Our lives keep increasingly playing out in both the digital and online space. In today’s world, internet connectivity has become just as important as reliable water supply, electricity connection, good access road networks, and security.
One might even say the internet has become a basic necessity of life. That might be a little stretch of the truth. However, looking back at the height of the coronavirus global pandemic. There were tougher lockdowns, cessations of movements, working from home, and online schooling measures put in place. One might rightfully be tempted to classify it as a necessity of life.
Are 4G, 4G+, Double 4G just marketing gimmick of Telcos?
As we mentioned above, there is an increasing demand for reliable and fast internet connection. Naturally, the law of business shall prevail; an increase in demand leads to an increase in supply. With the increasing demand for internet connection, we see a lot of cropping up of Internet Service Providers (ISPs). They all purporting to provide reliable, fast, and affordable internet connection.
In this article, we are not going to talk about the fixed broadband ISPs. These are ISPs who provide internet to your home or office via fiber and LAN cables. Some make the last mile connection via radio signals, but essentially a fixed ISP provides internet connection at a specific location. It is not mobile.
This article will instead focus on mobile ISPs. They also double up as your cellular service carriers. They enable you to make/receive phone calls, send/receive SMS, and connect to the internet while on the move. The mobile service space is a lucrative industry, despite the costly regulation and licensing fees involved. As an end consumer, it is imperative that you be able to judge which carrier provides the best and most reliable mobile internet connectivity.
4G, 4G+, and Double 4G debunked
In their quest to lure in subscribers, mobile service carriers throw around ‘big words’ in their marketing campaign. As the end consumer following the natural progression of numbers, 4G ought to precede 4G+, but then, what would double 4G mean? Is it two 4G combined together effectively, making the internet connection faster than 4G+? Well, read on further as innov8tiv debunks the myths, theories, and half-truths behind these terms.
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What is 4G?
4G is the 4th generation of broadband cellular network technology that succeeded 3G. It will soon be succeeded by the 5th generation of broadband, 5G. 4G is quite popular and can be said to be virtually present in all major cities and towns across the industrialized countries and in major cities and towns across the developing countries.
5G is quite rare to find, as it is currently in the trial phase across many cities and towns in the developing country. However, there are reports that a good number of major cities and towns in far East countries like China and South Korea already have this generation of broadband cellular network already up and running for a select group of users.
It goes without saying that 4G is faster than its predecessor, 3G, and definitely much faster than 2G (Edge).
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What is 4G+
So what 4G+ then? Well, 4G+ can be said to be somewhat middle ground between 4G and 5G. It is common for cellular mobile service providers to use other synonyms such as 4G LTE-A, 4G Plus, 4G LTE-Advanced, and 4.5G to describe 4G+.
Being the middle ground between 4G and 5G, it naturally follows that 4G+ is faster than 4G, but not as fast as 5G. The standard 4G cellular connectivity uses one band at a time, while 4G+ can combine two bands for use at the same time. Thus 4G+ effectively gives you faster-browsing speed than the standard 4G.
As an example, suppose your cellular service provider is offering 4G mobile connectivity at 1800MHz if they are also offering 4G+. The connectivity on 4G+ could mean you’re connecting via both the 1800MHz and the 2.6GHz band. That combination gives you faster internet connectivity.
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Then what is Double 4G?
Double 4G, on the other hand, allows users to connect using more MHz from a single band. For instance, if your service provider is providing the standard 4G connectivity at 2 x 20MHz of the 1800MHz spectrum. Then Double 4G on the same network will give you 2 x 10MHz of 1800MHz.
Wrapping up
While Double 4G is much faster than the standard 4G, the 4G+ network provides a much faster connection. As we mentioned before, a lot of players are coming into the ISP market, and some unscrupulous businesses might throw around these words just to confuse you. Thus, it is advisable that you run the internet speed tests on the network then benchmark it with other internet speed tests from other carriers. Do not take your ISP words to be the biblical truth; instead, run the test on your own.
Running a test is as easy as A, B, C. Simply open your mobile browser on your smartphone and enter the URL www.speedcheck.org. This site is very reputable and authoritative when it comes to giving you the real state of affairs of your current internet connection. The internet connection speed report you get from this site should be more reliable since they are a third-party and not in the business of providing you internet connection. Instead, they are in the business of telling how fast or slow is your current internet connection.