AT&T LTE service in Pahoa

[robguz]

Just noticed today that there is LTE in Pahoa. 10-30+ megabit download and 10+ upload on my iPhone. Nice to see AT&T is starting to cover parts of the Big Island. It doesn't extend too far however. It was perfect in the Malama parking lot, but totally absent at the light towards Kalapana & Kapoho.

[Justin]

It'd be nice if this extended to Leilani, as the AT&T is basically useless inside our house. I keep hoping they co-locate on the new Verizon tour put in next to the Community Center.

[bluesboy]

is this different than 4G service? i'm able to get up to 8mb download / 1mb upload in Mountain View. Does you phone say LTE in the upper left corner when it is on that network?

[kalakoa]

Industry lobbyists managed to get the definition of "4G" watered down, so all it really means is "faster than 3G".

LTE ("Long Term Evolution") is being used somewhat synonymously with "4G". In general terms, "3G" is a wireless network that emulates a circuit-switched telephone paradigm; LTE is a packet-switched network that runs everything (including voice) as a stream of data, similar in principle to the internet. I believe the air protocols are a variant of WiMAX.

Verizon HomeFusion is LTE. Any given "4G" phone is probably 3G voice + LTE data. Eventually (the "Long Term" part) everything will be LTE.

Separately but related: LTE is allocated all over the EM spectrum, lower frequencies pass more easily through solid objects. HomeFusion is "band 13" ~700MHz, I don't know what ATT is doing but I think they have some 800MHz spectrum. Phone are usually in the microwave bands just below 2GHz.

[peteadams]

We have a Verizon MiFi, an LTE cell modem. Just tried speedtest.net as a sort of random test and got a 140 ms ping and 9.69/1.67 Mps down and up. For some reason speediest.net selects Wichita, KS as the connection site, but I just use to be consistent.

[bluesboy]

do any of these cell data plans offer unlimited downloads? i'm currently on a 10GB/month limit with AT&T. from what I understand, satellite has a similar cap.

[beejee]

I think you hit the nail on the head bluesboy. The Achilles heel of the current 4G/LTE data plans is the low bandwidth/data allocation. I would venture to guess that the default Verizon 4G/LTE plan may include a 2 gigabyte (GB) data plan per month before extra charges kick in. Do your homework and understand your data usage patterns before ditching your existing internet service. If you watch a lot of YouTube/video, you'll pay for it with a 4G/LTE hotspot.

[Guest]

There are grandfathered plans and roundabout ways to get unlimited, but I know that some carriers like Verizon even softcap those at 5 gb. I Have used 15+ gb on the att unlimited and not been cut off. When is the tower in beaches supposed to be done?

[peteadams]

Standard Verizon LTE plan for a computer cell modem is $50 for 5 Gb per month, $10 for each Gb over 5 or $80 for 10 Gb. Don't know about smart phones. Seemed somewhat adequate initially, but turned out to be very frustrating and I really dislike it. It's easy to hit 5 Gb per month if you at all an active web user. Web sites these days are loaded with images and the faster LTE grabs them all. Additionally, with the faster speeds, it's easy to follow links and look at a greater number of sites. With 3G I used to stop the slow image downloads and just read the text which arrived more quickly. Watching many videos, especially HD, or big jpg images will eat into a 10 Gb cap quickly. You could maybe watch one movie a month if you limit your usage otherwise.

[travissand]

Any one else test there speed and location yet? Strange that it could not make it past the light in Pahoa. I cant wait to test it out!! I live near shower I will report back next week when my LTE sim card arrives.