Cellular Service Bars Label 3G vs LTE vs 4G

[jcbudge]

I’ve just switched to a 4G plan. My account verified this change. Why does my cellular service sometimes still say 3G and/or LTE like it did on my old plan?

[Nezgar · Accepted solution]

@jcbudge LTE = 4G radio connection.

When Public Mobile refers to 3G or 4G "speed" - it's merely the speed throttling associated with each plan. 3G speed plans, and 4G speed plans can both use 3G or 4G radio signals, just 4G plans allow "up to" 100Mbps, and 3G plans allow "up to" 3Mbps,

[softech]

@jcbudge  4G = LTE, just a different way of saying 

wait 48 hours and perform a speed test to confirm the speed

[jcbudge]

After switching to my current 4G plan, I still have never seen a 4G label beside the data signal bars. I always see nothing, LTE, or 3G beside the signal bars. I live in London Ontario (a moderately sized urban area in Ontario so signal strength shouldn’t be the reason). Should I see ‘4G’ beside the signal bars at least sometimes on the new plan?

thanks

[Nezgar]

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@jcbudge wrote:

I’ve just switched to a 4G plan. My account verified this change. Why does my cellular service sometimes still say 3G and/or LTE like it did on my old plan?

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Your phone will prefer an LTE signal, but will switch to 3G either when the LTE signal is too weak, or 3G when you are on a phone call, as Public Mobile doesn't support voice over LTE at this time.

The only difference between the 3G/4G plans is that the "3G" plans throttle LTE data speed to 3Mbps, whereas the new "4G" plans throttle LTE data speed to 100Mbps.

[Kristowhy]

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@jcbudge wrote:

I’ve just switched to a 4G plan. My account verified this change. Why does my cellular service sometimes still say 3G and/or LTE like it did on my old plan?

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That's because the only difference going from the "3G" plan to the "4G" plan with PM is the data speed...both are on the 4G LTE network (unless you manually force to use 3G only)  With "3G" being up to 3Mbps up/down and "4G" up to 100Mbps up/down.

As others have mentioned, at present, voice calls only use the 3G HSPA network (not 4G LTE).

If your phone is changing from LTE to 3G it likely means you are in an area with only 3G coverage and connected to the 3G HSPA network.

Next time you make a voice call you can see the indicators change from LTE\4G to 3G\H\H+.  

[popping]

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@jcbudge wrote:

I’ve just switched to a 4G plan. My account verified this change. Why does my cellular service sometimes still say 3G and/or LTE like it did on my old plan?

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PM plan uses 3G signal for voice calls.

Let us know if data is using 3G signal.  Thanks

[Yummy]

Maybe signal is low so phone tries to get best reception?