Since the release of 4G LTE in 2010s, the lives of millions of people of all ages and walks of life have been transformed in ways few of us could have imagined only a short while before. 5G is 4G on steroids it brings more bandwidth and less latency IoT applications are growing at a phenomenal rate. At the current growth rate 4G systems will be taxed beyond system capabilities in coming years if no fix was in the future. Thats were 5G comes in.
5G represents a huge upscale of network technology. it’ll provide data transfer rates repeatedly faster than 4G maximum capabilities, higher bandwidth and greater opportunities for connectivity and reliability. A method to quantify the difference is in terms of download speeds.
5G biggest boasting factor is high bandwidth 4G theoretically can muster up about 250 to 300 Mb/per second on a good day, While 5G can push out a whopping 1 Gbps up to 1 Tbps. 5G has virtually no latency while 4G normally has a delay of 85 MS to 130 MS of page response time.
Early deployment of 5G what i call (Pre Low Band 5G/4G LTE-A) will utilize the SUB-6 band of frequencies, T-Mobile praises this on there commercials. SUB-6 boast a slightly bigger punch than 4G and propagates better than mmWave 5G but it lacks the full effect of true mmWave 5G which utilizes the 24 to 100 GHZ the Millimeter band of frequencies. (True /Full) mmWave 5G signals pack the mean punch in terms of significant speed and data transfer capabilities up to 200% more across the board.
However in the EHF (Extremely High Frequency) band theirs an unavoidable issue due to the inherent properties of radio wave propagation and the laws of physics. EHF signals are very tightly packed waves giving them needed properties combined with the wide bandwidth the ability to send and receive data in vast amounts, but you lose significant propagation to penetrate beyond walls or many obstacles for that matter, Millimeter waves cannot travel far in terms of distance either. For cell phone companies to overcome that issue they’ve begun constructing on street small cell nodes.
Small cell nodes will utilize Phased Array antennas
You must have a 5G wireless compatible device to receive 5G signals. 5G is backwards compatible with 4G but not the other way around. AT&T got in a lot trouble for this as i explained in a previous story for rolling out a fake 5G which they called 5G-E. To sum that up (A 4G PHONE CANNOT RECEIVE 5G SIGNALS.)
5G is more than just cellphones and tablets, 5G will be guiding autonomous cars, Allow traffic lights to communicate with other traffic lights to adapt instantly to changing vehicle patterns. Allow first responder’s to communicate more effectively. Allow for effective mission critical decision making, Heck maybe one day control drones. 5G undoubtedly will one day replace DSL,Cable,Satellites and other means of getting internet to your homes.
Many will argue they believe 5G is not safe. I like to remind people even though mmWave is in the EHF ( Extremely High Frequency) band, These signals emit Non-Ionizing radiation. If you carry a cellphone it emits radiation, Even your WiFi router. When it comes to individuals scrutinizing Communications tower and all of the the radiation they can emit take in to factor the “Inverse Square Law” a law stating that the intensity of an effect such as illumination or gravitational force changes in inverse proportion to the square of the distance from the source.
Full 5G deployment will take years to appear and fully develop but 5G will undoubtedly change the way we live one day. Might i also add 4G is not going anywhere soon, 4G systems were built with “LTE” (Long Term Evolution) in mind. Rural areas will not see 5G systems for a while or they will see what is called 4G LTE-A in the SUB6 Band section which the cell phone companies will call 5G like T-Mobile. SUB6 signals boast a +20% gain in speed and data transfer rate. Theoretically you can consider SUB6 4.2G LTE, This is simply how certain company’s can get away with calling it 5G because it is no longer 4G its above, however there is no standard classification for anything between 4G and 5G therefore it is marketed as 5G.
Verizon and Sprint are deploying true 5G mmWave networks w/back-haul’s and small cell node networks in major metropolitan areas and in large cities.
