Nexus S HSPA+?

[FreakyLocz14]

I know the Nexus S is only compatible with T-Mobile's 3G bands, so will it get HSPA+? That's a key factor in my decision on whether or not I should switch over from my Samsung EPIC 4G on Sprint.

 

[nardva]

No HSPA+ for the Nexus S.

 

[FreakyLocz14]

No HSPA+ for the Nexus S.

But isn't HSPA+ backwards compatible anyway? How does that work?

 

[Fejknick-]

The phone have
HSPA type: HSDPA (7.2Mbps) HSUPA (5.76Mbps)
which should be enough for most people. The extra speed for 16Mbit does not really matter. But would be nice to have on a brand new phone.

HSPA+ in reality is 56Mbit/s on the downlink and 22 Mbit/s on the uplink which is no need for.

 

[revs1227]

womp womp womp get a mytouch 4g

 

[BiGMERF]

my loaded the same site on my nexus one and on my friends mytouch4g here in orlando (a plus covered area)/ his phone loaded it up about a second faster. i can live with that. on some sites it even came in almost at the same time

 

[quantumrand]

I believe the Hummingbird processor is built on a 1st gen ARMv7 processor. HSPA+ was first supported in the 2nd Gen ARMv7. The Hummingbird is made with a 45nm process just like the 2nd gen ARMv7's, but I'm still reasonably sure it's gen 1.

 

[ckochinsky125]

But isn't HSPA+ backwards compatible anyway? How does that work?

hspa+ may be backwards compatible but you cant make a phone work if it doesnt have the correct radio in it so no it wont have hspa+ or get it

 

[revs1227]

my loaded the same site on my nexus one and on my friends mytouch4g here in orlando (a plus covered area)/ his phone loaded it up about a second faster. i can live with that. on some sites it even came in almost at the same time

.......... i did the same in ny and myt4g was wayy faster speed test ran 3mbs on nexus and 5+ on mt4g

 

[FreakyLocz14]

.......... i did the same in ny and myt4g was wayy faster speed test ran 3mbs on nexus and 5+ on mt4g

You won't notice the difference much with casual browsing. Download sizeable files and stream high-quality video and see what the difference is.

 

[kcs7272]

But isn't HSPA+ backwards compatible anyway? How does that work?

It wouldn't be HSDPA or HSDPA+ backwards compatible, it would be 3G backwards compatible. Anyways the answer is no, no HSDPA of any type.

That being said I got my Nexus S this morning and it is just a bit slower than my My Touch 4G. The question is does ANYBODY really need the speed difference?

Come on! AHHHH My Nexus S takes .6 seconds to open a web page but my My Touch 4G does it in .2! I could live my whole or do so many more things if the Nexus S wasn't that slow!!!! (Just a hypothetical scenario) LOL!

 

[BiGMERF]

Just ran my nexus s and nexus one through speed tests and im getting 4.35 on my nexus s and 3.55 on my nexus.. Something about the s is better

 

[quantumrand]

But isn't HSPA+ backwards compatible anyway? How does that work?

When they say HSPA+ is backwords compatible, they mean that HSPA devices will still work on an HSPA+ network. They'll still be operating as normal HSPA devices though.

Think of it like having a Gigabit router and connecting it to a computer with a 100Mbit network card. The Gigabit router is backwords compatible with the 100Mbit network card and allows it to connect, but still only at the 100Mbit speed.

Edit: Just a quick note. HSPA+ does have a positive effect on HSPA devices though. Even though the devices themselves can't use the additional bandwidth, having that stronger backbone means you'll be more likely to reach the 7.2Mbit cap.

 

[FreakyLocz14]

It wouldn't be HSDPA or HSDPA+ backwards compatible, it would be 3G backwards compatible. Anyways the answer is no, no HSDPA of any type.

That being said I got my Nexus S this morning and it is just a bit slower than my My Touch 4G. The question is does ANYBODY really need the speed difference?

Come on! AHHHH My Nexus S takes .6 seconds to open a web page but my My Touch 4G does it in .2! I could live my whole or do so many more things if the Nexus S wasn't that slow!!!! (Just a hypothetical scenario) LOL!

Like I said before:

You won't notice the difference much with casual browsing. Download sizeable files and stream high-quality video and see what the difference is.

When they say HSPA+ is backwords compatible, they mean that HSPA devices will still work on an HSPA+ network. They'll still be operating as normal HSPA devices though.

Think of it like having a Gigabit router and connecting it to a computer with a 100Mbit network card. The Gigabit router is backwords compatible with the 100Mbit network card and allows it to connect, but still only at the 100Mbit speed.

Edit: Just a quick note. HSPA+ does have a positive effect on HSPA devices though. Even though the devices themselves can't use the additional bandwidth, having that stronger backbone means you'll be more likely to reach the 7.2Mbit cap.

Well, if I'm pulling consistent speeds at or near 7.2 Mbps down, then that's more than sufficient for my needs. Yes, I have gotten speeds into the 8-9 Mbps downs with Sprint 4G range that I won't be getting anymore, but around 7.2 Mbps seems more than enough

 

[quantumrand]

Like I said before:
You won't notice the difference much with casual browsing. Download sizeable files and stream high-quality video and see what the difference is.

Well, if I'm pulling consistent speeds at or near 7.2 Mbps down, then that's more than sufficient for my needs. Yes, I have gotten speeds into the 8-9 Mbps downs with Sprint 4G range that I won't be getting anymore, but around 7.2 Mbps seems more than enough

With just a single bar of 3G service, I just got 3.3Mbps up, 1.3Mbps down. I've gotten as much as 5.5Mbps. And like you said, you honestly don't need much speed for most mobile activities. The way I see it, anything over 1Mbps is sufficient.

Edit: This was on T-Mobile's HSPA network.

 

[mkilci1]

how are you guys testing the speed? Speed test app, web site test or another app?

 

[quantumrand]

I was using the speed test app.

 

[saltiel]

do I have to enable higher speed communication? I see the "3g" and can only get about .5mbps no matter what I do.
My G2 was sooo much faster and I just gave it to my son when I got my Nexus S.

 

[quantumrand]

do I have to enable higher speed communication? I see the "3g" and can only get about .5mbps no matter what I do.
My G2 was sooo much faster and I just gave it to my son when I got my Nexus S.

With 3G coverage, it should be significantly faster than that, especially if the G2 is posting high speeds itself. Does it have speed issues in other areas as well? It's possible it's a defective unit.

 

[saltiel]

I went out a while ago and while I was out, and in a pretty dense area with good coverage I got up to about 2.5mbps on speakeasy's speedtest. But the still shows only "3g" where the g2 would definitely show "H" for HSPDA on the status bar on the top of the screen.

 

[quantumrand]

I went out a while ago and while I was out, and in a pretty dense area with good coverage I got up to about 2.5mbps on speakeasy's speedtest. But the still shows only "3g" where the g2 would definitely show "H" for HSPDA on the status bar on the top of the screen.

I'm fairly sure that the H denotes when you're on HSPA+ with the G2. With my Nexus S, it says 3G when I'm on the HSPA network (obviously since it's not an HSPA+ device, it's never on the HSPA+ network).

Still, only .5Mbps on 3G is a bit slow, especially if your G2 is doing just fine in the same spot. As mentioned previously, HSPA+ is backwards compatible, so HSPA devices can still connect to the same tower. How many bars do both phones show when you're getting these slow speeds?

 

[JOFOX]

The phone have
HSPA type: HSDPA (7.2Mbps) HSUPA (5.76Mbps)

Im ok with that speed

 

[FreakyLocz14]

I'm fairly sure that the H denotes when you're on HSPA+ with the G2. With my Nexus S, it says 3G when I'm on the HSPA network (obviously since it's not an HSPA+ device, it's never on the HSPA+ network).

Still, only .5Mbps on 3G is a bit slow, especially if your G2 is doing just fine in the same spot. As mentioned previously, HSPA+ is backwards compatible, so HSPA devices can still connect to the same tower. How many bars do both phones show when you're getting these slow speeds?

The devices shows "H" for both HSDPA and HSPA+.