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bidwalj

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 16, 2007
1,056
136
I'm having a hard time understanding what benefits hspa+ will be to those of us that don't get speeds anywhere close to the 7.2 the iPhone 4 can do? is the hspa+ different towers and might be less congested? right now i average between 3-4 down in the bay area.
 
I'm having a hard time understanding what benefits hspa+ will be to those of us that don't get speeds anywhere close to the 7.2 the iPhone 4 can do? is the hspa+ different towers and might be less congested? right now i average between 3-4 down in the bay area.

Advertised speed and real world speed are 2 different things. Advertised speeds are possible... if you had virtually no one else on the network with you. But you have a crowded AT&T network... so you are getting half. When you get a 14.4 capable iPhone, hopefully you can expect 7-8 down.
 
I am in an ATT HSPA+ area right now and get no more than 1.5 down and usually average less than half of that! That "enhanced backhaul" is not nearly enhanced enough I guess....
 
How do you know you're in an HSPA+ area?

ETA: http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer


http://www.wireless.att.com/coverag....027319433593746&lon=-86.66767553710939&sci=5

And no that pin is not where I live. I live in one of those dark blue areas though...

"4G: The areas shown in darkest blue represent AT&T owned HSPA+ network with enhanced backhaul. AT&T's HSPA+ network is capable of delivering 4G speeds when combined with enhanced backhaul. 4G device required. Learn more about 4G."
 
I'm having a hard time understanding what benefits hspa+ will be to those of us that don't get speeds anywhere close to the 7.2 the iPhone 4 can do? is the hspa+ different towers and might be less congested? right now i average between 3-4 down in the bay area.
Network layer protocol overhead, error correction overhead, other users on network etc.

Many physical interfaces use 8b/10b encoding for dc balance (Ethernet, PCIE, SATA, etc), meaning you've already dropped to 80%. Aside from any spiking, 100mbps Ethernet won't average more than 80mbps, and then other factors can effect from there.

And for similar and other various reasons a local wireless standard like 802.11G 54mbps in best case scenario is around 22mbps. Down 40%.

Then we go wide area wireless standard, even more potential disruptions, needs even more overhead to reliably send packets, it's going to get worse. With that frame of reference, the 3-5mbps I get here in metro Atlanta from my 7.2mbps cell phone is simply stellar.

Expect a 14.4 network interface to potentially double that base, to 6-10mbps realistic.

----------

Article is total farce, already debunked in other threads. Editor there is clueless.
 
Thanks Menel. Sounds like it's not just about download speed. Battery life, latency and reliability may also be improved even if AT&T's "enhanced backhaul" upgrades are woefully late.
 
Network layer protocol overhead, error correction overhead, other users on network etc.

Many physical interfaces use 8b/10b encoding for dc balance (Ethernet, PCIE, SATA, etc), meaning you've already dropped to 80%. Aside from any spiking, 100mbps Ethernet won't average more than 80mbps, and then other factors can effect from there.

And for similar and other various reasons a local wireless standard like 802.11G 54mbps in best case scenario is around 22mbps. Down 40%.

Then we go wide area wireless standard, even more potential disruptions, needs even more overhead to reliably send packets, it's going to get worse. With that frame of reference, the 3-5mbps I get here in metro Atlanta from my 7.2mbps cell phone is simply stellar.

Expect a 14.4 network interface to potentially double that base, to 6-10mbps realistic.

----------

Article is total farce, already debunked in other threads. Editor there is clueless.


Well then isn't apple and ATT using false advertisement?


James
 
Well then isn't apple and ATT using false advertisement?


James
No.

It's accurate and true. There are bits being transmitted at 7.2mbps. It's just that some of those bits aren't specifically your data, it's overhead to account for error correction and other technicalities to help your data, to insure your data packets reliably travel across the airwaves to their destination.

These are industry standard methods of representing link bandwidth.
 
Well then isn't apple and ATT using false advertisement?


James

No, HSPDA+ 14.4 is the name of the type of communication, there is also HSPDA+ 21 HSPDA+ 42 , etc...

None of them actually hit the speeds in their names, but they are each faster than the version before them.

Now of course the network is slower in SOME areas, but that is true of any wireless network. However, in an area with an upgraded network and good signal, any iPhone 4s is CAPABLE of getting up to double speed.
 
Well then isn't apple and ATT using false advertisement?


James
Read up on network topology layers.

Any time in media, spec sheets, advertising, they discuss Physical Layer Link Speed. This is for SATA, USB, Ethernet, and of course Cellular networks.

What YOU see, as the end user, when using speedtest.net, download web pages, files, is done at the Application Layer, and every layer in between has overhead, bits are used for services to insure your applications work as reliably as possible.

http://networking.ringofsaturn.com/Protocols/sevenlayer.php
 
I definitely expect a noticeable speed increase.

I remember when I first got the 4 and my buddy still had the 3G. Over several days, we did test after test with the SpeedTest app on both of our phones from the same location. The 4 was resoundingly faster every single time. IIRC my 4 was consistently 40-60% faster on each test.

Hopefully, there will be the same type of difference between the 4 and the 4S.

I already consistently get between 3-5 Mbps speeds in Dallas on AT&T, so I will be one happy camper if I can routinely get 5-6 Mbps with the 4S.
 
You can get up to 14mbps on att hspa+ network (I have in some enhanced backhaul areas) so I am excited for the 4S as I am expecting around ~9mbps
 
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