Which 4G frequency??

How can I tell on field test most on an iphone 5S which 4G frequency I am on??

In reply to a post by wolvesmad:

How can I tell on field test most on an iphone 5S which 4G frequency I am on??

Open field test by dialing *3001#12345#* in the phone and tapping green.

Tap "Serving Cell Info" and look at "Freq Band Indicator".

The number is the "frequency block" in use - only 3 blocks are in use in the UK so far for LTE (4G), but Ofcom has stated that the the 900 and 2100 frequencies could be reused for LTE; however nobody yet makes phones that use these for LTE.

Number - frequency - used by

20 - 800 - used by O2, Vodafone; and shortly by EE and Three
7 - 2600 - used by Vodafone and shortly by EE
3 - 1800 - used by EE and Three

Each operator has a different allocation (purchased at the auction) of each frequency. The iPhone 5 only supports Band 3, the 5c, 5s, 6 and 6 Plus support all these frequencies and more.

Allocations by band

Band 20 - 800mhz
2 x 5 MHz = EE
2 x 10 MHz = O2
2 x 5 MHz = Three
2 x 10 MHz = Vodafone

Band 3 - 1800mhz
2 x 45 MHz = EE
2 x 15 MHz = Three

Band 7 - 2600mhz
2 x 35 MHz = EE
2 x 20 MHz = Vodafone
1 x 25 MHz = Vodafone

Most handsets can use at most in a single band a 2x20 mhz block, so Vodafone and EE are in a position to run the highest capacity networks in the future based on current spectrum allocations, and Today EE has the highest capacity (ie speed) 4G live network -based on spectrum alone.

and Ofcom are going to run future auctions at the 2300mhz frequency (Band 30).

Excellent thanks for that.

I'm on Three and it was showing LTE band 3 which sounds about right. I have heard they are actively rolling out 800Mhz now so just thought I'd check.

Strangely I saw the download bandwidth at 10Mhz. Is that right?

In reply to a post by wolvesmad:

Excellent thanks for that. I'm on Three and it was showing LTE band 3 which sounds about right. I have heard they are actively rolling out 800Mhz now so just thought I'd check.

No prob - and yes 800mhz will help coverage, and its worth looking for as it could be any day (but might be into 2015).

Strangely I saw the download bandwidth at 10Mhz. Is that right?

My data is probably wrong sadly - the sources are various forum posts from various places. Three didn't get its 1800 spectrum from the auction but from EE selling when told to by the government/EU when merging Orange and T-Mobile. Its unclear when Three gets various bits.

10 download should be matched by 10 upload and that would be 2x10 then - which is pretty good.

Yes it is 10Mhz down 10Mhz up.

Speedtest.net is saying 46Mb down 23Mb up.

The signal here is no stronger than 3G. It's very strong but not as powerful. Can drop down to 2 bars in certain parts of the house.

Edited by wolvesmad (Wed 15-Oct-14 22:13:22)

In reply to a post by wolvesmad:

Yes it is 10Mhz down 10Mhz up.

Speedtest.net is saying 46Mb down 23Mb up.

I believe 3 have a speed cap at 50 Mbps - but those are very good speeds for 2x10.

The signal here is no stronger than 3G. It's very strong but not as powerful. Can drop down to 2 bars in certain parts of the house.

LTE (4G) is measured differently to UMTS (3G) and GSM (2G) - so you see different number of bars for the same signal.

Usually 4G works on 1 bar with good speeds even to the edge of the range of the cell - whereas 3G gets problematic.