Re: 4G or 5G?

On Thu, 6 Mar 2025 11:41:47 +0000 (GMT), Dave Royal wrote :

It would help to know the exact part number of the phone.  eg for iPhones
it's written on the back as A1234,

 It used to be. It can be tricky to workout the model number of an
 iPhone if you can't open it and look in 'About phone'. I've had
 to compare the pictures on wikipedia.

This is an Android newsgroup but I see that the OP is talking about an
iPhone, which completely changes the picture if that's his problem device.
While every iPhone & iPad that I own has a clear "model number" both on the
outside of the device (at least originally), on the original box, and,
luckily for the OP, inside the device in the general iOS settings.
However, since Apple doesn't provide access to about 50% of the API's,
there's no way an iPhone can run any of the cellular debuggers I noted.
There's still field test mode though, but it comes and goes, as FTM is a
perennial issue with iPhone users (Apple adds it, removes it, adds it).
However, back to the OP's objection to the model number, I've had iPhones
for many years and I've never had a problem obtaining the model number.
I do agree though, with Theo's point that sometimes, for Android, the
"true" model number may depend on the carrier's software.
An example, similar to Theo's, is my Samsung Galaxy A32-5G, which I
received free from T-Mobile USA 4 years ago, has a "sub" model SM-A326U.  As Theo correctly noted, European versions of that same main model number
could be and are different. I'm curious what we call these two models?
Main model?  Samsung Galaxy A32-5G
Sub model?   SM-A326U <== I think the "U" is for the USA