The 21Mbps HSPA+ 3G from Rogers tested

18th November, 2009 by adina
Tags: , , , , ,

HSPA+ is also known as Evolved High-Speed Packet Access and is nothing else than a wireless broadband standard. HSPA+ provides data rates up to 56 Mbps on the downstream and 22 Mbps on the upstream. The above-mentioned speeds represent theoretical peak sector speeds. The actual speed for user will be lower. HSPA+ introduces optional all-IP architecture for the networks where base stations are directly connected to IP-based backhaul and subsequently to the ISP’s edge routers. The technology delivers significant improvements for battery life and much quicker wake-from-idle time, which means a true always-on connection. As of this month, twenty HSPA+ networks will be running in the world at 21Mbps and two will be running at 28Mbps.

Electronista had the chance to test new HSPA+ 3G service from Rogers’ to find out what advantages T-Mobile USA customers will get in the future. Rogers’ device, that has a peak speed of 21Mbps, is as faster as three times than the best devices in the country.

Rogers usually rebrands its modems, naming them “Rocket Sticks”, and makes their design spicier. Modems often have unattractive names given by their manufacturers. Rogers has chosen the ZTE MH668 for its own HSPA+ network. The modem presents a retractable USB plug and relies on a microSDHC card slot to add supplementary memory. The device is functional but a weak point could be the thin plastic shell, which seems somehow fragile. On the other hand, the modem being fairly wide, problems could occur when plugging it in small notebooks with USB ports situated very close together. ZTE and Rogers provide a USB pass-through cable, which allows access to obscured ports by presenting a supplementary port for other USB devices. It fits in very tight places, like is the case of the MacBook Air for example.

The set up of the ZTE MF668 modem is similar to that of other modems. On Windows or Mac, the usual procedure is plugging in the modem and, if this is the first time, to load the installer for the Connection Manager automatically or from the previously mounted modem. The application is auto configured to connect onlineut the staff of Electronista found out that it does not work properly in Mac OS X Snow Leopard. It recognizes the network but generates a PPP error whenever trying to connect. The only solution found is a sequence of terminal commands to use the built-in 3G modem support of Snow Leopard to make the connection and to prevent the Connection Manager from loading. This can be quickly implemented and works very well, without affecting any feature. It is understandable that Rogers will not provide help for this kind of setup. Rogers was contacted about this issue and it seems an answer will come soon. Users of the newer Mac operating system will either follow the above-mentioned instructions or wait for an update of the Connection Manager.

Speed tests were performed to see if the modem really complies with technical specifications. The modem did not reach the peak speed of 21Mbps as specified in the HSPA+, but maybe this is not so important, as many carriers admit a slow-down exists when connecting to the network, compared to the maximum speed granted by the specifications. However, the speed was close enough to the maximum one and greater than earlier HSPA. Indoors and outdoors, were both tested and an average of 6.75Mbps downstream together with 2Mbps upstream was observed. Both are more than three times faster than usually seen on the regular HSPA service of Rogers. This is indeed only a third of the theoretical performance supported by the HSPA+, but this is much more than the quarter speed or even less as seen on the regular HSPA networks. Some fluctuation occurred, but speeds never dropped below 5.25Mbps downstream and 900Kbps upstream. Latency was also low, the average time for ping on test servers ranging between 68ms and 88ms, both of them being low enough to be considered reasonable for lag-sensitive services such as video chat for example. The overall performance was good enough compared to, let’s say, 3G that we have been used to.

After this short testing session, users have reasons to be enthusiastic about HSPA+ service as a whole. It is, besides WiMAX, the first cellular Internet service to provide services at the same level as a wired connection or a Wi-Fi network connection. For example, using a notebook in the park with speeds specific to DSL router at home or cable modem is completely at hand for now.

To conclude, Rogers, T-Mobile and many other carriers that are moving to HSPA+ have to adjust quickly their upper limits to benefit from the greatly increased bandwidth of their new networks. Users of Rogers’ Internet service paying $33 US for 1GB of data and $81 US for 5GB, have the same transfer limits as they did just a few months ago but this limit will be reached three times faster. This is a real problem and users will be forced either to choose a higher tier or to pay overage fees that are disproportionate compared to the actual bandwidth costs. American providers have lower costs for 5GB but do not offer any more traffic without overage fees.

There really is a hope that providers that upgrade to HSPA+ and eventually 4G will boost their caps in a dramatic way. The technology is helping now to better handle frequent mobile data transfers, and service options need to fully reflect this improvement.


  • Share

 

Readers Comments