Are Your Phone's 5G Icon and Signal Bars Lying to You?

An anonymous reader shared this report from the Washington Post:

Look at the top right corner of your phone. You might see an icon with '5G' and another with vertical bars showing the strength of your internet connection. Those symbols don't mean what you think they do.

If your phone shows '5G,' you're not necessarily connected to the latest and zippiest cellphone network technology. It might just mean that 5G connections are available nearby. And the bars are a cellular version of a shrug. There is no standard measure of how much signal strength each bar represents. 'The connection icon is a lie,' said Avi Greengart, president of the technology analysis firm Techsponential...

The good news is you might not need 5G, anyway. Most of the time, your phone calls, texting and web surfing are perfectly fine on the prior generation of wireless technology called 4G or sometimes 'LTE.' Many phone networks will funnel you over 5G service when it makes a real difference, like if you're on a video call or playing an intense video game.
If you see more specific types of 5G icons, like '5G UW' used by Verizon or '5G UC' if you're on T-Mobile service, Hyers said you're probably connected to a 5G network at that moment. Those extra letters or symbols sometimes indicate types of 5G technology that are capable of faster and more reliable connections, but they aren't always better, depending on your circumstances. Confusingly, AT&T has showed '5G E' icons on phones. That is not 5G service at all.
Here's how major carriers responded to the Post's reporter:

'AT&T said its '5G' indicators on phones line up with a telecommunications standards organization that established the icon to mean 5G networks are available.'
'Verizon didn't respond to my questions.'
'T-Mobile said for most of its cellphone network, your phone accurately reflects if you're on 5G.'

The article suggests setting your phone to just automatically switch to 5G networks when high-bandwidth applications are in use...

Read more of this story at Slashdot.