Brief Explanation of 2G, E, H, H+, 3G, 4G And Their Download Speed

I'm sure you have seen 2G, E, H, H⁺, 3G, or 4G beside your smartphone's signal 📶 bar. Each of these alphabets have different meanings and they determine your download speed. Unfortunately, not all phone users know this, but i'm here with a simple explanation about these network terms.


The 'G' in 2G, 3G and 4G stands for the “Generation” of the mobile network. If you notice an additional letter at the top right of the Signal Bar of your Mobile phone, it indicates that apart from Voice call we can send data transmission through the mobile phone.

Lets see the names, meaning, difference and download speeds of the different network alphabets.

• 2G GSM:
  (Global System for Mobile Communications) Maximum Download Speed : 2 KB/s
• G GPRS:
  (General Packet Radio Service)
  Maximum Download Speed : 7 KB/s
• E EDGE:
  (Enhanced Data rates for GSM evolution) Maximum Download Speed : 27 KB/s 3G
• UMTS:
  (Universal Mobile Telecommunications system)
  Maximum Download Speed : 48 KB/s
• H HSPA:
  (High Speed Packet Access)
  Maximum Download Speed : 0.9 MB/s
• H+ HSPA+:
  (Evolved High Speed Packet Access)
  Maximum Download Speed : 2 MB/s
• 4G LTE:
  (Long Term Evolution)
  Maximum Download Speed : 12.5 MB/s
• 4G LTE-A:
  (Long term Evolution- Advanced)
  Maximum Download Speed : 125 MB/s.

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