3Gvs.

4G
Diffen Technology Telecommunications MobileDevices MobilePhones

Howmuchfasteris4Gcomparedto3Gandwhatapplicationsrunbetteron
4G?
3Gand4Garestandardsformobilecommunication.Standardsspecifyhowthe
airwavesmustbeusedfortransmittinginformation(voiceanddata).3G(or
3rdGeneration)waslaunchedinJapanin2001.Asrecentlyasmid2010,the
networksformostwirelesscarriersintheU.S.were3G.3Gnetworkswerea
significantimprovementover2Gnetworks,offeringhigherspeedsfordata
transfer.Theimprovementthat4Goffersover3Gisoftenlesspronounced.
AnalystsusetheanalogyofstandardvsHiDefTVtodescribethedifference
between3Gand4G.

Compare Anything

CDMA

Comparison chart
3G

4G

Upto3.1Mbpswithanaverage
Data speedrangebetween0.5to1.5
Throughput Mbps

Practicallyspeaking,2to12Mbps
(TelstrainAustraliaclaimsupto
40Mbps)butpotentialestimated
atarangeof100to300Mbps.

PeakUpload 5Mbps
Rate

500Mbps

Switching packetswitching
Technique

packetswitching,message
switching

Network WideAreaCellBased
Architecture

IntegrationofwirelessLANand
Widearea.

ServicesAnd CDMA2000,UMTS,EDGEetc
Applications

Wimax2andLTEAdvance

Forwarderror 3GusesTurbocodesforerror
correction correction.
(FEC)
PeakDownload 100Mbps
Rate
FrequencyBand 1.82.5GHz

Concatenatedcodesareusedfor
errorcorrectionsin4G.
1Gbps
28GHz

Contents: 3G vs 4G
1Whatis4G?
24GSpeedvs.3G
2.1SpeedTestResults
3DesignPrincipleandApplications
4Relevance
5RecentNews
6References

What is 4G?
Thedefinitionof4Ghaschangedovertheyears.Currentcommerciallyavailable
technologiesLTE(LongTermEvolution)andWiMaxclaimedthattheyaresufficiently
advancedfrom3Gandthusclaimedtherighttocalltheirtechnology4G.However,in
October2010,theglobalstandardsgroupInternationalTelecommunicationUnion
declaredthatafterlongstudy,ithaddeterminedwhichtechnologiestrulyqualifiedfor
itsIMTAdvancedlabeli.e.4G(fourthgeneration).Thetargetspeedwasatleast100

vs.

GSM

GO

itsIMTAdvancedlabeli.e.4G(fourthgeneration).Thetargetspeedwasatleast100
Mbpstoqualifyforthe4Glabel.Onlytwosystemsmadethelist:LTEAdvanced,an
emergingversionofLTEtechnology,andWirelessMANAdvanced,thenextversionof
WiMax,alsocalledWiMax2.Neitheriscommerciallyavailableyet.
ButinDecember2010,thestandardsbodysofteneditsstance.Inapressrelease,the
ITUstated:
Asthemostadvancedtechnologiescurrentlydefinedforglobalwireless
mobilebroadbandcommunications,IMTAdvancedisconsideredas'4G,'
althoughitisrecognizedthatthisterm,whileundefined,mayalsobeapplied
totheforerunnersofthesetechnologies,LTEandWiMax,andtoother
evolved3Gtechnologiesprovidingasubstantiallevelofimprovementin
performanceandcapabilitieswithrespecttotheinitialthirdgeneration
systemsnowdeployed.
ThisopenedthedoorforLTE,WiMaxandHSPA+tobedesignated4Gbecausethese
technologiescanalldelivermultiplemegabitspersecondupstreamanddownstream,
farmorethanmostexisting3Gnetworks.[1]
Thefollowingvideoexplainssomeoftheconceptsbehind2G,3Gand4Gterminology
forwirelessnetworkgenerations:
HakTip - Debunking Wireless Generations - a Jason Rant

4G Speed vs. 3G
Howmuchfasteris4Gcomparedto3G?Unfortunatelyforconsumers,theanswerto
thisquestionismorenuancedthanonewouldlike.Thespeedofa3Gnetworkdepends
uponhowitisimplemented.IntheUS,by2010SprintandVerizon(bothCDMA
networks)hadreachedthelimitsofhowfasttheycouldmaketheir3Gnetworks.
Upgradingto4Gnetworksallowedthemtoofferdatatransmissionspeedsuptofour
timesfasterthantheir3Gnetworks.However,the3GnetworksofGSMcarriersAT&T
andTMobileweredesignedsuchthattherewasroomtoupgrade3Gspeeds.Asofmid
2010,itisanticipatedthatwhenAT&TandTMobileupgradetheir3Gnetworks,their
speedswillbecomecomparableto4GfromSprintandVerizon.

Speed Test Results

ResultsfromaspeedtestcomparingSprint's4Gand3Gnetworks(usingaSamsung
Epic4Gphone)andAT&T's3Gnetwork(usingaDellStreak)showthatSprint4Gis
considerablyfasterthanbothSprint3GandAT&T3G.Thesetestresultswerepostedin
October2010.
iPhone 5: 4G LTE vs. 3G Speed Test

Design Principle and Applications

Both2Gand3Gnetworksweredesignedprimarilyforvoicecommunicationsrather
thandata.Ontheotherhand,4Gisdesignedespeciallyfordatatransmissionrather
thanvoice.So4Goffersfasteraccesstodatausingmobilephones.Forexample,
streamingvideoworksbetterwith4G,withlessstutteringandahigherresolution.
Similarly,videoconferencingandmultiplayeronlinegamesworkbetterwiththefaster
datatransmissionofferedby4G.
3G vs. 4G Wireless - What is the Difference?

Relevance
MITengineerKeithWinsteinwroteanilluminatingblogpostabouthowthespeedyou
ultimatelyexperienceonyourmobilephonedependsmuchmoreonotherfactorsthan
3Gor4G.Intheory,newertechnologiesofferperformanceimprovements.However,
3Gand4Grefertothecommunicationprotocolbetweenthemobilehandsetandthe
cellphonetower.Soit'sonlyonepieceofthepuzzle.Thethroughputrateandbrowsing
speedalsodependuponfactorssuchas:
howmanycellphonetowersareinthevicinity
howmanyusersaresharingthesetowers
thebandwidthavailabletotothesecellphonetowerstoconnecttotheInternetor
thecarrier'snetwork.
Marketing3Gor4Giseasierforwirelesscarriersthanpromising(andproviding)a
minimumthroughputratefordatatransfer.

Recent News
Sprint4GNetworkLeasingPartnerMayBeSurprise:MobilitieInvestor's
BusinessDaily(Investor'sBusinessDaily)
PrivatelyheldMobilitie,aNewportBeach,Calif.basednetworkgearmaker,couldbea
frontrunnertograbsomeofSprint's(NYSE:S)businessforthenextstageinits4G
wirelessnetworkupgrade.Sprinthasbeenevaluatingproposalsfromnetwork...
<<Previous
Next>>

References
4Gwirelessoutstrippedbyhype(TheAssociatedPress)
Wikipedia:3G
Wikipedia:4G

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Comments: 3G vs 4G
88Comments

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Anonymous comments (5)

May2,2014,3:42am

Addacomment...

Superbarticle.OBD
66...20

LarsHammarstrand
YouforgottomentiontheUserEquipment(UE)categoriesthat
highlywillaffectthebandwith:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E
UTRA...

February24,2014,4:38pm

Sonice
202...247

LikeReplySep8,20153:18pm

AbuBakerWorksatLahore,Pakistan
Worldwidewebincludebillionsofwebsites,Wheresomehasfree
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LikeReplyAug29,20159:17pm

April4,2014,7:19pm

Informative
39...90

April30,2014,3:32am

It'sgood

RamBharoshShah

39...34

4Gissomemoresufficientover3Gforbothcellphoneandwifi
LikeReplyJul11,20157:24pm

SakshamSinghB.H.S.janarh
yaareally4gisbetterthan3g.bcozofhigherdatatransferrate.
LikeReplyMay6,201511:06pm

JohnTullettErithCollegeofTechnology
Thisislife,lifemovesforwardasdoestechnology.2g,3g,4gthenI
bettheyalreadyhavethenextstepbeingtested.Onejusthasto
trynottogetperplexedwhenyouspendlotsofmoneyof
somethingthatdoesnotlast.
Thatislife.Takecareeveryone.
LikeReply

1Mar29,20151:30pm

PawanKumarWorksatRolandInstituteofTechnology
nicedetailsnewtechnologytogetadvancefeatures.
LikeReplyMar8,20157:58am

ThierryMugenziWorksatUniversitasGadjahMada
wellexplained..........
LikeReplyDec9,20141:32pm

butafuocco
Ithinkyourapproachof"gototheicecreamshopandtestspeed"
ismorepracticalbutIneverreallycaredmuchforbandwidth.Even
aspeedtestreallyjustlooksprimarilyatbandwidth.
THROUGHPUTistherealdiamond.Whowatches10secondsofa
youtubevideoontheirphone?Musicvideostofulllengthtvshows
ormoviesiswhatmorepeoplewant..THROUGHPUTisthekey.
ThisisdeterminedbymuchmorethanmereTCPoverheador
packetlatency...HOWtheynetworktheirtrafficismoreimportant
thanwhaton...Ijustdothis,GETTHECARRIERYOULIKEMOST
FORVOICE.GettheCHEAPESTdatap... SeeMore
LikeReplyOct31,20148:04pm

butafuocco
OnethingIforgottomentionaboutthejetpackmethod,if
youareaniPhoneuser,andhavearestrictedphonein
regardstoFaceTime,youcannowuseFaceTimewhileon
theroad!

April22,2014,9:20am

Nice...
106...193

LikeReplyOct31,20148:18pm

EmmanuelKwartengGhanaTelecomUniversityCollege
Likethiswebsiteveryinformativeandeducative,I'mastudentand
ithashelpedmealot.Keepdoingthisgreatwork.NotonlydidI
readthis3Gvs.4Gpostabove,butawholelotsofthem.AlsoI
thinkitwascarefullyresearchedintobeforepostedwiththe
necessaryvideos.THUMBSUP.
LikeReplyOct23,201412:53am

PrzemyslawSzwajcaSystemSupportProcessAdministratorat
TheNielsenCompany
BandwidthrequiredformHDvideoisaround300Kbit/s,Edge
technologywasenough.3Gwouldbemorethenenoughforevery
useriftheworkoninfrastructurewasnotcancelleddueto
introducingfasterandcheapertoimplement4Gtechnology.
LikeReplySep30,20149:03pm

JeffreyPassanhaWorksatEbrahimK.KanooB.S.C(c)
Veryinformative.....
LikeReplyJul25,20142:43am

IsuruAkalankaKumanayake
good
LikeReplyJul18,20148:40pm

HarshPandeyEngineeratBechtelCorporation
real4GIStheexcellent.............
LikeReplyJun16,20147:38pm

MuhammadZakiLahore,Pakistan
yupinformative
LikeReplyMay13,20145:27pm

SabirHussainWaraichIslamiaUniversityofBahawalpurat
TelecommunicationEngineering
soinformative...
LikeReplyMay7,20146:28am

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