Is it possible to detect LTE connection using iOS SDK?

Question

I'm using the reachability API to detect my current connection, but I can only distinguish between WIFI and 3G.

I get the following flags:

LTE: kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsIsLocalAddress|kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsIsWWAN|kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsTransientConnection|kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsReachable

WIFI: kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsIsDirect|kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsReachable

The problem is that LTE returns the same flags as a 3G connection. Is there any way to determine whether the user currently has LTE or 3G?

Are you interested in the higher bandwidth that comes with the network or just the type of network itself? There is a workaround for the former, but not the latter. — bendu, Apr 15 '12 at 03:16
I guess the workaround is to simply try to download something and track the speed? — Gilad Novik, Apr 15 '12 at 03:33

score 15 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 22 '13 at 20:18

15

As of iOS 7, you can find this out using the currentRadioAccessTechnology property of CTTelephonyNetworkInfo in the CoreTelephony framework.

#import <CoreTelephony/CTTelephonyNetworkInfo.h>

CTTelephonyNetworkInfo *networkInfo = [CTTelephonyNetworkInfo new];

if ([networkInfo.currentRadioAccessTechnology isEqualToString:CTRadioAccessTechnologyLTE]) {
    // ...
}

answered Oct 22 '13 at 20:18

jzzocc

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5
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Does anyone know why there is no documentation on the `currentRadioAccessTechnology` method? https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/NetworkingInternet/Reference/CTTelephonyNetworkInfo/Reference/Reference.html – Robert Feb 05 '14 at 12:52
This method added iOS7.0 but It wasn't add documents. check the header file "CTTelephonyNetworkInfo.h" ```oc @property (nonatomic, readonly, retain) NSString* currentRadioAccessTechnology __OSX_AVAILABLE_STARTING(__MAC_NA,__IPHONE_7_0); ``` – TopChul May 15 '14 at 08:35
1

This still is not formally documented which makes me nervous. I put it in a try catch so that I can have some default behavior if it gets taken away. – Kyle Jurick Feb 05 '15 at 16:10

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

I wonder if this hidden Core Telephony API can provide you with enough info for you to determine whether you're attached to an LTE or a slower technology.

CTRegistrationGetCurrentMaxAllowedDataRate();

It might be worth experimenting with.

More about using private APIs here: iPhone mobile number using Core telephony

However, I've read that your app will be rejected by apple if you use private APIs.

Is it possible to detect LTE connection using iOS SDK?

2 Answers2

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