To be clear, I'm talking about voice calls & SMS. Data communication that uses https or another protocol should be as secure as using that protocol on any other network.
Why People in this forum (and probably grapheneos) don't like 5g?
As I mentioned, when the feature was released there was no 5G possibility.
We would be interested in having a 5G only option, but would also keep he 4G/LTE only option available.
The development team always has much to do and this is not currently high on the list of priorities as LTE/4G only already provides a reduced attack surface option.
Since GrapheneOS added that feature AOSP introduced the ability to disable 2G networking which provides another option to reduce cellular network attack surface for people who dont want to use LTE only option.
TopDshe My experience has also been that, at least in some places, 5G is substantially faster than any of the other options. I can often get nearly 500 mbps over 5G, and that is much faster than I recall ever getting on 4G/LTE.
DeletedUser64 that's a good hint thank you
Probably9857 can you provide a link to a list with the vulnerability's and general weaknisses of the cell network? I thought there is only sting ray and maybe the "silent SMS" thing (but in reality I don't know what that is).
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I'm not aware of any such list, and I'm not an expert on this topic.
If you want to learn more, maybe start here if you haven't read it already:
https://grapheneos.org/faq#cellular-tracking
That should give you some search terms for following up if you want more information on a topic.
TopDshe can you provide a link to a list with the vulnerability's and general weaknisses of the cell network?
Theres huge complexity to how cell phone networks work many different protocols for how cell towers talk to phones 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G + more. Then theres the protocols that are used to route the calls & SMS from the tower onwards across different, sometimes very old, networks to their destination. Different network providers can have very different set ups. Theres various places there can be problems.
One set of protocols thats used everywhere, has attracted a lot of attention and still gives cause for concern - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_System_No._7
Just try to search 5G SA, 5G NSA, VoNR.
Not good for battery 5G NSA.
True 5G SA with VoNR is extremely rare outside Asia region.
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Object_11 T-Mobile has wide 5G SA coverage in the USA (with real VoNR), so it's not that rare in some parts of North America.
spammerofspam if i will see VoNR, i will switch to NR-only mode immediately))
Sure, some top-tier carriers has true 5G. No one carrier with VoNR in Canada or Mexico. In USA one or two has it.
If I've understood correctly, to reduce the attack surface, it's better to choose 4G only rather than 5G (recommended) for your preferred network type?
4G means 2G, 3G and 4G.
5G means 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G.
Android also has a standard 2G disable toggle but it's often not available with carriers. We changed it to always be available as we did for several other settings.
4G only is a GrapheneOS addition which means only 4G. That is the lowest attack surface option.
5G only will be added in the future. We don't plan to add a 4G + 5G option. The reason we didn't add a 5G only option yet is because we were waiting for it to be more universally available. It would make sense to add it now but we've had much higher priorities.
GrapheneOS Only the 5G option is not suitable, as 5G in many parts of China is turned off at night to save electricity costs.
13 days later
DeletedUser64 Might be worth a one time look at your cell network?
I checked it now and the 5g in my area is fake. Privacy Cell tells me it's "LTE - 4G"
On internet Speed test i get between 5-20Mbps doenload speed and a ping about 29-70ms
This is the normal speed i am used to.
But nothing compared to what i saw in the 5g speed test i saw once.
And it is no real 5g after all as the app privacy cell tell's me. The 5G icon on the status bar seems just like false information to me. I think i'm done with 5G for now. Mabe later. With a big mabe because my country hates technology and internet and progession in general.
