Common thing B/w 3G and 4G is “G”, that is generation. Well, 3G and 4G are standards for mobile communication. But if both are for the same purpose, then what make them different.
Well, it’s actually only the speed, the main basic difference between 3G and 4G is their design or configuration principles and applications.
At first 2G and 3G networks were initially designed voice communications rather than data. But in case of 4G, these network are especially designed for data transmission instead of voice. So 4G offers faster access to data using mobile phones.
Look at this comparison chart that will describe the actual difference between 3G and 4G:
Comparison chart
| 3G | 4G | |
|---|---|---|
| Data Throughput | Up to 3.1Mbps with an average speed range between 0.5 to 1.5 Mbps | Practically speaking, 2 to 12 Mbps (Telstra in Australia claims up to 40 Mbps) but potential estimated at a range of 100 to 300 Mbps. |
| Peak Upload Rate | 5 Mbps | 500 Mbps |
| Switching Technique | packet switching | packet switching, message switching |
| Network Architecture | Wide Area Cell Based | Integration of wireless LAN and Wide area. |
| Services And Applications | CDMA 2000, UMTS, EDGE etc | Wimax2 and LTE-Advance |
| Forward error correction (FEC) | 3G uses Turbo codes for error correction. | Concatenated codes are used for error corrections in 4G. |
| Peak Download Rate | 100 Mbps | 1 Gbps |
| Frequency Band | 1.8 – 2.5 GHz | 2 – 8 GHz |
The meaning of 4G has changed throughout the years. Actually the advance technology i.e, LTE (Long-Term Evolution) and WiMax proved that they are adequately cutting-edge from 3G and in this manner they have proved to gain the privilege to call their innovation as “4G”.
If we talk about how must faster does this 4G network work than the 3G one, then the answer that you will get is totally confusing one than you expect. The speed of the 3G depends on how you implement it & upgrading to 4G make your speed almost 4 times faster. Stop thinking and just Step up to 4G..!!!!!
