LTE equals 4G? These differences exist

If you frequently surf the Internet with your smartphone via the mobile network, you will certainly have already encountered the terms LTE and 4G. What exactly is meant by 4G and LTE and whether LTE is the same as 4G, we explain in this article.

These differences and similarities have 4G and LTE

The terms LTE and 4G originate from mobile communications technology and describe the currently fastest mobile network available in Germany. In this context, 4G and LTE are used synonymously to describe the fourth-generation mobile communications standard.

1. In technical terms, there is no difference between LTE and 4G, as both enable mobile surfing at speeds of over 100 Mbit/s.
2. However, this only applies in theory, as in practice it is usually the case that LTE does not achieve the same speeds as 4G. LTE reaches an average of 150 Mbit/s, which correctly corresponds to the standard 3.9G.
3. A higher speed of up to 300 Mbit/s is again possible with LTE Advanced.

LTE equals 4G: These other mobile standards exist

In addition to the mobile standard 4G, there are other older and newer mobile technologies. The successor to LTE, which is currently still being developed, is 5G. As already recognizable from the name, this is the 5th generation mobile communications standard, with which the Internet speed is to increase to 10 to 20 Gbps. The predecessor of 4G, or LTE, is the 3G standard, in which a speed of 384 kbit/s can be achieved with UMTS. Before the introduction of 3G, 2G was considered the standard in mobile Internet access. These use GPRS as well as EDGE and enabled transmission speeds of 53.6 kbit/s and 220 kbit/s.