What Does 1G 2G 2.5G 3G 3.5G 4G 5G Mean?

by Jeff Cohn | Thursday, June 24, 2010 | 3G, 4G, ATT Wireless, CDMA, Clearwire, EVDO, iPhone, Lies, LTE, Sprint, T-Mobile, Telecom Industry Insider, Time Warner, Verizon Wireless, Wifi, Wimax, Wireless Spectrum | 4 comments »

With the announcement of the new iPhone 4 there is a lot of confusion about what is 3G and 4G. Here is a great video which explains the evolution of the technology and what AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint use on their networks. The first iPhone 3G used a technology called EGDE and the new iPhone 4 is using the the HSPA technology. Here are the protocols explained so that when someone says they have a 4G iPhone you can correct them.

Generation - Definition - Technologies - Speeds
1G - Original analog cellular for voice (AMPS, NMT, TACS) 14.4 kbps
2G - Digital narrowband circuit data (TDMA, CDMA) 9-14.4 kbps
2.5G - Packet data onto a 2G network (GPRS, EDGE) 20-40 kpbs
3G - Digital broadband packet data (CDMA, EV-DO, UMTS, EDGE) 500-700 kbps
3.5G - Replacement for EDGE is (HSPA) 1-3 mbps
4G - Digital broadband packet data all IP (Wi-Fi, WIMAX, LTE) 3-5 mbps
5G - Gigabit per second in a few years (?) 1+ gbps

4 comments

glen // June 27, 2010

The 4G might not have ever popped into your head, 3G very likely has given today’s emphasis on high-speed data usage from your mobile phone.Cellular Phone Reviews
Anonymous // June 29, 2010

Read the post by "Ping" at the bottom of this blog:

http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2010/03/07/future-mobile-mindshare-war-winners-chosen/comment-page-1/#comment-5709

Is this right? 6G will be 10 GB/second with 0% drop-rates? How?
Julie Watson // March 23, 2011

1G 2G 2.5G 3G 3.5G 4G 5G means speed and more advanced technology used in mobile. I have not heard about 5G.I phones rocked.

Palm Pre 2
Julie Watson // March 23, 2011

1G 2G 2.5G 3G 3.5G 4G 5G means speed and more advanced technology used in mobile. I have not heard about 5G.I phones rocked.

Palm Pre 2