Hasta La Gadget!

The Motorola Atrix is one of two phones with disabled HSUPA.

After Texas resident Keith Geissler noticed his new Motorola Atrix wasn’t offering the fast “4G” download and upload speeds that AT&T promised, he filed a complaint to the Better Business Bureau, asking the wireless company to “uncap” his data connection.

AT&T’s response was surprising. While the company assured Geissler it “has not capped the upload speeds on the Atrix,” it did admit that the phone’s HSUPA capability — a key feature in increasing upload speeds on the Atrix as well as the new HTC Inspire 4G smartphone — will not be enabled until a later date.

That means all upload speeds on the Atrix and the Inspire will max out at around 300 Kbps, far below that of the 5.5+ Mbps speeds that HSUPA is capable of uploading. (Geissler wasn’t happy to hear any of this, and posted the exchange to an online message board focused on smartphones.)

In other words, it’s not a hardware issue. It’s AT&T itself, which isn’t ready to flip the switch to turn on “4G” networks, even though it’s already selling 4G phones. Is anyone surprised?

“The concept of 4G is a joke now,” Gartner Research VP Phil Redman told Wired.com. “At the highest level, it’s supposed to be a technology standard, but it’s nothing but marketing now. If and when 4G-standardized technology is actually decided upon and released, we’ve been inundated with this jargon for so long we may not even recognize it.”

The term “4G speed” seems open to interpretation. Since the International Telecommunications Union — the global authority on telecommunications- and broadband-industry standardization – revised its ruling on what defines 4G network speeds in December 2010, carriers have jumped on the opportunity to market many new smartphones as 4G-enabled. Their definitions have been liberal, to say the least.

For AT&T, part of “4G” compatibility involves having HSUPA speeds. AT&T has been mostly evasive as to why HSUPA has been disabled in the Atrix and HTC Inspire 4G smartphones. The company claims it is performing “the testing and preparations necessary” for users to enjoy the HSUPA capabilities when the function is turned on by phone update.

To add insult to injury to Android users expecting 4G speeds, many iOS counterpart devices using AT&T’s 3G network are indeed HSUPA-enabled.

“Not to twist the dagger that’s already in our backs on this one,” said one forum user at XDA Developers, “as many know, the iPad 2 came out today and guess what … HSUPA enabled.”

Also HSUPA ready: the iPhone 4, a device using AT&T’s 3G network.

So when can we actually expect 4G upload speeds from these “4G” phones? AT&T gave Wired.com a rough street date of next month.

“We will be turning HSUPA upload speeds on via a software update to the Motorola ATRIX 4G and HTC Inspire 4G planned for April,” a spokesman said. He also added that “the Samsung Infuse 4G will launch with HSUPA.”

AT&T isn’t the first to fudge facts on its data practices. In the weeks before the iPhone’s release on the Verizon network in February, the carrier published a document that said the top 5 percent of data users on the network may have their data speeds reduced “to ensure high-quality network performance for other users at locations and times of peak demand.”

As Wired.com’s Brian X. Chen reported, “One of Verizon’s selling points for its version of the iPhone is that it would come with an unlimited data plan — a marked contrast to AT&T, which eliminated its unlimited data plans last year.” But when a company’s shifty data-throttling practices are “disclosed” in unpublicized PDF files, Chen’s assertion that “you just can’t trust wireless carriers” proves accurate.

AT&T obviously hasn’t claimed the lack of HSUPA-enabling in the two phones to be a data-throttling technique. But until we hear reasons beyond “network testing and preparation,” we won’t be so quick to believe them.

See Also:

• Ahead of iPhone Release, Verizon Throttles Network Speeds
• FCC Delays Net Neutrality Over Mobile, ‘Managed’ Services
• Verizon iPhone Shows You Can’t Win: Carriers Hold the Cards
• T-Mobile to Throttle Data Speeds After 5 GB Use
• AT&T Says Grandfathered Unlimited Data Plans Will Work on iPad 2
• AT&T’s Data Limits Rein In Cloud-Based Media Services
• What AT&T’s Limited Data Plans Mean for You
• AT&T’s Limited Data: Should You Care? Vote in Our Poll
• AT&T Adds iPhone Tethering, Kills Unlimited Data for iPad, Smartphones
• AT&T Exposes Data on 100000 iPad 3G Owners
• AT&T Puts Broadband Users on Monthly Allowance

We’d heard March 31st for this thing, but hey — are we about to complain when it goes on sale early? That would be a definitive “no,” and we’re happy to report that Samsung’s SCH-LC11 Mobile Hotspot with 1x, EV-DO Rev. A, and LTE compatibility on Verizon’s network is now being offered on the carrier’s website for $99.99 on contract after a $50 instant discount. That makes it the cheapest way to get five devices attached to some of the fastest wireless broadband around — sure, you can do it with a Thunderbolt, but it’ll run you a little more upfront and you need a voice plan. Who’s in?

[Thanks, Nick R.]

Verizon’s Samsung LTE Mobile Hotspot goes on sale: $100 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 01:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already seen some hints that something was coming soon courtesy of the FCC, and now AT&T has confirmed to CNET that both the HTC Inspire 4G and Motorola Atrix 4G will have their HSUPA capabilities enabled sometime in April via a software update. That should dramatically increase upload speeds on the phones (up to 5.76 Mbps), and make them more “4G” than ever before, but still not quite as “4G” as some other “4G.” Incidentally, the Samsung Infuse 4G has also been confirmed to be shipping with HSUPA enabled, although it’s still not clear exactly when it will ship.

AT&T says Atrix 4G, Inspire 4G will have HSUPA enabled in April originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First it was Cricket Wireless, and now another piece of LightSquared’s puzzle has fallen into place — it’s just announced at CTIA that Best Buy has signed on as a wholesale customer for the yet-to-be-launched LTE network. Details on the agreement are still pretty light, as you might expect, but Best Buy will apparently use the network to bolster its Best Buy Connect wireless service, which currently relies on Sprint and Clearwire’s 3G and 4G networks. Exactly when that will happen isn’t clear, unfortunately, but LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja says the first trials are expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.

Best Buy signs up for LightSquared’s wholesale LTE service originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Motorola Droid Bionic is Verizon’s flagship smartphone on the 4G network. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Verizon’s enviable 4G LTE services are being spread to the masses as its network is expanded to 147 US cities by the end of 2011.

After rolling out 4G in major metropolitan areas like San Francisco, Washington, DC, Boston, and Los Angeles, Verizon now has its sights set on “medium-sized cities and smaller communities.”

“Aggressively expanding this powerful network beyond major metro areas reflects the reality that the 4G LTE ecosystem is growing quickly,” said David Small, Verizon Wireless’ CTO.

After deciding on LTE in 2007, Verizon’s 4G network initially launched in 39 markets in December of 2010. 49 more areas were added to the list at CES in January. Their 4G services, which provide download speeds between 5 and 12 Mbps and upload speeds between 2 and 5 Mbps, currently reach 110 million people.

New cities that Verizon Wireless is expanding its LTE service to this year include Huntsville, AL, Tucson, AZ, Honolulu, HI, and Spokane, WA.

Verizon also says that it is working with rural communications companies to further expand its 4G reach.

For the full list of cities to get 4G in 2011, hit up the source link.

Verizon Wireless Brings 4G LTE To More Than 145 Markets By The End Of 2011 [Verizon]