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AT&T Might Finally Ditch '5GE' Marketing Following National Advertising Board Recommendation [Updated]

Jeffrosproto said:
Even in urban areas, there does seem to be practical difference between LTE and 5GE. Perhaps it's simply because I see the indicator, but 5GE does feel faster (and I believe that is what AT&T has stipulated the case would be, per their marketing materials). It would be a shame if everything were to go back to labelled as "LTE" - perhaps "LTE+" could be another (albeit confusing) alternative that doesn't use the actual 5G moniker.
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I agree it seems faster than what lte seems to be, but I think that’s because 5GE would be labeled lte if ATT wasn’t playing games.

I was just saying that I can assure you, that just because you are receiving a 5GE signal does not mean you will ever get 5G. I promise. With the limitations of 5G and the fact I almost get 5GE everywhere I get any signal at all - even in the most remote areas, it would be impossible.
 
zorinlynx said:
Even though the "5Ge" label is misleading, AT&T is only using it in areas where they've upgraded their network. I still see "LTE" in some places, especially outside of the city.

It'd be nice if they could come up with something that suggests it's upgraded LTE, but not 5G. Maybe "LTE+"? In the end it doesn't matter that much; no matter where you are you're just going to use your phone when you need to, but it's nifty to know where you might have better cellular data performance.
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This. I would rather see them using something to let you know your in an enhanced LTE area instead. I also see areas of LTE, 4G and yes 3G in some really small back woods town in Illinois. And then on my drive back home I will see it go back to 4G, then LTE and then 5Ge.
 
I can't believe ATT still think there is nothing wrong with using 5GE on phones that don't Actually have 5G capability. I don't know why they got away with thus for so long.
 
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Mo398 said:
Finally, I'm so tired of explaining to friends and family that they don't have 5G - its so infuriating when they keep arguing "well my phone says 5G, so are you calling me a lier"
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The obvious response is, "no, I'm calling you and easily mislead idiot."
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NinjaHERO said:
I'm happy to see the "fake" 5G label going away.
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Who wants to guess how long before they start advertising (not shipping) "6G".
 
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zorinlynx said:
Even though the "5Ge" label is misleading, AT&T is only using it in areas where they've upgraded their network. I still see "LTE" in some places, especially outside of the city.

It'd be nice if they could come up with something that suggests it's upgraded LTE, but not 5G. Maybe "LTE+"? In the end it doesn't matter that much; no matter where you are you're just going to use your phone when you need to, but it's nifty to know where you might have better cellular data performance.
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Yes this is the one reason I would like the icon. Then I know if it is worth getting a 5G device. Even if it shows on the map, it may still not work exactly in you house, apartment, or at work.
 
rjohnstone said:
T-Mobile is the one who labeled HSPA+ (3.5G) as 4G, and AT&T went along with it.
4G-LTE is 4G, not 3.5G.
5GE is just rebranded LTE-A (still 4G)
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4G-LTE is not 4G. It’s close, but it doesn’t have the same speeds. It’s just rebranded 3G. A simple google search bring up a ton of articlea on the subject.
www.signalbooster.com

The Difference Between 4G and LTE

While most of us are familiar with the terms 4G and LTE, do we really understand the difference between the two?
www.signalbooster.com www.signalbooster.com
 
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I have AT&T 5Ge at my office and I get blistering fast speeds like 4Kbps down and .3Kbps up on average.

No, I am not joking. Maybe when they move to true 5G I might break the one megabit per second barrier....
 
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Slimy... preying on the uneducated. Good thing I don’t have AT&T, I don’t want to give my money to a company that pretends
 
ATT should just call it 6G Evolution since it’s slowly evolving into 6G if you think about it. Hell, just call it 10GE
 
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They "might" be misleading?

I'm guessing the idiot that posted that works for Apple.

Sadly, AT&T is still a better choice than Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. Verizon has no problem cutting off first responder's internet in the middle of a crisis if they don't upgrade. Sprint & T-Mobile have crap coverage.
 
gaximus said:
4G-LTE is not 4G. It’s close, but it doesn’t have the same speeds. It’s just rebranded 3G. A simple google search bring up a ton of articlea on the subject.
www.signalbooster.com

The Difference Between 4G and LTE

While most of us are familiar with the terms 4G and LTE, do we really understand the difference between the two?
www.signalbooster.com www.signalbooster.com
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Yes... there are a ton, and all have their opinions on the matter. We can both look for confirmation bias to support each others argument, but the reality is the IMT-Advanced standard (true 4G), has yet to me met under any existing 4G branded network. Show me one publicly available cell tower outside of a research facility that can handle a nominal data rate of 1000Mbit/s sitting stationary to a tower. Best 4G network I've every seen is in the 700-900 Mbit/s range in South Korea and that is under perfect conditions. Their average is still below 100Mbit/s.

ITU pretty much nullified IMT-Advanced as the 4G "standard" by allowing T-Mobile to call HSPA+ 4G back in 2010.
It really destroyed the ITU's credibility in the marketing space. In 2012 they tried to backtrack on that by introducing new requirements, that basically lowered thresholds to meet "4G" requirements.

Current Sub 6 5G networks don't meet full ITU "standards" for 5G (IMT-2020 is pretty much finalized as the 5G standard). Min/max data rate is 10Gbit/s and 20Gbit/s.
So are they 4.5G?

But then again, if you look at the bare minimum for IMT-2020 as defined in "dense urban areas", AT&T's LTE-A (5GE) meets that criteria for 5G, so is it 4G or 5G?

Seriously as long as the ITU keeps letting "close enough" be the determining factor, the standards are pointless when it comes to the branding and marketing.
 
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US customer here. Was annoyed in Europe when my phone showed 4G because that usually means slow HSPA connection but low and behold, it was just LTE named properly. Rinse repeat for 5G(E)
 
zorinlynx said:
Even though the "5Ge" label is misleading, AT&T is only using it in areas where they've upgraded their network. I still see "LTE" in some places, especially outside of the city.

It'd be nice if they could come up with something that suggests it's upgraded LTE, but not 5G. Maybe "LTE+"? In the end it doesn't matter that much; no matter where you are you're just going to use your phone when you need to, but it's nifty to know where you might have better cellular data performance.
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It's usually called "LTE Advanced in Canada.
 
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Rainshadow said:
you say that. And so did I. Until I moved to a place that doesn’thave any other Effective service provider. Sure, you can use another company that still uses ATT towers, but guess where your money still ends up.

you get what you get regardless of if you get upset. This day and age requires me to be connected for work etc.
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If I ever end up in a similar situation, I’ll try Verizon first. If still no luck then I’ll build my own CDMA tower in my backyard so I can connect to Verizon’s network. Hell, I’ll even give it to them for free.
 
Wait...
MacRumors said:
Update 1:29 p.m.: AT&T has told LightReading that it does not plan to remove the 5GE icon from phones because it is not considered advertising and thus falls outside of the NARB's recommendation.
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There's an update that said otherwise. So can the admins change the title? Right now, the title is obviously misleading and inaccurate.
 
MacRumors said:
Update 1:29 p.m.: AT&T has told LightReading that it does not plan to remove the 5GE icon from phones because it is not considered advertising and thus falls outside of the NARB's recommendation.
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I can see how AT&T is confused. This isn't advertising, it's just a giant middle finger to anyone who thinks standards and honest marketing actually mean anything.
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Aftermath747 said:
I like the 5GE indicator so I know when I’m in an area with upgraded LTE.
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There was absolutely nothing stopping AT&T from calling this "e-LTE", or something similar. (Or, "4Ge", as calling 4G "LTE" is just the result of the same shenanigans last time around.) Instead they wanted to pretend to have 5G, just like they pretended to have 4G before it was actually a thing.
 
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