Why does 5g (cell service) seem literally no better than 4g

[Blmpkn]

My new place has 5g service.. somehow.. I'm way further out in the boonies than the last place which only got 4g on the best of days..

Anyways..

Doesn't seem like it makes f-all of a difference while browsing on my phone. Honestly seems slower when my phones saying I'm on 5g rather than when it's just saying LTE..

Wasn't 5g being touted as being the next best thing since sliced ham? Lies!

 

[Roert42]

I figure it has something to do with the load on the system. The service never really gets faster because the downloads get bigger. Graphics get better, resolution higher, ect.

same reason your 10 year old phone/ PC is slow as hell today even though it was greased lightening when new.


That, and the data speeds on your phone / internet is all made up bs. Everything is max speed not guaranteed speed.

 

[Brain75]

5G where I am at is about 20x faster... I can run speedtest later and upload em (after I make dinner)... it is night and day.

 

[superj]

maybe its your phone?

 

[rusty ol ranger]

They got 5g now?

Since maine is basically canada maybe they got maple syrup in the wires?

 

[ekrampitzjr]

5G requires more towers than does 4G because of generally lower signal strength. If you don't have the number of needed towers in your area, that could explain the performance issue.

 

[Blmpkn]

5G where I am at is about 20x faster... I can run speedtest later and upload em (after I make dinner)... it is night and day.

Man.. I checked my download speed while on 5g a few weeks back and it was still in the kbs

maybe its your phone?

Mabey? Its a brand new Google pixel XL or something like that... the biggest newest one lol

They got 5g now?

Since maine is basically canada maybe they got maple syrup in the wires?

That's gotta be it lol. The syrup don't flow too good this time of year with the cold and all..

 

[Shran]

About a year ago I was at Verizon for something and they told me that 5G capable phones will say they're connected to 5G even if they are only connected to 4G LTE. At that time we didn't have 5G service anywhere in town, at least on Verizon anyway, and my iPhone has always had the little 5G icon lit up. So I'm assuming what he said was true.

BTW 5G operates on higher frequencies than 4G LTE so it can be much faster but its range is much shorter so you have to be closer to the tower to capitalize on the faster speed.

 

[sgtsandman]

I haven't noticed any difference between 4G LTE and 5G here. Speed has been about the same with both. I wouldn't say it's fantastic but it isn't horrible either.

 

[Brain75]

Shran beat me to the punch with the higher frequency and shorter range comment... I looked it up when it first came out and it is kinda like wifi you got to be ridiculously super close. Three differenet modes/frequency bands and one of em is like 24 GHz to 100 GHz... insane fast but 1 tree in the line of sight or building and you are screwed - basically if you can't see the antenna with your eyes your phone wont work for beans. I have the privilege of being in a tiny hamlet of less than 500 and everyone here has Viaero (a tiny rural provider) since no other provider out here has service for crap, not even Verizon... well I still have T-mobile after moving from TX and they are the ones who put a 5G tower in on the south side of town.... So I basically have a tower all to myself.

 

[4.0blue98]

Inflation. 1g just ain't what it used to be.

 

[Bill]

5G includes a lot of different things other than speed. It allows greater range when using the lower bands (around 700 MHz), but those bands aren't capable of providing the speeds of 2.5 GHz. The speeds you get also have a lot to do with your phone's capabilities, what bands are available where you are, how far you are from the cell sites, and if the cell carrier is intentionally throttling a particular cell site. Where I work I can get better than 2.5Gbps if I'm standing in front of the window facing the cellular arrays on the building across the street. That speed drops down to 1Gbps on the opposite side of the building. At home, where there are a bunch of crappy apartments with the type of people the cell carriers hate (this is no joke), the speed is throttled at 200Mbps because the carriers really aren't interested in upgrading capacity.

 

[Blmpkn]

I just hate technology I guess lol.

Can't wait to get some real Internet hooked up in the new place.. hopefully not much longer than another month or so. Just can't afford it at the moment.. works been absolute crap all winter, barely scraping by. COVID construction boom is definitely over

 

[Bill]

I just hate technology I guess lol.

I don't understand hatred of technology or why so many people just can't seem to grasp the most simple things like how to sort a spreadsheed in ascending or descending order, or even figure out how to do something as simple as restart a computer.

 

[Roert42]

I don't understand hatred of technology or why so many people just can't seem to grasp the most simple things like how to sort a spreadsheed in ascending or descending order, or even figure out how to do something as simple as restart a computer.

I’m tired of learning new things damn’it!

why can’t everything just stay the same!!