Database Info

Coming from Samsung Captivate...

What do I need to know moving from a 3G phone to a 4G phone (HTC Inspire)? Will the SIM and everything work with the phone right out of the box? Will I be charged extra for being on 4G?

Switching sim cards is not an issue. 4G technically doesn't exist yet for the Inspire.
Sent from Desire HD or Inspire 4G or whatever this thing is called via premium XDA app.

I need to switch out my SIM card or it will work as I have it?

It will work just fine.

It should work just by swapping sim cards. Eventually you may have to get a new sim when HSPA+ rolls out.
Sent from Desire HD or Inspire 4G or whatever this thing is called via premium XDA app.

Sounds great...thanks guys.

There should be some clarification made here. The Inspire requires a 4G data plan code to be added to your account - and it does require a new SIM if you are in a 4G area. Most of the coastlines around the country are 4G already. Well... "4G" anyway - the maximum theoretical modem speed in the Inspire is 14.4Mbps/5.76Mbps, which is pathetic considering T-Mo's 21Mbps phones and their 40+Mbps network.
Verizon currently holds the speed crown overall in the country when it comes to 4G speeds but it really depends on your area. Here in Colorado, Sprint bested both Verizon and T-Mobile on "4G" speed (WiMAX in their case) by a good margin in random tests by an independent lab not hired by Sprint.
Either way, I've seen T-Mobile tests that have passed 25Mbps - no joke - and I've yet to see more than 10Mbps (this was a test on Sprint) or 7Mbps on Verizon but at&t struggles to get 2Mbps so its a huge upgrade anyway.

EtherealRemnant said:
There should be some clarification made here. The Inspire requires a 4G data plan code to be added to your account - and it does require a new SIM if you are in a 4G area. Most of the coastlines around the country are 4G already. Well... "4G" anyway - the maximum theoretical modem speed in the Inspire is 14.4Mbps/5.76Mbps, which is pathetic considering T-Mo's 21Mbps phones and their 40+Mbps network.
Verizon currently holds the speed crown overall in the country when it comes to 4G speeds but it really depends on your area. Here in Colorado, Sprint bested both Verizon and T-Mobile on "4G" speed (WiMAX in their case) by a good margin in random tests by an independent lab not hired by Sprint.
Either way, I've seen T-Mobile tests that have passed 25Mbps - no joke - and I've yet to see more than 10Mbps (this was a test on Sprint) or 7Mbps on Verizon but at&t struggles to get 2Mbps so its a huge upgrade anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to several ATT corporate folks the 4G sim cards will probably not be required for some time. Its basically a new paint job on the old cards. And this is coming from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, aka Big Blues Backyard. Eventually 4G will he turned on. Then ATTs version of LTE. And it will be widely used & consumed. But until then its no real worry. Think about when 3G phones first started rolling out. We were still rocking our old sim cards for quite a while but there was an eventual need to change.
Sent from my Inspire using XDA Premium App

ryanmfraser said:
According to several ATT corporate folks the 4G sim cards will probably not be required for some time. Its basically a new paint job on the old cards. And this is coming from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, aka Big Blues Backyard. Eventually 4G will he turned on. Then ATTs version of LTE. And it will be widely used & consumed. But until then its no real worry. Think about when 3G phones first started rolling out. We were still rocking our old sim cards for quite a while but there was an eventual need to change.
Sent from my Inspire using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the information straight from a manager in business services. The new SIM cards that are being deployed with these phones are required, along with a new SOC code for "4G" internet service to work when it is deployed. If you go to at&t's website and look at their 4G map, it has been turned on in a very small number of places (Texas and Buffalo, NY to name two) and if you are using an old SIM, you will not get the faster speeds. I hate this SIM card business honestly. Coming from CDMA, it royally sucks when you have an issue and your cell is your only phone because of the fact that inactive SIMs cannot call 611. I went through that hell today. Inactive CDMA phones will still call customer service, giving you the freedom to get technical support without much of a fuss. I had to call at&t three times today because of provisioning issues with my Inspire and being unable to call from another phone.
In any case, if you are in a 4G area, you need a 4G SIM to be able to connect to the HSPA+ network, just like EDGE SIMs didn't connect to the 3G network when it FINALLY started to launch.

aaronv89 said:
I need to switch out my SIM card or it will work as I have it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well when I bought mine they changed the sim I used to have in the iPhone 3G with a new one... So I guess you should to.. It's free so why not?
It's true the 4G it's more an 3 1/2 G but what is gonna happen when they actually enable it???

This is why I said you "may" need the card. At&T has been vague on this
Sent from Desire HD or Inspire 4G or whatever this thing is called via premium XDA app.

[Q] WIlling to buy a friends´s Blaze for cheap. How can I get 3G using At&t?

Hello, a friend of mine of selling a mint Blaze at a great price. Phone is unlocked and I have service with At&t. However, when I insert the sim only get Edge. Is there any way to flash At&t radios to the blaze? I did search before opening a new thread,,, but wasn´t able to get the info I need.
Any help would be very appreciated!
Thanks!

Nope...edge only
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T769 using xda app-developers app

Are you sure? my wife uses the Tmobile s3 with Att and gets 3g. could be this phone runs different frequency's?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T769 using xda app-developers app

He's wrong. It'll run on their H+ network, but that's all. However ATT's H+ mind you is very congested in a lot of places (NYC especially), but it will run.

tzvblsm said:
Are you sure? my wife uses the Tmobile s3 with Att and gets 3g. could be this phone runs different frequency's?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T769 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has multiple bands right?
iSkylla said:
He's wrong. It'll run on their H+ network, but that's all. However ATT's H+ mind you is very congested in a lot of places (NYC especially), but it will run.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, At&t adopted hspa for T-Mobile
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Your right its really bad in NYC.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T769 using xda app-developers app

Why are you not using T-Mo? Bad in brooklyn?

Should be able to get hspa+ flash a at&t skyrocket radio fix your apn,
I know it works when using T-Mobile on at&t phones I just flashed T-Mobile radios fixed apn got hspa+ speeds, should work vice versa
Edit: heres some at&t radio's that can be flashed http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2270071

I have a Blaze running on NET10 using the AT&T sim card. I can achieve H+ with it, and from time to time it shows me 3G then goes to H+ real quick.
I am able to get (depending on where I am here in Central Indiana) 1-2Mbps with H+ and in other areas I get 12Mbps with H+. Here at the house I show H+ with 3 bars right now and get 1.75Mbps down and 0.42Mbps with a ping of 148ms to a speed test site just 16 miles up the road.
I do have to say it is much better then Tmobile here, I was lucky to get 0.17kbps either way on Edge.
I can tell you that it will help you if you go into your settings and select mobile networks then mobile operators and set yourself to AT&T Network only, let me know if this helps any, it did for me. It has kept me from trying to hit Tmobile towers since I am on NET10 which uses both tmobile and att.

[Q] 4G LTE/HSPA+ on Net10 with Skyrocket

Okay, so heres the deal. I currently have a Skyrocket running CM 10.1 with the UVMC6 radio on Net10 T-Mobile SIM. I my home town of West Bend, WI I get H+ and decent speeds of about 6Mbps down. When I'm in Milwaukee, WI I occasionally get "DC" (Dual Carrier?) with some pretty impressive downspeeds of 20Mbps. I have LTE enabled on my phone but I have never gotten a 4G or LTE indication when in Milwaukee. Which I believe is a T-Mobile LTE area. So my question is if I switch to AT&T SIM on Net10, will I get 4G LTE speeds? It is not specifically indicated on Net10's site that I will, but they sell LTE phones.
Thanks!

It all depends on what net 10 (or whatever) are providing...I doubt those MVNO networks offer LTE from the patent networks at this moment, though I might be mistaken...That 20 mbps you get is HSPA+(DC is HSPA+21 x 2 = HSPA+42)...They sell LTE phones doesn't mean anything, most modern phones nowadays are LTE phones....
However, if you join T-Mobile(T-Mobile proper that is ) and in an area which is one of the official LTE launch cities, you can connect to it using the stock SR radio...
To know the type of network you're connected to, go to settings/About device(or phone)/Status

saleenman95 said:
Okay, so heres the deal. I currently have a Skyrocket running CM 10.1 with the UVMC6 radio on Net10 T-Mobile SIM. I my home town of West Bend, WI I get H+ and decent speeds of about 6Mbps down. When I'm in Milwaukee, WI I occasionally get "DC" (Dual Carrier?) with some pretty impressive downspeeds of 20Mbps. I have LTE enabled on my phone but I have never gotten a 4G or LTE indication when in Milwaukee. Which I believe is a T-Mobile LTE area. So my question is if I switch to AT&T SIM on Net10, will I get 4G LTE speeds? It is not specifically indicated on Net10's site that I will, but they sell LTE phones.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's your answer after a google search for "net 10 lte".
http://prepaidcellforum.com/threads/does-net10-have-4g-lte-coverage.235/

lingowistico said:
Here's your answer after a google search for "net 10 lte".
http://prepaidcellforum.com/threads/does-net10-have-4g-lte-coverage.235/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw that too, I just wanted more than one opinion, and quite frankly I trust the people on this site more than any other.
mahanddeem said:
It all depends on what net 10 (or whatever) are providing...I doubt those MVNO networks offer LTE from the patent networks at this moment, though I might be mistaken...That 20 mbps you get is HSPA+(DC is HSPA+21 x 2 = HSPA+42)...They sell LTE phones doesn't mean anything, most modern phones nowadays are LTE phones....
However, if you join T-Mobile(T-Mobile proper that is ) and in an area which is one of the official LTE launch cities, you can connect to it using the stock SR radio...
To know the type of network you're connected to, go to settings/About device(or phone)/Status
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I was wondering how I could be getting speeds that fast without LTE. Also, is HSPA+ is rated for 42Mbps then how fast is LTE rated for and is the 20Mbps down that I am getting relatively high for cellular speeds these days?

It depends on tons of factors...HSPA+ at 20mbps is faster than the LTE I get....The only real plus to the LTE is the excellent low ping latency...

saleenman95 said:
I saw that too, I just wanted more than one opinion, and quite frankly I trust the people on this site more than any other.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You shouldn't trust any people or site more than what your carrier tells you. If I were you I would've just called / emailed net ten and asked them directly :good:

lingowistico said:
You shouldn't trust any people or site more than what your carrier tells you. If I were you I would've just called / emailed net ten and asked them directly :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hahahaha....if you know how to turn your phone on by yourself than you know more than the customer service people at net10/straight talk. They only know how to read off their script cards. They have tried telling me that my phone is incapable of mms when i was having problems with the stock apn they provided. I wouldnt trust any infomation they tell you.

Those MVNO networks and their customer rep suck big time to be helpful at all....

I use my Skyrocket on Net10 AT&T SIM and the best I have ever gotten is HSPA+ 21.6 even in an LTE area... Net10 SIMs don't allow connecting to LTE networks.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

acejavelin said:
I use my Skyrocket on Net10 AT&T SIM and the best I have ever gotten is HSPA+ 21.6 even in an LTE area... Net10 SIMs don't allow connecting to LTE networks.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More like Net Ten doesn't offer LTE.

ATT LTE on NET10!
lingowistico said:
More like Net Ten doesn't offer LTE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They do now as of September 2013...I believe you have to get a new simm for $5 from their website to enable ATT LTE

Straight talk is now offering att lte as well.just ordered my new sim for that.will see how it goes.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

Well I got my SIM in the mail yesterday and did the transfer. Checked all the APN settings, but I don't have LTE. Yet my friend standing right next to me with an S4 on att is getting LTE. Hmmm.

saleenman95 said:
Well I got my SIM in the mail yesterday and did the transfer. Checked all the APN settings, but I don't have LTE. Yet my friend standing right next to me with an S4 on att is getting LTE. Hmmm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the frequencies are the same as Rogers / AT&T then there's no reason for you to not have it. Try doing more troubleshooting.

lingowistico said:
If the frequencies are the same as Rogers / AT&T then there's no reason for you to not have it. Try doing more troubleshooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I figured, I mean it's an ATT phone after-all so if should work with their LTE. But after some troubleshooting I discovered that my phone will not enable LTE for whatever reason. I will go into the settings menu and select GSM/WCDMA/LTE and it just auto switches back to GSM/WCDMA preferred. I am currently running CM 10.1.3 RC2 with UCMC1 radio, so I will try re-flashing that radio to see if it helps, but I don't know what else would cause this.

saleenman95 said:
That's what I figured, I mean it's an ATT phone after-all so if should work with their LTE. But after some troubleshooting I discovered that my phone will not enable LTE for whatever reason. I will go into the settings menu and select GSM/WCDMA/LTE and it just auto switches back to GSM/WCDMA preferred. I am currently running CM 10.1.3 RC2 with UCMC1 radio, so I will try re-flashing that radio to see if it helps, but I don't know what else would cause this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Rogers RUXUMA7 radio, I think that the UCMC1 radio has some kind of lock which prevents you from switching modes.

lingowistico said:
Try Rogers RUXUMA7 radio, I think that the UCMC1 radio has some kind of lock which prevents you from switching modes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I don't know what happened, but it just out of the blue started showing 4G and LTE. So now it works and I'm getting 25Mbps down!

Rogers radio is working better at keeping lte enabled for me. I am on an older net10 sim and after calling customer service they updated my account and its working although my lte ping times are very similar to hspa... I'm on slim 4.3 build 1
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

saleenman95 said:
That's what I figured, I mean it's an ATT phone after-all so if should work with their LTE. But after some troubleshooting I discovered that my phone will not enable LTE for whatever reason. I will go into the settings menu and select GSM/WCDMA/LTE and it just auto switches back to GSM/WCDMA preferred. I am currently running CM 10.1.3 RC2 with UCMC1 radio, so I will try re-flashing that radio to see if it helps, but I don't know what else would cause this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the exact same problem. 20 minutes on the phone with Net10 today and they said I would have to contact the manufacture(Samsung) to get LTE. Made no sense.

Go to network operator, scan and pick att from the list. Then try changing the mode to lte/gsm/wcdma and it should stick. Was happening to me too but this fixed it
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

T-Mobile no LTE

I had trouble activating my SIM earlier. It did not want to activate when i did initial set up on the device. So I skipped thinking that i can activate it after set up. So for about an hour it would not connect to T-Mobiles network, then it finally did, with bad signal. All i am able to get is mainly 3G and H data signal, no LTE/4G like i am paying for.
has anyone had a similar problem before? Do you think this can be a bad SIM? Any help is appreciated.

Sorry to hear about your problem my phone isn't here yet so I can not give insights yet but will let you know if anything arises

Getting the same problem here, not getting LTE only H... this is my first time with a LTE phone so maybe my area doesn't have LTE, going to Uni tmrw and see if i get LTE there (which is should)
I like in Central Jersey so don't know if they have LTE there, i am pretty sure they have it in Northern Jersey, specially the Newark, Jersey City, NYC area's

U have lte in your area?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Try setting your APN to fast.t-mobile.com instead of epc.t-mobile.com

Yes. You can do a zip code search on there coverage. My zip is 37075 its got great coverage. I feel its a SIM problem.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

T-Mobile does NOT have nationwide LTE so theres no guarantee that you actually have LTE where you are. Best to make sure of that before you do anything else.
And just so you know, their coverage site does not distinguish between LTE and HSPA+ since they consider both 4G.

No LTE here on a new T-Mobile account. My roommate has it on his S4. I'm hoping it just takes time to provision. Using fast.t-mobile.com

i get lte anywhere i go..im in miami

LTE is not a huge deal as long as I get HSPA+ its fast where I am. It shows Excellent coverage in my area, so yes I may not get Real LTE, but i should get good HSPA+ and cell service. Right?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Try setting the preferred network to LTE. No clue if this will work on a Nexus 5, but it works on a Nexus 4. Even with the appropriate hacks, I only get LTE in my area when I do the following.
1. Enter *#*#4636#*#* in the dialer
2. Go to "Phone information"
3. Change the "Set preferred network type:" dropdown to "LTE only".

LTE started working after about 4 hours after setting up my new T-Mobile account.

Farva0412 said:
I had trouble activating my SIM earlier. It did not want to activate when i did initial set up on the device. So I skipped thinking that i can activate it after set up. So for about an hour it would not connect to T-Mobiles network, then it finally did, with bad signal. All i am able to get is mainly 3G and H data signal, no LTE/4G like i am paying for.
has anyone had a similar problem before? Do you think this can be a bad SIM? Any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What apn do you have? Fast.t-mobile.com
Mines been working great all day.

Azmuh said:
Getting the same problem here, not getting LTE only H... this is my first time with a LTE phone so maybe my area doesn't have LTE, going to Uni tmrw and see if i get LTE there (which is should)
I like in Central Jersey so don't know if they have LTE there, i am pretty sure they have it in Northern Jersey, specially the Newark, Jersey City, NYC area's
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in Sayreville as well, same issue. No LTE. I'm assuming it's just the coverage. I'll find out on my commute to work tomorrow.

chakra said:
What apn do you have? Fast.t-mobile.com
Mines been working great all day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have Fast.t-mobile.com APN. I live in Nashville. It just may be my house. I am going out tomorrow will do more testing.
jimgreco said:
I live in Sayreville as well, same issue. No LTE. I'm assuming it's just the coverage. I'll find out on my commute to work tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in Nashville, well the outskirts. I may not have LTE but the HSPA+ should be decent. Like I said above it may be my house. I get crap wifi reception in here so thats probably the reason.

maramos said:
LTE started working after about 4 hours after setting up my new T-Mobile account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What city are you in?

Farva0412 said:
What city are you in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Brooklyn

maramos said:
LTE started working after about 4 hours after setting up my new T-Mobile account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maramos said:
Brooklyn
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Click to collapse
Yep. Thats why you got LTE. Still Rolling out in my area. I am actually not upset about it. The HSPA+ is pretty dang good.

I've been in LTE since I turned on my phone. I'm in Connecticut
Sent from my NEXUS 5

My N5 flips between HSPA+ and LTE pretty much without rhyme or reason. Interestingly, HSPA+ is about as fast down most of the time, but of course LTE is faster uploading.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 4

[Q] Nexus 5 LTE & HSPA

Hello everyone,
Just got my Nexus 5 with carrier AT&T and got my LTE activated using the IMEI that came with the N5 and everything works great. Just a quick question regarding the icons that are shown depending on which network you are on. When on LTE it will show LTE above the signal bar. When not on an LTE band it will switch over to H. My understanding is that the H stands for HSPA+. Would this be the equivalent of 4G? I was under the assumption that the H was basically 3G. I also thought then when using LTE it is considered LTE/4G, so wouldn't the LTE switch to a 4G symbol, or does the Nexus 5 not have this and that would be what the H is referencing.
Thank you.

H is hspa+ which is faster than 3g but not as fast as lte. I am usually on H+ or lte. I rarely get the 3g symbol on AT&T. I also found that H+ is almost as fast as Verizon LTE. I think it is due to do many devices on their network.

eevingsa the
jm700wx said:
H is hspa+ which is faster than 3g but not as fast as lte. I am usually on H+ or lte. I rarely get the 3g symbol on AT&T. I also found that H+ is almost as fast as Verizon LTE. I think it is due to do many devices on their network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, so basically you won't get the 4G symbol on the Nexus 5 using AT&T? Mainly what happens is i'm on LTE, then when I make a phone call it switches to H (HSPA+). I thought AT&T is able to do voice calls over a 4G network. I may be wrong.

celphtitle said:
Thanks, so basically you won't get the 4G symbol on the Nexus 5 using AT&T? Mainly what happens is i'm on LTE, then when I make a phone call it switches to H (HSPA+). I thought AT&T is able to do voice calls over a 4G network. I may be wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may have to manually add in AT&T's LTE apn (which you can find with a quick google search) if your phone doesn't automatically pick it up. Also make sure your SIM card has been provisioned to work with the LTE bands (use with another 4G phone ex. S3, HTC One)

k3anan said:
You may have to manually add in AT&T's LTE apn (which you can find with a quick google search) if your phone doesn't automatically pick it up. Also make sure your SIM card has been provisioned to work with the LTE bands (use with another 4G phone ex. S3, HTC One)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I get LTE, I just don't get 4G. I figured the phone doesn't show a 4G icon, but if it does, then I'll check my sim in another device.

Google just changed the "4G" icon to "LTE". On jelly bean, LTE would show "4G" if you had the hybrid N4 radio flashed. hspa+ has always shown "H" on the stock ROM. Some custom ROMs have you the "H+" symbol though.
As for voice calls on at&t, they go over their hspa+ network, at&t uses their LTE for data only at this time. BTW, at&t considers their hspa+ to be "4G".
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

gotzaDroid said:
Google just changed the "4G" icon to "LTE". On jelly bean, LTE would show "4G" if you had the hybrid N4 radio flashed. hspa+ has always shown "H" on the stock ROM. Some custom ROMs have you the "H+" symbol though.
As for voice calls on at&t, they go over their hspa+ network, at&t uses their LTE for data only at this time. BTW, at&t considers their hspa+ to be "4G".
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, exactly the answer I was looking for. So I am good to go then, I see the LTE icon, and H when making voice calls.
Thank you very much.

celphtitle said:
Well I get LTE, I just don't get 4G. I figured the phone doesn't show a 4G icon, but if it does, then I'll check my sim in another device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4G and LTE are the same thing. LTE is a denotation of the network standard just like 3G is EDGE. If you're getting LTE above the signal indicator you are on the 4G network.
EDIT: gotzaDroid explained it much better than I did.

k3anan said:
4G and LTE are the same thing. LTE is a denotation of the network standard just like 3G is EDGE. If you're getting LTE above the signal indicator you are on the 4G network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea my concern was that when I would make a phone call, the LTE would switch to H. I didn't know that H was basically AT&T's "4G".

celphtitle said:
yea my concern was that when I would make a phone call, the LTE would switch to H. I didn't know that H was basically AT&T's "4G".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it is the same on T-Mobile. When they refer to 4G, they are referring to HSPA+ (or H). I like to call AT&T and T-Mobile's 4G, fauxG since it is really just an improvement upon 3G. I don't know who shot first, but I wish the marketing teams would have called it 3G+ or something instead of lying to everyone or at least referred to LTE as 5G. So now everyone has 4G and 4G LTE and really LTE deserves more as it isn't a hack job to get more speed. It will replace all the legacy networks and even eventually be used for voice transmission.

Yes it switches because they're currently you cannot surf the web while being on a phone call with LTE, so it auto switches to hspa+ so you can surf the web while talking
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda premium

dijit4l said:
Yeah, it is the same on T-Mobile. When they refer to 4G, they are referring to HSPA+ (or H). I like to call AT&T and T-Mobile's 4G, fauxG since it is really just an improvement upon 3G. I don't know who shot first, but I wish the marketing teams would have called it 3G+ or something instead of lying to everyone or at least referred to LTE as 5G. So now everyone has 4G and 4G LTE and really LTE deserves more as it isn't a hack job to get more speed. It will replace all the legacy networks and even eventually be used for voice transmission.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's no big deal. I considered HSPA+ more or less 3G+ anyway. All is well, you guys are great help. Got my phone unlocked the bootloader and set everything up, got my LTE (which I did not get with the nexus 4). Time to play around with the phone some more now.

I have had my Nexus 5 for a few days now and I have noticed quite a difference in reception between lte and hspa on T-Mobile. I will have lte marked and have one maybe two bars. Then I switched to hspa and then my bars went all the way up. Why is this?

dijit4l said:
Yeah, it is the same on T-Mobile. When they refer to 4G, they are referring to HSPA+ (or H). I like to call AT&T and T-Mobile's 4G, fauxG since it is really just an improvement upon 3G. I don't know who shot first, but I wish the marketing teams would have called it 3G+ or something instead of lying to everyone or at least referred to LTE as 5G. So now everyone has 4G and 4G LTE and really LTE deserves more as it isn't a hack job to get more speed. It will replace all the legacy networks and even eventually be used for voice transmission.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You realize LTE is also not REALLY 4G...
4G is a communications standard, that currently no one meets. In fact, many people report that T-Mobile HSPA+ is faster than Verizon LTE in their areas. Of course, now AT&T and T-Mobile both offer LTE and HSPA+. Which puts them above Verizon in my eyes, because when LTE goes out, you have HSPA to fall back on.

gotzaDroid said:
Google just changed the "4G" icon to "LTE". On jelly bean, LTE would show "4G" if you had the hybrid N4 radio flashed. hspa+ has always shown "H" on the stock ROM. Some custom ROMs have you the "H+" symbol though.
As for voice calls on at&t, they go over their hspa+ network, at&t uses their LTE for data only at this time. BTW, at&t considers their hspa+ to be "4G".
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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I'm with Australian network provider Telstra, and my phone shows 4G all the time(regardless whether it is transmitting data or not) when I'm in 4G coverage, 3G when I'm not in coverage and not having data acativity and H when it is transmitting data. Do you think it is the different device model and/or the network provider contributed to the difference between mine and what you guys have in the State?

maolin95 said:
I'm with Australian network provider Telstra, and my phone shows 4G all the time(regardless whether it is transmitting data or not) when I'm in 4G coverage, 3G when I'm not in coverage and not having data acativity and H when it is transmitting data. Do you think it is the different device model and/or the network provider contributed to the difference between mine and what you guys have in the State?
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It wouldn't surprise me that the North American 820 model had the "LTE"symbol cooked in at the request of service providers here.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Simer03 said:
Yes it switches because they're currently you cannot surf the web while being on a phone call with LTE, so it auto switches to hspa+ so you can surf the web while talking
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda premium
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This confuses me. Can't the nexus 5 use both at the same time? You're getting text messages over HSPA(+) with LTE on.
I'm still puzzled why when I make a call why LTE goes away and HSPA+ shows up. This is on T-Mobile.

phoneman09 said:
I have had my Nexus 5 for a few days now and I have noticed quite a difference in reception between lte and hspa on T-Mobile. I will have lte marked and have one maybe two bars. Then I switched to hspa and then my bars went all the way up. Why is this?
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Well, I have some good news to report. I was having the same issue as you and really getting down about it. I went to my nearest T-Mobile store and told them of my situation. The rep called tech support and he did some sort of reset to my account, I am not sure what exactly. I also asked if I could get a new SIM. I was given that new ISIS SIM and as soon as my phone fired up, it started using LTE. After I left the store, from being in my pocket, it was on HSPA for a few moments and then it finally chose LTE and stuck with LTE the entire time I was within its coverage. I am really happy with my phone now, it now behaves like my hacked Nexus 4 on LTE did.

jm700wx said:
H is hspa+ which is faster than 3g but not as fast as lte. I am usually on H+ or lte. I rarely get the 3g symbol on AT&T. I also found that H+ is almost as fast as Verizon LTE. I think it is due to do many devices on their network.
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This isn't *entirely* true.
You'll see the LTE symbol when you're on LTE, that's easy.
You'll see the H when you're on HSPA or HSPA+, which means you'll see it when you're on the network that old phones used to just call 3G.
The other symbols are specifically for Edge. I know it doesn't seem like it, since one is a 3G symbol, but do a speedtest and you'll see it. Modern phones display things poorly for connections because of the differentiation of HSPA and HSPA+. It's obnoxious.
---------- Post added at 12:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:44 PM ----------
Zandeer said:
You realize LTE is also not REALLY 4G...
4G is a communications standard, that currently no one meets. In fact, many people report that T-Mobile HSPA+ is faster than Verizon LTE in their areas. Of course, now AT&T and T-Mobile both offer LTE and HSPA+. Which puts them above Verizon in my eyes, because when LTE goes out, you have HSPA to fall back on.
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Actually, that's not correct.
ITU-R said:
On December 6, 2010, ITU-R recognized that these two technologies, as well as other beyond-3G technologies that do not fulfill the IMT-Advanced requirements, could nevertheless be considered "4G", provided they represent forerunners to IMT-Advanced compliant versions and "a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed".
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LTE, and even HSPA+, are considered 4G.
As for the 'Why does it switch from LTE to HSPA+ when I make a call?' question, LTE does not support standard switch-based telephony, meaning you cannot make voice calls using the network. Some carriers (I think Verizon is ahead, but I don't remember) are going to be supporting VoIP soon (voice over IP), which allows calls to be made using the LTE network, but they're all data-based (think Skype). As such, current phones will switch to HSPA+ or CDMA to make the phone call and then switch back once it's done.

hotleadsingerguy said:
As for the 'Why does it switch from LTE to HSPA+ when I make a call?' question, LTE does not support standard switch-based telephony, meaning you cannot make voice calls using the network. Some carriers (I think Verizon is ahead, but I don't remember) are going to be supporting VoIP soon (voice over IP), which allows calls to be made using the LTE network, but they're all data-based (think Skype). As such, current phones will switch to HSPA+ or CDMA to make the phone call and then switch back once it's done.
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That's not really accurate. Verizon's newer phones (Galaxy S3 for example) will let you call while on LTE. That's why I'm having such a hard time understanding why the N5 won't let LTE stay on while making a call. Doesn't it have a radio for data (LTE) and and radio for voice? Seems like both should be working in parallel like on VZ.