Lets be serious....4g really isnt that great

[SoDev]

I love 4g at work and half of my drive home. I literally wait for it to do certain tasks in the morning. I can stream anything perfectly at work, super fast dl's etc., and for half my hour trip home, but the second I get back to 3g I start getting buffering and whatnot. Also, I'm always hooked to a power source so battery life is a non issue for me, although I can see that as an issue if you can't charge all day, but it's not like there are not options...

Point being, 4g is amazing, battery life, not so much... so get an extended battery, extra batteries, a power pack... really, it's not that hard.

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

The OP is talking about browsing websites and he is right. Seeing how the CPU has to render a webpage into something viewable, and the phones only have a 1GB processor, and limited amounts of RAM being used by everything else, it can take a while and make it not much faster than a 3G connection is. Downloading large files, and MP3's is great under 4G though. The phones need to catch up to the capabilities of the network now, and when that happens, the network will load up , or mobile webpages will bloat up like the non-mobile webpages are already. and then it will swing the other way again...

 

[prakash99]

I'm not in a 4G area but I sometimes venture out to areas with LTE coverage and don't wanna leave. I watch streaming videos a lot on my phone (esp on TV Shows Stream app and Youtube) and streaming is flawless. And when Netflix comes around and when I finally get 4G in my area I think I will develop a serious case of sleep deprivation.

 

[project.in.process]

I mean, for downloads its faster - loading flash pages and stream video....but for checking facebook, looking at pictures, updating twitter, it really only seems a LITTLE faster, if that.

At the same time, it kills battery. 3G just seems like an allaround better technology, will run most of my every day apps at nearly the same speed. What are yall using 4G for that makes it worth it to you? Im cool with it because its no additional cost, but doesnt seem worth it to pay extra unless you're using a laptop or something.

i use LTE to show up my iPhone best friend in browser races...aka, who can find the nearest soccer store in Google?

but apart from that, i wouldn't trade LTE for 3G/Wimax. i'm too used to getting things instantly (or close to it) when opening webpages, facebook, or searching for an answer...

and i'm wayyyy too accustomed to watching TV shows without any streaming and with amazing quality. i will NOT give up 4g and suffer watching Archer or Arrested Development in 3 minute increments, buffering constantly

 

[SoDev]

I mean, for downloads its faster - loading flash pages and stream video....but for checking facebook, looking at pictures, updating twitter, it really only seems a LITTLE faster, if that.

At the same time, it kills battery. 3G just seems like an allaround better technology, will run most of my every day apps at nearly the same speed. What are yall using 4G for that makes it worth it to you? Im cool with it because its no additional cost, but doesnt seem worth it to pay extra unless you're using a laptop or something.

So basically, you want to strip away the good things it does and then say it's not that great when comparing just the most simple tasks... I mean in general you could do something similar by saying that FIOS, or Cable isn't that great compared to DSL if you just strip it down to simple tasks. Of course I realize the home internet doesn't have the battery issue, but as I mentioned before, there are a few solutions to that.

I think some of us just were not ready to be early 4g LTE adopters.

 

[asianrage]

lol. It just doesn't bring you your news faster

Joking aside, 4G makes it so much more enjoyable surfing the net. I like sites site Break,Amazon,cracked etc.. and on 3g i always went with the mobile versions if they had one because of how slow they ran on 3G in my area, and i almost always hate the mobile versions/look.

With 4G going to the full desktop versions is painless now. Looking up stuff on maps etc.. is so much better now. I'm never waiting for something to download/finish loading. I live,work and travel in a solid 4G coverage area so I'm really enjoying LTE.

Only problem now is the RARE time I end up in a 3G area i think, How did I use to surf the web on this, it's so slow lol .

LOL, true. I use Pulse to get all my news. Really fast.

My previous phone was a 2yrs old 1G Samsung Omnia on 3G. Everything was slow, 500mhz processor browsing the internet through .9Mbps 3G pipe. The only thing it could do okay was email and texting (and I hate texting).

4G Thunderbolt is like Beluga Caviar to the Omnia's worm egg. I have 20-25Mbps FIOS at home, and 4G almost matches it in Speedtest. It's crazy. I was at a restaurant, waiting with my family and I open YouTube, and I loaded HD videos for my kid to watch at virtually no lag. Sure, battery time suffered, but heck, it's completely worth it. I'm not a heavy user. I don't care for push email (meh!) nor use social media (blase), but when I use my phone, I don't want to have to wait for things to loads. You can say that instant gratification became me, since I'm so used to having fast connection, either when I'm at work (@ 1Gbps) or at home (~20Mbps), but that's just the way it is and I have no problem paying for it.

 

[asianrage]

The OP is talking about browsing websites and he is right. Seeing how the CPU has to render a webpage into something viewable, and the phones only have a 1GB processor, and limited amounts of RAM being used by everything else, it can take a while and make it not much faster than a 3G connection is. Downloading large files, and MP3's is great under 4G though. The phones need to catch up to the capabilities of the network now, and when that happens, the network will load up , or mobile webpages will bloat up like the non-mobile webpages are already. and then it will swing the other way again...

Where do you go to load pages that would take so long? Do you actively navigate to flash heavy sites? Loading graphic heavy sites, like Engadget, is a relatively painless experience for me.

 

[asianrage]

So basically, you want to strip away the good things it does and then say it's not that great when comparing just the most simple tasks... I mean in general you could do something similar by saying that FIOS, or Cable isn't that great compared to DSL if you just strip it down to simple tasks. Of course I realize the home internet doesn't have the battery issue, but as I mentioned before, there are a few solutions to that.

I think some of us just were not ready to be early 4g LTE adopters.

Or that he didn't think clearly about what his needs are, because if he didn't care for connection speed, then a DINC would have been just an excellent alternative.

 

[z71kris]

See what you are not taking into account is that the 3g (eHRPD) on the thunderbolt has boosted speeds over normal rev.A 3g data. this allows the thunderbolt to use data and voice at the sometime.

I have seen a pretty big difference in speed going from 4g to Rev.A 3g, but not a big jump from 4g to 3g eHRPD.

My speed tesst showed around
4g: 11-20mbps up 3-10 mbps up
3g rev.A: 3-5mbps down 1-3mbps up

I wonder how long until other devices to adopt this technology....this would make it closer to ATT 3G and would make me get a DInc 2 or DX or something until bat life is much better improved on 4G....

 

[AndroidXTC]

I think it's amazing. I would not buy a non 4G handset now. Its soo fast!

 

[Jude526]

I am on the fence right now. I can upgrade in December, I know it is great but they need to get the hiccups out of the 4G network for it to work properly for everyone. Being that the 4G network is new, it will take time. I am sure those that experienced the network shutting down weren't happy, but then the 3G can take over. What is good is those that don't have 4G yet can have a good device in using the TB. It still works great from what I have heard. I like the idea of voice and data being used at the same time and it can be done still on the 3G and not having to use WIFI ....that is great.

It is like anything that is new........takes time to get it perfect. Verizon is top notch and their 3G is a good network.

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

Where do you go to load pages that would take so long? Do you actively navigate to flash heavy sites? Loading graphic heavy sites, like Engadget, is a relatively painless experience for me.

No, I don't. The point the OP was saying that webpages on 3G and 4G open up at the same speed basically. The OP was questioning the gains of 4G over 3G when he should have questioned the speed of the CPU's in rendering webpages with the tiny amounts of RAM available in the smartphones of today. When that RAM is used up by other apps, it makes it even slower.

We were messing around with our Bolts and other phones from the other carriers at work, all on 3G since Verizon won't have LTE here until 2014. (We have WiMax, and HPSA+ available though) The Bolt was the slowest to open the MSNBC Homepage of 6 phones we tried. Why? Verizon's extremely s-l-o-w 3G in this area, which sounds like your experience too if you see a difference in 3G and LTE when opening a webpage. My Evo opens a webpage in 3G or 4G at the same speed when the RAM isn't used up. I get 2.0 to 2.5Mbps on 3G and 8.5 to 9.7Mbps 4G download speeds since they are bumping up the WiMax now. When downloading a FILE, 4G makes a difference, but not on webpages. My Dinc is slower than my MyTouch4G on 3G too thanks to Verizon. If I had LTE here, the Bolt would open a webpage at roughly the same speed as my Evo as they both download DATA faster than the CPU can PROCESS and render it.

 

[brb198#AC]

I wasn't arguing that 4G isnt fast, it just isnt really applicable to most people. Most people seem to be buying 4G because of the marketing.

I just leave my 4G off all the time now, there isn't anything that I find it really helping with except downloading files - even streaming video from watchESPN seems to be crystal clear on 3g - why bleed the battery??

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

I wasn't arguing that 4G isnt fast, it just isnt really applicable to most people. Most people seem to be buying 4G because of the marketing.

I just leave my 4G off all the time now, there isn't anything that I find it really helping with except downloading files - even streaming video from watchESPN seems to be crystal clear on 3g - why bleed the battery??

I'm right there with you...Good for downloading files, lousy on the battery for normal surfing.

 

[RobbyRob]

Question, is there any way to switch the phone to the FASTER 3G network ONLY while keeping the talk and surf option?

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

Question, is there any way to switch the phone to the FASTER 3G network ONLY while keeping the talk and surf option?

No...you're either in a decent coverage area with Verizon, or a crappy one like we have here. You might be able to call them and update the PRL or some other magic though.

 

[RobbyRob]

Yeah I pull 30mb on LTE but the battery sucks dry after about 10-20 mins of use. 3-4mb 3G would be awesome!

 

[squane123]

So basically battery technology is lagging but 4G is absolutely amazing. If only they didnt have GB control when tethering. Crap, I would be out of control... Just yesterday with HBO GO I did 6 GB... Technology has come a long way but still has so many surprises. Anyway love my TB and LTE...

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

Yeah I pull 30mb on LTE but the battery sucks dry after about 10-20 mins of use. 3-4mb 3G would be awesome!

Yes...I get 1.6 to 2.5Mbps on 3G and it's plenty fast when it comes to the mobile webpages. When I want to download MP3's I'll switch to 4G and turn it off as soon as I'm done...lol When the CPU's catch up, and the RAM increases then we'll see a difference in opening webpages in 4G/LTE but right now, it doesn't make a difference over 2-3Mbps because of those limitations and with other apps running.

And, as the other poster below you said, we need better batteries also so we don't have to switch back and forth.

 

[Droid_Evo_8]

Not hating or anything but for those of you who bought a Thunderbolt (especially those in the 4G area) but turned off the 4G just to save battery, you guys should've just bought a Verizon phone that's good on battery instead. No point of buying the Tbolt if you're not gonna use its 4G.
And if you're worried about battery problems, either buy an extended or external (I got a 11000mah one) battery, otherwise, the thunderbolt is not for u and get something else that's good on battery. Just saying.

Sent from Outer Space.