4 ms·

I’m not so sure that most consumers will think “5g is a necessary function.” Without millimeter wave 5g is only slightly faster than 4g, and millimeter wave cov

by valine 7y ago

I’m not so sure that most consumers will think “5g is a necessary function.” Without millimeter wave 5g is only slightly faster than 4g, and millimeter wave coverage will be worse than WiFi pretty much everywhere but the most densely populated regions.

vlozko 7y ago
While it hasn’t reached its promised speeds, I wouldn’t at all call it only slightly faster. https://www.tomsguide.com/features/5g-vs-4g https://www.tomsguide.com/features/5g-vs-4g
- zamadatix 7y ago
  > Without millimeter wave 5g is only slightly faster than 4g, and millimeter wave coverage will be worse than WiFi pretty much everywhere but the most densely populated regions. > AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon’s networks, which rely on high-band millimeter-wave spectrum.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
JohnJamesRambo 7y ago
With flagship phone sales plummeting, the industry hopes 5g will save them. I really don’t know anyone that has told me they want or need 5g. With current draconian data plans of just a few gb what use would 5g be to the average consumer?
- rayiner 7y ago
  > With current draconian data plans of just a few gb what use would 5g be to the average consumer? I have no idea where this argument comes from. Was 4G useless because carriers stuck with the same data caps we had from the 3G era? Today, the average U.S. smartphone subscriber uses 6GB/month of cellular data, well below the 20GB+ soft-cap of every provider's unlimited plan: https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/10/28/heres-how-much-smartphone-data-americans-are-using.aspx https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/10/28/heres-how-much-sma.... With 5G, those caps will go up further. Verizon isn't even applying the 22GB 4G throttling limit to 5G yet: https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/13/18263593/verizon-5g-service-price-location-launch-date https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/13/18263593/verizon-5g-servi....
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - DataWorker 7y ago
    No, you are totally misrepresenting the link you posted. Only those who have paid for an unlimited plan hit 6GB. The average person has no need for this sort of service. It’s a way to wring more money out of cellphone users, already an area long overdue for better consumer protection. Companies want 5g, consumers do not.
  - JohnJamesRambo 7y ago
    You couldn’t do what you needed to on 3g since it wouldn’t support video streaming etc. What killer app does 5g have that 4g doesn’t already do? When I’m on my phone and have good LTE strength I never find myself saying “I wish this was downloading faster.” If it was for a home pc sure, but there’s only so much I need to do on a phone. Maybe I’m being really short-sighted and people will VR interact soon on 5g.
    - jacobwilliamroy 7y ago
      My guess is that everyone is itching to deploy 5G in order to expand the surveillance (advertising) industry. It seems pretty clear that they want every object in the world to constantly be observing and reporting images, sound, temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, etc. 5G helps to do this silently, without your permission. I can choose whether or not my computer can connect to my IP network. Good luck disconnecting your car or your washing machine when they each have modem chips soldered into their motherboards.
  - SomeOldThrow 7y ago
    Is there any reason to upgrade when it works fine and is already expensive?
- thelazydogsback 7y ago
  We need 5G to support small 8K displays, which we also don't need...
- jotm 7y ago
  I'm on gigabit fiber and can't saturate it most of the time since now servers become the bottleneck (speed limited since they can't serve everyone at a nice 300Mbps+), I get 40Mbps on 4G, which I never saturate either. It's good for the evergrowing number of users though, average speed for everyone should improve once most people use 5G. Plus, far future with AR/VR and whatnot.
SigmundA 7y ago
My understanding is 5g over 4g bands will have lower latency and better spectrum use. So while not as big a jump as 3g->4g still some improvements there.
ksec 7y ago
>Without millimeter wave 5g is only slightly faster than 4g Yes and no, while technically 5G is only slightly faster on paper in Sub 6Ghz, In Reality 5G brings much improved capacity to the network, which translate to much better utilization and faster speed. And since most people don't upgrade their phone as quickly as they used to, there will be those who would rather have an 5G phone now rather than wait 3 - 4 years til their next upgrade.
clairity 7y ago
5G is clearly not necessary yet, but it's also nowhere near close to being widely deployed (that will happen over the next 3-5 years). AR, and pervasive computing in general, will eventually make 5G more than a novelty however. in any case, i personally doubt apple will add 5G in 2020, as they tend to be conservative on wireless tech (including wifi, bluetooth, etc.), waiting 1-2 years after the first rollouts by early adopters (like samsung), to make sure the kinks are worked out all around (equipment makers and carriers too). 2021 is probably more likely for the first 5G iphone, and 2022 will likely be the year you'll want to buy it.
- JustSomeNobody 7y ago
  > AR, and pervasive computing in general... Except it will be prohibitively expensive for most Americans thanks to only three major carriers competing in the US.

by valine 7y ago

vlozko 7y ago

While it hasn’t reached its promised speeds, I wouldn’t at all call it only slightly faster. https://www.tomsguide.com/features/5g-vs-4g https://www.tomsguide.com/features/5g-vs-4g

zamadatix 7y ago
> Without millimeter wave 5g is only slightly faster than 4g, and millimeter wave coverage will be worse than WiFi pretty much everywhere but the most densely populated regions. > AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon’s networks, which rely on high-band millimeter-wave spectrum.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

JohnJamesRambo 7y ago

With flagship phone sales plummeting, the industry hopes 5g will save them. I really don’t know anyone that has told me they want or need 5g. With current draconian data plans of just a few gb what use would 5g be to the average consumer?

rayiner 7y ago
> With current draconian data plans of just a few gb what use would 5g be to the average consumer? I have no idea where this argument comes from. Was 4G useless because carriers stuck with the same data caps we had from the 3G era? Today, the average U.S. smartphone subscriber uses 6GB/month of cellular data, well below the 20GB+ soft-cap of every provider's unlimited plan: https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/10/28/heres-how-much-smartphone-data-americans-are-using.aspx https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/10/28/heres-how-much-sma.... With 5G, those caps will go up further. Verizon isn't even applying the 22GB 4G throttling limit to 5G yet: https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/13/18263593/verizon-5g-service-price-location-launch-date https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/13/18263593/verizon-5g-servi....
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- DataWorker 7y ago
  No, you are totally misrepresenting the link you posted. Only those who have paid for an unlimited plan hit 6GB. The average person has no need for this sort of service. It’s a way to wring more money out of cellphone users, already an area long overdue for better consumer protection. Companies want 5g, consumers do not.
- JohnJamesRambo 7y ago
  You couldn’t do what you needed to on 3g since it wouldn’t support video streaming etc. What killer app does 5g have that 4g doesn’t already do? When I’m on my phone and have good LTE strength I never find myself saying “I wish this was downloading faster.” If it was for a home pc sure, but there’s only so much I need to do on a phone. Maybe I’m being really short-sighted and people will VR interact soon on 5g.
  - jacobwilliamroy 7y ago
    My guess is that everyone is itching to deploy 5G in order to expand the surveillance (advertising) industry. It seems pretty clear that they want every object in the world to constantly be observing and reporting images, sound, temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, etc. 5G helps to do this silently, without your permission. I can choose whether or not my computer can connect to my IP network. Good luck disconnecting your car or your washing machine when they each have modem chips soldered into their motherboards.
- SomeOldThrow 7y ago
  Is there any reason to upgrade when it works fine and is already expensive?
thelazydogsback 7y ago
We need 5G to support small 8K displays, which we also don't need...
jotm 7y ago
I'm on gigabit fiber and can't saturate it most of the time since now servers become the bottleneck (speed limited since they can't serve everyone at a nice 300Mbps+), I get 40Mbps on 4G, which I never saturate either. It's good for the evergrowing number of users though, average speed for everyone should improve once most people use 5G. Plus, far future with AR/VR and whatnot.

SigmundA 7y ago

My understanding is 5g over 4g bands will have lower latency and better spectrum use. So while not as big a jump as 3g->4g still some improvements there.

ksec 7y ago

>Without millimeter wave 5g is only slightly faster than 4g Yes and no, while technically 5G is only slightly faster on paper in Sub 6Ghz, In Reality 5G brings much improved capacity to the network, which translate to much better utilization and faster speed. And since most people don't upgrade their phone as quickly as they used to, there will be those who would rather have an 5G phone now rather than wait 3 - 4 years til their next upgrade.

clairity 7y ago

5G is clearly not necessary yet, but it's also nowhere near close to being widely deployed (that will happen over the next 3-5 years). AR, and pervasive computing in general, will eventually make 5G more than a novelty however. in any case, i personally doubt apple will add 5G in 2020, as they tend to be conservative on wireless tech (including wifi, bluetooth, etc.), waiting 1-2 years after the first rollouts by early adopters (like samsung), to make sure the kinks are worked out all around (equipment makers and carriers too). 2021 is probably more likely for the first 5G iphone, and 2022 will likely be the year you'll want to buy it.

JustSomeNobody 7y ago
> AR, and pervasive computing in general... Except it will be prohibitively expensive for most Americans thanks to only three major carriers competing in the US.