Verizon 5S: Compatible with 4G LTE networks in Europe?

[emilioestevez]

I was overseas last month with my Verizon iPhone 5 and the pre-paid 4G SIM card that I purchased only gave me 3G service on my phone. I'm wondering if the Verizon 5S has "worldwide" 4G LTE?

Cheers.

 

[Martin81]

Where have you been in Europe? And what was the local carrier?

 

[emilioestevez]

Spain. Orange.

 

[Martin81]

Here is a list of LTE networks in Europe. Spain's Orange seems to be running LTE on band 3 and 7. If you have a iPhone model A1533 it should support LTE on band 3 at least.

My guess is, that there was no 4G coverage at your location. You can check the coverage with this map.

 

[emilioestevez]

What about the Verizon iPhone 5 (not S)? Cheers.

 

[Martin81]

Oh, sorry. Must have misread that.

Seems like the iPhone 5 from Verizon is A1429. That should have support for LTE band 3 as well. You can check that at Apple's LTE page.

 

[emilioestevez]

Martin81, thank you for your help and the info you've provided. It doesn't make sense to me, then, that my iPhone 5 from Verizon only got 3G service in the city center of Madrid. LTE was even enabled in the phone's settings.

I'll probably be upgrading to a 5S soon. Hopefully Apple got the necessary antennas crammed into the S model.