What will 5G do for us?

[wmc1000]

Like most things and because of its smaller range footprint, (compared to 4G), 5G will be rolled out to where the density of customers is the greatest. Fixed mobile for apartments, condo projects, high density housing, business, etc. Mobile 5G will be spotty at best in the cities where it gets rolled out for the first few years especially.

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmc1000 Like most things and because of its smaller range footprint, (compared to 4G), 5G will be rolled out to where the density of customers is the greatest. Fixed mobile for apartments, condo projects, high density housing, business, etc. Mobile 5G will be spotty at best in the cities where it gets rolled out for the first few years especially.

I agree.

Like with cable, it is most profitable to do in urban high-density neighborhoods. I live in a fairly rural town, so we can not get any cable company to move here.

The same for cell towers, they are placed along the interstate, to give cellphone companies bragging rights that they have signal on the interstate. I-95 cuts through my township, so we have a celltower. But towns to either side of us, away from the interstate do not have celltowers. If 5G replaces the current cellphone technology, it will be the same. Cities and interstates will get 5G, while the remaining 95% of the nation will not see it.

[wmc1000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Offgrid Organic Farmer I agree. Like with cable, it is most profitable to do in urban high-density neighborhoods. I live in a fairly rural town, so we can not get any cable company to move here. The same for cell towers, they are placed along the interstate, to give cellphone companies bragging rights that they have signal on the interstate. I-95 cuts through my township, so we have a celltower. But towns to either side of us, away from the interstate do not have celltowers. If 5G replaces the current cellphone technology, it will be the same. Cities and interstates will get 5G, while the remaining 95% of the nation will not see it.

The problem I see with Interstates is that they have to install the millimeter wave transmitters half as far or less apart than the current 4G towers. While cell towers can be anywhere from 20-45 miles apart depending on topography 5G transmitters will be "lucky" to reach 6 miles on a line of sight transmission. So while they can be mounted on a lott of different "poles" other than a cell tower they will need to be much closer together.

[braumeister]

Interesting bit today on the MacRumors site:

Quote:

Starting with the iOS 12.2 beta, AT&T began displaying a 5G Evolution or 5GE icon on iPhones, misleading AT&T subscribers into thinking they're getting 5G transfer speeds when in fact, 5G on iPhone is not supported and AT&T has no 5G network as of yet. AT&T uses the 5GE labeling to describe its 4G LTE networks that offer features like three-way carrier aggregation, 256 QAM, and 4x4 MIMO. These options are in no way limited to AT&T and are offered by other carriers, but no other carrier has chosen to use fake 5G branding.

Quote:

As should come as no surprise, a recent test from OpenSignal has proven that AT&T's 5GE network is no faster than 4G networks from Verizon and T-Mobile that have the same speed upgrades.

opensignal5ge.jpg
https://www.macrumors.com

[MichaelB]

I’m shocked! AT&T has such a strong record of honesty, truthfulness and credibility. If they say it’s 5G, how can it not be so. <cough>

[explanade]

In fact, saw a headline but didn't read the article that the AT&T 5Ge measured slower than 4G from Verizon and even T-Mobile.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade In fact, saw a headline but didn't read the article that the AT&T 5Ge measured slower than 4G from Verizon and even T-Mobile.

That's what the above chart shows. But the difference is small.