Is there LTE in our area?

    Of course to be, after all, almost all operators have announced support for LTE and the creation of a variety of tariffs. And the first about the new generation network was announced by Megafon. Back in spring (or early summer?) I saw posters all over Moscow about 4G, about speed increase at times and the like ... But somehow I didn’t pay attention to it, I thought: “Well, that 3G, that 4G is one fig!” . I myself use the services of MTS and with mobile Internet, of course, the trouble is that everything loads slowly, you don’t listen to music in the contact center, there’s no network in the metro ... I’m waiting for the opportunity to switch to another operator without losing the number. And my friends say to me - what's the point? Everywhere with mobile Internet, the trouble is that MTS has Beeline and Megafon ... And then there was the opportunity to check live all the delights of LTE from Megafon, and even on an operator’s smartphone,


    What is LTE / 4G?


    Of course, I am a progressive girl, versed in gadgets, but until recently I did not know (and did not understand) the difference between 3G and LTE (otherwise known as 4G). I think that the majority here should not describe the known advantages and disadvantages of everyone, but, nevertheless, I am sure that there are those who, like me, are not particularly versed in all this. Let's get it together? :)
    So, LTE is the technology underlying the fourth generation cellular networks. Compared with the technologies of the 3G family, the specified communication standard should a) provide a much higher data transfer rate on both sides and b) do not affect the power consumption of the devices as much as they did in the case of 2G and 3G networks.
    Well, in theory, everything looks very good, but what in practice?

    A bit about tariff options


    The most affordable tariff option for MegaFon with high-speed Internet is called “Internet S”: you pay 390 rubles ($ 11) per month and for this you get 3 GB of traffic at maximum speed (and what kind of maximum speed I will tell you later). As soon as these 3 GB are used up, Internet access is suspended and automatically resumed from the beginning of the new month, or when the “Prolong speed” options are connected, and this, of course, is an additional waste of money.
    At first, I wanted to be outraged, they say, like that - only 3 GB, but for the sake of interest I decided to see how much traffic I usually “run” per month. So, for half a year the maximum figure was 1 GB exactly! And this is despite the fact that I constantly update my mail, view (and upload) photos on Instagram, sit on social networks (including listening to music on VKontakte, although this is equivalent to torture with my current operator), I’m downloading files of various sizes ... In general, such an active Internet maniac. Therefore, I think that 3 GB is more than enough and will remain :)
    And those who do not have 3 GB can choose the Internet M tariff, there are already 6 GB of traffic, but the cost is 690 rubles ($ 20) per month. Do you need it?


    How fast is LTE?


    So, we figured out the tariff option. Let's move on to the most important thing - to the Internet and data transfer speed.
    I’ll start, perhaps, with speed measurements using the Speedtest program (we all love to look at the numbers, right?). The maximum data reception rate reached 17.28 Mbit / s, and transmission - 19.74 Mbit / s on Lublinskaya street (Lublino district, Moscow). I don’t know if it’s possible to get a better result, but I couldn’t achieve more. On the Internet I read about less and more impressive results. I note that if you move away from Lublin Street inland, the Internet begins to disappear, and testing is sometimes impossible, because the program says that there is no connection — nevertheless, the prevalence and breadth of coverage of the new generation networks leaves much to be desired.
    The minimum speed I got during the descent of the Petrovsko-Razumovskaya metro station: data loading - 3.89 Mbit / s, and transmission - 0.99 Mbit / s. In principle, it’s understandable - the metro is not that bad with the Internet, but with communication in general (there are also a lot of people).

    Below are screenshots of measurements in different places in Moscow:
    1) In an office building (area near metro Petrovsko-Razumovskaya)


    3) On the street (area near metro Petrovsko-Razumovskaya)


    3) When descending to the metro Petrovsko-Razumovskaya


    4) On Red Square


    5) On the street (Lublino district)


    6) Houses (Lublino district)


    4G speed measurements were carried out on a MegaFon 4G Turbo smartphone. This smartphone is positioned primarily as a solution for LTE networks from them, we will say so, the "author" (and, of course, works only with a megaphone SIM card).
    I also decided to check what speed will be if I insert a SIM card into a smartphone where there is no LTE support. Highscreen Alpha Ice acted as a test subject, these are the results:


    And now, for comparison, the data transfer speed of the MTS mobile Internet:


    It’s called, feel the difference.

    And now my personal impressions and experience of using:
    • pages load in 3-4 seconds (that on a smartphone with LTE support, that without it);
    • social networks are updated in an instant;
    • Download programs from Google Play is a pleasure - 11 MB downloaded in just 8 seconds;
    • music on VKontakte is fully loaded in 1-2 seconds;
    • a five-minute video in HD-quality on YouTube, you can safely watch and not be afraid that the video will not have time to download to the right moment.

    In general, after the braking Internet from “you know whom”, 4G from MegaFon is real bliss and just the same ode to speed! Seriously! And for such a speed it’s not a sin to pay 390 rubles a month, although, of course, I would still like the option to be cheaper anyway.

    What about the smartphone?


    I would like to talk a little about the MegaFon 4G Turbo smartphone, which was the main device for testing the LTE network.

    This device can be attributed to budget solutions, with average characteristics, among which the very same LTE support stands out, which at the moment is a rarity among budget smartphones.


    I don’t see the point in detail about the configuration - everything is standard: a charger, a USB cable, a wired hands-free headset, and a user manual.


    Externally, 4G Turbo does not look quite usual. At the front, this is a completely anonymous device, reminiscent of a huge number of other modern smartphones. The only hint of design refinement in which is a thin metal edging, ringing around the edges of the front panel. But there are already differences in the back: firstly, the upper part of the case where the camera is located is a couple of millimeters thicker (about 10-11 mm), secondly, the smartphone has a non-removable battery, and in general it is non-separable, only a small lid opens times in the enlarged part of the case - under it are located the “slots” for SIM- and microSD-cards.


    Above is the power button and lock the display, along with a headphone jack.


    On the right side is the camera start button (when the smartphone is in a locked state, it, alas, does not work)


    On the left is the "rocker" volume control and microUSB connector.


    A lone microphone sank down below.


    The back side is made of metal, and the small cover is made of rubberized plastic. On it (the cover) is a camera, flash and a second microphone for noise reduction and audio capture during video recording. Below on the metal part of the body is a speaker.


    In front is a 4.5-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels (the screen is quite responsive), a speaker, a front camera and an LED notification indicator.

    It is not clear why the buttons were brought to the screen, under it a lot of free space - this is strange.

    The interface is as smart as Android 4.0.2 can allow. Android, by the way, is “naked,” and it’s good, as for me.


    In addition to standard applications, proprietary software from MegaFon is preinstalled:

    • Replace the beep - a kind of online beep store.


    • GetUpps - an analogue of the Play Store, only from Megafon.


    • Mi-Easy Access - setting up quick access to six necessary applications right from the broking screen.


    • News - an application from Mail.ru

    • Mi-POP - hides the navigation bar, thereby freeing up more useful space on the screen. The keys are converted into one “Back” icon, which can be moved across the screen and from which 3 more keys are opened: “Home”, “Call open applications” and the key that calls “Wallpaper”, “Applications” and “Settings”.


    • Championship.com - sports news, live broadcast of matches, summary tables of ratings and results of competitions. In general, fans of football, hockey and others like them will be pleased.


    • Separate Yandex Search application. By the way, in the notification curtain there is a search bar from the same Yandex with a weather forecast.


    A few words about the camera: for a budget smartphone it shoots not bad. Although what can you expect from a sensor of 8 megapixels, and even on the "budget"? Here are a couple of sample photos:


    And some benchmark results:


    By the way, with a battery of 1,780 mAh, the smartphone lives up to two days with moderate use by the average person. I checked mail on it, social networks (constant push notifications), called a couple of times and turned on wi-fi again. The graph shows that it still recharged the smartphone (not for long, from the laptop, literally an hour).


    At a price of 10,770 rubles (about $ 326), in principle, a good smartphone for web surfing. But, I emphasize again, it works only with SIM cards from MegaFon.

    Conclusion


    LTE to be! Let's see what other operators come up with ... And also - wait until LTE-smartphones become massively accessible and widespread. Now, to be honest, they are doing a complete mess. In most regions of the world, different frequency ranges are used, and if you bring a 4G-smartphone to Russia from any other country, it is not at all a fact that he will make friends with “local” LTE. Meanwhile, there are very few adequate options with LTE support intended for Russia so far. Especially budget. This device from Megafon is one of the most inexpensive, but it costs as much as 11 thousand rubles. But I would like to see models for both 8 and 6 ... Rumor has it that MediaTek will soon introduce a new generation of chipsets with LTE support. Who knows - maybe

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