What does "H" mean in the signal indicator?

Question

Usually my indicator says "3G":

But, in addition to having an "H" now and again, sometimes it has no letters at all:

nothing

I assume this is telling something about what kind of data network I'm on, or not on, but what exactly is happening?

Torben Gundtofte-Bruun · Answer 1 · 2021-02-05T15:57:08.983

28

Let's state all the possible letters in the signal indicator, in descending speed (indicated speeds are roughly theoretical maximum):

5G = 20 Gbps
LTE+ = 300 Mbps
LTE = Long Term Evolution (commonly and falsely known as 4G), 100 Mbps
H+ = HSDPA Plus, 10 Mbps
H = either HSDPA (3.5G) or HSPA+ (3.95G), depending on your network provider, 2 Mbps
3G = UMTS (3G), 384 kbps
E = EDGE (2.5G), 40 kbps
G = GPRS (2G), 14 kbps
(no letter) = voice only, no data connection, 2.4 kbps

and also:

(source for some of this.)

edited Feb 05 '21 at 15:57

answered Apr 03 '14 at 12:34

There's also "4G" on my Nexus 5 running Lollipop (Optus, Australia). – Igby Largeman Nov 17 '15 at 06:15
My HTC One M7 also displays, 4G. I'm not sure if its LTE? – Zee Nov 18 '15 at 13:14
Can you expand on why LTE is "falsely known as 4G"? Other sources I've seen indicate that these are synonymous terms, so an explanation of your contrasting position could be informative. – Dan Henderson Jan 23 '21 at 19:50
@DanHenderson - "4G" is a marketing term, LTE is what it's actually called. – Torben Gundtofte-Bruun Feb 05 '21 at 15:57
Well, I'm not saying you're wrong, but it's odd that you don't make any such distinction for 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 3.95G, nor 5G. Is "4G" the only "G" that's a misnomer? Also, the one source that you cited directly contradicts your position. "4G, aka LTE - Long Term Evolution 4G, also known as LTE, offers speeds of up to..." – Dan Henderson Feb 08 '21 at 19:03

score 21 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 11 '12 at 05:03

21

It's HSDPA which if I'm not mistaken is referring to 3.5G.

answered Jul 11 '12 at 05:03

Rashidi Zin

and you're using Cyanogenmod -- plain old Android doesn't display an H, at least mine doesn't. – offby1 Jul 11 '12 at 05:22
5

Actually, it does. Seems to depend on version. – Chris Stratton Jul 11 '12 at 05:25
@offby1 From my experience I have seen H since the first day I bought my first Android device, which was HTC Hero GSM. – Rashidi Zin Jul 11 '12 at 05:38
5

To be accurate, it means HSPA, which includes HSDPA (download) and HSUPA (upload). Also, if there is no letter, it means there's no data connection or it's trying to connect to one. – aleksikallio Jul 11 '12 at 09:25
or you're on wifi. – chromozonex Apr 03 '14 at 16:54

2 Answers2