Cross Post due to Thread Topic and Update.
Tesla Motors: 4G vs 3G Speedtest-Should you Upgrade to LTE???
=================================================
In this video, I compare internet speeds from my old 2013 Model S, on the AT&T Cellular network and 3G with my new 2016 Model S on AT&T LTE Service. Results were very interesting, and also could be reproduced. Based on my findings, I would continue to recommend people to not spend the $500 at this time to upgrade older Model S cars to operate on the 4G LTE Networks, accept in cases where you are constantly on the fringe of the network and signal and need that LTE to help get more throughput.
LTE Technology, (without getting too in depth or technical), is currently/generally a bit slower then the 3G HSPA+ that AT&T is using. Some of the major benefits of LTE are the better network management, generally lower latency, and fringe signal throughput.
If both 3G HSPA+ and LTE 4G have the same, low signal in the same spot, the LTE Will be faster in the majority of cases. While the 3G HSPA+ theoretically should have a faster speed in strong signal areas.
Key word though, is theoretically. In practice though, anything goes.
So based on my findings, and experiences driving a Tesla all over North America (US and Canada), rural and city, all over, If your care came with LTE, awesome, your all set, if it did not, don't be so hasty to donate $500 to Tesla for the upgrade. Wait for the 5G upgrade.
If you are constantly in a rural area that has poor signal, and want to make the most of that available signal and get the best throughput, and 3G is not cutting it, then upgrading to the LTE may be for you. As I said, LTW should provide greater throughput in low signal situations then 3G does.
I hope this has helped some people make that decision.
Please, once again note, all tests shown in this video are repeatable, and about the average/most common speeds I see. Peak hours of course speeds can very, but that is mostly tower overloading. Overloaded tower is overloaded no matter if it is 3G or 4G LTE, as each tower only has a finite amount of bandwidth available, and that is shared pretty much equally (not counting QOS, which the Model S / Model X and Model 3 should not need to worry about until we can in car video services.