UPDATE: We have an updated guide to 3G, 4G etc which you can read here

The other morning I woke up, rolled out of bed and somehow got to the train station on time for the train (unlike today where I missed it)…
While I was standing having a chat with a friend my phone beeped with a new email, I thought ‘That’s odd, I don’t get WiFi out here and there isn’t a mobile signal’. But then another look at my phone showed me I had 4G internet!
Which then made me think about all the different letters shown next to the signal strength and what they actually mean…
So here it is, your quick guide to what on earth your phone is telling you when it says “G+ or H”.
These are all to do with mobile phone data connections (not to be confused with similar standards on WiFi).

 Symbol Shown on Mobile Notes Speed Download
 2G (GSM) Not really usable for mobile internet. (very slow, similar to the very first dial-up internet connections). Slowest
14 kbps (kilobits per second)
G (GPRS) Not really usable for mobile internet, but might send messages in WhatsApp/Messenger. (similar to dial-up internet connections, but faster than 2G). 53.8 kbs
E  (2.5G) Edge – might load smaller websites / some data in apps (the train line info app doesn’t work when I have E unless I have a really strong signal). 217 kbps
3G Internet becomes more usable here, but still slow, normal video (not HD) might play. 384 kbps
H High-Speed Packet Access, the Internet is generally OK but streaming HD video probably still doesn’t work. 7.2 mbps (megabits per second)
H+ HD video might start to work here depending on signal strength and the number of other users on the network. 14.4-168.8 mbps
4G 4th generation mobile networks. This is available across parts of the UK, EE says they cover 99% of the UK, but this is population. EE goes on to say they cover 75% of the UK geographically. Generally, HD video will work here. 100 mbps
4G+ 4th generation but a little faster. EE says 10% of people with 4G will get 4G+ so it’s unlikely you will ever get this. 1000 mbps
5G 5th generation mobile networks. This is not generally available on mobile phone networks yet, it is ‘coming soon’, EE is investigating rolling out 5G but is is still in the early planning phase. The Government has yet to auction off some of the wireless space for use by 5G and this will happen “Sometime in 2017”. Fastest

90Mbps – 230Mbps. According to https://5g.co.uk/guides/how-fast-is-5g/

So what does all this mean, well, generally if you have H signal or above then you should be fine to use the internet, 4G will give you the fastest speed if you need to show your friend that song about the internet video you saw once…
Handy tool to figure out exactly what signal coverage you might expect to get at different levels

http://www.which.co.uk/reviews/mobile-phone-providers/article/mobile-phone-coverage-map

With massive thanks to 

Stay Connected
Mike 🙂

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