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Updating IOS push from AT&T turns on LTE

E

egufford

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 17, 2012
3
0
If you've been hesitant to update your IOS version, you now have an excellent reason to do so. At least if you're an AT&T customer. Updating from the base revision on a new iPhone4s (which, I believe, is 5.0.1) to 5.1 or up will make your phone use 4G (LTE) instead of 3G (UMTS).

If you turn off WiFi (because it crowds the screen at the top left) you'll see whether you're running 3G or 4G. If you're 3G and upgrade, after the update you'll see it say 4G instead. So all you data access will be an order of magnitude faster than 3G, owing to the greater bandwidth (and lack of users) on 4G.

That said, everyone should be aware that, when making a call on 4G, you'll fall back to 3G using "Circuit Switch Fall Back" to handle your call.
 
this is too funny....btw iPhone 4S doesn't support LTE jus to burst your bubble.....the 4G icon was a special request by AT&T to display it when the iPhone 4S is connected to HSPA+ network where it supports a maximum of 14.4mbps compared to LTE which supports 21+++ and 3G displayed when its connected to HSPA and E for EDGE(2G) network......do your research before u post a thread....n iPhone 4S came with iOS 5.0 not 5.0.1
 
egufford said:
If you've been hesitant to update your IOS version, you now have an excellent reason to do so. At least if you're an AT&T customer. Updating from the base revision on a new iPhone4s (which, I believe, is 5.0.1) to 5.1 or up will make your phone use 4G (LTE) instead of 3G (UMTS).

If you turn off WiFi (because it crowds the screen at the top left) you'll see whether you're running 3G or 4G. If you're 3G and upgrade, after the update you'll see it say 4G instead. So all you data access will be an order of magnitude faster than 3G, owing to the greater bandwidth (and lack of users) on 4G.

That said, everyone should be aware that, when making a call on 4G, you'll fall back to 3G using "Circuit Switch Fall Back" to handle your call.
Click to expand...

Uhhh....Can't tell if trolling or being funny?:confused:
 
No, I'm not trolling, or uninformed.

Granted Satnam, it's HSPA+, should have just said 4G and left it at that. As to whether HSPA+ is 'real' 4G or not, that's an esoteric topic given current domestic topology. Especially when you consider the market you're in and relative throughput; which type of tower you're connecting to, traffic to the uplinks, etc.

The main point was that by upgrading the OS rev, you get a real bump in throughput that's worth the effort of the upgrade instead of waiting for the iPhone 5 and whether it'll support 'true' LTE or not. Especially given that whether you're on LTE, HSPA or HPSA+ will depend on your market, the infrastructure available, and the traffic levels on the nodes.

The bottom line is I've seen at least a 300% increase in throughput sustained, much higher on a burst basis. That's all I was getting at.

No need to flame.
 
The only update and change you see is a 4G symbol instead of 3G.
No speed increase than before. The 4S always had HSPA+ gsm chip installed.
The software update didn't grow an LTE chip inside The phone magically.
 
egufford said:
No, I'm not trolling, or uninformed.

Granted Satnam, it's HSPA+, should have just said 4G and left it at that. As to whether HSPA+ is 'real' 4G or not, that's an esoteric topic given current domestic topology. Especially when you consider the market you're in and relative throughput; which type of tower you're connecting to, traffic to the uplinks, etc.
Click to expand...

HSPA+ is not real 4G. It's 3G.

The main point was that by upgrading the OS rev, you get a real bump in throughput that's worth the effort of the upgrade instead of waiting for the iPhone 5 and whether it'll support 'true' LTE or not.
Click to expand...

No, you don't. The iPhone 4S has always negotiated HSPA at whatever speeds it supports (21Mbps or something? I forget.) The update just added a 4G icon that shows only when you're on AT&T and on HSPA+. That's the only difference: an icon. Nothing else. The iOS version can't magically make the hardware support higher symbol rates.

Also, the iPhone, whatever version, does not support LTE. It can't support LTE because it doesn't have the required hardware. HSPA+ is not 'LTE'. LTE is a specific technology. There's no such thing as 'true' LTE because there's no such thing as 'untrue' LTE either. There is just LTE. And it isn't in iPhone. (BTW, when connected to an LTE-network, iOS shows 'LTE' instead of '3G' or '4G'.)

The bottom line is I've seen at least a 300% increase in throughput sustained, much higher on a burst basis. That's all I was getting at.
Click to expand...

While it is possible you're seeing higher speeds post-update than the last time you tried before updating, it does not have anything to do with the iOS version. Or at least, not in this way.
 
egufford said:
No, I'm not trolling, or uninformed.

Granted Satnam, it's HSPA+, should have just said 4G and left it at that. As to whether HSPA+ is 'real' 4G or not, that's an esoteric topic given current domestic topology. Especially when you consider the market you're in and relative throughput; which type of tower you're connecting to, traffic to the uplinks, etc.

The main point was that by upgrading the OS rev, you get a real bump in throughput that's worth the effort of the upgrade instead of waiting for the iPhone 5 and whether it'll support 'true' LTE or not. Especially given that whether you're on LTE, HSPA or HPSA+ will depend on your market, the infrastructure available, and the traffic levels on the nodes.

The bottom line is I've seen at least a 300% increase in throughput sustained, much higher on a burst basis. That's all I was getting at.

No need to flame.
Click to expand...

Wow you're obviously uninformed.
 
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