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Real world 4G vs. 5G test shows 14x bandwidth increase

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Re: Real world 4G vs. 5G test shows 14x bandwidth increase

#43

Faster speed is great, but what about bumping the data caps? I was able to hit ~70mb/s over 4G several years ago (in ideal conditions). That's enough to burn through most bandwidth caps in a couple of minutes! Even most "unlimited" plans still throttle you after some point.

The test was on the operator www.elisa.fi

Most of their dataplans are unlimited (without any throttle).

Re: Real world 4G vs. 5G test shows 14x bandwidth increase

#44
post #35

Frankly I'm wondering if 5G will ever take off. One problem with 5G is that it uses higher frequencies, which carry more bandwidth, but don't go through obstacles so well. So you need much more hotspots, which A is creating zoning nightmares and B is an expensive proposition. Really performance is similar to that of wifi. So the question is why not just use wifi? There's a bunch of wifi hardware already installed, we…

Aren't some ISPs and MVNOs already doing this though? Like Republic Wireless, Project Fi, Comcast's mobile service, etc. They eagerly prefer WiFi hotspots and give you access to a network of them with a cellular network in place as a fallback.

Re: Real world 4G vs. 5G test shows 14x bandwidth increase

#45
post #35

Frankly I'm wondering if 5G will ever take off. One problem with 5G is that it uses higher frequencies, which carry more bandwidth, but don't go through obstacles so well. So you need much more hotspots, which A is creating zoning nightmares and B is an expensive proposition. Really performance is similar to that of wifi. So the question is why not just use wifi? There's a bunch of wifi hardware already installed, we…

Because WiFi sucks. If I'm riding a tram and leave WiFi on, the continuous connection and disconnection of networks (I pay for a WiFi service with a bunch of hotspots) makes my internet useless. If it wasn't for iOS's restrictions on some types of data usage I would never turn on WiFi on my phone. > we can assume in the future [...] that wifi will continue to improve WiFi has gotten faster over the years but none of…

Wasn't RADIUS supposed to allow this?

Re: Real world 4G vs. 5G test shows 14x bandwidth increase

#46
post #35

Frankly I'm wondering if 5G will ever take off. One problem with 5G is that it uses higher frequencies, which carry more bandwidth, but don't go through obstacles so well. So you need much more hotspots, which A is creating zoning nightmares and B is an expensive proposition. Really performance is similar to that of wifi. So the question is why not just use wifi? There's a bunch of wifi hardware already installed, we…

Our cable provider has such an initiative. You can opt-in to open your internet connection (separate bandwidth of iirc 2Mbit and separate network) for other customers. You can only use it, when you share as well.

It is sometimes nice if a neighbor has it open and your own modem is not working properly. Also neat, I could use it in two countries so far (Poland & Switzerland)

The initial outcry of users was quite high, as of course nobody wanted to lose bandwidth and have other on "their" network.

Re: Real world 4G vs. 5G test shows 14x bandwidth increase

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because WiFi sucks. If I'm riding a tram and leave WiFi on, the continuous connection and disconnection of networks (I pay for a WiFi service with a bunch of hotspots) makes my internet useless. If it wasn't for iOS's restrictions on some types of data usage I would never turn on WiFi on my phone. > we can assume in the future [...] that wifi will continue to improve WiFi has gotten faster over the years but none of…

Wasn't RADIUS supposed to allow this?

There are lots of standards I'm sure, but one problem with WiFi is the implementations are usually complete crap. With 3G/4G stuff, at least the operators have some minimum QA standards that force the manufacturers to up their game, but for WiFi anything goes.

Re: Real world 4G vs. 5G test shows 14x bandwidth increase

#48
post #3

What standard is this now? Last time I tried to read up on 5G, it was described as a collection of ideas for a new standard rather than one specific technology. IS this still the case (i.e. different companies work on competing technologies) or does 5G by now mean the same for all companies?

No, all these deployments are considered "pre-standard" 5G.

No, the 5G NR standard was finalized in december of 2017.

Re: Real world 4G vs. 5G test shows 14x bandwidth increase

#49
post #19

Has everyone settled on one 5G or will the 5G landscape in the US still be split between GSM 5G and CDMA 5G?

Qualcomm figured out that they make more money by patenting everything they can think of in 4G/5G and collecting that from everyone instead of selling their own hardware to a handful of operators who adopt their closed standard, so CDMA is dead (their "CDMA 4G" was never adopted by anyone, everything worldwide is LTE/"GSM 4G")

Re: Real world 4G vs. 5G test shows 14x bandwidth increase

#50
post #35

Frankly I'm wondering if 5G will ever take off. One problem with 5G is that it uses higher frequencies, which carry more bandwidth, but don't go through obstacles so well. So you need much more hotspots, which A is creating zoning nightmares and B is an expensive proposition. Really performance is similar to that of wifi. So the question is why not just use wifi? There's a bunch of wifi hardware already installed, we…

A big advantage is that 5G is running on licensed spectrum, so not just anybody can send signals in the spectrum, this should give much less interference.

Public WIFI is also really bad from a security perspective.

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