You’ve heard the hype about 5G technology, but is it really going to change things? To understand the potential of this groundbreaking wireless protocol, start by examining how 5G works from a technical standpoint, and how can it deliver on its promises. This article takes a deep dive into 5G, separating hype from reality.
5G Technology Explained
5G is the fifth generation of cell phone technology.
The first was an analog transmission method, largely put in place in the 1980s.
2G appeared in the 1990s and allowed for digital data transmission, including on the first iPhone.
3G and 4G then improved on these digital capabilities, and 5G is the next step forward in the march of wireless progress. Arguably, it represents a paradigm shift that has not been seen since the transition from analog to digital.
At its most basic, 5G promises higher speeds than the previous generations, potentially as high as 10 Gbps in some scenarios. 4G transmission technology can fetch data at around 20Mbps, or 80Mbps for 4G+, making 5G’s (theoretical) 10Gps, or 10,000Mbps, over 100 times faster than 4G.
Additionally, 5G technology should allow for 10 times the number of connected devices in a given area, versus what was possible with 4G.
Latency, the time it takes to return a response from an individual signal, will be reduced as well. 4G networks come in at around 30 to 70ms, while 5G (as of testing conducted in mid-2021) can get down into the 5-20ms range.
How Does 5G Work?
5G wireless, while generally thought of as “one” revolutionary technology, could perhaps be better considered as two core wireless signaling methods, plus ancillary improvements that help take advantage of them. Unlike previous generations of cellular communication, 5G data transfer takes place in two very distinct frequency segments, sometimes divided into three ranges as low, mid, and high-band.
Low-band and mid-band signals are collectively known as “sub-6” as they fall under 6 GHz in frequency. They provide longer range signals, but comparatively lower speeds for non-urban and rural areas. The real speed improvement of 5G, however, comes in the higher frequency ranges, AKA “millimeter wave.” This range starts at 24.25 GHz in the US, and can extend to above 95 GHz with a number of gaps in between.
These high frequency signals can transmit a massive amount of data, capable of transferring a movie in mere seconds. However, there i’s an important tradeoff. The range of this high frequency is very short–in the hundreds of meters line of sight. Any physical barrier, such as an exterior wall, tends to cause signal interference, and the net effect is that an army of pizza box-sized small cell “towers” is needed to effectively cover an area.
Not All 5G Networks Are Created Equal
Millimeter wave transmission speeds are great when you are in a major metropolitan area, outdoors, and in range of a small cell tower. For people that live and spend most of their time in the suburbs and rural environments, high frequency 5G may seem to have little marginal benefit.
The good news is that 5G, in its lower speed, longer wavelength iteration, still represents a substantial improvement over 4G data transmission. While perhaps more iterative than revolutionary, users can expect low-band speeds somewhere in the 100 to 200 Mbps range, with mid-band clocking in at from 100 Mbps to just under 1 Gbps.
In its infancy in 2019, different carriers rolled this technology out with different goals in mind. One might assume that these strategies were implemented so that carrier X could say they have the widest 5G coverage, while carrier Y could still (truthfully) claim the fastest. The net effect of this competition would seem to be that one carrier may indeed be better for your situation, but not necessarily for someone else, depending on where you spend your time.
Reading between the lines even further, it i's possible that whichever company claims the widest 5G network could be interpreted as saying, “If you live in the suburbs/country, choose us.” The carrier that is fastest in terms of raw data speeds may instead be appealing to city dwellers.
Device Matters for 5G Technology
Network aside, to take full advantage of 5G technology in its lightning-fast mm wave iteration, you need a phone that i’s up to the task. Not all 5G phones are capable of both sub-6 and high-speed millimeter wave transmission. The newly announced 5G iPhone SE, for example, can only communicate on the sub-6 (lower frequency/speed) bands, while the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max list millimeter wave capabilities in addition to sub-6.
Depending on what type of phone you choose, the fastest network may not matter as much, at least in terms of using the highest speed bands. Conversely, you may not want to shell out for mm wave capabilities if you don’t live in a major city.
Of course, iPhones aren’t the only 5G devices on the market, and, in fact, they were not capable of 5G communication at all until late 2020. A limited number of Android phones were capable of this tech as early as 2019 where reception was available, and there are a variety of Android options from which to choose today.
Benefits of 5G: Supporting Tech and Future Uses
Beyond 5G’s bifurcated frequency usage, other technologies like advanced MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) data transmission, beam forming, and simply the fact that there are more distributed “towers” in a given area will contribute to mobile tech’s success and continued improvement.
The obvious benefit of 5G is higher phone speeds and usability, but one might also wonder just how fast you need to download both seasons of your favorite show to stream. Counterpart. Perhaps what i’s even more interesting is that the lower latency promises to allow for more real-time mobile usage scenarios—and the ability to connect an abundance of “things”—in a similar manner to how you might now do so with WiFi.
In fact, it might eventually change our view of home WiFi, and the need to have a central router altogether, which we explore in this article about how 5G might one day replace at-home IoT.
