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When is LTE useful?

Johnny Steps

Johnny Steps

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 29, 2011
578
507
When I was changing from Sprint to AT&T three days ago I'm not gonna lie. I was somewhat tempted to get an Android phone for the reason that, since I'm gonna have good service, 4G LTE would actually be usable. I would've probably gone with Verizon since they were offering the whole 4GB plan for $30 for 4G enabled smartphones only.

But then I remembered how much of a battery killer it was and with an iPhone 4S and HSPA+ it's still gonna be fast.

Obviously I'm tied to a 2 year contract with now and won't be upgrading anytime soon.. and supposing the iPhone 5 has LTE capabilities.. do you think people like me would be missing out on that feature?
 
TG1

TG1

macrumors 6502a
Feb 21, 2011
591
51
It's great for streaming video services like video chatting, Netflix, and YouTube in high quality. Everything else is super snappy too (apps, browsing, etc.). That being said, I don't need it for everything so I use it on an on-demand basis when I need it.
 
Johnny Steps

Johnny Steps

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 29, 2011
578
507
TG1 said:
It's great for streaming video services like video chatting, Netflix, and YouTube in high quality. Everything else is super snappy too (apps, browsing, etc.). That being said, I don't need it for everything so I use it on an on-demand basis when I need it.
Click to expand...

Streaming is probably good for unlimited users though.

How much does netflix cost? Like if I saw one episode of 30 rock on the go? Like 100 mb right?
 
lordofthereef

lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,720
Boston, MA
IMO it will be useful up until the point that the network become congested. How many people are hitting theoretical 3G speeds? Very few. Right now, there are only a small fraction of people on 4G networks when compared to 3G. The same things were said about 3G "it's so fast, yadda yadda". Those will be reduced. Not to nothing, obviously, but I doubt we will sustain 20 megabit during peak hours like many or getting on LTE now. It's great for streaming, and probably always will be. I don't see it being leaps and bounds ahead of 3G technology in the way that 3G was leaps and bounds ahead of 2G tech.
 
DeepIn2U

DeepIn2U

macrumors G5
May 30, 2002
12,824
6,878
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
it's useful ONLY when the battery technology in smartphones can use LTE bandwidth wants/needs by end users over the course of a 3hr stream.

Right now using USB Rocket Sticks is the only real use of it.
I'm very impressed by the speeds that the LG Optimus LTE (AT&T Nitro in the USA) has in comparison to the Samsung Galaxy SII LTE model.

note that the Optimus LTE (Bell Mobility in Canada supports both: 1700 & 700Mhz) where the AT&T Nitro only supports the 1700mhz LTE band.
 
Johnny Steps

Johnny Steps

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 29, 2011
578
507
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A406 Safari/7534.48.3)

Well all that makes sense. But like I said, you guys talk about streaming video and such, what's the point if people are limited in data or throttled if they over use it? It seems 4G is only good for that burst of speed you need at a moment's notice.
 
C

cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,154
I love it as I have a 4g tablet which has a massive battery anyway. For a phone I think HSPA+ is good enough, if you don't plan on using the hotspot feature as a dedicated home wifi setup.

Really for all I'm concerned when I'm on my phone anything better then 1 mbs down is enough to do what I need even Netflix streaming. Problem with Verizon is its not uncommon to have .50 mbs down or less on their 3g network. So if you aren't in an LTE area you are stuck with Busch league speeds.

I think with what is available today with LTE technology and coverage area you made a good choice.
 
TG1

TG1

macrumors 6502a
Feb 21, 2011
591
51
Agree with the issue of data caps making utilizing LTE more difficult. That's one of the reasons I jumped on Verizon's double data promotion. 4 gb (for the price of 2) is just right for me. :thumbup:
 
C

cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,154
I agree with Johny steps for the most part. Its not about being able to download entire movies to the device. Its more about near instant loading of data. You'll often find me starring at my iPhone saying "come on and load already!". Lol
 
M

megapopular

macrumors 6502a
Aug 21, 2007
737
10
cynics said:
I love it as I have a 4g tablet which has a massive battery anyway. For a phone I think HSPA+ is good enough, if you don't plan on using the hotspot feature as a dedicated home wifi setup.

Really for all I'm concerned when I'm on my phone anything better then 1 mbs down is enough to do what I need even Netflix streaming. Problem with Verizon is its not uncommon to have .50 mbs down or less on their 3g network. So if you aren't in an LTE area you are stuck with Busch league speeds.

I think with what is available today with LTE technology and coverage area you made a good choice.
Click to expand...

Which 4G tablet do you have?
 
C

cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,154
megapopular said:
Which 4G tablet do you have?
Click to expand...

Xoom. I love it, on it now actually. It works great for me cause I have a work provided iPhone 4s from Verizon. The Verizon version can't do data and talk at the same time. Since I drive all day I keep the tablet on as a wifi hotspot. So I'll get 20-70 mbs down, can talk and use data, saves battery, plus its like a 3g unrestricter so I can face time when I'm out. Matter of fact the Xoom has a pretty powerful radio, I've been able to park infront of a wawa and face time from inside the store lol. Or drive and face time.
 
M

mantan

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2009
1,743
1,041
DFW
Spectrum Abuser said:
There is no 2GB(LTE) limit on any carrier in the US anymore unless you've been grandfathered in. And the only one still offering a 2GB(3G) capped plan is Verizon.
Click to expand...

For now...but when an LTE capable iPhone hits the market, all bets are off. There is no way any carrier is dropping tens of millions iPhone users itching to stream HD video without data caps in place....
 
S

sentinelsx

macrumors 68010
Feb 28, 2011
2,004
0
LTE will be useful when we get minimum 50-60 GB of data cap. Checking facebook or the weather 2 seconds faster doesn't warrant paying for the service, at least not here in Canada. At least people using Sprint in the US might enjoy their unlimited LTE after all.
 
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sentinelsx

macrumors 68010
Feb 28, 2011
2,004
0
Maverick713 said:
Verizon LTE is currently Data only
Click to expand...

Because VoLTE will be an expensive upgrade and many carriers are using an in-between solution which allows the phones to fall back on existing network for voice during calls. Hopefully in the future they will all upgrade.
 
rjohnstone

rjohnstone

macrumors 68040
Dec 28, 2007
3,896
4,493
PHX, AZ.
sentinelsx said:
Because VoLTE will be an expensive upgrade and many carriers are using an in-between solution which allows the phones to fall back on existing network for voice during calls. Hopefully in the future they will all upgrade.
Click to expand...
VoLTE is not the issue.
The issue is handing off the call to a WCDMA based tower when you leave a VoLTE area.

Ericsson and Qualcomm just figured out how to do it.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/idUS139559+02-Feb-2012+HUG20120202

The upgrade will be required on both the handset and the carrier.
 
S

sentinelsx

macrumors 68010
Feb 28, 2011
2,004
0
rjohnstone said:
VoLTE is not the issue.
The issue is handing off the call to a WCDMA based tower when you leave a VoLTE area.

Ericsson and Qualcomm just figured out how to do it.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/idUS139559+02-Feb-2012+HUG20120202

The upgrade will be required on both the handset and the carrier.
Click to expand...

Of course the upgrade will be required on both. I was merely mentioning that carriers have LTE as strictly data only and no voice. You need to switch back to WCDMA/CDMA for voice. With VoLTE later this year you will no longer need the switch but it will require both network and phone upgrades.
 
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