'LTE-Advanced Pro' - Is this available /planned for deployment anywhere in the UK?

g67575

g67575

g67575

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Recently discovered that I can receive a LTE-A (known as 4G+ in the UK) signal on the EE network in my home, tested with an EE PAYG sim (got 80mbps, but I've no credit to test further).

The big question seems to be, will LTE-Advanced areas ever be upgraded to 'LTE-Advanced Pro'. This would enable lower latency connections (just 2ms) and potentially 3 times the speeds of LTE-A.

There's some info about LTE-Advanced Pro here:
https://5g.co.uk/guides/lte-advanced-pro/

There's been lots of discussion of 5G, but it's use outside of cities seems to be quite limited, due to short range. It seems like it would be possible to get connections with throughputs of several hundred with LTE-A Pro... In many ways, it seems like a better, more flexible technology than 5G, but presumably with similarly high deployment costs.

Does anyone have any information about 'LTE-Advanced Pro' deployments in the UK?
 
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Apparently, the best speeds they've achieved (with LTE-A Pro) so far in real world conditions are "just 600Mbps". I wonder if these upgrades will be instead of 5G upgrades, in many areas in the UK?
 
Bouton Aide said:
probably not, areas will get 5G before 4.5G
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Yes, and as the OP pointed out - 5G is useless in rural locations where arguably its most needed. Personally I’d not heard of LTE A and it does look pretty useful in many scenarios.
 
In my limited experience of LTE-A and from what I've heard, it does improve the reliability and latency, compared to 4G. And has upto 3-4 times the connection speed, with increased data capacity.

Where I live, not everywhere is covered by an LTE-A cell, some are covered by standard 4G. It seems likely that networks are using LTE-A to boost network capacity in areas where there is a greater need...

It looks like LTE-A Pro would lead to a similar improvement over LTE-A, but UK networks appear to be focusing more on 5G for now, perhaps to maximise profits in cities /population dense areas.

It's not clear to what extend these LTE-A Pro upgrades are prerequisites to 5G, but in some ways, the specs look quite similar, particularly the latency (2ms for LTE-A Pro, potentially 1ms for 5G).
 
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Bouton Aide said:
You might want to check to see if you can get Elon Musk's satellite internet if you need a better net connection then and enable WiFi calling if possible.
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It's currently not really cost effective. If LTE-A really is what the OP makes it out to be then it's a decent upgrade on LTE and would be more than adequate for most users at a proce most people would pay.
 
LTE-A Pro would be great in the UK and would be a great replacement for those still using ADSL and FTTC lines. LTE-A though, is faster than some FTTC lines, but seems to max out at ~90mbps, at least according to EE, and some probably wouldn't get half that speed.

It looks like most areas with 4G cells in then UK will be gradually upgraded to LTE-A first (to improve network capacity), maybe then they will move on to the significantly more capable LTE-A Pro.
 
I don't see any network bothering with this though since the current focus is 5G. The next big step is standalone 5G which Vodafone is already trialling commercially and VMO2 already selecting suppliers for theirs.
 
Yup, but some of the requirements for 5G are also requirements for LTE-A and LTE-A Pro. So, it might be preferable to upgrade cells to LTE-A Pro first, then 5G if required.

The final stage of 5G development would involve using mm wave for 5G (Frequency Range 2), which is even shorter range (presumably, it would require widespread small cell coverage), but offers much higher bandwidths than the 5G tech currently being rolled out in UK, in the FR1 range (Frequency Range 1 - 410 MHz – 7125 MHz)

I've just been looking at Starlink, apparently it's out of beta now, and can deliver 100-200mbps in most areas where it is offered, with relatively low latency connections (approx. 20-40ms). I think this is good option for people who can afford it, but £90 is still much too expensive for most, I can't see it going 'mainstream' unless they can cut the monthly price in half. More info here:
https://arstechnica.com/information...says-orders-are-delayed-due-to-chip-shortage/
 
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