The big buzz word we’ve been hearing for the past year or two has been 5G. It’s supposed to revolutionize the way we connect with speeds faster than we’ve ever seen.
Several mobile carriers have already begun rolling out 5G in 2019, including AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon. The “G” stands for generation, and 5G represents the next step in a progression of mobile technologies that began with 1G and has been dominated by 4G since it was made available in the US in 2010.
But is 5G really going to make that much of a difference in our day-to-day online lives?
Pro Tech Guy is diving into 5G to give you the lowdown in this new mobile generation. We’ll explain how it differs from 4G in speed and bandwidth and let you know what it means when it comes to cloud-based applications and smart devices.
How Is 5G Different Than 4G?
While it’s been nearly a decade since it happened, when 3G was upgraded to 4G, there were a number of new online benefits thanks to the speed improvement that users enjoyed:
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Improved mobile web access
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High-definition mobile streaming of TV and movies
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Flourishing of cloud-computing apps on mobile
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AR mobile gaming (like Pokemon Go)
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Smoother video conferencing and VoIP
It’s important to note that although 4G was first available in December 2010 in the U.S., it wasn’t until a couple of years later that mobile applications started catching up and taking full advantage of it. The same is expected to be true for 5G.
5G Advances
When it comes to 5G, there are three key improvements that will transpire into multiple benefits that will make your online life better. These include:
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Faster Speed (Potentially 100x faster; 5G is expected to improve mobile data transfer speeds from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps and beyond)
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Lower Latency (meaning faster response times between your device and the application on the other end of an internet connection)
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Higher Device Capacity (the ability to connect more internet-enabled devices without bandwidth lag)
How is 5G able to deliver faster and more responsive internet?
The 5G platform uses larger channels, which allow them to handle higher speeds.
Imagine if 4G was a two-lane highway filled with cars. Backups ensue when too many cars (or internet devices) are trying to use that same highway.
The city does a major road construction project, and now that two lane highway is expanded to eight lanes (5G), allowing all the cars to travel faster, even during rush hour, without backups.
What Benefits Will I Experience from 5G?
While it’s going to take a few years for technologies and devices to be developed that will fully take advantage of the new 5G network speed, there’s a lot of potential to see significant improvements both in convenience and life-saving technologies.
Remote Surgery
If you or a loved-one required a specific type of brain surgery, 5G has the speed and latency capabilities to allow the best brain surgeon in the world to login and perform it remotely.
The medical industry is expecting big advances because 5G will allow for the laser precision, without any lag or network interruptions, to finally make remote procedures and surgeries possible on a large scale.
Hologram Calls
Not only are your regular video conference calls going to be much smoother without that “stuck-in-place” phenomenon happening, VoIP providers, like Skype, are exploring the ability to offer 3D hologram calls, with a faster network that can handle the bandwidth requirements needed for this kind of feat.
Connect More Devices Without Speed Issues
Homes and offices are already starting to suffer the network lag from connecting multiple smart devices to a single internet connection. Smart security cameras, smart TVs, smart thermostats… all connect to the internet and all require some amount of bandwidth. And how many families go looking for the person doing a heavy download when their internet starts to lag?
5G is going to allow you to connect multiple devices doing multiple internet activities without the lag time that currently comes with several devices fighting for the bandwidth on a single internet connection.
More Autonomous Cars (and Bikes Too!)
Autonomous cars and trucks are currently still in a field trial phase but expected to drastically chance our transportation infrastructure over the next 10 to 20 years. Just like remote surgery requires the types of internet connections that can enable precision communications without any lag time, this is also a requirement for driverless technology, so cars can stop or turn on a dime when an obstacle is detected.
5G is going to open up the market even more, and beyond automobiles, smart bikes, which do just about everything except ride themselves, are also in development. The network speed of 5G is going to accelerate the capabilities and adoptions of these autonomous transportation technologies.
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