Will it work on LTE? How to know that your smartphone will work on the right LTE networks

A new type of communication will soon be launched in Ukraine - 4G (LTE). The first tender for the frequencies needed for such networks has already been held recently. The operators promise that the first LTE icons will appear on users' smartphone screens very soon. At the same time, only about 15% of smartphones on networks are ready to work with 4G.

1. What happened?

2. What do you need to know about this?

This is important, since this is the terminology used in the documentation, many online stores and official websites. Ideally, a smartphone should support frequencies in both bands. Then in Ukraine 4G will work wherever there is coverage.

3. How can I tell if my smartphone supports 4G?

The next thing to do is check the information in online stores and on the official website. It’s better to look at the official website, as there is often information about those same ranges. You will find out whether your smartphone supports LTE, and, if so, which bands.

4. I can’t find information anywhere. Where else can I watch it?

5. We sorted it out. What about SIM cards? Will they need to be changed too?

Vodafone said it will soon also introduce “ convenient way checking" the card's compatibility with 4G. Those operator customers who have not purchased or changed a card since the beginning of 2017 will have to change their SIM card. This can be done free of charge at your nearest service center.

6. My smartphone does not support 4G. What to do?

However, like most revolutionary new products, 4G makes its way to the pinnacle of market success at the cost of a grueling struggle with established stereotypes. Perhaps you will find some of them in yourself. Let's try to dispel some common doubts and tell you what a 4G network actually is.

MYTH #1:Devices supported 4Glittle, nothing to choose from

When 4G first came to our world, the choice of devices was limited to USB modems, and the dream of high-speed and truly mobile access the network could only be implemented in conjunction with a laptop, which can be called mobile, but with a stretch.

Now, a year and a half after the advent of 4G, the situation has changed dramatically. Devices have appeared for every taste, and to be precise, for any “consumption scenario”: modems, routers, tablets and, of course, smartphones. And now we're talking about no longer only about a handful of flagships costing around 30 thousand rubles, but about an impressive list of 26 smartphone models supporting the Russian LTE frequency - 2600 MHz. And fresh announcements from global manufacturers are constantly adding new lines to this list.

One of the most economical ways to join the future is the MegaFon Turbo smartphone, which sells for 9,990 rubles.

MYTH No. 2: 4 Gworks only in the city and not everywhere

Many of us are afraid to start our relationship with 4G technology because we think about its impermanence. “If there is fishing there, but not here, then why do I need it?” - they say. Practice shows that where 4G Internet is needed, it reaches 20-30 Mbit/s. And it is needed, as a rule, where humanity has not yet found a way to install Wi-Fi - traffic jams, public transport, squares, parks - whatever, waiters of many cafes answer the question “What is the name of your Wi-Fi?” often silently go to the kitchen, lamenting the stinginess of their own superiors.

Moreover, nothing bad happens when you leave the 4G reception area. The device doesn’t turn into a brick or a pumpkin - it switches to 3G mode (or 2G, if you’ve gone very far), finds its base stations and continues to “serve.” The flow of megabytes of information useful to you is not interrupted even for a minute, it just becomes slower.

MYTH No. 3: differences between 4Gand 3Gimperceptible

Opponents of technological progress often say that the difference between the operation of a device in 3G and 4G is minimal. This statement is, of course, true. But only in 5% of cases when your gadget is turned off. The rest of the time, a 4G device downloads information eight to ten times faster. Website pages open instantly, as if they were not websites, but applications installed on your smartphone. For those who have already tried high-speed Internet at work, the usual 1-2 megabits seem indecently slow.

MYTH#4: 4Gworks only in Moscow and several other cities

One of the most common misconceptions. Today, 4G operates in 85 Russian cities, including 10 million-plus cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Ufa, Kazan, Krasnoyarsk, Omsk, Perm. The list is so long that you will most likely get tired before you even get to the middle. A third of the country’s population is already within the coverage area of ​​the fourth generation network, and the list of cities with 4G is growing every week. How can you find out if such a network works in your city? Probably the easiest way is to just go to the nearest store of your operator.

MYTH#5: Price 4G-Internet is still too high

And again no. The cost of 3G and 4G Internet is the same. And in this - fundamental difference 4G from wired Internet, where for each additional megabit of speed you have to pay extra to the provider. The price of a standard Internet traffic package starts from 250-300 rubles per month. For this money you will get speeds of 20-30 Mbit per second, which was almost science fiction a few years ago.

MYTH No. 6: 4 G- this is a crude technology that still needs to be refined and refined

Only people had time to get used to the concept of 3G and learn all its advantages when the active integration of the new generation of communications began - 4G, in particular LTE technology. Why do we need LTE and what benefits can it give us? First you need to understand what it all is.

LTE is a new wireless technology that complies with the fourth generation standard. All technologies fall under this standard mobile communications, which provide a data transfer rate of at least 10 Mbit/s. LTE technology is next stage in development cellular communications. It marks the transition from CDMA (WCDMA) systems to the new OFDMA systems, and also provides a transition from a circuit switching system to an e2e IP system. In other words, packet switching occurs (packet data transfer).

However, despite all the advantages of this technology, the rapid transition to LTE is hampered by several factors. Firstly, to get all the benefits from new technology appropriate equipment and improvements to existing systems are required. Secondly, the subscribers themselves will need such mobile devices, which could work in 3G and LTE networks. This is explained by the fact that this technology is just being introduced and does not cover the entire territory of the country.

1. Why LTE is needed - technology development goals

The development goals and benefits of LTE are as follows:

• Reducing the cost of services provided;
• Increasing data transfer speeds in wireless networks;
• The ability to provide a wider range of services to its subscribers;
• Increasing the flexibility of using existing systems;
• Increasing the availability of mobile communications for subscribers.

The main goal of the development and implementation of LTE technology is to increase the speed of information transfer. The integration of LTE technology will enable the creation of high-speed mobile communication systems that will be optimized for packet transfers data. In this case, the data transfer speed is theoretically 300 Mbit/s for downstream channels and about 75 Mbit/s for upstream channels. However, this technology is still being finalized and implemented, which is why the actual speed in the network coverage area differs from the theoretical one.

Another feature of the technology is its range base station LTE, which in the optimal case is about 5 km. However, if necessary, this figure can be increased to 30 km, and in some cases even to 100 km (but only with a sufficient antenna height).

For a smooth transition from the third generation to the fourth, there is a system of continuous signal transmission from LTE to 3G. This is necessary so that the connection is not interrupted if you leave the LTE coverage area. And as mentioned above, this technology is new and is just beginning to be introduced, which is why 4G communications do not cover the entire territory of the country.

2. iPad Air + 4G/LTE in Russia = love: Video

3. Do we need LTE?

The advantages of the new generation LTE wireless communication technology have already been mentioned above, so whether to use it or not is a purely personal decision of each mobile subscriber. However, it is worth considering the fact that the cost of such communication is currently higher compared to 3G. Therefore, everyone decides for themselves what they need – speed or savings. According to forecasts, 4G communications are planned to become cheaper in the future, making LTE technology available to everyone in the near future.

3G, 4G, LTE in modern technologies It's easy to get confused, especially since phone advertisements often focus on 4G support.

Let's figure out whether this 4G is needed at all. So, 4G is a communication standard that means that the fourth generation network is used; most often, when they say 4G, they mean mobile Internet. The Internet, which is provided by a 4 generation network, provides speeds that are noticeably higher than 3G Internet:

• 3G - up to 42 Mbit/s
• 4G - up to 150 Mbit/s (Theoretically, development up to 1 Gbit/s is possible in the future)

Using 4G not only gives advantages in download speed, fast downloading allows less time to load the processor and radio module, while reducing battery use and reducing radiation. It is also beneficial to use 4G while on the move, because... at a speed of 100 km/h the data transfer speed drops by 15-20 times.

Of course, there is a big difference between 42 and 150 Mbit/s; to use a 4G phone you must be in the 4G coverage area; in Russia it is about 50%.

Example

If, when buying a phone, you make a choice between 3G and 4G and are worried that the speed on 3G will be insufficient, then perhaps a simple calculation will tell you:

For example, if the tariff includes 10 GB of traffic for a month. At 3G speed (42 Mbps), the download speed is 5.25 megabytes per second, 10 GB = 10,000 megabytes. 10,000 MB / 5.25 MB/sec = 1904 sec = 31.7 minutes, that is:

• when using 3G the entire monthly traffic - 10 GB can be downloaded in 30 minutes, those who have 1 GB included will use it up in 3 minutes
• when using 4G (LTE) monthly traffic - 10 GB can be downloaded in 10 minutes, those who have 1 GB included will use it up in 1 minute

Bottom line

Based on these calculations, it is clear that chasing 4G just for the sake of speed is not worth it, and while the coverage is not 100%, you can safely buy a phone without 4G support, but after 2-3 years you will still want to change your phone, and then you can already consider the option with 4G .

Will LTE work well in Russia on an iPhone 8 imported from the USA? Is it worth buying a smartphone in America?
- Irina

Hello Irina.

Unfortunately, domestic ones are always more profitable. Depending on the model, the difference will be from $300 and more.

When buying a gadget in another country, you should remember two important points:

LTE bands support

IN last years We are used to paying attention to this parameter. So the iPhone SE from the USA could at all, and the iPhone 7 – the maximum data transfer speed compared to the domestic one.

The situation with the iPhone 8 is as follows: American and European models have the same list of supported bands.

We are interested in Band 7, 20 and 38 available in all models. There has also been no information yet that the devices have modems with excellent speed characteristics.

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus purchased in the USA will work fully in Russia.

Guarantee

In addition to the situation with LTE, you should also remember about warranty service. showed that iPhones from the USA in most cases were not accepted in Russia under warranty.

There were cases when such gadgets were nevertheless accepted in domestic service centers. There are no statistics yet on this issue with the latest iPhone model.

In fact, this is the only catch that you should remember when buying an iPhone 8 in the USA.