Am I dumb? I didn't know phone "nodes" were hung on lightposts. I've only ever heard of cell phone towers.
I honestly still don't know why is it so necessary 5G, when 4G+ is already giving us 300Mbps speeds...
Maybe on highly populated areas it will manage better lots of connections... That's the only benefit I can see. I'm happy with my 4G connection anyway.
What do people need all that speed for?
Unintentionally click a link with a video. Boom. Monthly data allotment gone.
Apple isn't planning to launch a 5G iPhone until 2020, but carriers in the United States and other smartphone manufacturers like Samsung are already testing 5G, which offers download speeds that are much faster than 4G.
Verizon invited MacRumors to Chicago to test its 5G network, giving us an idea of what 5G speeds will be like when we can use 5G networks on our iPhones in 2020.
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Because there aren't iPhones compatible with 5G networks, we tested 5G speeds in Chicago with an LG V50 and a Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, two smartphones that are Android-based.
Verizon has 5G in a few cities right now, in a limited number of locations, which is why we needed to visit Chicago to test it out. Verizon and other carriers are working on the 5G rollout, but it's a slow process that's still going to be ongoing even when 5G iPhones launch.
There are several 5G nodes scattered across Chicago right now, in the downtown area and in popular tourist areas near Willis Tower and the famous Bean.
In our testing with a 5G Android phone, we were able to hit download speeds of close to 2Gb/s, which is incredible compared to 4G LTE speeds. Near 2Gb/s was the fastest speed we saw, but since 5G is still new and still rolling out, there were inconsistencies.
Sometimes, a speed test on 5G could be under 100Mb/s, and then a retest right after would reach close to 1Gb/s. That's not unexpected because Verizon is using mmWave 5G that's super speedy, but can be impacted by nearby buildings, trees, windows, and sometimes, even heat from direct sunlight.
Verizon and other carriers have a lot of work to do on their 5G rollouts before 5G transfer speeds are ubiquitous, and even then, the highest speeds will be limited to urban areas due to the limitations of mmWave spectrum.
5G speeds in real world usage are impressive and are going to make the next-generation iPhones amazing. Streaming music and movies worked flawlessly, and we were even able to download an episode of Stranger Things (200 to 300MB) from Netflix in just a few seconds. PUBG, a 2Gb mobile game, downloaded nearly instantaneously on a 5G connection.
So when the 5G iPhones launch in 2020 and you're able to connect to a 5G network, you can expect flawless streaming, super fast download speeds for movies and games, instantly loading web pages, and more.
Verizon is still working on upload speeds, which are basically still relying on 4G and not taking advantage of 5G, but eventually, uploading content will be just as speedy.
Android manufacturers are rolling out 5G smartphones this year to be first, but iPhone users aren't likely missing much having to wait until 2020 just because 5G networks are still so limited and connectivity is still spotty as carriers like Verizon work to build out the connectivity.
Right now, Verizon is rolling out 5G to 30 cities, and it's available in Denver, Minneapolis, Providence, St. Paul, and Chicago, where we tested. It's not really clear what 5G pricing will be at when it's more widely available from all of the major carriers, but Verizon is so far saying it will be a $10 add-on to unlimited plans that currently start at $85 for a single line, although Verizon is waiving that fee during the early stages of the rollout.
For more on the 5G iPhone, the benefits of 5G, and how 5G will work, make sure to check out our 5G iPhone guide.
Article Link: Testing 5G: What 5G Speeds Will Be Like When the 2020 iPhones Launch
From the article:
Not really worried about safety issues... yet. Afaik, there's no medical consensus that there are negative effects.
But I need to be able to stream 8K video to my phone!As long as the network is fast enough to stream video to a phone, who really cares how much faster it is????
Do people realize that 5G will require more towers, closer together? Everyone seems to gloss over the health & safety affects.
I honestly still don't know why is it so necessary 5G, when 4G+ is already giving us 300Mbps speeds...
Maybe on highly populated areas it will manage better lots of connections... That's the only benefit I can see. I'm happy with my 4G connection anyway.
That said, we also don't really have a choice. 3G used to be pretty fast too. I thought HSPA and HSPA+ were plenty for almost all uses - and indeed they were as I regularly got 3Mbps or more. But then LTE came out, and carriers started moving their available bandwidth from 3G to 4G. Today there are few dedicated channels in any given area dedicated to 3G still, so 3G speeds have become quite slow. The same will happen to 4G as the switch to 5G happens. You'll have to get a 5G phone just to keep up with the status quo.
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Too much sun is harmful too... Just sayin
The folks defending 5G and claiming are no detrimental health effects simply do not know whether that is true or not. The fact of the matter is, we DON'T know what happens to the human body after long term exposure to 5G signals. Just as easily as you can say, "There aren't any long term studies proving that it's bad for you," I can rebuke with, "There aren't any long term studies proving that it's safe for you."
We need to be testing this stuff extensively before we broadcast it out over 62.7% of the population (that's just US residents living in cities; number expected to grow). But we don't. It isn't difficult to see what's wrong with that picture. This isn't tinfoil hat stuff. It's just common sense.
2Gb/s is disgusting. Cat5e doesn’t even pump beyond gigabit.
That's not quite true. 2.5GBASE-T works over CAT5e.
Actually, Cat5e is perfectly fine for 5GbE over short distance.
I don't think you understand how streaming video works. No matter how fast your throughput is, it will not download the entire video much faster than realtime playback of that video due to fixed buffering.
A few months ago, I ran across this video from a 5G installer. It certainly is cause for concern.
Personally, I'd rather see great strides made in battery life, rather than speed.
Am I dumb? I didn't know phone "nodes" were hung on lightposts. I've only ever heard of cell phone towers.