iansltx

LTE has more in common with WiMAX and 802.11n WiFi than it does with W-CDMA or GSM. Heck, it has more in common with iDEN than it does with GSM. The big reason LTE is associated with GSM, bigger even than the fact that both techs always use SIMs, is that both LTE and GSM/UMTS/HSPA came from the same standards body: 3GPP. WiMAX came from IEEE, like WiFi. CDMA is a Qualcomm tech, but its standards branch has wound up as 3GPP2.

Slight correction: AAV is anything that isn't either T1s provided by the local telephone company or microwave hops deployed by Sprint. Generally speaking, that means fiber to (or within a few yards of) the base station, but it could be microwave.

Yeah; from what I've seen, the current crop of LTE devices only actually support 2x1 MISO anyway...two Rx streams but only one Tx stream. Mind linking to the more recent speed tests? The fastest one I've seen so far IRL is 15 Mbps or so in both directions. Maybe a few Mbps more.

So, looks like the Nexus 4 supports LTE in AWS. Doesn't do a thing for Sprint, but interesting nonetheless. FCC antenna diagrams note two receive antennas for AWS, so this device can do standard 1x2 LTE just like anything else, for full download speeds. LG is denying LTE stuff up and down, probably to keep the FCC off their backs, but this phone will be able to drop onto T-Mobile LTE once it's out without issue, as well as Verizon LTE in a few years once their AWS network is built out (though coverage will be spotty because I guarantee that VZW won't build AWS LTE out as much as they have done in 700MHz). Related: anyone want to sell their N4 for what they paid for it? I can wait until Google restocks some phones, but just thought I'd throw that out there...

I hear good things about the Roku as well, though the smarten-my-TV box that will be hooked up to the parents' new TV will be a cheap LG BLu-Ray player (cheap to the point that the only ports are HDMI, Coax and USB). You know, the $38 one that Wal-Mart sold tonight. In the past, I've hooked up a Windows nettop and a PS3 to what was my TV. But that's probably overkill if you don't need a full computer/gaming system.

I can 100% guarantee that the issues with TMo you were seeing in Espanola were due to insufficient backhaul. Sounds like TMo has two T1s powering that site. I'll probably get the N4 8GB once it's back in stock. West Central Wireless, a local carrier, now has non-contract HSPA/H+ available, albeit not dual-carrier because in our area they only have the Cellular-B license, and they still run a legacy 1xRTT and GSM/EDGE network. If I'm in Austin, I can just use the $30 5GB T-Mobile plan (TMo has DC-H+ in AUstin and speeds are quite good, but they're GPRS-only in Fredericksburg last I checked).

Rooted here, with a custom ROM. my Sensorly data shows up just fine.

CA is a feature of LTE-A. No current phone supports LTE-A So yes, you'll need a new phone to take advantage of that.

Count me in for hoping that PCS H ends up encumbrance-free. Changing the duplex gap by 5MHz may mean a revised 3GPP standard, but 3GPP has been willing to carve out band classes for smaller operators than DISH could end up being, so I don't think it's too big of a deal. If everything;s done correctly, then Sprint will have enough spectrum outside PCS A-F to have 10x10 FD-LTE nationwide, DISH will have enough for 20x20 FD-LTE nationwide, and Sprint will have PCS A-F, SMR and EBS/BRS to deploy even more LTE + CDMA. Maybe Sprint will offer subsidized hosting to get DISH on board with their strategy. We shall see...I think T-Mobile is slightly too footprint-limited for Ergen's ambitions.

Negative. I might grab the Optimus once I can find one and do some LTE-spotting, but it'll be a lot more difficult to pinpoint towers since I won't know where they are in the first place (unless CricKet actually owns the towers, which pretty much doesn't happen). I would imagine that CricKet is using RRUs or antenna-integrated radios since that's all the rage these days, and probably ends up being a bit cheaper than ground-radio based designs.

Went to two stores just now (one CricKet corp, one reseller) and couldn't find an LTE phone to buy/loan so I can see how CricKet's network fares in Austin on LTE. I'm curious about what channel width they're using here; it could be 1.4x1.4, 3x3 or 5x5.

Wouldn't call 'em poor. Most places they have DC-H+ right now is a switch-flip away from LTE-A, so I've heard. We'll see if that pans out in a few months.

I bought the VZW third-gen iPad, 16GB. If I had to do things over again with the current-gen iPad, I'd probably make the exact same purchase (albeit with the newer model). If I need to store tons of stuff, my phone is much cheaper (microSD plus now a lot of on-board memory), so I can't justify spending $100 on 16GB more of memory. I wouldn't get a Sprint iPad because then I'd lose carrier diversity (I can tether my phone to my tablet or vice versa for the best possible surfing experience). And the cellular capability (the iPad is unlocked and supports DC-H+ on down the line as well as VZ LTE) was one of the big reasons I sprung for the iPad when I did, as I already have (and had at the time) a Kindle Fire. I use the iPad's cellular functionality a fair bit, and find it worth the $130. Having an LTE hotspot that can go for hours on end without needing to be charged is a big plus (I'm not sure whether the AT&T or Sprint iPads have hotspot functionality), and the iPad discharges more slowly when in hotspot mode than my phone does when pulling down LTE, so that saved my bacon at Sunday's F1 race. Hotspot aside, not hunting for WiFi or having to turn on tethering is really nice for a device of this size if I need to look something up (directions, web surfing, whatever). Plus the 1GB per month plan is generally enough for what I do on a normal basis, and thus comes out cheaper per month than some other VZW hotspot plan. I definitely don't steam long-form video over cellular, but who does? Oh, and having GPS built into the device is great. You need the cellular version to get that.

I have the newer camera app (as well as the launcher, gallery, etc.) on my GSIII. I still use the Samsung app for pictures/videos, but Photo Sphere is very cool, if a bit beta-y.

T-Mobile could do it as well, actually. And they aren't pushing their network modernization quite as much as Sprint is, amrketing wise anyway, but they're doing something similar. That said, Sprint seems to be more wholesale/etc. friendly than TMo at this point (which is in turn more friendly than AT&T, which is more friendly than Verizon).

In my (informed) opinion, if a Google + Dish network goes forward, it will be exclusively LTE. No other standards are certified for that band class (AWS-4 in this case, plus whatever else Echostar picks up), and the other data-focused/data-only standards (EvDO, DC-HSPA+) don't measure up in terms of bits per Hz capacity. So, think Clearwire, but with better spectrum, FD-LTE (a 20x20 nationwide channel, like Verizon has done in 700MHz except with less coverage and double the spectral capacity) and more Google involvement. I wouldn't be surprised if this spectrum got hosted on Sprint's NV architecture for a rapid deployment, though mobile coverage would be limited to bigger cities for awhile, because: 1) Mobile coverage on AWS-4 will be a noticeable bit less, all else equal, than PCS, though 2) if you're covering an urban area your PCS sites are spaced for capacity rather than coverage anyway, so you can drop in AWS-4 equipment and still have a full-coverage network I'll be the contrarian here and say that AWS-4 alone IS enough spectrum to deploy a nationwide network, or at least an urban-focused every-part-of-the-US one. 20MHz FD-LTE is nothing to sneeze at, and the spectrum is high enough frequency that network capacity issues will be slower to come than, say, VZW or AT&T's 700MHz deployments (t the expense of reduced coverage per site). Plus, if Google+Dish has capacity issues, Clearwire is just a phone call away

CDMA uses EVRC or SMV codecs (pretty sure 99% of phones use EVRC or a variation thereof stil). EVRC encodes at ~8.5 kbps. By contrast, GSM/WCDMA networks can use AMR-HR or AMR-FR (Half Rate or Full Rate). T-Mobile tends to use Full Rate. AT&T uses half-rate, generally speaking. Which is why their network sounds like crap. AMR-HR compresses audio down to 5.6 kbps or so. Full Rate? Around double that...more than the bits per second of EVRC or SMV.

If ICS has a smaller footprint than GB, why are manufacturers using footprint as an excuse not to upgrade?

I care about voice quality. One of the reasons I have Sprint over AT&T, which actually has better coverage out in this neck of the woods.

CricKet now has a reasonable amount of LTE, up significantly from the two cities that they had before (Las Vegas and Tucson): http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=11513 They have a version of the LG Connect 4G (they call it the Optimus Regard) and will have the GSIII soon. Data cards aren't yet available in the new markets, but tethering on a phone is available. As usual, all plans include unlimited everything-except-data; data speeds are throttled past 2GB, 5GB or 10GB, depending on whether you get the $50, $60 or $70 plans, and tethering is allowed on $60 and $70 options. Now if only CricKet had an inside source that provided information similar to what S4GRU has for Sprint...then I could figure out just how overblown CricKet's coverage maps are (I'm right on the edge of LTE coverage here, according to their map)...