gordon9291
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Q: Understanding symbols used for cellular connection type

On my Verizon iPhone 5s, when I'm connected to Verizon's EVDO network, I get a 3G icon. When I connect to LTE, I get an "LTE" icon.

 

When my girlfriend's AT&T iPhone is connected to AT&T's HSPA+ network, she gets the "4G" icon, and when connected to LTE, the "LTE" icon.

 

so, my understanding with regards to the icons had always been:

HSPA / EVDO = 3G

HSPA+ = 4G

LTE = LTE

 

However, I'm in Australia right now, connected to Telstra's network. When I'm connected to their HSPA network, I get the 3G icon. However, when I connect to their LTE network, I get the 4G icon instead of the LTE icon I get with Verizon and AT&T. My first thought was that I was actually connecting to their HSPA+ network instead of LTE, but a trip to Field Test Mode (*3001#12345#* at the dialer) confirmed I was connected to LTE, and the 40/50 Mbps symmetrical speeds were simply too fast for HSPA+. In addition, the setting under Settings > Cellular that normally says "Enable LTE" has changed to say "Enable 4G."

 

Can anyone shed any light on this?, It appears that depending on carrier, 4G can mean either HSPA+ or LTE.

 

To make things weirder, when I was in Australia a year ago, my phone would say LTE when connected to Telstra's LTE network. That was iOS 6 on the iPhone 5 vs iOS 7.1 on the 5s…

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Mar 23, 2014 7:42 PM

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gordon9291

Q: Understanding symbols used for cellular connection type

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  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Mar 23, 2014 7:46 PM in response to gordon9291
    Level 7 (34,344 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 7:46 PM in response to gordon9291

    Read this

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1976

  • by gordon9291,

    gordon9291 gordon9291 Mar 23, 2014 8:01 PM in response to ckuan
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 8:01 PM in response to ckuan

    Sadly, that article doesn't really explain this behavior. They have both LTE and 4G listed under their LTE Networks section, but don't explain under what conditions you would see one versus the other. They also have a note that 4G can also refer to UMTS networks, but in the GSM section , they claim this only applies to AT&T and T-Mobile in the US. My first thought was that they were saying they you would only see the "LTE" icon if you were on AT&T or T-Mobile, and would see "4G" used everywhere else to indicate LTE. However, if this were the case, why does Verizon use the "LTE" icon? the 4G icon is never used on Verizon's network at all.

     

    My second thought was that iconography was simply totally different in the US versus the rest of the world, however, I've seen the LTE icon used on Telstra's network in the past, so clearly that designation is not US-specific. I'm back to it bring seemingly random and nonsensical…

  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Mar 23, 2014 8:16 PM in response to gordon9291
    Level 7 (34,344 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 8:16 PM in response to gordon9291

    There is no standard here at least not with the telco, each telco uses what they like (PR).

    For them LTE/4G are both the same.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTE_(telecommunication)

  • by Rojmer,

    Rojmer Rojmer Mar 23, 2014 8:20 PM in response to gordon9291
    Level 4 (1,524 points)
    iPhone
    Mar 23, 2014 8:20 PM in response to gordon9291

    gordon9291 wrote:

     

    They have both LTE and 4G listed under their LTE Networks section, but don't explain under what conditions you would see one versus the other.

    Whether you see LTE or 4G depends on each carrier to decide.  By way of example, in most European countries what you see is 4G more than LTE.  The carrier settings is what makes the iPhone say "Enable 4G" or "Enable LTE".

     

    I have an unlocked iPhone 5s and the carrier settings do change when I switch SIMS in the different countries.  With some carriers, I get "Enable 4G" and with other "Enable LTE".

  • by Chris CA,

    Chris CA Chris CA Mar 23, 2014 8:24 PM in response to ckuan
    Level 9 (79,677 points)
    iTunes
    Mar 23, 2014 8:24 PM in response to ckuan

    ckuan wrote:

     

    There is no standard here at least not with the telco, each telco uses what they like (PR).

    For them LTE/4G are both the same.

    in the US...

    AT&T 4G = HSPA+

    AT&T LTE = LTE

  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Mar 23, 2014 8:34 PM in response to Chris CA
    Level 7 (34,344 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 8:34 PM in response to Chris CA

    Also see Rojmer's post.

    Here in Australia, Optus uses 4G, so is Telstra which is as fast as LTE standard.

    LTE is shown on my wife's iPhone 5 with IOS 6. My iPhone 5s IOS 7.1 shows 4G with the same carrier. Go figure.

  • by gordon9291,

    gordon9291 gordon9291 Mar 23, 2014 8:36 PM in response to gordon9291
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 8:36 PM in response to gordon9291

    So as I feared, it looks to be pretty random depending on carrier or device. I wish the iPhone would just stick to displaying the name of the underlying technology (EVDO, HSPA+, LTE, etc) instead of these useless designations.

  • by Chris CA,

    Chris CA Chris CA Mar 23, 2014 8:39 PM in response to ckuan
    Level 9 (79,677 points)
    iTunes
    Mar 23, 2014 8:39 PM in response to ckuan

    ckuan wrote:

     

    Also see Rojmer's post.

    Here in Australia,

    Didn't know where "here" was.

  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Mar 23, 2014 8:40 PM in response to Chris CA
    Level 7 (34,344 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 8:40 PM in response to Chris CA

    No worries, i should have spell it out.

  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Mar 23, 2014 8:45 PM in response to gordon9291
    Level 7 (34,344 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 8:45 PM in response to gordon9291

    gordon9291 wrote:

     

    So as I feared, it looks to be pretty random depending on carrier or device. I wish the iPhone would just stick to displaying the name of the underlying technology (EVDO, HSPA+, LTE, etc) instead of these useless designations.

    Yeah, it's the telco's job to show the correct icon.

    If iPhone is connected to the Internet via the cellular data network, the LTE, 4G, 3G, E, or GPRS icon appears in the status bar.