Understanding 5g and 5G Speeds
There is a lot of hype around 5G. It seems to be that everyone from the smart technology giants to cellular data service providers, businesses and consumers are all waiting to see what 5G technology will bring and how it will change the future of smart mobile and stationary devices.
What is 5G?
5G is the new and upcoming wireless super-fast internet that will replace 4G in the future. It will be the fifth generation cellular wireless network that is expected to outperform not only its predecessors but also the fastest home broadband internet services available to consumers.
With 5G your smartphone internet connections will perform internet related tasks more quickly. 5G will also be more stable and will be receiving and sending data to a whole host of new smart devices, including autonomous cars, smart-city, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Tech companies have been creating a lot of buzz about 5G and its capabilities. When you compare to the speed of 4G that maxes out at 100 Mbps with the speedy 5G will potentially provide 10 Gbps, it is easy to see why everyone is so excited. 5g speeds will be a hundred times faster than 4G, which means you will be able to get internet related tasks in a matter of seconds with a 5G connection.
One of the most common examples of the fantastic fast speeds of 5g by the Consumer Technology Association suggests that a two-hour movie can be downloaded in just 3.6 seconds on 5G, which take about 6 minutes on 4G that you are probably using right now.
5G will also have almost zero latency, which equals to better responsiveness and quicker load times. Lower latency will be helpful for devices that will be making split-second decisions based on previously gathered data, without the assistance of humans.
The performance of 5G will beat not only 4G but also the current broadband internet connections. Most experts compare the capabilities of 5G to that of fiber optic internet.
How will 5G work and What Gives It Faster Speeds?
So, how is it that 5G will be able to provide such incredible speeds of the internet with low latency? Our fiber optic network installation experts have the answers:
5G networks will work on a new band of radio spectrum known as the “millimeter waves” which will broadcast between the frequencies of 30 and 300 GHz in contrast to the 6 GHz bands used in 4G and other technologies.
The millimeter waves have been used to communicate between satellites and radar systems. However, the millimeter waves have some limitations; these waves are unable to cover vast distances and are also unable to penetrate walls and solid objects easily. Therefore, 5G coverage will rely on “small cells.”
Multiple technologies lend to faster internet speeds of 5G; one of them is the “massive MIMO” technology that will be used at base stations. MIMO stands for “multiple-input multiple-output” that will allow base stations to a large number of wireless devices simultaneously. Furthermore, the base stations will also perform at full duplex, which will enable the stations to transmit and receive data at the same simultaneously on the same frequency.
