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As you know, Giz UK and its readers have been selected by O2 to help test their 4G network. For anyone doubting 4G’s awesome speeds, take a pew and watch our video, which shows Sam and I (plus O2′s Rob) pit a 4G dongle against a 3G dongle in various tests. We may not be as camera-ready as The Gadget Show‘s presenters, but please try and remember the 4G network is the true star of this show.
That means no comments about how Sam should’ve worn a bit of Suzi Perry-leather, mmkay?
If you missed news of our 4G trials with O2, check out our initial post to read how you could get insanely-fast internet speeds for the next three months (and free drinks. Did we mention the free drinks?), and if you’re still wanting to read up on 4G, we’ve published a bunch of features for you to chew over:
- What Is 4G?
- What’s Happening With 4G In the UK?
- Can 4G Really Change Our Lives?
O2's Testing London's First 4G LTE Network, and Giz UK Readers Can Help
iPhone 4S Test Notes: Speed
iPad Test Notes: Speed (Versus Tegra 3)
Nice stuff, although, out of curiosity (I’m not tech savvy! >.<), would 4G speeds really be as fast as that once its released to the public? Surely the demand would clog up and sow it down a bit…? I would also imagine that 3G, already being in the wild, would be affected by that factor too…
Or am I just talking nonsense here? XD
Like we explained over here http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2011/11/can-4g-really-change-our-lives/ not everyone would get those speeds, but it’s still going to be infinitely better than 3G.
Not that it would make much of a difference anyway I did find it interesting that the Macbook Air with the 3G stick was running Snow Leopard vs. Lion with the 4G stick.
They were identical MacBook Pros (though one had a matte screen and one glossy, hence the black bezel on the glossy), and unfortunately one was running Snow Leopard and the other Lion. That wouldn’t have made any difference though, like you said. The same version of Safari was used too.
Yeah, I realised it was a Pro rather than an Air after I posted. Shame theres no ability to edit *tears*
Overall I’d give you guys a 7… out of seven, where one is high and seven is the highest!
Gracias. It was a bit ad-hoc, but I think it pulled together OK. Thought the matt and glossy screen differences would make it easy for people to know which was which. Then again the speed differences were so great it was pretty obvious in the end.
Certainly looks impressive. Why do we have to wait 2+ years for this?! Come on Ofcom..
Its true, its frustrating to see how good it is knowing that it will be years before it actually goes live in the UK. The rest of the world is far ahead of us on this one.
I wouldn’t expect those real world speeds, When you have 10,000 people connected to one cell tower this will be far far lower, considering other networks piggy back O2′s structure. However should be a huge improvement on 3G and O2 (telefonica) they have the cash. This could upset some other carrier when the spectrum auction comes into play.
Must say im enjoying Giz UK these days, so Props to you guys!
Thanks! And yep, we explained over here http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2011/11/can-4g-really-change-our-lives/ that not everyone will get those super-fast speeds, but compared to 3G? It’s going to be pretty incredible.
I can only imagine living close to one of these hotspots (kings cross) and if i get a tester dongle the sort of speeds i would be hitting
Can’t wait to see it in action at the party (that is if I get invited of course). And I will throw an afterparty for a star
2 major reasons why it is taking so long.
1) Can’t auction off the spectrum as its still being used by analogue TV currently.
2) The phone companies paid a combined £22bn for their 3G licenses, they want to make 3G last as long as possible.
I. want. it.
Ok, sexual favours for a star. There, I’ve said it.
Lol, I’m almost there too
Ok so what i’ve gathered so far from the previous post is that the end of general 4g trial is june 2012. Succesfull gizmodo members will be given 3 months to trial it. So it’s possible that gizmodo/o2 4g trials won’t start till spring 2012?
‘Oh to’ have 4G “sigh”. (sorry, couldn’t help it).
50Mbps download on my mobile? I’ll have some of that please.
Did anyone else see the cute cat in the video or was that just me?
Well, unless you mean a cute Kat, no
….Ok, that was far too cheesy. I hope I don’t get banned for sexual harassment now D:
It may be faster than my home broadband, but can I get unlimited 4G without a fair use policy for £10 per month?
Unlikely! Though who knows…when 9G is released, maybe then 4G will only cost a tenner a month
Ok, can we have dislike button too then?
Only after an edit button has been coded, Evgenyy.
C’mon Gizmodo! A little more charisma in these videos, please. You’re celebrities now.
Aha I agree, love the effort though guys!
The guy on our right was incredibly cringe worthy, however only due to how nervous he looked. Bless his soul. Maybe knock back a few pints before the next video? Relax a little?
DISCLAIMER: Do love this blog! Mean it as constructive criticism only
Ontopic: 4G yeah!
Bloggers were never meant to be in front of the camera. But unfortunately sometimes you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do…
Haha only just came across this post, it is I must admit seeing bloggers being unleashed on camera (must admit I would be a gibbering wreck if i had to do this:L )
How has wireless leap frogged broadband! my home broadband is slightly lower than the 3G speed, going to cry now =(
this is awesome. I have already cut my land line. I have got rid of sky as I get all my TV from the internet. The home broadband was the only thing holding me back. Wireless freedom and a cheaper life awaits. Any word on pricing?
No pricing yet I’m afraid, as we’re several years off this being rolled out commercially
Did anyone else notice that 3g connection was connected to different speed test server than the 4g was and also the 3g connection isp said ” telefonica uk” and the 4g connection said “be un limited” the 4g connection isp was a little blurry but that what i think i managed to make out?!
Yeh, the software for the 4G dongle isn’t final, which is why it says some other manufacturer instead of Telefonica or O2.
O2 must be leveraging Be as part of their backhaul for the 4G network, that’s all. Considering it’s just a trial, probably the easiest way to supply enough bandwidth for a decent backhaul.
That’s a pretty interesting point actually. If they are using their Be network, they should be able to offer pretty decent data plans, at least to start with.
I’m not sure what kind of infrastructure they’re going to roll out when they actually implement a full 4G network. They’ve had to put some equipment in place for the trial of course, but I don’t know whether it’s permanent, if you see what I mean.
Yeah, here’s to hope that they will be able to give power users large data allowance. Wireless fast broadband for the price and with the same allowance as wired broadband is the ultimate dream in this space.
Kat, is that a South African accent I hear?
A touch of Australian, I must confess!
Of course, real world speeds when the network is actually rolled out properly will be nowhere near that.
Also, all that video shows is how poor O2′s 3G network is. I can quite easily get 5Mbps on 3G with Three.
Kat’s quite a fox. Sorry if that’s inappropriate
It feels inappropriate, and I’m not even Kat.
… or am I?
HAMSTER TURN AND STARE.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uV5-XiwjrI
Ha! I’m pretty sure you’re not Kat.
…or am I GCWB?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uV5-XiwjrI
Oh Kat, you look a little uncomfortable
I’d rather be behind the camera than in front of it, admittedly.
But you’ve been on proper telly (the BBC no less) and you were fine. Had you had a couple of tinnies before that?
No tinnies (sadly) but I’m always nervous! Think I manage to hide it better on BBC etc as it’s easier to bounce off the (professional) presenters. No discredit to Sam and Robert, obviously!
I have glossophobia so I totally understand. I think I would die…
You’re scared of shiny paint? How is that relevant?
tv studio’s usually have shiny painted walls! it creeps me out
I cant reply to pretpats comment directly (due to the lack of a reply option on the post). so will post it here.
Hopefully this star is not too shiny!
That’s amazing — how have I not heard of this before?!
Now I can’t reply directly on Darrell, weird stuff…
But thanks Darrell, as you might understand I will skip the acceptance speech
Here’s a full list of phobia’s Kat.
http://phobialist.com
Some of them are pretty hilarious, especially the fear of long words.
no matter how fancy this all is I still wont get a decent signal with Three if they decided to bring 4G to the table
If we even get 10 Mb/s I’d be very impressed and it’s only going to get faster as the service improves. Hope 3 gets a move on with it. All you can eat data and 4G speeds would be the perfect combo.
What 4G/LTE modem are O2 using in this trial? Dovado’s mobile broadband routers are already supporting the Huawei E398 and ZTE MF820D. Pairing the dongle with a router would make a huge difference for the convenience of the service.
They’re Samsung B3730 dongles — more info here http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2011/11/o2s-testing-londons-first-4g-lte-network-and-giz-uk-readers-can-help/
Thanks Kat – I wonder which dongle Orange are using in Cornwall?
Whoa! Nice Sofa, Screw 4G – I wan’t a sofa like that, embeded LED’s I wonder what dpi that ting has?
It’s a pretty amazing sofa, right? Unfortunately it’s at the O2 arena lounge bar, and not in my living room
If O2 spent £1 million a day on me I think I could definitely try to improve tenfold also!
Hmm another conclusion from this video… O2′s 3G coverage between the O2 Arena and Hyde park is pretty dodgy to the yet unavailable 4G coverage…Thanks Gizmodo now I know and I will not go with on 3G with O2!!!
Impressive but I can’t get excited about 4G cos it’s going to be at least 2 years before we can realistically have it here in the UK
For “non-infront-of-camera” people, I think it came across very well.
Nice work defending Giz UK “lean” site there Kat !
Ha, thanks Coastercub — can’t have that news ed calling our site “heavy” can we?
Heavy in quality and humour, light on our feet
Giz UK FTW !!
Video Unavailble?
It’s working now — apologies.
4G looks great but O2 giving less than 1mbs in their own arena?!? Surely it should be running at closer to 7mbs in their own venue!!!
I look forward to living in a world when data connection are of no concern to me.
I still can’t believe companies are screwing us for wifi in this age. Like Virgin Trains, £120 for a 2 hour journey to London by train only to be told to pay £6 for 3 hours wifi. Any company that sees wifi as an exclusive extra in this age deserves to go out of business. All wifi needs to be complimentary, like if I pay £120 for a train ticket I’d expect a ticket to have a wifi code printed on it rather than pay £6 for 3 hours rubbish wifi that I need for only 2 hours – even 1 hour complimentary wifi to break up a journey would be a bonus.
Charging for wifi in this age is robbery.
Completely agree with you — and find it particularly galling when often that hiked-up Wi-Fi doesn’t even work. The number of times I’ve paid through the nose to use Wi-Fi in a hotel, only to face crippling dial-up style speeds…
Chiltern Railways if you’re going between the Midlands and London – free wifi.
How many BUCKS does the 4G dongle cost?
The dongles we’re using in the trial cost £1k each, but obviously when 4G is rolled out commercially (in 2013 – 2014) they’ll cost a heck of a lot less.
Around 1600 BUCKS to you Seb.
1,600 bucks had to die to make just one dongle!
I didn’t realise they were so deer.
Bravo
Stuff the mobile dimension – I want speeds like this at home first.
Actually, I thought you guys were good on screen. Sam loosened up well after the initial “feeling his way into it” bit. I think we need more of these vids ;-0
The Gadget Show isn’t on often enough and okay, their budget may be slightly bigger but I bet you can respond quicker to the changing face of tech? Go for it!
You’re right, practice makes perfect. Should have recorded the intro at the end. Lots of TV recordings I’ve been to do precisely that.
From seeing this speed test, I can ascertain one thing;
that blond girl is buff blad!
I’m…not sure I know what that means? (Do I want to know?!)
I assure you it’s a pure compliment, with the purist of intentions.
What is it then?
It means he want to *** you in the ******* and give you a *******.
(I’ve editted for decency but there’s a prize for anyone who guesses the missing words correctly)
Calm down mate.
Calm down?
I was just saying ‘he wants to hug her in the carpark and give her a satsuma’.
Seems pretty calm and reasonable to me, he’s just being friendly – I do love satsumas.
3 things:
1-) The Gadget Show has nothing on Giz (apart from budget).
2-) The website as you mentioned Kat is excellent, much better than the U.S. version, it would just be nice to know when someone replied without having to go back to the article.
3-) Giz staff looks better and sound much better than the Gadget Show people.
Yeh, the lack of notifications is irritating I know, but our dev will fix it once he finished on another project.
Oh! And in response to numbers 1.) and 3.), haha, thanks!
I kinda like the Gadget show. I used to work in Digbeth in Birmingham and often saw them filming.
Plus, the lovely Suzi Perry…
I was just explaining why I think Giz is better. I actually like the Gadget Show, except their over excitment that seems to be fake at times or over acted.
I’ll go with that. It’s apples and oranges anyway. Gadget Show is like throw-away trashy tech TV. Do they even have a blog??
Kat, just have to say it’s fantastic to see you and the team replying constantly to comments, and giving answers where there have been questions. It brings a real community feel to the commenters club, and when the stars arrive, should make us even more proud to be part of it.
Keep up the good work guys.
Cheers Mr. Heflander!
It is nice to see all the staff/writers commenting and answering questions on here. Any problems and Kat’s on the ball to get them fixed (or knows a man/women that can)..
It does feel more like a comunity than just a tech site.
I like it, I’m not leaving…
*starts singing…”Weeeee shall not, we shall not be moved…..”
Agree 100%, but it important that we do everything we can to ensure the survival of Giz UK and the community. We don’t want the site to fold, forcing us back to (shudder) the US Site. Nor do we wan’t this place becoming a place of petty fanboyism like (shudder) the US Site. So, promote and star good people, reward good manners and reasoned discourse and , most of all enjoy yourself.
Well said.
WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!!!!
Yes, what Darrell said. We’ve missed you Scenick.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Ditto all of the above
For sure. We don’t want that bad-mouthed riff raff pouring in, its just not British.
Definitely need to support Giz UK and keep it running. Otherwise I’d get bored at work again waiting for my comments to be noticed amongst all the trolling on Giz US…
Looks like you guys are having a bit of a Gizmodo UK circle jerk.
… I’m in.
Haha, it’s all simple clean fun, good sir
It is indeed, although good sir I implore you to check the post data of this article!
Said circle jerk is of the utmost oldness!
But how come this came up as a new article for me? What bedevilry of HTML and Javascript served me this?!
Probably the related story linkages. Witchcraft!
Yay, stream all the cute cat videos without buffering? Yessss!
You forgot “when out and about” as well
Massively, massively up for this. How do we get involved?
Two words that will get you through life: Sexual Favours
50Mbps over 4g is impressive! But and it’s a BIG but I managed to bridge 2 hdspa+ phone signals on my laptop the other week and above 30Mbps! that’s over the existing 3g network already rolled out across the country already and at no extra charge with vodaphones truly unlimited trail they’ve offered me recently
I’m really liking the homey feel and sense of community of the Giz UK site. So props to Kat and the rest of the UK staff for pulling off something that the US site didn’t seem to manage. When I first saw the UK version of Giz pop up I was a bit worried that we’d be left a little out of the loop, but it turns out we get all the best bits with a ton more UK relevant info added on top. Keep up the good work and wish we could give Kat two stars!
Haha, you charmer
But thanks!
I really Want to Try this out
impressive, meep, meep!
Wow, that was ridiculously fast! I especially like the test carried out on the 4K video which was very telling…
How I would love to get my mitts on one of these babies…
Absolutely amazing, this definitely be released a lot earlier, can anyone explain why it won’t be for a year or so at least?!?!
Faster is better, and I want it now, but will it work as well with thousands of people connected at the same time?
I expect it wont be long before people claim that this is going to give us all cancer.
Any reason for switching the video platform? Always thought the one used (not naming names) was better than a lot out there, especially with the choice of html5 player and the support for mobile devices. Nice review too, doubt it will come ‘oop north’ any time soon though
Impressive stuff, you made a point about camera readiness but I think once you got past the initial intro the vid was really well presented. I hope Giz UK keeps working on the vids!
Thanks for the kind words, LordNige — we only had limited time to shoot in, so unfortunately couldn’t do-over the first bit of the video.
Microwave backhaul? That must cost a fortune!