Phone says 4G now

[cpc12]

I just updated to 5.1

My phone now says 4G. Is this LTE ?

Does it cost more ?

 

[kch50428]

I just updated to 5.1

My phone now says 4G. Is this LTE ?

NO. It's AT&T's marketing department screwing with you.

the 4G displayed on any current model as of the date of this posting iPhone is NOT LTE.

Let's say that again: It's NOT LTE.

 

[ajonesma]

it's their HSPA+ network, so it's not technically 4G, just 3.5G

 

[Garz]

it's their HSPA+ network, so it's not technically 4G, just 3.5G

Agreed. At&t is marketing this since their DL speeds in most areas kill VZN and Sprint. All other phones on the market that use HSPA+ market them as 4G so why not the At&t iPhone 4S. I dont blame them at all for doing this.

 

[kch50428]

I dont blame them at all for doing this.

I do. It's deception, bordering on deliberate dishonesty.

 

[Garz]

I do. It's deception, bordering on deliberate dishonesty.

I don't care what the indicator says. As long as I continue to get 5.5 to 8 Mbps DL and 3 upload, they can call it what they want. I have yet to see a Vzn or Sprint iPhone compare. Then maybe Vzn and Sprint should call theirs 2.5G for having subpar 3G speeds since some don't think HSPA+ is 4G.

 

[sting7k]

Is anyone actually pulling HSPA+ speeds? I updated my brother's 4S for him last night and his now also says "4G" while my 4 says 3G. But when I run speed test we get exactly the same speeds. We have the same signal strength as well. I really don't get the deal with the 4S and it supposedly working on AT&T's faster 3G network because I've not seen it.

Garz, I have pulled down those speeds on my 4 in some spots in DC and northern VA. At my home it's around 3.5Mbps down and 0.8 up.

 

[Garz]

Is anyone actually pulling HSPA+ speeds? I updated my brother's 4S for him last night and his now also says "4G" while my 4 says 3G. But when I run speed test we get exactly the same speeds. We have the same signal strength as well. I really don't get the deal with the 4S and it supposedly working on AT&T's faster 3G network because I've not seen it.

Garz, I have pulled down those speeds on my 4 in some spots in DC and northern VA. At my home it's around 3.5Mbps down and 0.8 up.

Some areas will run faster than others. Here are a couple of samples to show I do get those speeds.

 

[ajonesma]

I'd rather have LTE than this HSPA+


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk

 

[mab4285]

Technically, LTE isn't 4G, but rather the next generation of 3G- LTE stands for "Long Term Evolution" of the 3G project.

3GPP Long Term Evolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[sting7k]

Some areas will run faster than others. Here are a couple of samples to show I do get those speeds.

That is 3G HSDPA 7.2 speed not "4G" (according to AT&T) HSPA+ speed.

 

[Garz]

That is 3G HSDPA 7.2 speed not "4G" (according to AT&T) HSPA+ speed.

And LTE is techicinally 4G either. This debate can go on and if you want to get technical of what is classified what.

 

[Garz]

I'd rather have LTE than this HSPA+


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk

Of course we all would. But I also would rather have HSPA+ over what Vzn or Sprint offers.

 

[025899]

Is it safe to say that most people will get faster speeds than before the update? (regardless what the true technical name for this is)

I ask because I am weighing the choices of breaking my jailbreak for faster OTA bandwidth.
I previously had a Pre3 on ATT that got H+ and it was pretty fast.

 

[Garz]

Is it safe to say that most people will get faster speeds than before the update? (regardless what the true technical name for this is)

I ask because I am weighing the choices of breaking my jailbreak for faster OTA bandwidth.
I previously had a Pre3 on ATT that got H+ and it was pretty fast.

No speeds are the same. Still runs on same network. Just carrier data indicator changed.

 

[sting7k]

AT&T is really mucking this up. I thought their HSPA+ (what they call 4G) was faster than their HSDPA 7.2 "3G" network. But it appears it really isn't.

What network is my iPhone 4 getting these speeds on? I regularly get that speed in DC now.

 

[rrigters93]

Spoke to a tech rep and the 4G icon is only a cosmetic change and nothing else. It's nice to show off to friends that you now have 4G speed with that "NEW" icon but nothing has changed.

 

[BryanTheRed]

So does the indicator always show the 4G symbol now unless you're on EDGE or does it drop down to 3G in some areas?

 

[sting7k]

Spoke to a tech rep and the 4G icon is only a cosmetic change and nothing else. It's nice to show off to friends that you now have 4G speed with that "NEW" icon but nothing has changed.

Yea, some other sites have a write about it.

I still am not sure of the whole thing. I thought the HSPA+ network was much faster than it appears to be, in theory around 21Mbps but real world around 12-14Mbps. And that the 4S did not actually run on it because it maxes out at HSDPA 14.4 (yes technially HSPA+) which AT&T does not have; but carriers in Canada and Europe do. Also because I've tested in many locations and the 4 and 4S always get the same download speeds and amount of signal bars every where I've tested. That suggest to me that they are both downloading on the same pipes. The upload speeds are always faster; the 4 maxes at around 800kbps every where.

But it appears from videos on youtube even Android phones are topping out at just below 8Mbps on AT&T's HSPA+ network.

 

[Steve28]

Here's the deal:

- every phone that AT&T and tmobile sold that had HSPA+ were being marketed as "4G". Whether you agree with this or not, that's what was happening. Tmobiles advertised "4g" network - its HSPA+.

- the iPhone was the only phone they sold that was HSPA+ that didn't show it was on a '4g' network.

- this update did nothing more than change the indicator to show '4G' if the phone was getting an HSPA+ signal. It would show 3G if your in non HSPA+ area and E as before if you are in a 2G area.

The change (a t the request of att) as simply to make it consistent with the rest of their line and the completions practices.

It seems that phones which get 4G LTE will have some indicator that will be different than "4G"