There always seems to be various symbols, letters, or numbers popping up or disappearing in the top, right corner of our mobile phones.

We're used to seeing 4G or 5G, the WiFi sign, the signal strength, and the battery symbol but the 'E' is one of those sporadic letters that may jump off the screen when it appears because of its randomness.

You may notice that whenever you're having trouble sending texts or instant messages, connecting to the internet, or even making a call, that mysterious E is most likely in the top, right corner of your phone. This is because your phone is having trouble connecting to a network according to Newsbreak.

That E means your cell has connected to the second slowest cell phone network. It's actually the last possible mobile network our modern smartphones will connect to according to Marie Claire. It means where ever you are, 4G and 5G aren't available.

The E stands for EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) and can reach speeds between 120Kbps to 384Kbps. This was the original iPhone's top data network speed.

We've all been in dead zones and when that happens it means even EDGE isn't going to save us. However, chances are it will because it's still very common according to Newsbreak.

Most smartphones connect to it regularly when newer networks aren't available. You should be able to browse the internet and stream audio/video on this network, without many issues. Texts and calls will usually be fine, but you probably won't be able to download a film or any large file in a reasonable amount of time.

You'll notice I didn't mention 3G at all. All major cellular phone services stopped using 3G in 2022 according to the Back Market website.