Vodafone 4G+/4G++

The Cush

From today's Indo

The operator is also set to extend the rollout of faster mobile 4G services in the form of so-called '4G+' and '4G++' speeds.

The extra speed, which Vodafone says will deliver consistent mobile data speeds of between 30Mbs and 50Mbs, are due partly to further spectrum development by the mobile operator. 4G+ and 4G++ will be rolled out first in Irish cities, according to the operator.

http://www.independent.ie/business/technology/vodafone-to-cut-roaming-costs-and-boost-4g-speeds-31362148.html

A previous article in siliconrepublic

Mobile consumers, starting in Waterford, will begin to have access to data speeds of up to 150Mbps via new 4G+ technology, Vodafone said, with Dublin, Cork and Limerick getting switched on at the end of December.

4G+ speeds are achieved by combining two 4G bandwidths.

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/2014/12/01/vodafone-begins-doubling-4g-speeds-in-ireland-to-150mbps

I'm assuming that's carrier aggregation which is part of the LTE-Advanced standard i.e. true 4G. Where this standard has been deployed around the world speeds up to 300 Mbit/s are available. Vodafone are quoting up to 150 Mbit/s here.

Many MNOs also use carrier aggregation with the 2.6GHz band, 3GPP band 7 (2500 MHz – 2570 MHz and 2620 MHz – 2690 MHz FDD operation) 3GPP band 38 (2570 MHz – 2620 MHz TDD operation). That band is currently used here by UPC for MMDS (until next April) and will be auctioned in the near future. It should bring in another pot of cash for the state.

galljga1

The Cush wrote: »

From today's Indo


A previous article in siliconrepublic


I'm assuming that's carrier aggregation which is part of the LTE-Advanced standard i.e. true 4G. Where this standard has been deployed around the world speeds up to 300 Mbit/s are available. Vodafone are quoting up to 150 Mbit/s here.

Many MNOs also use carrier aggregation with the 2.6GHz band. That band is currently used here by UPC for MMDS (until next April) and will be auctioned in the near future. It should bring in another pot of cash for the state.

That is great to hear. Personally, I would settle for being able to make and receive calls. Where I live (25 miles from Dublin), you might as well be roaring into a creamery can.

Scruff

a qualified welcome from me as Vodafone have the most miserly download caps and plans. 150Mbps means you can burn through your 10Gb limit even faster (7.5Gb on prepay).

I'd much rather if they came out with more realistic caps or none at all. Vodafone state the have 90%+ 4g coverage but in reality are completely uncommitted to providing meaningful mobile broadband to those who cannot get landline bb.

jay93

Scruff wrote: »

a qualified welcome from me as Vodafone have the most miserly download caps and plans. 150Mbps means you can burn through your 10Gb limit even faster (7.5Gb on prepay).

I'd much rather if they came out with more realistic caps or none at all. Vodafone state the have 90%+ 4g coverage but in reality are completely uncommitted to providing meaningful mobile broadband to those who cannot get landline bb.

True their caps are really bad for a 4G network the only truly decent mobile provider is 3 who have unlimited data although that comes with the price of slow data speeds.

Vodafones 4G coverage claim is a big lie too places that show full 4G service on their map I couldn't get any at all some areas didn't even have 3G !! They do have a lot more 4G than any of the others but no where near as much at they are claiming to have.

And for the mobile broadband allowances in the case of 4G the caps are miserable on all Irish carriers 3s max is 60GB I think that's the highest out of them all .

The minimum cap on 4G broadband should be between 100-150GB

The Cush

The Cush wrote: »

I'm assuming that's carrier aggregation which is part of the LTE-Advanced standard i.e. true 4G. Where this standard has been deployed around the world speeds up to 300 Mbit/s are available. Vodafone are quoting up to 150 Mbit/s here.

According to Wikipedia Vodafone are using 20Mhz of carrier aggregation (LTE-Advanced) in the 1800MHz (LTE-band 3) and 800MHz (LTE-band 20) bands URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks_in_Europe"]Carrier aggregation of 20 MHz (CA_3A_20A)[/URL, supporting Cat 4 user equipment (up to 150.8 Mbit/s peak theoretical downlink data throughput and 51.0 Mbit/s uplink)

http://www.gsacom.com/news/gsa_426.php

3 Dec 2014

Vodafone Ireland explained in a press release that its new 4G+ speeds are delivered by combining two 4G bandwidths, known as carrier aggregation (CA), a key feature of LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) technology evolution, although the cellco did not officially confirm if the Irish network is now classed as LTE-A standard.

https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2014/12/03/vodafone-ireland-to-roll-out-superfast-4g-/

boardzz

The peak speeds they will offer on the improved 4G speeds is 225Mbps

The Cush

http://www.irishexaminer.com/technow/tech/vodafone-4g-plus-now-three-times-faster-than-standard-4g-342264.html

LTE Cat 6 user equipment (max DL 301.5 Mbit/s, max UL 51.0 Mbit/s) will be required for speeds above 150 Mbit/s.

Vodafone 4G Plus now three times faster than standard 4G

Vodafone has boosted the speed of its 4G+ service, becoming the first mobile operator in Ireland to deliver enhanced 4G+ speeds of up to 225Mbps.

Its 4G+ service launched last December with speeds of up to 150Mbps. With this upgrade, Vodafone’s 4G+ service offers speeds up to three times faster than standard 4G.

jay93

So if I bought a iPhone 6 (I'm planning to in September) it had Cat 4 LTE what speeds would I get In an upgraded area. Around 150?

The Cush

That's my understanding.

No mention of iPhones in their recent press release - https://www.vodafone.ie/aboutus/media/press/show/BAU025801.shtml

The following phones are listed in their press release
Samsung S5+
Samsung Note Edge
Samsung Alpha
Samsung S6 / S6 Edge
HTC One M9
Sony Xperia Z3+
Vodafone Smart Ultra
Huawei R226

boardzz

iPhone does not support the faster speeds. The new iPhone (6s) will support faster speeds.