First thoughts...

[yuntanman]

I really do enjoy using the inspire thus far. Having android 2.2 is a huge benefit with the flash player, granted the most smoothest to watch flash videos on ALL websites but good enough to keep me happy. I also love the fact when watching youtube videos you have the option to put it HD even when your on 3g.

In the past Ive used every iphone to date including the iphone 4, Ive used the samsung captivate, samsung focus, blackberry torch and I must admit the iphone 4 was my favorite out the bunch but the inspire with a 100 dollar price tag is on equal footing.

My only concern is this, when I look in the user manual I do notice that there is no indicator for 3g and that the H+ symbol will show up when Im even on 3g which isn't a big deal big it will still display an E for edge. What I am confused about is the data speeds. In the manual it shows that if the H+ symbol and the up and down arrows are highlighted your connected to HSPA+, and I do get the the H+ and Arrows lit, however on speedtest.net and fcc I am getting d/l speeds around .5Mbps - 2.2Mbps, and I live in the Metro New York area. On my iphone 4 however I am consistently almost DOUBLING my download speeds vs the Inspire. Now Ive read on the forums that my phone is showing that HSPA+ is in my area when the H+ shows and its just a matter of AT&T switching the copper line to Fiber optics, but why does the manual state that when the arrows and H+ symbols are lit you are connected to HSPA+? Mistake in the manual? or maybe the towers are on the same frequency so the phone picks up thinking its HSPA+ but since its not Fiber Optic yet im getting 3g speeds?

Another concern I have is, if its just a matter of swapping the wires from copper to fib. opt., and Im still on 3g why is 3g download speeds on my inspire so much slower than that of my iphone 4? Side Note: when I go to my phone setting to see what Network im on it keeps showing HSDPA instead of HSPA+, So it seems that the phone knows it isn't running on HSPA+ but why does the arrows and H+ light up?

Other than the data speed concerns that I have right now I am still very happy with my inspire, and for those of you that are debating this phone or the iphone 4 or any other smartphone the Inspire at 100 bucks in my opinion is a great price point for a great piece of hardware.

Just for the record I am using a new 4g sim, and not the old 3g sim cards as well.

Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[AndreaCristiano]

iphone 4 had not disabled HSUPA as of now other phones do but that will change soon.
Backhaul for HSPA+ doesnt start going live till March 1st

 

[Soundchasr]

Where did you get the user guide? ?

 

[emuneee]

I hate that AT&T and T-Mobile call HSPA+ 4G. HSPA+ is a 3G (third generation wireless) technology, 3.5-3.75ish-G. It's confusing to customers when they see HSPA+ and 4G and observe the phone's actual behavior and operation.

Some areas have backhaul right now, some don't, but AT&T is upgrading it in all areas, which will be needed when they roll out their LTE network. It'll probably be a gradual rollout because laying new fiber is a laborious process (and expensive)

The reason you see HSDPA instead of HSPA+ is because currently, all AT&T smarthphones (besides the iPhone 4) have HSUPA (the other half of HSPA+) disabled. This is very apparent if you do a speed test side-by-side with an iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 will most likely (YMMV) always have lower latency, higher download and upload speeds despite being a vanilla HSPA (7.2Mbps) device. My HSUPA enabled Captivate outpaces my non-HSUPA Captivate in download/upload speeds and latency. Not sure why.

I'm not sure why H+ always shows. My unproven theories are:
1) AT&T has upgraded every tower to HSPA+ despite the "enhanced" backhaul not being in place
2) The Inspire will show H+, even in non-H+ (but still 3G) areas.

 

[Chapp1e]

I'm loving it so far.

At work, I hit real hspa+ a couple of times and was knocking down multiple downloads in single seconds, was crazy.

 

[MarcMaiden]

I'm loving it so far.

At work, I hit real hspa+ a couple of times and was knocking down multiple downloads in single seconds, was crazy.

I feel like the speed test app is extremely deceiving.

I have been downloading applications and files MUCH MUCH faster than i did on my captivate or dell streak, even with HSUPA enabled. Plus, when i run the speed test, i get faster results running off of servers 300+ miles away than i do servers 35 miles away.

 

[AndreaCristiano]

I feel like the speed test app is extremely deceiving.

I have been downloading applications and files MUCH MUCH faster than i did on my captivate or dell streak, even with HSUPA enabled. Plus, when i run the speed test, i get faster results running off of servers 300+ miles away than i do servers 35 miles away.

Hmmm maybe the Speedtest is inaccurate

 

[Aatos.1]

I hate that AT&T and T-Mobile call HSPA+ 4G. HSPA+ is a 3G (third generation wireless) technology, 3.5-3.75ish-G. It's confusing to customers when they see HSPA+ and 4G and observe the phone's actual behavior and operation.

I agree.

However they were forced to advertise 4G. Other carriers started this deceptive practice, and in fact no one has a complete fully functional 4g network yet.

 

[Androidjunkee]

Hmmmmm im a bit confused


My phone is showing the H with a check mark below it lit up. The arrows also show up sometimes but my browser is insanely fast when the arrow is under the H. Not sure what that is all about.

I dont do speed tests but this thing blows my captivate away IMO

 

[spoiler61]

Hmmmmm im a bit confused


My phone is showing the H with a check mark below it lit up. The arrows also show up sometimes but my browser is insanely fast when the arrow is under the H. Not sure what that is all about.

I dont do speed tests but this thing blows my captivate away IMO

Same here....

 

[yuntanman]

I got my manual from my box, it shows what all the icons mean.

As far as my data speeds ill wait till 3/1 and see if it gets any better...