I just finished my column on “what is a ‘G’ in phone ads”, where I discuss cell networks from 1G in the 80s up through today’s 4G technology. As always, I used far more resources than I had room to mention in the column. So here’s a quick list of links with more — much more — information.
Cell phones in general:
- CellPhones.org and their easy-to-understand illustration of how cell phone networks operate.
- About.com’s Cell Phone Glossary entries for 1G, 2G, 2.5G, 3G, and 4G.
4G in particular:
- Wikipedia page for 4G. Especially helpful is the standards chart at the bottom, with links to pages for 0G through 5G.
- CNet’s discussion of 4G technology, including a breakdown of the WiMax and LTE variants.
- ArsTechnica on “the state of 4G”.
- Wi-Fi Planet covers the differences in the two competing 4G sub-standards, WiMax versus LTE.
- IntoMobile.com provides a nice, huge image (poster?) comparing WiMax and LTE.
- PCWorld’s product review of the HTC EVO 4G phone (available on the Sprint network).
Vendor-specific pages:
- Sprint’s page on their 4G network (WiMax).
- Verizon’s page on their 4G network (LTE).
- AT&T press release on 3.5 G upgrades, mentioning their 4G rollout.
- T-Mobile’s page on their 3.5G services.
So if you came here looking for more details on how the cellular networks operate — especially how the 4G technology works — I’d say you have your reading cut out for you.
Tags: 4G, cell phones, mobile phones, phone networks