For many people, GPRS, 3G, 4G, etc, are some of the most mysterious words in the mobile technology dictionary, although they are used frequently to sell cell phones and tablets.
They indicate which wireless technology your cell phone is currently using as well as describes your data connection.
Below are some of the things you need to know about the 4G Mobile Technology:
What is 4G mobile technology? The letter “G” in 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G refers to a generation of mobile technology set up in mobile phones and on cellular networks. 4G, therefore, stands for 4th generation mobile wireless technology, just as the previous generation is called 3G, (3rd generation).
The first two generations were analog cell phones (1G) and digital phones (2G). The 3rd generation technology 3G, also called the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), is a completely different technology from 2.5G or 2G. The internet connectivity in 3G networks is significantly faster than on a 2G network.
4G – 4th generation network, called LTE, (Long Term Evolution), is a new wireless technology which works in a very different way than 3G. 4G LTE aims to offer you more reliable and faster mobile broadband internet for devices like mobile phones, tablets and laptops.
Advantages of 4G over 3G
It provides more bandwidth and higher speeds for daily mobile device operations, such as video calling, messaging, streaming video, or mobile TV. Loosely speaking, 4G is about four times faster than 3G services. Theoretically 4G network technology can supply download speeds of up to 100Mbps. 4G networks is also a pure IP-based system which provides some real advantages to users.
Disadvantages of 4G
4G LTE is developed as a data-only network; therefore, all of the traffic is IP-based and you will find no more circuit-switched connections. That means, unless the operator has VoLTE, (Voice over LTE) service, your 4G connection will only manage sending/receiving data, and to send/receive a voice call, your cell phone will need to fall back to a 2G or 3G network.
List of 4G supported mobile phones:
A list of some latest 4G-supported mobile phones are stated below:
Samsung:
Samsung Galaxy J1, Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro, Samsung Galaxy J7 and so on.
Apple:
iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6 Plus ,iPhone 6, , iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, etc.
HTC:
HTC One, HTC One mini, HTC One SV, HTC One M8, HTC Velocity 4G, HTC One XL, HTC Desire 816, etc.
Nokia:
Nokia Lumia 925, Nokia Lumia 920, Nokia Lumia 1020, , Nokia Lumia 625, , Nokia Lumia 820, etc.
Now you know what 4G is about and not to be confused with the “G” as in Gigabits!
