Gone are the days when mobile phones were used mainly for voice calls. Now mobile phones have become smart and millions of people are using Internet through their smartphones. In different countries, the quality and speed of mobile Internet differs depending upon the progress of telecom industry.
In your Android smartphone, the strength of mobile Internet signal is shown using alphabet letters like G, E, 2G, 3G, H and 4G near the signal bar. These symbols are visible right next to the signal strength indicator. Have you ever wondered about the meaning of these symbols / letters? Well, today I will tell you about the meaning of letters G, E, 2G, 3G, H and 4G in context of the mobile Internet.
EDGE is faster than GPRS but still not good enough to browse the Internet. It takes lot of time in loading websites when your signal bar is showing E letter alongside. Typically EDGE provides a data rate of 400 kbit/second but in ideal conditions data rate of upto 1 Mbit/second can also be achieved.
This technology also lies somewhere in between 2G and 3G. Those who call GPRS as 2.5G, they refer EDGE as 2.75G.
Meaning of 3G in Mobile Signal
3G means the third generation of mobile telephone technology. It uses the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System and is based on GSM standards.
Typically 3G provides data transfer rates 384 kbit/second. But depending upon how it is implemented in various networks, the data rate can go upto 42 Mbits/second.
Usually 3G is faster than EDGE and you can easily browse websites and stream music.
Meaning of H in Mobile Signal
H stands for HSPA (High Speed Packet Access). It is an enhanced form of 3G technology. HSPA provides higher data transfer rates than the basic 3G.
Meaning of H+ in Mobile Signal
This is enhanced HSPA. It is faster than basic HSPA (as explained above). Relatively speedier data transfer in H+ will make your video to download or stream much more smoothly.
At present, 4G technology is not very widely available. So, in most parts of the world, HSPA+ is the fastest speed you can get through mobile Internet.
Meaning of 4G in Mobile Signal
If you see 4G near the signal bar in your mobile phone, you’re lucky! It means you’re using the fastest mobile Internet connection available on the globe at present.
4G is the fourth generation of mobile technology. It is also called LTE (Long Term Evolution). 4G connection works as good as a wi-fi connection of your home or office. With such a connection you can do everything on your mobile that you can do on your desktop.
Just to round it all up, the bars in signal indicator show the strength or quality of the signal you’re getting at your present location. Also, mobile phone makers often use a dull color (like gray) to show weak / absent signal and a bright color (like green and blue) to show good signal.
Tiny arrows in the signal bar show that the data transfer is taking place. The radar like icon shows the wi-fi connection.
We hope this information was useful for you. Please feel free to ask should you have any questions on this topic. We would be happy to try and help.
