All of the US carriers have now deployed a 5G cellular network of some kind. But, what is 5G, and how fast is it in comparison to 4G? Here's what you should be aware of.
2022 will be a key year for 5G after three years of promises.
According to Verizon, the new mobile network technology was expected to spark a "fourth industrial revolution," but it hasn't. Up until recently, the "5G" that most Americans have encountered has felt just like 4G, except with a new symbol. However, AT&T and Verizon are launching new networks this year, including the much-discussed C-band, which, combined with T-more Mobile's mature mid-band network, might ultimately change things.
With no new experiences to speak of, the hullabaloo around 5G has left some to ask what the big deal is. Is what we're witnessing currently anything close to 5G? Technically, the answer is yes. It turns out that 5G technology and a "5G experience" are two very different things, and we're now getting former but not the latter in the United States.
However, things will begin to change. T-"ultra Mobile's capacity" 5G topped our Fastest Mobile Networks 2021 testing by displaying speeds that were substantially faster than 4G, and the new C-band networks are starting to shift the game for AT&T and Verizon now that they've launched.
5G is a ten-year investment, and prior mobile revolutions have seen the majority of the major improvements occur years after the first announcement. Take, for example, 4G. The first 4G phones emerged in the United States in 2010, but it was not until later that the 4G applications that revolutionized our world appeared. Snapchat debuted in 2012, while Uber gained popularity in 2013. Around 2013, video calls over LTE networks became popular in the United States.
Because the 5G transition is so difficult, and because we've been dealing with a pandemic for the past two years, the changeover may take much longer this time. According to scientists in Finland who assisted in the development of 5G technology, we may not see the robots, smart things, and augmented reality that have been promised until 2027.
For the time being, the most important 5G application is a 30-year-old concept: residential internet service. T-Mobile and Verizon are deploying their 5G networks to compete more effectively with cable home internet, bringing some competition to an otherwise uncompetitive market.
1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G
First and foremost, 5G Wi-Fi and AT&T's "5G E" phones are not the same as 5G cellular. Here's a complete breakdown of 5G vs. 5G E vs. 5GHz: What's the Difference Between the Two?
And don't believe the hype that 5G entails millimeter-wave towers on every lamppost. That's only one of the three basic types of 5G now in use.
The G in 5G refers to a wireless technology generation. While data transmission speeds have characterized most generations, each has also been distinguished by a break in encoding techniques, or "air interfaces," that renders it incompatible with prior generations.
1G was a cellular analog. The first generation of digital cellular technology was 2G, which included CDMA, GSM, and TDMA. Speeds ranged from 200kbps to a few megabits per second with 3G technologies including EVDO, HSPA, and UMTS. 4G technologies, such as WiMAX and LTE, were the next incompatible step ahead, with speeds reaching hundreds of megabits and even gigabits.
Bigger channels (to speed up data), reduced latency (to be more responsive), and the possibility to connect a lot more devices at once are all new features of 5G. (for sensors and smart devices).
With 4G, there isn't a clear separation. 4G networks and coverage are required for all 5G phones. Initially, all 5G networks relied on 4G to create their connections, a practice known as "non-standalone." We're starting to move away from that and toward "standalone" networks, but without the help of 4G, they lose a lot of performance. 5G phones can blend 5G and 4G channels discreetly and flawlessly, according to the 5G specification. As a result, for a long time, the majority of connections will be combined with 4G/5G connectivity.
Because of this symbiotic relationship between 4G and 5G, AT&T has become overconfident in its 4G network. Because it regards enhancing 4G as a crucial step toward 5G, the carrier has begun to refer to its 4G network as "5G Evolution." Of course, you're correct. However, the wording is intended to mislead inexperienced customers into believing that 5G Evolution is the same as 5G, which it isn't.
While 2G and 3G will be phased out in the near future, 4G will continue to exist for at least a decade as part of the 5G equation. You may rely on 4G if you find yourself in need of new phones or equipment because 3G is being phased out.
How 5G Works
5G networks, like previous cellular networks, employ a set of cell sites that split their region into sectors and transmit encoded data through radio waves. Every cell site must be linked to the network backbone, whether by cable or wireless backhaul. 5G alters the way data is transmitted and gives carriers a lot more alternatives when it comes to airwaves to use.
OFDM encoding is used in 5G networks, which is comparable to the encoding used in 4G LTE. The air interface, on the other hand, is optimized for substantially reduced latency and greater flexibility than LTE.
The new method allows for the use of "high-band," short-range airwaves that were previously unavailable to 4G technology. However, 5G may operate at any frequency, resulting in three distinct 5G experiences: low, middle, and high.
On the same old radio channels, 5G isn't significantly quicker than 4G. Instead, the 5G standard allows phones to communicate over a considerably larger variety of frequencies and channels. However, the carriers and the FCC must make those broader channels available, and here is where they have generally failed.
With 4G, you may utilize a total of 140MHz of spectrum by combining up to seven 20MHz channels. Phones, on the other hand, often use 60MHz or less.
You can combine three 100MHz channels for 300MHz use with new low- and mid-band 5G phones, and layer multiple additional 20MHz 4G channels on top of that. You can use up to eight 100MHz channels in high-band 5G. However, if you don't have access to the airwaves, you won't be able to receive the speeds.
Carriers may also use dynamic spectrum sharing to exchange channels between 4G and 5G. (DSS). DSS allows carriers to move the barriers between 4G and 5G channels, allowing them to divide channels between 4G and 5G based on demand. Verizon has been employing this for their "nationwide" 5G deployment. Because it doesn't create any new airwaves for 5G, instead of repurposing bits and pieces of 4G, we haven't seen DSS 5G deliver much greater performance than 4G.
Low-band 5G uses frequencies less than 2GHz. These are the cellphone and television frequencies that have been around the longest. They can go long distances, but there aren't many channels available, and many of those channels are used for 4G. As a result, low-band 5G is sluggish. For the time being, it acts and feels like 4G. Low-band 5G channels range in width from 5MHz (for AT&T) to 20MHz (for T-Mobile), thus they're not much bigger than 4G.
To make matters more complicated, AT&T and T-Mobile low-band phones often display 5G indicators even when they aren't connected to the network, making it difficult to discern the difference.
The frequency range for mid-band 5G is 2 to 10GHz. That includes the majority of existing cellular and Wi-Fi frequencies, as well as frequencies somewhat higher. Because these networks have a reasonable range from their towers, sometimes about half a mile, they are the workhorse networks that transport the majority of 5G data in most other nations. For mid-band 5G, most other nations have offered roughly 100MHz to each of their carriers.
In the United States, numerous distinct mid-band slices are employed. Some are contentious; the aircraft industry has complained that frequencies between 3.7 and 4.0GHz are too close to the frequency of its radio altimeters, which operate at 4.2 to 4.4GHz. However, that isn't the only mid-band frequency we use! T-"extreme Mobile's capacity" 5G network uses 2.5GHz channels with a bandwidth of up to 100MHz. AT&T and Verizon have just launched new mid-band networks based on the "C-band," which operates at frequencies of 3.7 to 3.8GHz. AT&T, T-Mobile, and Dish will all expand their 3.45 to 3.55GHz coverage later this year.
The genuinely new thing is millimeter-wave 5G, or high-band 5G. So far, it's largely been airwaves between 20 and 100 GHz. These frequencies have never been utilized for consumer purposes previously. They have a relatively modest range; our testing revealed distances from towers of approximately 800-feet. However, there is a large amount of unoccupied spectrum up there, allowing for extremely rapid rates of up to 800MHz at a time. On Verizon's high-band network, dubbed "ultra-wideband," we've witnessed speeds of over 3Gbps. Unfortunately, we discovered that Verizon's network only had roughly 3% coverage in the cities we tested in our Fastest Mobile Networks 2021 tests. High-band services are also available from AT&T and T-Mobile. They usually limit it to high-density areas such as college campuses and football stadiums.
Carriers began installing these "small cells" in several major cities in 2017 to improve 4G capacity. To build 5G in certain cities, they only need to add one extra radio to the existing site. However, in other parts of the country, carriers are having problems persuading municipalities to allow them to build tiny cells in suburban areas. This is comparable to prior battles in many of these areas to get cellphone coverage at all.
Verizon is partnering with firms that make 5G extenders and repeaters, such as Pivotal Commware, to improve its high-band 5G coverage.
5G is already "nationwide," however you'll have different experiences in various regions due to the carriers' differing methods.
Verizon offers a slower "national" 5G based on shared 4G channels, mid-band 5G in 46 metro regions, and fast, high-band 5G in over 60 locations, with coverage maps available online. (At the time of writing, the maps do not indicate mid-band coverage, although Verizon claims it will be added shortly.)
T-Mobile now has a sluggish national low-band 5G network that covers most of the country; a speedier mid-band network that reaches more than 200 million people and has a coverage finder here; and a restricted high-band network for which I haven't been able to discover a recent coverage update.
Which 5G Phones Are Coming Out?
5G phones are becoming commonplace; any phone costing more than $300 should be able to handle it. The mid-band is the next target for AT&T and Verizon. The Apple iPhone 12 and 13 series, the Samsung Galaxy S21 series, the Z Flip3 and Z Fold3, and the Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro will all support mid-band, according to Verizon. AT&T's list is identical, however, it includes the Galaxy A13 5G. This year, new mid-band phones will be released, and older models may be approved in the coming months.
Because low- and mid-band 5G is less expensive to install than high-band 5G, high-band 5G isn't available on many AT&T and T-Mobile phones. I'm undecided as to whether or not it matters. It is preferable to have more technology, and the firms do hold a lot of high-band airwaves. However, they've been tight-lipped about what they want to do with them, so it's unclear what benefit high-band will provide in AT&T and T-Mobile phones. The OnePlus 9 Pro, the Galaxy S21 series, the Galaxy Z Flip3 and Fold3, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, the iPhone 12 series, and the Pixel 5 all offer high-band wireless connectivity.
For additional information, see our current list of the top 5G phones.
Models from Huawei, Oppo, Realme, Xiaomi, and others are available in different countries. They don't work on American 5G networks since they don't support our frequency ranges; instead, they employ European and Asian mid-band technologies that we don't have.
Is 5G a safe technology?
Yes. Online conspiracy theories have blamed 5G for anything from cancer to the coronavirus, but they tend to crumble when confronted with real-world evidence. Low-band and mid-band 5G utilize radio frequencies that have been used for a long time. UHF TV bands, which have been in use since 1952, are used in low-band 5G. Sprint's mid-band has been in operation since at least 2007, with elements of it dating back to 1963.
The aviation sector has expressed worries about AT&T and Verizon's new C-band networks, claiming that the frequencies are too near to those used by radio altimeters, which determine the distance between planes and the ground. The cellular networks, which operate at 3.7 to 3.8GHz, and altimeters, which operate at 4.2 to 4.4GHz, are separated by 400MHz, although certain altimeter models lack filters to prevent transmissions on other channels. The FAA and the FCC have been negotiating concessions to address this issue, including certifying altimeter models with filters and establishing "exclusion zones" near airport approaches with no C-band.
In the United States, the most serious 5G concerns are with high-band, or millimeter-wave, 5G. This is a short-range system that necessitates a large number of tiny cell sites, making the infrastructure more apparent than before. The irony of fretting that a millimeter-wave would fry your cells is that it is blocked by foliage, buildings, glass, automobiles, clothes, and skin, not because it is too intense.
The importance of power levels cannot be overstated. The frequency used by Bluetooth and microwave ovens is the same. Some individuals believe millimeter-wave communications are microwave ovens that would cook us since they are officially termed microwave. A firefly, on the other hand, isn't a blowtorch, and 5G systems are more on the firefly side of things.
mmWave studies have demonstrated that it does not penetrate human skin effectively and that its biggest impact, at power levels higher than those used by any 5G network, is to make objects slightly warmer. There is no discernible effect on individuals at the levels used by 5G networks.
The whole narrative on why 5G is safe may be found here.
What is the purpose of 5G?
The home internet is the first significant 5G application. T-Mobile and Verizon are both offering residential internet services based on their 5G networks' mid-band and high-band bands. Home users routinely consume hundreds of megabytes per month, well beyond the capacity of our 4G networks. The capacity of 5G networks is sufficient to meet that demand.
Carriers will find it easier to deploy 5G home internet than house-by-house fiber optic cables. Instead of digging up every street, carriers may simply attach fiber optics to a cell site every few blocks and then provide wireless modems to users. T-5G Mobile's home Internet service has been reviewed, and it is better than DSL but not as good as fiber.
However, home Internet is not a new concept. The genuinely novel apps are waiting for ubiquitous 5G coverage that is substantially quicker than 4G, and the mid-band hold-up on AT&T and Verizon means we aren't there yet.
Another 5G use that we're starting to see is the remote control of robotics and drones. Remote pilots can manage vehicles from a distance without lag because to 5G's reduced latency than 4G, and because 5G has greater bandwidth, they can obtain reliable multi-camera video feeds from vehicles to see where they're going. Tiny Mile delivery robots are distributing snacks in Toronto as part of Bell's 5G network experiment.
Verizon has shown remote-piloted drones in manufacturing, agriculture, and firefighting, with video and sensor data sent back through 5G.
This will also be a crucial component in self-driving cars. Self-driving cars will interact with smart roadways, traffic lights, and other vehicles, and may need to transfer part of their processing power to bigger, nearby computers—but only if you're on a low-latency 5G network, not 4G.
Even though the automobiles are sharing extremely few packets of data, they must do so almost immediately. When a packet of data is sent directly between two automobiles or bounces from a car to a tiny cell on a lamppost to another car, 5G's sub-one-millisecond latency comes into play. (A light-millisecond is approximately 186 miles, thus the majority of the 1ms lag is still processing time.)
Think about what you can achieve with a dependable 100Mbps connection instead of 500Mbps when it comes to video and games. In this example, 5G refers to increasing the minimum connection speed to allow for numerous high-quality broadcasts and low-latency camera switching.
During a game, Verizon demonstrated an NFL experience in which spectators may rotate between seven high-quality camera perspectives. Bell has installed dozens of cameras throughout a hockey arena in Canada, allowing you to flip through a fluid 360-degree picture of the action.
5G will help people on-site in such arenas the most since it can manage more connections at the same time than 4G. A 5G network won't "choke up" like a 4G network in busy venues like concerts, sporting events, and parades (assuming we ever go back to any of them).
5G may play a role in augmented reality and the "metaverse," according to certain reports. The notion is that if you're going to be wearing AR glasses outside, having business ratings show up above restaurant front doors, and conversing with holographic ghosts of individuals walking next to you, you'll need the low latency and consistent speed that 5G provides.
However, I'd want to point out that we have no idea what the main 5G application will be. Many observers predicted that clear voice calling would be the main driver of 2G, but it turned out that text messaging was a huge new business. 4G was first released with laptop modems, but it quickly became known as a method for smartphones to upload and download video. Unexpected new uses are bound to emerge once high-quality 5G is widely available.
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