Are you in the market for a new phone and want the best one out there? Many wireless companies say in their commercials that in order to be on the crest of the wave of the future, you must get one of their 4G phones. You can download the latest blockbusters, or make your own home movies and share them with friends and family. Speeds are advertised that apparently allow you to do anything from be part of a flash mob to data intensive downloading. But there are some serious limits to the companies’ claims.
Just an FYI, none of those phones actually obtain 4G speeds: it’s a misnomer. It's more like 3G+ or 3.9G. Your wireless carrier’s claim that it’s a 4G is legal due to pressures on the International Telecommunications Union by industry insiders to relax their standards. The technology in these phones simply do not achieve 4G speeds. This practice of marketing phones as being able to achieve speeds they actually can't is not new. T-Mobile, for instance, previously marketed a phone as 3G when it was really more like 2.5G. As a consumer, you need to research what each carrier means by 4G. Don’t just listen to the hype of the ads: the speed differences can be staggering.
And even if you accept the less-than-4G speeds, that doesn’t even begin to address the issue of the data caps that mobile companies impose upon us. Your data plan will pretty much be used by filming 20 minutes of your band’s show, or downloading half of a movie. And what does that leave you with? No data plan left over to look up directions, bus schedules, or emails about the location of that flash mob. Your data cap must be monitored carefully, because the additional fees you incur from going over can prove astronomical, as much as $10 extra per gigabyte.
While this 4G technology promises advances in how we communicate and new uses for our wireless devices, companies just aren’t offering the speeds or the services yet that are promised in the ads. Being a savvy consumer and complaining when you’re not getting what you need from a carrier actually does make a difference.
If you have questions or complaints about how your wireless carrier is limiting your wireless broadband internet, or need any help deciphering just what a carrier means by "4G,” feel free to contact us with your issue through our contact form.
Photo credit: Spring 4G Speed Test by mtellin released under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.
