Today, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon all advertise their networks as 4G, and this confuses a lot of people, including their own employees. While LTE is the true 4G network, the HSPA+ networks operated by AT&T and T-Mobile are noticeably faster than their 3G counterparts, prompting them to proclaim them to be “4G.”
After AT&T finally woke up last year and noticed that Verizon’s rapidly expanding LTE network was substantially faster than its HSPA+ network, the company decided to build its own LTE network while still calling its HSPA+ network “4G.” Sprint and T-Mobile followed suit, announcing they too are developing LTE networks. The most notable change you’ll experience when moving from a 3G to a LTE device is a dramatic speed upgrade. LTE networks are on average 10 times faster than their 3G counterparts. Sites load faster, Netflix doesn’t pause every five seconds, and apps download at greater speed.

After getting off to a massive head start, Verizon now has the biggest 4G LTE network in the country, no matter what the AT&T and T-Mobile commercials say. With more than 250 current LTE markets and plans to cover 400 markets with LTE by the end of 2012, Verizon is your best bet if you are looking for true 4G speeds countrywide. In comparison, at the time of publishing, AT&T has 39 markets with LTE coverage, Sprint expects to have six markets up and running by mid-2012, and T-Mobile is in the beginning stages of building its LTE network. Be aware that if you don’t live in a LTE market, you won’t get the faster speeds whether or not you have a LTE device. (If you have an LTE device but are not in an LTE market, your device reverts to 3G speeds.)

Undeterred by its lack of a working LTE network, Sprint released its first LTE smartphone, the HTC EVO 4G LTE, on June 2. If you are in a market where AT&T currently offers LTE service, the HTC One X — which may be the best Android phone available — is your best choice for a smartphone, with the new iPad your best bet for a tablet with LTE.

Verizon offers a plethora of options including standouts like the Galaxy Nexus by Samsung with Android 4.0; the Droid Razr Maxx by Motorola, which has the longest talk time ever for a smartphone; and for those of you who enjoy a physical keyboard, the Droid 4, also by Motorola. Along with the new iPad, Verizon offers great Android tablets with LTE, such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7.