Ever wonder what people are talking about when they are explaining the features of their new computer? Or are you in doubt on whether or not to upgrade your lap or desktop to a better network called “4G”?
There is a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to these numbers and letters.
3G stands for Third Generation, its real name is International Mobile Telecommunications-2000, and it is what you see today in cell phones and other mobile devices. The 3G network allows you to access television, have a video chat, and the web all on your cell phone. Remember when cell phones just had a green and a red button, call and end? Not anymore. With 3G phones are hand-held computers that do everything. Who needs just a phone in today’s world?
The Nokia phones were one of the first to use the 3G network. The Koreans came out with the first networks, and since then it has evolved into a standard for broadband connections with better signals all over the world. Today the race is on to reach that magical number: 4.
You may have seen on T.V. the advertisement from T-Mobile saying that they have the 4G. This is what you might call bending that little thing we call truth. It is not 4G, just faster version of 3G, the real 4G is yet to be reached. The speed is measured in Mbit/s, or megabits per second, and companies are getting close to 4G standards but the closest is only 3.9G.
So what do customers do with all this running around trying to find the fastest “G”? Wait and see, sooner or later phones like Sprints new HTC EVO 4G will be the basic phone and we will be surrounded by networks speeding in 20 Mbit/s(that is fast!)
The only catch with getting these 4G phones now is this: there is no 4G network! Companies like Sprint and T-Mobile are trying to get a “one-up” on all their competition by boasting of the first 4G phone. Don’t buy into that crap, because even if it says 4G on it and it goes fast, the so-called 4G will revert back to 3G in most areas because it is not covered there.
That means that upgrading to 4G is really wasting your money. Stay with your phone that has 3G and do not worry about all the hubbub concerning 4G with the fastest broadband signal. Eventually yes, you will want to make the upgrade to 4G, but what is the point of having 4G when it does not really work?
You will know when the real 4G hits the market. It operates in Giga-bit speeds(1 Billion) so it is super fast. That is the one thing that makes the difference: speed, and companies like WiMax and LTE(Long-Term Evolution) have come close to reaching the 1 Gig mark, but not quite. 4G will have seamless mobility in file-transfers and internet access without interruption, like when one broadband signal moves to another area of coverage, and offers more in terms of gaming and streaming multimedia.