LTE or 4G - that's the difference

LTE and 4G: what's the difference?

Before the introduction of LTE and 4G, mobile internet was mainly used via the UMTS and HSDPA mobile radio standards. UMTS and HSDPA are often abbreviated to 3G.
However, LTE and 4G do not mean the same thing, there is a small but subtle technical difference: The 4G network standard is the fourth generation of the mobile network standard, for which, among other things, international guidelines and specifications apply. 4G is also an abbreviation for "International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced".
LTE, on the other hand, does not support all the features and requirements that 4G brings with guidelines. Strictly speaking, LTE is just a much better version of 3G, almost a kind of 3.9G. So if your status bar shows LTE instead of 4G, you are surfing in a network that does not fully meet the international requirements of 4G.
Every now and then, especially in big cities, the abbreviations "4G +" or "LTE +" appear on the smartphones: This is what is known as "LTE Advanced", a further development of the LTE standard, which from a technical point of view also conforms to the guidelines of Reach 4G.

2G: Transmission speeds of 53.6 kbit / s and 220 kbit / s are possible with GPRS and EDGE. The abbreviation 2G is rarely used.
3G: With UMTS, speeds of up to 384 kbit / s were already possible. The term 3G is often seen, especially on the iPhone. This network standard will be completely switched off in Germany by 2020.
3.5G: The 3G standard was continuously developed, which gave rise to HSDPA, HSDPA +, HSPA and HSPA +. Here speeds of up to 42 Mbit / s can be achieved. Android devices show an H or H + for 3.5G, on the iPhone the display remains at 3G.
4G: LTE is currently the standard for many new mobile phone contracts in Germany, the top speed is 100 Mbit / s.
4.5G: With LTE Advanced, devices can even achieve speeds of up to 1 Gbit / s - at least in theory. In practice, however, it will still take some time before such speeds are available across the board. In contracts with activated 4G, 4.5G is also integrated.
5G: Vodafone plans to introduce the fifth generation of mobile communications standards in Germany from 2020. This should allow 10 to 20 Gbit / s. The first cell phone masts are already in place: With the right smartphones, we achieved download speeds of up to over 500 MB / s in the first test.

In the next practical tip, we will show you how to check the LTE availability in your area.