Understanding 4G and Its Different Flavors

The term 4G which became hot the instant it hit the masses is a catch-all phrase that refers to a multitude of wireless data systems. The service providers that use a 4G wireless system famously offer lightning fast broadband speed, something made possible by using the spectrum in diverse and dynamic ways. What we commoners do to get that speed is buy a 4G modem with sim card slot, and hurray, we have fast speed Internet in our homes.

Now, 4G, since its early days have evolved and multiplied with 4GX and 4G Plus and others already out and running. With all in at the same time, the users are a touch confused which flavor of 4G to pick. Add to that the options of single and dual sim modem, and what you are looking at is a clutter of options and not enough guidelines to help you navigate through.

So, let’s take a close look at 4G and 4G modems and how they work, so you can understand the crux of it, something that is essential to a practical judgement.

LTE: LTE or Long Term Evolution is a bandwidth which is interchangeably used with 4G by carriers. The differences between LTE and 4G are essentially technical, but in terms of speed, both are pretty good, and people around the world are getting used to them.

Spectrum: If you know anything about radio waves, you’d know that these waves require to maintain a specific frequency to be able to transmit phone data. In some places, the waves operate in a range of 700MHz to 2600MHz, while in other places, the bands are lesser or higher. The lower the frequency is, and those in particular that bristles 700MHz have the best signal penetration. That ensures stronger coverage in tricky and closed places like elevators, carparks and even inside of tall buildings. The higher frequency on the other hand serves better in terms of data capacity.

Carrier Aggregation: Carrier Aggregation is a critical part of what we know as the LTE-A, more appropriately LTE-Advanced. What this uses is a collection of bands of mostly 4G service. When several threads of 4G service is bundled up together, it enables faster data transfer. There are two methods to this, namely TDD and FDD, which we will cover in the points below.

TDD: TDD, the short for Time Division Duplexing achieves high speed not by conflating multiple bands, but by playing with the time allotments. When the time allotments from a single frequency is used, the bandwidth receives a speed boost.

FDD: Another method of doing the aggregation is by Frequency Division Duplexing. A method colloquially referred to as FD is when multiple bands are used to transfer data. To offer 4D data in particular regions, carriers often combine bands.

Once you have grasped the concept, you can move on to make a fitting choice between a 4G modem with sim card slot and one with more than one SIM card slot.

About the Company

E-Lins is a leading provider of GSM router, 4G modem, 4G Routers and LTE modem models. The company prides itself on delivering the best equipment at highly competitive prices to its customers around the world.

E-Lins is a leading provider of industrial 4g router, sim card wifi router 4g, 4G modem, dual sim 4g router and router LTE. The company prides itself on delivering the best equipment at highly competitive prices to its customers around the world.