AT&T Enables 4G (HSUPA) on Moto Atrix 4G, HTC Inspire 4G

AT&T promised they would address having sold 4G phones that didn’t do 4G.  On the last day of April, AT&T enabled High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), allowing full HSPA+ connectivity in their Motorola Atrix 4G and HTC Inspire 4G smartphones.  Until the firmware update went out, Atrix and Inspire users were restricted to genuinely atrocious upload “speeds” on the order of 300 kilobytes a second.  AT&T really endeared themselves to their users by denying there was a problem, then by blaming the manufacturers.

Both phones were equipped with radios ready for HSPA+ (high speed packet access both uplink and downlink), so AT&T’s denial that they had “throttled” their devices was considered at best unlikely.  What’s worse, AT&T’s Apple iPhone was able to do faster uploading, so it wasn’t AT&T’s network not supporting the expected upload speeds.

But after modders were able to get around the limitations, AT&T agreed to update their devices by April, and they managed to do so on the last day.  If you had your Inspire rooted, getting HSUPA enabled without AT&T’s “help” was fairly straightforward.

What’s in the Firmware Updates

Both smartphones have other fixes besides the upload limitations being lifted.  Here’s what to look for when your device updates;  remember that you must update over a Wi-Fi network.

Motorola Atrix 4G Update

The Atrix 4G needs two updates.

• Update 1:Firmware version update to 4.1.57, and includes the following improvements:
  • Improved multimedia experience with Bluetooth devices, and expanded headset compatibility.
  • Improved fingerprint reader performance.
  • Improved battery life.
  • Display will turn off automatically now while charging directly on wall charger.
  • Improved performance of car dock and 3.5mm jack
• Update 2: Firmware version update to 4.1.83 (Android 2.2.2), and includes the following improvements:
  • 2G/EDGE mobile hotspot capability
  • Increased potential data speeds
  • Yahoo! E-mail enabled over Wi-Fi

HTC Inspire 4G update

The HTC Inspire’s updating is simpler because there’s only one update.

This Maintenance release includes:

• Hotmail, Live, and MSN email auto configuration settings update.
• Makes the email set up process much easier and includes the most current settings for each type of email.
• Increased potential data speed at which data can travel on the network.

Have You Seen These Updates?

Let us know if you have either of these smartphones and get these updates.  Are your uploads working faster now?  AnandTech’s reviewer noted that while HSUPA was definitely enabled, the Inspire often would fall back to 384 Kbps, then revert to 1.5 Mbps.  Downloading speed had also improved.

Note that the Inspire is not updated for Android 2.2.2, just the Atrix.

Image: AnandTech