Verizon's Galaxy S4 will be first to utilize faster LTE spectrum

[VFC]

Now this may sway me to pick up the S4 once my Verizon contract expires on my old phone.

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/ph...-first-to-utilize-faster-lte-spectrum-1155146

 

[2298754]

Looks like there is no reason to pick up any other smartphone on VZW these days. I don't understand why VZW didn't build in AWS before into their older phones. AT&T has.

 

[aneftp]

Are u guys sure its "faster LTE?"

It supports AWS. Just another band.

Please clarify how much faster AWS LTE will be compared to band 13 LTE ok verizon.

ATT also used AWS LTE.

This doesn't make sense about "faster". AWS will just expand coverage.

 

[2298754]

Are u guys sure its "faster LTE?"

It supports AWS. Just another band.

Please clarify how much faster AWS LTE will be compared to band 13 LTE ok verizon.

ATT also used AWS LTE.

This doesn't make sense about "faster". AWS will just expand coverage.

VZW owns enough AWS spectrum to deploy 20x20 AWS on top of the regular 10x10 700mhz band in most major cities. Theoretical speeds for 20x20 are around 150mbps down. That's why its much faster.

AT&T hasn't started deploying AWS yet. VZW is just starting to.

 

[aneftp]

VZW owns enough AWS spectrum to deploy 20x20 AWS on top of the regular 10x10 700mhz band in most major cities. Theoretical speeds for 20x20 are around 150mbps down. That's why its much faster.

AT&T hasn't started deploying AWS yet. VZW is just starting to.

Gotcha. But AWS (I think) penetrates buildings worse? Than 700 band? I think AWS travels further and is in bigger urban areas.

But going from 100 to 150 mpbs is kinda of bland.

It's like GSM providers increasing HSPA speeds from 7mpbs to 14.4/21mpbs. Very little real world difference.

 

[2298754]

Gotcha. But AWS (I think) penetrates buildings worse? Than 700 band? I think AWS travels further and is in bigger urban areas.

They will be running both layered, so you will get 700 deep into buildings, whereas AWS will help outside/on the streets, etc. AWS is supposed to have about 2x the bandwidth than 700 (until they utilize more 700 spectrum soon) The key is seamlessly switching between them. Hopefully, it is done right.

But going from 100 to 150 mpbs is kinda of bland.

10x10's max is 73 mbps, whereas 20x20 is ~150 mbps. So speeds will essentially double. Since the S4 will be the only phone to support it for a while (new Lumia also has it), you will be stupid fast speeds, until the next round of smartphones (5S, etc) have AWS support built-in.



I still think it's ridiculous that VZW didn't think of this originally. AT&T's phones support AWS LTE, even though they don't have it deployed.

 

[durant35]

Just another reason I love Verizon. Cheaper than AT&T and their LTE speeds destroy AT&Ts already as is. Cant wait for this!

 

[2298754]

J Cheaper than AT&T and their LTE speeds destroy AT&Ts already as is.

Not really... they're pretty close with AT&T having a slight edge due to a denser cell site spacing.

http://www.rootmetrics.com/special-reports/lte-performance-review/

 

[durant35]

Not really... they're pretty close with AT&T having a slight edge due to a denser cell site spacing.

Image

Image

http://www.rootmetrics.com/special-reports/lte-performance-review/

AT&T doesnt even have true LTE, its basically HSPA+ Verizon's LTE is worlds faster in most areas.

 

[2298754]

AT&T doesnt even have true LTE, its basically HSPA+ Verizon's LTE is worlds faster in most areas.

Wait what?

These aren't LTE speeds? Just fast HSPA+ speeds?

btw, go Thunder! it's a shame Westbrook had to get hurt.

 

[aneftp]

I have both att and verizon. I just want a verizon phone that supports both hspa plus and both att and verizon LTE band.

Is that asking for too much? I usually have my verizon LTE sim in my verizon LTE iPad and forward the number to my att line.

But if I can get a universal verizon phone that has true quad band LTE I would be happy.

 

[durant35]

Wait what?

These aren't LTE speeds? Just fast HSPA+ speeds?

Image

Those are over Wifi, not AT&Ts network...Nice try though

 

[2298754]

Those are over Wifi, not AT&Ts network...Nice try though

Yes, you are correct. AT&T provides me with dial-up service whereas my VZW MIFI provides amazing LTE service!

You must not use the speed test app. The tower icon is CLEARLY cellular data. The wifi logo is similar to the Airport logo on Apple devices.

If you don't know what you're talking about, don't bother trying to make ridiculous points and replying to my messages.

 

[durant35]

Yes, you are correct. AT&T provides me with dial-up service whereas my VZW MIFI provides amazing LTE service!

You must not use the speed test app. The tower icon is CLEARLY cellular data. The wifi logo is similar to the Airport logo on Apple devices.

If you don't know what you're talking about, don't bother trying to make ridiculous points and replying to my messages.

The Wifi icons are the two fastest in your tests, you are also using wifi in this screenshot. The slower speeds on AT&Ts network are not impressive, Verizon's LTE speeds can hit well over 100Mbps, faster than your Wifi. Also, your results are FAR from typical. A look thru any of the threads here with people testing LTE speeds will tell you that. AT&T is usually well behind Verizon speeds in those posts.

 

[skratch77]

Im near boston and your att speeds blow my verizon lte away.

I get averege 20-30 and when im at work near the tower I can hit 55-60 and to the poster that thinks Verizon is getting 100mb its not physically possible on there network right now.

 

[adder7712]

Wait what?

These aren't LTE speeds? Just fast HSPA+ speeds?

Image


btw, go Thunder! it's a shame Westbrook had to get hurt.

That's 5 times faster than my home internet connection.

 

[sectime]

Now this may sway me to pick up the S4 once my Verizon contract expires on my old phone.

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/ph...-first-to-utilize-faster-lte-spectrum-1155146

Interesting that the Nokia 928 was not mentioned even though it was in the quoted article.

 

[sectime]

Looks like there is no reason to pick up any other smartphone on VZW these days. I don't understand why VZW didn't build in AWS before into their older phones. AT&T has.

Nokia 928 has AWS also, as the quoted article covers. Wonder if that site is paid to post inaccurate info?

 

[Dontazemebro]

Just another reason I love Verizon. Cheaper than AT&T and their LTE speeds destroy AT&Ts already as is. Cant wait for this!

Actually it has always been the other way round. AT&T tops Verizon on speed but Verizon destroys AT&T on footprint.

I normally get 45-50Mbps down on AT&T network.

AT&T doesnt even have true LTE, its basically HSPA+ Verizon's LTE is worlds faster in most areas.

False, they have LTE and HSPA+

Verizon has LTE rolled out in more markets though.

 

[aristobrat]

AT&T is usually well behind Verizon speeds in those posts.

I live in VA's largest metro area, and over the last year, Verizon's LTE speeds have gone to crap. Utter crap.

AT&T's HSPA network will usually average faster. AT&T and Sprint's LTE network speeds here utterly shame Verizon's.

To me, it's almost like Verizon was in a super hurry. It seems like they rolled into this area in late 2011, put LTE on the least amount of towers they could get away with, and then rolled on out. LTE signal hasn't improved for me (or my friends) since then, which is weird, .. Verizon's voice and non-LTE data network rarely dips below 4 bars anywhere around here, whereas their LTE network has many areas with only 1-2 bars. And Verizon's LTE speed has done nothing but decline since then.

It's kind of a shame. But I guess since with their network, it's either ~500kbps "3G" or LTE, they're really under the gun to roll LTE out as fast as they can. I just hope they get off their ass and come backfill LTE here so that it's on par (coverage wise) like their competition.

 

[2298754]

The Wifi icons are the two fastest in your tests, you are also using wifi in this screenshot. The slower speeds on AT&Ts network are not impressive, Verizon's LTE speeds can hit well over 100Mbps, faster than your Wifi. Also, your results are FAR from typical. A look thru any of the threads here with people testing LTE speeds will tell you that. AT&T is usually well behind Verizon speeds in those posts.

Again, you have no idea what you're talking about. VZW is running a 10x10 network on 700 right now. Max is about 73 Mbps. They will add 20x20 on AWS which will double throughput.

And no ****, I'm on wifi right now. I took that screenshot at home when I'm connected to WiFi and went thru my history. The rest of the tests are on LTE. Its fine if you don't know what's going on, but just admit it without being in denial.

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Im near boston and your att speeds blow my verizon lte away.

I get averege 20-30 and when im at work near the tower I can hit 55-60 and to the poster that thinks Verizon is getting 100mb its not physically possible on there network right now.

Yup. I have both in Boston and while VZW is just as reliable, AT&T blows it away in coverage and speeds. They're running a higher cell site density here than VZW. Can't go wrong with either, but I do average well over 40 Mbps in my area, even at peak times.

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Nokia 928 has AWS also, as the quoted article covers. Wonder if that site is paid to post inaccurate info?

Correct. 928 and S4 have AWS. Nokia really didn't talk about it as much as Sammy

----------

I live in VA's largest metro area, and over the last year, Verizon's LTE speeds have gone to crap. Utter crap.

AT&T's HSPA network will usually average faster. AT&T and Sprint's LTE network speeds here utterly shame Verizon's.

To me, it's almost like Verizon was in a super hurry. It seems like they rolled into this area in late 2011, put LTE on the least amount of towers they could get away with, and then rolled on out. LTE signal hasn't improved for me (or my friends) since then, which is weird, .. Verizon's voice and non-LTE data network rarely dips below 4 bars anywhere around here, whereas their LTE network has many areas with only 1-2 bars. And Verizon's LTE speed has done nothing but decline since then.

It's kind of a shame. But I guess since with their network, it's either ~500kbps "3G" or LTE, they're really under the gun to roll LTE out as fast as they can. I just hope they get off their ass and come backfill LTE here so that it's on par (coverage wise) like their competition.

I'm going to have to agree with this. My brother lives in NoVA and my VZW mifi was dirt slow in the Tysons area and once I got into DC. AT&T was great everywhere.


It looks like VZW is hitting capacity. AWS is being deployed for this reason alone.

They spaced their sites too far apart, which is a big NO NO in major metro areas. Eventually they will go back and fill them in, but VZW is still gunning for area covered fast and not how good the coverage really is. Once I leave Boston, my Mifi has trouble keeping LTE because the sites are too wide from each other. AT&T, I don't have these issues at all.

 

[mattopotamus]

faster LTE reminds me of AC wifi chips. I probably will not notice a difference, and the "ac" chip is useless when my ISP ultimately controls speed.

 

[CubeHacker]

10x10's max is 73 mbps, whereas 20x20 is ~150 mbps. So speeds will essentially double. Since the S4 will be the only phone to support it for a while (new Lumia also has it), you will be stupid fast speeds, until the next round of smartphones (5S, etc) have AWS support built-in.

Speeds won't magically double just because they are increasing the spectrum used. The bottleneck is still the source internet connection at the cell tower. Just like upgrading from an 802.11g to a shiny new 300mbps 802.11n router won't make web browsing on your ipad any faster if you are still stuck on a 3mbps DSL line.

 

[2298754]

Speeds won't magically double just because they are increasing the spectrum used. The bottleneck is still the source internet connection at the cell tower. Just like upgrading from an 802.11g to a shiny new 300mbps 802.11n router won't make web browsing on your ipad any faster if you are still stuck on a 3mbps DSL line.

You don't think that back haul will be increased to support these speeds? If they left it the same, there would be no reason to deploy so much AWS spectrum then.

 

[CubeHacker]

You don't think that back haul will be increased to support these speeds? If they left it the same, there would be no reason to deploy so much AWS spectrum then.

They may make upgrades to heavily congested areas. But the vast majority of users won't see any tangible speed increase.