Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Why does my iPhone 5 say "4G"
- Thread starter jesusplay
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I know HSPA+ is suspose to be 4G but they call the 3G HSPA, 4G???
It is just what AT&T did to compete with the 4G carriers. All I see is LTE now and 4G when I am on my MicroCell at home
Right, thats not current, and can the iphone connect to that when it is? Serious, because I dont think that it can
That is actually incorrect. They're deploying regular LTE but using the uquipment that's compatible with LTE-Advanced. http://blog.t-mobile.com/2012/03/13/t-mobile-expands-4g-network-to-new-cities/
So it'll be as fast as Verizon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTE-Advanced
http://www.ericsson.com/news/1526485
"More than 10 times faster than today's commercial LTE networks"
"Based on commercial hardware compliant with 3GPP Release 10"
"Commercial operation expected to start in 2013"
So the iPhone 5 can support T-Mobile's LTE, but not their LTE-A.
There is no LTE-A from T-Mobile coming anytime soon. They're deploying LTE with up to 10x10Mhz channels in 90% of their top 100 markets. That's 73mbps per sector which matches what Verizon has Nationwide.
AT&T also has 10x10Mhz in most markets, but quite a few 5x5Mhz markets. Sprint is all 5x5Mhz.
LTE-A is not happening in a while since there are no Release 10 User Equipment. We're still at Release 8 Category 3, and Release 9 Category 4 coming later this year or early next. It'll be regular LTE for a while, don't get too excited about LTE-A. T-Mobile is just future proofing their infrastructure with Release 10 (LTE-A compatible) equipment, so that they don't have to spend tons of money again when the time for LTE-A comes.
Also, to achieve 10 times the speeds of LTE, you'd have to deploy a TON of spectrum which T-Mobile certainly doesn't have.
LTE-A is coming in 2013. T-Mobile already bought some spectrum from Verizon to prepare for this launch. You are correct about T-Mobile having about the same (maybe higher) speeds than AT&T/Verizon/Sprint, but LTE-A supports more than just high speeds. It supports VoLTE, Carrier Aggregation, much more efficient spectrum usage and quick deployment.
Negative. They're just deploying LTE-A compatible infrastructure which will ease their path to LTE-A when the market allows it. There is no LTE-A commercial network until 2014. No user equipment either. Read this: http://blog.t-mobile.com/2012/03/13/t-mobile-expands-4g-network-to-new-cities/
"Q:Are you concerned about the timing of T-Mobiles LTE deployment? Are you late?
A:Not at all. As we roll out LTE in 2013, we have the advantage of coming to market at a time when the price points on LTE devices and network infrastructure will be coming down and the performance of LTE devices and network infrastructure will be improving. We plan to deploy LTE release 10 compatible equipment, so well be well-positioned and ready to move to LTE Advanced."
Besides that, in order to implement carrier aggregation you have to have sufficient spectrum. Recently bought Verizon AWS spectrum allows them to deploy 10x10Mhz to those cities where they only had 5X5Mhz.
VoLTE needs to be globally standardized and fallback mechanisms have to be implemented. It's not fully baked, but that said, regular LTE supports VoLTE as well.
And efficiency comes with utilizing higher MIMO, but keep in mind there is nothing on the user market higher than 2x2 and it's not going to be available till 2014. higher MIMO setup will help LTE networks mostly with capacity issues, not speeds unless the user equipment is deployed.