5G, Explained: That Promise of Multi-Gigabit Cellular Bandwidth with Zero Latency

By now, you must have heard of 5G as a significant upgrade to how mobile devices—phones and tablets with data plans—connect to the Internet. As such, it’s slated to change how all devices connect.

First available in the US in 2018, 5G has proven to have a relatively slow adoption due to various reasons. Still, it’s defenitely a welcome upgrade to 4G. You’ll find out all about that in this post. But first, we need to stay on the same page about which 5G we’re talking about.

Dong’s note: I first published this piece on Dec 18, 2018, and last updated it on December 18, 2024, with the latest information.

Untangling the lingos: The right 5G

In the world of tech, there are currently a few things with “5G” in their names. Here are some examples:

• 5G Wi-Fi: This is just a different name for the 802.11ac standard of Wi-Fi. Initially, Broadcom coined this term with its first 802.11ac chip. It made sense at the time, considering 802.11ac is the 5th generation of Wi-Fi. The good news is 802.11ac has since been officially named “Wi-Fi 5“.
• 5GHz Wi-Fi band: This has nothing to do with 5G. It’s the 5GHz band, the preferred Wi-Fi frequency band, as opposed to 2.4GHz. The 5GHz band balances range and Wi-Fi speed, whereas 2.4GHz offers longer range but much slower speeds. Often, this band has been called “5G” for short.
• Other 5G stuff: “5G” has also been used arbitrarily to mean different things, such as “5Gbps” (download speed), “5GB” (storage space), or even five thousand dollars.

The point is that none of the 5G used above is the 5G we’re talking about in this post.

5G: All you need to know

The 5G we’re talking about is the fifth generation of broadband cellular network technology, most commonly known as the data connection on your cell phone (besides talk and text). “G” stands for GSM, an acronym for Global System for Mobile Communications.

5G is actually a friendly name for the New Radio (NR) standard defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), which includes multiple organizations that govern the protocols for mobile communications.

That said, the full name is often “5G NR”, though “5G” is more commonly used. 5G NR is also used to refer to the standard in its full capacity, as opposed to the reduced-capacity application mentioned below. But first, let’s see how significant 5G is.

The evolution of GSM in brief

In a nutshell, the data connection is what makes a smartphone smart—it allows the device to do more than phone conversations and messaging.

Before 5G, we’ve had 4G, which has been supported by all smartphones released since 2012—the latest version of 4G is 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution). If you need a point of reference, the iPhone 5 is the first Apple smartphone that features 4G.

Officially, 4G was introduced in 2009, and before that, there was 3G (2001), the first version to support Internet connections. Before that, 2G (1991) and 1G (1971) were used only for text messaging.

In terms of connection speeds, 4G LTE can deliver up to 1200Mbps (1.2Gbps) of theoretical bandwidth (as opposed to 384Mbps of 3G). Real-world speeds are often much lower than that, but still, 4G is fast enough for content streaming and video conferencing, such as FaceTime.

5G brings the wireless speed up a huge notch with a cap of up to 10Gbps (or 10,000Mbps) with low or no latency. That said, 5G promises improvements in three categories:

• Super-fast wireless speed: Up to 10Gbps, with Gigabit-class being the norm.
• Lower latency: 5G can deliver single-digit latency (lag). This means it’s not only better for real-time communication, such as VoIP or gaming, but also suitable for critical and sensitive tasks. For reference, presently, a good cable connection has a latency of around 6 to 13 milliseconds.
• Lower cost: A 5G broadcaster can handle more concurrent clients than a 4G counterpart. This means the data cost will be cheaper.

Of course, 5G’s real-world performance will also vary, and the top 10Gbps ceiling speed is only on paper, but it’s safe to say it’s a real upgrade from 4G.

5G NR: Bands and RedCap

Like a wireless standard, 5G uses different frequencies (bands) to transmit data. So, the first thing to keep in mind is that, like Wi-Fi, 5G comes in different flavors depending on the frequency (band) being used and the channel width.

The specifications vary depending on the region, but there are two frequency ranges according to 3GPP:

• Frequency Range 1 (FR1): Sub-6 GHz bands, including low and mid-band frequencies (410 MHz to 7.125 GHz). This range is divided into:
  • Low-Band (600–900 MHz): This range offers wide coverage with the best signal penetration through walls and obstacles, but has the lowest ceiling speed of up to 100-250Mbps, which is ideal for IoT devices or low-bandwidth applications. Common bands: n71 (600 MHz), n28 (700 MHz), n5 (850 MHz)
  • Mid-Band (1.7–4.7 GHz): This range has a good balance of coverage and speed and is generally ideal for urban areas. Common bands: n1 (2.1 GHz), n3 (1.8 GHz), n41 (2.5 GHz), n78 (3.5 GHz)
• Frequency Range 2 (FR2): Millimeter-wave (mmWave) bands, including:
  • High-Band (24–71 GHz): This range offers ultra-high speeds (up to 10 Gbps) and low latency, but limited range and poor penetration.

Again, the use of 5G bands depends on local regulation and varies from one region to another. Generally, FR1 is more widely used than FR2. If you want to know the details of all 5G bands, open the cabinet below.

Since its inception, 5G has evolved gradually through various 3GPP specification releases. In mid-2022, the organization introduced 5G RedCap (Reduced Capability) per 3GPP release 17.

5G RedCap is designed for IoT devices (such as wearables and sensors). It generally uses the low bands mentioned above and has the download speed caps of between 150Mbps and 250Mbps, and the upload speed topping at 50Mbps.

While RedCap is much slower than 5G NR, it’s fast enough for many applications and can serve as a backup.

5G: The relatively slow adoption and real-world speeds

In the US, 5G has been available since 2018 and has grown since then, though not as fast as initially expected.

By late 2024, all smartphones will generally support this standard, with a handful of mobile hotspots. Thanks to the fast speed, there are also standard routers and Wi-Fi accessories with built-in 5G modems.

Most importantly, the connection speeds haven’t panned out as fast as expected. In fact, in most areas, a 5G connection is about as fast as a 4G LTE connection. Still, that doesn’t mean 5G is bad; it’s just that, when it comes to wireless connectivity and cost, 4G has proven fast enough.

The takeaway

After over half a decade since its introduction, 5G has proven to be more of an incremental upgrade to the previous version. And it’s still evolving. Nowadays, with other wireless options such as Start Link, this latest cellular standard has turned out to be less exciting than it’s cracked up to be. Still, it’s a handy option for those living in areas that lack landline broadband infrastructure.