LTE

What is LTE?

3GPP, the group that writes the mobile standards, defines LTE and its later releases, and says 5G is the system defined from Release 15. A cellular network divides a region into cells, each with a tower, and phones connect to the nearest or strongest one. The same tower serves everyone nearby, so capacity is shared.

See 5G home internet and mobile hotspot.

LTE has been improved through many releases over the years, and phones usually fall back to it where a newer system is not available.

Why does it matter on a fixed wireless connection?

Some home internet products run on LTE or 5G, using a gateway indoors. In Northern Nevada, signal can vary widely over short distances because of hills, canyons and long distances between towers. A phone that works in town may show one bar at a ranch.

A fixed wireless provider such as High Desert installs a small antenna at your roof aimed at its tower, which is a different design from a phone link. Read is fixed wireless the same as satellite and what is fixed wireless internet.

What should I do about it?

If you rely on a cellular plan at home, test it at the spot you will use it, at morning and evening. Compare the cost, the data terms and the speeds the carrier states, which are the carrier's own. Our switching from a phone hotspot helps with the move.

Check whether a High Desert link is possible with Check my address, or call 775-575-9593.

Remember that a phone plan has its own data terms. Read them before you move a whole household onto it, especially for video and work calls.