HTC Thunderbolt LTE experience

**milan03** · 03-18-2011, 08:27 AM

Picked up my TB early morning on a launch date, and had about 24hrs to test it out, focusing on Verizon's LTE network here in NYC. Since I'm an AT&T iPhone 4 user and still will continue to be, the android in general was something new to me and it took a couple of hours of getting used to.

The phone is great, battery life could've been better, but you can read all about that all over the interwebs.

The network performance:

It took me only a few minutes to realize that speedtest.net or FCC app simply can't support LTE's fast upload speeds and therefore the results are out of control. Now the WiFi tests seem within the range of my wifi performance, so I'm thinking Speedtest app automatically uses a much smaller file for network testing when detected that you're on 3G/4G network. Wonder if there is a way to pull the larger file from their servers..
So basically I've been testing the speeds here in NYC using built in browsers native one, Dolphin HD and Skyfire.
Since it was St. Patrick's Day and in the area of midtown West and central Park there were crap load of people and lots of business's were open, I thought it would be a good way to test network during the peak hours 1-5pm.
Durin that time the lowest speeds that I got was 7mbps and upload was always between 3-8mbps. The highest speeds were in the low 20's. Latency around 80ms.

During the off peak hours, I also got a chance to tether the phone to my computer, and the speeds were never under 20mbps hitting as high as 42mbps down and 12mbps up with latency in the high 50's!
That's pretty much comparable to vzw's LTE usb modem performance and I can't stress how excited I am to get this experience with unlimited data package locked into the contract.

I will be testing a lot more and posting the results, and knowing the network will get more saturated within days I'm really curious to see how robust Verizon's network actually is. 5mbps guaranteed during the peak hours seem to be easily achievable at the moment, let's hope it stays that way.

**Tip10** · 03-18-2011, 09:18 AM

Okay -- sounds as if it works GREAT as a data device.

So how does it work as a PHONE?

**milan03** · 03-18-2011, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by Tip10

Okay -- sounds as if it works GREAT as a data device.

So how does it work as a PHONE?

I thought you could find lots of reviews already.
Ok since I carry two phones on two carriers, AT&T's iPhone 4 and vzw's Bolt, the call quality, clarity and loudness is like a night and day. Thunderbolt is the best mobile voice device I have ever had. I've tried Verizon's other android devices as my friends tend to have them as well as Verizon's iPhone 4 and I can easily say Thunderbolt is a clear winner.
You'll have to try it yourself.

**CellHabit** · 03-18-2011, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by Tip10

So how does it work as a PHONE?

I concur with milan03... It makes a really nice phone. Voice quality is excellent... The Thunderbolt makes a really sharp phone.

**mpossoff** · 03-18-2011, 10:02 AM

Originally Posted by milan03

Picked up my TB early morning on a launch date, and had about 24hrs to test it out, focusing on Verizon's LTE network here in NYC. Since I'm an AT&T iPhone 4 user and still will continue to be, the android in general was something new to me and it took a couple of hours of getting used to.

The phone is great, battery life could've been better, but you can read all about that all over the interwebs.

The network performance:

It took me only a few minutes to realize that speedtest.net or FCC app simply can't support LTE's fast upload speeds and therefore the results are out of control. Now the WiFi tests seem within the range of my wifi performance, so I'm thinking Speedtest app automatically uses a much smaller file for network testing when detected that you're on 3G/4G network. Wonder if there is a way to pull the larger file from their servers..
So basically I've been testing the speeds here in NYC using built in browsers native one, Dolphin HD and Skyfire.
Since it was St. Patrick's Day and in the area of midtown West and central Park there were crap load of people and lots of business's were open, I thought it would be a good way to test network during the peak hours 1-5pm.
Durin that time the lowest speeds that I got was 7mbps and upload was always between 3-8mbps. The highest speeds were in the low 20's. Latency around 80ms.

During the off peak hours, I also got a chance to tether the phone to my computer, and the speeds were never under 20mbps hitting as high as 42mbps down and 12mbps up with latency in the high 50's!
That's pretty much comparable to vzw's LTE usb modem performance and I can't stress how excited I am to get this experience with unlimited data package locked into the contract.

I will be testing a lot more and posting the results, and knowing the network will get more saturated within days I'm really curious to see how robust Verizon's network actually is. 5mbps guaranteed during the peak hours seem to be easily achievable at the moment, let's hope it stays that way.

What AT&T device are you using and what speeds?

Sent from my iPhone 4 using HowardForums app

**milan03** · 03-18-2011, 10:07 AM

Originally Posted by mpossoff

What AT&T device are you using and what speeds?

on my iPhone 4 I pretty much max out 7.2mbps HSPA hardware during the off peak hours. During the peak hours it crawls to the unusable point.
I also have AT&T Shockwave where i max at about 12.5mbps off peak, and again it's unusable during the peak hours. You can see Shockwave's speed in my signature.

Here is iPhone 4:

**mpossoff** · 03-18-2011, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by milan03

on my iPhone 4 I pretty much max out 7.2mbps HSPA hardware during the off peak hours. During the peak hours it crawls to the unusable point.
I also have AT&T Shockwave where i max at about 12.5mbps off peak, and again it's unusable during the peak hours. You can see Shockwave's speed in my signature.

Here is iPhone 4:

At peak times I wouldn't say my AT&T iPhone is unusable.

Sent from my iPhone 4 using HowardForums app

**milan03** · 03-18-2011, 11:05 AM

Originally Posted by mpossoff

At peak times I wouldn't say my AT&T iPhone is unusable.

I am happy for you, thanks for your input.

**Extraordinary** · 03-18-2011, 02:45 PM

Very nice speeds, I can't wait to get on a 4G unlimited plan myself. I would be right now but there is no 4G here yet. They said it's coming this year though!

That is way faster than my home ISP which is $55.00/month. I am paying for either 20/.5 or 25/.5 and I usually get 12-19 down and .4 to .5 up, never any higher than .5 on the upload.

**milan03** · 03-18-2011, 03:55 PM

Yeah Time Warner here in NYC charges $100 for about the same speeds in their 50/5 wideband package, except with Bolt I have the whole wideband package with me at all times

It's a pretty sick deal.

**Joe12304** · 03-18-2011, 04:06 PM

Originally Posted by mpossoff

At peak times I wouldn't say my AT&T iPhone is unusable.

Sent from my iPhone 4 using HowardForums app

....aaaaaand your argument is flawed.

Back on topic, does LTE seem to be eating battery faster than one would expect?

**mpossoff** · 03-18-2011, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by Joe12304

....aaaaaand your argument is flawed.

Back on topic, does LTE seem to be eating battery faster than one would expect?

How is my argument flawed? It depends on location. At peak times my AT&T iPhone isn't unusable. My work VZW iPhone isn't unusable either during peak times but performs a tad faster than AT&T iPhone during peak time at the college. I said a tad faster.

During not peak it's not even a contest. AT&T iPhone blows VZW iPhone away.

Sent from my iPhone 4 using HowardForums app

**milan03** · 03-18-2011, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by Joe12304

does LTE seem to be eating battery faster than one would expect?

It's hard to tell because there isn't a widget that would easily turn 4G on and off. There is a way but until the easy solution comes out it's not worth doing it. I think the Sense UI with that gorgeous 4.3" screen probably uses more than LTE radio. LTE is definitely much easier on the battery than WiMax, that's for sure. As long as GPS and WiFi is off, and background notifications (depending how much stuff are you running) your battery should last a day. That being said, the battery is nowhere near the iPhone 4 berformance but I was expecting worse. Being early adopter I know what to expect.
But again, it's all worth the performance you will get if you're in one of the LTE markets. It's mind blowing having that on your phone?!!!?

**Joe12304** · 03-18-2011, 04:31 PM

Originally Posted by milan03

It's hard to tell because there isn't a widget that would easily turn 4G on and off. There is a way but until the easy solution comes out it's not worth doing it. I think the Sense UI with that gorgeous 4.3" screen probably uses more than LTE radio. LTE is definitely much easier on the battery than WiMax, that's for sure. As long as GPS and WiFi is off, and background notifications (depending how much stuff are you running) your battery should last a day. That being said, the battery is nowhere near the iPhone 4 berformance but I was expecting worse. Being early adopter I know what to expect.
But again, it's all worth the performance you will get if you're in one of the LTE markets. It's mind blowing having that on your phone?!!!?

Thanks. I was half expecting someone to say you get like 2 hours of battery life or something. I'm very much on the fence.

**CellHabit** · 03-18-2011, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by milan03

It's hard to tell because there isn't a widget that would easily turn 4G on and off. There is a way but until the easy solution comes out it's not worth doing it.

I read about one method of turning off 4G here but I haven't tried it yet. For now, I'll wait for the widget.