Hello America!
Recently, many of our customers have been wondering what is the difference between 4G and 5G, why switch to 5G technology, and whether quality 5G will be available in 2020 in New York and other major cities in the United States. Therefore, today we present an article collected from many sources that uniquely answers this question! Yes, 5G is here and it is worth paying attention to it!
5G is the mobile standard that has replaced 4G, with improved rates of transmission speed, network coverage, and reliability. 5G, which was developed over several years, began its full-fledged implementation and distribution around the planet in April 2019. The first full 5G network was built in South Korea.
Modernization of existing networks was needed because the number of devices requiring an Internet connection is constantly growing. To function normally, many devices need network bandwidth, which 4G can no longer cope with.
5G works on other antennas and frequencies giving Internet access to more devices, minimizing delays in data transmission, and providing ultra-fast speed.
Main Benefits of 5G for Users:
- Data is transmitted at extremely high speeds
- Data is transferred to more users
- Transmission accuracy will increase
- Network latency will be minimal
On the other hand, high frequencies have their drawbacks. Extremely high frequencies transmit a signal within the line of sight between the antenna and the receiver. Moreover, the radio waves of this range decay strongly during transmission over long distances, since the energy is absorbed by hydrometeors (rain, fog, snow) and other objects.
For these reasons, the location of antennas in 5G networks must be carefully planned.Perhaps, it will be one large antenna located throughout the city or many small antennas in each room or building. Maybe even both of these types. Most likely, you will have to use many repeaters that transmit radio waves as far as possible in order to provide support for 5G over a long distance.
5G is much faster than 4G
Most tech-savvy users know what bandwidth is. This is the amount of information downloaded or downloaded over the network per unit of time. Theoretically, under such ideal conditions, and provided that any device or interference has little to no effect on the network, data is transmitted at peak speeds.
5G is 20 times faster than 4G
This means that in the time it takes to download a piece of data on a 4G network (cinema, for example), it can be downloaded 20 times on a 5G network. If you look differently, you can download almost 10 films before 4G downloads the first half of one! Entertaining math, right?
Peak speeds on 5G networks reach at least 20 Gb/s, and for 4G – 1 Gb/s. These numbers refer to devices that do not move; speed varies as soon as you start moving, for example, in a car or train.
However, these speeds are not common for devices on 5G networks, since often many factors affect network bandwidth. More important is a look at realistic speeds or average measured throughput.
5G networks are not yet used everywhere, so we can’t operate with real experience, but 5G networks have been tested repeatedly and stably showed a minimum download speed of 100 Mbps (home services work at speeds from 300 Mb/s to 1 GB/s!)
Speed depends on many variables, but 4G networks on the average show less than 10 Mbps, which makes 5G at least 10 times faster than 4G.
5G works differently than 4G
The new 5G mobile network is fundamentally different from the existing ones. In order to effectively answer calls that 4G cannot handle, 5G works in a different range of radio frequencies. This is the fundamental difference:
- 5G operates in super-high frequencies, the range from 30 GHz to 300 GHz
- 4G operates at frequencies below 6 GHz.
High frequencies are good for many reasons. One of the most important is that they are able to provide high network capacity and high transmission speeds. High-frequency bands have not yet been overloaded with existing cellular communications, and in the future, will be able to provide growing requirements for network bandwidth. In addition, the transmission of signals at extremely high frequencies is characterized by a clear directivity. Therefore, radio signals in this range can be transmitted in parallel with the operation of other wireless devices without causing interference.
In turn, 4G towers emit a signal in all directions, sometimes wasting energy and power on the emission of radio waves in areas where the connection is not required.
5G transmits data at shorter wavelengths, which means that the antennas can be much smaller than those used now, and at the same time, provide more accurate directional adjustment. Since one base station can accommodate more directional antennas, 5G will support 1000 connected meters per meter more than 4G
Another difference between 5G and 4G is that 5G networks can easily adapt to different types of transmitted content and are able to switch to low power mode when not in use, or when some device is operating at low speeds, and then switching to higher power to deliver services such as, for example, HD video streaming.
What can 5G do, that 4G can not?
There is no doubt, 5G is the future of mobile devices and communications. With that being said, we’d still be able to send text messages, make calls, use the Internet, and stream video. Absolutely nothing of what we are doing now on our phones will go anywhere with the transition to 5G – services will simply be improved.
Websites will load faster, videos that automatically start earlier will start even faster (unfortunately?). Online games will stop lagging, and videos on Skype or FaceTime will become smoother and more realistic.
What now seems fast when browsing the Internet may seem instant.
When using 5G as your home network, you can simultaneously connect more devices to the Internet without bandwidth problems. This is especially true for the Internet of Things (IoT). The 5G home network will allow you to connect a smartphone, a game console, smart door handles, a virtual reality headset, wireless video surveillance cameras, a tablet, a laptop – all to one router at the same time.
While 4G cannot cope with the growing number of mobile devices, 5G will pave the way for Internet-based technologies such as smart traffic lights, wireless sensors, wearable devices, and inter-car communication devices.
Vehicles that receive GPS data and navigation instructions (for example, traffic alerts) require an extremely fast Internet connection – it is unrealistic to believe that 4G will cope with these requirements.
Since the transfer speed of 5G is much higher than that of 4G, it is likely that data compression does not require preliminary compression. This will allow faster access to information because now it does not need to be unpacked before use.
When will 5G networks appear?
So far, we cannot use 5G throughout the United States. This is primarily due to the fact that mobile operators and service providers, the technology is currently at the testing and development stage. However, it is known that major operators like T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint are working in this direction in large cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, Chicago, and others. The network is already starting to deploy. Starting December 2019 or in the first half of 2020, we will be able to use a full 5G network.
Another important step for using 5G network is to match the phone to the network frequency. Your mobile phone must have the support of this technology. 5G phones have not yet gained popularity and are relatively expensive. But what can’t you do for high speeds, right?
Allvoi also does not stand still. Our company is getting ready to start providing 5G connection services in the first half of 2020 at an affordable price. To do this, you need to connect to our network and subscribe to one of the Unlimited Wireless Plans. For just $30 or $50 dollars of your choice, you can appreciate the speed of 5G. Learn more about how to connect or switch to Allvoi and reduce mobile costs today!