5G Mobile/Cellular Transition

[Gary RV_Wizard]

All the wireless carriers are transitioning to 5G (5th generation) cellular communications over the next 18 months or so. Verizon recently introduced an early version 5G network in 5 cities and AT&T is set to roll out it's first offering about the end of the year.  Some of the hallmarks of 5G wireless include dramatically faster speeds, many more concurrent users, and greater responsiveness for short transactions.  One of the main objectives is to support the "Internet of Things" directly with inexpensive direct access to wireless internet (no wifi needed to connect).

There will be a lot of new features and capabilities with 5G, much of it involving new hardware for both the carriers and subscribers.  I've started a new Yahoo Group to help those who are interested share information and keep up with events.  It is named 5G_Cellular and anybody can join (though I exercise Moderator approval). However, a Yahoo account is needed to participate in any Yahoo Group.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/5G_Cellular/info

 

[HappyWanderer1]

A Yahoo Group to discuss new technology. Sorry Gary, but that struck me as the funniest thing I've read in a very long time!

 

[ChasA]

I saw a segment on tv recently about 5g. They said the 5g stations would be located every few hundred feet in cities and residential neighborhoods because the high frequencies 5g uses.  Very short distance.
I live in a heavily wooded neighborhood  with underground utilities. I can't see 5g working here, much less while driving down a highway.

 

[kdbgoat]

Verizon still hasn't got 4G right around here. We may not be in city, but we're not in the middle of the desert either. The worse part is they know and admit it, but don't do anything about it. I don't have AT&T, so I don't know how their coverage is.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The How, Why & Where of 5G will certainly be a big part of the discussion.  There are a number of ramifications and difference "faces" of the 5G changes, some of it oriented towards denser population areas and other features elsewhere.  The higher frequency (and thus shorter range) aspect is just one part of the changes.  What it does (or doesn't) do for users in different locales is bound to generate a lot of commentary and diverse opinion.

A Yahoo Group to discuss new technology. Sorry Gary, but that struck me as the funniest thing I've read in a very long time!

Whatever tickles your funny bone, I guess. Yahoo Groups are crudely simplistic but easily set up and managed, not to mention free. I suppose I could have created a closed Facebook Group and will consider that as a future improvement, but I was working with one of my old Yahoo mobile communications groups when the suggestion about the 5G topic came up, so I immediately created the new group there.

 

[John From Detroit]

I saw a segment on tv recently about 5g. They said the 5g stations would be located every few hundred feet in cities and residential neighborhoods because the high frequencies 5g uses.  Very short distance.
I live in a heavily wooded neighborhood  with underground utilities. I can't see 5g working here, much less while driving down a highway.

There is a way to do it if your local govermanuarant and the providers work together... Street am\\ lam size towers..  You won't even notice them cause.... They are already there.

 

[NY_Dutch]

There is a way to do it if your local govermanuarant and the providers work together... Street am\\ lam size towers..  You won't even notice them cause.... They are already there.

That could work for the relatively few streets with lighting across the country...

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The short range towers are small enough and supposedly rugged enough to place on most any structure, but they still need power and a connection (wired or wireless) to the national network. And protection from vandalism.  One of the things supposedly improved in the 5G standard is easier/cheaper "backhaul", the term for the connection to the nationwide cellular network and Internet.  Wireless backhaul as well as wired, along the lines of Verizon's home wifi that uses a wireless connection back to Verizon.  Verizon & AT&T both use wireless backhaul today where wired is impossible, but the new standard supposedly makes it easier and cheaper. I haven't seen any details and probablywouldn'y understand if I did!