Testing 5G: What 5G Speeds Will Be Like When the 2020 iPhones Launch

[trillionaire]

I believe the Millimeter wave technology(part of what they call 5G) is going to hurt smaller towns/communities. The carriers are already resistant to putting up(or upgrading) Cell towers in lower density/populated areas due to the cost/return on investment. Now we are talking about having to put transmitters on every 3rd or 4th light/power pole to get proper coverage. Sure that makes sense in highly populated areas but in smaller towns they are going to have to invest a LOT of money with little to no return on that investment.

I'm sure you're right, but that's always been the case. Getting high speed internet to smaller communities was always a cost/return estimation. When you have money for such projects coming in from a collective, such as the EU, then it's easier to roll them out because the collective bears the cost. That's why there are plenty of rural areas in Europe with access to high speed internet and a lot of countries made it a priority to deliver high speed internet to as many areas as possible.

 

[GGJstudios]

So MR got a free vacation to Chicago to hold an Android phone in the air and read off a number we already know claiming this is what a 2020 iPhone will be like, without a detailed look into the challenges? Someone at Verizon marketing deserves a promotion....

The challenges are well known, and since 5G is in its infancy, no one is able to conduct thorough testing of real-world experience until it's fully implemented. You're complaining that MR didn't answer questions that can't be answered by anyone yet.

 

[Analog Kid]

The challenges are well known, and since 5G is in its infancy, no one is able to conduct thorough testing of real-world experience until it's fully implemented. You're complaining that MR didn't answer questions that can't be answered by anyone yet.

MR pointed a camera at the tower. They can't walk further and further away from it and see how their data rate falls off? They can't place their body between the phone and the tower to see if it affects performance? They can't measure data rate both outside and inside a local coffee shop? They can't measure data rate with line of sight to that tower and then walk around a corner and try it again?

I don't usually waste time watching lengthy videos when I can scan a text article much faster, but I couldn't believe they wouldn't have tried at least some of this stuff, and it turns out that not only did they not stress the system, they did some tests by placing the phone in a cradle...

The challenges may be well known, but they aren't well understood and they're largely ignored behind "Oh my god FAST" articles. I'm curious to know if the challenges are, in fact, problems. To say that we can't know anything until the system is fully deployed is a cop out-- everyone seems comfortable answering questions of line of sight data rate without it being fully deployed and only lightly subscribed, why can we know that but nothing else?