Difference Between 3G and HSDPA

3G vs HSDPA

3G is the common name for the third generation of mobile phone technologies. But instead of being a single standard, 3G is composed of multiple technologies that provide the same level of service. HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) is a later addition to the 3G technologies to provide better and faster data speeds to subscribers.

3G is an improvement of the older 2G standard and introduces multiple advanced features. The most significant is video calling, which allows the two parties to see each other during the call. Another improvement is the much faster internet connection speeds that are being offered by 3G. But as more people are using the service and the demand for better and faster connection rose, HSDPA was added to 3G. HSDPA does not offer any new features like 3G did, it simply offered a faster connection that the 3G features can take advantage of.

HSDPA also provides better latency compared to the older technologies of 3G. Latency is the time between the request was sent and the time for the reply to get back. This might not be noticeable for most people who use their mobile phones to browse web sites, but it is quite important for people who use real-time services like VoIP. A higher latency results to lag in the voice signal or dropped packets which can deteriorate the call quality.

Implementing HSDPA is quite a big step for mobile companies who are still using the older 2G standard. As with all 3G technologies, HSDPA is not compatible with 2G and requires a new network altogether. But for companies who already have 3G networks deployed, implementing HSDPA is relatively cheap and simple that there is really no argument against deploying it. Aside from the network side, mobile phones must have HSDPA capabilities in order to take advantage of the added speed. Just because a mobile phone advertises that it is capable of 3G does not mean that is capable of performing at HSDPA speeds.

Summary:
1. 3G is a group of technologies for mobile communications while HSDPA is an extension of the 3G technologies to provide faster speeds
2. 3G introduced new features like video calling and online TV
3. HSDPA provides better latency compared to the older 3G technology
4. HSDPA is relatively easy and cheap upgrade to existing 3G networks
5. There are mobile phones that have 3G support but not HSDPA

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