Clearing up the rumors!!!

[bigchico68]

Ok as everyone knows 4G launches fully in Las Vegas, Portland and Atlanta on 8/16. Sprint will be selling a 4G wireless router also if anyone wants to buy it when they buy their 4G connection card. I believe the price is $150 for the wireless router.

Ok now for the rumors. At&T and other companies are supposedly working on LTE and trying to tell people it is about to come out. They do this so no one leaves for Sprint. I just want to tell you that we went to a 4G training the other day and LTE is still in the theory stage. They have not even started testing it yet and at earliest it will be out in early 2011. So don't wait around come get you some 4G!!! 750MB movie within in 30 seconds and a MP3 in .8 seconds!!

[jaytv]

Not exactly true. LTE is already being tested and has been in active field trials for about a month now. Many parts of the spec are in flux, true, but data calls have been made and commercial base stations are already in place in a few markets. The handsets/data modems are all prototypes, but LTE will be deployed in 2010, if not on a widespread basis.

When they solve the standard for voice over data, it will move very quickly.

EVDO (on CDMA networks) will be around for at least two to three years more, if not five to six. What will be interesting to see is if WiMax can make inroads and launch in enough markets to become competitive quickly enough to slow or derail the seemingly inexorable march to LTE unification in the western world.

My guess, sadly, is no.

[bigchico68]

That is where I disagree and have seen the proof. WIMAX yes is not as fast as LTE, if LTE were even around yet, but by the time it comes out WIMAX will already have improved and caught up. I have seen the 4G and it is rediculously fast!!

[jaytv]

Yes, I used my first WiMax device over a year ago, they are very impressive. They are fast, that is not the issue.

The issue is that Sprint is alone in a WiMax deployment. There are no Verizon and small regional carriers like Alltel and USCellular to help carry the banner of WiMax forward, as there was with CDMA. WiMax may be a great product, but with only one company supporting/developing for it, we will see the frustrations we have with getting the latest and greatest GSM devices on CDMA look like playing paddy-cake compared with the frustration we will have getting the newest and best handsets/data modems for WiMax.

Remember, too, your "proof" was supplied by a biased party, namely, Sprint. They are the ones rolling out the technology they are selling you on to sell others. I'd encourage you to take a larger view before making pronouncements. Remember when you thought Custom ROMs were pointless?:)

Then again, I hope I'm wrong and WiMax becomes a vital and thriving standard/device ecosystem. I just don't think it will.

Then again, if we get the purely software-based radios they are working on soon, devices will work on any network. That will sure make the current wireless market and the standards wars moot.

[bigchico68]

I have looked into it much more than what Sprint says about it and by next year it will be nationwide. Also the 4G is unlimited because it uses microwaves so the technology is more advanced and much cheaper. Also even though VZW has just started testing some LTE equipment that is all they are doing. They try to tell people oh it will be out by 4th quarter or early next year when in fact it won't be. LTE is only a theory right now, so why would people want to take a theory over something this is already here? I am just saying WIMAX is rediculously fast and it is here, and LTE is not. VZW and AT&T only say LTE is about to come out, because they don't want people to leave for Sprint.

About the not moving forward thing. Sprint is not the only one backing this. Yes they own 51% of clear, but comcast, google and several other companies all have stake in this also, so trust me it will be moving forward. AT&T had the IPhone which was the next latest and greatest phone, Sprint has 4G which is their IPhone. (the next latest and greatest in wireless internet)

[bigchico68]

Anyways about some other things. The psh3000 hotspot which you plug a connection card into (does support 4g) is $159.99 and supports up to 4 devices at a time and the wireless router that you also plug a connection card into (supports 4g) is going to be $249.99 and you can have upto I think 30 devices running on it at once.

[jaytv]

I said Sprint was alone in WiMax "deployment" not the only company with a stake. They are also alone in support and development, in the sense of end-user support, and driving hardware development. I thought that was clear.

You made several inaccurate/naive statements, and I felt the need to correct that.

LTE is not only theory. Also, contrary to your first post, it has been tested, both here and abroad. You were wrong about both statements. That is what I was pointing out.

As for WiMax being different because it uses, and I quote, "microwaves", I think you should learn quite a bit more about the subject. You'll see why that is so funny when you do. Just like your statements about custom ROMs in the past. Hint: what type of radio waves are our 1900 Mhz Sprint PCS phones?:tu:

I don't mean to harass you, and we all have a learning curve on these complex and highly technical subjects, but please don't set yourself up as an expert on the subject when you don't really even understand the basic concepts involved in discussing the matter.

[carcarx]

On a tangental thread, I don't understand why carriers that use W-CDMA and have "spectrum to burn" (AT&T has 80 MHz in some markets) need LTE at all.
Since HSPA+ can provide up to 42 mbps down and 11 mbps, why even bother with LTE?
HSPA+ benefits from multi-path, being based on cdma, OFDM has problems with multi-path.

[bigchico68]

I said Sprint was alone in WiMax "deployment" not the only company with a stake. They are also alone in support and development, in the sense of end-user support, and driving hardware development. I thought that was clear.

You made several inaccurate/naive statements, and I felt the need to correct that.

LTE is not only theory. Also, contrary to your first post, it has been tested, both here and abroad. You were wrong about both statements. That is what I was pointing out.

As for WiMax being different because it uses, and I quote, "microwaves", I think you should learn quite a bit more about the subject. You'll see why that is so funny when you do. Just like your statements about custom ROMs in the past. Hint: what type of radio waves are our 1900 Mhz Sprint PCS phones?:tu:

I don't mean to harass you, and we all have a learning curve on these complex and highly technical subjects, but please don't set yourself up as an expert on the subject when you don't really even understand the basic concepts involved in discussing the matter.

Ok ill look into it more.

[badutahboy]

FWIW, Sprint is far from the only company with end user support working on WIMAX. They may be the only wireless carrier, but there are tons of ISP's (including major players like Comcast) looking to implement WIMAX internet offerings to the end user... That will help push the technology past any hurdles.

I'll admit I know almost nothing about LTE, so I'm not going to attempt to bash Verizon and AT&T or the technology... but the OP is absolutely right when he says that VZW and AT&T are lying when they say they're close to launching. Wimax will likely be deployed nationally for nearly an entire year before LTE even begins deployment.

[Blind Bluff]

I too support the speculation of LTE early 2010 deployment (at least from Verizon). I actually have no knowledge of it or this service, but I've been reading up on Verizon ever since the article about them (supposedly) abadoning the PRE. I've been waiting to switch to them for the iPhone (something I swear was announced by them...but I guess that was more rumor and/or paid blogger leaks), now the PRE...just saying it sounds like they are playing the same game here with LTE.

[GeoffM]

What a miss labeled Thread - WiMAX went live here in Bellingham Sept 1 when will LTE Arrive? not till 2014 how do I know, I went to a GOV Agency Demo/ Climb aboard our bandwagon sponsered and held at the MS Campus so striaght from the horse mouth (or ass take our pick) what I do know is LTE is Live in EUR (Vodophone) an is in testing in NAM - we may see live deployments in markets like Seattle in 2Q of 2010 WiMAX on the other hand is an ISO Standard mature platform that has backing by Intel, Comcast, & Sprint (of Course) not to mention a consortium of other major Technology players. WiMAX has and is a mature technology meaning it's been here a while and will only continue to improve. Sprint currently has a huge market spectrum twice what any other carrier can deploy (sorry NDA prevent displing actual data) in the end I don't think the argument will be about LTE vs WiMAX but over all coverage of 4G for the masses IFVerizon insists on POP100>POP200>POP300 rollout's with brand new unproven tech they'll fall by the wayside of more mature technology.

[Wireless.O.G.]

As technologies, WiMax and LTE are very alike in many ways. Clear executives have openly admitted that in the future if they believed that LTE were to become a more promising venture, it would be a low cost operation to make the switch from WiMax to LTE.

We have 4G Clear (WiMax 802.16m) now in my area. Before we had Clearwire (WiMax 802.16e) which really was topping out at about 3.2Mbps Down and 768k Up. Our new Clear 4G WiMax is topping out at 8Mbps Down and I am getting mind-blowing upload speeds often over 10Mbps (I belive this will be corrected in the future as advertised upload speed is 1.5Mbps).

Sprint has a CLEAR (pun intended) advantage over the other carriers. With the purchase of Nextel (which included a lot of Craig Mcaws spectrum holdings) and their hording of the 2.5Ghz wireless Spectrum, they have more nationwide spectrum to roll out a 4G network than our competing carriers. Sprint's spectrum is like gold, over the years I am sure many of you have read articles about when Sprint has been in a pinch they sell some of the spectrum off for loads of cash.

A combination of the flexibility and power of the WiMax technology, Sprint's wild stockpile of spectrum, and Sprint's aggressive first to market with 4G strategy is going to leave Sprint sitting pretty in the "data wars" over the next 5 years.

[skills05]

Apple already has a 4G iphone, I read some guy killed himself after someone stole it from him. He had the one of the 4 working models and when word got out he killed himself. I dont know how true that is but it does make u wonder.

[zebradude]

Guys,

I was looking at the map and no coverage in Naperville?? Naperville is a big city in the Chi town suburbs?

:bang::bang::bang::frustrate:frustrate:bang::ohcra p: