Which is better - H- or 3G-Internet? We choose

Modern generation is difficult to imagine, but once the phones really were phones, not smartphones. They could make calls, nothing more. At the same time, they were small and easily fit in a pocket, but with such gadgets it was impossible to take photographs and exchange them. Of course, you could not make an access point from the phone, not to mention many other functions.

However, now there are almost no phones left, there are only smartphones. Today the whole world continues to actively develop high-speed wireless networks of a new generation, because of which the ordinary user many things seem very confusing. For example, often users try to find out which is better: H or 3G? What is the data transfer rate in these networks, etc.? But the very formulation of such questions is absurd, and the person completely does not understand what he asks.

What does the Internet 3G, E, H mean?

G means generation (Generation). This means that when the manufacturers say 4G, they mean a wireless network that is built on the basis of the technology of the fourth generation. True, the term "generation" in some ways confuses ordinary users. So you need to try to figure it out.

But E and H are data transmission technologies that belong to different generations. But this requires a detailed explanation.

1G

The technology of the first generation allowed to make mobile phones a mass product. On the basis of this generation, the most popular are the network technologies TACS and NMT. The first was used in the USA, the second - in Europe. Then no one even expected to provide data services. At that time there were analog systems that allowed to make voice calls and provided some other possibilities.

The data transfer rate of these technologies was low, and the cost of one minute of conversation cost a lot of money, so the presence of a cell phone could be considered a luxury. However, the development of the network did not take long. Soon there were networks of the second generation 2G.

2G and 2.5G

The development of the second generation falls on the beginning of the 90s. Networks based on it were better protected, faster, and the quality of sound transmission increased. Some networks supported the transmission of short messages (SMS). Therefore, no one asked the question: what is better than H or 3G. Before the third generation was yet to develop.

In 1997, GPRS appeared, and this was a turning point in the history of cellular communications. It was a real revolution, because the technology offered GSM networks the possibility of constant data transmission at a higher speed.

However, this was not yet a full-fledged third generation. The first standard, which approved the specification of a full 3G, was IMT-2000. It provided a data transfer rate of up to 2 MBit / s.

Mobile Internet 3G: E, H, G

In addition to the higher data transfer rate, this standard assumed a rapid transition from the second generation networks to the third. To this end, most GSM operators have chosen the UMTS standard.

At that time EDGE standard was widely developed. Initially, it was conceived as a simple way to squeeze out a 2.5G generation from the generation without having to invest a lot of money into development. On the phone with the support of the EDGE standard it was possible to get the data transfer rate twice higher than on the standard GPRS.

By the way, with this standard it was difficult, because Immediately it is not clear where to take it. Many experts attributed it to the generation 2.75G.

After 10 years, UMTS networks received an update in the form of HSDPA and HSUPA technologies, thanks to which the speed of incoming and outgoing traffic has greatly increased. And if the letter H is displayed in your phone at the top, it means that the HSDPA or HSUPA transmission standard is activated. However, we can not say that it's better: H or 3G, because H (HSDPA) is essentially 3G technology (the third generation of the data network). Therefore, such a question of many users is not entirely logical. The speed of the 3G and H internet will be equal, just some phones can change the letter on the upper information panel of the display. But it does not change the essence, and in both cases, the 3G data transmission network is used.

But even today, in some cities or villages, when you connect your phone to the network, you can see the letters G or E at the top of the screen. This means that EDGE and GPRS standards are applied, that is, a 2G or 2.75G network. If you do, then in this case you do not care what is better: H or 3G, because the letters G and E indicate the connection to the second generation network.

4G

There is a specification ITM-Advanced, which defines the standard of the fourth generation 4G networks. The document defines the speed of incoming data - 1 Gbit / s for terminals and 100 Mbps for smartphones. It is impressive that this is 500 and 250 times faster than data transfer in the advanced ITM-2000 network. Such speeds even overtake direct connection to the broadband channel.

In rural areas, such technologies play a huge role, because It is more cost-effective to build one 4G-station, which would provide communication for all subscribers within a radius of 10 km. Otherwise it would be necessary to create "blankets" of fiber.

But it's worth noting that the ITM-Advanced specifications are so demanding that today there is practically no standard that would match them. That is, there is no full 4G network. Yes, WiMax and LTE technologies are officially read by the standards of the fourth generation network, but this is not 100% true. The fact is that although the networks use modern multiplexing schemes and 100% of their bandwidth are used for data transmission, the speed still does not reach the standards described in the above-mentioned specification. In LTE theory, the technology assumes a transfer rate of 100 MB / s, very impressive. However, in practice, everything is much worse: the network speed usually does not exceed 30 MB / s. Of course, even 30 MB / s is extremely fast, but the fact is that such a speed does not meet the specification. Therefore, the LTE standard can not be called a fourth-generation technology. To date, there are no technologies that would meet the requirements of ITM-Advanced.

3G is better than 4G?

Some American operators did not even announce the move to the fourth-generation standard. They remain on the 3G network and modernize it. For example, the T-Mobile operator is upgrading the 3G network, trying to improve the HSPA standard to HSPA +. At the same time, it does not even concern the standard of the fourth-generation network. This makes sense, because improving to the limit the standard 3G, you can also achieve high speeds. The same HSPA + will actually provide a subscriber with a bandwidth of 42 MB / s.
In this regard, the operator T-Mobile radically rethinks what the 4G standard really is and which Internet is faster. 3G or H in the phone can mean a data transfer rate of up to 42 MBit per second, but so far it only applies to T-Mobile subscribers.

How are things really in fact?

It seems that third generation networks are well developed and even there is access to 4G internet in big cities, but in reality everything is worse. In many regions of Russia and in general throughout Ukraine there is no coverage of 4G. Yes there is 4G, even if the 3G generation is very poorly developed. It comes to the fact that in many villages and cities on smartphones E appears when you connect to the Internet. As you already understood from the article above, EDGE refers to the generation of 2.5G networks and "does not reach" even third-generation networks.

Which Internet is better: 3G or H?

Initially, this material was aimed at helping subscribers of mobile operators understand the generations of networks, because with all these standards of communication can be confused. It comes to the fact that users are trying to compare speeds between the third generation of the network (3G) and HSPA technology, which directly relates to the third generation of networks. Roughly speaking, H is 3G.