However, they are starting to get with the program and advertise in MB's recently. If anyone is curious, here are the speeds and prices for LTE from Vodafone Germany (in German).
(Darn Windows... Ended up closing my window trying to find the Euro sign... typing Ctrl Alt 2 or whatever that works so well on the Mac, does NOT, I forgot, work in Windows)
As I was saying, that's pretty impressive for an LTE offering. Prices are not too bad, though the download quotas are quite low for that level of speed. I could see people spending 100 Euros or more each month. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Where I am now in South East Asia I can get 5mbit to 10mbit cable instead of 1mbit DSL but the 1mbit and 2mbit DSL is currently unlimited. I've had broadband of various kinds for 10 years and quotas just suck the life out of me... Constantly worrying about it, plus having no control of other people in the house that use it.
What percentage of Germany is covered by LTE of over 20Mbit/sec?
Do they throttle the speed or charge for going over the quota?
You realize, they are also making several billion? And I am a paying customer? Technology advances. They build 4G towers so they can keep their customers and stay competitive, NOT so they can charge more to everyone. Whose koolaid are you drinking? Apple will spend hundreds of millions developing an iPhone 5, but they wont charge 250 for it because its a new model. You pay a certain price, they upgrade, you get their upgrades and keep paying that adopted price. That's how most tech works. But the telcos keep bumping their prices not because they need to, but because they can get away with it because everyone needs a phone. If you cant come out with 4G at reasonable prices, don't roll it out yet and make it mandatory for users to pay more. People are not going to be able to keep buying these phones.
Telcos are scum. What are their quarterly profits? Exactly as you mention. Billions of dollars. On voice, SMS, data. The main reason they love smartphones and 4G is not the advancement of technology and enjoyment of consumers, it's all so they can charge more. That it has fueled the mobile, tablet and app revolution is secondary to the telcos.
That said, as a consumer, I'm willing to pay a bit more for the better experience. But to a point. I'm always looking for the best value, and I am glad my iPhone and iPad purchases and data packages have been work-related, and I've been able to shift between plans with certain flexibility. With a new 4G WiMax player on the scene in my country I dumped potentially more expensive and slower 3G plans for the iPad. I just carry my 4G MiFi around which is also useful for home (I can finally connect to Steam unlike using DSL for whatever reason). While it's not super speedy (only about 1-2mbit/sec), it is fairly reliable across various Internet services thus far.
Before that I dumped the exclusive iPhone carrier to another more sensibly-priced iPhone carrier. But not without its risks. I'm waiting one month (estimated) before they can even look at my iPhone4's flakey Home button. Why? Greed. They allocate stock for new contracts (chunky lucrative 2-year contracts only for iPhone4) but ignore replacement stock for repairs. I tell you, not having a functioning Home button is very, very irritating. Some clicks work, some don't, it totally destroys the iPhone4 experience. That the telco is openly displaying utter greed and getting away with it just rubs salt in the wound. They're fine otherwise, but like many telcos around the world when it comes to the iPhone they take the very most advantage of its popularity to squeeze whatever they can out of you. I can definitely empathise with those that have suffered under ATT and two year contracts.
With my iPhone4, the warranty is only one year and I can't terminate my contract and get it repaired by Apple. Here, only the telco you are under contract with will honor warranty claims. My iPhone4 now feels like a Porsche which only goes up to 50mph. I've done the Xcode kung fu on my iPad2 to use the multi-touch gestures for going to the Home screen and bringing up the multitasking bar, thus reducing my use of the iPad2 Home button... This Home button issue is an inherent design flaw (look it up) that could crop up in any iOS device. Yes, the iPad2 is covered by warranty but there are stock shortages which affect the replacement units as well.
All the perils of not having official Apple Stores in one's country... Mac, iPad, iPhone all great when you are able to get it and when it runs without issues. Frustrating when you do have to seek service and replacements. Again, thankfully these purchases have all been income-related.
(Darn Windows... Ended up closing my window trying to find the Euro sign... typing Ctrl Alt 2 or whatever that works so well on the Mac, does NOT, I forgot, work in Windows)
As I was saying, that's pretty impressive for an LTE offering. Prices are not too bad, though the download quotas are quite low for that level of speed. I could see people spending 100 Euros or more each month. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Where I am now in South East Asia I can get 5mbit to 10mbit cable instead of 1mbit DSL but the 1mbit and 2mbit DSL is currently unlimited. I've had broadband of various kinds for 10 years and quotas just suck the life out of me... Constantly worrying about it, plus having no control of other people in the house that use it.
What percentage of Germany is covered by LTE of over 20Mbit/sec?
Do they throttle the speed or charge for going over the quota?
As always, the speed is "up to" 50MBps. I suppose when you're in eye-contact with the tower. Walk 3 feet away and you're toasted.
As soon as the (rather low) quota is reached, your speed is capped to 64kbits, Almost unusable nowadays.
My DSL at home is currently unlimited, but the connection is so bad/unstable ( 1-2Mbps depending on the weather , abysmal upload speed) that I'm planning to switch to a 10GB-capped HSPA-plan that would allow me to reach 5-6 Mbps constantly, for 20?/month
How much do these numbers mean? To me its like saying if you close Disneyland for the day you can ride a lot of rides without waiting in line. Your results will vary when we fill the park with people.
As always, the speed is "up to" 50MBps. I suppose when you're in eye-contact with the tower. Walk 3 feet away and you're toasted.
As soon as the (rather low) quota is reached, your speed is capped to 64kbits, Almost unusable nowadays.
My DSL at home is currently unlimited, but the connection is so bad/unstable ( 1-2Mbps depending on the weather , abysmal upload speed) that I'm planning to switch to a 10GB-capped HSPA-plan that would allow me to reach 5-6 Mbps constantly, for 20€/month
Ah, at least in Europe the telcos aren't perfect either. I don't feel too bad now. 64kbit/sec cap and no guarantee of speed? Good start to the LTE rollout there.
How much do these numbers mean? To me its like saying if you close Disneyland for the day you can ride a lot of rides without waiting in line. Your results will vary when we fill the park with people.
Can anyone here clarify if AT&T and Verizon LTE is the same "type" of LTE? From what I've been able to gather, it's similar in GSM in the sense that it's the same tech, but will probably be on different bands. Hence, to truly have a world GSM phone, it must be quad-band.
Will LTE be the same fashion? Will there be AT&T's preferred bands, and then Verizon's? Leaving it up to the handset manufacturer to include the potential "multi-band" LTE chip to cover both?
Ultimately, you could see where this is going... Would there be possible handsets made that will finally run on both major US networks, allowing the consumer to choose their preferred carrier based of other things than which handset is available?
I see this as some possible consumer leverage to finally keep prices competitive, especially if Apple can create the LTE iPhone (whenever that may be) to use every existing band out there.
Pulling the opposite way though, I see Android handset makers continuing separating the LTE networks on purpose to drive more sales of handsets due to "needing" to buy a new one if a consumer switches networks.
Maybe "world-wide LTE" will be another way for Apple to "bitch-slap" the carriers once again by not adhering to their norms?
Ah, at least in Europe the telcos aren't perfect either. I don't feel too bad now. 64kbit/sec cap and no guarantee of speed? Good start to the LTE rollout there.
I'm not aware of speed guarantee (for DSL, cable, LTE, whatever) in Germany or France for private customers, only for business, and that's heavily linked to $$$.
Can anyone here clarify if AT&T and Verizon LTE is the same "type" of LTE? From what I've been able to gather, it's similar in GSM in the sense that it's the same tech, but will probably be on different bands. Hence, to truly have a world GSM phone, it must be quad-band.
Will LTE be the same fashion? Will there be AT&T's preferred bands, and then Verizon's? Leaving it up to the handset manufacturer to include the potential "multi-band" LTE chip to cover both?
Both Verizon and AT&T have similar frequencies for 4G LTE, 700MHz. Verizon picked up their spectrum allocation at an FCC auction several years ago. The 700MHz frequencies became available due to the migration from analog to digital television. The other company to purchase significant amounts of 700MHz spectrum was Qualcomm.
Neither Sprint nor T-Mobile USA have any 700MHz spectrum. Sprint is piggybacking off of Clearwire's WiMax network for 4G. T-Mobile USA was stuck in a rock and a hard place because of their lack of available spectrum to develop 4G services, one of their reasons for wanting to merge with AT&T.
Now I can use up my monthly data even faster. Really, what is the point if the main reason for having 4G --video streaming, for example -- is made prohibitively expensive by tiered data plans?
That "real world" speed is just under six times my home Internet connection. Impressive!
After reading the other posts it seems as though AT&T are not that spectacular and expensive. It kinda makes me appreciate the service I get in the UK for my iPhone4 - £35 a month and I probably get more of everything a month, haha! Though I imagine the UK won't see 4G until a fair few years after the USA - hell, portions of the UK still don't even have broadband Internet, let alone cable or fibre Internet...
And we reach our 250 MB data cap on AT&T faster than we can imagine.
EDIT: Damnit, SpamSandwich beat me to it.
BTW, to the person who said there was no data capped plans in the US, there are data caps on data plans on AT&T's wireless network in the US. They ONLY offer data capped plans to new customers.
But on another topic, this explains why T-Mobile is so interested in expanding 3G's usable speeds. Supposedly they've gotten 4G speeds on 3G, almost negating the need to switch to 4G until much much later.
Comments
However, they are starting to get with the program and advertise in MB's recently. If anyone is curious, here are the speeds and prices for LTE from Vodafone Germany (in German).
(Darn Windows... Ended up closing my window trying to find the Euro sign... typing Ctrl Alt 2 or whatever that works so well on the Mac, does NOT, I forgot, work in Windows)
As I was saying, that's pretty impressive for an LTE offering. Prices are not too bad, though the download quotas are quite low for that level of speed. I could see people spending 100 Euros or more each month. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Where I am now in South East Asia I can get 5mbit to 10mbit cable instead of 1mbit DSL but the 1mbit and 2mbit DSL is currently unlimited. I've had broadband of various kinds for 10 years and quotas just suck the life out of me... Constantly worrying about it, plus having no control of other people in the house that use it.
What percentage of Germany is covered by LTE of over 20Mbit/sec?
Do they throttle the speed or charge for going over the quota?
You realize, they are also making several billion? And I am a paying customer? Technology advances. They build 4G towers so they can keep their customers and stay competitive, NOT so they can charge more to everyone. Whose koolaid are you drinking? Apple will spend hundreds of millions developing an iPhone 5, but they wont charge 250 for it because its a new model. You pay a certain price, they upgrade, you get their upgrades and keep paying that adopted price. That's how most tech works. But the telcos keep bumping their prices not because they need to, but because they can get away with it because everyone needs a phone. If you cant come out with 4G at reasonable prices, don't roll it out yet and make it mandatory for users to pay more. People are not going to be able to keep buying these phones.
Telcos are scum. What are their quarterly profits? Exactly as you mention. Billions of dollars. On voice, SMS, data. The main reason they love smartphones and 4G is not the advancement of technology and enjoyment of consumers, it's all so they can charge more. That it has fueled the mobile, tablet and app revolution is secondary to the telcos.
That said, as a consumer, I'm willing to pay a bit more for the better experience. But to a point. I'm always looking for the best value, and I am glad my iPhone and iPad purchases and data packages have been work-related, and I've been able to shift between plans with certain flexibility. With a new 4G WiMax player on the scene in my country I dumped potentially more expensive and slower 3G plans for the iPad. I just carry my 4G MiFi around which is also useful for home (I can finally connect to Steam unlike using DSL for whatever reason). While it's not super speedy (only about 1-2mbit/sec), it is fairly reliable across various Internet services thus far.
Before that I dumped the exclusive iPhone carrier to another more sensibly-priced iPhone carrier. But not without its risks. I'm waiting one month (estimated) before they can even look at my iPhone4's flakey Home button. Why? Greed. They allocate stock for new contracts (chunky lucrative 2-year contracts only for iPhone4) but ignore replacement stock for repairs. I tell you, not having a functioning Home button is very, very irritating. Some clicks work, some don't, it totally destroys the iPhone4 experience. That the telco is openly displaying utter greed and getting away with it just rubs salt in the wound. They're fine otherwise, but like many telcos around the world when it comes to the iPhone they take the very most advantage of its popularity to squeeze whatever they can out of you. I can definitely empathise with those that have suffered under ATT and two year contracts.
With my iPhone4, the warranty is only one year and I can't terminate my contract and get it repaired by Apple. Here, only the telco you are under contract with will honor warranty claims. My iPhone4 now feels like a Porsche which only goes up to 50mph. I've done the Xcode kung fu on my iPad2 to use the multi-touch gestures for going to the Home screen and bringing up the multitasking bar, thus reducing my use of the iPad2 Home button... This Home button issue is an inherent design flaw (look it up) that could crop up in any iOS device. Yes, the iPad2 is covered by warranty but there are stock shortages which affect the replacement units as well.
All the perils of not having official Apple Stores in one's country... Mac, iPad, iPhone all great when you are able to get it and when it runs without issues. Frustrating when you do have to seek service and replacements. Again, thankfully these purchases have all been income-related.
</rant>
(Darn Windows... Ended up closing my window trying to find the Euro sign... typing Ctrl Alt 2 or whatever that works so well on the Mac, does NOT, I forgot, work in Windows)
As I was saying, that's pretty impressive for an LTE offering. Prices are not too bad, though the download quotas are quite low for that level of speed. I could see people spending 100 Euros or more each month. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Where I am now in South East Asia I can get 5mbit to 10mbit cable instead of 1mbit DSL but the 1mbit and 2mbit DSL is currently unlimited. I've had broadband of various kinds for 10 years and quotas just suck the life out of me... Constantly worrying about it, plus having no control of other people in the house that use it.
What percentage of Germany is covered by LTE of over 20Mbit/sec?
Do they throttle the speed or charge for going over the quota?
The coverage for LTE is rather poor at the moment, outside of big cities you're out of luck. http://www.vodafone.de/privat/hilfe-...abdeckung.html
As always, the speed is "up to" 50MBps. I suppose when you're in eye-contact with the tower. Walk 3 feet away and you're toasted.
As soon as the (rather low) quota is reached, your speed is capped to 64kbits, Almost unusable nowadays.
My DSL at home is currently unlimited, but the connection is so bad/unstable ( 1-2Mbps depending on the weather
The coverage for LTE is rather poor at the moment, outside of big cities you're out of luck. http://www.vodafone.de/privat/hilfe-...abdeckung.html
As always, the speed is "up to" 50MBps. I suppose when you're in eye-contact with the tower. Walk 3 feet away and you're toasted.
As soon as the (rather low) quota is reached, your speed is capped to 64kbits, Almost unusable nowadays.
My DSL at home is currently unlimited, but the connection is so bad/unstable ( 1-2Mbps depending on the weather
Ah, at least in Europe the telcos aren't perfect either. I don't feel too bad now. 64kbit/sec cap and no guarantee of speed? Good start to the LTE rollout there.
How much do these numbers mean? To me its like saying if you close Disneyland for the day you can ride a lot of rides without waiting in line. Your results will vary when we fill the park with people.
Bingo. Great analogy.
Will LTE be the same fashion? Will there be AT&T's preferred bands, and then Verizon's? Leaving it up to the handset manufacturer to include the potential "multi-band" LTE chip to cover both?
Ultimately, you could see where this is going... Would there be possible handsets made that will finally run on both major US networks, allowing the consumer to choose their preferred carrier based of other things than which handset is available?
I see this as some possible consumer leverage to finally keep prices competitive, especially if Apple can create the LTE iPhone (whenever that may be) to use every existing band out there.
Pulling the opposite way though, I see Android handset makers continuing separating the LTE networks on purpose to drive more sales of handsets due to "needing" to buy a new one if a consumer switches networks.
Maybe "world-wide LTE" will be another way for Apple to "bitch-slap" the carriers once again by not adhering to their norms?
This should go nicely with my new data capped plan
I don't think cap means what you think it does. No US carrier has a capped data plan.
Ah, at least in Europe the telcos aren't perfect either. I don't feel too bad now. 64kbit/sec cap and no guarantee of speed? Good start to the LTE rollout there.
I'm not aware of speed guarantee (for DSL, cable, LTE, whatever) in Germany or France for private customers, only for business, and that's heavily linked to $$$.
Can anyone here clarify if AT&T and Verizon LTE is the same "type" of LTE? From what I've been able to gather, it's similar in GSM in the sense that it's the same tech, but will probably be on different bands. Hence, to truly have a world GSM phone, it must be quad-band.
Will LTE be the same fashion? Will there be AT&T's preferred bands, and then Verizon's? Leaving it up to the handset manufacturer to include the potential "multi-band" LTE chip to cover both?
Both Verizon and AT&T have similar frequencies for 4G LTE, 700MHz. Verizon picked up their spectrum allocation at an FCC auction several years ago. The 700MHz frequencies became available due to the migration from analog to digital television. The other company to purchase significant amounts of 700MHz spectrum was Qualcomm.
AT&T subsequently purchased Qualcomm's 700MHz spectrum frequencies.
Neither Sprint nor T-Mobile USA have any 700MHz spectrum. Sprint is piggybacking off of Clearwire's WiMax network for 4G. T-Mobile USA was stuck in a rock and a hard place because of their lack of available spectrum to develop 4G services, one of their reasons for wanting to merge with AT&T.
After reading the other posts it seems as though AT&T are not that spectacular and expensive. It kinda makes me appreciate the service I get in the UK for my iPhone4 - £35 a month and I probably get more of everything a month, haha! Though I imagine the UK won't see 4G until a fair few years after the USA - hell, portions of the UK still don't even have broadband Internet, let alone cable or fibre Internet...
The head should have read a "Lab Test" .......
EDIT: Damnit, SpamSandwich beat me to it.
BTW, to the person who said there was no data capped plans in the US, there are data caps on data plans on AT&T's wireless network in the US. They ONLY offer data capped plans to new customers.
But on another topic, this explains why T-Mobile is so interested in expanding 3G's usable speeds. Supposedly they've gotten 4G speeds on 3G, almost negating the need to switch to 4G until much much later.