While 20mbps vs 100mbps is nice to have the luxury of comparing on mobile, my bigger question is how many gb you can consume as a user before getting throttled.
Canada has speedy mobile networks... and $5-$10/gb pricing. No wonder why it’s fast.
I’m looking at 5G developments with bewildered amusement :popcorn: (especially the beyond ridiculous marketing side) and honestly couldn’t care less right now.
^ mentioning iPhone 7 because I had a 8 that stupidly went MIA, and the 7’s connection definitely is “lousier” that the 8 was, which was able to maintain a solid connection (obviously not at the speeds above, but continuously usable) on a 350kph TGV.
Your $100/month Canadian plan doesn’t.
As I understand it, the "true" original definition of 5G was millimeter wave technology. From the PCMag article this is based on:
> Millimeter-wave uses very weak, short-range panels that are easily blocked by obstacles. In our tests, millimeter-wave doesn't generally penetrate buildings, and even has trouble with glass; we had our drivers keep their windows down, with the phones facing out, so the network even had a chance.
That is, this kind of 5G is essentially useless now, and will be for a long time until buildings/cars/subways etc. are built with repeaters that would make indoor coverage possible.
However, I definitely don't understand all the various versions of "5G" so it's difficult for me to understand which tech is used by which phones and carriers.
Sub-6 is about beam-forming — instead of sending your signal in all directions, it sends only in the direction of your device (and visa-versa which is why antenna design is a larger cost on mobile than before). Now the base station can use the same bandwidth for another device located in a different direction. Over time this will get better and have compounding effects.
And that’s just one item in the basket. mmWave is another. There are several.
Another bucket is coding schemes: LTE uses Turbo and Convolutional Coding, whereas 5G adds Polar and LDPC codes to the mix which bring us closer to the Shannon Limit (theoretical maximum data capacity given a certain SNR).
5G marketing is concentrating on new high-band, because first 5G installations are deployed into new high-band.
5G spectrum covers also low-band and-mid band spectrum from 1G through 4G LTE frequencies.
5G installations in the countryside will have low-band that is more efficient than 4G/LTE. You can have _less_ base stations than LTE, not more in the low-band. 5G NR is more efficient radio interface in all bandwidths.
It also is available on new frequencies. Lots of bandwidth on those frequencies, but a lot less signal propagation too. Helpful for sports stadiums, transit terminals, and other crowded situations, not so helpful for most situations.
Carrier aggregation sounds like it could be useful too.