The hype about how fast 5G data speed is, but what speeds with the mobile device user actually see? To answer this lets look a what happened with 3G and 4G/LTE.
3G boasted speeds of 1.5 to 2 Mbs which early adopters got from their devices. In 2012 when I got an iPhone from Verizon Wireless, my actual data speed was 250 to 500 Kbs. Why so much slower than what the early adopters got? Network saturation. Verizon over sold the capacity of it's network infrastructure. Wireless data whether Wi-Fi or Cellular data, is shared bandwidth, shared by all devices connected to the access point or cellular tower. The more devices connected to that single point, the slower the data rate is to each device.
4G/LTE specifications stated a data rate of 70 Mbs. Actual data rates by the early adopters peeked in the low 40 Mbs area with consistent data rates in the 20 to 30 Mbs range. This is what I was getting with my 1st LTE iPhone in mid 2013. Skip forward to 2017 and LTE data speed on the Version network is consistently under 10 Mbs with peeks in the teens in South Eastern Michigan. On Christmas Day 2017, in Rapid City SD, I was seeing consistent speeds in the low to mid 20 Mbs range on the Verizon network. Why so much faster in Rapid City? Thousands of fewer customers, I.E. no network saturation.or over loaded network.
I also have AT&T devices and they also have the same data speeds on their LTE network.
So twice now 2 of the big 4 cellular companies, have over sold the capacity of their network infrastructure in densely populated areas dramatically reducing data speeds on their networks. So why won't they do the same thing with 5G reducing it's data speeds to nearly nothing.
Also some Cellular carriers are still talking about Voice over IP data network which will also use data, impacting the network throughput.
T-Mobile chief: We're on the fast track to 5G - CNET
https://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobile-john-legere-fast-track-to-5g/
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