May 21, 2012 at 23:144G LTE Internet Megaphone
On May 15, 2012, Megafon began providing 4G mobile Internet services using LTE technology : 4g.moscow.megafon.ru .
I asked Megafon to give me a modem for testing, and the very next day I got it.
The modem is huge, as a joke I called it “Tsar Modem”.
But unlike the Tsar Cannon, which doesn’t fire, and the Tsar Bell, which doesn’t ring, the Tsar-modem works fine.
The modem works both in the new 4G network and in 3G and 2G networks, therefore, unlike the 4G Yota modem (I talked about it and the Yota LTE network: ammo1.livejournal.com/252365.html), it works where there is no 4G network. This is very relevant, given that the Moscow 4G network so far operates only in Moscow and in individual cities of the region (http://moscow.megafon.ru/help/coverage).
3G / 2G - Internet Megaphone provides via its cellular network, and 4G via the Yota network, however 4G Megaphone and Yota are completely different things. The base stations are used the same, so the coverage area is the same, but the speed and quality of the Internet are different. This is because different Internet channels are used. The use of different frequencies at the same base stations has not been confirmed.
The Megafon 4G modem is sold at Megafon offices and an online store at a price of 2,990 rubles (http://moscow.shop.megafon.ru/modems_g__g_33_tree_992_1_61626.html).
At the same time, absolutely unlimited 4G / 3G Internet is free until July 15, 2012.
From July 15, three tariffs will begin to operate: 950, 1200 and 1500 rubles per month:
Let's go back to the modem. The modem is manufactured by Huawei and is called the E392.
A special sim card is installed in the modem, marked as “64K”.
I tried to install this sim card in another modem - 3G Internet worked fine. The reverse procedure was also successful - another SIM card Megafon worked normally in this modem, only the 4G network did not appear. The sim card of another operator did not work - the program asked to install a megaphone sim card.
On the other side of the modem are slots for a MicroSD memory card (card reader function) and two antenna connectors. Apparently the modem has separate 4G and 3G / 2G radio paths and separate antennas can be connected to them.
When connected to a computer, the modem creates a virtual CD-ROM, on which the installer of the Megaphone-modem program is located (exactly the same as for regular 3G modems). The modem driver is installed with this program.
Linux modem work is discussed here: habrahabr.ru/post/144239/#comment_4841134
I tested the speed of the Megaphone 4G modem and compared its work with the Yota modem. Testing was carried out at one in the morning, modems were located in the same place - on the window of my seventeenth floor in Sviblovo. The signal level was 90%.
The best result of Megaphone is 8.5 Mb / s download, 11.2 Mb / s upload.
The average result is 8 download, 14 upload, and the speed according to SpeedTest and internet.yandex.ru was quite stable and almost did not change from test to test.
Yota's best result was almost the same, but from test to test, Download speed jumped from 3.5 to 9. The
second test was downloading a 107-megabyte file from a fast server. Testing was carried out at 22:00.
Megaphone - 128 seconds (833 kilobytes per second ~ 6.7 Mbps)
Yota - 410 seconds (260 kilobytes per second ~ 2 Mbits)
It was not possible to compare Megaphone 4G and Yota on downloading torrents - it seems that Yota artificially limits the speed of downloading torrents: the speed fluctuated around a very low value of 40 kilobytes per second, and the megaphone had a speed of about 800 kilobytes / sec.
I tried how 4G Internet works not at the window, but in the back of the room. At the same time, the signal power decreased from 90% to 30%.
As you can see, the download speed remained high, and the upload speed decreased significantly.
I turned off 4G and at the same time checked the speed at which 3G-Internet Megaphone works in my apartment. Maximum speed 4.05 / 0.62, average 2.0 / 0.5.
Of course, I would really like 4G Internet to work not only in Moscow and the nearest Moscow region. According to information from Megafon, by the end of 2012 it is planned to deploy a 4G network in the following cities of the Moscow Region: Khimki, Balashikha, Podolsk, Korolev, Mytishchi (RC), Lyubertsy (RC), Elektrostal, Kolomna, Odintsovo (RC), Zheleznodorozhny, Serpukhov, Orekhovo -Zuevo, Krasnogorsk (rts), Sergiev Posad (rts), Schelkovo (rts), Pushkino (rts), Zhukovsky.
In conclusion, a few words about the prospects. In addition to using the Yota network, MegaFon owns 4G frequencies in Moscow, but will be able to provide services only after summing up the results of competitions for federal frequency sets. In Moscow, MegaFon's own frequencies are TDD LTE, and Yota frequencies are FDD LTE. When Megafon’s own LTE network is launched, MegaFon’s LTE subscribers will be able to use both TDD and LTE FDD, and after launching its own network, cooperation with Yota in Moscow will continue.
Undoubtedly, today the offer of LTE from Megafon in Moscow is much more interesting than from Yota. At the same prices, the speed is higher and more stable, and most importantly 4G Internet is combined with 3G, which is already almost everywhere, and even where there is none, the good old GPRS works.
I asked Megafon to give me a modem for testing, and the very next day I got it.
The modem is huge, as a joke I called it “Tsar Modem”.
But unlike the Tsar Cannon, which doesn’t fire, and the Tsar Bell, which doesn’t ring, the Tsar-modem works fine.
The modem works both in the new 4G network and in 3G and 2G networks, therefore, unlike the 4G Yota modem (I talked about it and the Yota LTE network: ammo1.livejournal.com/252365.html), it works where there is no 4G network. This is very relevant, given that the Moscow 4G network so far operates only in Moscow and in individual cities of the region (http://moscow.megafon.ru/help/coverage).
3G / 2G - Internet Megaphone provides via its cellular network, and 4G via the Yota network, however 4G Megaphone and Yota are completely different things. The base stations are used the same, so the coverage area is the same, but the speed and quality of the Internet are different. This is because different Internet channels are used. The use of different frequencies at the same base stations has not been confirmed.
The Megafon 4G modem is sold at Megafon offices and an online store at a price of 2,990 rubles (http://moscow.shop.megafon.ru/modems_g__g_33_tree_992_1_61626.html).
At the same time, absolutely unlimited 4G / 3G Internet is free until July 15, 2012.
From July 15, three tariffs will begin to operate: 950, 1200 and 1500 rubles per month:
Let's go back to the modem. The modem is manufactured by Huawei and is called the E392.
A special sim card is installed in the modem, marked as “64K”.
I tried to install this sim card in another modem - 3G Internet worked fine. The reverse procedure was also successful - another SIM card Megafon worked normally in this modem, only the 4G network did not appear. The sim card of another operator did not work - the program asked to install a megaphone sim card.
On the other side of the modem are slots for a MicroSD memory card (card reader function) and two antenna connectors. Apparently the modem has separate 4G and 3G / 2G radio paths and separate antennas can be connected to them.
When connected to a computer, the modem creates a virtual CD-ROM, on which the installer of the Megaphone-modem program is located (exactly the same as for regular 3G modems). The modem driver is installed with this program.
Linux modem work is discussed here: habrahabr.ru/post/144239/#comment_4841134
I tested the speed of the Megaphone 4G modem and compared its work with the Yota modem. Testing was carried out at one in the morning, modems were located in the same place - on the window of my seventeenth floor in Sviblovo. The signal level was 90%.
The best result of Megaphone is 8.5 Mb / s download, 11.2 Mb / s upload.
The average result is 8 download, 14 upload, and the speed according to SpeedTest and internet.yandex.ru was quite stable and almost did not change from test to test.
Yota's best result was almost the same, but from test to test, Download speed jumped from 3.5 to 9. The
second test was downloading a 107-megabyte file from a fast server. Testing was carried out at 22:00.
Megaphone - 128 seconds (833 kilobytes per second ~ 6.7 Mbps)
Yota - 410 seconds (260 kilobytes per second ~ 2 Mbits)
It was not possible to compare Megaphone 4G and Yota on downloading torrents - it seems that Yota artificially limits the speed of downloading torrents: the speed fluctuated around a very low value of 40 kilobytes per second, and the megaphone had a speed of about 800 kilobytes / sec.
I tried how 4G Internet works not at the window, but in the back of the room. At the same time, the signal power decreased from 90% to 30%.
As you can see, the download speed remained high, and the upload speed decreased significantly.
I turned off 4G and at the same time checked the speed at which 3G-Internet Megaphone works in my apartment. Maximum speed 4.05 / 0.62, average 2.0 / 0.5.
Of course, I would really like 4G Internet to work not only in Moscow and the nearest Moscow region. According to information from Megafon, by the end of 2012 it is planned to deploy a 4G network in the following cities of the Moscow Region: Khimki, Balashikha, Podolsk, Korolev, Mytishchi (RC), Lyubertsy (RC), Elektrostal, Kolomna, Odintsovo (RC), Zheleznodorozhny, Serpukhov, Orekhovo -Zuevo, Krasnogorsk (rts), Sergiev Posad (rts), Schelkovo (rts), Pushkino (rts), Zhukovsky.
In conclusion, a few words about the prospects. In addition to using the Yota network, MegaFon owns 4G frequencies in Moscow, but will be able to provide services only after summing up the results of competitions for federal frequency sets. In Moscow, MegaFon's own frequencies are TDD LTE, and Yota frequencies are FDD LTE. When Megafon’s own LTE network is launched, MegaFon’s LTE subscribers will be able to use both TDD and LTE FDD, and after launching its own network, cooperation with Yota in Moscow will continue.
Undoubtedly, today the offer of LTE from Megafon in Moscow is much more interesting than from Yota. At the same prices, the speed is higher and more stable, and most importantly 4G Internet is combined with 3G, which is already almost everywhere, and even where there is none, the good old GPRS works.