5G? 5 bars? Meaning of the signal icons on your phone

Some AT & T clients noticed a strange phenomenon earlier this year. The upper left corner of their smartphones was starting to display "5GE", indicating that their phones were using 5G technology. And although Samsung announced Wednesday the upcoming release of a 5G-compatible phone, the current 5G networks in the US are still in their infancy.

AT & T is engaging in a marketing ploy, a ploy it used in the past. The 5GE symbol actually means that a phone uses advanced LTE technology, available on other operators and slower than the 10 gigabyte speeds promised by the 5G. When the company introduces the current 5G technology, it plans to call it 5G + instead. Sprint is suing AT & T about the nomenclature, alleging that it is misleading advertising.

Even beyond 5GE, there is a lot of confusion about the actual meaning of letters, bars, and other symbols on your phone. Experts say their interpretation may become even more complicated as 5G rolls out in the coming years. This is not entirely the fault of operators: many factors can affect a wireless signal, difficult to transmit with a few characters at the top of the screen.

What are the symbols

Terms such as 3G, 4G and LTE refer to the following generations of wireless technology, which began with 1G in the late 1970s. In most parts of the world, LTE and 4G are synonymous: they refer to the same group of technologies that appeared almost ten years ago and offer speeds around 10 times higher than those of their 3G predecessors. But in the United States, 4G is HSPA +, which remains technically a 3G innovation. "The distinction between 4G and LTE is purely American. In all countries, there is no difference, "says Brendan Gill, CEO of OpenSignal, a company that collects independent data on the quality of the carrier signal.

These regional differences exist, in part, because while organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union and 3GPP help define standards, they do not regulate the way labels such as 4G are used. "As a technical organization, the ITU is not mandated to intervene in the internal affairs of Member States or in private companies, including with regard to labeling technology.[s] for marketing purposes, "said Fernando Neda, spokesman for the ITU, in a statement., 3GPP declined to comment.

HSPA + is better than the clbadic 3G, but it does not meet the technical standards of the "true" 4G. This is why you may notice lower download speeds on a US 4G network than on an LTE network. You may also not detect the slightest difference between a 4G network in the United States and what is called a 3G network abroad. In short, HSPA + can be considered a 3.5G – not quite a new generation, but certainly an upgrade. Americans just like to round up.

AT & T does something similar with its so-called 5GE service. Since the launch of LTE technology, operators have added a number of enhancements to make their wireless services faster and smoother. Downloading apps and viewing high resolution video takes much less time than it did a few years ago. But AT & T – or any other carrier, has not yet created a network that meets the fifth generation standards agreed by technical organizations. First, AT & T's 5GE service does not use high-frequency millimeter waves, the spectrum band badociated with 5G technology. "He is something different there, "says Gill. "But it's not usually what's called the next generation."

The 5GE icon represents something closer to 4.5G – certainly better than 4G, but not really 5G yet. In the United States, you can think of LTE and 5GE as the same thing. "These are just different labels, and the bottom line is not whether your phone is labeled 4G, 5G or 5GE, it's what you actually get," says Gill.

Even if you are on a fast LTE network, your phone can still move at the speed of a snail. This lethargy could result from a network congestion caused by too many phones trying to connect simultaneously. This can happen during daily morning or evening trips to a big city, or at a concert or sports match where a lot of people are piling up in the same neighborhood, by example. These problems can also be more permanent if there is insufficient coverage in a given area. It may be for this reason, for example, that you still can not get services in a particular area of ​​the city.

Strength vs. quality

In addition to the network you use, the strength and quality of your wireless signal can also impact performance. But the "bars" in the upper left corner of your screen only refer to the signal strength. They say nothing about quality, or what is often called "signal-to-noise ratio," which actually turns out to be more revealing of the experience you will get. That's why you can have four or five bars while enjoying poor service. – the signal is strong, but its quality is zero.

To make things more confusing, there is no standard definition of what constitutes a high or low signal strength. Each device manufacturer calculates the signal strength in its own way. In 2010, Apple even admitted that it had made a mistake in its formula for calculating the power of the signal on the iPhone 4. "It's not as simple as four out of five measurements represent an absolute standard to know where you are, "says Gill. In other words, it's not because your friend's phone has more bars that it will be easier to make a call or send an SMS than you will.

Role plays material

The type of phone you own, as well as the mobile chip used, can also affect the quality of your wireless service.

"There are huge differences between the devices, it's amazing. This is absolutely true at a high level, "says Michael Thelander, president of the Signal Research Group, which studies the wireless telecommunications sector. While the latest smartphones tend to be equipped with the most advanced antennas and modems, some models, with sophisticated features such as batteries and larger cameras, compromise on signal performance. . Meanwhile, OpenSignal has found that the latest iPhone models have a higher download speed than their predecessors, for example, but if excellent coverage is your top priority, you do not necessarily need the most sophisticated smartphone.

In controlled tests, the Signal Research Group found that cheaper smartphones sometimes perform better. The winner of one was "literally a phone that I bought from Walmart. The $ 200 smart phone turned out to be the most powerful phone, "says Thelander.

So, the next time you shop for a new smartphone, it's worth comparing the wireless capabilities of different models. If in the past you have only considered the battery life and the quality of the camera, you can excuse yourself. Thelander says he's noticed that wireless performance is often ignored in editorial reviews on smartphones and in commercials. "They do not mention that the phone is a phone," he says.

More confusion to come

While they're starting to plan for 5G, some operators want to change the technical standards in place to allow the display of additional information in the upper-top corner of your screen, Thelander says. To do this, they want to increase the number of data bits that communicate when icons such as 4G or LTE are to be displayed. More bits of data would allow operators to differentiate between, for example, a more reliable signal and one with higher download speeds. Hypothetically, we could start seeing icons like 5GR, for reliable, or 5GF, for fast.

Another factor could make 5G even more confusing for consumers. In order to introduce new technology faster, US operators will combine the 5G with the existing 4G infrastructure. The line between an LTE connection and a 5G connection will be inherently fuzzy in some cases, and it is not yet clear where each operator will draw it. "It's not just 5G or 4G, it's both together," says Thelander. So even when the next generation of mobile technology arrives, the symbols on your phone will continue to burst the whole story of what's happening with your signal.

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