. If you don't understand the difference between LTE and HSPA+, do a little research before getting uppity.

LTE: 3GPP Long Term Evolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

HSPA+: Evolved HSPA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's quite simply a piece of hardware the Inspire does not have. What you're saying is like implying that we could update the firmware on a Wifi radio and get it to work with Bluetooth. Just doesn't work that way.

So I guess your saying that pretty much every question that's posted on a forum requires a little research before posting? Isn't the whole point of a forum to ask a question that someone else may know without doing a ton of research, so that someone else who may have already done & can provide a quick explanation?

And saying I'm confused about a topic & questioning something makes me 'uppity'? Who the hell are you? Doesn't the fact your calling me uppity for asking a question in turn make YOU uppity?!

Maybe you should look up the definition of a forum!

 

[Silas0220]

We did give you an answer. You weren't satisfied with it and asked for links. I provided links. That required the same research from me that it would have required from you.

 

[moosc]

I think what he's saying is the way your replied. and also some searching the sight should have answered your question. and before you ask just because thunderbolt has a gsm radio for lte you can't unlock it for att or tmo. different frequency.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[mthorn79]

LOL An answer is not "because it just doesn't".

It's not until you started the name calling that you added the links after.

Maybe realize that not everyone has done as much research on the topic as you have & maybe would like to see a little more than just the "because I said so" type answer. I apologize if asking for links generalized me in the d!ckhead category.

 

[pazzo02]

Many sources say AT&T's LTE network won't be complete until the end of 2013. So even if you're on a 2 year contract with your Inspire, it will be up by the time LTE is ready and you could get a new phone. Problem solved.

 

[Silas0220]

Additionally, it seems like initial reports of speeds on Verizon's LTE network at this point are hovering around 3-5mbps down. AT&T's HSPA+ network sounds like it ought to be capable of that theoretically, once it's complete. And with HSUPA turned on eventually for these phones, we ought to be seeing speeds at least nearly on par with what the Thunderbolt has. So, not terrible.

 

[misterbbq]

i've seen much much higher download rates that 3-5 on a verizon phone today. more like 30 meg down and 15 meg up. :yikes:

 

[kaerfree]

I'm sure that's theoretical LTE speeds. Phones won't be at those speeds until LTE really gets rolling.

 

[Dave Blake]

This is a good discussion that took a little bit of a wrong turn so lets all settle down. Search first is not an answer please always give links or just don't answer. Please don't try to beat the curse filter its there for a reason. Lets everyone settle down and continue the discussion.

Dave

 

[mthorn79]

Apologize BigD, just assumed the people on this forum were as friendly as Droidforums.net, seems I was wrong.

Guess you have to have done hours of research as a prerequisite upon posting.

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

I'm sure that's theoretical LTE speeds. Phones won't be at those speeds until LTE really gets rolling.

The slowest speedtest result (not the app, the actual site) I've gotten on the Thunderbolt was 5 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up at my house because I'm in a valley and technically in a "4G Extended Coverage Area". My office is out in the open and in a full blown LTE Coverage Area and the slowest speedtest result I've gotten here is 25 Mbps down and 2.83 up while the fastest was 34.65 Mbps down and 3.74 up.

 

[pazzo02]

My office is out in the open and in a full blown LTE Coverage Area and the slowest speedtest result I've gotten here is 25 Mbps down and 2.83 up while the fastest was 34.65 Mbps down and 3.74 up.

That's crazy fast! That's faster that my Comcast internet. At those speeds pages must load before you even click on them.