LTE vs. 4G vs. 3G on top left corner

[rasmasyean]

OK so what exactly is this supposed to indicate?

I got a Lumia 530 which according to this site, it's "3.5G". I presume an old marketing hype term.
Nokia Lumia 530 Specifications - Nokia
It says 4G in the corner.

When I use the SIM card (Simple Mobile) in a Lumia 635, it allows me to change it from 4G to 3G.
But when doing so, it says like H or H+ in the corner, which I presume is a version of 3G.

And each of these cellular modes across phones seem to have comparable speedtest.net results.

Why is it listed as 4G in the Lumia 530, but H/H+ (3G) in the Lumia 635? What radios are they actually using? Cuz the Lumia 530 doesn't say LTE in it's specs.

 

[tpbklake]

Before LTE launched on AT&T and T-Mobile, they both referred to 3.5G or H+ as 4G. So now on LTE phones you will see 3G, 4G or H+ and LTE. Since the 530 doesn't have LTE, you will see 3G and 4G I believe.

 

[mj0]

Technically speaking:

4G = 4th generation = LTE
3G = 3rd generation = HSDPA & HSDPA+
2G = 2nd generation = GPRS & EDGE
1G = 1st generation = GSM

 

[Conan143]

4G and 4G LTE are different since the latter one offers more speed than 4G

 

[mj0]

I'm afraid you're wrong. 4G is the fourth generation standard for mobile communication and nothing more than a synopsis subsuming two different technologies at this point - LTE and WiMAX. Just like 3G is the third generation standards for mobile communication subsuming several different technologies, among others HSDPA and HSDPA+.

Some carries are trying to sell you HSDPA as 3G and HSDPA+ as 4G yet that's just marketing speak (aka bull****).

 

[Conan143]

A simple search gave me this result
You should take a look at this.

The 4G technology is the successor to the 3G technology. Cellular providers are still building out their 4G networks. Theoretically, 4G is much faster than 3G. But before we start comparing 4G speed to 3G speed, it is important to understand there are different versions of 4G.

When talking about 4G, things can get a little confusing. Basically, there is 4G and 4G LTE. Many people consider LTE to be true 4G technology. Generally, if a cellular provider describes a 4G network without mentioning LTE, they are probably talking about a High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) network. The HSPA network is a faster version of the 3G GSM network. While not as fast as an LTE network, it is still faster than a 3G network. Since LTE is still relatively new, the cellular providers haven?t fully built out their LTE networks yet. Be careful when looking at the network coverage maps on the providers? websites. Some companies claim to have broad nationwide 4G coverage. They may really be taking about HSPA coverage and not LTE coverage.

In theory, LTE can be up to ten times faster than 3G. In practice, the actual network speed will vary based on network load and signal strength. Even if LTE does not meet its theoretical speed, it is still much faster than 3G. Activities that require large amounts of data, such as streaming movies, work very well on an LTE network. If you plan to perform a lot of data-hungry activities or simply want the best performance when surfing the Internet, you should really plan on buying a smartphone that supports LTE.

 

[xandros9]

Often in the US, carriers market 3.5G, HSPA+ as 4G, and market full-on 4G LTE as 4G LTE.

So LTE, 4G, 3G in the US correspond to 4G (which is LTE), H+ (which is 3.5G), H (3G)

Funny story, there was an iPhone 4S update that "upgraded" the 3G indicator to 4G some time ago. Kinda funny considering speeds didn't change.

 

[mj0]

When talking about 4G, things can get a little confusing. Basically, there is 4G and 4G LTE. Many people consider LTE to be true 4G technology. Generally, if a cellular provider describes a 4G network without mentioning LTE, they are probably talking about a High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) network. The HSPA network is a faster version of the 3G GSM network. While not as fast as an LTE network, it is still faster than a 3G network. Since LTE is still relatively new, the cellular providers haven?t fully built out their LTE networks yet. Be careful when looking at the network coverage maps on the providers? websites. Some companies claim to have broad nationwide 4G coverage. They may really be taking about HSPA coverage and not LTE coverage.

That's true but it's only relevant in the US I guess. At least in Europe I have yet to see 3.5G and carriers are not allowed to market a 3G technology as 4G. Like I said: from a technical point of view 3G=HSDPA+ and 4G=LTE/WiMAX; from a marketing point of view everything can be everything as long as it sells

Also, HSDPA+ may get close to LTE in terms of bandwidth but latencies on LTE are much better than on HSDPA+. That's why an 4 Mbit LTE-network will seem significantly faster than. 14.2 Mbit HSDPA+ network. Unless you're downloading/streaming content.

 

[rasmasyean]

Well, I guess it all boils down to marketing terms. I know here in USA terms like 802.11b,g,n,ac, still confuse the majority of "normal citizens". I suppose it way too much to ask them to discern the difference between HSPA and EVDO let alone memorize the order. 3G, 4G is much better as not to scare the average american consumer away. Just the "I got 4>3>2>1 speeds. yesss I rulez!" effect is good enough.

 

[Ten Four]

Here in the USA if you are on the AT&T network or one of its MVNOs you will see 3G, 4G, or LTE up there in the upper left corner. AT&T refers to HSPA+ as 4G, whether or not that is technically correct. I have found that means real-world download speeds where I am of up to around 8mbps speeds on the AT&T network. If you see LTE on the phone your potential spees are much faster--up to 50mbps or more. At this time there is much better coverage with 4G data than LTE, at least on AT&T. But, the trend is toward greater coverage on LTE and reduced coverage on 4G.