4G AND WHAT IT MEANS
Words: Gentleman's Journal
With all the hype recently about the power of 4G, it’s hard to see how it couldn’t be enormously successful and sought after. However, it seems as if the facts and the stats of 4G are based on potential. Does it do what it says or is it all too good to be true?
On average, we currently get speeds of between 18Mbit/s and 22Mbit/s. Upload speeds have been wavering between 6Mbit/s and 13Mbit/s.
These speeds are extremely impressive, especially when compared to the 8Mbit/s and 0.7Mbit/s download and upload speeds we got on our 3G iPhone 5 handset.
So, how does that translate to the real world? We accessed The Gentleman’s Journal website on the Huawei Ascend, P1 LTE’s stock Android web browser, and it loaded almost instantly, putting our non-4G iphone to shame. We also downloaded the BBC iplayer application, which was fully downloaded and installed on our handset in approximately two seconds. Streaming TV shows on the app was just as good too, and we experienced no buffering or lag whatsoever.
This might all sound pretty positive, but we can’t help but worry. Our main concern is that as more and more people join EE’s network (the new 4G network) these speeds, will slowly start to drop. When we tested out EE’s 4G connectivity at the network’s launch event a few weeks ago, we reported speeds of around 38Mbit/s, almost double the speeds we’re receiving now. Sure, this might be based on our location, but it has got us worried nonetheless.
EE’s pricing is another issue. If the pricing was reasonable, we’d be more than happy to cough up for 22Mbit/s speeds.
But, as you’re probably more than aware, it’s not. EE is asking £56 a month for 8GB of monthly data for the iPhone 5 (and £46 monthly for other android phones), equating to around £1,344 over the course of a two-year contract.
Those after the Huawei Ascend P1 LTE can opt for a cheaper £41 contract with 1GB of data per month, but given the speeds that we’ve been getting, that won’t get you far on the web. Below are the 4 phones we feel offer the best price of handset along with best price of the package. Although still pricey, they are the best prices you’ll see for the time being.
Still, if you’ve got deep pockets and you’re after a speedy mobile web browsing experience, EE’s 4G LTE network isn’t going to disappoint. Not for a few months yet, at least.
EE are overcharging for 4G and abusing their dominant position!
It’s also not as good a business plan as they think, If they had released these tariffs with 8x the data (or a lower price) on each plan then they could have taken pretty much every subscriber who wanted 4G before the others even started, instead most people will wait until the others catch up and prices fall.
Four of the best Packages
APPLE I PHONE, £56 a month, £ 19.99 device cost.
HTC ONE XL, £46.00 A MONTH, £29.99 device cost.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S III LTE, £46.00 A MONTH, £29.99 device cost.
NOKIA LUMIA 920, £46.00 A MONTH, £19.99 device cost
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