I'm not really going to start posting in this sewer again, but
I have read a couple of posts about the latest moronic discussion here,
the one about 3G versus 4G, and since it has nothing really to do with
boats, I thought I'd add to the idiocy.

First, here is a screen shot of a speed test on my 3G iPhone 4S:

http://tinyurl.com/9cc3pqe

I don't know whether these results are good or bad. They just *are*.

I have 4G LTE on my iPad but even though I've had the device for many
months, I've never, not once, "turned on" the 4G. The iPad works fine in
the house over WiFi and every client I visit has WiFi, and so do many of
the restaurants, book stores, shopping malls, et cetera, that we visit,
so I've had no incentive to buy a new data plan for the device or add it
for "a small fee" to our existing data plan.

I don't know whether these results are good or bad. They just *are*.

There are many factors that determine how "fast" you can download or
upload over 3G/4G networks. There is no question that under ideal
circumstances, 4G is faster than 3G, but there are so many variables
involved, for most people, the argument is only academic.

I've only read a couple of the posts here on this subject, so I don't
know if these factors were mentioned:

What's the distance from where you are to the carrier's tower or
transmit/receive facility?
How many cell towers or transmit/receive facilities are in the vicinity?
How many users are sharing these facilities?
What's the bandwidth availability to these cell facilities to connect to
the carrier's network or to the internet?

We have a Verizon owned and operated store in our "metropolitan area,"
but for reasons unknown to me, it is pretty much a 3G/4G deadzone. If
you are outside the store, your cell data works reasonably well, but if
you are inside the store, it is barely there. It's fun to watch the
sales clerks try to push 4G phones and then take the customers outside
with the demo phone to actually "experience" 4G.

I suppose if one is a really heavy user of the internet on a cell phone,
there are advantages to using 4G *if* you are in a physical location
that makes its use reasonable. I use my iPhone mostly to check email
when I am out and about, and other uses are waaaaaaay done on the list.

And now, I return you to your regular rec.boats daily bickering over
things that don't matter much.