Comments on: Which 4G Is Right For You?

By: feralrom

feralrom — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 14:58:14 +0000

“Why? Because when future customers move out of LTE coverage areas, the fallback to 3G won’t be as drastic of a speed reduction.”

Kevin, you’re a writer, not a valley girl, what’s this ‘OF’?

By: Alen Tim

Alen Tim — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 14:18:41 +0000

For people who want to ditch their DSl/cable internet and jump on ClearWire “unlimited internet”, do yourself a favor: Search about ClearWire throttle.

By: Mainstreethost

Mainstreethost — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 06:21:50 +0000

It will take some time for this to get up to speed, but they are getting crazy with all these fees we the consumer will have to pay. With all the other monthly expenses most people have this will drain you even more. That’s why it’s good to wait for six moths to a year and the pricing will come down.

By: Luscious

Luscious — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 02:13:21 +0000

One angle not mentioned is the usage scenario with notebooks/netbooks. I currently use Virgin Mobile’s 3G service via a MiFi 2200 mobile hotspot. $40/month for unlimited 3G is a fantastic deal, and while the faster speeds of 4G would certainly be beneficial, the restrictive usage caps certainly aren’t.

Clearwire recently had a deal where you could buy a 4G mobile hotspot for $20. Combined with the $45 unlimited 4G plan, it would make ditching my home DSL almost a no brainer.

I say almost, because coverage is still spotty. That, and the fact that I need all-day internet access for my notebook/netbook/smartphone makes a capped plan simply out of the question. There’s no way I’m going to be paying $250 in overage charges every month for true wireless freedom.

The bottom line in my case falls on three essential factors. First is the availability of a mobile 4G hotspot device for use with my multiple devices. Clearwire does that. Clearwire also offers an uncapped plan, which again fulfills the needs of all-day notebook/netbook use. Third, is solid coverage, and right now I’m in a fringe area that only “promises” future coverage. Yet without a working signal to grab, I’m in no position to give them my money, despite my eagerness to cut the cord and ditch my home DSL.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 22:25:45 +0000

I’m pretty certain that Verizon’s network is awesome and I’ve had the service for 5 years, but them wanting $50 for LTE 4G doesn’t sit too well with me :/

Kevin, good explanation on the purposes here.

By: TimB

TimB — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 21:37:38 +0000

Kevin – good angle on this. It will be interesting to see how pricing, carrier spectrum, and bandwidth speeds ultimately play out in the market. All the tech-geeks get excited about the absolute fastest wireless protocol – but I wonder what user percentage/use case actually *needs* the incremental speed bump from, say, HSPA+ to LTE.