The mobile network has been an important part of our day-to-day lives for the longest time now. And the progress it has made since the moment of its creation has been unfolding right in front of the eyes of the current generations. The difference in performance between the earlier version of this technology versus the older ones is stark. And yet it is far from perfection and continues improving on itself.
The latest achievement in this field is 5g. The fifth-generation is attempting to push mobile networks further than ever before. While not awfully common, it is already available to the public, provided you can pay for it. But how much truth really is there to the promises and speculations surrounding this technology? Let’s find out what 5g actually is and what it is not.
Performance
The main purpose and the greatest asset of 5g is, of course, its performance. The frequency range of the network was expanded and the developers promise the speed unlike we have ever seen before. Delivering a stable connection at 2 Gbps is the big selling point here. And it does live up to the picture painted by the marketers. Granted, only if conditions are ideal.
Full HD movies being downloaded in a span of seconds, not to mention the benefits of pretty much instant response time from useful sites you may use in your work like https://essaypro.com/ is a dream. But the millimeter waves that are used to provide this amazing performance have major disadvantages. One of them is the coverage area.
Coverage
The problem of coverage is very tangible. The lightning-fast connection speeds exist. But they are only available within a very small radius around the base station. Once you turn the corner or get behind a solid obstacle – the connection falters and fades. So the full potential of 5g is currently only available in certain spots of certain cities which is not really what we were looking forward to.
In the ideal world of the not so distant future, your 5g compatible device will be able to actively switch between the bases as you move to maintain the connection. However, completely covering cities and entire countries with base stations that have a radius of a dozen feet is, for sure, going to be a lengthy process. It may be upwards of three to five years until we can fully enjoy the benefits of 5g.
Implementation
Even though the fruits of 5g can already be reaped today, there are many obstacles on the way to definitive success. The devices that use 5g are very energy-dependent and produce quite a lot of heat compared to their predecessors. With the network range being the main issue the developers face. But despite the coverage problem, there are ways that can allow you to work around these issues slightly faster.
- Massie MIMO;
- Beamforming;
- Multiple band types;
- Multiple providers with different approaches.
These factors can enhance your experience with 5g. One of the most common is the use of low-band and mid-band waves to transfer information. These types lack the speed and efficiency of the millimeter waves. But the tradeoff is well worth it as their range is far more workable in terms of implication. One station can cover vast areas and have decent penetration even through solid objects.
While low-band waves are not nearly as fast as millimeter waves, they can still deliver performance that beats 4g several times over. Combined with the decent range, it has become the main priority for some of 5g developing companies as the best option to deliver the product to the people in the smallest amount of time. So the opportunity to catch if only a glimpse of true 5g glory might be closer than you think.
Beamforming is another technique that establishes coverage by transmitting a focused signal to any single given device instead of sending waves in every direction simultaneously. This will allow for a more stable connection at all times while also helping save a considerable amount of resources.
Final Words
5g is still in its early stages. There is much room for improvement. The transition is only just a beginning. 5g-compatible devices are pricey and use more energy. The base stations are scarce and you’ll have to travel to specific spots in specific cities if you want to witness the full potential of millimeter waves. However, slowly but surely the technology is making its way to us.
What is cutting-edge today will be commonplace in merely 5 years with even more impressive and ambitious projects in planning. And if you absolutely can’t wait, you can make half-a-step towards 5g already. The low- and mid-band network covers a lot of ground already and will seriously improve your connection speed.
Very informative, thanks for sharing!