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How do you know you are on LTE?

I'm signed up for LTE specifically, and smack dab in the middle of Phoenix (LTE area). Still says 4G for me. Speeds aren't as cool as LTE either... maxing out at like 4mbps down.

Wonder why AT&T map has me in the middle of an LTE area but I'm still on 4G (do I assume HSPA+)? At least it's better than the 3G my iPhone 4 is pushing. :)

(Oh, and LTE is toggled on in the settings)
 
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tekchic said:
I'm signed up for LTE specifically, and smack dab in the middle of Phoenix (LTE area). Still says 4G for me. Speeds aren't as cool as LTE either... maxing out at like 4mbps down.

Wonder why AT&T map has me in the middle of an LTE area but I'm still on 4G (do I assume HSPA+)? At least it's better than the 3G my iPhone 4 is pushing. :)

(Oh, and LTE is toggled on in the settings)
Click to expand...

I'd go to the nearest AT&T store and complain. See if you can find another AT&T user in your area with an iPad. I mean, it is possible the radio is defective. Unlikely, but possible.
 
Ugg said:
Why don't you want to look at a map?
Click to expand...

I suspect his point is that he doesn't trust the map and wants to see the real coverage.

Thanks to those who confirmed no LTE indicator on AT&T until you've signed up for service. I think they may have a free first month via ATT.com/iPad, I will give it a try this week sometime.
 
AT&T case.

4G when not activated or if using activated sim from iPad 2.

LTE showed up after transferring account to the new sim/iPad.
 
ZBoater said:
I'd go to the nearest AT&T store and complain. See if you can find another AT&T user in your area with an iPad. I mean, it is possible the radio is defective. Unlikely, but possible.
Click to expand...

I'm the first one in my circle of friends to upgrade to the new iPad, but I might take it into the AT&T store next week to see what's going on. I'll also test it from another part of Phoenix near downtown tomorrow and see if LTE lights up. So far all I've seen is the 4G indicator, I didn't even realize it would say LTE.

Here's a SS of my plan/settings (attached images).
 

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It is a little strange at first - I am in an ATT LTE area and my data plan moved over immediately, but the signal only came across as 4G last night.

I took the Ipad out with me today to test the LTE somewhere else, and it popped up immediately when I left the building. It's now steady LTE back inside the building with no problems at all. So, if it's not coming across inside, take your Ipad for a walk and see if it turns on.
 
tekchic said:
I'm the first one in my circle of friends to upgrade to the new iPad, but I might take it into the AT&T store next week to see what's going on. I'll also test it from another part of Phoenix near downtown tomorrow and see if LTE lights up. So far all I've seen is the 4G indicator, I didn't even realize it would say LTE.

Here's a SS of my plan/settings (attached images).
Click to expand...

I'm also in the Phoenix area. Haven't been able to get LTE from my home (haven't tried elsewhere yet), just 4G. Speeds are the same as they were on my iPad 2, so "4G" doesn't even make a difference :(. Some people on another thread were saying that they had issues connecting to LTE b/c they were still on the old plan (transferred from an old iPad) and AT&T was not able to upgrade their account unless they chose one of the new plans (i.e. 3GB/$30). I transferred my 2GB plan from the iPad 2. I hope that selecting the 3GB plan does the trick, but I'm not up for renewal until the beginning of next month. I wonder how Verizon users in this area are doing?
 
Phoenix area for me also (east valley Mesa/Gilbert/Chandler). AT&T map shows me in the middle of LTE coverage area. I have an active plan but only get 4G like everybody else is mentioning.

It's obvious that AT&T's coverage map is screwed.

So when they rolled out LTE, Phoenix was one of the first cities. What did they do, give us LTE for a couple do blocks only?
 
LittleRedBird said:
I'm also in the Phoenix area. Haven't been able to get LTE from my home (haven't tried elsewhere yet), just 4G. Speeds are the same as they were on my iPad 2, so "4G" doesn't even make a difference :(. Some people on another thread were saying that they had issues connecting to LTE b/c they were still on the old plan (transferred from an old iPad) and AT&T was not able to upgrade their account unless they chose one of the new plans (i.e. 3GB/$30). I transferred my 2GB plan from the iPad 2. I hope that selecting the 3GB plan does the trick, but I'm not up for renewal until the beginning of next month. I wonder how Verizon users in this area are doing?
Click to expand...

I am having the same problem in the Phoenix area as others. I transfered over my unlimited plan and have only been getting 4G indicator and the same speeds as my iPhone 4S. I have tested in N Scottsdale and E Mesa. I also drove the entire 101 and my wife checked the speed and we were on 4G the whole time. No LTE signal. Anyone in Phoenix get an LTE indicator yet?
 
For Verizon LTE iPads. It will only say 3G on inactive sims.

Once you activate the sim it will switch to LTE if you are in an LTE area.
 
LittleRedBird said:
I'm also in the Phoenix area. Haven't been able to get LTE from my home (haven't tried elsewhere yet), just 4G. Speeds are the same as they were on my iPad 2, so "4G" doesn't even make a difference :(. Some people on another thread were saying that they had issues connecting to LTE b/c they were still on the old plan (transferred from an old iPad) and AT&T was not able to upgrade their account unless they chose one of the new plans (i.e. 3GB/$30). I transferred my 2GB plan from the iPad 2. I hope that selecting the 3GB plan does the trick, but I'm not up for renewal until the beginning of next month. I wonder how Verizon users in this area are doing?
Click to expand...

I am usually in north Phoenix, Glendale, and Scottsdale. I'm on Verizon and I always have at least 3 bars of LTE and never fall back to 3G. Speeds are usually 15-25 down and 10-15 up.
 
tekchic said:
I'm the first one in my circle of friends to upgrade to the new iPad, but I might take it into the AT&T store next week to see what's going on. I'll also test it from another part of Phoenix near downtown tomorrow and see if LTE lights up. So far all I've seen is the 4G indicator, I didn't even realize it would say LTE.

Here's a SS of my plan/settings (attached images).
Click to expand...
A little off topic but does it take a while to access that account page? It does on mine even though the window says it should only take a few seconds
 
Update on my progress. I went to the AT&T store today. Their iPad said 4G just like mine. The gal there said they should all show 4G and not LTE. After some education I gave to her, we discovered that their demo iPad had a bad sim card in it. She swapped it out for a new one, and they started getting LTE speeds on their demo unit. She did the same for my iPad, and a few moments later I started receiving the LTE indicator and increased speeds. So if you are not getting LTE speeds when you think you should, you may have a bad sim card like I did.
 
Starfyre said:
I am not signed up for an LTE data plan, or any data plan at all. I want to know if there is some way to know for certain without looking at a picture of a map that i have LTE available before plunging the money for a data plan. I do not want to buy a data plan without knowing for certain and get 3G speeds. I will have to switch ATT if this is the case. Seeing 3G next to the Verizon text on the indicator concerns me a bit.
Click to expand...

Ask people you know with LTE devices if there is LTE coverage where you live. :)
 
dsquared81 said:
A little off topic but does it take a while to access that account page? It does on mine even though the window says it should only take a few seconds
Click to expand...

It does seem to be slow to pull up the account, even when I'm in true "LTE" land. Something interesting for the Phoenix people. I'm in the NW Valley (Glendale) and on launch day when I got the iPad and throughout the weekend, I was locked onto 4G and never LTE for some reason.

Monday when I went back to work, on the freeway (I-17, I work in Tempe), I did a soft reset and let it come up, and it seems like it pegged onto LTE. Since then, whether it's in Tempe, Glendale, Phoenix, Peoria, etc, it seems to never have gone back to the 4G, it always has LTE now.

Almost reminds me of "wardriving" in the old days where you'd drive around for an open wifi signal. Took a little bit of "wardriving" (and a soft reset) on my commute to work and now I get a perfect LTE signal. You might want to give it a shot.
 
Still no LTE for me. Maybe I'll have them replace my sim card. Ugh, dealing with the AT&T store goons.
 
sblanford said:
I am having the same problem in the Phoenix area as others. I transfered over my unlimited plan and have only been getting 4G indicator and the same speeds as my iPhone 4S. I have tested in N Scottsdale and E Mesa. I also drove the entire 101 and my wife checked the speed and we were on 4G the whole time. No LTE signal. Anyone in Phoenix get an LTE indicator yet?
Click to expand...

astral125 said:
I am usually in north Phoenix, Glendale, and Scottsdale. I'm on Verizon and I always have at least 3 bars of LTE and never fall back to 3G. Speeds are usually 15-25 down and 10-15 up.
Click to expand...

I was in Tempe (ASU campus) today and got an LTE signal!! Speed test result was 44.15 down and 13.99 up. Download speed doubled my home wifi connection. So...it DOES exist here :D! Still haven't been able to find an LTE spot further southeast (Chandler/Mesa/Gilbert), though.
 
Starfyre said:
I am on Verizon, I just turned off my Wifi and it says "3G", does that mean... LTE is not in my area? O_O?
Click to expand...

I signed up and paid for the Verizon plan today, and my ipad says 3g. It's slow too. Could someone explain? Thx
 
ZBoater said:
Yes, it will say LTE, and it is AWESOME!!!!

(sorry, I don't know whether it will say LTE if no data plan is active. I activated both my iPads so I can't say. But when active, it will say LTE if you are in an LTE area).
Click to expand...

Indeed LTE is awesome!:)
 
When I bought my iPad 3 I first bought AT&T did not see any difference in speed frome my ipad2 did not see lte in the upper left hand corner returned it for a Verizion I see the lte and the speed is amazing!
 
patricem said:
According to the Verizon map yes I am. Shouldn't it at least say 4G? Thx
Click to expand...

4G is only used on AT&T models to designate when they are in an HSPA+ area--Verizon models will show 3G when outside of LTE coverage.
 
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