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I've been trying to tell a friend of mine that has at&t that his 4g phone service through them is not true 4g but he doesn't believe me. I'm just not sure on the technical terms but what I have read its based off of old 3g towers that have been boosted. Any info on this would be much appreciated so I can finally shut him about this once and for all
AT&T's 4G platform -- HSPA+ -- is indeed 4G as per the revised definition of 4G by the ITU. It wasn't always, but after the wireless carriers basically threw temper tantrums, all of the current technologies now marketed as 4G -- LTE, WiMax, and HSPA+ -- are now officially 4G.
AT&T's 4G is a little tricky to figure out. Not only do you have to be in an area served by HSPA+ cells, but those cells also have to be hooked into enhanced backhaul. The backhaul is basically the chokepoint between the tower and the rest of the world. Unfortunately, AT&T has not been very forthcoming with details on what areas have this enhanced backhaul and what areas don't. The end result is that although you may be in an area covered by AT&T's 4G, you don't really get 4G speeds.
Which is amusing, given that the original definition of 4G was in fact based on speed and not necessarily technology.
Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon don't have these issues. If you have 4G with them, you have full-speed 4G. None of this "yes you have a 4G connection but you aren't running at full speed" nonsense.
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