

From Russia with bandwidth: A Russian start-up shows how 4G wireless might work - razin
http://www.economist.com/node/16846752?story_id=16846752&fsrc=scn/tw/te/rss/pe

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ANH
I'm about to move to a rural area where landline internet is unavailable, so
I'm watching 4G development closely. Clear offers 4G in the nearby
metropolitan area (DC), but I'll still be a good 20 miles outside the
footprint. I'm not looking forward to conforming to Verizon's 5GB monthly
limit on 3G even if I do understand the business need for the restriction.

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quanticle
You know, I'd like a clear definition on what exactly each "generation" of
wireless technology means. From what I've read, everyone seems to have their
own definition for what constitutes a generational change in wireless
technology, which signals to me that this these labels are that much more
marketing fluff (like Comcast's "SpeedBoost").

I'd be okay with them structuring their marketing like this for user looking
for a quick shorthand if they actually wrote down what those shorthand terms
meant. However, they're not actually doing that. Worse yet, they're going back
and revising the boundaries between generations so that only the latest
technology is at the latest generation. When EDGE was introduced, it was
marketed as 3G. These days, its considered "2.75G," whatever that means.

How can I know what the difference is between 3G and 4G when the differences
between generations aren't clearly explained and are subject to historical
revision?

~~~
nanairo
That might be an American thing, dunno... In Europe things seem quite clear
(or at least they are consistent ;) )

* GSM -> 2G

* GPRS -> 2.5G

* EDGE -> 2.75G

* UMTS -> 3G

* HSPA -> 3.5G

* HSPA+ -> 3.7G

* LTE -> 3.9G (here I agree with you: this is something advertised as 4G, mostly because of the speed difference)

* LTE Adv -> 4G

I don't know about non-European standards.

That said many of those numbers are just a handy way to explain to the common
user concepts like: "An intermediate GSM=2G to take us to UMTS=3G". Hence it
is called 2.5G. Then UMTS takes longer to appear then expected, so in the
meantime a new intermediate standard appears between GPRS=2.5G and UMTS=3G.
Etc... :)

Hope that helps.

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sedachv
All the most innovative wireless technology gets deployed in Asia. Mobile
operator features (like cellphone payments), mobile phone features, and
network capabilities are on the whole about a decade behind in the US.

The big thing about Yota in Russia is the lack of download caps. That is
unusual for Russian ISPs and a source of many complaints.

But holy shit, read the comments on the Economist. Is everyone there a troll
or a moron?

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Geee
Just get a clue what WiMAX is, even Mongolia got it in 2005.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deployed_WiMAX_networks>

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known
<http://client0.cellmaps.com/tabs.html#cellmaps_intl_tab>

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Romme
Sorry, but WiMAX isn't 4G. I've also used their service and found it to be
quite slow.

~~~
nanairo
I think that technically WiMax as in 802.16e (note the 'e') isn't properly 4G,
but the following (802.16m, I think) is.

A bit like LTE isn't 4G but LTE advanced is.

However that's from a purely technical point of view. In terms of speed: LTE
>> 802.16e.

