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Woomy123

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 12, 2009
201
0
how come EE has changed the name of LTE to 4G? i thought it looked better when it said LTE? is this something to do with the doubling of speeds and if your connected to a none doubled???
 

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how come EE has changed the name of LTE to 4G? i thought it looked better when it said LTE? is this something to do with the doubling of speeds and if your connected to a none doubled???

I think what you are seeing is when LTE is not available it goes to HSPA+ which is what is referred to as 4G.

I think that's what is happening to you.
 
I think what you are seeing is when LTE is not available it goes to HSPA+ which is what is referred to as 4G.

I think that's what is happening to you.

HSPA+ has never been referred to as 4G in the UK, that only happens with the false advertising of US networks.

It's really as simple as some bright spark at EE thought 4G was more exciting for them to use, same reason they tweet #4GEE these days.
 
4G and LTE are 2 differnet things though so maybe they have been made to change as LTE is misleading to the speeds EE provide as they are really much closer to 4G?
 
4G and LTE are 2 differnet things though so maybe they have been made to change as LTE is misleading to the speeds EE provide as they are really much closer to 4G?

No, they aren't.

LTE is classed as a 4G technology, just like UMTS (and all it's derivatives and updates) is considered 3G.
 
how come EE has changed the name of LTE to 4G? i thought it looked better when it said LTE? is this something to do with the doubling of speeds and if your connected to a none doubled???

Just be thankful you get such a good download speed. The most I've got is just over 36 on EE 4G here in London. I typically get around 20 to 25. That said this is still faster then what I use to get on 3G. I do think LTE sounds better then 4G although I'm not so sure it was EE's decision. It may well have been Apple's decision to change it with iOS 7. I'm on iOS 6 on my iPhone 5 and I still have LTE as the designation.
 
My iPhone 5 on EE still flips between LTE and 4G when I walk out of my house.

It shouldn't, it should flick between GPRS, 3G and LTE if you haven't updated your carrier settings profile (the update went out to most customers on the 19th). After the update you should see GPRS/3G/4G.

I've just spoken to a friend who still works at EE, he says the reason given internally was that the average customer did not understand what LTE is, and both Vodafone and Three are pushing the "4G" name in advertising so EE management decided to go with using 4G as well.
 
It shouldn't, it should flick between GPRS, 3G and LTE if you haven't updated your carrier settings profile (the update went out to most customers on the 19th). After the update you should see GPRS/3G/4G.

I've just spoken to a friend who still works at EE, he says the reason given internally was that the average customer did not understand what LTE is, and both Vodafone and Three are pushing the "4G" name in advertising so EE management decided to go with using 4G as well.

Nope; I got the carrier settings update after installing the iOS 7 release.

Oddly, when I walk out of my house, I go 'off' of WiFi, it then picks up an LTE signal and then after a few minutes further walk, switches to 4G.

An old mast, maybe? Or something else...? Odd, either way.
 
Nope; I got the carrier settings update after installing the iOS 7 release.

Oddly, when I walk out of my house, I go 'off' of WiFi, it then picks up an LTE signal and then after a few minutes further walk, switches to 4G.

An old mast, maybe? Or something else...? Odd, either way.

Any chance u could post 2 screen shots confirming this for us? :)
 
Why does it matter if it says LTE or 4G. As long as your getting a good internet speed then be happy with it.
 
o - GPRS
E - EDGE
3G - HSDPA (up to 7.2mbps)
4G - HSPA & DC-HSPA+ (up to 42mbps)
LTE - LTE upto 100mbps.
 
LTE is not 4G. LTE-Advanced is.

The ITU reassessed the standard some time ago and decided to include normal LTE into the 4G standard, it is now considered 4G compliant.


o - GPRS
E - EDGE
3G - HSDPA (up to 7.2mbps)
4G - HSPA & DC-HSPA+ (up to 42mbps)
LTE - LTE upto 100mbps.

Only in the USA.

To add:
(Since iOS 7 the "o" doesn't apply anymore, the phone should be reporting "GPRS" now).
 
I've just spoken to a friend who still works at EE, he says the reason given internally was that the average customer did not understand what LTE is, and both Vodafone and Three are pushing the "4G" name in advertising so EE management decided to go with using 4G as well.

It's quite plainly clear this is the reason.

The networks are all trying to push the benefits of 4G, so it needs to be standardised in order for consumers to easily understand what the product is. It may be different, but that doesn't matter, if you are somebody who is savvy enough to know the difference, its likely you are the kind of person who might get more use out of it anyway.

One example were when HD TVs were first starting to be marketed. We were told how they were HD or HD-Ready, yet the reality is that most of these sets weren't full HD@1080. So many consumers will be sat with what they believe is a full on HD TV, but its not.
 
It's quite plainly clear this is the reason.

The networks are all trying to push the benefits of 4G, so it needs to be standardised in order for consumers to easily understand what the product is. It may be different, but that doesn't matter, if you are somebody who is savvy enough to know the difference, its likely you are the kind of person who might get more use out of it anyway.

One example were when HD TVs were first starting to be marketed. We were told how they were HD or HD-Ready, yet the reality is that most of these sets weren't full HD@1080. So many consumers will be sat with what they believe is a full on HD TV, but its not.

Yes - same reason "Airport" (remember that?!) changed to "Wifi"
 
The ITU reassessed the standard some time ago and decided to include normal LTE into the 4G standard, it is now considered 4G compliant.

No, they are not calling it 4G, they mentioned that some carriers are calling it that way.
 
Why does it matter if it says LTE or 4G. As long as your getting a good internet speed then be happy with it.

Exactly. who cares. If you're getting the speed and you're happy, who cares if they call it " 400G"
Ahh, First world problems..:eek:

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Why does it matter if it says LTE or 4G. As long as your getting a good internet speed then be happy with it.

I liked it when it said LTE. idk why, I preferred it that way. 4G just looks odd. Change it back EE, now.

Get a grip.....nothing else going on in your life.
 
HSPA+ has never been referred to as 4G in the UK, that only happens with the false advertising of US networks.

It's really as simple as some bright spark at EE thought 4G was more exciting for them to use, same reason they tweet #4GEE these days.

Its not false advertising. HSPA+ = 4G

Its internationally accepted norm, adopted by the United Nations ITU regulatory body.
 
The UK markets LTE as 4G so me thinks they've switched to 4G labeling so as not to confuse consumers.
 
The ITU reassessed the standard some time ago and decided to include normal LTE into the 4G standard, it is now considered 4G compliant.


Only in the USA.

To add:
(Since iOS 7 the "o" doesn't apply anymore, the phone should be reporting "GPRS" now).

But when they did that they also granted Deutsche Telekom's request to include HSPA in the definition of 4G. DT wanted it because T-Mobile USA at the time was the only nationwide carrier that hadn't deployed LTE or WiMAX and thus couldn't advertise "4G".

Also, it isn't just US telecoms who refer to HSPA as "4G". Canadian telecoms do as well.

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I've just spoken to a friend who still works at EE, he says the reason given internally was that the average customer did not understand what LTE is, and both Vodafone and Three are pushing the "4G" name in advertising so EE management decided to go with using 4G as well.

Shouldn't Three change their name to "Four" now? :D

It's interesting that Vodafone and Three pushed 4G instead of LTE in their advertising. Over here Verizon has always pushed the LTE designation, probably because they were annoyed that the GSM carriers were able to get HSPA redefined as "4G".
 
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