A 4G Phone Is Only As Good Its Weakest Link

Lack of 4G coverage and poor network capacity is the primary reason why it might be a waste of money for you to upgrade your phone from 3G.  Data has grown by 25X in the last year years yet carrier networks are only upgrading their network capacity by 4X.  Carriers will be behind the curve for many years and WiFi is still the best means to connect a phone for data access.

So, before you go out and invest in a new two-year contract for a 4G phone make sure you do research on the 4G coverage around you. So, where is 4G available? You research coverage testing the phone over the 30 day period before you commit to the new contract or by search other dead zone complaints on Deadcellzones.com.  Here are some 4G phones on Sprint and T-Mobile if you are confident that you have a solid connection nearby.   We still the T-Mobile G2 is by far the best 4G phone on the market with its tethering capabilities.

If you don't have a reliable 4G connection near your home or office the huge processor speeds your new phone has don't really matter. If you use primarily WiFi on your smartphone then 4G or HSPA+ will not make a huge difference either. If you live in a rural area of a city that does not have 4G yet don't waste your time. Our research has shown that 3G and 4G HSPA+ compatible phones are typically sufficient for accessing data on small phone screens. There are very few compelling reasons why you would want a 4G phone on AT&T 4G phones or Verizon at this time when WiFi is the most reliable means of getting data access. T-Mobile HSPA+ and Sprint are much happier 4G customers. These customers are because they have few customers competing for access and data on the network.