Paid for 4g and only getting LTE

[chinokent]

I switched from a small plan to the new plan which gives 4g however 4g never appears on my phone.

[computergeek541]

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@softech wrote:

on any phone ,  4G = LTE

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Unfotunately, the above isn't the case.  Many phones, including the one that I am using now, label any HSPA connection as 4g.  This isn't an isolated thing.  I can think of Samsung and HTC that have done this for many years.  Adding to the confusing is how these same phones will sometimes give an indication, of 3g, 4g, H, or H+ to all refer to identical network types.  Also, some of these phones will change whether it says 3g or 4g for an HSPA connection based which carrier's SIM card is installed (even for the exact same type of network). In some ways, 4g really could mean anything.                                                                  

[computergeek541]

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@Nezgar wrote:

HSPA, WCDMA = 3G, often displayed as H or H+

LTE = 4G, often displayed as 4G, LTE, or LTE+

Your phone displaying "LTE" is pretty much a guarantee that you're getting LTE service, more-so than "4G" as some phones even display H+ as 4G to add to the confusion from historical marketing decisions by some companies...

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Ironically, I find it far more likely that us customers would be confused and think that Public Mobile is only giving us 4G instead of LTE (instead of the other way around as in the tread title). I say this because many phones label HSPA+ as 4g. Carriers have also called what almost all customer would call 3g as 4g for years.

[Nezgar]

HSPA, WCDMA = 3G, often displayed as H or H+

LTE = 4G, often displayed as 4G, LTE, or LTE+

Your phone displaying "LTE" is pretty much a guarantee that you're getting LTE service, more-so than "4G" as some phones even display H+ as 4G to add to the confusion from historical marketing decisions by some companies...

[softech]

@chinokent 

4G just means 4th generation of broadband cellular network technolo

LTE is the more technical term, it stands for Long-Term Evolution

on any phone ,  4G = LTE

It is true that to be precise, there are LTE, LTE+, LTE-A.  Then some people classified the wireless generation as 3G 3.5G 4G. But for consumers product, they simplified things and 4G=LTE

[chinokent]

thanks, however I'm still confused.  So what's the difference between 4G and LTE, and is 4G or LTE better? In short, 4G offers a much faster speed, more stability and access to a larger variety of online activities. LTE is a half-point between 3G and 4G, so its performance suffers compared to the fourth generation.

This seems to say it is not the same.  When I was I was in Mexico last month my phone registered 4G  My phone now just says LTE, and while it seems some consider this 4G the advertisement clearly said 4G  My phone seems quite slow compared to the 4G I used in Mexico.  

Call me still a bit confused

[softech]

@chinokent   please note that it will take as many as 48 hours before the new speed will come

If you have made the change for over 48 hours, download the speedtest app and test the speed.  But before you test it, make sure your Preferred network type is set with Automatic, or choose one that has 4G or LTE there

[JK8 · Accepted solution]

@chinokent 

They are the same LTE = 4G.