So what is the point of LTE?

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Ryan711

[H]ard|Gawd
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I'm seriously wondering what the point of LTE is? What can I do with that amount of speed that I can't do on 3G that won't have me blow through my 2GB cap in a few days? HD, hell even SD streaming would eat through you data in less than a week with light viewing.

I just don't see the point. Wouldn't it have made more sense for companies to put up more 3G towers or upgrade the speed that's running to their current ones or run more fiber to them or whatever they do so we can utilize more data vs just getting that data faster?

They should have honestly just waited until they could provide 10GB for $30 before they started rolling out LTE.
 
I would be happy with HSPA+ upgrades. Isn't that just a software upgrade? It is cheaper and easier to roll out then LTE. T-mobile is set to offer 42mbps HSPA+ and has speeds close to verizon's 12mbps LTE.

What is the point of LTE?
Also what is the point of sprint going LTE over wimax? There will be no speed difference or anything.
 
Ryan711 said:
I'm seriously wondering what the point of LTE is? What can I do with that amount of speed that I can't do on 3G that won't have me blow through my 2GB cap in a few days? HD, hell even SD streaming would eat through you data in less than a week with light viewing.
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This.

They WANT you to blow through it so they can charge you more. That's about the limit of it. Your right, anything you do on your phone, short of streaming video is all-but instant on 3G so 4G is just an excuse to make you eat through your cap faster.

Somone mentioned WiMAX:
WiMax actually has a much higher top-out speed than LTE, and Sprint gambled that more companies would bo WiMax because of this. However, as we have see, Sprint is the lone rogue and they're not providing the double-digit speeds that VZW is, so there is much talk of Sprint refurbishing their WiMax towers for LTE (I understand it's not a radical change so they might have specifically gone that rout...)
 
well if your already with say verizon and you have unlimited like i do... you see where im going verizon going to tiered service motivates people to stay with verizon since ill be able to keep my unlimited for as long as i keep it and when i get my next phone with lte then ill have unlimited LTE.
 
Lunas said:
...it and when i get my next phone with lte then ill have unlimited LTE.
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Dont bet $$$ on that.

Likely they will REQIURE a plan change when you upgrade (that's what Sprint has done to SERO plan owners, while we still get out old plan we pay a data premium of $20 to get the newest phones (though it's still $50/$55 for Unlimited data, + Phone (minus 500 anytime minutes))

You need to decide if your going to need more Data than VZW will provide on it's tiers. If so, you might as well look to another carrier when you want to upgrade. Sprint has suddenly become the people's choice since they offer truely unlimited data on 2/3/4G
 
Ryan711 said:
I'm seriously wondering what the point of LTE is? What can I do with that amount of speed that I can't do on 3G that won't have me blow through my 2GB cap in a few days? HD, hell even SD streaming would eat through you data in less than a week with light viewing.

I just don't see the point. Wouldn't it have made more sense for companies to put up more 3G towers or upgrade the speed that's running to their current ones or run more fiber to them or whatever they do so we can utilize more data vs just getting that data faster?

They should have honestly just waited until they could provide 10GB for $30 before they started rolling out LTE.
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Well if you currently have a Verizon contract, then none of this will affect you, at least until your contract is up. But if the current news is true, then you shouldn't have to worry about it at all.

ImDonly1 said:
I would be happy with HSPA+ upgrades. Isn't that just a software upgrade? It is cheaper and easier to roll out then LTE. T-mobile is set to offer 42mbps HSPA+ and has speeds close to verizon's 12mbps LTE.

What is the point of LTE?
Also what is the point of sprint going LTE over wimax? There will be no speed difference or anything.
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No, HSPA+ isn't just a software upgrade, the phones hardware/radio has to support it as well.

Sprint is going LTE over WiMax because that's becoming the standard for 4G across all carriers in the US. I guess this will be good so that you can roam on other carriers 4G networks so there will be a lot more coverage. But other than that, LTE is much better at building penetration than WiMax because of the longer wave-length of the 700 MHz band vs. Sprints WiMax freq of 2.5 GHz. The higher freq/shorter wavelength you get, the less distance it has and objects it can pass through.

Ashton said:
Dont bet $$$ on that.

Likely they will REQIURE a plan change when you upgrade (that's what Sprint has done to SERO plan owners, while we still get out old plan we pay a data premium of $20 to get the newest phones (though it's still $50/$55 for Unlimited data, + Phone (minus 500 anytime minutes))

You need to decide if your going to need more Data than VZW will provide on it's tiers. If so, you might as well look to another carrier when you want to upgrade. Sprint has suddenly become the people's choice since they offer truely unlimited data on 2/3/4G
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Yeah, that's what Sprint did, but AT&T hasn't forced its customers from the old unlimited plan to its new tiered plan in the year or so it's been instated. Verizon could very well go one way or the other. But the current news out right now says you'll be able to be grandfathered in with the old unlimited plan when you re-new your contract. Though that could very well change at any time. If it does when my contract is about to expire, then I guess I'll go to another carrier (T-Mobile or Sprint for me).
 
Ashton said:
Dont bet $$$ on that.

Likely they will REQIURE a plan change when you upgrade (that's what Sprint has done to SERO plan owners, while we still get out old plan we pay a data premium of $20 to get the newest phones (though it's still $50/$55 for Unlimited data, + Phone (minus 500 anytime minutes))

You need to decide if your going to need more Data than VZW will provide on it's tiers. If so, you might as well look to another carrier when you want to upgrade. Sprint has suddenly become the people's choice since they offer truely unlimited data on 2/3/4G
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from the reports i have read ill be grandfathered into unlimited even with a plan renewal though if they keep what is currently done it requires an extra 10 per line of lte (i never understood that bs) so with my next phone ill be able to keep my unlimited but even if i dont get to keep it i have used maybe 70 MB and i reset in 8 more days there are that many wi-fi access points around me where ever i go. that even if i get bumped to a 2 gig plan i would care less...
 
The reason everyone wants to go LTE/WiMax is due to spectrum, bandwidth and cost. Quite simply, it's cheaper in the long run for everyone to be on LTE vs GSM or CDMA, plus you can get more people connected per tower with the "4G" tech.

There will be enough speed to eventually cut out the voice/data separation and make everything VOIP, making it MUCH cheaper for the companies, while of course passing nothing on to the consumers.
 
entropism said:
There will be enough speed to eventually cut out the voice/data separation and make everything VOIP, making it MUCH cheaper for the companies, while of course passing nothing on to the consumers.
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Sprint is already experimenting with this. I found some notes about "call fallback onto WiFi" about when there isn't adequate reception...

And they'll bill it as "it allows us to have more people on our towers, so no waiting!" (like we wait as it is...) not that it saves any $$$, so thus we're not entitled to any rate cuts...
 
T4rd said:
No, HSPA+ isn't just a software upgrade, the phones hardware/radio has to support it as well.
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Well software upgrade on the carrier/tower side. I read its easier to do than LTE/Wimax.


T4rd said:
Sprint is going LTE over WiMax because that's becoming the standard for 4G across all carriers in the US. I guess this will be good so that you can roam on other carriers 4G networks so there will be a lot more coverage.
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I guess this is the most important point.

T4rd said:
But other than that, LTE is much better at building penetration than WiMax because of the longer wave-length of the 700 MHz band vs. Sprints WiMax freq of 2.5 GHz. The higher freq/shorter wavelength you get, the less distance it has and objects it can pass through.
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I understand this, but Sprint is not deploying LTE in the 700Mhz range. I think there was a document where it showed them wanting to use it at 1.9ghz and 2.5ghz. Around the same as their wimax network. So LTE will be the same as Wimax at this I think.
 
ImDonly1 said:
I understand this, but Sprint is not deploying LTE in the 700Mhz range. I think there was a document where it showed them wanting to use it at 1.9ghz and 2.5ghz. Around the same as their wimax network. So LTE will be the same as Wimax at this I think.
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I'm going to agree here, from what I've read they are only making a "minor change" to make WiMax into LTE so it's likely the same spectrum.

The only thought I have here is that they will sell "multi-spectrum" LTE phones untill they can completely refurbish the towers to 700mhz (much along the lines of how some say they will leave WiMax on for at least a few upgrade cycles so those of us who bought WiMax handset will be able to switch without a loss of 4G service) I'd assume that new rowers built will be 700mhz or dual 700/2500mhz or 700/1900mhz
 
The point of lte is super fast speed. I can care less about it now since I got on a unlimited data plan then sold my thunderbolt. Ill wait till a good 4g phone comes out that I like then ill pay retail for it...
 
Sprint will be deploying LTE in the 1900/2500Mhz, as well as the 800mhz spectrum once iDen is phased out (starting later this year)
 
I don't know what the hoopla about LTE is (not sure what the point of super fast is if you have no need for it). Majority of places dont even have it yet and wont be getting it for a year (where I live we are prolly looking at 1.5-2 years). 3g works great for me, can watch HBO GO on my incredible 2 just fine, and apps and webpages download fast enough for me.
 
I wont give a shit about LTE, or HSPA+ for that matter until I can get an aircard with an unlimited plan to replace my crappy ass Cable Co for my 600 gb a month average download.
 
The same thing was probably said about the switch from Analog to Digital, or 2g to 3g.

For you, faster speed, better latency and possibly better voice quality LTE phone to LTE phone depending on how companies setup VoLTE over their networks.

For them, network simplification as everything will be IP based, better security (compared to a traditional GSM network) more efficient use of spectrum, and of course more profits where they can charge for better performance.
 
For the service provider? A lot of reasons.

For the consumer? There is no point with a 2gb data cap.
 
1) It's faster. Even if you use the same amount of data, you get that data faster. Faster is better. Everyone saying "3G is fast enough" can go sit on a rocking chair yelling at kids to get off their lawn.

2) Lower latency. *MUCH* lower, like, you can finally get <100ms ping times instead of hilariously bad 200+ms with 3G. I'm actually seeing an average of ~50ms pings on my LTE device in addition to ~12-17mbit down and an awesome 8mbit up (faster than my home internet upstream :( )
 
I thought "why the need for LTE, the phones? can't load the webpages in 1/8 sec like my desktop."
Well i'm on LTE now and probably will never be able to use 3G again. I've been with tmo and AT&T both have pings of 220ms on the good days and 300ms on regular days. While driving on freeway i get 350ms pings and my download speeds on 4G are never above 5mb/s on any of their 4G.
The pings i get on LTE are 63ms that makes the connection feel like its on wifi. Anyways if you don't have LTE you can always bitch saying, "no real need" but once you have it you wouldn't want to go back.
If you think your 3G is so great, then you shouldn't really have the need to find a wifi hotspot for your smartphone. I myself don't use my home wifi anymore, because why bother? LTE is almost as good as my landline.
What is worse is that the people that have unlimited data on AT&T still thinks their 4G is just as good as LTE.
 
If you've seen it on a phone like a Galaxy S II unlocked it's getting the 21Mbps of bandwidth that the network is supposed to give, in the areas where there is 4g available. Yes latency isn't LTE low but I'm not using it as my my home router either.

No doubt LTE is where I eventually want to end up, but if I can pull similar bandwidth but not have to worry about having to charge up every six hours I can hold off another year on having to have it while battery life improves.
 
Greenstuffs said:
I thought "why the need for LTE, the phones? can't load the webpages in 1/8 sec like my desktop."
Well i'm on LTE now and probably will never be able to use 3G again. I've been with tmo and AT&T both have pings of 220ms on the good days and 300ms on regular days. While driving on freeway i get 350ms pings and my download speeds on 4G are never above 5mb/s on any of their 4G.
The pings i get on LTE are 63ms that makes the connection feel like its on wifi. Anyways if you don't have LTE you can always bitch saying, "no real need" but once you have it you wouldn't want to go back.
If you think your 3G is so great, then you shouldn't really have the need to find a wifi hotspot for your smartphone. I myself don't use my home wifi anymore, because why bother? LTE is almost as good as my landline.
What is worse is that the people that have unlimited data on AT&T still thinks their 4G is just as good as LTE.
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This is how I feel after being on LTE for about a month. To top it off, the LTE coverage is far better in Los Angeles than the 3G ever was. With 3G, there were places at work I'd have only the 1X bullshit. Those same places I get 5mbps+ on LTE, which is lower than most areas but still far faster than even the best speeds I got on 3G.

Also went on a little vacation Thu-Sat down to San Diego. My hotel only had a whopping 0.8mbps over wifi, not fast enough for mlb.tv. So went back to LTE, wireless tethered to my tablet to get 7mbps in my hotel room, which was plenty to stream live mlb.tv in HD.

Good thing I'm on unlimited too, cause that used a couple gigs watching only 2/3 of a game.
 
So Verizon wants put as many customers on smartphones away from feature-phones as possible. They keep advertising how you can quickly view webpages, videos, stream music, etc, all the amazing stuff you couldn't do before on feature-phones.

But then they put these pathetic, expensive and low caps on us. They encourage us to use wifi to reduce our data usage and any overages but yet keep touting their amazing 4G LTE network? All they want is to put every customer on mandatory data-plans required when you get a smartphone and then cap and slap overages on us! :mad: :confused:

I work at VZW tech support and am getting training on our new tiered data plans tomorrow. I can't wait to see how the instructors will spin this as positively as possible. Should be good for a laugh and I get some time off the phones. Even though I am grandfathered to unlimited data on my Droid Charge, I still feel like leaving them out of principle. I'm already ticked at them for killing their NE2 program, reducing the return period from 30 to 14 days, etc.

Its too bad since their LTE is extremely nice, way better than Wimax I used on Sprint. Better speeds, no frequently dropped connections and can actually penetrate buildings! But I'll take unlimited Wimax over capped LTE any day!
 
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What they have not told you yet is they have another bone to toss you in thier bag of tricks. Remember the "connect plan" that gave everyone in your family unlimited data for an extra 10 bucks a head for members that needed it? Something along those lines is in the works.
 
nerdydesi said:
snip....

I work at VZW tech support and am getting training on our new tiered data plans tomorrow. I can't wait to see how the instructors will spin this as positively as possible. Should be good for a laugh and I get some.....snipp
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Please, PLEASE update us on this. :)


I am currently not on contract (ended a while back) and I'm on the original droid. I either planned to upgrade to the new iphone or a dual core LTE droid. I need to know if I have to renew before July 6 or I can renew later and be grandfathered in.
 
martinmsj said:
Please, PLEASE update us on this. :)


I am currently not on contract (ended a while back) and I'm on the original droid. I either planned to upgrade to the new iphone or a dual core LTE droid. I need to know if I have to renew before July 6 or I can renew later and be grandfathered in.
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I never got to go to the training. I've been sacked for leaking info on the Droid 3 as well as the data pricing to some blog sites. It was expected. : /

On the bright side, I have time to study for some IT certifications and to take a vacation. I had plenty of vacation hours approved, but VZW would never let me take them, since they recently closed a call center and they said call volume increases a lot in the summer. :mad:
 
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