ZTE gives LTE a lift with multi-mode data card

Yup, LTE is great...

LTE is really pretty great. There's paper speeds and there's real speeds -- Verizon Wireless' LTE on paper will do 80mbps. A few people have reported over 60mbps. Personally, I haven't seen that but I can get 12mpbs any old time of day, and have seen 20-30mbps a few times. And the city I live in is big enough to have a university campus and loads of dorms and apartments, but small enough so there are very busy cell sites every mile or two, not cell sites every block like some cities have. The 4G is maybe 20% completed (by area), but luckily the rest is 100% 3G (3.1mbps EVDO Rev A), with real speeds of about 1mbps typically (2mbps+ in those cities that DO have a cell site every block.) They claim to have the 4G completed by 2013 -- it seems like a lot to finish, but a lot is those areas out west where one site may have a 50 mile range, so those last 80% might be like 10% of the cell sites.

One thing to watch for -- don't let 'em say "Well, LTE is expensive so we'll jack up your data prices!" I'm grandfathered on unlimited data for $30. Well, for a while they reduced it so the same $30 would get just 2GB, and NOW they have this family plan where an extra $30 per line gets you **0** data, that extra $30 a line is JUST for the privilege of sharing that bucket of data that you then have to pay through the nose for! I realize unlimited data is unrealistic (since some few are going to be a smartass and pull like 1TB a month) but why not just either 1) Provide unlimited but throttle heavy users. 2) Use the T-Mobile technique, when your data is used up the throttle kicks in. Those who want to pay for more data do, and the rest don't get a rude surprise when the phone bill shows up.