[Ben_Fisher]

If I have 4G 0 bar signal and speedtest at around 5mbps. Yet on 3G get 30mbps with comparable ping.

Why is 4G still much faster to load webpages etc?

[jabbamk1]

latency bro + 4G is the next generation, so better overall + better optimisation.

[mupet0000]

I'd say it seems to be the negotiation between H and H+ that makes 3G feel slow. When 3G is idling at HSPA and then you try to open a web page, in the time it takes the phone to negotiate from HSPA to DC-HSDPA, the LTE connection would have already begun to load the web page.

[Ben_Fisher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mupet0000

I'd say it seems to be the negotiation between H and H+ that makes 3G feel slow. When 3G is idling at HSPA and then you try to open a web page, in the time it takes the phone to negotiate from HSPA to DC-HSDPA, the LTE connection would have already begun to load the web page.

I notice this with a 3G only connection, it does nothing at all on 3G, then goes to H and does the work.

[DevonBloke]

What Jabba said.
It's all about latency. the time it takes a ping to get there and back.
4G when it's working right is similar (perhaps slightly slower) to fixed line ADSL/VDSL broadband. Maybe 20 - 40 milliseconds.
3G tends to start at 50 but is often much higher.
Also as was sort of said above 3G is still partially switched. An idle connection has to "wake up" and get going whereas 4G is a pure IP connection, always on.

I have 3G here for my business from a Huawei router with an EE SIM.
I get about 15 meg but because of the latency it actually feels slower than my crappy 1.7meg ADSL connection for browsing.
This is because most web pages these days are made up of perhaps 10-15 separate sections all being drawn from different back end databases.
3G has to "switch" for each section which take time.
Downloading is a different story though. No switching is required once the initial connection is made so 3G absolutely trounces my ADSL.
Would this be an accurate elaboration of your post Jabba?
: )

[jabbamk1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DevonBloke

Would this be an accurate elaboration of your post Jabba?
: )

It's the most beautiful elaboration I've ever read.

*Sheds a tear*

[Thine Wonk]

I'd say it's not so much the ping time as the 'set-up' time, to create the data channel and start sending data. It is only marginal though, a good DC-HSPA connection with a latency of 80ms seems to be pretty fast to me.

[jchamier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben_Fisher

Why is 4G still much faster to load webpages etc?

What all the others have said is about the connection - but the big thing is the number of concurrent 'sessions' on the mast. 4G (LTE) can handle a LOT more smart phones being connected to a single mast at the same time than any 3G or 2G mast.

All our phones are always connected even in our pockets, as they're waiting for incoming data from WhatsApp, email, iMessage, facebook notifications etc. This means each smart phone keeps a "session" open on the mast.

So with LTE the operators get many many more sessions per mast.

[Gigabit]

When the phone is "idling" on HSPA, is it actually connected to HSPA? Because HSPA doesn't seem to be used at all, only HSPA+ so I wonder if HSPA being displayed actually means HSPA is being used.

[jchamier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gigabit

When the phone is "idling" on HSPA, is it actually connected to HSPA? Because HSPA doesn't seem to be used at all, only HSPA+ so I wonder if HSPA being displayed actually means HSPA is being used.

I think there are various bugs or lack of API in the Android frameworks to distinguish.

I never understood why Android (and Windows Phone) bothers showing the difference in the various 3G modes. They're all 3G / UMTS / WCDMA transmissions, and only affect speed.

Devices only show one 4G (or LTE) logo for the various Categories.

[Gigabit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jchamier

I think there are various bugs or lack of API in the Android frameworks to distinguish.

I never understood why Android (and Windows Phone) bothers showing the difference in the various 3G modes. They're all 3G / UMTS / WCDMA transmissions, and only affect speed.

Devices only show one 4G (or LTE) logo for the various Categories.

Yeah I agree. The iPhone just shows "3G" (except on some USA networks where it shows 4G for HSPA+) for 3G which I think is a much better way of doing it.

In my experience, H on Android means no data at all, whereas H+ does. It seems to also show H+ even if it isn't actually an HSPA+ enabled mast.

[jchamier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gigabit

Yeah I agree. The iPhone just shows "3G" (except on some USA networks where it shows 4G for HSPA+) for 3G which I think is a much better way of doing it.

In my experience, H on Android means no data at all, whereas H+ does. It seems to also show H+ even if it isn't actually an HSPA+ enabled mast.

Interestingly on my iPhone 6 and 5 the 4G on AT&T/T-Mobile USA doesn't happen with my EE or Vodafone SIM cards, but does happen with a local T-Mobile USA Prepay SIM, so its driven by the SIM as well as the network, which is useful. Also I got the 4G logo for LTE where the local SIM showed LTE.

In older iOS versions the local network governed the logo, so at least this is driven by the 'home network' choices.

Interesting, on my old Windows Mobile 5.x and 6.x handsets, the H was for the 1.8mbps and 3.6mbps masts, and H+ was anything faster. I saw those on T-Mobile but I would expect all those have been replaced now on all networks - as the H+ protocol is more efficient spectrally, even if there is no increase in bandwidth.

What Android and the various apps show has been a subject of other people's discussions, either japaul or jabba IIRC but I'm probably wrong.