Slashdot Mirror
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?"
Haha. This is AT&T. You'll be limited to 3GB a month. 7.2 is burst not sustained. And if your neighbor thinks like you do, you'll both be using the same tower. Somehow I doubt AT&T is going to run fiber to each tower to support a large number of users.
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.
Not only that, but there aren't enough circuits, so even though your phone will show 5 bars... as soon as you try to make a call, send a text, or transfer any data, it will immediately drop to 0 or 1 bars, and then say no service.
Yes, this happens on the north side in Chicago all the time.
Who cares if their towers are supporting some new transport/band between the tower and your phone... if they don't have enough circuits, or they don't have enough bandwidth going to each tower in the first place, it is pretty much worthless -- and that has been my experience for the past year in Chicago with my iPhone.
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
"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.
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.
At least his sig is appropriate.
And they claim they'll double it by the end of the year (with multicarrier HSPA+?)
-- Erich
Slashdot reader since 1997