Almost 50% of U.S. Consumers Don't Think They Need 4G LTE According to Survey

[lloydstrans]

I've read everyone's comments/criticism over how they don't need 4G and how they are happy with their 3G, etc, etc. Thats all well and good, but the main difference between 3G and 4G (aside from speed) is the fact that you can now talk on the phone and simultaneously use the internet. AT&T was using this as their iphone marketing plan against VZW, since you couldn't do this on VZW, unless you were connected to wifi. Not a big deal for most, but when you need to look something up while on the phone it is very helpful.

I absolutely love having 4G and would not consider going back to 3G. For a while I had 4G at home and 3G at work. When I was at work it was almost painful to go online b/c it really was that much slower than what I was used to at home. Speaking of home, I have a wifi network at home that I hardly ever connect to with my phone. The wifi is just too slow and unreliable compared to my 4G connection (may partly be my router) but 4G is just that good that I don't want to use wifi.

So while most people don't need 4G, once you get a taste of it chances are you won't want to have to go back.

I concur completely, when my 4g connection is as reliable as my 3g signal I'll probably never look back.

 

[Caesars]

I've been saying since wimax came out that practical uses for 4g don't exist for the masses . I love my maxx, but besides tethering i have little use for 4g, going evdo prepaid next phone. Now down the road when your whole house operates on the internet, 4g will be useful.

Googorola MAXX

 

[liftedplane]

Verizon's policy is that you are allowed to keep unlimited when you replace your phone IF you pay full retail price for your phone. So....I can keep my unlimited plan (which I use nearly zero data on anyway since nearly ALL my data use is over wifi) and pay @$500-$600 for my replacement phone, or I can switch to the new calling plan and continue paying about $100 for replacement phones......

I still haven't heard anyone answer the question "What will 4G do for me??"...other than one guy who said something about watching 15 minutes of HBO when he's waiting somewhere (if I'm waiting somewhere for 15 minutes, I'll fire up the Kindle app on my 3G phone and read whatever book I'm working on at the time).

So...I get it...4G delivers data faster than 3G.....what good does that do for me if nearly all my data use is done over high speed, broadband, wifi AND if I'm forced by my provider to live within data caps when off wifi????

When we first went to smart phones I paid the $30 a month for unlimited data for myself and $15 for "limited" data for my wife. Soon realized she was going to use more data than I was because she still works for a living (I'm retired) and she loves streaming music. So I boosted her plan to unlimited. She found pretty quick that if she streamed music to her phone....her battery was dead by some time after lunch so her phone was useless the rest of the day. She went back to using an mp3 player with a built in fm tuner...battery on it lasts a week on one charge.

So......between the two of us...we're paying $60 for unlimited data and when I check our usage I see that monthly we use something like .04GB. If each of us is using about .02GB of data each month......what will 4G do for us????? I mean...I understand if you're working, you're out and about, in plaes a lot where high speed wifi isn't....and you need to do e-mail, document transfers, if you're using your phone as a GPS (I've got an actual GPS LOL) all kinds of stuff. Speed is a factor for you. Only time I used 3G to look something up on the web when I was out and about.....I googled an address.

Of course the new calling plans do ONE thing for me......they replace the limit we have on talk minutes (wife and I share 700 minutes a month, rarely go over or even come close, with unlimited talk......which wasn't much of an issue since nearly everyone we know is with the same provider and mobile to mobile with them was free anyway....LOL

I have wifi at home, when I bought my bionic in September I had 4G up the street and at work, I still didn't use wifi because it at my battery. Then I woke up one day and my phone tells me I have 4G at home. I will not use wifi as 4G is just as fast or faster and while it does eat battery, having wifi off helps.

If you have 4g at your house and most places you go to I Challenge you to get A 4g phone, if i had an extra I'd loan one to you, and turn the wifi off and keep it off for two weeks.

Right now you have it in your head that 4G won't do anything for you, and while i respect that, honestly you've never used it regularly so your assertion that it won't do anything is based on nothing more than ideas and opinions which you have not tested.

Get on craigslist or Ebay and buy a bionic for 100 then come tell me what 4G will do for you. If you still don't feel it will do anything that's cool, that's your prerogative. However you have to try something before you can make those kind of decisions. At least that's how I feel.

I've read everyone's comments/criticism over how they don't need 4G and how they are happy with their 3G, etc, etc. Thats all well and good, but the main difference between 3G and 4G (aside from speed) is the fact that you can now talk on the phone and simultaneously use the internet. AT&T was using this as their iphone marketing plan against VZW, since you couldn't do this on VZW, unless you were connected to wifi. Not a big deal for most, but when you need to look something up while on the phone it is very helpful.

I absolutely love having 4G and would not consider going back to 3G. For a while I had 4G at home and 3G at work. When I was at work it was almost painful to go online b/c it really was that much slower than what I was used to at home. Speaking of home, I have a wifi network at home that I hardly ever connect to with my phone. The wifi is just too slow and unreliable compared to my 4G connection (may partly be my router) but 4G is just that good that I don't want to use wifi.

So while most people don't need 4G, once you get a taste of it chances are you won't want to have to go back.

I love talking and using the net out playing games or looking stuff up. Especially when my wife just wants to talk

Sent from my frozenly delicious bionic.

 

[zomnomnombie]

I love my unlimited 4g. I stream my Play Music account about 3 hours everyday. Verizon 3g is just way too slow in this city. It was awful before I switched to the RAZR MAXX. On the off chance I switch to 3g, the edge of campus, the buffer created by 4g combined with the perfect data hand offs of the RAZR makes it where I haven't had a single song give me the little loading ring.

 

[brad92]

I love 4G, but I stay on wifi all day so that my phone won't have to be charged 2 or 3 times a day. Same with 3G. I actually get better battery with 4G then 3G

 

[lloydstrans]

While were debating 3g vs. 4g keep in mind that everybody's speeds are different. Mine are typically 2.5 on 3g and my 4g is typically double that. I can drive 10 miles and get 12 to 14 megs, now that's the ticket. I can stream YouTube etc. On 3g no problem. Music go figure. An absolutely ridiculous use of 4g is navigation,IMO, only the space shuttle goes that fast.

 

[armeddroid]

While were debating 3g vs. 4g keep in mind that everybody's speeds are different. Mine are typically 2.5 on 3g and my 4g is typically double that. I can drive 10 miles and get 12 to 14 megs, now that's the ticket. I can stream YouTube etc. On 3g no problem. Music go figure. An absolutely ridiculous use of 4g is navigation,IMO, only the space shuttle goes that fast.

Thas also the way i see it.
Speeds are gonna be differernt.
I am in an all 4G area.
My home was originally a 3G spot until last year, they upped my location to 4G.
I hated 3G almost on every occasion and actually waited to be in a WIFI spot.
Now? I am on 4G at home, work and my daily commute.
I dont want anything less and I'm not an impatient guy but if Im on my phone and i am looking for videos, music, things to download?
I want it MY way, right away.
With that being said, IMO, appearances are subjective to the individual.
What the phone can do and its performance doing it; is what sells me.

 

[StupidGenius]

With that being said, IMO, appearances are subjective to the individual.
What the phone can do and its performance doing it; is what sells me.

+1. Just how I feel.
I didn't buy my Nexus because it was 4G, I bought it for vanilla Android. Like the OG Droid I came from and was use to.
4G was just a bonus, but I do love it.

 

[czerdrill]

Count me in that almost 50 percent. The only real benefit i get from 4g is simultaneous voice/data. My speeds are in the low to upper teens. Fast sure, but not something that really affects me if it was slower.

I'd gladly give up 4g for better battery life tbh.

 

[sweeeeet]

I rather use 4g when I need to do something online and shut off all internet when I don't need it... I don't even know how to switch to 3g on Ics cuz network mode is greyed out.... wifi at home is a huge battery saver.. dl speeds are about the same(4g gets higher scores) but upload is a lot slower on wifi which I don't notice a difference since I don't upload anything

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[josh1980]

Big picture.. what do you need 4G for except to download more data? Since they got rid of the unlimited plans the whole idea of "download more data" also = "high cell phone bill".

To the average user the only thing they see is higher speeds and new lower/more expensive data limits. The 2 are mutually exclusive except for the few that still have an "unlimited plan". So yeah, the cell phone companies have made 4G a service that most people won't exactly jump for joy to have.

 

[Mike.757]

I work on the flight lines of different airports. I use the hotspot to power my internet. I use the internet to track my airplanes when they fly out over the water. I need the best internet speeds I can get. If there were a 5g, I would be all over it.

But I do respect that not every one needs that. It is great that we have the choice. There its no right answer. Or better yet, ALL of the answers are right a long as you are happy with your service!

 

[meishkov]

The 50% who dont need it are probably Iphone users.
They think that the Iphone 4(s) means 4G.
I have come across so many iphone users that think that is what it means.
smh.
Apple leads the herds into ignorance, thanks to The Book of Jobs, so it is good.

No kidding man. The country has gotten dumber, so this doesn't surprise me. Have all the losers sit there waiting for something to load, while I'd already have completed multiple tasks. Have any of them seen any kinda website load on 3G and then on 4G???? If they have and still don't want 4G then they should just give up on life, seriously. Reading something like this just makes me angry:angry:

I want peeps to embrace new technology, not run away from it. How are we to advance to flying cars and faster than light travel when we have sheeple who can't tell the difference between 1Mbps and 100Mbps??

 

[Mike.757]

Not to hijack the thread but it is like when my wife tells me that she cannot tell a difference between hd and analog television. She may not notice it but I do.

The only thing that makes me appreciate 3g is my blackberry (os 6) on 3g. Otherwise 4g for me!

 

[lloydstrans]

Still guys its we want it, we don't need it.
Some more bashing, bring it on.