This is a popular science article about how to choose 4G operators and packages. Because there are many related contents and they are easy to be confused, it will save some technical rigor in order to reach a direct conclusion. If you don't have time, you can even just look at the title and the first few words of each paragraph.
Now the three major operators, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, have their own 4G services. However, various formats and Skybook style package charges are mixed together. It is estimated that many people really do not understand or want to understand.
You just want to know which operator you should choose and which package is the cheapest and most suitable? And how to buy 4G mobile phones? Now let's organize our thoughts.
Why go to 4G?
The advantages of 4G can be summed up into two words: fast and cheap. The latter sounds counter intuitive, but it is still true.
At present, the theoretical maximum speed of 4G in China is 12.5mb/s. If you download at a theoretical speed, a 500m movie can be downloaded in 40 seconds. In daily use, the download speed can reach 1-3m/s, and the upload speed can also exceed 1m/s.
To sum up, the speed of 4G is twice as fast as that of Unicom 3G, more than 30 times as fast as that of mobile and telecom 3G, and 25 times as fast as that of 4m broadband, which can be said to be a real feeling of flying.
In order to encourage users to upgrade, the 4G services of the three major operators have certain discounts. Although the speed has increased, the price per unit traffic is lower than that of 3G.
End of Rumor
Will faster 4Gs eat more traffic?
No, because the web pages and videos you watch on the Internet usually have a fixed size, which will not consume traffic after loading. The main difference between 3G and 4G here is the speed of response and web page loading.
Of course, after enjoying seconds of opening web pages and videos, users can also use the time they spent waiting for web pages to load to watch more websites and videos. If we calculate in this way, 4G really allows us to eat more traffic.
If you forget to turn off your mobile phone overnight, will the house move?
No, the three major operators all have traffic and phone bill capping settings. If the phone bill exceeds 600 yuan that month, the traffic service will be automatically stopped (500 yuan for mobile). In addition, operators have traffic usage reminders that will let you "stop in time".
Who is suitable for 4G replacement?
There are two reference lines: monthly call fee and monthly traffic.
If the monthly phone bill of your original package exceeds 50 yuan, you can switch to the 4G package at the same price. At the same price, the 4G package has more traffic and faster speed than the 2G and 3G packages. In addition, the new 4G package will generally have free traffic, which is a good cost performance ratio.
If the monthly call fee is less than 50 yuan and the monthly traffic is less than 300 m, you can add one or two months of 4G traffic packages to the original package to experience the pleasure of 4G. The operation of the original package will not be affected after the package is cancelled.
However, it is unlikely that the monthly call fee is less than 50 yuan and the monthly traffic is more than 300m, because the monthly rent plus 300m traffic has already exceeded 50 yuan (except for 2G package).
Do you want to change your number, card or even mobile phone?
You don't need to change the number, but you need to go to the business hall and change it into a 4G Usim card. At present, many business offices in many regions provide the service of replacing sim cards free of charge when upgrading to 4G, but you still need to ask the local business offices whether they will charge you.
The mobile phone may need to be replaced. If you bought your mobile phone before 2014, you have to change it to use 4G. In 2014, flagship computers of all brands (Samsung S5/Note4, HTC M8, Sony Z2, etc.) basically support 4G. The specific mobile phone will be explained later.
Which 4G is stronger?
To measure which 4G is better, it mainly depends on technology, number of base stations and user density. The most direct conclusion is that mobile 4G has a better use experience (at least temporarily).
The technology is the same, but the attitude is different
4G will not be different from 3G in terms of mobile, China Unicom and telecommunications. In the early stage, it is a technology called TDD-LTE, and in the later stage, it will be a hybrid network of TDD and FDD. However, the speed of the two has been very fast, so it is difficult to distinguish between normal experience.
Because of administrative intervention, China Mobile is more active in TDD, and China Unicom and China Telecom are more active in FDD. The former is better than the lower cost of the receiving equipment, but the loss lies in the penetration and coverage efficiency (the frequency band is low and the coverage efficiency is only 80%, so more base stations need to be built). The latter is just the opposite.
The number of base stations, moving the most
This is the biggest advantage of mobile 4G. At present, more than 71.4% of domestic 4G base stations are built by mobile, which has exceeded the number of mobile 3G base stations. China Mobile has begun to cover base stations in remote areas, but China Unicom is still covering key cities.
User density and China Unicom are not high
China Unicom and China Telecom have a good speed experience even though there are few base stations because there are few users at present. They can beat mobile 4G in many speed tests. However, if the number of base stations fails to keep up with the growth of users in the middle of development, the problem of speed regression will likely occur.
The signal falls back and moves to the lowest level
The signal fall back refers to the situation that the 4G signal jumps back to 3G or even 2G. When a call is made or a place where there is no 4G signal, it will appear and affect the use experience.
The 4G signal can't be used for calling temporarily, so it will fall back to the 2G signal when making a call. Depending on the model, the network may be disconnected for tens of seconds; The latter will be in areas where 4G base stations do not provide sufficient coverage.
When the 4G signal falls back to 3G, the worst experience is mobile, because its 3G is the slowest and has the worst coverage; The second is China Unicom and China Telecom. China Unicom 3G has high coverage speed in large cities, but it is weak in small cities; Telecom 3G has the best coverage, with signals almost everywhere, but the speed is sandwiched between China Unicom and China Mobile.
Summary
If you are in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the experience of the three operators will not be much different, but Unicom will experience the smallest difference when the signal falls back;
If you want to frequent access, or even stay in second and third tier cities, mobile and telecommunications will be a better choice; For remote users, they can only rely on mobile 4G coverage for the time being.
Which 4G is cheaper? How to choose a set meal?
China Mobile Unicom 4G has 8 packages, and China Telecom has 10 packages (at the end of this article, the package tariff tables of the three major operators are attached).
The lower the curve, the more expensive the package
In general, the traffic of Telecom is the cheapest. Mobile is cheaper than Unicom before 1G traffic, and more expensive than Unicom after 1G traffic. The most unfavorable one is Telecom's cloud card with 49 yuan and 2G traffic has undoubtedly become the first choice of the traffic party.
In terms of details, China Mobile and China Telecom started at the lowest level, with 500 meters of traffic at 58 yuan and 59 yuan respectively. However, the mobile traffic in high traffic areas is limited, and the monthly fee of 238-338 yuan is only 3G traffic. If the monthly consumption exceeds 2G, it is not recommended to select mobile.
Optional package
In addition to the original package, the three major operators all provide customized packages, and users can choose their monthly calls, traffic and SMS volume.
Flow package tariff table
The optional package of China Mobile Unicom has 8 levels of traffic to choose from, among which China Unicom has a local version with 50% more traffic to choose from; While Telecom supports stepless shifting, the traffic, calls, and SMS in the package can be accurate to 1m/1 minute/1 line (so there will be decimals).
The higher the curve position is, the more expensive its traffic is (the interrupted point means that there is no package at this price)
Mobile is the cheapest way to charge traffic in the optional package; China Unicom follows closely; The price of telecom traffic is more than 50% higher than that of the other two , so it is not recommended for telecom users to choose the optional package. If it is rarely used outside the province, China Unicom's local traffic package will be more cost-effective (50% more traffic than the same period last year).
Although the unit cost of the customized package is higher (when you spell out the same service as the original package, the charge will be more expensive than the original package), it can reduce waste, and generally it can effectively reduce the monthly fee. If you don't feel troublesome, you can try it.
It is worth noting that: Mobile also provides traffic overlay package, which can not change the original package (Global Tone, M-Zone, etc.) Directly use 4G traffic, but it starts at 30 yuan and 500 m.
summary
In general, 4G is far superior to 3G in both speed and unit price. For mobile 3G, it even has better signal coverage, which is worth upgrading.
Among operators and package choices, the most complicated ones are the reserved phone charges and local packages. The former will reduce the monthly fee in the form of monthly return, while the latter is often the birthplace of the God Package (generally limited by roaming or local traffic).
So if you want to find the most cost-effective package, you still need to take a calculator to the local business hall... Users who do not want to bother can directly choose the scheme of pre depositing phone charges. As long as you do not change numbers in a short period of time, this is definitely the most convenient preferential scheme.
But after deciding which carrier to choose and which package to choose, the question comes again: How to choose a mobile phone? What does "five modes and ten frequencies, TD/FD-LTE, All Netcom, multi card, multi-mode and multi standby" mean? Please wait for the next issue for more information approaching science 4G mobile phone science poster.
The attached figure shows the package charges of the three major operators:
▲ Move
▲ Unicom
▲ Telecommunication
