Difference between 4G LTE and 4G....?

While the difference between slower 3G networks and new 4G or LTE networks is certainly noticeably faster, most of the 4G and “true 4G” networks have upload and download speeds that are almost identical.
 
Leo privacy guard helps us protect our privacy ( secret privacy ) and the break in alert helps us know who the intruders, maybe if we know the people and he/she lie to us that he/she didnt open our privacy, we know that he/she open our privacy
 
While the terms 4G and LTE are often used together, I think of them as separate terms and will address them individually.

4G is somewhat vague, but it refers to fourth generation wireless data speeds faster than 3G, which in turn is faster than 2G. Those terms are also somewhat vague, but I think of 1G data as slow dial up, initially 300 bps, eventually upgraded to 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, on up to maybe 14,400 bps. 2G data was initially in the 14,400 to 56k range and is now typically around 128 Kbps to 256 Kbps. 3G is roughly 1 to 1.5 Mbps and possibly as high as 3 or 4 Mbps. 4G would be anything faster than that, typically 4.7 Mbps on up.

LTE or Long Term Evolution is the 4G wireless data format currently favored by most wireless carriers. It is theoretically capable of 300 Mbps down and 75 Mbps up, although it is usually limited by the carrier well below that. LTE (or now LTE Advanced) is the best commercially available wireless data standard that I am aware of today.

In the U.S. Verizon Wireless was the first carrier to agreesivly upgrade their network to LTE and still has had the largest LTE network currently available, by far. While most if not all national wireless carriers now support LTE, when Verizon first began building out LTE several of their competitors were using other 4G technologies such as WIMAX, HSUPA, HSDPA, HSPA, and HSPA+. The slowest of these competiting 4G technologies was around 4.7 MBps, the fastest around 21 MBps, but all were being marketed as 4G and several carriers were claiming to have the largest, fastest, best, or widest 4G network.

Personally if LTE is capable of 300 Mbps, I think of these other standards in the 4.7 - 21 Mbps range as more like 3.5G, but all were being marketed as 4G and Verizon was trying to build Marketing value into their multi-billion dollar LTE investment. After briefly calling it "true 4G" they started branding it "4G LTE" and trying to differentiate their true 4G LTE data from other 3.5G standards.

It seems to have worked as their competitors all seem to have adopted LTE and I haven't heard anything about HSPA+ in quite a while. LTE also seems to have emerged as the 4G standard worldwide, as international carriers are upgrading their GSM and CDMA networks to LTE in over 200 countries worldwide.
 
The ITU-R set standards for 4G connectivity in March of 2008, requiring all services described as 4G to adhere to a set of speed and connection standards. For mobile use, including smartphones and tablets, connection speeds need to have a peak of at least 100 megabits per second, and for more stationary uses such as mobile hotspots, at least 1 gigabit per second.

When these standards were announced, these speeds were unheard of in the practical world, because they were intended as a target for technology developers, a point in the future that marked a significant jump over the current technology. Over time, the systems that power these networks have caught up, not just in the sense that new broadcasting methods have found their way into products, but the previously-established 3G networks have been improved to the point that they can be classified as 4G.

What is LTE?

LTE stands for Long Term Evolution, and isn’t as much a technology as it is the path followed to achieve 4G speeds. As it stands, most of the time when your phone displays the “4G” symbol in the upper right corner, it doesn’t really mean it. When the ITU-R set the minimum speeds for 4G, they were a bit unreachable, despite the amount of money tech manufacturers put into achieving them. In response, the regulating body decided that LTE, the name given to the technology used in pursuit of those standards, could be labeled as 4G if it provided a substantial improvement over the 3G technology.

Immediately networks began advertising their connections as 4G LTE, a marketing technique that allowed them to claim next-gen connectivity without having to reach the actual required number first; it would be like the U.S. claiming they had landed on the moon because they got pretty close and the spaceship that got them there was a lot better than the previous ship. It’s not entirely trickery though, despite inconsistent speeds depending on location and network, the difference between 3G and 4G is immediately noticeable.

Speed

So the real question is, can you feel a difference between 4G and LTE networks? Is the speed of loading a page or downloading an app on your handheld a lot faster if you have LTE technology built in? Probably not. While the difference between slower 3G networks and new 4G or LTE networks is certainly noticeably faster, most of the 4G and “true 4G” networks have upload and download speeds that are almost identical. For now, LTE is the fastest connection available for wireless networks.
 
So the real question is, can you feel a difference between 4G and LTE networks? Is the speed of loading a page or downloading an app on your handheld device a lot faster if you have LTE technology built in? Probably not, unless you live in a city. While the difference between slower 3G networks and new 4G or LTE networks is certainly very noticeable, many of the 4G and “true 4G” networks have upload and download speeds that are almost identical. The roll out of LTE-A is starting to make a difference, but your mileage may vary. For now, LTE-A is the fastest connection available for wireless networks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top