Following on from Telstra’s LTE announcement last night, my inbox has been flooded with companies shouting that their devices are LTE friendly. Like Netcomm’s sexy Liberty Series LTE Wi-Fi router. The catch is that it won’t actually work on Telstra’s LTE network.
UPDATE: Turns out the spec sheet Netcomm shared was just an “example” spec sheet, and not the definitive answer. In other words, Netcomm will work with partners to offer LTE specifications based on their needs, which in Australia would be a 1800MHz LTE chip.
The device is a powerhouse of mobile wireless networking. With support for LTE, HSPA+ and EVDO, it has a pretty impressive list of connectivity options. HSPA+ is quad band and rated to 42Mbps, plus has gigabit ethernet, internal 802.11n antennae and security settings everywhere.
But the catch is the LTE. Despite promising speeds of up to 100Mbps, it won’t support the new Telstra LTE network as it will only work with 700MHz LTE frequencies, like that used by Verizon in the US.
Considering the Telstra LTE network still isn’t actually available to use, this isn’t too big a deal – and it’s likely that Netcomm will release an Australian-friendly version in the future. But if you were hoping to get one of these routers in the hopes of future-proofing, you’re out of luck…
[Netcomm]
Nat
Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 9:40 PMIf Telstra could get access to 700Mhz frequency for LTE that Netcomm box would work.
The other benefit of a lower frequency is better range for regional areas. Maybe they will eventually be able to add LTE to the 850Mhz band.
Sean
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 10:08 PMTelstra uses 1.8 ghz for lte and vodafone will be using 1.8 ghz for lte and optus will be using 1.8 ghz and the 700 mhz will startup when analog tv gets switched off and that will be great