OT:3G,5G....

What is the difenence?I hear the older 3G phones will soon be obsolete.Out of order.How do I tell which one I have?

On my phone it is at the top of the screen next to the clock, mine says 4G LTE

My Samsung puts a signal type at the very top of the screen indicating the Frequency band it is using. It is new though. Your store can tell you. There are model number lists that also clearly indicate the will or won't work. Google the model Number is certainly on the packaging, and usually on the back of the phone (good Light Is needed) Jim

2g and 3G phone frequencies will be phased out (some as early as January) and in theory all by mid year. 4G LTE will continue as well as 5G. Cell phone connectivity on a good day is limited to about 5 or 6 miles from a cell tower, or building installation. 5G has a much shorter range of about 1/4 mile on a good day. The frequency of 5G is very high about 4 to 4 GHz and a different band from 24 to 52 MHz. these very short microwave bands use far less power, but have far less range. The advantage is capacity which is radically faster and far more channel options. Jim

I have a 4G phone,according to the symbol beside the battery level indicator.
So that means I won't have to buy a new phone?

(quoted from post at 21:44:15 12/11/21) 2g and 3G phone frequencies will be phased out (some as early as January) and in theory all by mid year. 4G LTE will continue as well as 5G. Cell phone connectivity on a good day is limited to about 5 or 6 miles from a cell tower, or building installation. 5G has a much shorter range of about 1/4 mile on a good day. The frequency of 5G is very high about 4 to 4 GHz and a different band from 24 to 52 MHz. these very short microwave bands use far less power, but have far less range. The advantage is capacity which is radically faster and far more channel options. Jim

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This has me thinking that YT might be losing me in the near future. Our nearest cellular tower is 30 miles away. The only reason we have internet is because of a huge repeater tower that the gov't put up to make emergency communications possible out here. So if they eliminate all 3G, then there will be LOTS of times we won't be able to connect.

Gee, isn't technology grand?? 8)

Yes like when TV switch from analog to digital. Back when it was analog my mom could get all the stations in the area which was around 10-15 of them. Now with digital she can get 4

What's the difference between 3G and 5G (5G - 3G = 2G), answer 2G.

I had a flip phone I really liked that showed to be 4G. Provider said it won't work with new system because my flip phone was not VOLTE, whatever that is. So, I updated (again) to a smart phone.
Butch

Been hearing this about my Verizon 3 G flip phone for a couple years. Checked again a couple weeks ago at the Verizon store and they said the shut off of 3G phones keeps getting postponed, but the warnings are changing and they thought it would happen soon. Maybe a sales pitch. But anyway, they gave me a free 4 G phone, charged me the sales tax on the $80 phone plus a $40 upgrade charge. Took the deal because the battery on my old phone is shot and needs replacing anyway.

Tim

AT@T sent me a 4G phone since my 3G was going out of date.
It is a piece of junk, but I get by with it.
I may wind up spending a couple of hundred bucks next year for a better phone.
But I hate the ones that are so big that they take up my whole pocket.
Richard in NW SC

I truly question your statement. It is a rare occurrence that I am actually within 1/4 mile of a tower. Usually more like a couple of miles or so. I can't even imagine why a telephone carrier would deliberately shorten their range so radically. At 1/4 mile range, I would have no service most of the time.

The company just replaced my work phone and offered to sell me my old iPhone. I checked,the new one is 5g the old one is 3g.
Why would I want to buy an obsolete phone that the company cannot use either?

Verizon did that to me. AND THEN, they tried to charge me for changing, after I questioned the sales guy 4 or 5 times, that I would not be charged any extra $, and he assured me I would not be charged. And this phone only gets slightly better reception than the old 3g phone, and is a piece of junk-harder to use. All I want is a SIMPLE flip phone. I can't work a 'smart' phone-they go haywire when I move my finger across the screen. Besides that, it would get busted in my pocket, or tore off its holster, and busted or lost. I think they make the flip phones junkier to make people use the 'smart' phones, of which I have no need. Mark.

Two responses. The 4G signals are still planned to be operational. The 5G signals often are from units that do not attach to towers because they need to be much closer spaced than that. City reality.

From Verizon site: In general, the 5G Ultra Wideband networks signal can reach up to 1,500 feet without obstructions. Verizon is leveraging small cell technology to help deliver more 5G signal which directly increases the coverage and speed of the network. This means the 5G small cells will be deployed in a high concentration in 5G-enabled areas.

Considering the higher volume of small cells deployed in a 5G Ultra Wideband area, your day-to-day will likely include faster speeds and the ability to do things like download movies in seconds rather than minutes. 5Gs sheer speed and capacity will help assist with greater connectivity in high-density regions.
Jim

(quoted from post at 04:05:33 12/12/21) I had a flip phone I really liked that showed to be 4G. Provider said it won't work with new system because my flip phone was not VOLTE, whatever that is. So, I updated (again) to a smart phone.
Butch

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I think your provider lied to you. I have never heard of any handset supporting 4G signal without LTE. Of course, I don't know every phone ever made, by all mfg, but I don't think there was any comm avail 4G NON-LTE phones ever made. I'm guessing the sales guy just wanted to make a sale. You likely traded in your old phone too.

The following info from Wiki is accurate. There is no real (original)4G it was morphed from 3G by researchers and system designers. The
Tellecom industry decided to call it 4G LTE to keep it simple. That didn't work. Long Term Evolution (LTE) is techno speak for Work in
Progress. That work got stuck so long that it became a standard. Jim

Long-term evolution

In telecommunications, Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for mobile devices and data terminals,
based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA technologies. It increases the capacity and speed using a different radio interface together with core
network improvements.[1][2] LTE is the upgrade path for carriers with both GSM/UMTS networks and CDMA2000 networks. The different LTE
frequencies and bands used in different countries mean that only multi-band phones are able to use LTE in all countries where it is supported.

The standard is developed by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) and is specified in its Release 8 document series, with minor
enhancements described in Release 9. LTE is sometimes known as 3.95G and has been marketed both as 4G LTE and as Advanced 4G,[citation
needed] but it does not meet the technical criteria of a 4G wireless service, as specified in the 3GPP Release 8 and 9 document series for LTE
Advanced. The requirements were originally set forth by the ITU-R organisation in the IMT Advanced specification. However, due to marketing
pressures and the significant advancements that WiMAX, Evolved High Speed Packet Access, and LTE bring to the original 3G technologies, ITU
later decided that LTE together with the aforementioned technologies can be called 4G technologies.[3] The LTE Advanced standard formally
satisfies the ITU-R requirements to be considered IMT-Advanced.[4] To differentiate LTE Advanced and WiMAX-Advanced from current 4G
technologies, ITU has defined them as True 4G.[5][6]