AT&T to Begin Testing 5G, 10-100 Times Faster Than 4G LTE

[rrm74001]

Now you can break through your data plan in 10 minutes. Yay us!

I don't understand comments like this. What are they supposed to do, make it slower? How about we make it 56K so that it will be impossible for you to use your monthly allotted data? Is that better?

Also, faster speed means you will receive the data faster, not necessarily use more of it.

 

[Norbs12]

My LTE connection is already 100x faster than my home broadband, why does it need to go faster?

Honestly with tech like wireless, faster will always be better. This is simply because most speeds are rated in the best possible situation. So while the speeds may seem ridiculous when you have full signal, it's actually a fraction of that number when you have a bad signal.

 

[dandy1117]

Now you can break through your data plan in 10 minutes. Yay us!

With all due respect, what is the logic ion your comment. Having a faster connection does not necessarily mean you will use MORE data. It means the data that you use will be delivered quicker.

For example, let's say you have a 45 mile commute to work and the commute time on a standard train is 1 hour. If they started to roll out faster trains that could get you to work in 30 minutes, you would have still traveled 45 miles!

 

[Newfiebill]

Nonsense! There is no 5G. There isn't even an agreement between the various parties as to what 5G will be.

In fact, we don't have 4G anywhere around the world yet. LTE is not 4G. Several years ago, when 4G fell well behind schedule, carriers and manufacturers lobbied the 4G working committee to allow them to call LTE 4G. After 6 months, the committee agreed. But LTE is actually 3G+. 4G is LTE Advanced, which has been in testing stage for several years, and is something we won't see for another year, at least, in commercial installation.

Estimates for the release of 5G, is mid 2020s, with some in the industry thinking early 2030s.

So,what AT&T and Verizon, who also announced this, are likely talking about is LTE Advanced, in other words, real 4G.

Don't let anyone fool you guys about this. No one even knows what 5G will be. Some groups want it to be equivalent to 10G Ethernet. Some want it to be a mesh technology, and others want it to be LoT. There is No agreement as to what it will be, much less having equipment capable of delivering anything.

Well finally, someone who speaks the truth. the 4G/5G is a marketing ploy to generate sales buzz.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

Steve would have never done 5G. He would have at least 8G.

(yes, folks, that's a joke...)

 

[gsmornot]

If you have DirecTv and AT&T you can get unlimited data right now, I just switched. Good thing too. When this comes around I can guarantee my kids will be using more data and I would not want to be on a metered plan. The one catch though, no hot spot with unlimited data so this will not replace (at the moment) my need for a connection at home. It will only help to make data to my phone faster. Not as helpful as it could be but its progress.

 

[2457282]

What does it mean to virtualize its network?

How do you virtualize Cell Towers?

 

[SlipperySlop]

2020 can't get here fast enough. I've waited my entire life for this. Finally, Safari will be faster.

 

[Bigsk8r]

With that kind of speed by 2020, I can't help but think "what will be the point of cable or fiber?"

I live in a new apt complex with a dedicated fiber to my master bedroom closet. I love that that I can put whatever firewall, security, and encryption I want on the end of that fiber.

Until there is 100MB+ data in the air all over the area where I live... and unlimited data plans to match, this evolution is a moot point. I'll stick with my fiber.

 

[Jsameds]

Why not try to deliver 4G LTE everywhere first?

Because that would slow progress to a halt if we waited for complete coverage of an older technology before moving on to the next.

 

[ChrisCW11]

Cool, now a reason to charge $200/mth to make phone calls.

 

[stevemiller]

We need more data much more urgently than we need faster data.

I've never felt constrained by the milliseconds it takes for something to start streaming, but I'm always having to be wary of my data cap, which is a fairly substantial 6gb itself. Most people have to manage with far less.

 

[MacBH928]

Does this mean that my LTE ISP will be just as fast as a fiber-optic one?

Any way, just an advice. Do not wait for these fast new technologies to come to make your life better. For someone who has been following tech for a long time, enjoy what you have now and use it as much as you can. Don't postpone anything waiting for the future.

 

[MrNomNoms]

What frequency will it be delivered on? Having had a look at a CNet article it appears that they're going to use high frequencies meaning the coverage is either going to be horrible or slow deployment given that it will require more base stations to cover the same amount of area - something that I think many carriers are reluctant to do unless they they can also start offering fixed wireless broadband as to make the investment worthwhile.

 

[yeah]

We need more data much more urgently than we need faster data.

I've never felt constrained by the milliseconds it takes for something to start streaming, but I'm always having to be wary of my data cap, which is a fairly substantial 6gb itself. Most people have to manage with far less.

That larger data cap or unlimited data would be useless without major capacity upgrades to cellular networks. 5G would densify networks to the point where adding several types of cellular sites to the carriers' portfolios would have negligible interference, and deliver amazing speeds/capacity to each user of the site.

Also, technologies today (4x4 MIMO, Carrier Aggregation, sector-splitting, COWs, small cells) increase capacity for LTE networks, even though we are not at 5G yet.

 

[BuffaloTF]

Nonsense! There is no 5G. There isn't even an agreement between the various parties as to what 5G will be.

Right... hence:

Worldwide standards are still lacking for 5G technologies, but the 3GPP group aims to complete the first phase of that process in 2018. The widespread rollout of AT&T's 5G network will likely take until 2020, but the carrier plans to provide wireless connectivity to fixed locations in Austin before the end of this year. The carrier joins Verizon, who will also be field testing 5G solutions this year.

That's what happened with LTE as well... companies like AT&T and Verizon were huge players in the standardization process. This is not for consumer use at this point, it's part of the standardization process only.

In fact, we don't have 4G anywhere around the world yet. LTE is not 4G. Several years ago, when 4G fell well behind schedule, carriers and manufacturers lobbied the 4G working committee to allow them to call LTE 4G. After 6 months, the committee agreed. But LTE is actually 3G+. 4G is LTE Advanced, which has been in testing stage for several years, and is something we won't see for another year, at least, in commercial installation.

LTE is 4G. As is HSPA+. What you're missing here is there never was a 4G definition established, ever, until years AFTER Sprint called WiMax 4G and T-Mobile responded by calling their faster HSPA+ 4G as well. There was no lobbying them to do this. They just did, the term had no definition - Sprint launched WiMax as 4G in 2008, T-Mobile HSPA+ in Nov 2010. So, the first and only actual agreed-upon definition of 4G included radio interfaces that provided a marked improvement over initial 3G deployments, and a different term was coined for the end-state of 4G - a definition not given until December 2010.

That term that you're looking for is "IMT-Advanced"...

 

[yeah]

What frequency will it be delivered on? Having had a look at a CNet article it appears that they're going to use high frequencies meaning the coverage is either going to be horrible or slow deployment given that it will require more base stations to cover the same amount of area - something that I think many carriers are reluctant to do unless they they can also start offering fixed wireless broadband as to make the investment worthwhile.

5G will be heavily focused on more small cells using higher frequencies.

 

[jclardy]

Is this really going to be useful with most server hardware running 1Gbps ethernet ports? I mean it is cool that the endpoint speed is faster and I'm sure the main lines can handle it, but if the server endpoints still have old hardware then it doesn't really gain any advantages. 10Gbps ethernet hardware is still unreasonably expensive for some reason.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Nonsense! There is no 5G. There isn't even an agreement between the various parties as to what 5G will be.

In fact, we don't have 4G anywhere around the world yet. LTE is not 4G. Several years ago, when 4G fell well behind schedule, carriers and manufacturers lobbied the 4G working committee to allow them to call LTE 4G. After 6 months, the committee agreed. But LTE is actually 3G+. 4G is LTE Advanced, which has been in testing stage for several years, and is something we won't see for another year, at least, in commercial installation.

Estimates for the release of 5G, is mid 2020s, with some in the industry thinking early 2030s.

So,what AT&T and Verizon, who also announced this, are likely talking about is LTE Advanced, in other words, real 4G.

Don't let anyone fool you guys about this. No one even knows what 5G will be. Some groups want it to be equivalent to 10G Ethernet. Some want it to be a mesh technology, and others want it to be LoT. There is No agreement as to what it will be, much less having equipment capable of delivering anything.

Stop splitting hairs. Seems you don't even understand how this works. Just because a standard hasn't been reached doesn't mean one can't test new technology based closely on a new standard which hasn't been set.

Standards are generally adopted because someone goes out there and proves their way of doing it works great. They aren't something chosen because the theory sounds good, they're chosen because someone someone PROVES they work well. That's exactly what AT&T is doing here. In a more public way, the war between HD DVD and Bluray let consumers choose the standard.

Apple has released a number of products with technology that wasn't standardized yet, including Bluetooth and wifi. It doesn't have to be a set standard to work. As with Apple rolling out laptops and routers with 802.11n before it was an officially standardized wifi tech, they showed it to work well and it was later standardized. No need to be a set standard when it is first released.

No one cares about the 4G vs LTE vs 5G arguments. The point is that the new technology is far faster than the current one and they're proving the viability of the new tech which will be the future for many devices.

 

[ronnyromero]

My LTE connection is already 100x faster than my home broadband, why does it need to go faster?

Mainly, its not for you. It is for the Service provider to deliver the same fast service to more users. A Single LTE Cell in a Radio Base Station can handle one set amount of TOTAL traffic given a specific technology; with more speed (call it traffic), if you were part of a group of 100 people with high speed, now they can deliver the same high speed to 400 people.

Speed, throughput, traffic, however you want to call it, is just one part of the new technologies being tested, theres also latency and some other Maintenance and Operation benefits for the network so it can be more reliable against interference and to work together with the growing femtocells in their networks.

 

[samcraig]

5G will be heavily focused on more small cells using higher frequencies.

So not a lot of string and tin cups?

 

[Bigsk8r]

How would you blow through your data plan faster? You will still visit the same websites showing the same data, it will just load faster. The only way i see using more data is if i start streaming 4K, which is crazy anyway on a phone.

I don't understand comments like this. What are they supposed to do, make it slower? How about we make it 56K so that it will be impossible for you to use your monthly allotted data? Is that better?

Also, faster speed means you will receive the data faster, not necessarily use more of it.

With all due respect, what is the logic ion your comment. Having a faster connection does not necessarily mean you will use MORE data. It means the data that you use will be delivered quicker.

For example, let's say you have a 45 mile commute to work and the commute time on a standard train is 1 hour. If they started to roll out faster trains that could get you to work in 30 minutes, you would have still traveled 45 miles!

If you believe that websites, apps, and videos will not get more data intensive with these new technologies - hence blowing through your data allocation faster - then it's possible there is a little bit of willful ignorance going on.

And in factual terms, if I have a 2 GB plan and I can download that in less than 10 minutes with new technology, do I really have to use math to defend my statement?

Go get that second cup of coffee and carry on.

 

[yeah]

So not a lot of string and tin cups?

I hope not.

 

[bladerunner2000]

Now you can break through your data plan in 10 minutes. Yay us!

LMAO! SO true. You gotta wonder what kind of incompetent losers work at AT&T when they make decisions like that.

 

[KALLT]

My LTE connection is already 100x faster than my home broadband, why does it need to go faster?

Why should development stop? New applications for faster network speeds are developed constantly so nobody knows what will be possible in the future. Faster transfer rates can also help the network overall, i.e. congestion.