2020 was promised as the year 5G finally would take off, but experts say the improvements and speeds we had hoped for have yet to come to fruition.
With promises to close the digital divide, faster download
and upload speeds for improved web-browsing and in-app experiences, and
increased speeds in communication between mobile networks, 5G looked to be the
future.
It’s been relatively disappointing so far. Many of us are
disappointed with the 5G rollout, but we have to be patient with the overhaul
it takes to build these 5G networks.
"The disappointment around 5G speeds right now has a
lot to do with how the hype around 5G has failed to reflect the reality of what
it takes to actually build these networks," wrote Peter Holslin, staff
writer at HighSpeedInternet.com, to Lifewire in an email.
What’s The Deal With 5G
It’s not just you. 5G isn’t as fast as we thought it would
be. According to a recent study from Speedcheck, 5G download speeds across the
country were only 2.7 times faster than 4G speeds last year.
The study also found that in one out of eight U.S. cities
where 5G was available last year, 4G-connected users could browse the Internet
faster than 5G-connected ones.
If you have Sprint, you experience faster 5G speeds than
others, at download speeds of 59Mbps, according to Speedcheck’s study. Carriers
like AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have some catching up to do, since they
reportedly provide median download speeds of 53Mbps, 47Mbps, and 44Mbps,
respectively.
"The disappointment around 5G speeds right now has a
lot to do with how the hype around 5G has failed to reflect the reality of what
it takes to actually build these networks."
Experts say the speeds we were promised are almost too good
to be true, and that the networks just can’t keep up.
"5G has often been advertised as theoretically being
able to reach internet speeds of 10Gbps, which is ridiculously fast—thousands
of times faster than what we can currently get on a cell phone over a 4G
network," Holslin said.
He added that the technology required to reach those
ambitious speeds is also demanding and tricky to implement.
"The technology requires an enormous build-up of new
networking infrastructure, including 'small cell' transmitters that need to be
installed on practically every block of a city for them to provide sustained
cellular service," he said.
This is why in most large cities, we’re still only seeing 5G
coverage concentrated in certain areas, such as in the central downtown area of
a city.
How Can It Get Better?
Speedcheck said this year would be the turning point for 5G
in the US, since 5G fixes are in the works: specifically, we will see more
"mid-band" 5G across the board.
The major network carriers bid more than $80 million to the
Federal Communications Commission to license this mid-range frequency, which
Speedcheck’s report says "speak[s] volumes to the importance of the C-band
to improve 5G networks in the US."
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| peng song / Getty Image |
"Now we have to work fast to put this spectrum to use
in service of the American people."
Holslin said that mid-band 5G frequencies operate over a
lower frequency than millimeter-wave. Mid-range 5G (which ranges between
2.4GHz-5GHz) can carry over longer distances and isn't as vulnerable to signal
interference, therefore, requiring fewer 5G transmitters to provide service.
"Mid-band 5G is still really fast—think in the range of
300-500Mbps," Holslin said. "That’s faster than a lot of wired home
internet connections people have these days."
Holslin said it’s likely that while not the super-fast
speeds that were sold to us, we will see an improvement and expansion in 5G by
the end of 2021.
"5G, in general, will take some time to build up, but
it could have some really big effects once it's widely accessible
nationwide," he said. - Lifewire
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