With all the talk about 5G going on I personally have been excited. I found myself even more excited when it was confirmed that 5G would be available in my area soon. I spent time thinking about how the first phone would handle 5G and how it would make for consuming multimedia even smoother.
Today, while out and about, I noticed my phone struggling to load data. I looked down at my bars and noticed it was fluctuating between 3 and 4 bars of LTE. So I opened my speedtest app to see what was going on, only to see as expected, my download speeds struggle to even reach 1 Mbps. By the end of the test it hit 4.77 (Mbps), thanks to a last minute surge. And this left me thinking about an issue the carriers are still unable to solve.
Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint all struggle with consistency as far as with cellular data. Verizon and AT&T manages to do better than the other two, but they still have enough data issues to warrant some complaints. And when it happens on the big two (Verizon and AT&T) it deserves more scrutiny given the amount they charge for their services.
Don’t get me wrong, I have watched many movies, Youtube videos, listened to playlists of music, as well as albums on YT Music without the slightest of hiccups. There have been times when my cellular data was outperforming my broadband data on Charter. So I know the capabilities are there as far as where we can go with wireless technology. But until we are able to continue to provide a consistent amount of reliable high speed data, 5G will be nothing more than a marketing ploy.
Carriers are going to have to find a way to fix their networks to be able to perform at the LTE speeds, being advertise, on a consistent basis. (Uncapped) Data slow downs should be as unacceptable as late (or no) payments, and treated as so by everyone from the top down.
As a note to the carriers out there (especially Verizon and AT&T) if 5G equates to the same laggy speeds as LTE does in congested areas, then the question has to be asked was there really any improvements?
I look forward to 5G but I want more for the carriers to make my LTE speeds more consistent.
2 comments
Personally I’m not looking forward to 5G after having read numerous articles about how dangerous this new frequency is, not only us but plant life & wildlife. They’re rushing this technology to market without fully testing it and without making the public aware of the dangers. Have you looked into this side of it? And if so, do you think folks are simply over reacting, or do you feel like benefits far outweigh the negatives?
Honestly I think 4G is more than capable of providing plenty of speed for any of our cellular needs, they simply need to work at perfecting it and making it more consistent across the board. I can get speeds of over 105mbps down 25 up in one part of town & go home & struggle to get 10 down 2 up a mile away.
And since 5G is extremely limited when going through walls or even trees, I just don’t think 5G is the answer. Especially when you factor in the dangers.
What are your thoughts?
I don’t even think we will even get true 5G. We are barely getting LTE and our LTE speeds are not nearly what is considered LTE (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.androidauthority.com/4g-vs-lte-274882/amp/). We are overpaying for speeds that are not even consistent with the low end of LTE. This 5G is just a way to allow the carriers to continue to up sell us on an idea.
Like you I would be ok with LTE if they could build up the network to be consistent and at least at the speed level of a cat 7 or 9. Basically I want to start getting what I’ve been paying for since LTE came onto the scene.