iPhone 5s (att) seems to prefer 4G over LTE

[shenan1982]

my mistake. i misread. I would honestly go to an AT&T store and complain about it. they can try a new sim card (yes thats actually worked for me before). Also they'll have other 5Ses in the store that will hopefully show LTE while urs show 4G so u can prove something is up.

a) I have been through 3 sim cards and 4 iPhone 5s, and was able to replicate the issue on all combinations. I still have my iPhone 5 and it works fine on LTE with the SIM card that doesn't work well on the 5s

b) Going into the AT&T store to talk about an issue like that is like going into a McDonalds and discussing the culinary technology behind their food with the guy frying the fries. It's not productive for me, nor them. Same with AT&T. There is nothing gained by going to the store. They don't even effectively communicate up to corporate, because as with any retail, the corporate office doesn't take much seriously that comes from a retail store. Just a bunch of uneducated, unskilled labor.

 

[sdsvtdriver]

I had this problem when I went 4s to 5. I had to call AT&T and tell them reprovision the device. All was well after that.

 

[shenan1982]

I had this problem when I went 4s to 5. I had to call AT&T and tell them reprovision the device. All was well after that.

Been there, tried that, new SIM, reprovisioned, had em reset my network connection. Never had the issue except on this phone.

 

[asleep]

Now this is a problem.

I've stayed with 4S because I figured later models would be regularly bumped from the highest speed bands. Seems to be happening.

 

[adam044]

My 5s seems to like the 1 bar of LTE over the 2-3 bars of 4g at my house

 

[grinny11]

I live in and work in downtown SF. My at&T 5s is scheduled for delivery today. Will let you know my experience with it.

 

[zzoomp09]

my mistake. i misread. I would honestly go to an AT&T store and complain about it. they can try a new sim card (yes thats actually worked for me before). Also they'll have other 5Ses in the store that will hopefully show LTE while urs show 4G so u can prove something is up.

this

I had the issue last year where my iPhone5 did the same exact thing. Went to an AT&T store and they changed my sim card, improved a bit but it was still happening. It even takes time to reconnect back to LTE after a call, or wouldn't connect to LTE at all until I use the airplane toggle. Some AT&T carrier update did the fix and my iPhone5 doesn't do this anymore. Have to wait till I get my 5S tomorrow and see if it does the same thing.

 

[Col Ronson]

Now this is a problem.

I've stayed with 4S because I figured later models would be regularly bumped from the highest speed bands. Seems to be happening.

except nobody else seems to be suffering from this problem.

 

[shenan1982]

except nobody else seems to be suffering from this problem.

Did you miss posts 6, 8, 11, and 30?

Oye.... if you have nothing productive to add to the thread, leave!

 

[alent1234]

I agree, but that's a whole different issue, and I have always noticed it with 5 outside the major metro cores I travel to, but this is a bigger issue. It's literally going down to 4G, then not returning to LTE for some time, and often not at all without an airplane mode toggle.

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Yep, when it's on "4G" it really is 4G speedwise. LTE in my area I see 30-40 mbps, real strong signal. HSPA+ I only get 5-10 mbps

i'm in NYC and it changes all the time. in manhattan as well. its in LTE most of the time, but goes down to 4G a lot of times. same on my galaxy S3.

even then LTE is more hype than anything else

 

[shenan1982]

i'm in NYC and it changes all the time. in manhattan as well. its in LTE most of the time, but goes down to 4G a lot of times. same on my galaxy S3.

even then LTE is more hype than anything else

My 5 was 99% of the time on LTE in SF... and now my 5s is about 50%... definitely not hype, LTE gets me 40mbps, 4G gets me 8mbps.

If they can't resolve I'll have to go back to the 5.. :-(

 

[alent1234]

yes LTE is faster, but most of the content is virtualized in the cloud on over subscribed servers

 

[Col Ronson]

Did you miss posts 6, 8, 11, and 30?

Oye.... if you have nothing productive to add to the thread, leave!

#8 is an iPhone 5.
#30 is describing basically everyone. LTE signals will not penetrate into buildings as well as 4G signals....and he's saying he'll get LTE over 4G anyways, so that's not really a problem??? lol

Instead of being a sarcastic ass, how about you realize that 99.995% of iPhone users do not have this problem. Because if they did, this thread would be 600000 posts long. Most people are getting LTE coverage no problem.

 

[Fireproof!]

New Space Gray 5S - I've noticed that it's almost always on 4G, even though my iPad shows LTE right next to it.

Is it worth trying to mess with AT&T about it? Or wait and see if an update addresses it?

 

[shenan1982]

New Space Gray 5S - I've noticed that it's almost always on 4G, even though my iPad shows LTE right next to it.

Is it worth trying to mess with AT&T about it? Or wait and see if an update addresses it?

Per Col Ronson, the issue doesn't exist, so why bother?

 

[Col Ronson]

Per Col Ronson, the issue doesn't exist, so why bother?

keep crying about it.

 

[iAlphard]

Yea definitely problem with the firmware. But it's also not a surprise, since iPhone has the weakest antenna compared to the competitors. Maybe they adjusted the power level too low on the firmware on iOS 7.

 

[phositadc]

I agree that this could be a serious issue. FYI my experience is that my 5s on AT&T has about the same LTE coverage and strength as android phones I've recently owned. I only used an iPhone 5 briefly so I can't really compare to that.

 

[gCloud]

And here was I thinking 4G is LTE !

 

[jrswizzle]

Per Col Ronson, the issue doesn't exist, so why bother?

What software are you on on the 5s? Have you updated to 7.0.1?

 

[Col Ronson]

What software are you on on the 5s? Have you updated to 7.0.1?

Yes.

And for the record i never said it was a non-issue. I said the issue is not pervasive enough to point to the conclusion theres some sort of defect in the design of the 5S. But the OP was somehow offended i suggested he try going to an AT&T store for help. My bad.

 

[jrswizzle]

Yes.

And for the record i never said it was a non-issue. I said the issue is not pervasive enough to point to the conclusion theres some sort of defect in the design of the 5S. But the OP was somehow offended i suggested he try going to an AT&T store for help. My bad.

I was asking the OP if he was on the latest software. You're having the same problem on 7.0.1?

When I first got my phone activated (launch day) it stayed on 4G for a little while. I rebooted and it came on as LTE.

You sure you don't have "Enable LTE" unchecked?

 

[Dontazemebro]

I'll be receiving an AT&T 5s later on this week. I reside in West Texas and we just got LTE a few months ago but I'll report back with my findings.

 

[shenan1982]

I was asking the OP if he was on the latest software. You're having the same problem on 7.0.1?

When I first got my phone activated (launch day) it stayed on 4G for a little while. I rebooted and it came on as LTE.

You sure you don't have "Enable LTE" unchecked?

Yes I have current 7.0.1, yes I have LTE enabled. Did you read my post? I stated it went back and forth between LTE and 4G... without LTE Enabled that would be impossible.

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But the OP was somehow offended i suggested he try going to an AT&T store for help. My bad.

What value is an AT&T store? It's only purpose on earth is to sell phones and accessories. There are no technical employees in a store. Even the "technicians" are just kids who know how to reset voicemail passwords.

 

[Harthag]

I'm located in the Chicago burbs and am not noticing any issue (yet). Sold my 5 and have had the 5S since Friday and am not noticing any difference in LTE. Also using a Moto X and using the same nano sim for both and am getting the same performance. Now that I've typed this response I'm sure I will start having this issue tomorrow

*Edit- I set up my 5S as a new phone and am running 7.0.1