Originally Posted by the_overlord (Post 758891)

3G stands for Third Generation. It is a generic marketing description for High Speed Data networks regardless of the carrier. EVDO, HSPDA, GSM, Etc are terms that represents the Technology used by the carrier for their data network. EVDO is considered a 3G network.

But these terms do not specifically designate the actual speed of the Data network. So any Data device will see the benefit of the 3G network, not just laptops.

Originally Posted by MrHawaii (Post 638966)

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.