On 30/May/18 17:11, McBride, Mack wrote:
> In high density urban areas last mile infrastructure (mostly copper) is
> considerably better than 4G.
> Localized carrier powered wifi is good as well but it is not and should not
> be confused with 4G.
I think it depends on what it is you're trying to do. If your
application is linear IPTV streaming into your home, that probably isn't
a great idea for any kind of non-wired media. On the other hand, in
South Africa, where I live, it is routine to deliver video streaming
services (Netflix, Youtube, ShowMax, e.t.c.) to one's home over 4G/LTE,
to the extent that the service providers have special data plans that
support these kinds of use-cases.
In South Africa, I generally find wi-fi in the hotels to be pretty bad,
as the majority of them tend to be on ADSL backhaul, which averages
between 1Mbps - 4Mbps to support several dozen or more rooms. A few
hotels have migrated to fibre, but between guessing what last mile
they're on and how they operate the wi-fi network, I ALWAYS prefer to
tether my iPhone to my laptop and work when I'm on the road within the
country. In all major cities, my 3G/4G performs a lot more reliably,
better and predictably than most cafe, hotel or mall wi-fi. I don't even
bother when hotels offer their wi-fi vouchers upon check-in.
With my 4G services (Vodacom and MTN), I can average between 30Mbps -
55Mbps when tethering, and that's plenty enough for me. I have a decent
monthly data plan that I don't have to worry about running out. Of
course, performance isn't as great if you're in a remote part of the
country, but that's not unique to South Africa.
Mark.