iPhone 13 Pro Max How can you determine if your iPhone is actually connected at 5G speeds?

[Phil77354]

Since it seems that 5G is just now becoming active, I'm curious as to how I can tell if my local service is now implementing 5G.

I have AT&T, with a new iPhone 13 Pro Max, and my iPhone display has been showing '5G' since I first purchased the phone several months ago. But I don't think that was correct, I think that AT&T was trying to give the impression that they had 5G in place even though it was not yet turned on. And obviously that was the case since we know it is just now happening.

Is there a way, via the settings on the iPhone or some other information that can be accessed on the phone, to know if the connection you are getting is really 5G??

 

[now i see it]

As far as AT&T is concerned, if you see the 5G icon on the top of the phone, you’re connected to their 5G network.
AT&T has two flavors of 5G: their ubiquitous 5G-E service that’s everywhere which is just a minor improvement over 4G, and then their millimeter wave 5G which is available almost nowhere and is super duper fast.

 

[jazz1]

As far as AT&T is concerned, if you see the 5G icon on the top of the phone, you’re connected to their 5G network.
AT&T has two flavors of 5G: their ubiquitous 5G-E service that’s everywhere which is just a minor improvement over 4G, and then their millimeter wave 5G which is available almost nowhere and is super duper fast.

When AT&T 5G is working, does the icon specifically show "5G" vs. "5G-E" or is it just a generic "5G" icon? I reported earlier I was in a small town in Missouri and was surprised to see 5G on my phone, but I don't remember what the icon actually read. I have to admit, it seemed pretty fast as I was txting pics to friends of some antique store finds.

 

[KaliYoni]

Is there a way, via the settings on the iPhone or some other information that can be accessed on the phone, to know if the connection you are getting is really 5G??

You can use the iOS Field Test utility to get information about your connection.

Using the keypad in Phone, type:
*3001#12345#*
then hit the green button (like when you want to place a phone call)

 

[Phil77354]

You can use the iOS Field Test utility to get information about your connection.

Using the keypad in Phone, type:
*3001#12345#*
then hit the green button (like when you want to place a phone call)

Thanks! That is exactly what I was looking for.

Now, how to interpret all of the information that it provides . . . As far as I can tell, I am getting an LTE. None of the data fields includes the term '5G'.

 

[Schtibbie]

When AT&T 5G is working, does the icon specifically show "5G" vs. "5G-E" or is it just a generic "5G" icon? I reported earlier I was in a small town in Missouri and was surprised to see 5G on my phone, but I don't remember what the icon actually read. I have to admit, it seemed pretty fast as I was txting pics to friends of some antique store finds.

Not exactly. It’s like this:

5Ge: this is just LTE but faster (LTE-A as it is called elsewhere)
5G: true 5G but on a “low” frequency band so it won’t be socks-knocked-off fast but is still 5G.
5G+ or 5Guw: on AT&T this shows up if you are either on the c-band or mmWave bands, with no icon distinction between those two. Same exact 5G standard as “5G” icon but at higher frequencies.

 

[teeshot44]

It all depends on what one considers 5G speed to be. In many cases and locations, 5G is actually slower than what one would consider to be 4G/LTE speed, whatever that is?

 

[HalfFullmoon]

Not exactly. It’s like this:

5Ge: this is just LTE but faster (LTE-A as it is called elsewhere)
5G: true 5G but on a “low” frequency band so it won’t be socks-knocked-off fast but is still 5G.
5G+ or 5Guw: on AT&T this shows up if you are either on the c-band or mmWave bands, with no icon distinction between those two. Same exact 5G standard as “5G” icon but at higher frequencies.

Kind of like 13 mini, 13, 13 pro, 13 pro max. ?

 

[Taz Mangus]

Since it seems that 5G is just now becoming active, I'm curious as to how I can tell if my local service is now implementing 5G.

I have AT&T, with a new iPhone 13 Pro Max, and my iPhone display has been showing '5G' since I first purchased the phone several months ago. But I don't think that was correct, I think that AT&T was trying to give the impression that they had 5G in place even though it was not yet turned on. And obviously that was the case since we know it is just now happening.

Is there a way, via the settings on the iPhone or some other information that can be accessed on the phone, to know if the connection you are getting is really 5G??

If you force the celluar into LTE, what kind of speed difference do you see between the two?

 

[Phil77354]

If you force the celluar into LTE, what kind of speed difference do you see between the two?

?? I have no idea. Is it possible to make such a deliberate change in how your cellular connection is being made?

Actually I'm going to quit working about this. At some point my area will get the 'real' 5G and it will show up on my phone as 5G+, and then I'll see if it makes a noticeable difference. I'm not complaining about connection speed now, anything more is all the better.

 

[Taz Mangus]

?? I have no idea. Is it possible to make such a deliberate change in how your cellular connection is being made?

Actually I'm going to quit working about this. At some point my area will get the 'real' 5G and it will show up on my phone as 5G+, and then I'll see if it makes a noticeable difference. I'm not complaining about connection speed now, anything more is all the better.

Settings->Cellular->Cellular Data->Voice & Data

 

[Phil77354]

Settings->Cellular->Cellular Data->Voice & Data

Thanks, however I do not have that or at least it does not appear quite as you describe. Still, it's not important, I'm not interested in changing back and forth from 5G, LTE, or whatever, but appreciate your help. Thanks.

 

[torontocomfortzone]

Since it seems that 5G is just now becoming active, I'm curious as to how I can tell if my local service is now implementing 5G.

I have AT&T, with a new iPhone 13 Pro Max, and my iPhone display has been showing '5G' since I first purchased the phone several months ago. But I don't think that was correct, I think that AT&T was trying to give the impression that they had 5G in place even though it was not yet turned on. And obviously that was the case since we know it is just now happening.

Is there a way, via the settings on the iPhone or some other information that can be accessed on the phone, to know if the connection you are getting is really 5G??

As long as your youtube video maintains 1080p, YOU ARE ALL GOOD

 

[w5jck]

If you are mostly interested in the data transfer speed of your cellular connection, then I suggest getting a free app like Speedtest. After installing, be sure to go into Settings --> Cellular --> scroll down to the app listing and set the toggle ON to allow it to use cellular data. To test cellular data speed, make sure Wi-Fi is turned off, then use the app to test the speed. (If Wi-Fi is on and available, it will use that, so make sure it is off during the test.)

To stream 4K HDR a speed of 25Mbps is sufficient, assuming the coverage is steady.

 

[kstewart61]

I have 5 g almost all the time with T-Mobile but when on 5g sending a text message can be almost impossible. I have spoken to T-Mobile but they have no idea so I turn off 5g.

 

[jaytv111]

Here's how you tell: 5G network indicator = slightly faster than LTE. Basically it's meaningless.

5Ge network indicator = actually is LTE but it's the highest LTE level. So it's supposed to be better than just plain LTE, but no guarantee. Also has been criticized for being "fake" 5G.

5G+ network indicator = 5G mmWave or C-band, either will be considerably faster, but the likelihood is you won't see much coverage with these. mmWave gets tiny coverage, a tower can cover like a street block or so, while C-band can cover a city and suburbs but won't get out into rural areas.

 

[w5jck]

Here are two screen captures from the Speedtest app on my new iPhone 13 Pro Max showing the speeds with Wi-Fi only and T-Mobile 5GUC. As you can see, the T-Mobile 5GUC download speed is 1.7x faster than my Spectrum 200 Mbps Wi-Fi service, and the upload is 2x speed faster. I live 10 miles south of downtown Fort Worth, TX so I’m still in the good 5G cellular coverage area of the metroplex. Also note that when I have Wi-Fi turned ON and Wi-Fi calling enabled, my phone displays the Wi-Fi symbol rather than the cellular symbol because it defaults to Wi-Fi when I’m at home.

BTW, I was lucky to get 20 Mbps download speed with T-Mobile 4G. Drastic improvement with 5G!

.....

 

[jaytv111]

Here are two screen captures from the Speedtest app on my new iPhone 13 Pro Max showing the speeds with Wi-Fi only and T-Mobile 5GUC. As you can see, the T-Mobile 5GUC download speed is 1.7x faster than my Spectrum 200 Mbps Wi-Fi service, and the upload is 2x speed faster. I live 10 miles south of downtown Fort Worth, TX so I’m still in the good 5G cellular coverage area of the metroplex. Also note that when I have Wi-Fi turned ON and Wi-Fi calling enabled, my phone displays the Wi-Fi symbol rather than the cellular symbol because it defaults to Wi-Fi when I’m at home.

BTW, I was lucky to get 20 Mbps download speed with T-Mobile 4G. Drastic improvement with 5G!

.....

T-Mobile actually has mid-band frequencies (what they call 5GUC or ultra capacity) which enable these higher than ~120 Mbps speeds. In part that's because of the Sprint acquisition, Sprint had tons of spectrum desirable in the 5G world. AT&T and Verizon are in the middle of deploying C-Band to catch up. OP and I will have to wait for C-Band to actually get this kind of speed. I do have wifi at home at ~500 Mbps up and down at least. I tested out running an iOS update over 5G at home and it took like 3 minutes to download, over wifi about 1 minute.

 

[w5jck]

... I tested out running an iOS update over 5G at home and it took like 3 minutes to download, over wifi about 1 minute.

Yes, Wi-Fi tends to be more stable and reliable. Just because a Speedtest showed 389Mbps doesn't mean it will do that when I move to another room, nor will it necessarily stay constant. At home I’m still enabling Wi-Fi calling option and using Wi-Fi for internet connectivity to my iPhone 13 Pro Max because I know T-Mobile cellular coverage will fluctuate a lot. Driving around town I rarely see the 5GUC, occasionally I see just 5G, but mostly LTE. T-Mobile claims a large coverage, but that is just fantasy. Get out of major cities and into rural areas and you are lucky to have any coverage.