Is it 5G or not? Investigating doubts about the 5G icon and network performance

Following the rollout of the first 5G networks in 2018, press reports in the US began to emerge that the 5G icon on smartphones was not depicting 5G connectivity. Such reports about ‘fake’ 5G icon reverberated across the industry, exposing a mismatch between the icon on the phone and the actual experience of users. Between 2018 - early 2020, 3GPP and the GSMA sought to provide industry guidance on what and when the 5G icon should be used and how 5G performance can differ from 4G. In this paper, we introduce an intuitive four stage investigation framework to explore the technical considerations that ultimately confirm the veracity of the 5G connectivity. Then, following the launch of 5G in the UK in late 2019, we set out to explore if there were similar confusion on 5G notification and performance in the country. We conducted field measurements at the five busiest train stations in the UK, during rush hour, using a Samsung 5G S10 and a Samsung S6 Edge+ 4G device to compare 5G notifications and perceived network performance on 4G and 5G networks. We observe confusing messages to the user - device icon says 5G but Android’s TelephonyManager API says 4G; worst cases for latency and uplink/downlink speeds were minimised but best case performance was the same on 4G and 5G devices. Based on our observations, and while we expect any lingering concerns to be ironed out as 5G deployment and adoption matures, we draw lessons that should guide the industry to avoid doubts about the icon and connectivity in 6G.