LTE, 3g, 4g question

[Ashleyroy1974]

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. 

[dust2dust]

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.

[hTideGnow]

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

[mydoghunter]

@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!

[tgreek7]

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,

[hycm53 · Accepted solution]

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@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. 

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

[Meow]

LTE is 4G

[Handy1]

@Ashleyroy1974  4G/LTE.  Same thing 

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