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The latest mobile network standard, 5G Internet, has finally arrived. Over the past two years, US carriers have been massively rolling out 5G networks. So far, they have made this standard available to more than 90% of their country’s population.

If you are among the people who have not upgraded your phone for a long time or you live in a rural area that does not have access to the 5G internet standard, It is interesting to know that the 5G network has covered you for a long time, but you don’t know it yourself. You are definitely excited about 5G technology. You may be wondering how fast this technology can really be; Especially if you are not aware of the hype that this technology has created; there will be more questions in your mind.

Like the 4G/LTE networks that have been in use for the past decade or so, many factors determine whether you’ll get the fastest and best 5G speeds. Among the most important factors are the phone, the telecommunication company, the distance you are from the best towers and the number of subscribers of each tower. These factors are even more pronounced in the 5G era, as new technologies promise increased speeds, and yet 5G runs on a wider range of frequencies.

There is no doubt that 5G offers more benefits than 4G, but like any new technology, it comes with new pitfalls that must be recognized and avoided. Fortunately, we are past the early stages of 5G deployment, and the performance and coverage of all operators is now significantly better than it was two years ago. Here we’ll go over everything you need to know.

5G speed in theory

In theory, 5G has the potential for blazing speeds of 10 Gbps, which many would have thought unimaginable at first. But you have to remember that these are theoretical opinions; Which you will probably never get in the real world.

An important point to keep in mind; That is, the stated speed refers to the maximum bandwidth for all 5G devices connected to a single radio transmitter in a cell tower.

Individual devices don’t have the chips or antennas to achieve these kinds of speeds, even when they’re right next to a tower. Instead, 10 Gbps is designed to be shared across dozens or even hundreds of devices, ensuring that everyone can get the best possible performance. This is the same speed used on a smaller scale with a Wi-Fi 6 router in your home.

While we hate to use the word “never,” it’s unlikely we’ll see a single receiving device at peak 5G speeds; At least until we see the release of the next generation of 6G technology; This will not happen.

However, to give you a better view of the different generations of the Internet , here is a table comparing the theoretical speeds of 5G technology against the different generations of wireless technology:

Again, I repeat that all these numbers are theoretical. No one has ever hit 1 Gbps download speed on 4G LTE-A, and as strange as it sounds, few of us who remember the early days of EDGE data even thought about 300 We scoffed at Mbps on the original 2007 iPhone or the Nokia N95.

As such, the averages given here are approximate. In fact, technologies complicate the results, as each generation evolves and continues to grow even after the next generation begins. Also, operators give false information about their networks. Many people labeled 3G HSPA+ as 4G. It’s interesting to note that a few years ago there was AT&T’s “5G E” stunt that tried to convince customers that 4G LTE-A was an evolution of “5G.”

5G internet download speed in the real world

More complicated than that, there are three different “flavors” of 5G that can dramatically affect your actual download speed, depending on which one you’re connected to.

Unlike previously introduced cellular technologies, 5G is spread over a wider range of frequencies, and the technologies with the fastest speeds are typically available in fewer locations.

These companies are not conspiring to limit internet speed, the laws of physics make it happen. If you’ve ever set up a dual-band or tri-band Wi-Fi router in your home, you’ve probably come across the fact that frequencies lower than 2.4GHz cover more area; But they are much slower than the shorter range. The same is true for cell frequencies on a much larger scale.

While 5G runs on many bands, it can be categorized into three distinct groups. Low-band 5G generally includes all frequencies below 2.3 GHz. This band tries to provide wide access, but it has better speed than 4G/LTE. 5G often runs on the same frequencies as 4G/LTE signals and therefore must access the network with older traffic using the newer 5G technology known as Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS). This means that 4G/LTE devices always have priority in receiving frequencies and even slow down 5G internet users.

High-band mmWave, on the other hand, operates at very high frequency (EHF), starting at around 24 GHz, offering blazing speeds but coverage no greater than a city block.

Recently, operators have found a niche with mid-range 5G, starting at around 2.5 GHz and covering C-band frequencies of 3.7 to 3.98 GHz.

Here’s a note about these general frequencies and speeds. As we mentioned before, no one’s smartphone works in a vacuum. Instead, you share frequencies with your audience using a cell phone, using the tower you are connected to. Each available tower has a bandwidth that must be shared between any device that wants some of it. That’s why areas like stadiums and airports typically have the fastest wavelengths, where there are easily 70,000 people competing for 5G internet service.

How does this happen in the real world? Well, low-band 5G’s vast reach means that “nationwide” networks on all three carriers will rely on these frequencies to reach as many as possible. While T-Mobile was the first company to roll out a nationwide 5G network in all 50 states, it relied on its 600 MHz spectrum, the lowest and slowest cellular frequency range. AT&T parked most of the 5G Internet into its low-band 850 MHz and 1900 MHz (1.9 GHz) ranges, keeping it on its 4G/LTE towers using DSS. Verizon last rolled out nationwide in late 2022, deploying its low-band 5G network largely in the same way that AT&T did.

The results of the initial release of this technology were 5G internet speeds that rarely performed better than 4G/LTE, and in some cases we even witnessed its performance being worse.

In fact, in late 2020, Verizon’s DSS was so bad that PCMag’s Sascha Segan called it a “very slow system” and told Verizon iPhone users to disable 5G entirely.

Fortunately since then. A lot has changed by early 2021. T-Mobile has already started rolling out its 5G Ultra Capacity network and a 2.5GHz mid-band 5G service, using spectrum it acquired from its merger with Sprint. A year later, Verizon jumped in with its new 3.7-3.98GHz C-band spectrum, expanding its 5G Ultra Wideband network beyond the very rare mmWave towers deployed in urban centers. AT&T also began rolling out its C-band spectrum block around the same time, though it has done so much more conservatively.

Today, you’ll generally find that most urban areas have mid-band 5G coverage on at least Verizon and T-Mobile.

In March, Verizon revealed that its 5G Ultra Wideband network now covers more than 200 million people, while T-Mobile’s 5G Ultra capacity covered 275 million people as of July and plans to reach 300 by the end of 2023. reach a million people Unfortunately, AT&T still lags behind the competition and its 5G+ network is only available in “limited areas” of about 50 cities.

These differences in coverage are reflected in the latest Ookla and Opensignal market reports. These markets measure average and median 5G download speeds and other performance metrics across the United States. The reports come out quarterly, and while T-Mobile continues to lead the way thanks to its big start in mid-range 5G deployments, Verizon is slowly closing in. AT&T’s poorer coverage makes it less popular, and DSS 5G lowers its scores due to its lower bandwidth.

The latest numbers show T-Mobile leading the way with an average/overall average of around 200 Mbps, while Verizon is around 100 Mbps and AT&T is at 80 Mbps.

Of course, average and average download speeds don’t tell the whole story. They mainly reflect the number of people who get the best speed on each operator’s network.

Under ideal conditions, Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband (5G UW) service can deliver the same maximum capacity speeds as T-Mobile’s 5G Ultra Wideband (5G UC). For that reason alone, T-Mobile customers are twice as likely to find 5G UC coverage as Verizon customers, and are more likely to switch to slower low-band 5G internet.

However, a lot of this depends on where you live, work and other things. Many Verizon and even AT&T customers are very happy with their 5G performance because they are lucky enough; to never stray from the 5G UW or 5G+ networks of their operators.

Finally, the speeds highlighted in these reports should not be considered the maximum speed you will receive on any carrier’s network.

Many T-Mobile and Verizon customers have experienced peak 5G speeds of over 1Gbps. This is especially true for mmWave coverage, but 1Gbps at C-band frequencies is not out of reach. Additionally, T-Mobile is toying with 5G carrier aggregation (5G CA) technology, which could allow customers to reach mmWave speeds such as 3Gbps by combining midband frequencies with longer range.

5G latency and speed

As impressive as the recorded download speeds are, most smartphone users don’t really need huge amounts of data that would necessitate the use of high-speed internet. Consider that even a 4K UHD video stream usually only needs about 25 to 40 Mbps. Where 5G will impact mobile devices the most is not download speeds; Rather, it is a delay in connection.

Latency refers to the amount of time it takes to communicate over a digital communication network, and this metric is more important than the way we typically use our smartphones.

For example, surfing the web, chatting through instant messaging apps, and playing games are all tens or even hundreds of individual connections where only tiny bits are exchanged.

Download speed won’t help here if each connection takes a long time to establish, just like having the world’s fastest jet plane to deliver a package, which the crew takes a long time to load. Internet speed will not be useful for you. And it is necessary to remove it from the band.

Else Barrett, director of marketing and communications at NetComm, told Digital Trends in an interview: “The arrival of 5G will undoubtedly bring higher speeds to end users, but these speeds will vary depending on how the operators’ networks are designed and the number of users on the network.” Was. Although 5G can offer higher speeds, the main difference that end users will notice is the very low latency of 5G compared to 3G or 4G. This event creates new issues in the Internet of Things space.

According to a white paper from the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, which helped create the standards, 5G networks should offer 10 milliseconds of latency overall and 1 millisecond for specific cases that require lower latency. The report also suggests that “data speeds up to 1 Gbps should be supported in some specific environments, such as indoor offices, while at least 50 Mbps should be available everywhere.”

The good news is that the reduction in latency is not dependent on 5G download speeds. In fact, by offering slower speeds, Verizon often wins Opensignal’s reports when it comes to 5G gaming experiences. Ookla’s reports also show that Verizon and T-Mobile are at odds when it comes to average multi-server latency, which measures how long it takes to ping different servers across the Internet.

What is the speed of 5G in 2023?

Although 5G phones and 5G technology services are already available in many contexts, this super-fast replacement with 4G, which many people have longed for, will not happen, and it is likely that people will completely switch to 5G. These changes do not adapt, or at least for those who consider its download speed to be a success.

Even today there are pockets where you can get amazing multi-gigabit download speeds, but those are still the exception. Although high-speed internet will likely become more common in the future, you’ll see it offset by slower 5G in crowded places. You will see slight speed improvements in high-bandwidth and low-band 5G areas. Although transmitting towers are needed everywhere to deliver ultra-fast 5G performance; Carriers don’t want to simply build millions of towers across the US. Some recent market reports indicate that the average speed of 5G has risen to 200 Mbps.

What’s important, however, is not the raw speed, but the other improvements that 5G brings, including low latency that makes our smartphones more responsive and enables technologies like self-driving cars to exchange data almost instantaneously. Additionally, as 4G/LTE slowly fades into the sunset, low-band 5G frequencies will no longer have to contend with sharing the digital highway, resulting in better speeds for those living in or in less densely populated areas covered by the band. 5G is low.