it probably adds another band to increase data rates. i know at&t runs gsm or at least use to and that was a quad band if i remember correctly with the recent freeing up of radio signals by the FCC id imagine that the LTE is just one of those that were made availible. but i could be wrong
In March 2008, the International Telecommunications Union-Radio communications sector (ITU-R) specified a set of requirements for 4G standards, named the International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced (IMT-Advanced) specification, setting peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100 megabits per second (Mbit/s) for high mobility communication (such as from trains and cars) and 1 gigabit per second (Gbit/s) for low mobility communication (such as pedestrians and stationary users).[1]
Since the above mentioned first-release versions of Mobile WiMAX and LTE support much less than 1 Gbit/s peak bit rate, they are not fully IMT-Advanced compliant, but are often branded 4G by service providers. On December 6, 2010, ITU-R recognized that these two technologies, as well as other beyond-3G technologies that do not fulfill the IMT-Advanced requirements, could nevertheless be considered "4G", provided they represent forerunners to IMT-Advanced compliant versions and "a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed".[2]
The difference between 4G and 4G LTE on ATT is between 10 and as much as 20 MB/s. My dads HTC Inspire 4G on ATT maxes out at around 8MB/s while his friends Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket on 4G LTE averages around 19MB/s, but has been known to hit 25MB/s in the city. My Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch on Sprint has maxed at 7MB/s on 4G WiMAX, but I've only been able to hit 4G WiMAX once and that was only for 45 sec. So I wouldn't call it all marketing, but it isn't true 4G by any stretch.
The difference between 4G and 4G LTE on ATT is between 10 and as much as 20 MB/s. My dads HTC Inspire 4G on ATT maxes out at around 8MB/s while his friends Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket on 4G LTE averages around 19MB/s, but has been known to hit 25MB/s in the city. My Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch on Sprint has maxed at 7MB/s on 4G WiMAX, but I've only been able to hit 4G WiMAX once and that was only for 45 sec. So I wouldn't call it all marketing, but it isn't true 4G by any stretch.
Remember, im more cynical than most
Donno what my skyrocket does. I hardly get EDGE at my house and my cubicle is in the middle of the building, with steel filled walls on both sides of me so signal sux there too. ( middle both in floors and on the floor )
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04:36 PM
hookdonspeed Member
Posts: 7980 From: baltimore, md Registered: May 2008
3g is voice / data over different channels for most carriers, 4g is *always* voip system...(LTE uses VOIP) 3g will only link to a single tower, 4g links to multi (mimo) for a more stable connection (LTE uses mimo) 3g is rated at data rate of 2 Mbit/s for stationary or walking users, and 384 kbit/s in a moving vehicle (i just ran a speed test at 11419kbps ~ 11.15Mbit/s 5x faster then 3g standard) where 4g is rated MUCH higher,at 1Gbit/s speeds.
LTE (long term enhancement) will stay around till the true 4g speeds are available in a few years...
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05:57 PM
Raydar Member
Posts: 41368 From: Carrollton GA. Out in the... country. Registered: Oct 1999
I f'ing hate AT&T. I'd probably learn to hate Verizon if I had to deal with them every day. Think I'll keep my "luddite technology" RAZR, until the carriers realize that we can vote with our dollars, and act accordingly.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 08-19-2012).]
