Is 4G a suitable replacement for a home broadband.

Been thinking about this for while now. The way the companies are pushing for 4G as solution for slow broadband in rural areas, but by the looks of things they are going to the caps on as they had with 3G. So what would be the point of using this as a replacement for home broadband.

Discuss.

Edited by Timalay (Sat 19-May-12 20:10:03)

There are quite few of us using 3G(+) as only means of internet access,
which in many cases is at least usable, while the landline BB is not.
Granted, you can't download movies etc., but up to 10GB p.m is manageable,
specialy if you no longer have to pay line rental to BT / Openreach / etc.

Unfortunately 4G won't be availabe in any meaninful way for at leat 2 years,
and, yes, there will be download limits, hopefully better then now.
Regardsm,
Martin

4G will be very popular, as is 3G, for people that can't commit to a fixed line contract for 12+ months. This is where mobile broadband has the biggest advantage, it's mobile, no cost if you move home!

For people that can get a good fixed broadband service, either BT/VM or other Fibre/Ethernet/Fixed Wireless service then these will be the better option in terms of usage level for the same money.

What you have to remember is that there is very limited spectrum for mobile broadband and any significant take up leaves the network struggling to cope so there have to be usage limits.

Mobile broadband is currently cheap but I'd expect there to be premium packages available for 4G services when they come along offering higher usage levels, 30~60GB perhaps.

4G running on 800Mhz should give coverage similar to current 2G meaning using mobile broadband indoors will be a better experience. However with a lower frequency comes lower cell density and therefore capacity of one cell is shared over a wider area.

Three maybe the only network on 800 (unless the other networks can block the Pre allocated 800 band for three before for its even been sold)

In this position myself but in Canada. I live in a more rural area (but only 10 minutes to the centre of the nearest city). Back in the UK i'd likely have FTTC by now or at least semi decent ADSL but here they're stricter on the distances for installations so I can only receive "mobile internet"

I live in an area covered by 4G LTE but at the moment there are only LTE phones and not LTE based routers for your home. At least if they exist, they aren't offered here yet. With my phone I get 6GB data allowance. Works out about $67/month (40 quid). Regularly it'll be in the high 20's Mbit/s in either direction. It's laughable how fast it is.

For the home PC we have a 3G (HSPA+) netgear modem/router which tends to run about 3-4Mbit/s. From my experience it works fine. Very reliable and doesn't drop out. The issue is the usage allowance compared to the cost. We pay $50 (30 quid) and that gives us 3GB/month. If we use more we pay more. For example 10GB will cost $85 (50 quid). Workable but expensive. Takes a bit of getting used to (back home in the UK we had BT Infinity which was unlimited and way faster).

My experience of 4G LTE on the phone is very good. If my supplier (Bell Canada) upped the internet in the house to 4G i'd imagine it would be very acceptable from a speed point of view provided the cost and usage allowance were realistic. Would require new hardware though. From a suppliers point of view I believe the LTE signals travel over greater distances so they can cover areas with less masts. I might be mistaken though.

I rarely do big downloads or watch videos except very occasionally or if I happen to stray into the next usage tier with my 3G data plan in which case I've already paid so I use as much of the allowance as possible.

It's a weird situation where your phone is faster and has higher allowance than the PC in your house but that's how it is here for us at the moment. Luckily Bell Canada offers free wifi in every McDonalds and Starbucks and they are everywhere here so if I really must download something I take the laptop and sit in there for an hour or two and get it done

In reply to a post by orly:

So is there absolutely no unlimited service where you live?

It's just not imaginable here in the UK that kind of situation. Even those in the sticks can get an unlimited BT service. Might be slow but hey it's unlimited & not TOO expensive.

I can see massive issues on your allowance with children. My family members very often leave the torrent programs etc on overnight without thinking which could rack up a bomb of a bill without even thinking.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Tue 07-Aug-12 01:54:59)

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

In reply to a post by orly:

So is there absolutely no unlimited service where you live?

It's just not imaginable here in the UK that kind of situation. Even those in the sticks can get an unlimited BT service. Might be slow but hey it's unlimited & not TOO expensive.

I can see massive issues on your allowance with children. My family members very often leave the torrent programs etc on overnight without thinking which could rack up a bomb of a bill without even thinking.

Not in Canada. There aren't even any true nationwide providers of mobile or fixed line internet. Some providers operate in several provinces. Some operate in just one province or territory. Yes, most provinces of Canada are many times larger than the UK just in terms of area but it has the effect of limiting competition and seems to be a popular excuse for the high prices. "We had to cover all this area so it costs more!". Probably true to an extent...but it's not like any canadian provider gets anywhere close to covering most of the country.

Bell Canada is probably the closest thing to a "BT" you'd get here but even they only really operate the fixed line services to half of the country.

From what I can tell no major provider in Canada offers any sort of unlimited service. Bell's premier fibre offering is splendid indeed...175Mbit/s symmetrical but you get 300GB usage and, after taxes are added and you do the currency conversion, it'll set you back about 135 quid a month. For something similar to the standard UK pricing...for 30 quid a month you'll get a 15Mbit/s service and 75GB usage.

Go to www.bell.ca and take a look around. They list all their services and have coverage maps. Note that any price you see, you'll need to add taxes to it. In Ontario, where I live, for example it's an extra 13% on top of the list figure.

I mentioned earlier that I get 6GB data on my phone but that's actually a time limited promo offer. You were given about 3 weeks to sign up for this offer. If you miss the boat you only get the standard options which top out at 3GB of data for $83+tax. I got 6GB for $60+tax For this 60 dollars note that I don't get the privilege of knowing the number of the person calling me (no caller ID unless you pay), no voicemail and that Canada still operates a rather quaint long distance charging model. So if I call people in the next city over I get charged for it.

Oh...and I also get charged if I answer a call (from the number I don't know) and they happen to be in a different area code.

My fiance and I both have mobile phones with a few hundred minutes, unlimited texting and the 6GB data. Our "turbo hub" 3G internet with 3GB allowance and we also have satellite TV too with a fancy HD PVR which is quite a new and exciting idea here. Seems a bit 2006 to me but they're all loving the advances of technology. All our services are on the same bill. Comes to a shade over $300/month which is about 180 in real money

Thankfully most other things in life tend to work out a little cheaper here to make up for it House prices are lower, marginal tax rates are lower (as mentioned the version of VAT here is 13% in Ontario) and things like new cars and eating out are less too. I find it hilarious that most Canadians are apoplectic at paying $1.28 for a litre of fuel. (less than 80p)

Edited by orly (Tue 07-Aug-12 03:58:25)

Post deleted by billford

i cant work out any one wanting to pay more then £36-50 with phone or (£25-30 monthly Sim only) in the UK for unlimited every thing and unless your out side of the uk (roaming, as you cant roam in the UK)

been charged for receiving calls and text seems bad in the US, going VoIP on the phone is an better idea (Skype with an Number or at least in the US Google number?) as voice over data does not use much data it self

most data adons in the UK are £5 and are included in the plan you get with the phone (the avg been only 500mb an month) some offer £10 ones that give you 2GB,
but Giffgaff Unlimited web £10 (an Hidden Unlimited Data FUP data ban of 1GB an day)
Three Unlimited data/web £15/£25/£35 (5 day punishment for abusing the Unlimited deal but Unknown FUP that triggers it, all you know is that you no longer be able to stream video when you hit it as the connection is dropped to 256kb or 25KB/s)
T-mobile offer unlimited Web £26/£36 (t-mobile has some constant traffic shaping, VPN on the phone norm bypasses it)

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