Verizon's new XLTE network doubles bandwidth for users of Apple's latest iPhones & iPads
Verizon, America's largest wireless provider, announced on Monday the launch of its new XLTE network, an enhanced version of its 4G wireless data that offers double the previous speed available on the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, as well as the LTE-compatible iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display.
Verizon said its new XLTE network has launched in neighborhoods or areas where demand is high, covering markets in 44 out of 50 U.S. states. It's expected to help during especially busy periods like rush hour, lunch time, or in crowded areas.
The full list of XLTE markets includes New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago and virtually every other major city in the country, along with dozens of smaller markets.
"The industry and tech world recognize this is a big deal, and we want consumers to know, too," said Ken Dixon, chief marketing officer of Verizon Wireless. "We continue to offer the very best network, bar none. Now, XLTE provides an even greater advantage to customers by doubling the 4G LTE bandwidth and providing faster peak speeds in cities coast to coast."
Verizon says its new XLTE network, which is available in markets where the AWS spectrum has been activated, will deliver double the bandwidth to customers with compatible devices, along with faster peak data speeds.
Customers with legacy LTE devices, such as Apple's iPhone 5, will also benefit from the extra capacity crated by XLTE capable devices moving to the AWS spectrum.
Verizon said its new XLTE network has launched in neighborhoods or areas where demand is high, covering markets in 44 out of 50 U.S. states. It's expected to help during especially busy periods like rush hour, lunch time, or in crowded areas.
The full list of XLTE markets includes New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago and virtually every other major city in the country, along with dozens of smaller markets.
"The industry and tech world recognize this is a big deal, and we want consumers to know, too," said Ken Dixon, chief marketing officer of Verizon Wireless. "We continue to offer the very best network, bar none. Now, XLTE provides an even greater advantage to customers by doubling the 4G LTE bandwidth and providing faster peak speeds in cities coast to coast."
Verizon says its new XLTE network, which is available in markets where the AWS spectrum has been activated, will deliver double the bandwidth to customers with compatible devices, along with faster peak data speeds.
Customers with legacy LTE devices, such as Apple's iPhone 5, will also benefit from the extra capacity crated by XLTE capable devices moving to the AWS spectrum.
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Yay! Now I can reach my usage cap twice as fast!
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Always makes me question the results when companies use phrases such as "2x faster" or "up to x% faster". Unless you know the original speeds that the company is expecting, how can you prove it's faster.
Isn't this just the same thing Sprint did with their Spark service back in October? Basically putting LTE as accessible on a different spectrum.
Double bandwidth to be equal to ATT? Nice. My ATT iPhone 5 got 25 mbps most of the times and closer to my work place in Santa Clara, I get >50 mpbs. Beat that, Verizon.
Still no LTE in my area from AT&T in 2014 with my iPhone 5S when Verizon had it when I bought my iPhone 5. I had faster internet and better quality calls with my previous iPhone. That said, my fault for assuming AT&T would have updated their network by the time I switched back.
I know people can post speedtests from the other carriers that are higher speeds but honestly I have never felt the need to go above 8Mbps on my phone. Videos and music streaming which have a far higher demand than web surfing work very well. I can't wait for the iPhone 6 that will support Sprint Spark which the 5 and 5s do not support since they do not support LTE on the 2.5Ghz spectrum. I am anxious not so much for the speed boost as how much greater coverage this will provide.
Must be awesome to access your 2 GB cap even faster now!
Lol, yep very good point which is why I am glad I still have an unlimited data plan. I am not even that heavy a user. Most of my data usage comes from streaming music whenever I am in the car so maybe an hour or 2 per day on average. Some occasional video usage, games, not a lot of web surfing and I went over 8GB last month.
Isn't this just the same thing Sprint did with their Spark service back in October? Basically putting LTE as accessible on a different spectrum.
I don't think it's just the new spectrum.
Verizon was the first major US carrier to deploy LTE because their 3G EV-DO technology was a dead-end, whereas AT&T and T-Mobile had HSPA+ that they could migrate to before moving to LTE.
Being the first to market, Verizon used the LTE equipment available at the time, which has been superseded by better/faster generations of equipment.
At this point, Verizon is catching up to more recent AT&T and T-Mobile LTE deployments which used faster equipment as they adopted LTE later than Verizon.
I keep hearing that but that doesn't seem to happen. So a website loads a little faster but my reading of a website isn't increasing as a result. And a 5 minute YouTube video still takes 5 minutes to watch even if it starts playing after 3 seconds instead of 5 seconds.
In fact, I'd say my usage has gone down because more of my usage is tied to apps which tend to use data more efficiently than a website that has to pull the entire UI from a server.
Now there is an eventual cause and effect scenario as faster data allows for complexity and "beefy" data to be loaded but until the faster data is the norm that isn't likely to happen because it would negatively affect the majority.
That leaves a couple seconds here and there where you could technically use that saved time for accessing more stuff thereby using more data as a consequence but who uses their device that way? I certainly don't. Despite my usage I have plenty of downtime with my iPhone because it's not a server running nonstop, 24/7.
Unless you get an option for higher bit rate music your hour or two per day of streaming music will still be the same amount of data regardless of whether you have 4Mib/s or 4Gib/s Internet access between your iPhone and your streaming service, save for someone that want to skip songs constantly using a streaming service that loads the entire song as soon as it's chosen.
Lol, yep very good point which is why I am glad I still have an unlimited data plan. I am not even that heavy a user. Most of my data usage comes from streaming music whenever I am in the car so maybe an hour or 2 per day on average. Some occasional video usage, games, not a lot of web surfing and I went over 8GB last month.
I got unlimited with T-Mobile.
Clearly not the fastest thing out there but it works okay. I am not to anal about it.
Price is pretty fair.
I keep hearing that but that doesn't seem to happen. So a website loads a little faster but my reading of a website isn't increasing as a result. And a 5 minute YouTube video still takes 5 minutes to watch even if it starts playing after 3 seconds instead of 5 seconds.
In fact, I'd say my usage has gone down because more of my usage is tied to apps which tend to use data more efficiently than a website that has to pull the entire UI from a server.
Now there is an eventual cause and effect scenario as faster data allows for complexity and "beefy" data to be loaded but until the faster data is the norm that isn't likely to happen because it would negatively affect the majority.
That leaves a couple seconds here and there where you could technically use that saved time for accessing more stuff thereby using more data as a consequence but who uses their device that way? I certainly don't. Despite my usage I have plenty of downtime with my iPhone because it's not a server running nonstop, 24/7.
I agree with you on the point of diminishing returns in terms of raw speed but really disagree in terms of actual usage. After getting LTE over a year ago my usage has increased many fold and like I said above I think I am not a data hog. Most of my usage I am guessing comes from streaming internet radio which is likely at 128Kbps speed I think. Doing that around 90 minutes a day gets me to around 8GB per month give or take a few above or below that on average. With a 2GB cap I would have to vastly change how I use my iPhone and really monitor my usage far more carefully.
At 128kib/s streaming music can be easily handled by nearly all versions* of the '3G' standard. It sounds like you changed how you used your device but I see nothing that was not possible with the previous '3G' iPhones.
* '3G' can be as low as 384kib/s which could handle 128kib/s streaming music under the right conditions but is say at 8x that capacity of the bitrate is what I would consider the minimum.
Unless you get an option for higher bit rate music your hour or two per day of streaming music will still be the same amount of data regardless of whether you have 4Mib/s or 4Gib/s Internet access between your iPhone and your streaming service, save for someone that want to skip songs constantly using a streaming service that loads the entire song as soon as it's chosen.
I posted my reply above before I saw yours. I am definitely a song skipper. I am not really sure how the internet radio services work. I believe iTunes radio is streaming at 256K if I am not mistaken which can really chew through some data quickly. My usage patterns have not changed with LTE but my data usage has gone up considerably so I attribute this to far higher quality audio and video streams. They sure sound better in my car to my ears at least. I can say this much with near certainty. I would have a very hard time staying below 2GB without some serious changes in my routine of using my iPhone. I say this because I also was rarely if ever under 2GB with only 3G.
Sorry for being so cynical... but I hate how America has basterdised the meaning of 4G.
As of now what would make me a lot happier would be for Verizon to launch Voice Over LTE. The fact that I can't do simultaneous voice & data 4 years after the launch of iPhone on Verizon has gotten quite a bit long in the tooth. And the fact that GSM AT&T has beat them to the punch even though voice & data is possible on their network, looks bad for VZW. It wasn't a deal breaker when they first got the iPhone, I was just happy to have an iPhone on VZW. But now that has worn off and I'd just like to be able to have internet capabilities when i'm on the phone and i'm not on WIFI.