The Question is
Actual 5G or Icon-only 5G!
Recently, a new mobile app called SignalTracker showed that nearly 40% of 5G connections are actually 4G, as per PolicyTracker. Actual 5G is about twice as fast as icon-only connections, averaging 49 Mbps compared to 27 Mbps in our tests.
In UK tests, when the 5G icon was displaying, 38% of tests were, in fact, a 4G connection.
The research is based on over 11,000 tests carried out in the UK over the past two months.
- For Three, the 5G icon means real 5G 94% of the time.
- For Vodafone, the figure is 93%.
- For O2, 66% of 5G tests had a genuine 5G connection.
- For EE, the figure was only 32%.
Reason for that:
- Most devices show a 5G icon if a connected base station has 5G available, though the actual connection may be 4G or 5G. Some devices display a distinct icon for a real 5G connection, while others use the same icon for availability or actual connection.
- On Android devices, the 5G icon is typically displayed based on the contents of this OverrideNetworkTypefield, which indicates that 5G capability is present on the base station even if there is no active connection.