Is Verizon 3G or 3.5G?

[blue4shizzle]

Originally Posted by MadlyAlive

I thought 3G was 1xEVDO and 3.5G is EVDO Rev. A

Originally Posted by conflipper

3G is for GSM carriers, EVDO is for CDMA carriers. 3G=EVDO

Originally Posted by MidwestDrummer

This is always what I've gone by. EVDO officially is 3G, but EVDO Rev. A has never been officially classified at 3.5G. Though technically you can still call it that.

umm guys... lets do a little more homework lol. as stated earlier, 3G is only for gsm carriers, it is their high(er) speed data network (not saying you didnt know this). 2G or edge was their previous one (which was slower). now for CDMA carriers, their "2G" network was evdo (which jus happened to be faster than edge), while thier "3G" network is rev A (which also happens to be faster than 3G). the reason sprint (dan hesse's commercial in black an white) decided to refer to their high speed network as "the worlds largest 3G network", is because the majority of consumers have not a clue on what rev A is, so they decided to just refer to it as a "3G" network so people would have a better idea on what the heck he was talking about. but evdo is not 3g or equivalent to 3G, rev A is..

with that said, i have not a clue on this 3.5G.. if anything people are already referring to wimax and LTE as "4G" but thats besides the point

Edit**: and before anyone asks.. i know on our handsets (CDMA) it says EVDO where available, not rev A, but believe me.. the high speed data network is called Rev A (speeds of 1.7mbs to 3.1mbs)

3G and 3.5G have pretty much been turned into marketing terms.

For the US markets (and CDMA networks), 3G would be EVDO Rev. 0. 3.5G would be EVDO Rev. A. These are just classifications, there isn't anything official either way. Technically, 3G covers both Rev 0 and Rev A, and there should be no 3.5G.

Sprint has Rev A available everywhere, I imagine VZW is close to the same.

There's two 4G technologies coming out... WiMAX and LTE. Sprint is already pushing hard for WiMAX with the Xohm/ClearWire service... but it really is only available in a few areas. VZW is partnered with Vodafone (or at least was) and like many other carriers, is working to get LTE up and running. Sprint is one of the very few companies pushing WiMAX. WiMAX may be further in the development cycle, but LTE has more support. It will be interesting to see which gets accepted.

Edit: Adding a little more random information...

CDMA networks - 1xRTT (commonly called 1x) is 2G - and painfully slow.

The GSM equivalents:

2G - EDGE (haha iPhone owners) and GPRS
3G - HSPA/HSDPA
4G - LTE

[MrHawaii]

Really guys, don't take this the wrong way but who cares what "g" it is. I don't believe there is an industry standard as what is defined as 1g, 2g, 3g, or 4g. One carriers 3g could be like another's 2g. They are terms that describe the evolution of the carrier's network. Like for Sprint, the 1st generation network was the big cellphones that did just phone calls. 2nd generation network started mixing phone calls and data. This was defined as 1xRTT or 1x, it also started with handsets that could make calls, send texts, and browse web. Keep in mind the first devices was still monocolored screens and mostly just included data in text. Then devices were made with multi-colored screens, that enabled better web experience and features (still in mobile versions though) and on 1xRTT speeds. Then the network was upgraded again, the 3rd genertation with EVDO Release 0 which boosted data speeds and enabled Sprint to do things like SprintTV, SprintNavigation, Sprint Music Store, etc. EVDO Revision A boosted data speeds once again, download got a little boost but upload speeds got a bigger boost.

So again, who cares what "g" it is because that is not defined in a constant manner and like was said it was turned into more of a marketing term. What you should be concerned with is what was said in the first post and in the first post's sig, SPEED. SPEED is constant. 2MBps download (which is really good) means the same thing on a Sprint network as it would on Verizon or ATT.

So these are the things you should be concerned with when looking at data networks from different carriers.

1st) SPEED. There are different variables that could determine better or poorer speeds like signal strength, bloated network, etc. So keep it mind that you measure average speeds downloaded and uploaded.

2nd) COVERAGE. And that means coverage in your area. Who cares who has the BIGGEST coverage area. The average user will only use it in one city or state. Check the coverage in you area that you frequent.

3rd) STABILITY. This is the smallest concern of them all because all of the big carriers' networks perform well enough on average.

[Noir]

latley vzw in chicago has been worse than dialup!
1x everyday for a while and my bill is clean! stupid network ><
but still insightful information all the same

[MidwestDrummer]

Originally Posted by blue4shizzle

umm guys... lets do a little more homework lol. as stated earlier, 3G is only for gsm carriers, it is their high(er) speed data network (not saying you didnt know this). 2G or edge was their previous one (which was slower). now for CDMA carriers, their "2G" network was evdo (which jus happened to be faster than edge), while thier "3G" network is rev A (which also happens to be faster than 3G). the reason sprint (dan hesse's commercial in black an white) decided to refer to their high speed network as "the worlds largest 3G network", is because the majority of consumers have not a clue on what rev A is, so they decided to just refer to it as a "3G" network so people would have a better idea on what the heck he was talking about. but evdo is not 3g or equivalent to 3G, rev A is..

with that said, i have not a clue on this 3.5G.. if anything people are already referring to wimax and LTE as "4G" but thats besides the point

Edit**: and before anyone asks.. i know on our handsets (CDMA) it says EVDO where available, not rev A, but believe me.. the high speed data network is called Rev A (speeds of 1.7mbs to 3.1mbs)

No homework needed. I wasn't wrong.

[talk2nate]

Just a simple Google search can clear this one up..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G

According to the link above Verizon is 3.5G due to having Rev.A .. Also Verizon is pushing to another upgrade already to be the first 4G network with LTE .. This means AT&T will finally have something to fight with as far as being a contender for speed.

As far as service - Verizon has AT&T beat there hands down in my oppinion. With the purchase of Alltel it only makes the country and backroads even better too.

Just a little back ground on what 4G is - its the lowest penatration signal out right now. About 700mhz or so. Basicly means you'll have signal in your basement if your hardware supports it.

[BigDiesel07]

You beat me to it Talk, but Verizon does not have 3.5 G

[talk2nate]

According to my areas regional Verizon President this upgrades will be completed no later than the 4th quarter of the year... mind showing us where Sprint or AT&T compare on the switch?

[BigDiesel07]

Sprint already launched Wi-Max.. 4G..

[hibby50]

I thought sprint was winning 4g??????? im so confused