All the hype surrounding 5G is for real. And many prominent mobile companies have launched sets that support the latest 5G technology. One thing is for sure that it is going to be the extremely fast private internet access that we all will get. I think I will still stick to my WOW Internet and home phone services and hope the company starts offering 5G as well.
How does 5G Work?
There is a lot of technology involved in bringing this high-speed Internet to us. But to summarize it, 5G technology will be making use of a new band of radio spectrum. It will be using the millimeter waves to its advantage. As a comparison, the existing 4G technology broadcasts at a frequency that is below 6 GHz but 5G technology will broadcast at somewhere from 30 to 300 GHz frequencies. Do you see the difference?
However, the 5G technology making use of millimeter waves will not allow it to travel inside buildings or any solid objects for that matter. It is for this reason, that 5G will also use small cells. These will be miniature units that the companies will place every 250 meters in highly dense urban cities. Hence, allowing for better coverage.
The cellular base stations will also employ the use of MIMO technology. MIMO stands for multiple-input, multiple-output. You may even have to purchase (or the companies might provide it for free) MIMO technology router to receive signals without any delay or interruption. If you have been able to absorb this lot of information regarding the 5G technology, then let’s see how fast will it really be.
How Fast Will it Be?
Well, tech companies are promising a lot of great things when it comes to 5G. To make the comparison simple for you to understand, the tech companies claim that 5G will be at least 100 times faster than 4G. If 4G tops out at 100 megabits per second, 5G will top out at 10 gigabits per second.
Let’s make things simpler to understand. With this speed that the tech companies are promising 5G will be able to offer, you will be able to download a 2-hour movie in 3.6 seconds. Currently, you can do so in 6 minutes using 4G technology. And it takes 3G 26 hours to do the same.
5G will also reduce the latency that means that users will have access to faster load times and better responsiveness. Thus making 5G faster than all types of the Internet that we have access to right now. These include broadband, fiber, and cable. With the introduction of 5G, the users will have access to the unlimited Internet with super-fast speed. Many compare the upcoming 5G technology’s speed to that of lighting. You can even refer to it as data transmission in real-time.
The Launch of 5G
The real question that almost everyone gets curious about is that when will 5G get launched. And which company will do the honors of inaugurating the technology? There are a lot of speculations around this topic. Well AT&T has had the privilege of launching the technology in December 2018 in 12 cities. AT&T also sells the Samsung mobile version that supports the technology (Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and Note 10+ 5G).
Apart from that, sprint also launched 5G in around four cities earlier this year. The company does not charge extra for the service as of now. Verizon has introduced a limited amount of cellphones supporting technology. God knows what the company’s future plans look like. However, Verizon is also charging the subscribers an extra $10 for the 5G service.
Other than the above-mentioned companies, T- Mobile also launched the 5G service in six cities with the Samsung Galaxy phone.
5G Phones launched
The first generation of 5G phones that came out is capable of supporting only a few of the features. However, additions are being constantly made to help the phones include all the possible features. Some of the phones supporting 5G include Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, Samsung Note 10+ 5G, LG V50, OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, and Moto Mod. You can always check with your Internet providing company or visit your mobile phone brand’s page to see if they are offering the technology too. I checked with the WOW customer service reps and they are not as of now. I am hoping they will introduce it soon too.