If you're an AT&T customer with an iPhone 4S, you probably noticed a change if you updated your phone yesterday.

That "3G" symbol in the top left corner of your iPhone now reads "4G."

Why?

Because the AT&T model of the iPhone 4S runs on a type of network called HSPA+, which is slightly faster than the 3G connection you're used to. AT&T brands its HSPA+ network as a "4G" network. It also calls its LTE network, which can be about 10 times faster than 3G, a "4G" network.

Confused? You should be.

Based on that branding, AT&T and Apple changed the little "3G" to a "4G." Now iPhone 4S owners on AT&T are getting screwed into thinking they're getting a faster connection than they had before.

They're not.

Now, AT&T has always branded its HSPA network as "4G". But that's insanely confusing to the Average Joe looking for a new smartphone. It wouldn't be hard for them to assume a 4G-branded phone is just as fast as a 4G LTE-branded phone.

In fact, there's plenty of evidence of this confusion on Twitter. After updating their iPhone 4Ss to iOS 5.1 yesterday, several users tweeted how excited they were to finally have a "4G" iPhone. BuzzFeed and The Verge have some good examples of those tweets.

Here's one of them:

Wow my iPhone shows "4G" now and not 3G anymore, impressive ! — ashley milito (@ashmili) March 8, 2012

In reality, their phones are running on the exact same network at the exact same speed they were two days ago. The iPhone 4S is not magically faster because a little "4G" symbol popped up in the top left corner of your screen.

It's confusing. It's dishonest.

Plus AT&T's HSPA+ network is pretty crappy, at least here in New York City. I've tested several devices that use HSPA+ since the network launched last year, and it's rarely faster than 3G speeds. Yes, the speeds on HSPA+ are theoretically faster. But in my experience that hasn't been the case.

Don't believe me? Here's a comparison of a speed test conducted on an iPhone 4 and a "4G" iPhone 4S:

Both of these tests were conducted at the same time from the same location. As you can see, the "4G" iPhone 4S has pretty much the same data speeds as the 3G iPhone 4. In this instance, the 4G network was actually slower.

Ouch!

AT&T's official line on the matter is:

Apple has updated its iOS software to show a 4G network indicator when customers are on AT&T’s 4G network. Only AT&T’s network lets iPhone 4S download 3 times faster and only AT&T customers have access to the nation’s largest 4G network covering nearly 250 million people.

T-Mobile and Sprint also use the same HSPA+ standard as AT&T, but those speeds tend to be signifcantly faster in my experience. And even Apple is wary to call HSPA+ "4G," which makes it perplexing that it allowed the change on the iPhone 4S.

AT&T can hide behind the fact that it has always branded its HSPA+ network as "4G," so they're not technically lying. But they're not being entirely honest either.

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