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Ask HN: Is it just me or is 5G strictly worse than LTE?

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Ask HN: Is it just me or is 5G strictly worse than LTE?

#1

Post by apitman »

I feel like signal is lower in general, and I run into a lot more cases where connections seem to hang entirely. In theory 5G should offer a lot more bandwidth, but I don't remember ever being bandwidth-limited on LTE. 20Mbps is plenty on my phone. Same for latency. I'm not playing FPS games on my phone.

5G seems worse, but I used to work on a physical layer wireless technology and it might be placebo knowing that the higher frequencies used for 5G don't go as far or penetrate as effectively.

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or is 5G strictly worse than LTE?

#2

Post by novia »

Are you using T-mobile or another provider that uses them?

My 5G connection is trash, but I just switched up Google Fi, which is using T-Mobile's network.

Inside my apartment pictures on websites are loading like it's the early 2000's again.

I'm in a major city, I thought that would help.

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or is 5G strictly worse than LTE?

#3

Post by anderspitman »

novia wrote: post #2

Are you using T-mobile or another provider that uses them? My 5G connection is trash, but I just switched up Google Fi, which is using T-Mobile's network. Inside my apartment pictures on websites are loading like it's the early 2000's again. I'm in a major city, I thought that would help.

I'm on Visible, which is a Verizon MVNO.

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or is 5G strictly worse than LTE?

#4

Post by LarsAlereon »

Most providers have optimized their 5G service for dense urban environments where you have direct line-of-sight (meaning no walls or even foliage) to a nearby transmitter. The idea is to improve the experience in major cities and at event centers. T-Mobile is the only provider I'm aware of that has optimized for higher performance when you're not next to a tower. They operate a long-range 5G network that is a direct upgrade from their long-range LTE service.

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or is 5G strictly worse than LTE?

#7

Post by [deleted] »

anderspitman wrote: post #3
novia wrote: post #2

Are you using T-mobile or another provider that uses them? My 5G connection is trash, but I just switched up Google Fi, which is using T-Mobile's network. Inside my apartment pictures on websites are loading like it's the early 2000's again. I'm in a major city, I thought that would help.

I'm on Visible, which is a Verizon MVNO.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or is 5G strictly worse than LTE?

#9

Post by ninjha »

In my day to day, 5G uses more battery, has similar speeds to LTE, and is less reliable than LTE... I just go into settings and turn off 5G.

Occasionally I'm at the airport (or someplace with the "real" wideband 5G) and I want to download a movie quickly. At that point I turn on 5G and get 2 Gbit down, which is convenient!

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