Whose LTE network will take the hardest hit with an LTE iPhone

[giper54]

Whose LTE network will be crippled the most with an LTE iPhone AT&T or Verizon? I would like to hear peoples' professional responses, not AT&T/Verizon sucks. Please talk about the technology and how the increased number of LTE phones will affect their networks.

 

[anon(4698833)]

Neither...Sprint's will. Sprint is having the worst time trying to get their LTE system up and running properly, and this iPhone is going to absolutely overwhelm them.

 

[0pusX]

Simply based on availability at this time I would say Verizon will take a hit. AT&T LTE is available but not nearly as widely as Verizon. Sprint is pretty much non-existent at this point. Verizon has the most coverage and I am willing to bet their system will show the most strain with the new LTE iPhone.

That is why I plan to hold off for a few months before I buy the new iPhone.

 

[Premium1]

AT&T will. They barely have any lte footprint and already have been having issues since the original iphone with network congestion. Sprint's network is already slow but not overloaded like at&t's is. Verizon has enough of a footprint to help spread it out and handle it a little better.

 

[ghostface147]

Neither...Sprint's will. Sprint is having the worst time trying to get their LTE system up and running properly, and this iPhone is going to absolutely overwhelm them.

You assume Apple's baseband will support their 1900 MHz frequency. It's not commonly used and another downside is that since it's rather high, it won't penetrate indoors as well as Verizon and AT&T.

 

[anon(4698833)]

You assume Apple's baseband will support their 1900 MHz frequency. It's not commonly used and another downside is that since it's rather high, it won't penetrate indoors as well as Verizon and AT&T.

This is true, I was just going off the fact that they are running a very soft run LTE system that would get decimated by even a largely popular Android handset, much less an iPhone release (if it would even work in the first place).

 

[kfreeman_23]

it would have to be At&t or sprint because they have baby 4G LTE markets an verizon only want to release 4g phones this year.

 

[Garz]

AT&T will. They barely have any lte footprint and already have been having issues since the original iphone with network congestion. Sprint's network is already slow but not overloaded like at&t's is. Verizon has enough of a footprint to help spread it out and handle it a little better.

Less footprints doesn't mean more congestion. Just means Vzn has more LTE areas. And Att has solved many of those congested areas. Yeah some will still exist but that is with any carrier. My LTE ipad is on Vzn and in many areas my speeds have been cut in half since the March launch. More congestion on their LTE network as more LTE phones release? Maybe.

 

[CarrierUnlock]

Hard to say. I'm sure both AT&T and Verizon have been building up the LTE networks for precisely the iPhone. Guess well find out which of the two will hold out better.

 

[redbeard]

I'd say AT$T, they can't even get their 3G network working in probably 30% of the places all over a huge metropolis like Los Angeles, I can't imagine how spotty their 4G network is, I'd go Verizon or anybody else before AT$T.

 

[Premium1]

Plus verizon has had their lte out a little longer and has been able to work through the kinks and outages that come with a bunch of customers using their services. At&t doesn't have that many markets so didn't really get to see how their network will hold up with a ton of usage, which if you go from their hspa network it's not a good sign, even with the fact that lte is supposed to be more efficient.

 

[trmoney24]

this article explains alot about LTE technology and the difference with at&t & verizon.
check out the page I linked to where it explains the capacity of users on each network based on the technology each carrier used. in short, i think its hard to tell which will take a hit in the short term. yes at&t isn't as big with their footprint, but they are in a lot of heavily populated cities already. in the long run though, i think verizon will definitely be able to handle more users, based on the article below.

Page 2 - What is LTE? | ExtremeTech

 

[Raptor007]

AT&T will always take the hit in their major markets, HSDPA, LTE or both will buckle under the load. Verizon will do just fine, they have so many Android LTE devices on it now its hardly breaking a sweat.

 

[sau124]

AT&T is still working on the network upgrades and does not have enough places covered. I think they will take the most hit. History will repeat...

 

[Truth3000]

Whose LTE network will be crippled the most with an LTE iPhone AT&T or Verizon? I would like to hear peoples' professional responses, not AT&T/Verizon sucks. Please talk about the technology and how the increased number of LTE phones will affect their networks.

I live in NC. AT&T LTE is fine over here!