In Belgium 4G speed was capped, nibody notices it, the speed was enough, but still deployed 5G as if it was going to be a game changer.
5G Rollout Disappointments
61–70 of 100 posts
Re: 5G Rollout Disappointments
#62In India, 5G has been a godsend (Mumbai & Hyderabad). I'm sure it's because the number of people on 5G is drastically lower than the number of people on 4G/LTE. Let's see what the experience is like when everyone gradually starts using the 5G network, but for now the difference between 4G and 5G is massive. Even in remote areas (various parts of western Maharashtra), whenever 5G is available, it's a noticeably better…
> I'm sure it's because the number of people on 5G is drastically lower than the number of people on 4G/LTE.
5G has increased capacity over 4G, so even if all 4G users would switch to 5G, you will still have better service.
Re: 5G Rollout Disappointments
#63I just now asked a non-technical friend (who knows nothing about 5G besides it’s supposed to be better):
“5G towers are faster but they have less range. What problems would you expect when rolling it out across the nation?”
They identified all of the major ones in the article.
Just like many in tech did when 5G was announced.
And yet somehow we’re still here.
Re: 5G Rollout Disappointments
#645G is an umbrella for different types and technologies, and I believe that’s the confusion part of what the artice mentioned and the reader views. 5G has three main categories (technically two but separating the 2nd one to further explain it), 5G NSA (non stand alone), where the 5G RAN uses an existing 4G LTE core, 5G SA (stand alone), as the name implies, is stand alone from previous generations and has its own arch…
5G mmWave is best used in dense - ie. not so often in North America - urban areas. I's going to work great in busy metro stations, shopping streets/malls, concerts. Not in suburbia.
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Re: 5G Rollout Disappointments
#65I think 5G is more of an enterprise technology than consumer tech. For me latency and "campus networks" (or simply the ability to apply for a license to operate your own 5G network in a fixed location) are the two most interesting things about 5G. Those are clearly valuable if you think about a production line of connected devices in some fixed geographic location (factory etc.). Pure download speeds etc. don't matter that much to me, 4G was already plenty.
The rollout is a bit curious though. In Germany providers are incentivised to connect people no cover area (iirc they have to connect at least x% of the population). Sort of makes sense but also cuts off potentially very interesting use cases (for example rural areas where 5G could be used for agricultural machinery).
Re: 5G Rollout Disappointments
#665G is preliminary sensing infrastructure. Don't take my word for it, go read and watch all the IEEE and 5G/6G industry literature that spells this out in great detail.
"Integrated sensing and communication" is the search term to get you started.
Re: 5G Rollout Disappointments
#67I live in a large European city and am very often out and about and use my phone to navigate and consume content. I simply don't see the need for 5G. 4G was a major stepup in speed and given the rise of smartphones and platforms like YouTube, the speed increase made sense. There was an actual use for it. The speed increase for 5G seems to not really be needed though? At least for a majority of people 4G seems to do e…
5G is about capacity, if you want more people to use the network, using more Data, and more affordable. Then you want 5G. Yes, your 1Gbps Ethernet is enough for majority of your needs. Except you are not the only one using the 1Gbps Ethernet.
It's crazy to me that some carriers still charge extra for 5G when this was the real goal. They're actively incentivizing me to stay on 4G and increase congestion.
Re: 5G Rollout Disappointments
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the UK there are companies offering 5g as an alternative to fixed line at your home. Do you have something like that where you live?
AT&T doesn't seem to intend to upgrade those of its older wired systems which are still at 1MB download. Instead they expect you to migrate to a wirelss solution.
And this is the huge problem with allowing this focus on wireless buildouts.
Re: 5G Rollout Disappointments
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
(Outside Zürich) I see 5G as motivated by carriers, being able to pack more customers into the same cell. And I would never pay extra for it. My carrier once called and wondered if the 5G is working, and how I experience it. I'm guessing that was a PR stunt, since otherwise I wouldn't have noticed the awesome things they do for me in the background... But I might be too negative on this point. Maybe they actually wan…
Tangentially, if you are from outside Switzerland make sure to know your roaming charges very very well. Swiss carriers have gigantic roaming charges. Every time. I fly through Zurich (from Austria) I blow through my roaming limit 60 seconds after landing because I forgot to disable data. 1MB/16€ Yes that is Megabyte not Gigabyte
All European Telcos were like this before the EU banned them from doing it. Unfortunately, Switzerland decided not to follow this particular EU regulation.
Re: 5G Rollout Disappointments
#70When Sprint first built out its digital cellphone network, their slogan was "you can hear a pin drop". It was basically true, this was more clarity and intelligibility than the full-quality land line POTS. After a year or two their airwaves got crowded and it became apparent they were compressing the audio enough to be noticeably way worse than the POTS was. Cell carriers seem to have kept performance at that low lev…
HD Voice has been rolled out across multiple carriers for a couple of years in the US.