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Australia’s 4G network is faster than 5G: study

thenewdaily.com.au

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Re: Australia’s 4G network is faster than 5G: study

#41

Post by jwilliams »

ricardobeat wrote: post #5

Amazingly the article refrains from providing any numbers for Australia. From the original report: - 5G: 792mbps - 4G: 950mbps https://www.opensignal.com/blog/2019/07/08/5g-boosts-the-max...

Australia has the Telstra "4GX" and Optus "4G plus" networks - it's AU 4G with its own spectrum and band aggregation.

I have seen gigabit speeds on 4GX - once, when it was new and the spectrum was hardly used.

Since the reports are quoting real world maximums, I'm sure that number is true - but doesn't reflect your average experience.

Re: Australia’s 4G network is faster than 5G: study

#42

Post by bscphil »

nwah1 wrote: post #23
gzu wrote: post #8

LTE seems plenty fast enough for typical phone usage. Not sure how much 5G will improve mobile experience in the near future without massive advances in VR. Is all this telecom positioning to setup a replacement for landline internet service?

Yes. Many consumers will like it because there's no need for a modem or router. Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile/Sprint are all working on vertically integrating to provide phone service, 5G, and streaming content options. Comcast is now in the cell phone business, and owns NBC and Universal. T-Mobile (soon to be merged with Sprint) bought Layer3 and is now in the TV business. AT&T owns Warner Brothers and HBO. V…

I'm not sure I understand the idea. How is my laptop or desktop going to get internet access this way? Am I going to have to buy a PCI card or USB antenna for each computer? Right now I get 100 Mbps down with no data cap via a cable provider. Trading for a system with antennas on every device , lower speeds, and probably metered sounds like one hell of a downgrade.

Re: Australia’s 4G network is faster than 5G: study

#43

Post by djsumdog »

tpmx wrote: post #2

"The United States, meanwhile, enjoyed a 5G maximum speed of 1815Mbps – about three times as fast as 4G users’ maximum speed." This report seems to be lacking a reality check. (Is it practically possible to get ~600 Mbps from LTE? Exotic bundles like LTE MIMO don't really count unless they're actually offered as part of regular plans.)

You pretty much need a direct line-of-sight to the 5G tower, without trees in the way, or clouds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CTUs_2hq6Y

Re: Australia’s 4G network is faster than 5G: study

#45

Post by djsumdog »

I wish they wouldn't just use '4G' and '5G' as if they were one concrete thing. List the actual individual protocols.

Sprint use to offer 4G in the United States that was Wi-Max based, but now almost all 4G is LTE. In Australia there was a Wi-Max provider (Vivi Wireless) but on a different frequency than the US and only via hot-spots (no phone support, that I know of).

Is 4G for all these reports LTE? What exactly is 5G in all these contexts? Are we talking about the same protocol, or another collection of protocols expected to have x speed at y range?

Re: Australia’s 4G network is faster than 5G: study

#46

Post by bscphil »

duxup wrote: post #22

I remember when I got an early 4G phone on Verizon (I think it was a Droid something or other). It was INSANELY fast. Presumably because I was one of the few folks on it and Verizon had built out all the towers and bandwidth was ready for growth. As time passed the performance suffered, granted 4G seems plenty for me most of the time.

It still is insanely fast, from my perspective. I get at least 50 Mbps down, which is just crazy which you think about the fact that it's a low power handheld device. Enough to stream 4k video, if I wanted to (I don't). More than enough to load even the absurdly large web framework of the month in less than a second. I can't see ever wanting faster Internet on my phone.

Re: Australia’s 4G network is faster than 5G: study

#47

Post by saltcured »

tus88 wrote: post #28
nwah1 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Many consumers will like it because there's no need for a modem or router. Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile/Sprint are all working on vertically integrating to provide phone service, 5G, and streaming content options. Comcast is now in the cell phone business, and owns NBC and Universal. T-Mobile (soon to be merged with Sprint) bought Layer3 and is now in the TV business. AT&T owns Warner Brothers and HBO. V…

It still doesn't make sense to me. My 4G is fast, faster than home internet often. The reason I don't use it at home is it the cost of data, not speed. Unless 5g lowers the data cost, I don't see any benefit.

From what I have read about T-Mobile's home internet pilot, the pricing might be similar to a cable modem and the service will be geo-restricted to a subscriber location. This makes sense, as they can do more efficient capacity planning when they know that the bulk-consumers will be at fixed locations.

It will be interesting to see what kind of price-bundling options they might offer, if any, to combine this fixed wireless subscription with a mobile phone subscription.

Re: Australia’s 4G network is faster than 5G: study

#48

Post by dzhiurgis »

bscphil wrote: post #46
duxup wrote: post #22

I remember when I got an early 4G phone on Verizon (I think it was a Droid something or other). It was INSANELY fast. Presumably because I was one of the few folks on it and Verizon had built out all the towers and bandwidth was ready for growth. As time passed the performance suffered, granted 4G seems plenty for me most of the time.

It still is insanely fast, from my perspective. I get at least 50 Mbps down, which is just crazy which you think about the fact that it's a low power handheld device. Enough to stream 4k video, if I wanted to (I don't). More than enough to load even the absurdly large web framework of the month in less than a second. I can't see ever wanting faster Internet on my phone.

Providers in Lithuania now sell mobile broadband. We’ve got one for a marina with 60 boats and 8 cameras. They setup little router with a bit more serious antenna. We get ~130/30 for €25 per month - all actually unlimited data.

Re: Australia’s 4G network is faster than 5G: study

#49

Post by crispinb »

Well I don't know about faster than 5G, but for my rural location it's a lifesaver. I get a steady 60Mbps down, 12-15 up, which is just a tad better than my previous 0.3Mbps ADSL. It's kind of amazing and is literally what enables me to live where I do (ie. for remote work).

4g here is also far better than the shithouse fake NBN foisted on us by our far-right government, which loathes and fears any technology more recent than coal & witch burning.

Re: Australia’s 4G network is faster than 5G: study

#50

Post by p4bl0 »

rb808 wrote: post #37

Anyone know of a dirt cheap 3G-only plan in the USA? I saw some in Europe and its just what I need really.

Not in the US but in France I have a 5€/month plan that includes unlimited calls/sms/mms and 40GB of data either in 3G or 4G (after that I still got access to Internet but the bandwidth is supposed to be reduced, I never got there). It also includes unlimited calls and sms from EU countries (+ a few others) to French numbers, and 3GB of data in 3G or 4G usable in those countries if I travel.

I guess there may be cheap plans like this that you could use. It's generally operated by MVNOs [1], you could look for those.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_virtual_network_operato...

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