On 30/May/18 17:11, McBride, Mack wrote:
In high density urban areas last mile infrastructure (mostly copper) is considerably better than 4G. Localized carrier powered wifi is good as well but it is not and should not be confused with 4G.
I think it depends on what it is you're trying to do. If your application is linear IPTV streaming into your home, that probably isn't a great idea for any kind of non-wired media. On the other hand, in South Africa, where I live, it is routine to deliver video streaming services (Netflix, Youtube, ShowMax, e.t.c.) to one's home over 4G/LTE, to the extent that the service providers have special data plans that support these kinds of use-cases. In South Africa, I generally find wi-fi in the hotels to be pretty bad, as the majority of them tend to be on ADSL backhaul, which averages between 1Mbps - 4Mbps to support several dozen or more rooms. A few hotels have migrated to fibre, but between guessing what last mile they're on and how they operate the wi-fi network, I ALWAYS prefer to tether my iPhone to my laptop and work when I'm on the road within the country. In all major cities, my 3G/4G performs a lot more reliably, better and predictably than most cafe, hotel or mall wi-fi. I don't even bother when hotels offer their wi-fi vouchers upon check-in. With my 4G services (Vodacom and MTN), I can average between 30Mbps - 55Mbps when tethering, and that's plenty enough for me. I have a decent monthly data plan that I don't have to worry about running out. Of course, performance isn't as great if you're in a remote part of the country, but that's not unique to South Africa. Mark.