I doubt AT&T LTE is this fast!

J

jyi786

Supreme [H]ardness
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I stopped by a bunch of stores today to check out some LTE phones, their speeds, and the devices, to see how much they stand up to the hype.

On my stop at an AT&T LTE store, I came across the Samsung Galaxy SII Skyrocket. I did a speed test on the device, and came up with these crazy numbers! :eek:



I made absolutely sure wifi was off so that the numbers would not be skewed. Also, there was an LG Nitro HD right next to it, in which I ran the same speedtest, and only got about 2Mb/1Mb. Of course I repeated the test numerous times just to make sure, and each time they came out about the same. I whipped out my Inspire 4G, and got about 4Mb/2Mb.

What's going on here? The only thing I could guess was that they were provisioning all the local bandwidth to the Skyrocket in hopes of trying to sell it quicker.

What do you guys think?
 
Seems about right? Not that it matters with a 2gb cap. Internet keeps getting faster and caps keep getting lower.
 
I've gotten those speeds a few times on Verizon's LTE network too, but generally I get around 20 Mb/s with a decent connection. You have to remember that ATT's LTE is brand new and doesn't have much traffic at all on it. LTE is pretty crazy though; the only down side is that it eats your battery alive.
 
that's ok fast... this is what i get in atlanta

ltei.jpg
 
yep, thats LTE, at least in the beginning, enjoy the wide open network while you can, ATT doesn't have the network that VZW has and now that VZW has a shitton of people on LTE they are beginning to have issues, I can only imagine what ATT's LTE would be like with the same utilization

now you see why i tell everyone I know not to get the gimped 150-200Mb data plans for a 4G device. it would not take more than a minute or two for a rouge app or user error to blow that cap away with the quickness. I can't in good conscience even recommend any 4G cell service with the 2Gb caps.....the VZW 4Gb "double your data" promotion was a wonderful opportunity for those not grandfathered into unlimited
 
Valshistixol said:
Seems about right? Not that it matters with a 2gb cap. Internet keeps getting faster and caps keep getting lower.
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So true. Can see it in a few years. Verizon now introducing their LTE generation 3. 2gb a second speeds! Stream movies incredibly fast. Data cap: 500MB...
 
nobody_here said:
now you see why i tell everyone I know not to get the gimped 150-200Mb data plans for a 4G device.
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I have the 150mb plan and I do fine on verizon's 4g. I only use about 20mb a month its nice that it is fast now since I usually use data to check prices in stores or download directions so now it is speedy quick. And with my nexus it has a data cap built into it that you can set. Mine turns data off at 125mb.
 
munkle said:
I have the 150mb plan and I do fine on verizon's 4g. I only use about 20mb a month its nice that it is fast now since I usually use data to check prices in stores or download directions so now it is speedy quick. And with my nexus it has a data cap built into it that you can set. Mine turns data off at 125mb.
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If you have software that enforces a data cap, why not set it to 149MB?
 
munkle said:
I have the 150mb plan and I do fine on verizon's 4g. I only use about 20mb a month its nice that it is fast now since I usually use data to check prices in stores or download directions so now it is speedy quick. And with my nexus it has a data cap built into it that you can set. Mine turns data off at 125mb.
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I avoided saying this to you in the other thread, but since you pinged me here I will tell you, you are not using that device the way it is supposed to be. You are artificially gimping the device and curbing your usage in ways most people don't really want to be bothered with.

If you are only using 20Mb of data and all you do is use it for the occasional internet search and address lookup, you;re wasting a good resource. You are not using a smartphone, you are using a glorified feature phone.

Most of us want to be able to run custom roms on our phones. A fully built custom rom image runs around 300Mb for many phones. There went your data cap and some in one small download.

Or what if I want to share large documents, pictures, videos with friends over mobiles using Dropbox?

What if I want to idle in an IRC channel on my mobile all day long?

What if I want to get push mail instantly from gmail and an exchange server and also get twitter and facebook feed updates instantly?

What if I am somewhere and took several 5 minute long videos in high resolution and want to share them with family and friends instantly over youtube or similar?

What if I don't want to be tethered to open Wifi?

These are all things most device enthusiasts want to do with their phones. Most people don't want to be having to monitor every little thing they do because they might bust their data cap. Those caps at 150-200Mb are borderline irresponsible for them to even sell. It's stifling because it doesn't allow the user to use most of the features and abilities of the device. The idea of downloading and watching a video that a family member sends you should be something you embrace, not cringe at because you don't know if it is going to cost you another $10 this month. The idea of a "mobile" device is to be able to use it as a "mobile" device, not a WiFi device. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. I can go buy a Ferrari and use it to to fill empty space in my garage and crank it up every now and then. But that is just wrong. So I don't
 
In the end its still mobile broadband. Fake internet with data almost twice as much data usage due to sending out more roundtrips and there's no privacy on it. Then mobile providers signal ack even before the connection is fully established. The device can be how fast your still limited by your underlying network and the faster it is the faster your money goesA 100mb goes in under 10 minutes on 3G where you actually used bout 70 to 80mb in reality. 150mb on mobile connection is 15 minutes of internet browsing
 
Peteman100 said:
If you have software that enforces a data cap, why not set it to 149MB?
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I don't know how much overhead there is (resent data stuff like that) so I just put it at 125mb just in case.

nobody_here said:
I avoided saying this to you in the other thread, but since you pinged me here I will tell you, you are not using that device the way it is supposed to be. You are artificially gimping the device and curbing your usage in ways most people don't really want to be bothered with.

If you are only using 20Mb of data and all you do is use it for the occasional internet search and address lookup, you;re wasting a good resource. You are not using a smartphone, you are using a glorified feature phone.
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So basically because I don't use a smart phone for how you think it should be used I am gimping it.... :rolleyes:
Most of us want to be able to run custom roms on our phones. A fully built custom rom image runs around 300Mb for many phones. There went your data cap and some in one small download.
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Why would I care about downloading a rom over mobile data? It's not like I am going to be downloading them everyday.... I'd rather download it at my house in case anything went wrong so I am not just out and about with a crapped out phone.
Or what if I want to share large documents, pictures, videos with friends over mobiles using Dropbox?
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Don't use drop box so this isn't important to me at all.
What if I want to idle in an IRC channel on my mobile all day long?
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Don't use irc so again not important
What if I want to get push mail instantly from gmail and an exchange server and also get twitter and facebook feed updates instantly?
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150mb is plenty enough for email from gmail and exchange. I don't use twitter and facebook so not important to me.
What if I am somewhere and took several 5 minute long videos in high resolution and want to share them with family and friends instantly over youtube or similar?
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I don't make videos so again not important to me.
What if I don't want to be tethered to open Wifi?
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I never use open wifi... my data plan is fine for the amount of data I use when I am not around wifi (my entire school campus has wifi along with all the buildings at my work).
These are all things most device enthusiasts want to do with their phones. Most people don't want to be having to monitor every little thing they do because they might bust their data cap. Those caps at 150-200Mb are borderline irresponsible for them to even sell. It's stifling because it doesn't allow the user to use most of the features and abilities of the device. The idea of downloading and watching a video that a family member sends you should be something you embrace, not cringe at because you don't know if it is going to cost you another $10 this month. The idea of a "mobile" device is to be able to use it as a "mobile" device, not a WiFi device. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. I can go buy a Ferrari and use it to to fill empty space in my garage and crank it up every now and then. But that is just wrong. So I don't
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You sure make alot of assumptions on how a smart phone should be used and if not used how you think then it is wrong... pretty dumb I think. If I am surrounded by secure wifi that I have access to then it is no different then mobile data. No reason to use mobile data when I can use wifi.

Why do I need 2gb of data if I don't and wont ever use it. I do need data for things like email, internet, and directions on the go. If I needed more data then I would get a bigger data plan but I don't. Would you care to explain to me why I should have a bigger data plan if I am not going to use it? The amount of mobile data you use has nothing to do with whether or not you are utilizing a smart phone to its full potential.

I have a smart phone because it is alot easier to customize than a feature phone to how I want (roms like you said, I ran liberty on my droid x and it was great). I have all my music on it so I don't have to carry a mp3 player. I use it as a gps quite a bit. I take pictures for my work as well with my phone and answer emails (like I said my work has wifi in all buildings so when I send stuff I use wifi). I cannot stand keyboards for typing, I use swype and love it and it's not on feature phones. I play a few games as well on my phone when I have time none of which would be on a feature phone since they don't have the android market or a big enough screen to play them (yay for 2.5" screen!!!). Basically a feature phone would not serve me well at all, which is why I bought a smart phone.

Maybe if I was some mobile whore that just downloaded and uploaded crap all day long then yes I would need a bigger plan. But I dont have time to do all the crap you just listed and wouldn't do any of it if I did have the time. But thank you Mr. Apple for telling me how I should use my phone.
 
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The slower speed of the nitro can be explained by whomever setting up the display taking the sim from the previous slower phone and not checking it's network profile to make sure it's authorized on the LTE network. There was a story somewhere last week talking about how a guy using a phone AT&T didn't originally have in their system being forced to 3G speeds although it was hspa capable because their system wasn't setup to allow the hspa profile to be installed to his account.
 
munkle said:
snipped for posterity
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you don't utilize even 10% of your smartphone....that was my point....most of us carrying $600+(unsubsidized) small computers with 30+ Mbps broadband always connected actually want to use it to it's fullest capacity, not in a gimped capacity scared to use $15. If you're fine with it then great. I never said it was necessarily wrong, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

so you are that one....it makes no sense to me, but hey that's my opinion is all. Just don't expect your use to be considered acceptable or realistic by most people here. That's why I will never recommend a $600+ computer in a pocket device with 4G service on a 150Mb data plan.

Lets face it man, you are on a techy geeky device whore forum board. We change out devices like underwear. If I go two years between changing phones it's a LONG time. In the last two years I went from an LG Envy Touch to a Blackberry Curve to a LG Ally to a Samsung Fascinate and then to the Samsung Charge and in the next 6 months I will change again.

There are times during the development of a new device that yes, there has been a new rom out every day, even more than once daily. I have been known to idle in the IRC channel where development occurs and when a new rom pops up for testing, I grab it and report bugs. It's nothing to download 1Gb of roms and patches and stuff in a day on a particularly active day. All in the name of helping bring the community new roms to use and for my own enjoyment of course. After you have done it a few times you are no longer worried about bricking your device. Even if I got a soft brick, I go to my pc at work, or to my laptop if at school or home and plug in the phone, and it takes Odin 5 minutes to flash my phone back to complete stock...done....no worries no fuss. When you aren't scared of using data and aren't scared of bricking your device, you tend to go through a LOT of roms and thus data....

If doing that makes me a device whore at times....then so be it. :) I have no problem with it. I am not paying $100+ monthly for 4G service and two smartphones that together retail for over $1,000 just so I can read the occasional email, check a price or two online, and get directions once in a while, all while panicking if something suddenly uses a measly 50Mb of data! ZOMG! All to save $15? Really? If all it costs is $15 to be able to anything I want with my phone when I want, how I want, as much as I want....it's a friggin' bargain. Most of us spend more than $15 a month on much less useful things. If saving $15 a month is such a big deal perhaps you shouldn't be carrying a $600+ smartphone.
 
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j-sta said:
and who are you to tell somebody how to use their phone?

stop acting like your opinion is fact and your shit don't smell
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I didn't. Go back and read. I called it how I see it. Shit don't smell? Hardly.
 
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I don't even care if ATT's LTE speeds are faster than Verizon's. Its not a surprise since ATT has far fewer customers but also is already throttling their grandfathered unlimited data customers. That's how they keep those fast speeds. I'm very happy with my grandfathered unlimited LTE plan from Verizon because its truly unlimited, no throttling at all and I've used very large amounts of data with it. Even if Verizon starts to crack down now, I had 9 months of unrestricted LTE, whereas ATT just launched their LTE smartphones last month and are already throttling down to 2G levels, not even 3G.
 
nobody_here said:
you don't utilize even 10% of your smartphone....that was my point....most of us carrying $600+(unsubsidized) small computers with 30+ Mbps broadband always connected actually want to use it to it's fullest capacity, not in a gimped capacity scared to use $15. If you're fine with it then great. I never said it was necessarily wrong, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.


If all it costs is $15 to be able to anything I want with my phone when I want, how I want, as much as I want....it's a friggin' bargain. Most of us spend more than $15 a month on much less useful things. If saving $15 a month is such a big deal perhaps you shouldn't be carrying a $600+ smartphone.
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So I should buy the $129 feature phone that blows giant D? or should I spend $70 more to get a lot better phone? Go look at what verizon offers the only decent feature phone is $129 (and it still has mediocre reviews). I'm sorry but it's just dumb to get that when you can get alot better phone for $70 more.

Once again why should I pay $15 more if I am not going to use that much data. You still haven't answered that, basically all you have said is I should be using more data than that because that's how YOU use your phone. And my phone wasn't $600 maybe you haven't checked but they are $200 on contract, you have to pay for service anyways so it would be dumb not to buy it on contract when you can.

And you did pretty much say it was wrong, your second to last sentence in your post above. If you don't think I need a smart phone good for you... But I know for a fact a feature phone would do crap for me and it would be a sucky experience. Let's see whats the smart thing to do? Pay $129 for a crap feature phone or $199 for a smartphone? Not a hard choice... But thanks again Mr. Apple for dictating what I should buy and how I should use it.

If we follow your logic pretty much only 10% of people should have a quad core cpu because only they will utilize it, maybe 5% of people should own any kind of sports car because they will utilize it to its full potential. Rich people shouldn't have tons of stuff because they aren't going to use it all the time. Nobody should go to school because you aren't going to use all the knowledge you learn. Nobody should have insurance unless you are going to use it all the time. The list could go on and on. You ever stop to think that people are willing to pay a little for a convenience to be able to do something every once and while? (Like using a little bit of mobile data on a smart phone when they need to) I guess that didn't occur to you...
 
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munkle said:
So I should buy the $129 feature phone that blows giant D? or should I spend $70 more to get a lot better phone? Go look at what verizon offers the only decent feature phone is $129 (and it still has mediocre reviews). I'm sorry but it's just dumb to get that when you can get alot better phone for $70 more.

Once again why should I pay $15 more if I am not going to use that much data. You still haven't answered that, basically all you have said is I should be using more data than that because that's how YOU use your phone. And my phone wasn't $600 maybe you haven't checked but they are $200 on contract, you have to pay for service anyways so it would be dumb not to buy it on contract when you can.

And you did pretty much say it was wrong, your second to last sentence in your post above. If you don't think I need a smart phone good for you... But I know for a fact a feature phone would do crap for me and it would be a sucky experience. Let's see whats the smart thing to do? Pay $129 for a crap feature phone or $199 for a smartphone? Not a hard choice... But thanks again Mr. Apple for dictating what I should buy and how I should use it.

If we follow your logic pretty much only 10% of people should have a quad core cpu because only they will utilize it, maybe 5% of people should own any kind of sports car because they will utilize it to its full potential. Rich people shouldn't have tons of stuff because they aren't going to use it all the time. Nobody should go to school because you aren't going to use all the knowledge you learn. Nobody should have insurance unless you are going to use it all the time. The list could go on and on. You ever stop to think that people are willing to pay a little for a convenience to be able to do something every once and while? (Like using a little bit of mobile data on a smart phone when they need to) I guess that didn't occur to you...
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you win no problems :p
 
With SGS2 Rogers LTE, I get 23 Mbps down and 13 Mbps up on a two bar signal. So yeah that's how fast LTE is.
 
You all are unbelievable; I step away from this thread and you guys blow it all up. :p

FYI, for all you guys who are saying stuff about the data cap and limiting bandwidth being fine, I am 100% against it, and I am one who actually uses ALL (and then some) of the bandwidth allotted to me. Reason? I am not allowed to browse the internet at work using their computers. This is the reason I have a smartphone. I am constantly hitting the caps and having to worry about getting hit with the $10.00 surcharge everytime I go over.

I'm all for higher speeds, but this seriously has to come to a head. The market clearly belongs to the smartphone, but being gimped like this? All it takes is a few companies to enact 100% unlimited EVERYTHING for the big 2 to realize that they've got to stop this crap. I'd gladly pay $50-$100.00 extra on my family plan to get unlimited everything, but I'm NOT going to pay $50.00 extra a month PER LINE for just 4GB of bandwidth. It's insulting, really.
 
Seriously the talk about bandwidth caps is getting old. Even with AT&T's score of the old MediaFLO air space, it's going to take 2-3 years for them to use it because it require features of LTE Advance. Verizon's situation is a little better, but they too will have to wait for a few years to use some of their space for similar reasons. The bottom line is, at least until 2014 or so bandwidth will be tight.

You have to remember, unlike today where voice and data are treated different, the current data network that LTE uses will also support voice. No one wants to be stuck in a situation where everything suffers because everyone decides to use their phone as their home router.
 
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