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AT&T Announces Summer Launch of New LTE Modem and Hotspot Devices

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mdntcallr said:
If ATT is going to do LTE, one thing is certain... it is going to stink.

I am happy to have a CLEAR 4G + 3G mobile hotspot, why? cause it works. my ATT Iphone is very unreliable.

and no, just cause ATT doesn't reinvest in it's network it is no reason to approve monopolistic behavior in their proposed T-Mobile buyout.

Apple needs to approve Sprint, T-Mobile and other carriers for its products. not keep people reliant on ATT in the US.
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In reply to:

I am happy to have a CLEAR 4G + 3G mobile hotspot, why? cause it works. my ATT Iphone is very unreliable.

I say:

As a Clear user, using Clear and it works in the same sentence is a stretch. Sure, if you have a strong signal it works but with 2 or 3 bars it is spotty at best, especially with the hotspot.
 
Better than Verizon Solution

With AT&T, when you exit a 4G LTE footprint, at least you get HSPA+ (14mb). With Verizon, you are stuck with their slow CDMA (1mb). Of course, once everyone's 4G LTE is fully built out (prob around 2014 timeframe), this won't make a difference. However, 3 years is a long time in "tech" years.
 
Aw man. Not launching in Washington this summer. I've read AT&T's 4G LTE may be much faster than Verizon due to the spectrum they acquired. I'm anxious to find out.

But I find it interesting they're not bragging. Yet?
 
"AT&T has yet to announce, however, expected real-world data speeds for its LTE network."

That's the ?
 
afurry13 said:
Where does it say unlimited LTE data? Nowhere does it say that. It says unlimited wifi usage...
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"They can also take advantage of unlimited usage on AT&T’s entire national Wi-Fi network if using a post-paid data plan"

You are correct, I was wrong (I have always wanted to try being wrong just to see what it feels like.)

I will say that while you are factually correct, my comment was aesthetically correct.
 
chrmjenkins said:
Preliminary tests have shown their network is faster than Verizon's, with them hitting over 20 MB/s. The question will be how much backhaul they have, which shouldn't be an issue at first.
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How is preliminary lab testing that reached 28mbps faster than my Verizon LTE smartphone that gets up to 57mbps in real world testing?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdF3AnNc308

Can someone explain this to me. Thanks.
 
Question......

I wondered about this a lot.

4G or LTE or whatever you want to call has great potential and will allow wireless devices to do more things and do them faster, probably some things we haven't thought of yet.
I'm just afraid without umlimited data plans or a rethinking of the prices, it could get extremely expensive to use.
It wasn't to long ago cell providers were making obscene profits off of roaming.
They are doing it now with text messaging. Apparently, they plan on making obscene profits from data.

Because of my concerns, I don't feel any pressing need to get a 4G capable phone. Many of the things that would take advantage of 4g speed would also use a lot of data.....like connecting 5 devices to a 4g gizmo, I can just imagine how quick that could use up your data allotment.
 
oldline said:
Aw man. Not launching in Washington this summer. I've read AT&T's 4G LTE may be much faster than Verizon due to the spectrum they acquired. I'm anxious to find out.

But I find it interesting they're not bragging. Yet?
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You can have all the spectrum in the world, but if you're cheap on the backhaul deployment, your customers will stay dissatisfied. That's exactly what AT&T is doing with their HSPA+ for example. They are so cheap that even though they have 4 carriers in NYC, each carrier shares 21mbps per cell site.
Verizon LTE for instance deploys 73mbps per sector, and each Cell Site has 3-6 sectors. Multiply that with 73 to see how much backhaul they have.
 
taxiapple said:
I wondered about this a lot.

4G or LTE or whatever you want to call has great potential and will allow wireless devices to do more things and do them faster, probably some things we haven't thought of yet.
I'm just afraid without umlimited data plans or a rethinking of the prices, it could get extremely expensive to use.
It wasn't to long ago cell providers were making obscene profits off of roaming.
They are doing it now with text messaging. Apparently, they plan on making obscene profits from data.

Because of my concerns, I don't feel any pressing need to get a 4G capable phone. Many of the things that would take advantage of 4g speed would also use a lot of data.....like connecting 5 devices to a 4g gizmo, I can just imagine how quick that could use up your data allotment.
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You're absolutely right. Unless you get unlmited 4G, its a pure rip off to tie yourself into the contract where the Cell Lords will be draining your account with all kinds of overages for 2 years. It's a slavery! If you can grandfather yourself into the unlimited 4G and lock it down, you'll enjoy the web as it's meant to be enjoyed.
 
Reason077 said:
This fascinating for someone, I'm sure.

But, given that this is MacRumors, can we stick to Apple related news, please?!
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This was important to me and at&t related, since they sell both iPhones and iPads that could use these modems nicely. Not to mention your Macbooks.
 
I'm sure some people in San Diego are pleasantly surprised, only to be crushed.

MacRumors said:
AT&T is launching its LTE in five markets this summer: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Diego. The carrier plans to expand the network to at least 15 markets and cover 70 million Americans by the end of the year.
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From the Press Release:

AT&T plans to launch 4G LTE service in five markets this summer – Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio - and extend it to at least 15 markets and to cover 70 million Americans by the end of 2011.
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Eduardo1971 said:
I think you meant San Antonio (as one of the launch cities) and not San Diego.

All apologies to Coder12 who was looking forward to 4G at the Sandy Eggo Zoo!
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Yep it is San Antonio and not San Diego. I live in San Diego and got excited for a moment. :mad:
 
milan03 said:
You can have all the spectrum in the world, but if you're cheap on the backhaul deployment, your customers will stay dissatisfied. That's exactly what AT&T is doing with their HSPA+ for example. They are so cheap that even though they have 4 carriers in NYC, each carrier shares 21mbps per cell site.
Verizon LTE for instance deploys 73mbps per sector, and each Cell Site has 3-6 sectors. Multiply that with 73 to see how much backhaul they have.
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Are you talking about cell sites that have had their backhaul upgraded or just the software. From what I understand, ATT upgraded every tower to HSPA+ more or less at the same time because it required no change to hardware. Now they are upgrading the backhaul as fast as they can. From what I understand, ATT HSPA+ post upgrade should be about the same speed or just a bit faster than Verizon LTE.
 
They really need to focus on upgrading their back-haul network... as long as the back-haul network continues to suck, it doesn't matter whether you're connecting to the tower with LTE, 3G or even EDGE.
 
RalfTheDog said:
Are you talking about cell sites that have had their backhaul upgraded or just the software. From what I understand, ATT upgraded every tower to HSPA+ more or less at the same time because it required no change to hardware. Now they are upgrading the backhaul as fast as they can. From what I understand, ATT HSPA+ post upgrade should be about the same speed or just a bit faster than Verizon LTE.
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Software upgrade to HSPA+ is the easiest thing to do, requires almost no cost, they've done that Q4 2010, but no other cell company in the world would market their HSPA+ network active unless they properly deployed the backhaul, or, well the fat pipe to the internet. AT&T preferred to make bombastic announcements about their ~100% HSPA+ ready and deployed network, but only when paired with "enhanced backhaul". That term doesn't exist. You have to upgrade your backhaul if you want your network to perform.
AT&T's network doesn't perform. It crawls down every business day from 11am-6pm, even though I'm connected to their HSPA+ software upgraded network.
The fastest radio in any AT&T smartphone is the one in Infuse 4G. It's the 21mbps capable radio (in theory). That is by no means faster than 73mbps capable Verizon LTE radios in their 4G smartphone offering.
 
I'm in Houston (one of the five cities that they think actually matters), so I'm fine with it. ;) lol
 
milan03 said:
How is preliminary lab testing that reached 28mbps faster than my Verizon LTE smartphone that gets up to 57mbps in real world testing?

Can someone explain this to me. Thanks.
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Thanks for the correction, I originally said >20 MBps, not Mbps. Second, the video you linked shows a burst download speed. That's not indicative of sustained downloads. AT&T's lab tested is reported have attempted to mimic real-world conditions (though that requires taking AT&T at their word), but that speed was 2x faster than Verizon's advertised speed.

The crux of it all is that AT&T's LTE network should compete well with Verizon's, assuming they're upgrading their backhaul to keep up.
 
darbus69 said:
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better new related news than no news for those of us who check in hourly, duh? quit your whining, expand your horizons!
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I check in every 30 min fool, and whats more, I do it on a swarovski encrusted iPad with a golden orb silk case. Handwoven by Buddhist Monks.

My horizons are far greater than yours could ever be. So watch your mouth.


:p
 
chrmjenkins said:
Thanks for the correction, I originally said >20 MBps, not Mbps. Second, the video you linked shows a burst download speed. That's not indicative of sustained downloads. AT&T's lab tested is reported have attempted to mimic real-world conditions (though that requires taking AT&T at their word), but that speed was 2x faster than Verizon's advertised speed.

The crux of it all is that AT&T's LTE network should compete well with Verizon's, assuming they're upgrading their backhaul to keep up.
Click to expand...

Wait repeatedly testing the speed is a "burst download speed"?
Ok here are a couple more videos of tethered Thunderbolt downloading a torrent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccM_rbfVGDU
And simply doing a speedtest when tethered: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVC10FMD8kg

My point is Verizon is not stupid to advertise 28mbps real world speeds (although in the lab settings) and then underperform which would make their users dissatisfied. Verizon is setting the expectations pretty low (for LTE technology) which is 5-12mbps so that they can meet and exceed customers' expectations. Old trick, always works.
 
chrmjenkins said:
Enjoy the high speed LTE while you can. It will be in the toilet come iPhone 6 in 2012 I'd imagine.



Preliminary tests have shown their network is faster than Verizon's, with them hitting over 20 MB/s. The question will be how much backhaul they have, which shouldn't be an issue at first.
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its what half the size of verizons network? it should be even faster than that
 
milan03 said:
Wait repeatedly testing the speed is a "burst download speed"?
Ok here are a couple more videos of tethered Thunderbolt downloading a torrent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccM_rbfVGDU
And simply doing a speedtest when tethered: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVC10FMD8kg

My point is Verizon is not stupid to advertise 28mbps real world speeds (although in the lab settings) and then underperform which would make their users dissatisfied. Verizon is setting the expectations pretty low (for LTE technology) which is 5-12mbps so that they can meet and exceed customers' expectations. Old trick, always works.
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Peak sustained 40 Mbps is still much lower than 56, which is why I said a burst test isn't representative. That's all the speedtests do.

And if Verizon was concerned about not dissatisfying users, they wouldn't have axed their unlimited plans. The carriers' objectives is to lure customers in with good networks and phones and then bend them over a barrel with features and overages.
 
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