What is the 4g communication standard. Types of mobile Internet - deciphering abbreviations. Selecting an operator and tariff

Even a first-grader today knows how to use the mobile Internet. Developed wireless technologies allow you to access the network not only from computers and laptops: most phones, players, tablets and other gadgets have Internet access. For the average user, the communication standard is unimportant: it is not necessary to know the difference between 3g and 4g and what lte means in order to download applications, view news feeds on social networks and watch movies online.

These questions become more significant when studying the characteristics of the mobile Internet. What do the lte and 4g standards provide and what is the difference between them?

find 10 differences

The abbreviation LTE stands for Long Term Evolution and refers to 4G technology. LTE is one of the first 4G standards, a stage in the development of this technology. The concept of LTE is included in 4G, being a subtype along with another technology, WiMax 2. In the characteristics of many devices, 4G and LTE are indicated together, as a single term. In other words, to the question of what is the difference between lte and 4g, you can safely answer: they are the same technology.

What is the difference between 3g and 4g? In the evolution of wireless technologies, 3 G is a step below 4 G. At one time, the advent of 3G Internet ushered in a new era of mobile Internet, but today 3G is inferior to 4G in terms of data transfer speed. The advantages of 3G technology include its age: 3G has been in use for almost 20 years, while 4G began to be developed only in 2008, so 3G is still the leader, although not by a large margin, in terms of coverage area.

4G and LTE in questions and answers

Let's figure out how to connect LTE and what's good about 4g: questions for Wifire specialists.

– How to connect 4g on my smartphone?
Answer: In the same way as connecting mobile Internet of any format. 3g, 4g and lte can be connected at the Wifire provider’s office or directly on the website. Choose the appropriate tariff plan, check out the prices and submit an online request!

– I have already activated the mobile Internet service. How to enable 4g ​​on your phone?
Answer: To enable 4G Internet, you need to activate the mobile Internet function on your device. You may need to change the network mode after connecting to the Internet. To do this, you need to select 4G (LTE) in the mobile network settings. Unfortunately, we cannot provide detailed instructions on how to enable 4g ​​on your phone, since the settings menu for different models is significantly different. We can contact your device manufacturer's service center or your communications service provider for assistance.

– What are the advantages of 4G?
Answer: The main advantages of 4G include such parameters as data transfer speed, file upload speed to the network (upload) and file download speed (download). High speeds allow us to offer our subscribers uninterrupted wireless communication throughout Russia, and you get fast mobile Internet at an attractive price.

Tariffs and services of Net By Net Holding LLC may be changed by the operator. Full up-to-date information about tariffs and services is in the “tariffs” section or by calling the phone number listed on the website.

4G or LTE? Or maybe 4G LTE? Let’s figure out what is hidden behind these terms together with CHIP.

Is there a difference between 4G and LTE?

Before the introduction of LTE and 4G, mobile Internet was used primarily through UMTS and HSDPA mobile communication standards. UMTS and HSDPA are also often abbreviated to 3G.

LTE means the same thing, and there is no technical difference between these terms. LTE refers to mobile communication technologies that enable data transfer rates of up to 100 Mbit/s. The term 4G only means that the fourth generation of cellular communication standards is used.

2G, 3G, 4G, 5G: what's the difference?

2G: with GPRS and EDGE data transfer rates of up to 53.6 Kbps and 220 Kbps are achieved. The abbreviation 2G is practically not used.

3G: With UMTS, data transfer rates of up to 384 Kbps have become available. 3G is still the most popular generation of mobile communication standards.

3.5G: The 3G standard continued to be continually improved, giving rise to HSDPA, HSDPA+, HSPA and HSPA+. Here speeds of up to 42 Mbit/s were achieved. Android devices for 3.5G display the "H" symbol, iPhones remain displaying 3G.

4G: is currently on the rise, the maximum data transfer speed with this technology is 100 Mbps.

4.5G: with LTE Advanced, devices reach speeds of up to 1 Gbps - at least in theory. But in practice, it will still be a long time before such speeds are available worldwide.

5G: Already in 2020, leading cellular companies want to introduce mobile communication standards. Thanks to this, speeds from 10 to 20 Gbit/s will be possible. But for now the fifth generation is at the stage.

3G (UMTS) networks themselves were already quite advanced technology, and their later versions 3.75G with support for HSPA+ technologies were actually the forerunner of a new type of fourth-generation 4G communication. Ultimately, the main 4G standard became LTE, which was then upgraded to LTE advanced. The following requirements were announced for LTE advanced: the speed standard for moving objects is more than 100 Mbit/s, for stationary objects more than 1 Gbit/s. Unlike its predecessors, thanks to the new radio module, LTE no longer supports 2-3 main frequencies, but an entire frequency band from 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz. Channels have become more broadband, and new types of signal modulation and a data transmission protocol that has become completely digital (including voice) provide higher speeds.

Comparison table of GPRS, 3G, 4G networks

About 70 standard frequency ranges, the so-called BAND, are allocated for 4G network equipment.

Used in Russia.

3 in the 1800 MHz FDD band; 7 in the 2600 MHz FDD band; 20 in the 800 MHz FDD band;

31 in the 450 MHz FDD band; 38 in the 2600 MHz TDD band.

Table of BANDs used by mobile operators in Russia

The designations FDD and TDD indicate the types of signal processing FDD is Frequency Division Duplex (frequency division of the incoming and outgoing channel), TDD - Time Division Duplex (time division of the incoming and outgoing channel). In this case, if we have a channel width of 20 MHz in FDD LTE, part of the frequency range (15 MHz) is allocated for reception, and part (5 MHz) for signal transmission. The channels do not overlap in frequencies and stable loading and unloading of data is ensured. TDD LTE allocates the entire bandwidth for reception and transmission, but data is transmitted alternately, with higher priority given to data reception.

According to statistics, the most common LTE band in our country is 1800 MHz, and therefore you should buy a 4G signal repeater for this frequency.

4G LTE categories

Since the range of frequencies used is quite large, and almost every year improvements are invented for receiving and transmitting equipment (new types of modulation, support for frequency aggregation, and much more), special categories were introduced to standardize the equipment. The essence of these categories is quite simple - a higher category means a higher reception and transmission speed. The most widely used categories today are CAT3-CAT4. This means that the maximum achievable mobile Internet speed for reception (DownLink) can be 150 Mbit/s, for transmission (UpLink) - 50 Mbit/s. For the average user, knowledge of the category of LTE equipment is currently a very important factor, because... many new devices (for example, mobile phones or routers) may simply not support the required data exchange speed in hardware. Today, most new models of phones, modems and routers that support the LTE standard usually indicate a category number. Let's make a reservation that today devices of categories 5-6 are just beginning to appear on the market. Although in fact there are already 16 categories and more will be added, here is a table for the 14 main categories.

As can be seen from the table, starting from category 6 (cat.6), devices already have the new LTE-A (Advanced) standard. LTE-A is practically the same LTE supporting so-called frequency aggregation. Frequency aggregation allows a smartphone, router, or modem to operate on several frequencies simultaneously, thereby expanding the channel for receiving and transmitting information. In this case, the device is connected to several BANDs at once, which are serviced by the operator. Accordingly, this will be possible if the router or phone hardware supports the LTE-A standard.

So today, the theoretical Internet speed in 4G LTE networks from 1Gb and above is limited mainly by manufactured equipment, i.e. manufacturers have yet to catch up with existing standards... And 5G is already on the way, but we’ll talk about that a little later.

Modern wireless Internet is developing very rapidly. Just 3 years ago, no one thought about the massive distribution of 4G throughout almost all of central Russia, and large operators only had it in their plans. Now high-speed Internet is appearing in new settlements. If previous generations 2G and 3G were established standards for a long time, then 4G and LTE are progressing every year. In this article you will learn what the maximum speed of 4G Internet is and how to measure it. Also read in the next section useful material about how they differ from each other.

What speed should 4 G have?

If we take into account the 4G LTE network, which is the first generation of the new 4G technology, the figures will be much lower than stated. Back in 2008, standards were established according to which the maximum speed in 4G networks should have been as follows:

• 100Mb/s for mobile subscribers. These include cars, trains, and so on;
• 1Gb/s for static subscribers (pedestrians and stationary computers).

However, in reality things are worse than by stated standards. These parameters were set by the creators of the technology in ideal conditions without interference, network load and other unpleasant moments. In fact, for static subscribers the real figure does not exceed 100Mb/s. However, operators loudly proclaim 200-300Mb/s. The closest to this figure are Megafon and Beeline, which launched a network with support for LTE Advanced or 4G+. The performance of this standard reaches up to 150Mb/s under ideal conditions. However, it makes it clear: the mass adoption of LTE Advanced will have to wait a long time. In addition, the growing number of subscribers will increase the load on the network, which will lead to a decrease in the average.

By the way, a new one is coming, its speed is even higher!

Difference in mobile internet speed 3g and 4g

Compared to the third generation, the new technology has made a significant leap forward. The average 4g LTE data transfer speed currently hovers around 20Mb/s. The maximum rate for the third generation is 2Mb/s. The difference is obvious. However, the HSPA+ network brought the third generation to life with indicators of 42Mb/s for upload and 6Mb/s for reception.

How to check 4g internet speed?

You can independently determine what data transfer rates are currently on your phone. To do this, you will need the Speedtest mobile application, which can be downloaded from the Play Market and AppStore. The 4G speed test is launched by pressing just one button when starting the program. The utility will automatically measure the ping to the nearest server with which it will exchange a test data packet. After that, it will measure reception and return and display it on the screen of your device. The same operation can be done from a computer on the website of the same name. Also read on our website about their distribution.

What is 4G (LTE)? According to Wikipedia, LTE (literally Long-TermEvolution - long-term development, often referred to as 4G LTE) is a standard for wireless high-speed data transmission for mobile phones and other terminals that work with data (modems, for example). It increases throughput and speed by using a different air interface along with improving the network core. The standard was developed by 3GPP (a consortium that develops specifications for mobile telephony). The LTE wireless interface is not compatible with 2G and 3G, so it must operate on a separate frequency. In Russia, three frequency ranges are allocated for LTE - 800, 1800 and 2600 MHz.

LTE FDD and LTE TDD

The LTE standard comes in two types, the differences between which are quite significant. FDD - FrequencyDivisionDuplex (frequency diversity of incoming and outgoing channels) TDD - TimeDivisionDuplex (time diversity of incoming and outgoing channels). Roughly speaking, FDD is parallel LTE and TDD is serial LTE. For example, with a channel width of 20 MHz in FDD LTE, part of the range (15 MHz) is given for download, and part (5 MHz) for upload. Thus, the channels do not overlap in frequencies, which allows you to work simultaneously and stably for loading and unloading data. In TDD LTE, the same 20 MHz channel is completely given over to both downloading and uploading, and data is transmitted in one direction or the other alternately, with downloading still having priority. In general, FDD LTE is preferable because it works faster and more stable.

Frequency ranges LTE, Band

LTE networks (FDD and TDD) operate on different frequencies in different countries. In many countries, several frequency ranges are used at once. It is worth noting that not all equipment can work on different “bands”, i.e. frequency ranges. FDD ranges are numbered from 1 to 31, TDD ranges from 33 to 44. There are additionally several standards that have not yet been assigned numbers. Specifications for frequency bands are called bands (BAND). In Russia and Europe, band 7, band 20, band 3 and band 38 are mainly used.

In Russia, four frequency ranges are currently used for 4th generation networks:

As an example, I will give the distribution of frequencies among the main Russian telecom operators in the LTE2600 (Band7) range:

As we can see from this diagram, Beeline got only 10 MHz. Rostelecom also received only 10 MHz. MTS - 35 MHz in the Moscow region and 10 MHz throughout the country. And Megafon and Yota (this is the same holding) got as much as 65 MHz for two in the Moscow region and 40 MHz throughout Russia! Only Megafon in the 4G standard works virtually through Yota in Moscow; in other regions - Megafon and MTS. In the TDD range, television (Cosmos-TV, etc.) will operate throughout Russia except Moscow.
For a complete distribution of frequencies of cellular operators in Russia, see.

4G LTE networks in Russia

The distribution of frequencies among operators by region of Russia can be found.

For those who find it difficult to remember the numbers of range bands or do not have a suitable reference book at hand, I recommend a small Android application RFrequence, a screenshot of which is given below.

LTE categories

Subscriber devices are classified into categories. The most common devices today are category 4 CAT4 devices. This means that the maximum achievable mobile Internet speed for reception (downlink or DL) can be 150 Mbit/s, for transmission (uplink or UL) – 50 Mbit/s. It is important to note that this is the maximum achievable speed under ideal conditions - the main ones being that you are not far from the tower, there are no other subscribers in the cell except you, optical transport is connected to the base station, etc. The most common categories of subscriber devices are shown in the table.

The table requires some explanation. Mentioned here are “carrier aggregation” and “complementary technologies”. I'll try to explain what it is.

Frequency aggregation

The word “aggregation” in this case means a union, i.e. Frequency aggregation is the combining of frequencies. I’ll try to explain what this means below.
It is known that the transmission reception speed depends on the transmission channel width. As we saw from the table in the previous section, the download channel width, for example, of MTS is 10 MHz in the Band7 range (except Moscow), and the upload channel is also 10 MHz. To increase the download speed, the operator redistributes the frequencies he purchased in the ratio of 15 MHz for downloading and 5 MHz for uploading. Other providers do the same.

One day, one of the developers came up with a bright idea - what if the signal was transmitted not on one carrier frequency, but on several simultaneously. This expands the reception/transmission channel and the speed will theoretically increase significantly. And if each carrier is transmitted using the MIMO 2x2 scheme, then we get an additional gain in speed. This transmission and reception scheme is called “frequency aggregation”. It is this scheme that the 4G+ Internet or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) uses.

The table indicates that for Cat.9, the transmitter and receiver must be able to transmit and receive signals on three carrier frequencies (in three bands) simultaneously, the width of each channel must be at least 20 MHz. For Cat.12, it is additionally necessary that the antenna devices be connected using a MIMO 4x4 scheme, i.e. actually you need 4 antennas on the receiving and transmitting sides. The mysterious 256QAM symbols mean a certain type of signal modulation that allows information to be packed more densely. Those wishing to familiarize themselves with this topic in more detail can begin to get acquainted with the material in the Wikipedia article and with the links there.

Categorization of receiving devices

The frequency aggregation scheme is being actively developed by Russian providers, many agreements have been concluded on the mutual use of frequency ranges, and the antenna facilities of base stations are being reconstructed. However, there is one problem - on the receiving side, the subscriber must be able to receive a signal on several carrier frequencies simultaneously. Not all smartphones, tablets and modems support frequency aggregation and, therefore, cannot work in 4G+.

Since 2016, the documentation for smartphones has indicated the frequency ranges (bands) and LTE category in which they can operate. For example, for a smartphone released in 2017, Huawei P10 Plus, among other parameters, the following is indicated:

In addition, this smartphone has a built-in IMO 4x4 antenna and a corresponding modem that allows it to process signals on two carrier frequencies at once. If your smartphone supports frequency aggregation, then the “settings” > “mobile network” tab will look something like this:

If so, then your smartphone supports LTE-A.

Thus, smartphone manufacturers have begun to catch up with mobile operators. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about modem manufacturers. Until now, the most productive modem provides maximum speeds of 150/50 Mbit/s, i.e. belongs to Cat.4. So far this circumstance is not too upsetting, because... such speeds, if achieved in practice, deserve admiration. However, the mobile router industry appears to be catching up to smartphones. Cat.6 routers from Huawei and Netgeer (does not support Russian bands) began to appear on the market. So the Huawei E5787s-33a router can be bought on AliExpress for about 10 thousand rubles.

It must be said that the actual speeds achieved in 4G+ mode are far from the declared ones, but they are significantly higher than in simple 4G mode. The author conducted a number of experiments in Moscow, where it is not difficult to find LTE-A (Megafon operator), with a Cat.12 smartphone, the results of which are shown in the screenshots. The first screenshot is speeds for LTE-A (frequency aggregation is enabled), the second screenshot is for LTE (frequency aggregation is disabled). Let me note that for some reason, when taking a screenshot, the plus sign disappears from the 4G+ icon. I don’t know why, during testing there was a plus - see screenshot.

Six measurements were taken for each mode. Speeds with frequency aggregation enabled are on average noticeably higher, although not significantly higher. The measurements were carried out near the tower, during the day.

Those wishing to experiment with LTE-A

If LTE-A has appeared in your area, which you have confirmed by measuring the frequencies of the operator you have chosen (the provider distributes the Internet at two frequencies, for example, LTE800 and LTE2600, i.e. uses the combination B7+B20) and you are itching to try what If this is the case, then you can try to use a scheme of two MIMO antennas with diplexers.

After launching the application, go to its settings and check the box “Detect GMS/UMTS/LTE frequencies”.

Then the main screen should display the information you are interested in about the frequency range being used.

In our case, the smartphone connected to the Tele2 network using the 4G standard at a frequency of 1800 MHz (band 3).