Wireless networks are developing by the year. The newest, in-line, technology that is about to hit the global market is 5G technology. Wireless technologies have comes a long way. Ever since the first analog cell phone, we have been looking at ways to redefine networks and send and receive information much faster.
With 5G being a controversial subject, we decided to tell you exactly what it is. Not only that, but we will talk about what makes it so special. So with all that said, let’s start.
5G In A Nutshell
The fifth generation of wireless technology allows users the transfer of data in the fastest way possible. In a nutshell, this means users will be able to download much faster, have much lower input lag, and that ultimately allows us to do the things we all love much easier.
5G is a subject that is debated in both life and politics. There are a lot of factors that play a key role in utilizing 5G, but there are also those that are strongly against the technology.
The main reason why people are against 5G is down to an internet meme. Namely, a meme stating that 5G harms birds quickly spread on Facebook a few years back. This is one of the reasons why people are against 5G, but plenty of other reasons exist.
We won’t get into that as it is clear and obvious that 5G will benefit us by allowing us to connect with smart communities, implement IoT across industries, and provide an immersive experience for all users.
But what makes 5G so special? Let’s look at that.
What Makes 5G So Special?
1. Faster Data Speeds
The biggest factor we have to consider is data speed. This is probably the most important to take into account. Our data needs constantly grow. Nowadays, peak data rates hit 10 Mbps for downloading and half of that for uploading.
What you should take into account that these data speeds only account for mobile and similar devices. But considering that people are using their smartphones more and more, the need for much faster data speeds is needed.
This is what 5G is all about. It will allow users to download and upload data at a much faster rate than 4G networks allow. More so, 5G stations will prevent the loss of data rate and maintain a stable connection throughout the grid.
2. Lower Latency
Latency is a factor that most people overlook or are either oblivious that it exists. In Layman’s terms, latency refers to the time that it takes for data to travel from one point to another. In practice, it should be lower than 4 milliseconds. But in actual truth, it is much more and varies based on numerous factors.
With 5G, latency will become a problem of the past. With official latency quotes of 1 millisecond, it will allow devices to properly function. More so, we are developing technologies that strictly depend on low latency.
Take self-driving cars for example. These cars depend on a strong internet connection to prevent latency issues. Considering that they strictly rely on data, the faster we can transfer data the easier it to prevent collisions and mistakes.
Latency and data speeds are only two of the many factors that should be taken into account when determining the effectiveness of 5G. They are probably the most special factors, but many more exist. If you’re interested in learning more about 5G solutions, make sure to visit ZTE 5G.
3. Greater Mobility
What does mobility mean in network terms? Mobility simply refers to the speed at which data is transferred from base stations to devices. 4G had revolutionized network mobility, but it’s not perfect. With 5G, you can expect even greater mobility from base stations to mobile and similar devices.
The official claims state the 5G will have the mobility of up to 310 mph. This means we can implement 5G on high-speed trains and not expect the network to bottleneck.
4. Connection Density
The reason why we are looking to actively replace 4G LTE is that the network has a hard time supporting multiple devices. Connection density is something that network specialists underestimated when developing 4G LTE.
On standard 4G networks, the network shows signs of bottlenecking whenever more than 10 devices are on. While this greatly depends on the capacity of the network, it’s safe to say that 5G will have a much larger connection density than 4G.
At the current time of writing, 5G is expected to support up to 1 million connected devices! What’s even more interesting is that it allows this within 1 square kilometer! That means we can supply entire football stadiums and venues with internet connection and implement the full power of IoT.
5. Greater Efficiency
Ultimately, 5G will be much more effective than previous networks. It will eliminate tons of issues such as radio interferences. More so, it will allow radios to switch to a low-energy state within a 10th of a second.
This will allow radios and similar devices to downgrade based on hardware capacity.
What Will Be the Actual Speed of 5G?
While we did mention that 5G will be much faster, many ask how fast exactly. This one is hard to predict as numerous factors play a huge role. But what we can safely assume is that 5G speeds will vary widely. Eventually, once we come up with Sub-6 networks, we can expect to maintain speeds of at least 50 Mbps for download and upload.
If we work on perfecting the network, the possibility of 400 Mbps data speeds isn’t a far stretch.
5G is a definite upgrade on 4G. While you might not notice the differences, it makes all the difference across many industries that depend on fast connections and low latency. These 5 reasons are what make 5G so special. We hope that we’ve educated you on the matter and we hope that we’ve put bad thoughts to bed.
Lastly, 5G will revolutionize network technologies the same way 4G did back in the day.
