Barnes TechThere are so many tech journalists who are writing about how 5G doesn’t seem like it’s that big of a deal, then compare it to when networks changed to 3G and then 4G. There are a few things that stand out to me about the commentary that is consistent almost all across the board.
First - They complain about how it isn’t super widely rolled out yet. They just have really short memories. Compared to 3G and 4G, the 5G rollout is MUCH further along in the same timeframe. In fact, I was working at Apple when 3G first rolled out, and it was an utter disaster. The network completely died when the iPhone 3G launched, and had consistent problems for several months after. 4G was definitely not as messy, but the coverage was sparse for a VERY long time. Both technologies revolutionized how we do things, once they hit maturity, and I don’t think 5G will be any exception.
Second - Speed tests are sometimes the same speed or slower than 4G LTE. Anyone who has worked in IT long enough knows that speed tests are only a small part of the overall network story. The speed you get to a speed test server is important, but it’s not all that is required for you to be able to do things on the internet. Sub 6GHz 5G speed tests are going to be approximately the same as 4G right now, and in some cases might be a little slower than LTE (it’s a brand new network still being rolled out, I think we can cut it some slack at the moment…) but that’s not the point of the sub 6GHz network. I’ll talk about that more in a bit.
Third - Sure, mmWave speed tests are pretty insane, but why do I need that much speed? Well, I think there are two answers to that. Maybe you don’t and never will, but I think that’s short sighted. At almost any point in the internets history, you can point to people saying that they don’t need more speed than whatever they are getting at the moment, but they don’t seem to acknowledge the fact that new technologies become available when more speed is accessible. At one point, loading pictures on a web page seemed crazy, now we can stream 4K TV and movies no problem, back up our whole computer to a cloud based backup service, and even stream console quality games in 4K over the internet with unbelievably low latency (Like Stadia)
I think part of the confusion is that 5G is really two different stories coming out at the same time. The mmWave technology with insane speed (I got 2.2 Gb/s download speeds when I tested it on my phone yesterday), and the sub-6GHz technology. mmWave is really about building for the future, but will be a much slower rollout. The advertisements for 5G love to focus on the mmWave part. With those speeds and incredibly low latency, you could perform surgery remotely over a wireless connection. You could load gigantic AutoCAD files or Final Cut Pro files in minutes if not seconds. As I said earlier, this will also likely lead to technologies that we aren’t considering right now. Just because it isn’t widely available though, doesn’t mean it isn’t awesome and won’t be revolutionary.
Sub 6GHz is a less flashy technology, but it is important for a few reasons. First, it can use the same towers as 4G LTE, so it can (and has been) deployed much faster. Verizon has a very good coverage map already, and AT&T is getting close to nation wide coverage as well. The speed difference won’t be immediately evident, and may never be hugely faster than 4G LTE, but the two major advantages are related to network capacity. Similar to WiFi 6, all 5G network connections are using MIMO (Massive MIMO in 5G’s case), as well as beam forming, which will give you a more consistent network experience, as well as dramatically increase the number of connections a cell tower can handle at a time.
A lot of people talk about how this will help at sporting events, or concerts (remember when we could go to those?) but it will also become increasingly important as more things connect to the internet, and can do so via cellular. I think carriers have been reluctant to allow IoT devices to connect to their network without a substantial premium, simply because of overall network capacity issues. With 5G that can, and will change. Over the next few years, look for more things to connect to cellular networks, and keep an eye on what cutting edge tech like mmWave opens up. In a few years it will seem obvious in retrospect.