So does the AT&T iPhone 4S always show 4G even if you aren't in a 4G area?

[RotaryP7]

From what am I am seeing, it doesn't switch from 4G to 3G. I think it will stay on 4G since all their towers has been upgraded to support HSPA+ .. If anything you will just see it go from 4G to EDGE. Actually you know what was weird.. The other day I was driving around Miami and one area in Miami. My signal went from 4G to "searching.." Now I'm thinking.. Have they just eliminated EDGE or 3G on the 4S? Therefore it had no way in giving me signal?

And yes, it has never done that before.

 

[soco]

Queens is very solidly HSPA+ territory, so your co-worker's experience has no bearing on the discussion at hand. Also, quibbling over whether HSPA+ qualifies as 4G has no bearing either. There are PLENTY of other threads which discuss this, there is no need to rehash those arguments here.

The question was whether there is ever a time when an iPhone 4S would display the 3G indicator on AT&T. I believe the answer is yes, in situations that I've already explained.

Sorry, I didn't mean to break your thread's rules. Please don't ban me.

 

[wordoflife]

In my experience my phone has jumped from No Service to Edge back to No Service to 1 bar of 4G.

Not sure if that's just because I'm in HSPA+ or not ... but I wouldn't be surprised if AT&T tricked all the towers to display HSPA+ which is what I'm guessing they did.

 

[Spectrum Abuser]

The iPhone 4S will display 4G when you're in a HSPA+ enabled area. That area also happens to be in just about any area you can pick up a 3G signal as AT&T has been working to upgrade the backhaul since '10.

P.S,
anyone who thinks they will just 'trick' the towers into thinking they are 4G seriously needs to rethink that statement. That would open AT&T up to a whole new world of legal issues.

 

[cynics]

My daily check for a 3G screen shot. Seeya tomorrow

 

[BiggAW]

Differentiating is easy and the 4S can do it. If AT&T is using an HSPA+ radio on a slow tower, it's still technically a 4G signal.
...

Hell, even LTE doesn't meet the old definition of 4G.
LTE Advanced does.

I'm pretty sure most of all of their 3G network is HSPA+. The difference is in the backhaul.

Yes, LTE doesn't meet the original definition of 4G, but HSPA+ was never supposed to be 4G. LTE was.

 

[rjohnstone]

I'm pretty sure most of all of their 3G network is HSPA+. The difference is in the backhaul.

Yes, LTE doesn't meet the original definition of 4G, but HSPA+ was never supposed to be 4G. LTE was.

LTE and WiMax were never considered 4G either.
They were initially defined as 3.9G by the ITU.

Here is the official statement made by the ITU regarding 4G.
Even in this statement, 4G still remains technically undefined.

Following a detailed evaluation against stringent technical and operational criteria, ITU has determined that “LTE-Advanced” and “WirelessMAN-Advanced” should be accorded the official designation of IMT-Advanced. As the most advanced technologies currently defined for global wireless mobile broadband communications, IMT-Advanced is considered as “4G”, although it is recognized that this term, while undefined, may also be applied to the forerunners of these technologies, LTE and WiMax, and to other evolved 3G technologies providing a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed. The detailed specifications of the IMT-Advanced technologies will be provided in a new ITU-R Recommendation expected in early 2012.

 

[cynics]

LTE and WiMax were never considered 4G either.
They were initially defined as 3.9G by the ITU.

Here is the official statement made by the ITU regarding 4G.
Even in this statement, 4G still remains technically undefined.

I think the problem many people have is the change. LTE while maybe not technically 4G it's for the most part always been called as such. Quite a few devices even say "LTE" or "H+". But one day you had 3G the next you have 4G.

Let's face it HSPA+ can barely be compared to LTE. There is a substantial jump in perform. While I think HSPA+ is more then adequate the fastest speed test I've seen on this forum are slower then my slowest LTE speed test. I've seen some pretty impressive numbers from AT&T's LTE network too not just Verizon.

Like I mentioned this 4g marketing crap is just to deceive consumers. Iut is probably on the take from AT&T and/or Apple. Changing the badge on my car doesn't make it a ferrari.

 

[rjohnstone]

I think the problem many people have is the change. LTE while maybe not technically 4G it's for the most part always been called as such. Quite a few devices even say "LTE" or "H+". But one day you had 3G the next you have 4G.

Let's face it HSPA+ can barely be compared to LTE. There is a substantial jump in perform. While I think HSPA+ is more then adequate the fastest speed test I've seen on this forum are slower then my slowest LTE speed test. I've seen some pretty impressive numbers from AT&T's LTE network too not just Verizon.

Like I mentioned this 4g marketing crap is just to deceive consumers. Iut is probably on the take from AT&T and/or Apple. Changing the badge on my car doesn't make it a ferrari.

It was T-Mobile that pushed for the 4G name change, not AT&T.
AT&T really had no choice but to play along since T-Mobile started calling their HSPA+ network as 4G.
As far as speed goes, that will depend on device and network.
T-Mobile's 42Mbp/s HSPA+ network kicks the crap out of AT&T's HSPA+ network (they top out at 21MBbp/s).
The hard part is finding a device that supports those speeds.

I'm on AT&T's LTE network here in Phoenix and it simply screams.
I'm sure that will change once more users switch to LTE devices, but for now, 20-40Mbp/s downloads are nice. Hit 60Mbp/s a few times.