Revolutionize Your Cellular Experience
The cellular phone industry has grown to be a fierce battleground to lure as many consumers they can to buy their products and services. This is by any means from what we call hook and crook to out right deceitfulness! Taking advantage of consumers who don't understand the underlining technology. We at Shelton And Associate would like to help consumers to better understand what's going on so that they can clearly see and understand what gives them the best wireless services at the best value cost. All because it is cheaper doesn't mean it save you money.
To give you an example some advertiser claims that they have 5G capabilities but they don't inform the consumers (unless it's in the fine Print) that it is only provided in a small limited areas and that major backbone (where your data is traveling) is mostly on 4G and some 3G and even 2G networks which destroy the whole purpose of buying a 5G phone! Some claims that they have the wireless coverage in your areas but don't mention if they have the bandwidth (capacity) which is needed to transmit your data. This can lead into congestion resulting in poor voice quality , a high number of drop calls and slow downloads not to mention poor video.
Now don't get me wrong no carrier has 100% 5G at the time of this report but one has more than others including more bandwidth and that makes a big different in how quickly your data reach its destinations. The quicker it gets on the network, the quicker it gets off the network therefore other people’s data can do the same which result in clearer calls, smoother videos, less to no drop calls. Now throttler back is one-way carriers handles end-users over subscription by slowing down their transmitted data while still allowing them to have unlimited access. But what's good about having unlimited access when your data is slow (drop calls, bad videos, slow downloads etc...). It is important for you to know how much priority data (in gigabits) that you are guaranteed before throttler back begins. Now here's another thing you should know, if you're on a large 5G backbone network and your data travels over a small 4G speed backbone network you may not even notice or see any discrepancy in the performance of your cellular service. However, if you have a small 5G backbone network and a large 4G network backbone your performance will be degraded.
Why?
Because it will take longer for the data to transverse across a 4G backbone network then it will a 5G backbone network.
Take these two snapshot maps of wireless coverage below both carriers claims to provide 5G coverage which is true but look closer. The one on the left (mobile top) only has 5G coverage in the "Dark Red" area and that the majority of it's data traffic traverse over a 4G (Light Red) area. Whereas the one on the right (mobile bottom) shows the "Dark Green" area as it's 5G coverage areas and the (Light Green) area is it's 4G areas. As you can see the one on the right (mobile bottom us) has much more coverage in 5G
Now let's take a closer look at the white areas in West Virginia here I blow up both maps to see what is offered in those areas. Let's start with the "Red" coverage. As you can see there is no coverage at all in that area.
Now let's take a closer look at the white areas in West Virginia on the Green map.
On the "Green" coverage here you will find a lot of it is in grey which means that we have wireless coverage via partners. Now this is a very important factor because it shows that the coverage is provided by the Green network which has agreements with other carriers to provide wireless coverage in those areas.
The Cellular Phone War!
I'm sure you all have seen the many TV commercials displaying 5G Network services and even free phones. Some companies are using cute funny looking characters and a recognizable musical note sound to draw you to buy their services. But what services are you really getting? Is it worth the monthly payments you are paying each month? Are you truly getting the benefits of a 5G Backbone or is it just a few towers? Are the phones really free when you have to sign up for multiple years contracts? What are some of those terms in "Fine Print" mean? And what about those "Fees!!!"
Well one thing is for sure they must find a way to pay for those advertisement and make a profit. Right?
What to look for when choosing a phone carrier
The first thing we suggest is to determine the best phone carrier with the best bandwidth and coverage areas. Rather it is local in your area or places you may travel. Places where you spend a lot of time and need cell phone service, such as your home, office, relatives’ homes, and frequent hangouts. This is also especially important when traveling on the roads going cross-country or to some remote areas. You want to know ahead of time if your carrier has towers in the area or have partners that will carry your signal to their backbone.
Next, most people pick an unlimited cell phone plan mainly based on monthly cost, and do not take the time to read the fine print or review what cellular network (speed and coverage) they are on and there lies the snake in the grass. There is so much in the fine print that comes with these plans that it becomes difficult to really know what you are paying for. And if the network isn’t built to provide adequate coverage and bandwidth to support its subscribers then what good is paying a low monthly fee for some time services. Here companies can place their increase in pricing to unsuspecting consumers after getting them lock in (usually with long-term contract) by their low price.
The best cellphone carrier for your monthly cell phone service comes down to more than just picking the cheapest cell phone plan though cost is certainly a big factor. Beyond price, phone carriers distinguish themselves with everything from customer service, network performance, wireless coverage, and other perks.
Now on to those Terms and Fine Prints!
There are two major terms we believe consumers should understand and know what they mean. You will find these terms in most “Fine Print” they are Throttled data and Deprioritization threshold. Also, we refer 5G as "High-Speed" data and "Full-Speed" as 4G data all other data speed is referred to as "Low-Speed".
Throttled data speeds slow your data transfer resulting in a longer time to upload or download things like videos, Apps, and pictures including the quality (clarity) of your voice calls.
Deprioritization threshold is a new term for many people, but it is one of the biggest selling points for unlimited plans. It basically means how much guaranteed data speed you will get before any slowdown occurs.
Now, I will show you how these two terms come into play. Below is an extract founded on the internet it shows what one carrier’s fine print was offering:
Look at the fine print found on one carrier’s site: (Mobile-user zoom in).
What this means?
Basically, all that this carrier’s plans offer is speeds of just 8Mbps, except for one of their unlimited plans which offers speeds of 3Mbps only. This is a case where a carrier is only offering throttled back data (at the start) on their plans. Notice that there is no mention of “Deprioritization” which means - If a plan does not state the threshold, it generally means that your speeds are subject to being slowed down at any time.
Now, below is the type of fine print you need to look for:
Below is an extract founded on the internet it shows what one carrier’s fine print was offering:
What you want to look for is how much full-speed (4G) or high-speed (5G) data you will get before you may be subjected to deprioritization—in the example above, it's 35GB (4G network). In a nutshell, you are guaranteed a full 35GB of full-speed data before your data speeds may be slowed down to 128Kbps (2G) speed.
So, if I have a full-speed (4G) phone why should I get on a (5G) network?
Here is where being on a 5G backbone stands out! Being on a 5G backbone (High-Speed) network enhances the quality of services even on a (4G) phone! In our tests and (comments from customers) voice calls are so much clearer, videos are so much sharper even your downloads are faster! And even if the network becomes congested it will clear up faster you may not even notice that congestion had occurred! Now if this happen on a (4G) network well we all are too familiar with the video buffering wheel.
Remember, we refer (Full-Speed) as 4G and 5G as (High-Speed) data so make sure you understand what broadband wireless backbone network you are on.
