4G Wireless Networks
DiAndra L. McQuiller
Dr. Clifton Howell
CIS500: Information Systems Decision Making
Feb. 2, 2014

In the United States of America communication through email, social media sites, and telephone conversation happens every day on a day to day basis. When individuals shop for services to help keep them connected to the outside world as well as family and friends, the service that is being considered has to be very reliable as well as affordable for the service or services that are being provided. So the quest remains; which network is better and more reliable, 3G or 4G? Throughout this paper there will be a comparison between the 3G network and the 4G network and the many different components that is used to make the networks function. There are many different aspects to the 3G and the 4G network that allow them to be similar in some ways and in different in other. The 3G network service and application offer higher speed that allows users to transfer data at a much faster speed. The 3G network is able to do these things because the network uses software such as CDMA 2000. The CDMA 2000 allow multipath to send signals that arrive in different time delays. Also being used is UMTS is responsible for dealing with high traffic data. This allows users to be able to use a large amount of data without having to deal with loss of connection and spend time waiting for the device finish buffering. The 4G network is a little different, this network uses Wimax2. Wimax2 is able to deliver download speeds up to 120Mbps; it can also upload material at speeds up to 60Mbps. The 3G network uses LTE but the 4G network uses LTE-Advanced. The LTE-Advanced can aggregate up to five carriers, which is equivalent to 100 MHz (Svensson, 2010). By doing this it allows the network to increase the data rates for all users and also to increase the capacity of different applications and surfing the web. Wide area cell base is used in the 3G network, and what this does is allow users to use their devices in local areas such as the internet and other data services that is provided by the cellular company. The 4G network uses the wide area cell base as well but it is used along with LTE-Advanced, these allow a user to be connected and to move about without losing the connection. The data throughput with 3G network can reach up to 3.1Mbps with an average speed range between 0.5 to 1.5Mbps (Mobile Technology, 2014). On average the 4G network can use up to 2 to 12Mbps and it has the potential to average up to 300Mbps (Schwarz, 2011). When it comes to these services the consumers will advertise the service that can provide more to the customer. Sprint and Verizon has reached the limits on how fast the 3G network service that is offered can function, it is almost on the same level as the 4G networks. This allows the customers to be able to have good quality service without having to pay at a higher rate like the 4G users. AT&T and T-Mobile anticipate switching to a 3G network and when it is done, the 3G network will be comparable to Sprint and Verizon 4G network. Many say the 4G network can be fast but at times when the users are trying to use the service there are many times there is not connectivity and the service at times can become very unreliable. The 4G LTE has download speeds as fast as 5 to 12Mbps and upload speeds as fast as 2 to 5Mbps. Also with a downloading peak approaching 50Mbps. The 4G Wimax is much faster than the LTE, the Wimax can function up to 120Mps when downloading, and with that kind of download speed users can spend less time in front of the computer and spend more time enjoying the games or music that is being downloaded. It also can reach up to 60Mbps when a user is uploading a movie to watch and this also allows the users to enjoy the movie the same day of the upload without having to spend hours in front of the computer and having to wait until the next day to enjoy the movie. The 4G WiBro is faster than the 4G LTE and it is slower than the 4g Wimax. The download speed for the 4G WiBro can reach up to 40.32Mbps (Seoul, 2011). The user perceptions of the 4G LTE, Wimax, and WiBro is that all of the services are fast and that are able to download and up load at amazing speeds, you are also able to watch movies and play games in high definition but there are times when users are not able to use any of these great functions because the lack of connectivity. There are some phone companies that if there is an incident with a user that is unable to use any of these functions there will be a credit to the users account for the loss of service and then there are some companies that will not reimburse for the time that is lost and still charge for the service even it isn’t working. Some users satisfied with the service and the option to do things at a much faster speed and a much clearer picture than user the 3G networks. Throughout the research it was found that 4G Wimax and the 4G WiBro do not have the capability of having backwards compatibility due to no direct findings. The 4G LTE network has the capability of using backwards compatibility. What this means is that if a user has the 4G network and they travel to an area that has the 4G LTE-Advanced network then that user will be able to use the 4G LTE-Advanced network because the device is capable to work on either network. The service availability for the 4G LTE, 4G Wimax, and the 4G WiBro is offered in mainly metropolitan areas because there are more towers in these areas that can support these types of networks than it is in rural areas. The competition between 4G LTE carriers has become so fierce because customers have become very hard and very expensive to keep happy with the service that is provided and the cost as well. Customers tend to leave the carrier that was used for the last two years for another carrier because there was a better price on the table and there were better devices as well. The competition sometimes cause carriers more money because the strategy to lower the prices on a device so that more and more customers can come and switch over but at the end of the day the devices are cheaper but the plans are higher because carriers have to accommodate for the loss of revenue from the device that is sold of practically given away at no cost to the customer. The subscribers benefit from this competition because the whole goal is to offer a better service that reliable, loyal, and dependable that the rest and customers always want more for less and carriers battle each other to ensure the customers keep coming and the customers that are already around, carriers would like to keep around longer. In conclusion, Verizon is one carrier that prides itself on how the service that is provided is the best in the United States. Verizon was able to cover more markets than AT&T because unlike other carriers Verizon went into smaller cities and built towers so that cellular service can be provided in rural areas. AT&T didn’t think to go into rural areas to spend money to put towers in almost every city in America big or small to ensure more and more people can get and stay on the network. Verizon still is beating AT&T because AT&T haven’t been able to reach the same amount of people as Verizon in such a short time, and also there is the chance that even if AT&T move into any of the rural areas that Verizon was in first there is a good chance that the customers are loyal to the one carrier that came to the area first before any other carrier would have ever thought to do so.

Reference
“CDMA 2000: A 3G mobile technology”. (2014). Retrieved from www.searchconsumeriation.techtarget.com/CDMA2000-A-3G-mobile-technology on February 2, 2014
Schwarz, Y (July5, 2011). “Wilmax2: The future super broadband 4G network”. Retrieved from www.goingwimax.com on February 2, 2014.
Svensson, P. (2010). “4G wireless: It’s fast, but out stripped by hype”. Associated Press. Retrieved from www.usatoday.com on February 2, 2014.