ATT going to 4g, will iphone for work with 4g?

AT&T sent out letters to subscribers promoting their HSPA+ "4G" system that is forthcoming. They didn't even mention LTE in that letter!

Yes, and the light would still travel away from you at the speed of light. All observers, stationary or in motion, would see the light traveling at the same speed, too.

Physics and relativity are simple, especially when compared to cellular phone contracts and billing.

When i go to cnet speed test on my evo using the 4g option from sprint it says my speed 10 mbps.

when i check it at several other places it comes up with between 10 and 11 mbps.

is that 4g or is sprint fibbing too?

How fast is 4g supposed to be? i really cant see much use for a faster network honestly, i watch hd flash movies all the time without buffering. and using its wifi hotspot i play call of duty on my xbox live and dont notice any lag.

my mom has an iphone but without flash or wifi hotspot i have no way of comparing, but her phone does seem much slower when doing things like watching videos in youtube app as they buffer for a long time and only play low quality setting

The "official" definition of 4G includes 100 mbps. So far that has never been achieved even in consumer land based (cable or optical) systems. Strictly speaking, there are no true 4G systems in use.

The carriers define it to be whatever suits their marketing needs.

ah, so then 10mbps ***** then i guess if i should be getting 100? i will complain to sprint then.

You should report it, but good luck with that. It'll be a long time before there is a true wireless 4G network in place, as well as any hand-held devices capable of handling that throughput.

More likely, you'll see 4G "redefined" to match commercial reality. Since there's no "legal" definition, the carriers are calling "4G" anything faster than what they call 3G.

I'm sorry to tell you but ur stuck in 3G. To go to so called 4G you would have to wait for new iPhone in June 2011. That's if it upgrades hardware.

To make matters worse, I believe the official specification for 4G is 100Mbps when mobile and 1Gbps when in a fixed location.

To tell the truth, I'm really disappointed the standards body has decided not to crack down on the carriers advertising 4G. Why have standards if they're not going to be enforced?

modular747 wrote:
The "official" definition of 4G includes 100 mbps. So far that has never been achieved even in consumer land based (cable or optical) systems. Strictly speaking, there are no true 4G systems in use.

The carriers define it to be whatever suits their marketing needs.

If you read the revision the UTC released then WiMax and LTE Standard can be considered 4G in its present incarnation. HSPA+? Still no.

How do you propose they "enforce" these standards? They don't have a police force or armed forces.

Why have standards if they're not going to be enforced?

Unfortunately, there is no legally official body setting the standards. The ITU (International Telecommunication Union) has set definitions , among other bodies, but has no enforcement authority in the USA (or anywhere I know of). Even if they tried to "comment" on what the carriers are doing, they surely would get sued.

The only bodies in the US that have any legal authority over the carriers is the FCC and FTC, which hasn't defined 4G and are laissez-faire about most things.

Message was edited by: modular747

Was "FTC" a typo?

See edited post.

Honestly, I don't know exactly how these things are or could be enforced... Although manufacturers of wireless networking equipment were, for the most part, pretty decent about making sure their equipment was labeled as 'draft N' until the standard was set in stone and their equipment brought into compliance.

Maybe register 4G as a trademark and license it for $1.00 to those who agree to abide by the standard and submit to testing...? Just an (unrealistic pipe dream of an) idea...

deggie wrote:
If you read the revision the UTC released then WiMax and LTE Standard can be considered 4G in its present incarnation. HSPA+? Still no.

How do you propose they "enforce" these standards? They don't have a police force or armed forces.