what apn for 4g?

[sault]

i've seen tips its appl1.apn and another tip says ltemobile.apn. if i enter the appl1.apn my phones display says 4g. if i enter ltemobil.apn the display only says lte.

fido sent message to say i must connect at 4g to avoid a new 3.00 fee. but they were not specific if they meant i only need to connect my data plan at 4g or if i also need to update some other setting to connect talk at 4g.

i seen another tip to say the appll1.apn will only connect at 3g. but my phone says 4g if i use that one.

i think fido wants the connection at 4g lte. but when my phone apn was set to ltemobile.apn is when they still sent the message to say im only connecting below 4g.  

[Cawtau · Accepted solution]

Hello Sault,

Welcome to the community!

  Firstly, the correct APN your device should be using is the ltemobile.apn (see here).

  That said, I understand where the confusion might have arisen. Some phone manufacturers and mobile providers had marketed the Evolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+ or H+) as 4G. In fact, the International Telecommunication Union put HSPA+ under its 4G umbrella (see here). Technically, though, it still uses the WCDMA (UMTS) network. That's why I have always referred to that network as '3G'.

  On the other hand, the LTE network is a fourth generation network.

  So, when your phone shows 4G when using the fido-core-appl1.apn, the phone is likely connected with an HSPA+ connection on the '3G' network. When your phone shows LTE, that would be connected to the 4G network.

  I think the main reason you likely received that message from Fido regarding the 3G network is that Fido/Rogers is decommissioning that network July 2025. I think the fee is to incentivise customers to upgrade their devices before the network sunset.

  I understand your device appears to be LTE-capable. However, it also appears to not have been purchased from Fido. Unfortunately, Fido traditionally have not supported certain services (ie voLTE and/or Wifi-calling etc) on devices or versions of devices they do not sell. Though, that does not necessarily mean people had to purchase from Fido. Fido sells the same Canadian versions of devices as the other Canadian mobile providers as well as local box stores etc. As long as the device was the same version as the one they sold, it was possible for those services to be supported.

  On the other hand, non-Canadian versions of devices (ie US or Global Samsung S series etc) would likely not be supported for those services. In addition, other devices from manufacturers which are not generally sold from Fido or Canadian mobile providers (ie Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo, etc) are also likely not to be supported for those services (see here, here, here, here. etc).

   Without voLTE, calls and text messages (SMS and/or MMS) would fall-back to the '3G' network. Is it possible your device is not supported for voLTE and/or Wifi-calling? That could be the reason your device still shows as using the '3G' network. I understand that once the '3G' network is decommissioned, limiting voLTE to only Canadian versions of devices they sell will be problematic for other device users. However, I am not aware of any official stance from Fido or Rogers on the matter.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers