The 4G vs 5G Scam: Your phone’s cellular connectivity icon has been lying to you for years!

The 4G vs 5G Scam: Your Phone’s Cellular Connectivity Icon Has Been Lying To You For Years!

20/06/2024

Before you dive deep into the 4G vs 5G Scam, stop trusting the 5G icon that sits on top of your screen. It’s been lying to you for a while. That little icon is a little white lie that your phone tells you every time you look at it. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m connected to the super-fast 5G network,” it says. But it tells you nothing about the wireless transmission standard being used. This issue dates to 2017. 

That year, the global cellular wireless industry’s trade group, GSMA, made initial recommendations about what icon your phone should display, showing 4 different “configurations” with 6 scenarios for each, deciding whether to display “4G” or “5G”.

GSMA’s Proposed Configurations

Configuration A was designed to display “4G” in 4 out of 6 cases. Configuration D displays “4G” in 1 out of 6 cases.

Guess which of these 4 configurations made it to that sneaky phone in your pocket? 

State	Config. A	Config. B	Config. C	Config. D
Idle under or connected to an LTE cell not supporting NSA	4G	4G	4G	4G
Idle under or connected to LTE cell supporting NSA and no detection of NR coverage	4G	4G	4G	5G
Connected to LTE only under LTE cell supporting NSA and detection of NR coverage	4G	4G	5G	5G
Idle under LTE cell supporting NSA and detection of NR coverage	4G	5G	5G	5G
Connected to LTE + NR under LTE cell supporting NSA	5G	5G	5G	5G
Idle under or connected to NG-RAN while attached to 5GC	5G	5G	5G	5G

Source: The GSMA’s 5GSI Task Force

Should Your Phone Display: 4G Or 5G?

The group that defines the standards for cellular, 3GPP, ultimately decided that it was up to the mobile carrier to select what to display in what situation. There is no standard, but there is a recommended default behavior, which you will see applied on unlocked phones from the open market and some carriers.

What is the device doing?	Recommended status
Actively using a 5G antenna the phone is actively using New Radio (NR) through an NSA-capable LTE cell	5G
Connected to a 4G antenna but there is 5G in the surroundings the phone is idling on an NSA LTE cell and detects NR coverage	5G
Actively uses 4G but there’s 5G in the surroundings the phone is actively using 4G on an NSA LTE cell and detects NR coverage	5G
Connected to a 4G antenna the phone is idling or actively using 4G on an NSA LTE cell with no detection of NR coverage	5G
Connected to a 4G antenna the phone is idling or actively using 4G on a standard LTE cell, not supporting NSA	4G

What does this mean? The only time your 5G-enabled device would show the “4G” status indicator is when:

• It is attached to an LTE cell that does not support the NSA 5G standard (for things like cell handover and authentication), and

• There is no 5G “new radio” antenna around you at all.

In other words, even if your device is connected to an LTE antenna, it will still show the 5G status icon.

The Truth About The 4G vs 5G Connectivity Icon:

Interestingly, it means that you might see a different indicator, 4G or 5G, depending on the device you are using, not based on the actual service it receives. Two devices, connected to the same network, at the same time and place, may display 4G or 5G, just because the mobile carrier decided so, irrespective of the actual service it gets.

With that being said, you can decide what radio your phone uses. Work with a cellular connectivity service provider that lets you choose what radio your SIM cards can attach or learn more about how Private 5G networks will change your business. So, the next time your phone shows you that “5G” indicator, remember it’s saying “gotcha!”, and don’t be fooled.