Okay I asked ChatGPT:):
Ah, that helps a lot — what you saw was almost certainly a Wi-Fi indicator, not a cellular-network (5G/6G) change. Here’s how that works:
That is really interesting — I’m not aware of any official, public rollout of “6G” service yet (in most places, 6G is still in research / planning stages).
Here are a few possibilities and things to check — we can dig together to figure out what’s actually going on:
Possible explanations
Carrier / software glitch or mislabeling
Sometimes phone software, carrier provisioning, or carrier-side settings get misconfigured so that the phone’s “network type” indicator shows something incorrect (e.g. “6G” instead of “5G” or “5G+”).
Carrier branding / marketing / upgrade
Carriers sometimes rebrand or advertise “5G+”, “5G Advanced”, “5G XR”, etc. It might be that a carrier upgraded some infrastructure or reclassified something, and your phones are now showing a new label, which is being interpreted as “6G” by some phones.
Beta / experimental / test network
It’s possible (though unlikely in mass consumer use) that a carrier is testing next-gen features or infrastructure, and some phones caught a test signal that the phone interprets as “6G”.
Firmware / OS update
A recent update on the phones might have changed the way they label the network indicator. The phones could have added “6G” as a placeholder or future label, or to show “beyond 5G” features.
Localization or carrier settings pushing a new icon
The “6G” label might not literally mean a fully new generation, but might be a new identifier (e.g. for advanced 5G) pushed by the carrier’s settings.
✅ What to check / diagnose
Here’s a list of things you and your family can check to better understand what’s happening:
Which carrier(s) are the phones using (e.g. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.)
Did all phones update their OS / firmware recently?
On the phone, go into Settings → Cellular / Mobile Network → Network Mode / Preferred Network Type — see what modes are enabled (e.g. 5G, 5G + etc.)
Check what the phone reports about signal strength, band/frequencies in use (some diagnostic mode)
Test data speeds (upload/download) and latency — see if they match 5G speeds or exceed them
Contact your carrier’s technical support or ask them if there is an infrastructure upgrade or labeling change
Search for news or announcements by your carrier about “6G” or “5G Advanced” rollout in your area
From what I can tell:
Official sources and standards organizations do not yet consider “6G” to be commercially deployed in most regions.
The U.S. FCC recently voted to accelerate the buildout of wireless infrastructure, including support for future 6G deployment.
Academic and industry projections expect 6G devices to start arriving later (e.g. ~2028) after standardization advances.
So, it’s very plausible that what you saw is a label or misidentification, rather than a true full 6G network.
📶 What “6E” and “6” mean on your phone
“Wi-Fi 6E” is the newest version of Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11ax) that adds the 6 GHz band on top of the older 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.
It allows faster speeds, less congestion, and lower latency.
Routers and phones released in the last couple of years can use it.
When your phone shows “6E”, it means you were connected to a Wi-Fi 6E network using that 6 GHz band.
When it later just showed “6”, it likely switched to a Wi-Fi 6 connection (same generation of technology, but on the 5 GHz band instead of 6 GHz).
Neither of those labels refers to cellular 6G — that’s still experimental and not in public use anywhere.
Why the label changes
Phones automatically pick whichever band gives the best connection:
If the 6 GHz signal from your router is weaker or blocked by walls, it drops to the 5 GHz band — your indicator changes from “6E” to “6.”
You might also see the plain Wi-Fi symbol if it falls back even further.
✅ How to confirm
On the phone, open Settings → Wi-Fi → Your Network → Details.
Look for “Frequency,” “Band,” or “Channel.”
2400 MHz ≈ 2.4 GHz → Wi-Fi 4/5
5000 MHz ≈ 5 GHz → Wi-Fi 6
5900–6500 MHz ≈ 6 GHz → Wi-Fi 6E
So in short:
Your family didn’t suddenly get a 6G cellular network — your phones just connected to a Wi-Fi 6E router and then switched back to regular Wi-Fi 6.
There are two versions of wifi 6 and 6e depending on router set up it will show which. The 6e variant is more capable with multiple device parsing of data and some improvements to speeds over wifi.
Added info for fun, wifi 6 was the first introduction of the number standard, with 5 being originally (AC), and 6 still has the letters with (AX) prior to wifi 5 it was b,a,g, and n. The change was made to make users who arent in tech understand that bigger number means newer version. As the letters made less and less sense over time. So while the letters still exists, it goes by 6 or 6e and now wifi 7 is a thing with a slow roll out as 6 is enough for most consumers right now, plus few devices support it yet as only the newest tech has it right now.
We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
Okay I asked ChatGPT:): Ah, that helps a lot — what you saw was almost certainly a Wi-Fi indicator, not a cellular-network (5G/6G) change. Here’s how that works:
That is really interesting — I’m not aware of any official, public rollout of “6G” service yet (in most places, 6G is still in research / planning stages).
Here are a few possibilities and things to check — we can dig together to figure out what’s actually going on:
Possible explanations
Carrier / software glitch or mislabeling Sometimes phone software, carrier provisioning, or carrier-side settings get misconfigured so that the phone’s “network type” indicator shows something incorrect (e.g. “6G” instead of “5G” or “5G+”).
Carrier branding / marketing / upgrade Carriers sometimes rebrand or advertise “5G+”, “5G Advanced”, “5G XR”, etc. It might be that a carrier upgraded some infrastructure or reclassified something, and your phones are now showing a new label, which is being interpreted as “6G” by some phones.
Beta / experimental / test network It’s possible (though unlikely in mass consumer use) that a carrier is testing next-gen features or infrastructure, and some phones caught a test signal that the phone interprets as “6G”.
Firmware / OS update A recent update on the phones might have changed the way they label the network indicator. The phones could have added “6G” as a placeholder or future label, or to show “beyond 5G” features.
Localization or carrier settings pushing a new icon The “6G” label might not literally mean a fully new generation, but might be a new identifier (e.g. for advanced 5G) pushed by the carrier’s settings.
✅ What to check / diagnose
Here’s a list of things you and your family can check to better understand what’s happening:
Which carrier(s) are the phones using (e.g. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.)
Did all phones update their OS / firmware recently?
On the phone, go into Settings → Cellular / Mobile Network → Network Mode / Preferred Network Type — see what modes are enabled (e.g. 5G, 5G + etc.)
Check what the phone reports about signal strength, band/frequencies in use (some diagnostic mode)
Test data speeds (upload/download) and latency — see if they match 5G speeds or exceed them
Contact your carrier’s technical support or ask them if there is an infrastructure upgrade or labeling change
Search for news or announcements by your carrier about “6G” or “5G Advanced” rollout in your area
From what I can tell:
Official sources and standards organizations do not yet consider “6G” to be commercially deployed in most regions.
The U.S. FCC recently voted to accelerate the buildout of wireless infrastructure, including support for future 6G deployment.
Academic and industry projections expect 6G devices to start arriving later (e.g. ~2028) after standardization advances.
So, it’s very plausible that what you saw is a label or misidentification, rather than a true full 6G network.
📶 What “6E” and “6” mean on your phone
“Wi-Fi 6E” is the newest version of Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11ax) that adds the 6 GHz band on top of the older 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.
It allows faster speeds, less congestion, and lower latency.
Routers and phones released in the last couple of years can use it.
When your phone shows “6E”, it means you were connected to a Wi-Fi 6E network using that 6 GHz band.
When it later just showed “6”, it likely switched to a Wi-Fi 6 connection (same generation of technology, but on the 5 GHz band instead of 6 GHz).
Neither of those labels refers to cellular 6G — that’s still experimental and not in public use anywhere.
Why the label changes
Phones automatically pick whichever band gives the best connection:
If the 6 GHz signal from your router is weaker or blocked by walls, it drops to the 5 GHz band — your indicator changes from “6E” to “6.”
You might also see the plain Wi-Fi symbol if it falls back even further.
✅ How to confirm
On the phone, open Settings → Wi-Fi → Your Network → Details.
Look for “Frequency,” “Band,” or “Channel.”
2400 MHz ≈ 2.4 GHz → Wi-Fi 4/5
5000 MHz ≈ 5 GHz → Wi-Fi 6
5900–6500 MHz ≈ 6 GHz → Wi-Fi 6E
So in short: Your family didn’t suddenly get a 6G cellular network — your phones just connected to a Wi-Fi 6E router and then switched back to regular Wi-Fi 6.
Was this post an excuse to copy/paste AI slop?
nope - the AI slop cleared me up and so, - yes I cut and pasted and copied it to show that I was the moron.
I am still a moron, just not as sorry I posted it afterall.
revelaed that not all frogs here are friendly and forgiving and nice.
Have a nice day, anyway.
That's a wifi symbol. My guess is that you're connected to a wifi6 network. Did you recently upgrade the router?
u/#correct
Yeah I've been on wifi6 for a couple of years now. Once I had a wifi6 capable router
There are two versions of wifi 6 and 6e depending on router set up it will show which. The 6e variant is more capable with multiple device parsing of data and some improvements to speeds over wifi.
Added info for fun, wifi 6 was the first introduction of the number standard, with 5 being originally (AC), and 6 still has the letters with (AX) prior to wifi 5 it was b,a,g, and n. The change was made to make users who arent in tech understand that bigger number means newer version. As the letters made less and less sense over time. So while the letters still exists, it goes by 6 or 6e and now wifi 7 is a thing with a slow roll out as 6 is enough for most consumers right now, plus few devices support it yet as only the newest tech has it right now.
We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
Ha!
You're using my line...
Ain't it the truth tho, Gray Beard? 😁
u/#catdance
Nah, it's an old line. I first heard it back in the 70's but I think it's much older.
From the 50's... that now look like the 70's ?
Maybe the phone software updated the icon.
No, what i am asking everyone is did we just go to 6 ??? As in 6G. We have never been at 6G before
That’s WiFi, it’s confusing as hell, but 5g WiFi and 5g cellular are completely different things.
There is no 6g cellular, but there is 6e / 6g WiFi.
Simple.
wouldn't that depend on ones wifi router?
T- Mobile no change.
Mine has been like that for a while
6G WiFi is available now - i recently bought a router with it. That's what this icon is for.
Mine looks like that often. I don't think it means 6G. I think that's the bars of service on wifi
Mine said 5UG yesterday.
The stairs steps are cellular...wifi is the fan of lines. Geez it's only 11am and I am already on my second beer and my 12,879th bowl of popcorn