A handy guide to 5G and what that actually means for you

You’re going to hear a lot about 5G in 2020. Chances are you probably already have. With Apple set to launch 5G-compatible iPhones next year, it’s a fair bet that plenty of you will own a device that can connect to that ultra-fast wireless mobile standard by the end of September or so. 

Annoyingly, however, not all 5G works the same. Between AT&T’s 5G+, Verizon’s “Ultra-Wideband” 5G, T-Mobile’s “nationwide” network, and Sprint’s “True Mobile 5G,” different carriers’ marketing terms can make it tough to tell what you’re actually getting from their 5G plans.

While it might seem confusing from the jump, you can basically separate 5G coverage into two camps: low-/mid-band and millimeter wave, commonly known as mmWave. The former uses frequencies below 6GHz and the latter goes beyond that threshold. Either way, 5G is a great deal faster than 4G LTE, which is what your phone uses now. Rumor has it that next year’s iPhones will take advantage of one or the other, but more on that in a bit.

In order to help clear up the confusion in as close to layman’s terms as possible, we spoke to Bill Menezes, a Gartner analyst who specializes in 5G deployment. With his help, we’ll break down the differences between the two 5G standards and whether or not you, as a consumer, should even care.

Just to catch up

5G simply refers to the fifth generation of mobile device communication. 1G allowed analog voice calls with the first cell phones. 2G made things digital and introduced text messaging. 3G brought phones online. And 4G made smart phone internet fast and reliable enough to do things like stream HD videos.

The lure of 5G is that it can connect more devices to more powerful networks with a lot less latency than 4G. In a theoretical future with robust 5G deployment, things like autonomous cars could use these networks to effectively communicate with each other. Right now, it’s mostly an expensive way to make your phone’s internet faster.

For future reference, the four major mobile carriers in the United States are building their 5G networks in different ways. AT&T has both a limited mmWave network and a more broadly available low-band network. The same goes for T-Mobile, which just switched on its low-band network around the nation to go along with a handful of higher-end service areas. Finally, Sprint operates on the mid-band for now, while Verizon has focused on mmWave technology.

Now, onto what that actually means for you.

Old reliable: low- and mid-band

If the latest rumors are to be believed, the cheaper models of next year’s iPhones will support 5G, but only up to the mid-band portion of the spectrum. In simple terms, this is a form of 5G that can run on existing technology because these frequencies are already widely used for data transmission. It’s slower than mmWave, but that allows it to cover wider areas.

Unlike mmWave, a low- or mid-band 5G network can increase speeds for those who are near it without the need for new transmitters because it can use the ones that already exist. For example, T-Mobile’s recently launched “nationwide” 5G network can theoretically work for hundreds of millions of people because it doesn’t reach anywhere near the max speed of something like Verizon’s mmWave network. 

It can still be a big upgrade, though. I got to test Sprint’s 2.5GHz 5G network, which uses existing cell sites, when it launched in New York City over the summer. Download speeds (the main metric used to judge signal strength in this case) were often much higher than 4G. At best, Sprint’s 5G reached speeds near 300-400Mbps, while Verizon 4G didn’t even crack 100Mbps.

Right now, that’s mainly useful for downloading Netflix shows quickly or streaming 4K video. Truly revolutionary applications of 5G will probably become more common once more people have access to it. The main advantage to low- and mid-band 5G at the moment is that it has better range and reliability despite lower speed.

“[Low- and mid-band 5G] is less about replacing your cable modem than it is about being able to do ultra-fast downloads, or streaming, or gaming while you’re in settings outside of your home. Or while you’re actually in motion,” Menezes said.

Image: Joan Cros / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Fast, but flawed: mmWave

Where 5G gets seriously interesting (and frustrating) is with mmWave deployment. This is what you’ll get from Verizon and AT&T in some places, though AT&T also has a mid-band network. Speed tests from CNET were able to get upwards of 1.8Gbps from AT&T’s mmWave network, which absolutely dwarfs low- or mid-band 5G.

It’s also rumored to be supported by the more expensive of the new iPhones coming next year.

You see, mmWave 5G requires newer and more numerous transmitters to function properly because its range is severely limited as compared to low and mid-band networks. You might get it on one city block, but not necessarily the next. It also has trouble getting through physical obstacles like buildings, so one transmitter on its own isn’t the most useful thing in the world.

“It’s like an eight-lane Autobahn,” Menezes said of mmWave 5G. “The down side is that Autobahn only goes about two or three miles before you gotta get on a different highway because mmWave spectrum doesn’t carry very far. And it doesn’t do well at things like penetrating walls, trees, or even human beings.”

Of course, technology gets better over time and those problems might get resolved several years down the line. Menezes pointed out that mmWave’s shortcomings could make it good for home internet, since less distance needs to be covered. Indeed, Verizon offers a limited home 5G service right now.

Do you even need to worry about this?

Ehh, sort of. Right now, there just aren’t that many 5G-compatible devices on the market and the ones that are available, like the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, are pretty expensive. They mainly appeal to early adopters who know what they’re getting into with fresh tech.

A year from now, if Apple does indeed drop a cheaper iPhone with low- and mid-band 5G, and a more expensive mmWave version, it’ll all come down to individual needs. Does your carrier have a mmWave network in your city? Do you need to be at the absolute bleeding edge of mobile internet, or will a merely decent upgrade in the form of mid-band 5G be enough for you?

According to Menezes, we can expect mainstream 5G devices further down the road to support both frequencies. Maybe two or three years from now, every new iPhone will support 5G up to mmWave. 

“Obviously, as time goes by, [5G device manufacturing] becomes more unified, more streamlined, and you get to a point where the 5G device is going to be spectrum agonistic because it’ll support all the ones that are out there,” Menezes said. 

In other words, 5G is probably still far away from being at the top of its game.