The term “4G” has been tossed around haphazardly by many of the major telecoms..

What Is a 4G Network?

The term “4G” has been tossed around haphazardly by many of the major telecoms a lot lately. The truth is, most of them aren’t using the term correctly at all, and very few of them even have a 4G network. Ironically, and further complicating the matter, there are some advanced 3G networks that are actually faster than their competitor’s “4G” networks. T-Mobile in the United States is one such example. Their advanced 3G HSDPA/HSUPA network is capable of speeds in excess of 21MBps, which is faster than the mere 7MBps provided by Sprint’s so-called “4G” network. For comparison, many people’s home Verizon FiOS cable internet lines only give them speeds of 15MBps for downloads, and a mere 5MBps for uploads. You’ll quickly notice by these comparisons that today’s 3G and 4G wireless networks are actually quickly catching up to, and even surpassing conventional landline-based networks in both upload and download speed.

Originally, the term “4G” referred to only WiMAX based networks. WiMAX is an extension of the WiFi standard that has a range in excess of 30 miles in each direction from the tower. Conventional WiFi has a range of only 150-330 feet, depending on the transmitter technology used. Because of this great range, the first thing most telecommunications companies thought to do was to augment or replace their conventional cell towers with these new WiMAX systems. Conventional cell towers have a rather limited range of only about 5 miles, which pales in comparison to the excellent range provided by these new WiMAX towers. This technology allows cellular providers to use much fewer towers to cover the same area, all the while dramatically increasing the bandwidth and speed available to their customers.

Now, of course you can always count on the telecoms to watch out for their own bottom line above all else. It was this greedy thinking that led to the extension of 3G techologies into the realm of 4G speeds. The telecoms did not want to have to deploy all the new antennasand transmitters required by true 4G, so they decided to try and roll out 4G speeds using simple updates to their old 3G towers. Sure, the range isn’t as good. Of course, the towers aren’t capable of anywhere near the amazing maximum speeds of 100MBps – 1GBps achievable with true 4G technology. But using old towers saves money, and that’s all that matters, right? Such was the thinking of the telecoms.

It was this thinking that eventually led to the development of the current generation of 3G It was this thinking that eventually led to the development of the current generation of 3G technology that’s in use today by AT&T and T-Mobile, known as HSDPA/HSUPA 3G. Sprint and Verizon, meanwhile, decided to try and upgrade their cell towers to true 4G. Verizon, using a technology known as LTE (a competitor to WiMAX), and Sprint using WiMAX. AT&T plans to upgrade to the same technology as Verizon over the course of the next few years. It will most likely take until late 2012 or 2013 to deploy these new towers — and possibly as late as 2015 before they have fully replaced the old towers. In the meantime, get used to your 3G speeds. If you want to experience true 4G today, your best bet is to check Sprint and Verizon’s early 4G coverage maps, and see if either of them provides true 4G in your area. At time of writing, true 4G coverage is typically available only in major metropolitan areas, such as New York City, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

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