GET 4G WIRELESS

4G is all the rage these days and at this point most people probably know that it’s faster than 3G, but there’s a whole lot more to it than that. So for a rundown of all the benefits, how to get 4G, exactly how fast it is and what the future holds read on, because we’ve got an easily digestible guide to everything you need to know.

What is 4G?

4G is the fourth generation of mobile phone technology. It follows on from the existing 3G (third generation) and 2G (second generation) mobile technology.

2G technology launched in the 1990s and was capable of making digital phone calls and sending texts. Then 3G came along in 2003 and made it possible to browse web pages, make video calls and download music and video on the move.

4G technology builds upon what 3G offers, but does everything at a much faster speed.

What are the benefits of 4G?

The benefits of 4G fall firmly into three categories. These are:

• improved download/upload speeds
• reduced latency
• crystal clear voice calls

Standard 4G (or 4G LTE) is around five to seven times faster than 3G, offering theoretical speeds of up to around 150Mbps. That equates to maximum potential speeds of around 80Mbps in the real world (though even getting speeds that high is rare, and generally requires something like EE’s ‘Double Speed’ or BT Mobile’s ‘Extra Speed’ service).

With standard 4G you can download a 2GB HD film in 3 minutes 20 seconds on a standard 4G mobile network, while it would take over 25 minutes on a standard 3G network.