4G SPEED

If you want to know whether 4G is faster than 3G, the simple answer is yes - and usually in a knock-your-socks-off way.

We're not keen on too much technical jargon here at EE, but it could be as quick as ADSL broadband at home - while you're out and about.

Sounds good... so how quick is it?

There isn't a simple answer, unfortunately, as 4G performance depends on things like...

• What device you're using
• How near you are to a 4G mast
• The number of people on the network

Brace yourself for some geek-speak...

Here's the technical bit. Average 4G download speeds are likely to be between 8 and 10 megabits a second (Mbit/s), with possible instances of up to 40 Mbit/s.

Typical upload speeds are between 5-6Mbit/s, with possible instances of up to 15Mbit/s.

Another technical word that might help make this 4G thing clearer is latency - the time it takes the network to respond to your action.

Typical 4G latency is only 60-70 milliseconds (ms), while 3G latency is typically 100-125ms. You can really appreciate the difference if you're flicking through webpages or playing online action games.