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T-Mobile Won't Make Serious Push Into 5G Until Second Half of 2019

What a shock. 5G is going to be spotty and ill-supported for at least another year.

JUST like 4G when it first came out and my phone had 4G ability, but NEVER worked well.
 
Considering the power requirements, the extra battery needed, the heatsinks?, the high price tag, and the ensured years before it's usable nationwide... I could care less about 5G. LTE is good enough for me for now.
 
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The only time all this low-latency, faster-network stuff if of any actual interest is if you tether your phone to your computer and work via RDP/Citrix.
A low-latency connection massively improves the user-experience for this kind of application.

For everything else, it's completely pointless IMO.

I'm not going to buy a new iPhone for some time (multiple years, having just bought the Xr) - but even then, I'd rather buy one without a 5G chipset.

Apple didn't have 3G when they released the original iPhone, they didn't have LTE when other phones started to have it.
They'll do fine without 5G. And so will every consumer.
 
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I still come across Edge and oversaturated dog slow LTE on T-Mo all the time.

John - How about we get the existing footprint up to modern speed and infrastructure before worrying about the next buzzword?
 
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mithion said:
I'm one of those that believes 5G will be overrated, at least in 2019-2020. I'd rather see more 4G LTE coverage. With 5G rolling out, I bet coverage will be spotty and it'll take years before 5G coverage is as good as 4G LTE. Besides the question begs to be asked: What are people doing on their phones that necessitates hundreds of megabits of bandwidth?
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I was saying the exact same thing about 3G up until around 2012. At its peak, 3G supported 5Mbps real-world data rates, which is plenty for 95% of tasks today even. That's enough to stream 1080p Netflix, for example. But as LTE took off, more and more spectrum was converted from 3G to LTE and 3G speeds and reliability suffered. Today, 3G is dog slow because it has the bare minimum spectrum available in any area.

The same will happen to LTE. When 5G takes off, LTE will get worse, and you'll be essentially forced to upgrade.
 
turbineseaplane said:
RemindMe! 3 years
Click to expand...

Reddit much?

I know 3 years sound like a long way away, but my current iPhone is that old and still going strong. If I buy a new phone this year or next year, it's likely either I or someone in my family will still be using it in 4 years. It would really suck to get a 2020 LTE iPhone, and have LTE speeds begin to slow down and spectrum begin to diminish in 2022.
 
oneMadRssn said:
Reddit much?

I know 3 years sound like a long way away, but my current iPhone is that old and still going strong. If I buy a new phone this year or next year, it's likely either I or someone in my family will still be using it in 4 years. It would really suck to get a 2020 LTE iPhone, and have LTE speeds begin to slow down and spectrum begin to diminish in 2022.
Click to expand...

You got the joke - yep! (reddit joke)

I'd be pretty hesitant about buying a phone now counting on proper support for a not fully deployed technology.
There are numerous examples over the years of getting burned doing that, but hey - to each their own.

I buy tech when it's out and ready to use and I can see what I'm getting (or not).
 
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That’s wonderful for the 0.2% of people it’ll affect, no one else cares as the majority would just like a decent mobile signal to begin with... but alas world governments don’t really care about that, and instead drool at the mouth at the idea of all this fancy new tech, that’ll be wasted for the first few years..
 
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All companies will still slow down my service so 4G LTE, 5g, 6g whatever doesn't matter to me at the moment
 
nutmac said:
While 5G may not be as groundbreaking as 4G, I think you are underestimating its values. 5G is much more efficient at using the spectrum, allowing greater capacity. That in turn is good for customers -- less data congestion, quicker connection (lower latency), and once 5G chipsets are mature enough (most of us shouldn't rush into getting a 5G phone), longer battery life.
Click to expand...


Apple won't drop a 5G iPhone until 5G is mature so no worries there. 5G doesn't excite me at all.
 
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oneMadRssn said:
The same will happen to LTE. When 5G takes off, LTE will get worse, and you'll be essentially forced to upgrade.
Click to expand...

I don’t think so, 5G is so much different than LTE, and do the technological differences, LTE will remain in use and depended on for a very, very long time.
 
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oneMadRssn said:
I was saying the exact same thing about 3G up until around 2012. At its peak, 3G supported 5Mbps real-world data rates, which is plenty for 95% of tasks today even. That's enough to stream 1080p Netflix, for example. But as LTE took off, more and more spectrum was converted from 3G to LTE and 3G speeds and reliability suffered. Today, 3G is dog slow because it has the bare minimum spectrum available in any area.

The same will happen to LTE. When 5G takes off, LTE will get worse, and you'll be essentially forced to upgrade.
Click to expand...
I'm sure you're right about that. In my case, I have a 100mbit internet connection at home that I struggle to utilize. Granted I don't have a 4K TV so I still only streaming regular HD shows and movies. But even still, I'll be playing some online games in one room and my wife will be watching Netflix in another and we'll be using < 10mbits of bandwidth combined. If you don't torrent 4K movies and triple-A video game titles all day long, I feel like the speed boost for 5G will be wasted investment. Now if they truly improved efficiency in an attempt to reduce congestion, that would be very neat. 4G speed is fantastic when in a low density area, but the minute you're at football game with 50k people, it tanks hard. I hope 5G addresses that.
 
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mithion said:
I'm one of those that believes 5G will be overrated, at least in 2019-2020. I'd rather see more 4G LTE coverage. With 5G rolling out, I bet coverage will be spotty and it'll take years before 5G coverage is as good as 4G LTE. Besides the question begs to be asked: What are people doing on their phones that necessitates hundreds of megabits of bandwidth?
Click to expand...

Exactly this, having a fast connection for a PC is preferable and needed for lots of people doing their jobs for instance, 5G for a phone...meh, 4G is plenty fast enough now especially here in Wooden shoe country
 
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mithion said:
What are people doing on their phones that necessitates hundreds of megabits of bandwidth?
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Very little of critical importance I’d wager.

The phone companies just want a new technology buzzword to sell against and carriers just want another way to use data quicker so they can cap it and charge for it.
 
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JPack said:
There are plenty of 5G devices available, they're being shown all over MWC 2019. They're just available outside of the U.S.
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Not surprising. I remember reading about Bluetooth being used a lot on Japan, several years before anyone in the US knew what it was.
 
PREDICTION:
Tim Cook will say, "Apple has 5G now, but there are no FM radio or ATSC 3.0 TV chips in iPhones so no FM or Digital TV possible."
Even though they are essentially the same frequencies! He thinks everyone is a moron.
 
T-Mobile should have already made the push to have the 5G network up and running before the companies start rolling out the 5G smartphones. If the 5G network is limited, why would anyone get serious about buying a 5G smartphone this year? Even with the current 4G, coverage is not consistent and the speed varies from location to location.
 
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