Your Smartphone’s 5G Badge Could Be Fake
If you’re among the early adopters of 5G smartphones, we have bad news for you: The 5G icon displayed next to your network signal might be lying to you, but it’s hard to tell how unfair it is. the given time.
As with most things in life, it all depends on the definition. There are currently two versions of 5G as defined by the GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications). The first, 5G NR, is similar to 4G LTE in the sense that it is a true 5G standard operating on its own network. 5G NSA, on the other hand, uses a different portion of the 5G signal spectrum and requires LTE to be co-located – in other words, it is not really 5G. Because of this, your phone may not be connected to a true 5G NR signal, even if it has the 5G badge on it. As long as your device is connected to a 4G LTE tower that at least supports 5G NSA, or is connected to 4G LTE and can detect 5G NR signals nearby (but not necessarily using 5G NR), the 5G icon may be displayed.
In all fairness, these cases are just what the GSMA recommends for manufacturers to use as a guide for when to display the 5G network icon, so it is possible that some devices will be more conservative about when to indicate 5G is active. However, as noted by Mike Dano, 5G Editorial Director at Light Reading , the only time the GSMA prohibits the display of the 5G icon is when the phone is only connected to a 4G LTE tower that does not support 5G, and otherwise the 5G signal cannot be detected. In this case, the phone will display the 4G network icon instead. Unfortunately, things get worse when you add proprietary networking terms to the mix, for example AT&T instead changes the LTE badge on their phones to “5G E”.
All of these overlapping terms are confusing and can be disingenuous. For example, your phone might claim to be using 5G, but instead of 5G NR, you’re simply connected to an LTE tower, which supports the lesser version of “5G” at best. It could be because you are out of 5G NR range, or it could be that your ISP does not offer 5G NR at all. Regardless of how you spin it, if it’s not 5G NR, you won’t get the larger speed boost or other benefits that the true propagandists of 5G have over the NSA. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to determine which 5G scenario you are in right now unless you are familiar with the specifications of the cell towers you are connecting to.
Despite the potential for confusion, this is not necessarily a cause for concern either. This is a shame for those who believe their device is constantly connected to true 5G, but such technological growth problems are normal for early adopters. As we discussed earlier, the early days of 5G will be inconsistent at best : service providers have to build their 5G networks , and smartphone makers will likely need a few hardware iterations before they can build devices that can conform to shape. factor, battery life and efficiency of modern 4G LTE phones. This 5G badge is likely to become more trustworthy as support for 5G NR expands, but it’s a little more than just a showcase for now.