topic Re: LTE, 3g, 4g question in Get Support

LTE, 3g, 4g question

Ashleyroy1974 — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 06:48:59 GMT

I just changed my plan and moved from LTE 3g to 4g but in my phone settings it only has the option to change to either LTE (recommended) or 3g. Online my phone shows it is a 4g phone as well. Am I doing something wrong. I have a moto g fast. I went to settings, network, preferred network type. Only options is LTE and 3g. Thanks.

Re: LTE, 3g, 4g question

Handy1 — Sun, 29 Jan 2023 17:57:45 GMT

@Ashleyroy1974 4G/LTE. Same thing

edit when calling with PM it’s using 3G for voice

Re: LTE, 3g, 4g question

Meow — Sun, 29 Jan 2023 18:06:39 GMT

LTE is 4G

Re: LTE, 3g, 4g question

hycm53 — Sun, 29 Jan 2023 18:33:22 GMT

@Ashleyroy1974 wrote:
I just changed my plan and moved from LTE 3g to 4g but in my phone settings it only has the option to change to either LTE (recommended) or 3g. Online my phone shows it is a 4g phone as well. Am I doing something wrong. I have a moto g fast. I went to settings, network, preferred network type. Only options is LTE and 3g. Thanks.

Set your phone to "LTE", "LTE"=4G.

Re: LTE, 3g, 4g question

tgreek7 — Sun, 29 Jan 2023 18:45:26 GMT

Hi @Ashleyroy1974,

I too had this question, and had to be told by my younger and more tech-savvy colleagues that LTE means 4G. From my research, I give you this:

"They're the same thing, or very nearly so. LTE is the project that started from GSM and created 3G through to (so far) 5G. The acronym stands for 'Long Term Evolution'. Some carriers started using the 4G technology before 4G was officially ratified, so they called it LTE, and have carried on with the naming." - Quora

Clearly this is a common question. So for most phones, LTE will display for what is 4G tech/speed. Only concern would be if you are seeing 3G (in an urban area where cell service should be great).

Hope this helps. Cheers,

Re: LTE, 3g, 4g question

mydoghunter — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 00:43:55 GMT

@hycm53 @Meow @Handy1 @tgreek7 @Ashleyroy1974

LTE stands for “Long Term Evolution” and is a marketing phrase to signify progression toward true 4G. When someone says 4G LTE, they are actually talking about something weaker than true 4G, but better than simple 3G.

In short, it’s an upgraded 3G, but worse than true 4G. 4G LTE networks send data to 4G LTE phones at a rate lower than 100 Mbps.

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That said, I recently upgraded my plan from 3G to 4G also. When I set my mobile network to LTE/WCDMA/GSM, I was connecting to the LTE network on PM. When I changed the mobile network setting to just WCDMA/GSM, my connection then showed 4G. I cannot explain why, but this is what happened for me. EDIT: See response from @hTideGnow. I ran a speed test and LTE setting is the way to go! Thanks!

Re: LTE, 3g, 4g question

hTideGnow — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 00:25:42 GMT

HI @mydoghunter LTE is true 4G. WCDMA is 3G

you have a Samsung, Samsung mistakenly shows 4G whenit is in fact connecting to 3G or WCDMA. it is a common Samsung problem

But if you see LTE, you are good, you have 4G

Re: LTE, 3g, 4g question

dust2dust — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 00:31:25 GMT

Could you go into settings, about phone, status information, sim card status - and look for any mention of IMS. Although I wonder if volte was enabled and one were to set to 3G whether a call would use volte anyway. I doubt it.