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AT&T Says 7.2Mbps Wireless Coming This Year
CWmike writes "AT&T will upgrade to High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 wireless networking technology later this year, offering faster (up to 7.2 Mbit/sec.) network speeds to new compatible laptop cards and smartphones due to be released at the same time, the company said today. Current HSPA download speeds can theoretically reach 3.6 MBit/sec, according to AT&T executives who commented on the planned upgrade in April. AT&T did not comment on which laptop cards and smartphones will be compatible with HSPA 7.2 other than to say it will introduce 'multiple' devices later this year. Could this be one of the big iPhone announcements to come from WWDC?"
And if I can get a good internet connection for a decent price with all this.. SCREW YOU! TIME WARNER!
Can you hear me now?....Nope.
Current HSPA download speeds can theoretically reach 3.6 MBit/sec,
There is no difference between theory and practice in theory, but there is in practice.
But they will still limit the kinds of traffic on their network.
The greatest revenge in life is massive success.
Is it any coincidence you thought of the exact same thing as the summary?
Whale
sure, they'll let you use port 80, 8080, and maybe even 443 but what cost is the freedom to use the bandwidth for what _you_ want to use it for? Didn't I see where T-Mobile's G1 _unlimited_ data plan bills you extra for Chat and IM and I would guess they block the standard VOIP port(s) too.
The Internet may be thought of by some as a "bunch of tubes" but these companies are carving it up so they control what you do on the "tube". Speed isn't the only thing that's important here.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
Along with the other major carriers. Maybe then we can get some better competition in the US wireless market.
... please don't forget about the large number of your customers who are paying for 3G access and still have none before you go about upgrading existing 3G networks. It was announced that 3G was coming to my area by year's end at the beginning of the year... It's now June... You have 6 months left, jerks...
A black hole is where God divided by 0
"New high speed internet" they said, "faster than anything you seen before". Now I could be wrong but for some reason cell service went to shit. Coincidence? I live 2 miles away from the tower with direct line of sight. And the problem isn't just signal strength but weird noises, echoes and interference.
"New & Improved" pig in a poke, get yours today while supplies last!
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
As above posters mentioned, AT&T's service always comes with so many strings that it's hardly worth paying for. Plus their high speed coverage generally only extends to large urban areas.
Anyone have any comments on Verizon's data service offerings? I'd potentially like to do a tethered modem or a MiFi type device. I'm tired of the iPhone and it's inability to anything truly useful without jailbreaking it.
...provided you are standing within spitting distance of a cellular tower.
A new buzzword milestone: this new technology doubles the theoretical data rate that nobody actually sees!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Some phones already have the HSDPA 7.2Mbps capability. AT&T has just neutered their firmware through various settings. Luckily, for some phones, you can just revert these settings, and in some places, receive 7.2Mbps today.
For example, the HTC Fuze/Touch Pro can do 7.2Mbps after some registry tweaks.
I have AT&T for my DSL and I can't even get their 6 Mbps DSL connection with a WIRE. And they want me to believe they're going to give me 7 Mbps on my cellphone?
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Backhaul You can have 7.2Mbps to the base station, but from all accounts, the backhaul from said base stations SUCKS, so you won't get anywhere near that. Thats the sneaky trick. They offer UP TO 7.2Mpbs, but really its dependant on backhaul, and how said backhaul has been configured. Expect throughput of about 500kbps
Combat Wombat - Heavy outback ordanance.
The actual quote is: "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is." Source is either Yogi Berra or Chuck Reid.
"Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
My internet connectivity has always sucked on my phone, badly enough that it's never been more than a novelty, not an asset. If my real-world experience was even close to my "theoretical" service, I wouldn't give a damn about upgrading. Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining!
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Hello? in EU we have 14.4mbit with unlimited bandwidth and no need for contract (you just go to a kiosk and buy a SIM for your own device)
At least his sig is appropriate.
Of course, you still won't be allowed to use your iPhone as a modem (yes, I know it's possible, just not approved by AT&T).
"In case of emergency, break glass. Scream. Bleed to death."
DHS/NSA/CIA/FBI/TLA du jour must have upgraded their monitoring software to something really fast! I mean AT&T can't supply more bandwidth than what the federal agency's they're warentlessly giving everything to can process it. Can they?
great, even more ways to get to overage city even faster.
now, if they are getting rid of the cap and make it truly unlimited...then fine.
Even if we assume that their speed claims are true, the benefit of this new product will be severely limited if ATT Wireless retains their currently policy of charging $0.25/MB once users hit their monthly limit of 5GB. I finally gave up on ATT because it was such a pain to monitor my usage and stop normal broadband activity (e.g., youtube, etc.) near the end of every month when I got close to the limit.
7.2Mbps or greater wireless? That's awesome, I'm still waiting for greater than 6Mbps wired DSL....
I know people are going to argue that cellular wireless suffers from awful latency, making this completely unviable for anything but light web surfing...
I'd like to preemptively note that I've heard HSDPA has very good latency for wireless... at least on paper.
This is merely anecdotal, I also hear others talking about 60-80ms latency, which is *great* compared to other common cellular data technologies such as Edge and 3G. It might not be perfect for gaming, but it should be suitable for multimedia providing the cellular network has the balls to handle it.
Fact: Everything I say is fiction.
Oops..I just skimmed it. I often don't read the very last line of most things...I usually assume the meat of the story is in the first part.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Comment removed based on user account deletion
pff.. 7.2mbit wireless? We've had that for over a year in Denmark. Works too.. I bought mine when it was time for my army duty. Worked on the base (based in a minor town (like 6.000 people)), worked back home (around 20.000 people), works i copenhagen, backseat of a car on the middle of a bridge connecting two of the islands, and on the train.
Also. No limit other than (we'll ask you politly to reduce your bandwidth-use first, if we feel it's too much, and should you ignore, we will limit you).
Also, you actually get between 3 and 6 mbit
-- Happy 3.dk user
Expect throughput of about 500kbps
EDGE got us maybe 70kbps tops. 3G now gives us short bursts of 200kbps, dropping down to maybe 120kbps sustained if we're lucky. This is for aircards in our laptops. We just tested Verizon's EVDO and got 1.2mbps bursts on download, with 500-600kbps sustained, but still only 70-90kbps up.
Cellphone wireless data still sucks.
What, don't you people have this already?
I just moved, and since my slowpoke ISP is slow, I won't have ADSL in my new place until one or two weeks from now. To cover the meantime I ordered mobile broadband which is a USB 3G dongle that you can connect to your computer. It can do HSPA, and EDGE and "3G". I'm pretty close to a tower, but I got 2mbps down and 0.2 up, and a latency of about 300ms, so I think I'll keep borrowing my neighbour's wifi instead and just return this instead. The mobile provider also had a campaign right now, so the monthly cost is 0. There is a 5GB cap though (if you hit it, they throttle you to 60kbps), and the regular price is $30 a month.
There, feel free to be envious, rant about how AT&T are screwing the US consumers, curse us Europeans, and possibly, just possibly start the whole broadband country ranking debate again. :-)
And they claim they'll double it by the end of the year (with multicarrier HSPA+?)
-- Erich
Slashdot reader since 1997
5GB a month is not enough? And you hit that mark watching youtube?
My god man... why do you insist on subjecting yourself to the crapfest that is youtube?
And even if they actually had something worthwhile, why can't you cozy up somewhere that offers wifi?
3G access is slow as molasses on a cold day. I'm surprised you were able to even hit 5GB in a month on that joke of a network.
It's the WIRETAPPING. So much tracking and forwarding shit must be embedded in all the traffic that the intertubes are going bonkers.
Seriously, though, i wonder which -- if any -- of their "multiple devices" will support Linux, as in work from kppp, at a minimum. If Sierra is a provider, hopefully it will be available AND work from day one, not day 72. This OS-stratification crap/game played by service providers and hardware makers has to end. Design the hardware to work with minimum communication by the OS and tell ms to talk to the card, not the card talk to ms. Tell Mac to talk to the card, not the card kiss up. This way, maybe Open Source OS's can have a more level playing field to get onto. OTOH, many of these hardware choices might work with Linux, but have their APIs deliberately obfuscated to delay uptake of non-ms OS's...
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
Could this be one of the big iPhone announcements to come from WWDC?
Yes, it could be.
It's also possible that Apple won't mention anything about this. Next question?
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
Can we please ban the use of "up to" in advertising? The same goes for "as much as" and all their ilk.
How it isn't simply declared false advertising is beyond me.
It's like those super soakers that were advertised as shooting "up to 30 feet!". Yeah, right. Only if you whip your arm about before firing to impart some momentum to the water, then fire downwind at a 37 degree angle in a category 4 hurricane. Otherwise it was more like 10 feet.
How about if the mean average performance of the product isn't at least 80% of the advertised "up to" figure, you don't get to use that figure. Or require that all "up to" claims be accompanied with a bell curve that show people that most of them will be getting significantly less 100% of the time?
Question everything
Assuming this actually improves SOME people's internet (yeah, I know, big assumption) it means a bit less than diddly squat to many Americans. I can't GET reliable cell service. If I walk out in the yard, and hold the phone at an awkward angle, pointing the antenna *just so* the tower in Texarkana finally makes a connection.
I'd rather see AT&T do something USEFUL. Expand the existing infrastructure, so that rural America can enjoy simple MB speed connections on the internet. And, reduce the rates, so that rural Americans can AFFORD a 1 MB connection. Just because the city boys with union jobs can afford $75/month service, doesn't mean everyone in Backwoods Nowhere has that kind of money.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
I still get the feeling that my "leading edge" AT&T Blackberry Bold, with its "fast" Intel XScale 624 MHz processor may be the bottleneck on wireless connections. I'm not sure if it's the high latency of the mobile network, distance-to-tower-related performance degradation, varying network conditions or simple lack of processor horsepower, but I find that it's typically not able to come anywhere close to the theoretical bandwidth limits imposed by the 3.6Mbps 3G network.
I suspect resources would be better spent reducing latency, improving existing tower coverage and adding towers rather than moving to a new bandwidth standard that's guaranteed to result in even lower utilization by the vast majority of existing devices on AT&T's network.
Oh and couldn't finish without one off-topic troll: Am I the only one who finds it literally astounding that I can't complete a conversation on my fancy new 3G Blackberry without at least one drop on the most well traveled commuter highway (101) right in the heart of Silicon Valley?
This is no real news to Europe and Australia. 21Mbps is the THEORETICAL maximum.. It will be moved to 42Mbps by years end with Telstra. If you have decent hackhaul life will be sweet
Is there other ISPs offering these or higher speeds, or is AT&T first at implementing this in large scales? While I've read articles here before about the problem of lacking competition between ISPs offering wired connections, I can't see the problem of companys competing over and improving wireless networking.
Here in Sweden we've had HSPA 7.2 since 2006, covering most of the country, with a much lower population density. Some ISPs are currently upgrading to 150Mps 4g, which will be available later this year.
Earlier this week the first 4G base station was installed in central Stockholm.
The next generation mobile technology (LTE) provides speeds up to 150 Mb/s.
And has been for 2 years now. Started with laptop and moved to a cradlepoint hotspot with 3G USB modem. He dropped the land line and has been ecstatic with this and his Via Talk service.
AT&T sucks in most places but apparently not near his house in the boonies.
I live 10 miles outside a city. No DSL, no cable, no FIOS, no Wifi, no WiMAX, etc. With the ATT 3G service I was routinely getting around 1.2 Mbps down which was sufficient for my needs. I could easily reach the 5GB limit in less than a month of reasonable usage. Youtube was just an example. There are lots of other compelling broadband services. A local WISP started offering 900 MHz 2Mbps (measured peak bandwidth!) service and even offered to give me a discount to offset the $150 fee that ATT charges to break the contract. It was an easy decision to switch.
My local WISP uses WiFi (I think) with big fat directional antennae and Mikrotik routerboards on PoE in a metal box on the mast. The antenna grill alone is fifty bucks if you get it cheap, fun times. I get about the same speeds as you, sometimes at peak I've seen it as low as 400kbps but in general it makes me very happy... for fifty bucks a month. Anyone with the misfortune to be in Lake County, California should visit http://www.airlinkweb.com/ if they can't get cable. Mediacom is a bunch of bastards, but they do kick out some fat transfer rates. DSL customers might at least do no works on Airlink. (Yes, that is an extremely overloaded name.)
If you use me as a referral then I get ten bucks, but even if you don't I get more financial security for my ISP.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Even if we assume that their speed claims are true, the benefit of this new product will be severely limited if ATT Wireless retains their currently policy of charging $0.25/MB once users hit their monthly limit of 5GB.
I've been looking at AT&T plans online because they buy every fucking cellphone company I get service from anyway (and they own every tower worth a fuck in my county, too... since buying Edge Wireless) and they advertise "Unlimited Data" with the "PDA Personal" option. The version of PDA Personal "with tethering" is advertised as 5GB. I searched the plan terms for "unlimited" and none of the limitations seemed to apply to data.
So, just to clarify, is the "Unlimited" plan limited to 5GB? Or do these complaints only apply to the tethered connections? Further, if you get a tethered plan, do you still get unlimited data to your handheld? And finally, is there something like SLIRP of old that will let you effectively have unlimited tethered data anyway? I'm seriously thinking about getting the refurb HTC Fuze on the premise that it will probably run Angstrom someday. Some other HTC devices seem to be working...
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
AT&T should focus on getting their 3G network working better. More coverage, more reliability, and more speed.
Frankly, Verizon's slower EvDO seemed to perform faster and have less issues.
Could this be one of the big iPhone announcements to come from WWDC?
I hope they're also planning on discontinuing the "call dropping" feature that my iPhone seems to have near-complete support for.
"fast" Intel XScale 624 MHz processor
The quotes are appropriate. XScale gets notoriously poor performance per clock - it's the Pentium 4 of the ARM world. You'd be very lucky to get the same performance from it as from a 400MHz core from another vendor.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Am I the only one that is worried about all this increased radiation next to our heads and dicks?
AT&T loses.
AT&T is smoked if Apple allows Verizon or any other LTE carrier to get their hands on the iPhone ahead of AT&T's network rebuild 3 years down the road. AT&T is doing this because Verizon is supposedly getting ready to get iPhones as part of their changeover from CDMA to GSM in 2010 (and thus gain LTE capability) - plus Verizon is *already* testing LTE in a couple of markets.
AT&T's foot dragging with coverage problems, their denial that they need better endpoint bandwidth, etc - its now coming back to bite them in the ass.
AT&T is about a year and a half behind Version in LTE testing for deployment (they are projecting 2011-2012 for LTE at AT&T). So they are stuck with 7.2Mbit HSPA.
Verizon will skip HSPA and go straight to the higher speed LTE in 2010, long before AT&T can get there. And that upgrade comes at about the same time Apple's exclusivity with AT&T dies, what a coincidence. hmmmm.
WHats LTE mean for data rates? Here: 60mbits at less than 100 mW demonstrated December by LG at NTT DOCOMO.
Ericsson already has an operational LTE net in Stockholm that runs 50Mb/s supposedly.
And look at this: 170mbits -- in a moving car!
DO WANT!
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo! http://goo.gl/J9bkO
Sorry for raining on this wireless party but what happened to the $30 billion wired build-out we already paid for, but don't have? I guess this particular corporate failure-to-deliver is peanuts compared to the scale of the recent looting done by the banks. And we wonder why the US is in decline...
"AT&T Says 7.2Mbps Wireless Coming This Year" ... and it won't change the fact that AT&T drops 70% of the calls I make. I suppose it's because I don't live in "SANFRAKOTA", which is where I hear there is far better service than there is in other cities like "Salt Lake City", "Chicago", "Las Vegas", and "Des Moines". Perhaps I could forget about this simple service issue and buy a phone with a better camera or a headphone jack and mp3 player so that I can use my phone for entertainment and forget about making and receiving phone calls. Or maybe AT&T can sac the fuck up and provide the quality service that I enjoyed under the reign of Cingular.
That's OK. At least we know you're not new here.
...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
These speeds are not close to what's possible to get.. We have 21Mbits 3G here in Sweden and max speed is around 14-15Mbits.. All the companies are taken to the consumer court for false claims in adverts and in the product.. The companies have now come together and set rules advertising only the top maximal speed possible practically, not thoretically...
I just go a flyer from Rodgers yesterday for wireless internet. I haven't looked into it. The flier says packages start at $25/month, and speeds are up to 7.2Mbps. A 7.2Mbps connection for $25.month would be awesome, but not likely. Too bad.