[Q] How does the Streak know '3G' from '4G' ? - Dell Streak 7

So with T-Mobile's current 4G devices, G2 and myTouch 4G, they have signal indicators of 'G', 'E', and 'H'. Which indicate GPRS, EDGE, and HSPA. The 'H' has always indicated a 3G OR a 4G connection since it can't distinguish between HSPA and HSPA+
Since 4G is the same connection as the 3G one just bumped up with faster speeds, how could it possibly create a distinction between the two? The Streak clearly fluctuates between a 3G and 4G signal indicator at times but I don't see how this could work without it constantly doing a speed test.
Does anyone know the technical reasoning behind this? Is there a way to distinguish between HSPA and HSPA+ now?

The 4g signal is at a different frequency than 3g. The device realizes that, just like with 2g (E) and 3g, it sees the distinction in frequency and displays what is sees. Of course this just a hypothesis, but it seems about right
-Insert signature here-

But the 4G signal ISN'T different than the 3G one. T-Mobile just made it's 3G incredibly faster. That's why the G2 and myTouch 4G display an 'H'. Why didn't they put any differentiation in those devices? Those devices don't toggle between '3G' and 'H' they toggle between 'G', 'E', and 'H'. With 'H' meaning 3G speeds at the minimum and anything above that.
At first, I thought maybe the DS7 just displays '4G' all the time in place of 'H' but I was perplexed when it displayed a 3G indicator occasionally as well.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome if T-Mobile found some way to differentiate the two but as of right now it makes no technical sense and no one seems to notice.

SaykredCow said:
But the 4G signal ISN'T different than the 3G one. T-Mobile just made it's 3G incredibly faster. That's why the G2 and myTouch 4G display an 'H'. Why didn't they put any differentiation in those devices? Those devices don't toggle between '3G' and 'H' they toggle between 'G', 'E', and 'H'. With 'H' meaning 3G speeds at the minimum and anything above that.
At first, I thought maybe the DS7 just displays '4G' all the time in place of 'H' but I was perplexed when it displayed a 3G indicator occasionally as well.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome if T-Mobile found some way to differentiate the two but as of right now it makes no technical sense and no one seems to notice.
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I was wondering that myself. I am just north of downtown chicago. It shows it as 4g most of the time. When i go to the about phone screen, under status, it shows "Mobile Network Type: HSPA". Not HSPA+. Average speeds are around 2-3Mbps. Far cry from HSPA+

djdanska said:
I was wondering that myself. I am just north of downtown chicago. It shows it as 4g most of the time. When i go to the about phone screen, under status, it shows "Mobile Network Type: HSPA". Not HSPA+. Average speeds are around 2-3Mbps. Far cry from HSPA+
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I think its fair to call it HSPA+ ...but very likely bogged down HSPA+ because it may have been during peak hours where tons of people are using it at once. Remember, we're sharing bandwidth with people using 3G phones too.
Which brings me back to the original topic of this thread that I WISH someone would have the answer to.

When the Streak 7 shows 3G it means its connected on UMTS (384k max) when it shows 4G it could be on either HSPDA or HSPDA+ it cant tell the difference.
Like my nokia N900 said 3G for UMTS and 3.5G for HSPDA

"4g" speeds on dell streak 7
I posted this on twitter to Tmobile and some others but of course nobody responded. On my dell streak 7 with the icon showing 4g in a well covered HSPA+ area Ive maxed the speed out at 4mbps. Not terrible but it averages 1-2 mbps on 4g. Still not the worst and nothing crazy here. The thing is I have a mytouch 4g that I have speed tested the same place and time and same server and it nailed 7-10 mbps and averages 4-5mbps. I was frustrated but then when I tested out my nexus s speed tests at the same time as the dell streak and it beat the dell streak handily every single time that did it for me. I see the same thing with the motorola Atrix, I was able to speedtest one and it said H+ on the icon but still no more than 2mbps and I know thats att not the same as my tmobile connection but still to me 2mbps is NOT 4g! I understand the stress of the network can cause bad tests here and there but all that goes out the window when my "3g" only nexus whips the speed of a so called 4g device on the dell streak. I wanted to give it a chance but the crappy screen combined with slow speeds that are not the networks fault made me return it.

i posted the answer to the op's question. And that answer was taken from the streak 7 manual

Related

What does the H mean on my cell (noob question)

Ok so I switched my rom to the phoenix rom and I was wondering what the H means, where it usually said 3G? Is the H faster than 3G? Is that 4G? Is the speeds in this order E,G,3G,H,4G? Thanks for answering my n00b question
fly2dm00n said:
Ok so I switched my rom to the phoenix rom and I was wondering what the H means, where it usually said 3G? Is the H faster than 3G? Is that 4G? Is the speeds in this order E,G,3G,H,4G? Thanks for answering my n00b question
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The h is for hsdpa which does have faster download speed. Flashing an i9000 rom allows that frequency.
This is my Captivate. There are many like it but this one is mine.
H means 3G.
defnow said:
H means 3G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhhhh....what?
This is my Captivate. There are many like it but this one is mine.
The H is for HSUPA. The 3G means HSDPA. AT&T made the wonderful decision to artificially cap our upload speeds. The i9000 ROMs do not have this limitation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSUPA
tl;dr H > 3G
MikeyMike01 said:
The H is for HSUPA. The 3G means HSDPA. AT&T made the wonderful decision to artificially cap our upload speeds. The i9000 ROMs do not have this limitation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSUPA
tl;dr H > 3G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what you are saying is h = holy [email protected]# this is fast
MikeyMike01 said:
The H is for HSUPA. The 3G means HSDPA. AT&T made the wonderful decision to artificially cap our upload speeds. The i9000 ROMs do not have this limitation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSUPA
tl;dr H > 3G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless everything I have read and the arguments on this very forum are wrong, we are enabling HSDPA, as the phone is already capable of HSUPA. \
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-hsdpa.htm
More info on this subject.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=837716&highlight=wifi+battery
So unless I am reading things wrong is it not this way?
flashman2002 said:
Unless everything I have read and the arguments on this very forum are wrong, we are enabling HSDPA, as the phone is already capable of HSUPA. \
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-hsdpa.htm
HSDPA is not 3G, it is 3.5G which would be the reason we see an H. THe link you posted even states HSUPA is 3G...so I would say you have your info backwards. Even on the phone with an I9000 ROM it says HSDPA for mobile network type.
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i think you have it backwards....even on stock the phone will say HSDPA because thats what 3g is....
HSUPA is what gets unlocked by using an i9000 modem....as in the UPLOAD speed. it increases, just try it.
from what i understand, the H doesnt mean SQUAT. in the rest of the world the H is their standard network, akin to what we have that ATT calls 3g (only not gimped by those iphone loving [email protected]$%*!&)....its a png file in the framework, it could be changed to F if so desired....its a meaningless icon
Pirateghost said:
i think you have it backwards....even on stock the phone will say HSDPA because thats what 3g is....
HSUPA is what gets unlocked by using an i9000 modem....as in the UPLOAD speed. it increases, just try it.
from what i understand, the H doesnt mean SQUAT. in the rest of the world the H is their standard network, akin to what we have that ATT calls 3g (only not gimped by those iphone loving [email protected]$%*!&)....its a png file in the framework, it could be changed to F if so desired....its a meaningless icon
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Click to collapse
Hell maybe I do...I am just going back to all the arguments and stuff I have read that we are enabling HSDPA by use of the I9000 Rom. I am not always sure with this kind of stuff but my bad if what I posted and the way I interpret it are not correct. And I couldn't get my ninja edit in fast enough haha.
MikeyMike01 said:
The H is for HSUPA. The 3G means HSDPA. AT&T made the wonderful decision to artificially cap our upload speeds. The i9000 ROMs do not have this limitation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSUPA
tl;dr H > 3G
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Click to collapse
Yep, downloads are gtg...it's the upload. It's one feature, for me at least, that I'm not too worried about. However, I may decide to become a Youtube freak and want to upload tons of videos...I should at least have the option to do so efficiently given the hardware in this phone is capable of it. This IS a perfect example of where AT&T should be blamed for something.
---Edit---
Saying 3G and HSDPA are one in the same is semantically incorrect, but practically speaking, it's close to correct. It's more like 3G with a bit of a boost. One difference is the transport layer, HS-DSCH. So, it's 3G, further evolved.
I'm sorry, but none of you have it completely correct.
Umts is 3g. Hsdpa is 3.5g for download speeds. Hsupa is 3.5g for upload speeds.
Att does not allow any of its phones to display anything but edge and 3g indicators by the signal bars. The 3g can actually means umts, hsdpa, or hsupa (on phones that support it). The i9000 based roms display the indicator more correctly. 3g means umts only. 'H' means hsdpa or hsupa. This is how the symbols are displayed on every other network.
Edit: also, att does allow hsdpa on stock captivates. It only stops hsupa.
k2snowboards88 said:
I'm sorry, but none of you have it completely correct.
Umts is 3g. Hsdpa is 3.5g for download speeds. Hsupa is 3.5g for upload speeds.
Att does not allow any of its phones to display anything but edge and 3g indicators by the signal bars. The 3g can actually means umts, hsdpa, or hsupa (on phones that support it). The i9000 based roms display the indicator more correctly. 3g means umts only. 'H' means hsdpa or hsupa. This is how the symbols are displayed on every other network.
Edit: also, att does allow hsdpa on stock captivates. It only stops hsupa.
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Well, this is my understanding exactly. Perhaps you put it in a more articulate fashion; it's what I meant by my post, albeit with less technical details.
---Edit---
So, the answer, OP, is the H means you now have faster upload capability. In practical terms, an H on a Captivate means you have HSUPA; you always had HSDPA.
Oh, and technically, they are all UMTS.
It will still display the H even if you are only in a hsdpa area without hsupa, however.
Actually hsupa allows for a faster download as well during testing. How idk. But speed test went from 4mb to 6mb when switching types.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
skatcat31 said:
Actually hsupa allows for a faster download as well during testing. How idk. But speed test went from 4mb to 6mb when switching types.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Same here mine when from like 1.5mbs on eclair to topped out like 6.5 on perception v4 and pheonix roms
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
4g
Is this going to be an advantage when at&t goes to 4g ??...or is the 3.5 actually 4g?
4g
so is this going to be an advantage when at&t goes 4g???.....(having a 1900 rom that has ''H'')
skatcat31 said:
Actually hsupa allows for a faster download as well during testing. How idk. But speed test went from 4mb to 6mb when switching types.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
It improves download speeds because most IP communications are TCP or session based, meaning there is an acknowledgement sent back to verify receipt of packets. The sender has to wait for the acknowledgements before sending more data, therefore if the upload portion is significantly slower (due to higher latency or lower bandwidth) the acknowledgements take longer and the overall transmission speed is decreased.
I have seen a dramatic increase in over all performance when using apps that rely on a data connection (Android Market, Google Maps) when using HSUPA vs. HSDPA. The overall bandwidth or download speed may or may not be higher but responsiveness is much improved.
vuoflfan said:
so is this going to be an advantage when at&t goes 4g???.....(having a 1900 rom that has ''H'')
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Click to collapse
Hello I have an infuse running [2.3.6] AEON v1.4SL on straight talk
I have H+ or EDGE but I don't get a 4G indicator in 4G areas?
Am I missing out on the 4G speeds due to the modem I am using?
Do I need to install a different modem to get the 4G speeds?
Thankyou
hootiehoo said:
Hello I have an infuse running [2.3.6] AEON v1.4SL on straight talk
I have H+ or EDGE but I don't get a 4G indicator in 4G areas?
Am I missing out on the 4G speeds due to the modem I am using?
Do I need to install a different modem to get the 4G speeds?
Thankyou
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A 4G indicator as seen on many of the newer phones usually indicates a connection to an actual 4G LTE connection which would be what is considered "real 4G." The Infuse doesn't support LTE, but supports HSPA+ a.k.a H+ which is 21 Mbps max download speeds as opposed to the 7.2 max on the Captivate. It is essentially a step between HSPA and LTE, hence HSPA+.

What is with this H internet instead of 3g

I have cognition rom and instead of having 3g I have this H internet. It sits on 3g for a milla second then switches to H. My buddy with iphone four is getting way higher speed tests than me, why can't I get 3g and get better speeds?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Since this has only been answered 100 times in the past three weeks...
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=H+instead+of+3g+XDA
AND as far as the better speeds for the Iphone go......you can Google that as well............ I'm guessing your on At&T?
I don't know why but my buddies 3g was consistently hitting 300-350 kbs. The max I was hitting was like 150. We were right next to each other when we were testing this, I guess that the iphone blows the captivate away in 3g reception and speed. Also in the spotty areas he was keeping his 3g and I was dropping down to edge. Kinda disappointed . Had anyone else noticed that the 3g reception isn't that good our is it just my area?
jamezz23 said:
I have cognition rom and instead of having 3g I have this H internet. It sits on 3g for a milla second then switches to H. My buddy with iphone four is getting way higher speed tests than me, why can't I get 3g and get better speeds?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
this is why i hate american cell providers, they want you to remain ignorant. it's not your fault but it is funny that people arent familiar with grps, edge, hspa, and hspa+ it is like they are telling you that you are too stupid to understand so you dont need to know.
the cdma providers are the worst. but att should be proud of having hspa, but i think they want to hide the fact that it is not available in all 3g areas. instead they advertise the hspa speeds as there 3g speeds as hspa works on there 3g network. they dont distinguish the two so you think there network is so much faster in so many places
meanwhile verizon advertises the hspa coverage for att as 3g coverage to make att's coverage look smaller. they say they have so much more coverage, if they showed a current 3g map for att instead of the hspa coverage you would not see a big difference at all. also cdma 3g is totally different from what att has and is not a fair comparison in the first place. how can you compare coverage if the speed is not comparable?
Comparing phones side by side with speed test is also not the best way to test which device is faster, especially if they are on the same network. I am annoyed by the input on this device or Id go in depth. Use some google-foo and read on cell phone signaling and theory and youll see what I mean.
Sent from my Dell Streak 7 using XDA Premium App

[Q] 3g/4g

Hey guys I just got my droid3 today from Bell (Canada). (Its called motorola xt860 for a reason here but o well...)
I'm just wondering why it says 3g in my notification bar. should it be 4g??
I don't understand... maybe 4g aint available yet..
Oh, and it says my mobile network type is UMTS... what is that? I thought there was only GSM and CDMA
I need to know, please
Thank you
4G is more of a marketing gimmick. Phone is actually HSPA+ (3.5G). Not sure how Motorola made it but if it is like the Atrix, it will likely show "3G" and "H" or eventually "H+". You should consider H+ as 4G.
Only LTE was initially considered "4G", but latter they decided to rate 3G+ (21Mbps and 42MBps connections) as 4G.
This phone is not LTE - it is GSM/UMTS with HSDPA up to 14.4MBps and HSUPA up to 5.76Mbps, which in no way is slow, but much slower than what LTE can deliver. Blame carriers for the confusion - they were pushing for this marketing gimmick.
Oh I see, Thank you very much sir really appreciated !
It is a great phone. Even without the "true 4G" it is a good phone. I don't see LTE being a nessecity within the next 12 months, at least for me. The current HSPA+ speeds are more than reasonable. I will be picking up one of these puppies to replace my Milestone/Droid2 Global as soon as I figure a way around Bell. Hate the fact Bell got it instead Rogers/Telus, but at least it was made available in Canada unlike Milestone 2 for example.
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
leobg said:
4G is more of a marketing gimmick. Phone is actually HSPA+ (3.5G). Not sure how Motorola made it but if it is like the Atrix, it will likely show "3G" and "H" or eventually "H+". You should consider H+ as 4G.
Only LTE was initially considered "4G", but latter they decided to rate 3G+ (21Mbps and 42MBps connections) as 4G.
This phone is not LTE - it is GSM/UMTS with HSDPA up to 14.4MBps and HSUPA up to 5.76Mbps, which in no way is slow, but much slower than what LTE can deliver. Blame carriers for the confusion - they were pushing for this marketing gimmick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So in another word, the Bell's XT860 is EXACTLY the same as the Droid 3/XT682 minus the CDMA modem?
eXecuter.bin said:
So in another word, the Bell's XT860 is EXACTLY the same as the Droid 3/XT682 minus the CDMA modem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup - you got it right.

Getting fooled into thinking I have 4g.

So I am in a area that doesn't have 4g yet but all day today I have been getting a 4g indicator but sowed test verified I'm not getting 4g this is showing up on both my revolution and etudes thunderbolt.
Sent from my VS910 4G using xda premium
2 things I know that are relevant here: You can see what kind of connection its using by clicking any of the tests, and itll show the type of connection, ie wifi, 3g or LTE. Also, if Im physically in or relatively close to Denver ("official" 4g spot) I can get anywhere between 10-30mbps down and upto 5mbps up, but where I live in Sedalia, I get 4g (unofficially) and get maybe 9mbps down and 1.5mbps up tops. Going by your speeds, theyre really slow for 4g, but very high for verizon 3g, so Id lean towards bad 4g instead of good 3g. The highest speed I ever pulled on any verizon 3g phone or device was 2.5mbps on one test, otherwise generally upto 1.8mbps, and most of the time less than that.
Are you on a custom rom ?
Sent from my VS910 4G using Tapatalk

[Q] 6903 on Canadian Fido lte

Has anyone gotten their z1 LTE working on canada fido?
i've got a 6903, and i swear before i inserted the apn manually i've seen 4g on my status bar. could be just my imagination.
i've tried internet.fido.ca for apn and i'm limited to H+. when i go online and they suggested ltemobile.apn, i couldn't get data at all.
kazukiflame said:
Has anyone gotten their z1 LTE working on canada fido?
i've got a 6903, and i swear before i inserted the apn manually i've seen 4g on my status bar. could be just my imagination.
i've tried internet.fido.ca for apn and i'm limited to H+. when i go online and they suggested ltemobile.apn, i couldn't get data at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on Rogers, which is the same service and I get 4G using ltemobile.apn. I'm more than happy with this and have been getting 38 mbit on speedtest.
I've not seen the LTE icon tho, and either I cannot get it in this area (which seems unlikely as I am in downtown Vancouver) or this phone will not do LTE as it does not have the 700 band.
30Seconds said:
I'm on Rogers, which is the same service and I get 4G using ltemobile.apn. I'm more than happy with this and have been getting 38 mbit on speedtest.
I've not seen the LTE icon tho, and either I cannot get it in this area (which seems unlikely as I am in downtown Vancouver) or this phone will not do LTE as it does not have the 700 band.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you mean you still get 4g speeds even though you didn't get the lte icon?
kazukiflame said:
did you mean you still get 4g speeds even though you didn't get the lte icon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see a 4G icon and have not seen the LTE icon. I've read the manual and it mentions a LTE icon but not a 4G icon, but that's what I have. For all I know I am actually getting LTE.
I had thought that LTE was even faster then this, especially in major cities near antennas.
But from what I have read a lot of LTE users do not even get the speeds I am seeing so I am quite pleased with this phone's data connection as it is.
I am on TELUS and when i originally got the phone it only showed 4G. I have however updated to 534 and it now shows LTE. Hope that helps?
hoklun said:
I am on TELUS and when i originally got the phone it only showed 4G. I have however updated to 534 and it now shows LTE. Hope that helps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on 534 now. Can I ask what sort of speeds you are getting?
LTE coverage on the Z1 is more spotty though compared to my previous Note 2. Also Telus lacks access to 2600mhz LTE from Bell/Rogers which offers higher speeds.
hey guys, if you are getting anything above 30mbps/download.. especially member 30 Seconds who is getting 48mbps, that's definitely LTE. I just wanted to confirm that you DONT need the 700Mhz to be on LTE. I called Fido on separate occasions due an initial 'not-so-bright' rep who take ages to answer my question and eventually needed to ask her co-worker for help (I don't know how they get hired.. lol) and both Fido employees have stated that ONLY 2100 and 2600 Mhz is needed for LTE. I questioned if support for 700Mhz is needed and they said no. I still am not able to test out my Z1 yet which is still in the box so hopefully somebody can come forward and verify that they see their C6903 showing the LTE symbol on Fido or Rogers.
The frequencies are used differently.
High frequency in urban areas for throughput. Low frequency for less dense areas, more range and penetration. So, what you"need" depends on where you are basically.
Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk

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