What's so special about 5G

[Mooncatt]

I'm starting to see more and more references in threads to the coming 5G connectivity. The funny thing is that all of those comments are from people that are so in to it that they are discounting new flagship phones because they are not 5G compatible... A technology that no phone has yet, that no tower has, and won't even be in wide spread use for another year or two.

So is there really something that mind blowing about it that people are thinking phones are already two generations outdated before they even hit the store shelves? If you think I'm being a little overdramatic, I've seen at least a couple members saying they are skipping the Note 9 and LG V40 (not even officially announced yet) in part because they are not 5G compatible.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

I see nothing special about it. Faster data speeds and reduced tower congestion are the only benefits I'm aware of and they will probably come at the cost of reduced battery life.

Currently on Verizon, consistently get over 50Mbps download speeds and have no issues with tower congestion where I live.

So I couldn't care less about 5G, but that's just my opinion.

 

[jnichols16]

Every new innovation since the 8080 CPU running on DOS 2.0 needed other innovations to succeed.

Either the new hardware was a bust on the old software, the new software bogged down on the old hardware, or the innovation supported periphals that weren't on the market yet.

Just two years ago I took my S6 to Germany. Sprint was nice enough to give me "free unlimited data". Sending my first photo attached to email revealed the "free data plan" was a 2G network (that's 2G, not 3G). Now 4G LTE beats the fastest home/business networks from just a few years ago.

The time will come for 5G, and we will like it. We will also pay for it.

 

[Mooncatt]

Every new innovation since the 8080 CPU running on DOS 2.0 needed other innovations to succeed.

Either the new hardware was a bust on the old software, the new software bogged down on the old hardware, or the innovation supported periphals that weren't on the market yet.

Just two years ago I took my S6 to Germany. Sprint was nice enough to give me "free unlimited data". Sending my first photo attached to email revealed the "free data plan" was a 2G network (that's 2G, not 3G). Now 4G LTE beats the fastest home/business networks from just a few years ago.

The time will come for 5G, and we will like it. We will also pay for it.

I'm not saying it won't be better. My point is wondering what makes it so much better that people are down rating devices that aren't even out yet, or very recently released, because they don't have that technology that's even further in the future.

Remember the old saying about computers being obsolete by the time your open the box? Apparently when it comes to mobile phones, people now think something is obsolete by the time it goes into actual production. I'd laugh, but I see more complaints about situations not far removed from that scenario.

And while yes, this is partly a rant post, my original question about what makes 5G so much better still holds.

 

[Chuckcell]

So far as I can see the hype about 5G doesn't give enough details for me to do more than Ho-Hum about.
These are radios. Are the manufacturers going to recall them to install better antennas, better detector circuits? Hah!
The 5th generation is all about what happens in and at the towers, and the switches and servers behind them. It will be mostly hidden from you and me.

 

[treetopsranch]

My understanding about 5G is that '5G uses high-frequency waves that support faster speeds but don't travel as far as current wireless frequencies.' So more towers have to be built. Someone said "one on every street corner" but that may be an exaggeration.