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There's no indication to know if an iPhone 4S is using HSPA+?
- Thread starter Johnny Steps
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I agree. Not being able to differentiate between UMTS and HSDPA is a let down. Apparently AT&T wanted the 4s to display the "H" symbol but Apple said no. Maybe there is an app to display this along with with the signal dbm?
AT&T didn't want them to show "H", they wanted them to show "4G" which Apple doesn't like because 4G is LTE, not HSPA+ (3.5G)
That's what I mean though, the carriers made HSPA+, which is actually 3.5G, branded as 4G. Apple was the one that didn't like it and therefore isn't letting the iPhone say 4G because it isn't "true" 4G. The carriers here in Canada are the same way. I work for Rogers and a memo we got a while ago said "We are now branding HSPA+, 3.5G, as 4G. It is just a naming change, not a technical one."
I personally don't like the naming convention, but what can you do.
Do you have a link to cite this information? Not saying it's not correct, very well could be, but there are other ATT (well, at least one, Moto Atrix) phones on the market that display the H...so I don't see why it would be ATT who had the problem with it.
1. HSPA+ is 4G per definition of the standards body who controls it, ITU, carriers, and manufacturers. Pretty much all, the 4G handsets a year ago were HSPA+. Its just the vocal minority of raging armchair nerds who have some weird beef with it. On top of that, LTE, doesn't even cover all of the supposed 'full 4G' features either.
2. Other handsets cant differentiate 3G from H+/4G. Handsets like Aitrix 4G display H+ only, no 3G symbol exists. So even if you are in an area with old 3G and no H+ it still displays H+. All they did was simple artwork change.
IPhone 4S would have been the same way... HSPA/3G and HSPA+/4G use the same frequency, they are compatible networks like 802.11b&g. The transition between them is all analog in the connection link how much bandwidth it can receive and how much backhaul there is. The Qualcomm chipset *may* not have any API for differentiating.
Another good analogy might be 802.11N networks. Routers can broadcast 20 or 40mhz wide channels. If handset supports the 20 wide it uses it, if it supports,the 40 wide it grabs that. But all still just N.
2. Other handsets cant differentiate 3G from H+/4G. Handsets like Aitrix 4G display H+ only, no 3G symbol exists. So even if you are in an area with old 3G and no H+ it still displays H+. All they did was simple artwork change.
IPhone 4S would have been the same way... HSPA/3G and HSPA+/4G use the same frequency, they are compatible networks like 802.11b&g. The transition between them is all analog in the connection link how much bandwidth it can receive and how much backhaul there is. The Qualcomm chipset *may* not have any API for differentiating.
Another good analogy might be 802.11N networks. Routers can broadcast 20 or 40mhz wide channels. If handset supports the 20 wide it uses it, if it supports,the 40 wide it grabs that. But all still just N.
My post may have been poorly worded. I wasn't saying that it was AT&T that had the problem. AT&T wanted Apple to have the iPhone say "4G" instead of "3G" when it was connected to HSPA+.
But here's the link, I just quickly Googled to find it. I just remembered stuff about this back when the iPhone 4S was released, so I wanted to find a quick link about it.
http://www.theverge.com/2011/10/07/iphone-4s-4g-indicator/
I think it's pry b/c Apple either doesn't care, or they want to wait for when they Implement LTE and have different symbols for LTE and hspa+
I don't think it's a big issue though, you can easily tell a speed difference between normal 3g and hspa+. On my GS2 though it says h+ but if you in an hspa+ area is has arrows in green and orange moving up and down showing that's what it's on, if it isn't, it's just a white symbol. So it doesn't say "3G" either.
I don't think it's a big issue though, you can easily tell a speed difference between normal 3g and hspa+. On my GS2 though it says h+ but if you in an hspa+ area is has arrows in green and orange moving up and down showing that's what it's on, if it isn't, it's just a white symbol. So it doesn't say "3G" either.
The highlighted is true, and false. When simply getting a 3G signal, the Atrix displayed nothing. When in "4G" coverage, it displayed the H+ and when connected to HSPA+ it shows H+ with up/down arrows. So it's true that there is no "3G" symbol, but the rest is really not accurate.
I normally wouldn't like to see the H+ symbol but with the speed difference now I can see it being a nice addition. Only reason I don't see it being added might be because Verizon and Sprint iPhones don't have LTE to "match" the HSPA+ symbol. Call me crazy but it seams like a good enough reason for Apple to not add it in based off their past :O.
I disagree kind sir.
The 4G spec did not include any HSPA+, or the like. However after enough pressure from the carriers, the spec board caved and allowed them to call it 4G.
Thus while they call it 4G, this is only a marketing scheme. Nothing more, nothing less.
Look in the systemui.apk file on an Atrix. The 3G symbol exists... it's just never called. It's a very simple tweak to get it to display though.
My Skyrocket only shows the 4GLTE logo with signal bars when in an LTE area and just signal bars when outside an LTE area. No 3G or H+ icon at all.
It didn't include LTE either. It fails to meet the 100 down/ 50 up Mbp/s mobile speed requirement.
LTE Advanced is supposed to be true 4G. Now it will probably be relabeled as 5G or some other asinine marketing term.
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That's the point I'm making. The other user said it showed a H+ symbol when in 3G coverage. That's not true, it displays just the bars of coverage and the H+ is displayed when HSPA+ coverage is available.
My OH's Nokia C3-01 shows 3.5G, on Vodafone here in the UK.
I don't see why Apple won't do the same. They have the Circle and E logos, why not 3.5G?
I don't see why Apple won't do the same. They have the Circle and E logos, why not 3.5G?
Isn't "3G" UMTS and "4G" HSPA+?
When I turn off LTE here at home on AT&T I get "4G". My T-Mobile friends also see "4G" since It's an HSPA+ network.
When I was in Canada last year, it would show "ROGERS 3G", which suggested that ROGERS didn't support HSPA+. The connection was also notably slower, but this might have been because I was roaming. (Which was a good thing; I only had 120MB to burn so it would suck if something sucked it up in five minutes!)
So I think the phone displays "3G" for UMTS and "4G" for HSPA+.
When I turn off LTE here at home on AT&T I get "4G". My T-Mobile friends also see "4G" since It's an HSPA+ network.
When I was in Canada last year, it would show "ROGERS 3G", which suggested that ROGERS didn't support HSPA+. The connection was also notably slower, but this might have been because I was roaming. (Which was a good thing; I only had 120MB to burn so it would suck if something sucked it up in five minutes!)
So I think the phone displays "3G" for UMTS and "4G" for HSPA+.
No the difference is because Rogers doesn't market HSPA+ as "4G" like AT&T and T-Mobile do. In the US, even if you're in an area where T-Mobile or AT&T only have 3G and not HSPA+, the iPhone will still display the "4G" icon. It can't display the "3G" icon anymore when you're on one of these two networks with an HSPA+ capable iPhone.
I wonder how that app determines it? I didn't figure those APIs were exposed!
Wouldn't be surprised to see this app pulled for private API use. Download while you can.
HSPA+ is only considered "4G" in America....
All iPhones when on HSDPA/UMTS/HSPA+ should just say "3G" and "4G" or "LTE" when on LTE.
all other parts of the world LTE is described with a "4G" icon or "LTE" icon.
LTE = Long Term Evolution and is the 4th generation of the wireless technology, hence "4G"
but because Apple did not add support for LTE in iPhone 4S until it was readily available unlike other manufacturers, AT&T got a little hot headed and wanted all their phones to say "4G" including iPhone 4S...and in the end got their way....then came a time that T-Mobile also felt like they should be banking in on the icon as well and did so.
This.
That app's description page calls UMTS "2.5G", which is incorrect.
UMTS is a 3G technology.