T-Mobile gives me 5MB of 4G data every month, after which I get throttled back to 3G until the beginning of the following month. What really happens in the 3G period? Do I get switched to an actual 3G network, or does T-Mobs simulate 3G service through some technical frippery?
5MB?
Do you mean 5GB?
B, d’oh! Yes, 5 GB.
That makes more sense.
I’m not 100% sure, but I’d be willing to be that they just reduce your data rate. The same way Internet providers over cable will throttle your data when you use too much - they don’t physically change the network, they just meter the data out slower.
I really hate what service providers have done in an effort to appear competitive in the public eye. T-mobile’s “4G” service is what’s called HSPA+ which is a 3G technology. They turn up the speed of the 3G network so data arrives faster to your phone. It is not the same as Verizon’s or AT&T’s 4G LTE network.
Back to your question. When you reach your data limit the speed at which your data arrives is slowed down. You don’t actually switch networks because you are on the 3G network the entire time. TTBOMK T-mobile has no plans at this time to launch a 4G LTE network due to the prospective merger with AT&T.
Interesting. I get decent speed up until the throttle. I like T-Mob because they throttle my speed andbyhe billing stays constant.
On a similar subject, imagine a hypothetical situation where someone is living in a relatively remote place and is using a P2P client over HSDPA+ to download movies etc.
What might cause the download rate to be over 500Kbps for about two minutes then scale back to around Kbps for the rest of the download period? Hypothetically.
Hypothetically it would depend on network architecture, proximity to the nearest cell antenna and amount of activity on the network. The wireless provider could also have a protocol in place to throttle speeds on files over a certain size in order to allow other users access to the network. It’s difficult to say for sure–I’m not a cellular technician (yet–fingers crossed).
To be fair, AT&T also uses a HSPA+ 3.5G network. They upgraded their 3G service to provide customers with faster (competitive) data rates while they worked on rolling out their LTE network (which launched last month, I think). Also, AT&T and T-Mobile USA called off the merger.
The merger has not been called off. AT&T withdrew their FCC proposal, but is still fighting with the DOJ. Essentially, if they lose the DOJ case, then the FCC filing doesn’t matter, so there’s no point in fighting both at once. If they win the DOJ case, then they can re-file with the FCC, and now they can point to winning the DOJ case as a point in their favor.
LTE is just as much fake-4G as HSPA+ is. LTE-Advanced is “official” 4G, but no major carrier is running it, or will be running it for quite a while. Yes, it’s an easier upgrade path from LTE to LTE-Advanced for the carriers, but that doesn’t really matter for the users.
As for the original question, the exact details I’m not familiar with, but the basics of the call setup involve the main database sending the details of what is/isn’t allowed for the customer down to the local switch equipment, so presumably the squelch comes from there. I don’t think it would be in the antenna area, probably the pipe narrows at the local switch office, probably the SGSN.
Ah, you are correct! I remembered a blog post incorrectly. In fact, ATT was using T-Mobiles lack of a true 4G network as a reason why the merger should be allowed. Without it, they say that cellular companies can’t be competitive, and that smal regional carriers that do have LTE networks can fill the gap. The FCC called baloney on that, claiming T-Mobile is far more competitive without LTE then a regional carrier can be with LTE.