jimindenver
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- Dec 20, 2014
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When you have a LTE device it often will connect to a LTE signal even if it is congested or weak. It will do so ignoring the fact that there may be other bands it can connect to and provide a better connection. Each carrier has them and you can force a phone or hotspot to use only the lower band. The lower bands were the high speed of yesterday, they may have more antennas, a larger footprint and since devices pick the newest tech first, less congested.
In Sprint it is 3G. It is the slowest of the lower bands but it does give Sprint a much larger footprint than people give it credit for. Certainly strong enough for basic internet and pages like photobucket load easier too. I have never tried streaming off of a strong 3G signal but in a storm that blocked my LTE signals, I was able to make a call on Sprint 3G. I also had a usable signal in Quartzsite. The last moving test I ran here in the Rockies it was second only to Verizon as to how often it was connected. I do not know the max speed and haven't run a speed test on a known good signal.
Verizon 3G is the next slowest maxing out at 3.1 Mbps. I can not think of a time yet that I had no Verizon 3G signal. In Quartzsite I was telling people to force their phones onto it because the LTE was so congested. I can't say it is always fast enough to stream but then again neither is LTE. It has the ability to stream and I often use it to do so. It also loves the booster and directional antenna.
Now with AT&T and T-Mobile you can switch down to none LTE 4G. I really don't know which is fastest so I will start with T-Mobile. I use to use TMO's 4G in Denver because the LTE was hammered by congestion. I would go from barely able to load a page on LTE to effortless streaming on 4G. I believe it is capable of 15 Mbps if not more. Unlike the first two TMO's 4G footprint isn't as large as their LTE footprint. So I can't always assume there is options.
AT&T is unique because their 4G network is part of their active network not just yesterdays tech. When I use data on my Cricket phone based on AT&T, it connects to LTE. When I make a phone call or text it uses 4G. I often see it connect on two towers at once, one for LTE, the other 4G. This makes aiming the antenna hard at times. To me what it means is that the 4G isn't forgotten but kept up as part of the active network, I have seen speeds as high as 7 Mbps and out here in the boonies I use it for streaming if not congested.
So the next time your LTE is kicking your butt, try switching down to a lower band.
In Sprint it is 3G. It is the slowest of the lower bands but it does give Sprint a much larger footprint than people give it credit for. Certainly strong enough for basic internet and pages like photobucket load easier too. I have never tried streaming off of a strong 3G signal but in a storm that blocked my LTE signals, I was able to make a call on Sprint 3G. I also had a usable signal in Quartzsite. The last moving test I ran here in the Rockies it was second only to Verizon as to how often it was connected. I do not know the max speed and haven't run a speed test on a known good signal.
Verizon 3G is the next slowest maxing out at 3.1 Mbps. I can not think of a time yet that I had no Verizon 3G signal. In Quartzsite I was telling people to force their phones onto it because the LTE was so congested. I can't say it is always fast enough to stream but then again neither is LTE. It has the ability to stream and I often use it to do so. It also loves the booster and directional antenna.
Now with AT&T and T-Mobile you can switch down to none LTE 4G. I really don't know which is fastest so I will start with T-Mobile. I use to use TMO's 4G in Denver because the LTE was hammered by congestion. I would go from barely able to load a page on LTE to effortless streaming on 4G. I believe it is capable of 15 Mbps if not more. Unlike the first two TMO's 4G footprint isn't as large as their LTE footprint. So I can't always assume there is options.
AT&T is unique because their 4G network is part of their active network not just yesterdays tech. When I use data on my Cricket phone based on AT&T, it connects to LTE. When I make a phone call or text it uses 4G. I often see it connect on two towers at once, one for LTE, the other 4G. This makes aiming the antenna hard at times. To me what it means is that the 4G isn't forgotten but kept up as part of the active network, I have seen speeds as high as 7 Mbps and out here in the boonies I use it for streaming if not congested.
So the next time your LTE is kicking your butt, try switching down to a lower band.
