4 ms·

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, conc

by SSLy 3y ago

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.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
afavour 3y ago
I’m in NYC and use mmWave for my home internet and it’s genuinely game changing: ~1Gbps internet with no wires at all. Given the monopolies internet providers have in NYC it’s liberating. But my nearest antenna is a block away with pretty good sight lines. If I move my radio even 6ft in the wrong direction my speeds go through the floor. I think the 5G hype was excessive for a technology that only works in very specific circumstances and it’s led to some disappointment.
- m348e912 3y ago
  If mmWave is also known as 5gUW, I have been very underwhelmed and I would prefer that I could turn it off in favor of traditional 5g. The push for 5g in general has been a bit of a head scratcher for me. I don't think consumers have been clamoring for multi gigabit wireless en mass. If they're like me, they would prefer consistency and reliability. Speed is less important when you can use WIFI at home and in many places, which is going to be faster and more reliable. I always suspected something else was pushing the massive investment and marketing of 5g. Maybe cost massive savings on new spectrum leases? I don't know for sure, but when the I saw a commercial that said 5g would help doctors at a hospital diagnose illness faster (using networked equipment) I was like why the hell would hospitals even want to use 5g? Ethernet, Fiber, maybe wifi. But 5g?? Craziness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpzF2JOgiwE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpzF2JOgiwE Everything this guy talks about can be accomplished by traditional wifi and ethernet.
  - sidewndr46 3y ago
    It depends on where you're at, but "WIFI at home" may indeed be much slower than 5G at some locations served by traditional DSL and cable modem technologies.
  - regularfry 3y ago
    With 5g you can potentially sidestep hospital IT departments with a network connection that's outside their control. Also, it may be bold to assume that WiFi as offered is a practical option.
  - afavour 3y ago
    > they would prefer consistency and reliability. > Speed is less important when you can use WIFI at home and in many places In my experience 5G provides that consistency: Wifi (outside of my reliable home connection) is often super flaky. With 5G on my phone I find myself connecting to (e.g.) coffee shop Wifi much less often and I tether my laptop to my phone rather than use it.
- sidewndr46 3y ago
  At my house I can get 250 mbps down/35 mbps up with some clever placement of the 5G unit. This blows any other ISP out of the water. One street over I get 1000 mbps down/250 mbps up which I am a bit salty about. There is a terrain feature that makes it impossible for me to see that same tower from my house.
sidewndr46 3y ago
I keep 5G off on my phone because it in general doesn't work when I'm out and about. Conversely the 4G network seems to always have usable signal levels and may be less busy now that everyone's phone is using 5G by default.

by SSLy 3y ago

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.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

afavour 3y ago

I’m in NYC and use mmWave for my home internet and it’s genuinely game changing: ~1Gbps internet with no wires at all. Given the monopolies internet providers have in NYC it’s liberating. But my nearest antenna is a block away with pretty good sight lines. If I move my radio even 6ft in the wrong direction my speeds go through the floor. I think the 5G hype was excessive for a technology that only works in very specific circumstances and it’s led to some disappointment.

m348e912 3y ago
If mmWave is also known as 5gUW, I have been very underwhelmed and I would prefer that I could turn it off in favor of traditional 5g. The push for 5g in general has been a bit of a head scratcher for me. I don't think consumers have been clamoring for multi gigabit wireless en mass. If they're like me, they would prefer consistency and reliability. Speed is less important when you can use WIFI at home and in many places, which is going to be faster and more reliable. I always suspected something else was pushing the massive investment and marketing of 5g. Maybe cost massive savings on new spectrum leases? I don't know for sure, but when the I saw a commercial that said 5g would help doctors at a hospital diagnose illness faster (using networked equipment) I was like why the hell would hospitals even want to use 5g? Ethernet, Fiber, maybe wifi. But 5g?? Craziness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpzF2JOgiwE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpzF2JOgiwE Everything this guy talks about can be accomplished by traditional wifi and ethernet.
- sidewndr46 3y ago
  It depends on where you're at, but "WIFI at home" may indeed be much slower than 5G at some locations served by traditional DSL and cable modem technologies.
- regularfry 3y ago
  With 5g you can potentially sidestep hospital IT departments with a network connection that's outside their control. Also, it may be bold to assume that WiFi as offered is a practical option.
- afavour 3y ago
  > they would prefer consistency and reliability. > Speed is less important when you can use WIFI at home and in many places In my experience 5G provides that consistency: Wifi (outside of my reliable home connection) is often super flaky. With 5G on my phone I find myself connecting to (e.g.) coffee shop Wifi much less often and I tether my laptop to my phone rather than use it.
sidewndr46 3y ago
At my house I can get 250 mbps down/35 mbps up with some clever placement of the 5G unit. This blows any other ISP out of the water. One street over I get 1000 mbps down/250 mbps up which I am a bit salty about. There is a terrain feature that makes it impossible for me to see that same tower from my house.

sidewndr46 3y ago

I keep 5G off on my phone because it in general doesn't work when I'm out and about. Conversely the 4G network seems to always have usable signal levels and may be less busy now that everyone's phone is using 5G by default.