Everything You Need to Know About QCI (QoS Class Identifiers)

There comes a time in every phone owner's life where they are ready to make a switch to a new wireless network. Whether it’s because you need to save money and are looking for more budget-friendly options or you’re moving and the coverage you have now is nowhere near as good as in your new place. There’s a number of different reasons to switch and as you start doing your research you may come across a few unfamiliar terms like QCI or QoS Class Identifiers.

Initially you may glaze over that as inconsequential to your phone plan shopping, but in actuality it is quite important if you care about coverage and your internet speeds when you’re using data instead of wifi to use your phone’s services. 

The short of it is: Quality of service identifiers also known as QCI values shows how traffic is handled on LTE networks. Those values specify a priority level for traffic during times of high congestion.

At first glance that may seem confusing and you wouldn’t be alone! Many people don’t know a thing about QCI, so that’s what we’re here to explain- along with giving you the deets on QCI values on some of the country’s most popular wireless providers.

• What is ‘Quality of Service’ & Why is it Important?
• Data Deprioritization & Network Congestion
• Acronyms to Understand: QCI, LTE, GBR, & More
• QCI Types
• Wireless Network’s QCI Levels
• Wireless QCI Level Recap

What is ‘Quality of Service’ and Why is it Important?

There are so many different “services” we are using on our phones everyday, we use it to make voice calls, video calls, send texts, scroll through social media for hours on end, email, play games, and much more. With so many tools constantly being used on your wireless network’s bandwidth, having a monitoring system to prioritize and regulate those services is needed aka Quality of Services.

Over the past twenty years we have gone through what many describe as the “rise of the digital age”- it’s estimated that 97% of Americans have a cell phone, up from 35% from 2011 according to a Pew Research Study. With so many relying on their phones, the bandwidth needed to reach everyone has increased. 

There are people with jobs that require service that is prioritized at a higher level than others, i.e: hospital workers and critical voice calls, and then there are people who choose to pay for a better service.

• Usually anyone that’s on the highest costing phone plan from a network are the ones who will get premium service. While others in lower tier plans may experience occasional slower speeds.

With the load of customers increasing more and more every year at a fast trajectory, mobile companies have two options:

1. They take the time, and money, to build new infrastructure so their cell phone towers reach wider audiences and cover more ground.
2. Or they can categorize the Quality of Services to prioritize those who need faster and more committed speeds over those who don’t.

Premium Subscribers > Basic Subscribers

Real Time Services > Non Real Time Services

Data Deprioritization and Network Congestion

When you’re doing research into phone plans, especially phone plans that are classified as MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators), you’ll have come across the terms “data deprioritization” and “network Congestion.” But what do they mean?

Data Deprioritization: Data deprioritization is the temporary slowing of your data speeds in order to give higher premium subscribers faster speeds over those on lower tier plans. This can happen when you’re in an area with a ton of people also on their phones using the same network as you or when there’s network congestion. If you are signed up with a MVNO then you might experience slower speeds when you go over your gigabyte threshold for the month or when you’re at a heavily populated event.

Network Congestion: Network congestion occurs when “network nodes and links are overloaded with traffic.” There are a lot of different factors that can cause network congestion like too many devices, unneeded traffic, bandwidth hogs, and more. During these peak times you’ll be hit with data deprioritization, but when the congestion clears up- like when you’re starting to get over a cold and you are able to breathe with both nostrils again- you’ll be able to use your phone like normal. 

A tip we recommend all those shopping for a new plan to know is look at the fine print on your “Unlimited Data” plans. Usually there will be a little note telling you how much data you can use before your speeds will start to slow.

Acronyms to Understand: QCI, LTE, GBR, & More

This is where we get into the more technical part of the article, so get out your notepad and follow along as we cover some acronyms to know when you’re researching QCI.

QCI: QCI stands for Quality of Service Class Identifier or Quality Class Identifier. It’s the framework used for your LTE and 5G services to mark and prioritize the different kinds of traffic used on the internet: video calling, voice calling, playing games, etc. It’s what secure’s that the traffic and services are allocated to the right level of prioritization. 

LTE: Some Smartphone users will see a little “LTE” or 5G” at the top of their phone screens. LTE stands for Long-Term Evolution which is the fourth generation (4G) successor of 3G. It provides wireless broadband connection for mobile devices everywhere. 

GBR: GBR stands for Guaranteed Bit Rate. It’s a common term used when describing the amount of data that can be transferred over a network at a guaranteed rate. GBR is good to know when you’re doing something like playing the latest triple A video game so you can ensure a buttery-smooth gaming experience. And in times of network congestion you’d still be “guaranteed” a certain level of bit rate even at those peak times.

PD: PD stands for Packet Delay. It’s the time it takes for a “packet” of data to go from its source to its intended destination. It is measured in ms (milliseconds). This measures the reliability of a strong network connection, think about when you’re sending an email, if it sends and delivers super fast- that’s a good measure of packet delay. While Packet Error Loss Rate is “the number of sent packets minus the number of received packets in a portion of time,” according to Science Direct. (Aka that’s where math gets involved). 

IMS: IMS stands for IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem. It’s the system used for delivering multimedia communications like video calls, voice calls, and text messages. It’s what makes calling and texting our friends, family members, and businesses possible.

QCI Types

There are nine QCI values on the 5G and LTE networks, but only eight are possible- (nine are being saved for future uses). Each value represents a priority designated by a QoS class.

QCI values are based on a few requirements: 

• Latency
• Packet Loss (Packet Delay Budget and Packet Error Loss Rate)
• Reliability

The table, which represents LTE QCI, below is thanks to Wireless Telecom on Youtube:

Now let’s breakdown QCI values used in both LTE and 5G networks:

Now it’s good to note that not all networks will follow this exact estimate of QCI values. It may depend on the network’s policies and own priorities. 

Wireless Network’s QCI Levels

We know all about the “big three” which are the three major networks in the country: Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. These companies each have their own Observed QCI Values by many different sources online, from Reddit users and other tech blogs alike.

QCI values 6 through 9 are reserved for data plans. QCI value 9 is considered to be “deprioritized” while 6, 7, and 8 are considered to be “premium.” 

Specific thank you to Reddit user Ethrem and the FixVerizon blog for some of these data points.

Verizon

Verizon only uses QCI levels 8 and 9 for consumer plans, unless you are a Verizon Frontline member- which means you’re getting either fast or slow service with no in-betweens. 

Plans under QCI level 8: Most Postpaid plans fall under this category (except for 5G Start and Welcome Unlimited). Play More Unlimited, Do More Unlimited, and Get More Unlimited. As well as their Xfinity Mobile: By The Gig plan, Unlimited Plus plan, and Unlimited Premium plan.

Plans under QCI level 9: 5G Start, Welcome Unlimited, and all other prepaid mobile plans fall under this value besides the Unlimited Plus plan including prepaid MVNOs. 

AT&T

AT&T also mainly uses QCI levels 8 and 9. However their Unlimited Elite plan falls under QCI level 7.

Plans under QCI level 8: Most phone plans under AT&T are under QCI level 8 including Unlimited Extra, Prepaid Unlimited Plus and Prepaid Unlimited MAX. MVNO plans like Cricket More and PureTalk are also under 8.

Plans under QCI level 9: Unlimited Prepaid and Unlimited Starter Postpaid plans, along with Red Pocket Mobile and Boost Mobile. You’ll find that most of AT&T’s MVNOs are QCI level 9.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile uses QCI levels 6, 7, 8, and 9 for consumer plans. 

Plans under QCI level 6: Almost all plans under T-Mobile are under QCI level 6 which means your data is being prioritized above Verizon and AT&T plans at a higher rate. Magenta Postpaid plans and their Connect by T-Mobile Prepaid plan is under level 6. Along with their MVNO Google Fi plans.

Plans under QCI level 7: T-Mobile’s Essentials plan is under level 7. MVNOs like Mint Mobile, Tello and Metro by T-Mobile also fall under this category.

Plans under QCI level 8: No phone plans fall under this category, it is used for Home Internet Products.

Plans under QCI level 9: Home Internet users will experience a drop in level after they’ve exceeded their 1.2TB usage of the month, as well as phone data and hotspot usage. 

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Wireless QCI Level Recap

When you’re comparing all three- Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile wireless services, along with their respective MVNOs you’re going to get a lot of different numbers depending on the type of plan you go for. The general rule of thumb is the more expensive the plan you pay for the better prioritized you’ll be. 

The lower the QCI level the better- so when you’re looking at each individual network it seems that most of T-Mobile’s plans fall under the lowest QCI levels, while Verizon and AT&T are considered to be a combination of “perfectly good and average” when looked at from a microscope. 

However, if you’re looking to be a priority customer and pay for a service that will prioritize your service above others, that's where you’d look to companies like Verizon and AT&T as they do have a clear prioritization rate above lower paying subscribers. 

So if you want good speeds and don’t care about being on the same level as lower-paying customers, T-Mobile will almost always have reliable internet and data, while Verizon and AT&T will prioritize you over other customers to give you the best they can give. 

At the end of the day if you’re willing to pay for it, you’ll get prioritized in times of data deprioritization and network congestion. Measuring and evaluating QCI levels can help make sure you’re getting the phone service you want to pay for. So while you research your phone plans, take a look a bit deeper into their QCI levels.

If you want to compare and contrast Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, or any other MVNO mentioned today to over 1,200 other phone plans so you know you’re getting the service that’s right for you, then make sure to check out the REALLY compare page which allows you to look at pricing, coverage, what phone plans are available, current deals and steals, and how you can make the most of your potential phone bill.