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AT&T vs. Verizon: LTE, Head-to-Head -- PCMag
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Speaking from experience that is absolutely NOT true. AT&T's rural coverage absolutely sucks!
I don't see LTE being a huge factor so soon.
For most users, they will not know the difference between 3G and LTE speeds. Most users are checking emails, a website here and there, but thats about it.
Whats more important is reducing latency. If they can do that on their networks, that'd be better for 3G users. Hopefully a bunch of folks will join LTE and not clog up 3G networks as much haha.
But seriously, LTE will have a great impact for those that tether religiously, or play a lot of media on their mobile device.
For most users, they will not know the difference between 3G and LTE speeds. Most users are checking emails, a website here and there, but thats about it.
Whats more important is reducing latency. If they can do that on their networks, that'd be better for 3G users. Hopefully a bunch of folks will join LTE and not clog up 3G networks as much haha.
But seriously, LTE will have a great impact for those that tether religiously, or play a lot of media on their mobile device.
In my area it's pretty actuate... maybe I'm lucky
The exact same could be said for Verizon's coverage in certain areas...
Mind you I live in the NYC metro area (45 minutes from Manhattan), but I frequently have better coverage and data speeds with my AT&T iPhone than my friends with Verizon, and I even live in an LTE area...
Yes, all coverage is local. But there absolutely is a difference when you compare the four major networks nationwide. To pretend otherwise is foolish.
Completely agree, but to MOST people their experience will be extremely comparable with each carrier... AT&T got this negative astigma a few years back, and now they get all this unnecessary hate...
In my area it's pretty actuate... maybe I'm lucky
The exact same could be said for Verizon's coverage in certain areas...
Mind you I live in the NYC metro area (45 minutes from Manhattan), but I frequently have better coverage and data speeds with my AT&T iPhone than my friends with Verizon, and I even live in an LTE area...
Rarely. It's common public opinion that Verizon has better coverage for a reason and a big part of that is full 3G coverage in rural areas where AT&T drops to edge or GPRS.
OK, but when your in an area with 3G service from both AT&T and Verizon, AT&T tends to have the faster data speeds... plus the fact that AT&T has continued to support and improve their exciting 3G data speeds (HSPA+), while Verizon has jump the gun to be the first to roll out LTE...
Mind you... lets say the next iPhone only had up to HSPA+ (which seems likely at this point), then the AT&T iPhone will have a HUGE advantage in data speeds vs. Verizon...
Again, maybe I'm just lucky to be in an area that has good coverage by both AT&T and Verizon, but I have been with AT&T since they were Cingular and have never felt wronged by their coverage or service...
... anyway... about the article... can't wait for AT&T's LTE coverage in my neck of the woods
Things will get better with integrated 4G/3G radios. That's the biggest reason for the hideous battery life.
Give Verizon some time. They had previous plans to switch voice to LTE in the first half of 2012. Has AT&T said anything about putting voice onto the LTE waves? Not yet (if ever).
OK, but when your in an area with 3G service from both AT&T and Verizon, AT&T tends to have the faster data speeds... plus the fact that AT&T has continued to support and improve their exciting 3G data speeds (HSPA+), while Verizon has jump the gun to be the first to roll out LTE...
Mind you... lets say the next iPhone only had up to HSPA+ (which seems likely at this point), then the AT&T iPhone will have a HUGE advantage in data speeds vs. Verizon...
Again, maybe I'm just lucky to be in an area that has good coverage by both AT&T and Verizon, but I have been with AT&T since they were Cingular and have never felt wronged by their coverage or service...
... anyway... about the article... can't wait for AT&T's LTE coverage in my neck of the woods
Whatever drugs you're on, I want 2. If AT&T sticking with improving 3G is your best arguement, enjoy your next iPhone on AT&T. Verizon didn't want to make more progress for 3G because LTE is the next progressive step. Verizon just set the wheels in motion sooner. It makes you wonder if AT&T would even be building out an LTE network if VZW wasn't already getting customers on their LTE. HSPA+ isn't as fast as LTE. It sits almost halfway between current 3G & LTE speeds. Apple will play in the LTE pool, but they want everything to be to their liking. Companies that use Android are stepping all over themselves to get in on the ground floor. The first 4 (& more) Verizon LTE phones are all Androids & more than likely, so will AT&T's. People hoping for an LTE iPhone in a month will be sorely disappointed. Maybe next year when both networks (& maybe the AT&T/T-Mobile merger) are fully up and stable, Apple will have all of the necessary components for an LTE iPhone.
Wait? You're trying to argue that Verizon is better because they're developing on a new standard that won't even be compatible with the next iPhone? It's great that Verizon is pushing LTE, but unless the iPhone supports those speeds it's somewhat irrelevant to discussion (especially on the iPhone section of a mac forum). But it is realistic to assume that the next iPhone will at least support HSPA+. This give AT&T a huge advantage (If you live in an area with good AT&T coverage). Mind you I completely understand that some people have issues with AT&T, sometimes people act like it's awful everywhere, which really isn't the case.
On another note Verizon's 4G coverage is still small at this point. Really shouldn't be a deciding factor for anyone unless they know for sure they live in a 4G area.
Didn't I already say that?
Yes, yes I did.
Sorry, misinterpreted your comment. You're saying that AT&T caught up with Verizon with 3G speed, but my personal experience is that they far exceeded Verizon in terms of 3G speed. My AT&T iPhone always does about 2-3x the data speeds of my friends Verizon one... and I live 15 minutes from Verizon's corporate headquarters.
No, I said the caught up and passed them.
And Verizon's LTE coverage at this point covers such a large area of the population that they could almost start advertising like AT&T who boasts of population coverage while ignoring the rest of the miles and miles of areas people like to travel to.
That is not accurate at all. Verizon's LTE coverage is not close to that. ATT 3G coverage blankets most of the US. Verizon LTE is not.
Whatever drugs you're on, I want 2. If AT&T sticking with improving 3G is your best arguement, enjoy your next iPhone on AT&T. Verizon didn't want to make more progress for 3G because LTE is the next progressive step. Verizon just set the wheels in motion sooner. It makes you wonder if AT&T would even be building out an LTE network if VZW wasn't already getting customers on their LTE. HSPA+ isn't as fast as LTE. It sits almost halfway between current 3G & LTE speeds. Apple will play in the LTE pool, but they want everything to be to their liking. Companies that use Android are stepping all over themselves to get in on the ground floor. The first 4 (& more) Verizon LTE phones are all Androids & more than likely, so will AT&T's. People hoping for an LTE iPhone in a month will be sorely disappointed. Maybe next year when both networks (& maybe the AT&T/T-Mobile merger) are fully up and stable, Apple will have all of the necessary components for an LTE iPhone.
Who is on drugs? Lol.
And yes, ATT right now has a huge advantage. Huge. The reason ATT LTE is faster is because the backhaul bandwidth is much wider. ATT just added LTE to it's HSPA+ network, while Verizon just has LTE towers with much lower backhaul. It has nothing to do with how many people are on each others LTE network since there are not enough LTE phones out in the wild to matter.
Once HSPA+ is everywhere ATT's 3G is and it will be soon if not by the end of the year, they will have 7Mps to 21Mps to even 42Mps(yes HSPA+ goes that fast!) speeds everywhere their 3G is, just by upgrading their existing 3G network to HSPA+.
So basically on Verizon when you are not on LTE you will have to switch to CDMA which is 1Mps to 2Mps at best. Really Verizon? From 10 to 20Mps on LTE to 1Mps to 2Mps CDMA. Lol.
But on ATT. You will go from LTE which is 20Mps to 42Mps to Hmmm. To HSPA+ which is 7Mps to 21Mps. No noticeable drop off at all. Seamless user experience. Verizon not so much.
Basically Verizon has to cover the entire US in LTE to compete! They are behind ATT and Tmobile, not the other way around. Tmobile has 21Mps practically for the entire US. That is what ATT should have done, and did LTE later.
Verizon has to build their WCDMA network which is LTE from scratch. That is why they have to have a faster LTE buildout. They invested in the wrong technology in the first place which is CDMA, instead of the much faster newer WCDMA or Wide Band CDMA.
So that point is meaningless.
HSPA+ in some markets is as fast or faster than Verizons LTE network. I am getting 7+12Mps down and 1.2Mps up on ATT network in Tampa.
Verizon had to implement LTE faster than ATT. They had no choice. The upgrade path to CDMA REVB, and C is a outdated technology. UMTS, HSPA, HSUPA, HSPA+ is much, much faster. And the natural upgrade path from HSPA+ is guess what? LTE!
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2393182,00.asp
Now look at Verizons 3G speeds vs ATT's 3G speeds. It's embarrassing.
http://www.pcmag.com/Fastest-Mobile-Networks-2011
The new 4G networks are generally polka dots on the U.S. map, or bubbles around the nation's major cities. In the spaces between them, AT&T won the crown for the best balance of speed and consistency on its 3G, HSPA 7.2 network.
AT&T's nationwide 3G network still offers the best balance of speed and performance outside major cities, but the giant carrier is struggling in big cities against Verizon's LTE network and T-Mobile's nimble HSPA+ technology. AT&T is moving to HSPA+ 21 right now and plans to introduce an LTE network this summer, so we could see the carrier's position recover in 2012.
Verizon Wireless has two very different networks: a slow, but reliable nationwide 3G network and a blazingly fast 4G LTE network with limited coverage. The combination seems to be working out, as Verizon's 4G system swept our Fastest Mobile Networks awards while its 3G voice network got top marks in our Readers' Choice awards for its terrific coverage and call quality.
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Time to learn how cellular systems work.
Each carrier has coverage maps to show customers where the service is available. The smart money chooses a carrier first & then a phone.
I happen to live in a huge major metropolitan area where my AT&T coverage is every bit as good as my Verizon for my Droid. Yet that's unusual. Normally each geographical area has one carrier that's stronger than the rest.
It has always been that way, and will continue as such.
AT&T's 3G coverage still sucks though.
That it does.
I never once saw the 1X (CDMA's EDGE) icon on my Verizon iPhone. My AT&T iPhone would slip into EDGE when I walked into buildings that were right in the middle of a 3G covered city. I'd see EDGE all the time while I traveled.
I have quite the opposite experience, and I travel weekly all around the US. I haven't seen EDGE in a long, long time. Just when out traveling in the middle of no where.
In buildings I get between 3 at the least and five bars. Maybe you had a bad iPhone?
I think both carriers coverage is spotty and have their strengths and weaknesses. But as PC Mag pointed out ATT 3g coverage while not as dense is actually (better than Verizons) while being faster.
With the iPhone on Verizon it a lose, lose. You will be stuck on weak 3G that verizon has, with no LTE iPhone until next year. Which will be 1 to 2Mps if your lucky.
Meanwhile HSPA+ on ATT will be getting 7Mps to 21Mps. Big difference. Even Verizons 1X is slower than Atts EDGE. Lol.
Lose - Lose? At least I can make a call when I am not in a major city...Win. All you AT&T fanboys sound like the Android fanboys, all you care about are specs. Who needs 7-21mbps on a phone honestly.
Sorry, but you do realize that there are other phones than the iPhone right? Yes this is an iPhone forum on a mac site, but this THREAD is about AT&T vs. Verizon. Believe it or not, we ARE allowed to talk about other devices here, especially in the context of the topic at hand. There may be perfectly valid reasons to argue that AT&T's approach is better than Verizon's, but pretending to live in a vacuum where only the iPhone exists is foolish. If we were to follow your line of reasoning, then all the carriers are foolish for even launching any kind of 4G network before the iPhone supported it. Doing otherwise is simply a waste of money.
Some people yes, some people no. I never missed the feature personally.
Arguing for or against the feature is like getting into a shouting match over coke vs pepsi.
I beg to differ. I've been always been able to make calls. So, I'd say that's a win. No, I don't care for specs. Who needs those speeds? No one, but at least I can brag about it and use it when I tether (the jailbreak way). You on the other hand, well... not so much.
Oh so now you can blow through your 2gb tethering plan in 10 minutes instead of 15. Well congrats to you...or are you tethering illegally?
