Nowadays, you can buy a fancy smartphone without spending an arm and a leg, but the gadget will be almost useless if you don’t have access to the Internet. You need a 3G or 4G mobile data connection to surf the Internet. If you are a beginner, make sure you know the difference between 3G and 4G. Read on.
What is 4G?
As the name suggests, 4G starts where the 3G ends. 4G is short for Forth Generation of Cellular Communications. In the USA, 4G is getting popular. However, it should be kept in mind that the so-called 4G service offered in the US doesn’t offer true 4G speeds. But this service is a lot faster than 3G. So, you can enjoy faster download speeds.
4G benefits
The biggest benefit of having a 4G service is that you can enjoy speeds that are at least 10 times faster than the previous technology called 3G. You can stream Full HD videos on YouTube without any problem. In short, you can do everything at blazingly fast speeds.
With speed, comes the cost. Of course, 4G costs a lot more than 3G. Therefore, you should expect to pay more for higher speeds.
Types of 4G
If someone claims that they have a true 4G service, especially if they are based in the USA, don’t believe them. The fact of the matter is that today’s 4G is just the advanced stage of 3G service. Actually, the technology to achieve this level of speeds is not there yet. Once the technology is there, we can experience the true speeds of 4G.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) oversees the futuristic speeds. According to the ITU, only WiMAX Release 2 and LTE offer the true 4G technologies. Unfortunately, we can’t benefit from any of the two services since they are not available yet. Hopefully, we will have these services before long.
As far as the 4G network of T-Mobile, you know that it’s just HSPA+. It is not a true 4G network. In the same way, AT&T is on the same list. Moreover, it’s important to note that Verizon claims to offer LTE and the service will be upgraded to LTEA as soon as it becomes available. Aside from this, most of European Networks are also going to offer LTE. Let’s see what happens next.
According to some reports, the LTE services are going to be widely available in the UK within a short period of time. In the USA, Sprint is habitual of doing things in a different manner. It makes use of WiMAX, which is a combo of Sprint’s 3G network and Clearwire’s advanced 4G network. Make sure you don’t confuse it with true 4G networks.
Hopefully, now you know a bit more about the difference between 3G and 4G networks. Today, you can find that many providers are claiming to offer 4G speeds at high rates, but they don’t offer true speeds. The true 4G LTE network will offer speeds high than 100Mb/s, which is a dream that has not come true yet.
Satvik Mittal
