I am in a 3G only area, why does my phone say 4G? The speeds are inline with 3G.
mycomputerisjunk said:
I am in a 3G only area, why does my phone say 4G? The speeds are inline with 3G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think the phone can tell the difference as it's technically the same towers, and internal radio being used. Your phone can however tell the difference between HSPA(+) and edge, and would show you that in a heartbeat.
3G is read as 4G on the phone
Weird.
Paging Dr B said:
I don't think the phone can tell the difference as it's technically the same towers, and internal radio being used. Your phone can however tell the difference between HSPA(+) and edge, and would show you that in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can tell the difference. Not sure about the TMO branded one because they use the "4G" icon and the unbranded ones show H but just yesterday I saw my unbranded one go from H to 3G a few times when I was in one area
Kinda pisses me off because I was stoked to see 4G on the phone and was looking forward to speeds above 500k.
T-Mobile or HTC really made this confusing. Because I have seen 4G, 2G, E, and G as data speeds. You would think they would be able to simplify it a little?
So, someone enlighten me..
4G = HSPA+ (up to 14mbit)
2G = ?
E = Edge (dial-up speeds)
G = GPRS (2.5G? 2x E?)
Ive seen a 3G icon on mine before...
mycomputerisjunk said:
So, someone enlighten me..
4G = HSPA+ (up to 14mbit)
2G = ?
E = Edge (dial-up speeds)
G = GPRS (2.5G? 2x E?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe so. HSPA+ can get more than 14 but the sensation can get 14. TMO just set up much higher speeds in a bunch of cities.
mycomputerisjunk said:
Kinda pisses me off because I was stoked to see 4G on the phone and was looking forward to speeds above 500k.
T-Mobile or HTC really made this confusing. Because I have seen 4G, 2G, E, and G as data speeds. You would think they would be able to simplify it a little?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you talked to t-mo to see if those speeds are normal for your area? Even 3G speeds shouldn't be that slow. With t-mo 3g speeds you should be seeing between 1Mb - 6Mb down.
mycomputerisjunk said:
So, someone enlighten me..
4G = HSPA+ (up to 14mbit)
2G = ?
E = Edge (dial-up speeds)
G = GPRS (2.5G? 2x E?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the tmo version 2G= Edge I have yet to see it show an E mine goes from 4G, 3G to 2G no E
mycomputerisjunk said:
So, someone enlighten me..
4G = HSPA+ (up to 14mbit)
2G = ?
E = Edge (dial-up speeds)
G = GPRS (2.5G? 2x E?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It goes GPRS < EDGE < 3G < 4G
EDGE is also known as Enhanced GPRS and they are both considered 2G. EDGE would be the 2.5G if you want to use that notation.
GPRS = 2.5 g (114 kbps)
EDGE = 2.75 g (250 kbps)
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
I'm pretty sure this is just like all of tmo's other 4G phones. The stock ROMs don't show 3G, even if you have a 3G signal. It will only ever show 4G, 2G or G on our phones. My G2 and MT4G were like this too, except it showed H instead of 4G, but never 3G. I had to root and get a custom ROM for it to differentiate between 3G and 4G.
That being said, I saw a few people in this thread say they have seen 4G on their phone... Screenies? On my rooted Glacier I saw it switch from 3G to 4G all the time in my house, and now with this phone I only see the 4G icon even with 3G speeds...
Edit: I would imagine the whole not showing 3G thing is a Tmous thing, so if you have the international version and you are seeing 3G, that would not surprise me. I think it's its a marketing thing, they don't want to sell these high end "4G" phones and then have the user see 3G if they live in a 3G area only.
TJBunch1228 said:
I'm pretty sure this is just like all of tmo's other 4G phones. The stock ROMs don't show 3G, even if you have a 3G signal. It will only ever show 4G, 2G or G on our phones. My G2 and MT4G were like this too, except it showed H instead of 4G, but never 3G. I had to root and get a custom ROM for it to differentiate between 3G and 4G.
That being said, I saw a few people in this thread say they have seen 4G on their phone... Screenies? On my Glacier I saw it switch from 3G to 4G all the time in my house, and now with this phone I only see the 4G icon even with 3G speeds...
Edit: I would imagine the whole not showing 3G thing is a Tmous thing, so if you have the international version and you are seeing 3G, that would not surprise me. I think it's its a marketing thing, they don't want to sell these high end "4G" phones and then have the user see 3G if they live in a 3G area only.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I remember you from the mt4g forums. I think I hooked you up with the keyboard manager app that let you switch kb's based on landscape or portrait
TJBunch1228 said:
I'm pretty sure this is just like all of tmo's other 4G phones. The stock ROMs don't show 3G, even if you have a 3G signal. It will only ever show 4G, 2G or G on our phones. My G2 and MT4G were like this too, except it showed H instead of 4G, but never 3G. I had to root and get a custom ROM for it to differentiate between 3G and 4G.
Edit: I would imagine the whole not showing 3G thing is a Tmous thing, so if you have the international version and you are seeing 3G, that would not surprise me. I think it's its a marketing thing, they don't want to sell these high end "4G" phones and then have the user see 3G if they live in a 3G area only.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same thing happened with the HD2 as well. It would never change unless you swapped out for different taskbar icons
It probably depends on the 3G network type.
To the OP: You're probably in an HSDPA 3G area (which is also used for 4G if the phone is capable of HSPA+), if you're in a UMTS 3G area the 3G icon will show. 2G = Edge, G = GPRS.
Not a big deal...
graffixnyc said:
I remember you from the mt4g forums. I think I hooked you up with the keyboard manager app that let you switch kb's based on landscape or portrait
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha yep that was me! I was just talking about that app in a different thread last night. It was seriously the best app ever. Now Swype 3.0 has included better support in landscape, with a good autocorrect dictionary, so I am able to survive without KB now. Thanks again for hooking me up back when.
4G = HSPA+ (up to 14mbit)
2G = ?
E = Edge (dial-up speeds)
G = GPRS (2.5G? 2x E?)
4G= WiMaX/LTE/HSPA+(generally over 1mbps up to the phones theoretical max of 14 mbps)In the USA T-mobile and AT&T use HSPA+, Verizon and AT&T use LTE, sprint uses WiMaxx
3G/H= Regular HSDPA/HSPA
2G/Edge= Speeds similar to dial up= the speed your data is throttled to on T-Mobiles "UNLIMITED DATA PLANS"
G/1G/GPRS=Really slow spleeds alot of the time you cant even surf data on these speeds
I'm always in the city and I have only seen it switch from 4G to a 2G icon, nothing between.
rawr4dj said:
4G= WiMaX/LTE/HSPA+(generally over 1mbps up to the phones theoretical max of 14 mbps)In the USA T-mobile and AT&T use HSPA+, Verizon and AT&T use LTE, sprint uses WiMaxx
3G/H= Regular HSDPA/HSPA
2G/Edge= Speeds similar to dial up= the speed your data is throttled to on T-Mobiles "UNLIMITED DATA PLANS"
G/1G/GPRS=Really slow spleeds alot of the time you cant even surf data on these speeds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HSPA+ actually still falls under 3G but thanks to great American marketing everyone & their mother now thinks it's 4G.
Related
I have noticed in the 3 days since I have had my g2x that I never get 3g, I either get 2g or 4g on my status bar, but never 3g. Anybody else having this issue?? Considering sending it back to TMO for a new one. And yes I have a new similar card, got it about 3 months ago when I had my G2.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
I've noticed the same thing though idk if that's really a bad thing....
They probably lumped 3g and 4g together.
That's what I was thinking but wasn't sure.....has anyone seen 3G on their status bar ever????
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
Come to think of it... I haven't.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
I've read other threads here where people report seeing a 3G icon... I haven't seen it myself.
But it's possible that we're in areas where HSPA+ is turned on, which is "4G", and once you leave that range, you are in 2G (EDGE) territory. In other words, there's no area near us that is just HSPA (3G), it's either HSPA+ or EDGE.
Too many people not doing a search. No one has seen the 3g logo/symbol yet. Also a side note for those complaining about 4g speeds:
T-Mobile USA uses the 1700/2100 MHz AWS Band for its 3G network. The carrier states it allows faster download and upload data speeds utilizing HSPA+ technology, which allows for simultaneous voice and data. Upgrades to HSPA+ are planned for 2009 through 2010 which may boost average download speeds from 7.2Mbps to 21Mbps. (Reported from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile)
But my old G2 that I had just a few days ago hag Edge(2G), 3G, and H(HSPA/4G). Now with my new g2x it's either 2G, or 4G. No 3G.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
yes they are lump together. It's always 4g or 2g. It's a marketing thing, they want us to think that we always have 4g, when a lot of the time we're only getting 3g speeds.
moemoney12 said:
yes they are lump together. It's always 4g or 2g. It's a marketing thing, they want us to think that we always have 4g, when a lot of the time we're only getting 3g speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This, its not that we don't have 3g. Its that the display in the upper right hand corner says either 2g or 4g.
moemoney12 said:
yes they are lump together. It's always 4g or 2g. It's a marketing thing, they want us to think that we always have 4g, when a lot of the time we're only getting 3g speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. My "4G" speeds range from 1.5 Mbps to 7.0 Mbps down depending on my physical location
Sent from my G2x
se1zure31 said:
Too many people not doing a search. No one has seen the 3g logo/symbol yet. Also a side note for those complaining about 4g speeds:
T-Mobile USA uses the 1700/2100 MHz AWS Band for its 3G network. The carrier states it allows faster download and upload data speeds utilizing HSPA+ technology, which allows for simultaneous voice and data. Upgrades to HSPA+ are planned for 2009 through 2010 which may boost average download speeds from 7.2Mbps to 21Mbps. (Reported from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually there is a thread here where someone stated they did see 3G (I'm skeptical) on a long distance driving trip they did.
There is also a comment from someone that the "missing" 3G icon is a bug TMO is aware of and will fix in the first software update. Take it for what it's worth (although I would believe this one).
You will not see a 3G icon appear on any TMO 4G device.
Here is the reason:T-Mobile is using the same frequencies for 3G as they do for "4G". Meaning they are using the same cell tower/antenna. The upgrade in speed comes from a base station software upgrade and a strengthened backhaul. HSPA+ devices branded as 4G literally cannot tell the difference between 3G and 4G.
DelinQuentisDQ said:
You will not see a 3G icon appear on any TMO 4G device.
Here is the reason:T-Mobile is using the same frequencies for 3G as they do for "4G". Meaning they are using the same cell tower/antenna. The upgrade in speed comes from a base station software upgrade and a strengthened backhaul. HSPA+ devices branded as 4G literally cannot tell the difference between 3G and 4G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You forgot a technology: UMTS (on which HSPA is based). It can tell the difference between UMTS and HSPA (but not HSPA and HSPA+). That's why other phones have had separate "3G" and "H" icons. Both were originally 3G technologies (in the same way that GPRS and EDGE are both 2G), but HSPA has been expanded to now qualify as a 4G technology (I'm not going to argue semantics here, HSPA+ is 4G and provides faster speeds than WiMAX).
Has anyone pulled apart the framework-res.apk to see if there's a 3G png in there?
I haven't seen 3g sign either, only 2g or 4g, mostly 2g though, and I'm in vegas... I'm returning the phone for that reason, and I have very bad light bleeding from the top corners too. When calling t mobile, they don't even try to troubleshoot, I guess they r aware of that problem already. Now I'm waiting for another one in the mail
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
se1zure31 said:
Too many people not doing a search. No one has seen the 3g logo/symbol yet. Also a side note for those complaining about 4g speeds:
T-Mobile USA uses the 1700/2100 MHz AWS Band for its 3G network. The carrier states it allows faster download and upload data speeds utilizing HSPA+ technology, which allows for simultaneous voice and data. Upgrades to HSPA+ are planned for 2009 through 2010 which may boost average download speeds from 7.2Mbps to 21Mbps. (Reported from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to add: The G2x is limited to 14.4Mbps theoretical maximum download speed So you won't enjoy anywhere near 21Mbps, or 42Mbps which is now rolling out slowly and is already in 3 cities (Las Vegas, NYC, Orlando). The most I've gotten on my G2x is 7.9Mbps down.
moemoney12 said:
yes they are lump together. It's always 4g or 2g. It's a marketing thing, they want us to think that we always have 4g, when a lot of the time we're only getting 3g speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
bobthq said:
I haven't seen 3g sign either, only 2g or 4g, mostly 2g though, and I'm in vegas... I'm returning the phone for that reason, and I have very bad light bleeding from the top corners too. When calling t mobile, they don't even try to troubleshoot, I guess they r aware of that problem already. Now I'm waiting for another one in the mail
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can understand returning the phone because of the bleeding but to say your going to return the device because you haven't seen a 3G icon is laughable.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
I haven't seen a 3G icon either but I don't think ir bothers me one bit. In fact, I am trying to grasp why it would bother anyone.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
4G Says UMTS ?????
jrwingate6 said:
I haven't seen a 3G icon either but I don't think ir bothers me one bit. In fact, I am trying to grasp why it would bother anyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My beef is not the lack of a 3G icon, although I have yet to see one on my phone.
My beef is the lack of reception at my work, a problem the Galaxy S 4G and MyTouch 4G dont seem to have.
And why does the phone say UMTS when its on 4G ?
That right there tends to make me think the phone has an issue
(along with poor/no reception at work).
Inspire 4G = "4G"... so what's this "H+" icon?
It represents HSDPA, which is just an enhanced 3G, I'm assuming... so where's the "4G" icon, and why don't I have it?
Also, what is "HSPA"? My connection is showing as HSPA+ >.>.
H stands for HSDPA. H+ stands for HSPA+ which is what the USA carriers are "pretending" is 4G. its really fake 4G. HTC obviously feels otherwise, and named it properly as "H+" which is what it is.
its all HSDPA anyway so it dont matter. LTE is the proper 4G and it will be here later this year...but inspire wont work with it.
RogerPodacter said:
H stands for HSDPA. H+ stands for HSPA+ which is what the USA carriers are "pretending" is 4G. its really fake 4G. HTC obviously feels otherwise, and named it properly as "H+" which is what it is.
its all HSDPA anyway so it dont matter. LTE is the proper 4G and it will be here later this year...but inspire wont work with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LTE isn't 4G either.
Both hspa+ and LTE have similar speeds, with LTE slightly higher. The difference between Verizon and ATT is that Verizon phones will fall back onto evdo when not in an LTE area, which is slow as hell. ATT customers will fall back onto hspa+, which is still pretty fast.
all stock inspires are HSPA LOCKED!
lame of course.
Fully modify your android, you can start by my thread
has links on how to root etc.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1061258
once HSPA is unlocked i get upwards of 4.3mb some get more.
HSPA = "3.5G" diff not 4 G LTE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Speed_Packet_Access
AT&T will eventually be super fast! i mean 4.3 is good
i am in orlando FL hspa is storng here full bars always H
Anyone else notice when you switch to 2G the S4G the data is almost nonexistent? I don't wanna run 4G all day cuz that would be battery homicide. On my N1 I can run 2G all day and still have blazing data speed.
also what i noticed is that if i move from a 4G area, the phone goes to 2G. like wtf am i gonna do with 2g. completely skips 3g which i dont understand y...its frustrating
Well of course 2G is useless.
From a quick google search:
2G networks were built mainly for voice services and slow data transmission.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hardly a fault of the Sensation, or any phone for that matter.
On my N1 I can run 2G all day and still have blazing data speed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then your N1 is displaying the wrong connection symbol. Even GPRS (2.5G) is only 56 kbit/s to 115 kbit/s.
for the tmous Sensation they swapped out the E for edge & put in 2G. They left the G for GPRS.
I'm guessing the reason you won't see 3G is because Tmobile has upgraded most of their 3G network to HSPA+ so it'll show the 4G
They use "2G" to mean Edge?
Edge is 2.75G, strictly speaking, but I suppose the symbol only has room for a couple of numbers/letters. Very misleading, though.
I guess the OP will have seen relatively fast speeds with a "2G" symbol then, but I still wouldn't associate the phrase "blazing data speed" with "Edge"!
Well to update. Lately the 2G speed on the S4G has increased, quite a bit. I'm thinking it needed time to kick itself into gear since its still brand new.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
Hey guys!
Is there a way we can disable the 4G connection and only use 3G? Any help that you guys can as provide will be greatly appreciated!
There is no 4G in Atrix2. Is just a marketing ATT does.
4G = 3G
Shaliuno said:
There is no 4G in Atrix2. Is just a marketing ATT does.
4G = 3G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4G LTE = LTE (our phone doesn't support it)
4G = 3G + extra stuff to be better... but still techically 4G as it's AT&T's 4th generation of technology
3G = 3G
But I don't think that there's a way you can disable "4G" and only use 3G... you can disable 3G/4G and only use 2G though.
ATRIX 2 supports 21mbit hspa+ that's what they call 4G. 3g is really just slower versions of hspa+ for us. Post above is correct about LTE. LTE is better than hspa+ also.
Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk
Shaliuno said:
There is no 4G in Atrix2. Is just a marketing ATT does.
4G = 3G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my wifes iphone 4 must suck then.
hers is a "3g" and gets about 1.25 mbps
my atrix 2 4G gets 4.45 mbps
i think 4g is a bunch faster than 3g.....
or its just that the iphone a generally crap.
take your pick i suppose.
matt99017d said:
my wifes iphone 4 must suck then.
hers is a "3g" and gets about 1.25 mbps
my atrix 2 4G gets 4.45 mbps
i think 4g is a bunch faster than 3g.....
or its just that the iphone a generally crap.
take your pick i suppose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it's both really .
But our phone is about as fast as you can get on AT&T's network without using LTE. The OG Atrix also was "4G" but it was only 14.x mb/sec while our A2's radio supports up to 21.x mb/sec (or something around there). The iPhone X's only support 3G.
extide said:
ATRIX 2 supports 21mbit hspa+ that's what they call 4G. 3g is really just slower versions of hspa+ for us. Post above is correct about LTE. LTE is better than hspa+ also.
Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not too sure what you guys are meaning when you say better....
I was interested in the differences a while back and after researching around quite a bit, found that the speeds really depended on the phone's programming more so than whether it was LTE or HSPA+.
cowenby said:
Not too sure what you guys are meaning when you say better....
I was interested in the differences a while back and after researching around quite a bit, found that the speeds really depended on the phone's programming more so than whether it was LTE or HSPA+.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LTE has higher bandwidth, and is less populated. HSPA+ can go up to 21mbit, yes, (which is less than LTE) BUT most AT&T HSPA+ deployments are 7mbit or 14mbit.
HSPA+ users typically see ~4-5mbit or so, maybe up to 7mbit on a 14.4mbit cell, but LTE users typically can see 9-11mbit+.
The best speedtest I have ever gotten on my phone was in the 5mbit range. SLC only has 7mbit HSPA+ from what I can tell, and since AT&T is going to LTE, it appears they wont be upgrading the HSPA+ network any more.
you're lucky. Around my area all you can get is 2-3 mbs.
mtnlion said:
you're lucky. Around my area all you can get is 2-3 mbs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats what I usually get too, but if I am right near a cell tower I can get the ~5mbit speeds.
Yeah, "4G" is actually HSPA+, which AT&T actually was going to call 3G+. The 4G crap came around because T-Mobile marketed it that way and if AT&T stuck with 3G+ they took the risk of people thinking T-Mobile was faster and losing customers. LTE was what they planned to call 4G.
extide said:
Thats what I usually get too, but if I am right near a cell tower I can get the ~5mbit speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, i'm in Orlando and normally getting 2-4 mbps...
I visited Boston a few Weeks ago and was getting 13!!!!!
Sent from my Motorola Atrix 2 with AT&T 4G
Their hspa+ is like 3.5 g its def better then reg 3g
Sent from the bridge of the
U.S.S. Enterprise using L.T.Com Worf
I feel as if their labeling of 4g was a bit deceiving as well but its understandable if it was meant to keep up with TMobile because of all the confusion between 4g and 4g lte.
The good news is that I don't believe our 4g is as battery-consuming as 4g lte, its probably about the same as regular 3g.
If you're wanting to limit it to 2g though there is a way to do it even though the menu is left out from our 'Settings'. Use anycut to get to network settings directly and choose GSM only.
At least T-Mobile's HSPA+ is significantly faster than "3G" - not an entirely undeserved title for them. ATT...not so much.
Ajfink said:
At least T-Mobile's HSPA+ is significantly faster than "3G" - not an entirely undeserved title for them. ATT...not so much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i got 13mbs on at&t so it works good for me
Sent from the bridge of the
U.S.S. Enterprise using L.T.Com Worf
kwiggington said:
i got 13mbs on at&t so it works good for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's pretty good. Max I've seen is 11mbit down.
I didn't believe it at first so I reran the speedtest a couple times to make sure.
Mine has topped out around 9Mbps, sadly.
It's not throughput that's bad on a decent 3G network, a lot of time's it's the latency. Meh. Whatever. Long live LTE.
I ran just ran the speedtest.net app and I have 7.20 mbps down and 1.13 up here in Atlanta. Thats even better than basic dsl albiet cable beats it easily....
Hi so I was under the impression that my skyrocket didn't have a 3G ability or HSPA+ ability and only either 4G or 2G edge because when I used stock GB when I wasn't in 4G area it would go to the painfully slow edge.but after flashing a radio and CM9 I suddenly DONT get 4G and only 3G and H? What happened and how?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app
As for my experience I only get the following when I'm in an area that has it:
3G = HSPA
H = HSPA+
4G = LTE
Thats just based on my experience, right now I'm in an area with LTE and it comes up as 4G. Whenever I go back home down south and theres not LTE coverage I get 3G/H signals.
UZ7 said:
As for my experience I only get the following when I'm in an area that has it:
3G = HSPA
H = HSPA+
4G = LTE
Thats just based on my experience, right now I'm in an area with LTE and it comes up as 4G. Whenever I go back home down south and theres not LTE coverage I get 3G/H signals.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually in some ROMs that doesn't not show the right signal code. I always got the 4G in the screen even thou I am leaving in a country where theres no 4G support yet. I Know that the max connection I will get is the HSPA+
filipeangelo said:
Actually in some ROMs that doesn't not show the right signal code. I always got the 4G in the screen even thou I am leaving in a country where theres no 4G support yet. I Know that the max connection I will get is the HSPA+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is using CM9?
ICS Roms usually show 3G/4G/4GLTE of course some themes can also change this.
filipeangelo said:
Actually in some ROMs that doesn't not show the right signal code. I always got the 4G in the screen even thou I am leaving in a country where theres no 4G support yet. I Know that the max connection I will get is the HSPA+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in a Samsung/AT&T based ROM, HSPA+ is shown as 4G, and real 4G has a tiny "LTE" under the 4G. This is a marketing gimmick recently started by AT&T.
I've seen my CM9 cycle through everything (E, G, 3G, H, 4G).
I don't live in a 4G area but visited one once. 3G and G usually don't work (for me), it shows 3G briefly when downgrading from H to E, G usually appears when I lose E, and then internet access completely.
E = EDGE (usually slower than 14.4k AOL from 15 years ago)
G = GPRS
On cm9 I'm in lte area with a 4g icon and getting 30+mbps down. This is certainly lte speed whether the icon denotes it or not. As stated above, the icon sets for internet speed / capability will vary rom to rom
--------------------------------------------
Sent from my Skyrocket i727 running CM9
For a one stop shop are Vincom's threads
Everything Root: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1773659
Returning to Stock: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1652398