Thread: Wireless Bandwidth

I like T-mobile, I don't have to pay for using WiFi and even at 3G it's pretty fast.

Originally Posted by LAM

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I definitely don't miss the old 33.6/56K dial-up days!

I am old. I DO miss the good old days of 14.4 + 28.8 modems and the 33.6 was the shit for sure! Oh those were the days. I even remember having a 600 BAUD and it worked great. Oh the good ol'days

AT&T just sent me a letter that since we have unlimited data and are in the top 5% of data usage once we hit a certain amount of data per month they will throttle back the bandwidth. That's total bullshit!

On top of that we can't tether our iPhones to say my netbook.... I think it's time for a change. Who has the best bang for the buck data plan that is iPhone compatible?

Sprint???

ATT will hear from my wife if we get one of those letters. We pay 186.00 a month for two I phones. I will use as much as I want.

If you want unlimited, you better look at Sprint. AT&T and Verizon all have capped data and YES they will throttle you HARD. As far as broadband cards go, sprint just capped their 3G/4G cards. The only companies still offering totally unlimited on BB cards are your smaller companies that run off the Big 4's towers.

The acquisition of T-Mobile got dropped by AT&T because the government got involved.

Verizon is the fastest and best 4G network but it is flooded so they capped data, and cause that company is all about fucking you over in my past experience. Sprint service sucks but it is the only unlimited out there, at least for now, so could be worth a look. All I know is the AT&T iPhone 4S is the fastest because Verizon has a crappy 3G network but that is not all that relevant to LAM's original post, just thought I would share.

Just cracked the screen on my Iphone. I'm wondering whether I should drop my current carrier and go to Sprint. Apparently they have good service around here.

Originally Posted by oufinny

Verizon is the fastest and best 4G network

technically none of the wireless carriers have a true 4G (IMT-advanced is the technology). the ITU defines 4G as the network having a bandwidth of 100Mbps or greater, wireless carriers in the US have true data rates at 5% of that. the numbers that I posted are an example of this from T-mobile and I am right next to a tower.

US carriers market them as such but this is very common here in the US, just like with the different flavors of HDTV that cable, satellite, etc. advertise. None of them truly conform to the standard as it is too bandwidth intensive.

following the standard insures interoperability between devices made by the same company and with other brands. this is what we did with WiFi back in the late 90's. we had all the wireless chip makers come into the lab and ran them against our test methodology on our testing platform, if they passed they got to stamp their boxes with the WiFi certification label.

anyone that has traveled extensively in Europe knows how well mobile phones work there, because they all follow either the same standard or the same working paper moving towards the implementation of a new telecom standard.

I attached a file that shows AT&T's long haul back-bone fiber network which us running at OC-768 which is a tad over 38GBps. the circles represent the termination points that's where the various network elements are provisioned to the smaller carriers at the state and local levels.

I get over 7mbps on my galaxy s2 from Tmobile. I live in a "4g" city though. My average speeds are 5-8mbps when there's a lot of traffic, my best was 16 in non peak hours.

I should also probably add that my phone is rooted, has a custom rom, and has some network tweaks for better data speed.


yeah i'm a phone nerd

I use PDAnet in the Android Market. Its free to use but it wont connect to some sites. Its like 20bucks for a lifetime license. Its wicked fast!

June Fabrics PDA Technology Group <--- This is the webpage it works with all phones.

Originally Posted by TJTJ

I use PDAnet in the Android Market. Its free to use but it wont connect to some sites. Its like 20bucks for a lifetime license. Its wicked fast!

June Fabrics PDA Technology Group <--- This is the webpage it works with all phones.

That's not a very good app to be honest. There are free ones that connect to all sites and has more network options, for example wep encryption. One of them is called barnacle wifi tether but you have to be rooted. Rooting is usually super easy for most Android phones.

Originally Posted by Vibrant

That's not a very good app to be honest. There are free ones that connect to all sites and has more network options, for example wep encryption. One of them is called barnacle wifi tether but you have to be rooted. Rooting is usually super easy for most Android phones.

maybe. but it worked for me. simple and wicked fast. I could stream netflix videos.

Originally Posted by TJTJ

maybe. but it worked for me. simple and wicked fast. I could stream netflix videos.

Whatever works for you. What's good about Android is that you have options. pdanet not being able to access all sites is a big no-no for me.

Originally Posted by maniclion

AT&T just sent me a letter that since we have unlimited data and are in the top 5% of data usage once we hit a certain amount of data per month they will throttle back the bandwidth. That's total bullshit!

On top of that we can't tether our iPhones to say my netbook.... I think it's time for a change. Who has the best bang for the buck data plan that is iPhone compatible?

yeah made the switch from at&t to sprint. not an iphone fan , love my driod but the service is good in my area .

Originally Posted by Vibrant

Whatever works for you. What's good about Android is that you have options. pdanet not being able to access all sites is a big no-no for me.

I mean you can. just have to pay for the license. And you can transfer it to a new phone or if you lose it.

Originally Posted by TJTJ

I mean you can. just have to pay for the license. And you can transfer it to a new phone or if you lose it.

I know, I've used that app before. But my point is why pay for something when another dev offers the same features for free? Barnacle for example is free but if you really like it and you can support the dev by buying a paid version (it's almost identical in features) which costs like $2.

Originally Posted by Vibrant

I get over 7mbps on my galaxy s2 from Tmobile. I live in a "4g" city though. My average speeds are 5-8mbps when there's a lot of traffic, my best was 16 in non peak hours.

the 5-8 does not surprise me at all but the 16mbps does. do know what the LAC or cell id is?

AT&T just sent me a letter that since we have unlimited data and are in the top 5% of data usage once we hit a certain amount of data per month they will throttle back the bandwidth.

Originally Posted by caaraa

AT&T just sent me a letter that since we have unlimited data and are in the top 5% of data usage once we hit a certain amount of data per month they will throttle back the bandwidth.

they pretty much have to in a metro area with such a high population, they just don't have the bandwidth for unlimited data usage. each tower can only offer accommodate so many people with high speed access. and more isn't a solution as they can only be spaced but so close together.

Originally Posted by djlance

The acquisition of T-Mobile got dropped by AT&T because the government got involved.

Amen to that. ATT sucks.

Haha it is crazy looking back. I remember the old 28.8 connection I averaged.
Now I am zooming in the megs. Blows my mind.

Originally Posted by LAM

I'm bored as always but have been downloading a bunch of networking tools to my android phone for work. I have my phone hooked up as a tethered modem to my PC and this thing is getting 3.85MBps down and 1.22MBmps up, that's freaking crazy! I guess t-mobile does have a pretty good 4G network.

I definitely don't miss the old 33.6/56K dial-up days!

Originally Posted by LAM

the 5-8 does not surprise me at all but the 16mbps does. do know what the LAC or cell id is?

I could find out but then you would know where I live.

Im in a city that has tmobiles 42mbps towers turned on and my galaxy s2 is one of the few tmobile phones that can fully take advantage of that speed.

Originally Posted by LAM

I'm bored as always but have been downloading a bunch of networking tools to my android phone for work. I have my phone hooked up as a tethered modem to my PC and this thing is getting 3.85MBps down and 1.22MBmps up, that's freaking crazy! I guess t-mobile does have a pretty good 4G network.

I definitely don't miss the old 33.6/56K dial-up days!

Thats fucking weak. Verizon 4G ive pulled 21 down and 16 up. Looking for my screen shot as we speak.

Rooted Bionic with Th3ory rom.