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AT&T Misleads Customers by Updating Phones With Fake 5G Icon (theverge.com)
As promised, AT&T has updated three smartphones from Samsung and LG to make them show 5G connectivity logos, even though none of them are capable of connecting to 5G networks. From a report: Now, when the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active, LG V30, or LG V40 are connected to portions of AT&T's LTE network that have received some speed-boosting updates, they'll show an icon that says "5G E" instead of "LTE." That "E" in the "5G" logo is supposed to tip you off that this isn't real 5G -- just some marketing nonsense. But there's no way of knowing that just from looking at the logo. The "E" is smaller than the rest of the icon. And even if you do learn that "5G E" stands for "5G Evolution," it isn't immediately clear what that means.
Isn't this an old story from a couple of days ago?
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
The controversy and confusion comes from the fact that Verizon Wireless’s new LTE technology and AT&T’s enhanced 3G technology are both referred to as 4G. Once again, no standards are in place to prevent such confusion. This has created a situation where advertisements can claim that AT&T has a larger 4G network than Verizon Wireless, without informing customers that the two networks are vastly different. Verizon Wireless’s 4G LTE is up to 10 times faster. To further complicate matters, AT&T realized the limitation of its 4G network and has also started developing an LTE network of comparable speed . At this point, AT&T’s LTE network is much smaller than Verizon Wireless’s –approximately one tenth the size at time of publication of this article.Another issue is latency, which is the delay that occurs when wireless signals are being transmitted to and from a phone through the tower and network. LTE latency is approximately one quarter the latency of 3G service and significantly less than 4G networks that do not utilize LTE. This is especially important for video conferencing, streaming video and other real-time data applications that require latency of less than 50 ms to function effectively . If a distinction is not drawn between 4G LTE and 4G that is simply enhanced 3G, customers can end up with a disappointing user experience. The bottom line is that few customers are aware of these differences, and without regulations or industry standards, they are vulnerable to highly misleading, yet technically accurate claim
What is old is new again.