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iPhone 15: mmWave 5G Remains Limited to U.S. Models
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I’ll still be pining for an iPhone with a physical SIM card tray, a “feature” that I very much need despite Apple’s best efforts to ensure I don’t get one.
AH a COLT I was thinking Cell on Wheels LOLVerizon has COLTs with mmWave support. However, from what I've heard from a Verizon engineer, the challenge is getting temporary 10 Gbps backhaul to a COLT.
mmWave in permanent installations, like stadiums, arenas, college campuses, and fairgrounds, with 10k+ admittance is the future of delivering reliable, working cellular service to these types of environments. Traditional sub-6 bands on DASes can only do so much. Controlling SNR in those environments -- especially open air stadiums -- becomes a challenge that can't be overcome on sub-6 bands. You can't beat physics, so best to embrace our new mmWave future.
But its interesting to know they are actively deploying mmWave in that configuration. It's perfect for large venues like you describe.
Availability of mmWave signals being still extremely limited may be the reason. But would have been good if the international models had mmWave support
mmWave 5G in Cheyenne, Wyoming finally. I noticed My 14 Pro Max had 5G UW in the upper right had corner. I didn't know what that was at first so I did a speed test. Holycow I had 323 mbps down and 125 mbps up. My regular 5G is mostly about 70mbps down, and about 15 up.
I get up to 1200 down and 180 up with regular 5G in Germany.
There is a reason most of the world isn't using mmWave.
It has very little upside in terms of speed, but requires separate antenna systems in both phones and base stations and significantly increases power consumption.
Yes, you can theoretically get 2000+ in a very narrow radius with direct line of sight, but this isn't a common situation. Also it will probably take a decade to see practical applications for those speeds in mobile devices and by that point those speeds will be easily achievable without mmWave.
It’s actually because most other countries’ regulatory authorities were slower to release/assign mmWave licenses than the FCC.
mmWave affords the opportunity for high capacity in crowded environments, and due to its propagation characteristics is far more effective at maintaining a higher SNR than any FR1 bands in dense venues.
It’s not very suitable for use on macro sites, but plenty of small cells and in-building/in-venue DAS systems benefit significantly from mmWave.
Those are mostly made up scenarios, though.
Even the Chinese, who can rewrite regulations on a whim, love expensive infrastructure projects and typically take every opportunity to present themselves as technological leaders, which in the case of 5G they actually are, didn't jump on mmWave.
Their tier 1 cities would be ideal for it. Extreme population density, very low regulatory hurdles, lots of households without a stationary plan, because most people in China just use phones as their only device...
Yet the Chinese didn't go for it.
Finally did a full run on nPerf. I know people in LA that have 1 Ggbps connections but in Cheyenne, 332 mbps is smoking.
The existence of stadiums and arenas that hold tens of thousands of people is a made up scenario? 😂
This page lists 551 stadiums that have a permanent capacity of 40,000 or more. I'm sure counting 30,000+ would add at least another couple hundred to this list and the number of 20k+ capacity venues stretches into the thousands.
There's a ~70k capacity stadium near me that is outfitted with Verizon mmWave, another ~30k venue that has Verizon mmWave, and a 20k indoor arena with AT&T and Verizon mmWave.
Believe it or not, these are real places that hold thousands of people and benefit from mmWave. I'm not saying that there isn't a place for mid-band in carriers' spectrum portfolios -- there definitely is.
I thought it was safe to say that we've all been to a concert or sports event where our phones didn't work. Getting 1-4 Gbps of high SNR capacity into the air in small spaces is necessary in thousands of venues, and no lower spectrum band is going to do that as well as mmWave.