Is it true, Verizon? ,

True...which is why it's hard to really know what's going on.

Even Verizon isn't true 4G yet though, they skirt by calling it LTE (long term evolution). Meaning they're on their way to being 4G but they're not quite there yet.
Sprint might be the only network with "true" 4G but it's only in certain areas. T-mobile might be the same way now.
I'm a little outdated on this. I used to be really into mobile markets.

 

There are no guarantees of "speed", by anyone. Some carriers detect Netflix and/or youtube or similar protocol requests and automatically reduce bandwidth, forcing the application to request the reduced resolution. And Netflix should be called out for making it very difficult for users to request a lower resolution, regardless of available bandwidth.

You're entitled to whatever you level of service wish to pay for. The data providers are doing what they have to do to try and keep up with streaming demands without limiting data consumption to unreasonable limits. So, they are finding ways to provide "unlimited lower bandwidth" plans. Be glad you have this option and stop griping or pay through the nose. I don't care.

 

hXc Family plan, anyone?

http://thehardtimes.net/2016/08/31/verizon-announces-new-hardcore-family-cell-phone-plan/

 

4G and LTE are 2 different things. To have 4G you can not have LTE. No phone I know of does both.

LTE was created to give users better speed. The speeds that 4G promised,. but failed to deliver on. Part of the problem is that 2G/3G and early 4G support voice communications. Where LTE is strictly data,.. and does not support voice directly. So they are not compatible protocols.

To the best of my knowledge,.. and if I am wrong here,.. feel free to correct me. But when LTE first came out, Verizon was the first carrier to have full LTE across the board. Sprint, AT&T, and TMobile had it in limited urban areas only. Also,.. when the new phones that supported LTE came out,.. they did not support 4G. They supported 3G or LTE depending on the signal. I know Sprint and Verizon both upped their 3G bandwidth to help compensate owners of older 4G phones after they went fully LTE on their network and dropped 4G.

Read up on it,.. LTE,.. is not the same as 4G.

All carriers are stingy with their bandwidth.

TMobile and Sprint are the only 2 carriers that I have experienced throttling. Both times were after exceeding my data plan. So to be fair, I guess that was to be expected. Verizon has never throttled bandwidth on any of my phones. They just charge you ridiculous rates when/if you exceed your allotted data amount.

I look at this pretty much the same as when high speed data ISP's first came out. I can remember when ComCast restricted people to 1GB per month,.. then throttled you to 5 kb/s when you went over until the next billing period. You only got 50 - 70 kb/s max download speed anyway. This was back around 1998 - 1999.

Eventually phone carriers will all settle on a one price fits all unlimited data usage. I predict this should come within the next 4 - 5 yrs.

Hurst

 

4G, LTE, WiMAX, etc... are all simply names that refer to benchmark standards for speed written out by some radio regulating agency.
LTE is commonly considered the 1st generation of 4G capability.
In order to truly meet 4G specifications mobile broadband has to match download speeds of 1gb/s. (I think that's the right figure)
That was pretty much impossible for most mobile networks so that's where the terms LTE and WiMAX came in. It's still technically 4th generation but it doesn't quite meet the specs so they coined those terms for no reason other than marketing really. If Verizon called it 4G there'd be a lawsuit over false advertising so they called it 4G LTE.

They're already pushing LTE-A (A for advanced) which is on par with a true 4G signal but at the same time 5G is supposedly in the works.

Cellular antennas can only handle so much bandwidth anyway so newer phones have multiple antennas running in parallel in order to accomplish the benchmarks they need for true 4G and 5G ratings.

 

5g is already available, but in very limited use and it's not released for the consumer market as of yet. Supposedly it's still in its testing phase. Last i had heard it was still 4 to 6 years out

 

Wimax, HSPA, HSUPA and the similar early 4g protocols were very early attempts by other carriers to compete with Verizon's updated LTE network. Signal and data speeds were no where close to what LTE is capable of.

Wimax if memory serves correct maxes out at 21mb/s which was the fastest early 4G. LTE is capable of 300 mb/s. It is capped much lower by the carriers in order to control network saturation and protect signal speeds.

I dont think anyone uses wimax or any of the early protocols any more. They are all LTE now.

Hurst

 

My God, anyone still ysing Verizon? I dumped them like half year ago for T-mobile, and I couldn't be happier. I do miss their network coverage, but they'll take an arm and leg for it, and than throw some hefty overage charges on top. I could rarely stick with my plan limits on verizon and doubles or trippled bills were common. It's not like this with other carriers. Guys wake up, drop them.

 

If you miss Verizon's nationwide coverage, that means your T-Mobile has dead spots,
I'd rather pay a extra and have coverage

 

Yes, it does, absolutelly. But Tgey have domestic roaming, which solves the issue in most cases (except for the Internet). I also have a second h2o (atnt network) phone, and they both work well for me, fulfilling each other networks downsides. I pay less than $95 a month total for both.