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Prepare Yourself For '5G' Wireless Hype

Wireless operators and vendors haven't really truly even defined fifth generation wireless networks (5G) yet, but that's certainly not going to prevent them from hyping their deployment of it -- even if they're not really even sure what it is yet. South Korea is expected to take the lead in the technology (whatever it winds up being), the government there investing $1.5 billion in an attempt to have the ultra-fast networks deployed by 2020.

This week's Mobile Congress wireless industry trade show in Barcelona was awash in 5G hype, with nobody willing to comment if any other nation will even get close to South Korea's ambition. Despite 5G not really being defined, one researcher tells the EE Times that the United States needs to open up licensing of millimeter wave bands to start encouraging research now if we're to keep pace:
quote:
Theodore Rappaport foresees networks using 28 to 90 GHz bands to deliver several Gbits/second to tomorrow's mobile devices. The wireless research center he runs at NYU Polytechnic is testing out such ideas, but a broader effort is needed, he said. "We need a playground for carriers to develop the prototypes to show what can be done at 28, 38 and 70-90 GHz bands," Rappaport said in an interview with EE Times. "There's a big movement here, but I'm just afraid the US is behind in it," he said.
As it stands, you still shouldn't expect to even see any 5G technologies live in the wild until at least the 2018 or 2020 Olympics, where the technologies are expected to be shown off as cutting edge. Meanwhile European leaders aren't sure what 5G is, but they're pretty sure it's going to cure a lot of things -- including youth unemployment.
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MDA
Auto Negotiating
Premium Member
join:2013-09-10
Minneapolis, MN

MDA

Premium Member

"Prepare Yourself for 5G wireless"...

...Once We Get Rid of Extremely Limited Data Caps!

amarryat
Verizon FiOS
join:2005-05-02
Marshfield, MA

amarryat

Member

What about 4G?

Are we just skipping over actual 4G?

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

Re: What about 4G?

I'm moving straight to 10G, cause this 1 at a time thing is way too slow

MovieLover76
join:2009-09-11
Cherry Hill, NJ
(Software) pfSense
Asus RT-AC68
Asus RT-AC66

MovieLover76 to amarryat

Member

to amarryat
Marketing department's don't care about silly things like actual technical abilities. 5G will likely be what 4G was supposed to be.

In all fairness though I think the standards body did really jump the gun and got way too aggressive with their definition of 4G

Think about it a jump from 2 Mbps (the definition of 3G) to 1Gbps (Fixed) and 100 Mbps (moving) that's a mighty big leap.

An all IP architecture, 100 Mbps and new radio mechanism (which current LTE meets, should have been enough)

amarryat
Verizon FiOS
join:2005-05-02
Marshfield, MA

amarryat

Member

Re: What about 4G?

I agree - if T-Mobile's Edge is 2G, and Verizon's 3G is 3G, then T-Mobile's HSPA should be 4G, not 3G. They are as far apart as Verizon's 3G is to Edge. And LTE should be 4.5G.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Apple will be on the last bus of the day

When 5G comes out, Verizon will be the first to upgrade their network to 5G but Apple will be the last to release a 5G iPhone.

I had to wait forever for a 4G LTE iPhone (as Apple didn't adopt LTE right away and my upgrade eligibility made me wait) but at least now I have the Verizon Edge program I'll be able to buy the 5G iPhone as soon as it comes out.
dsds
join:2014-02-10
Leavenworth, KS

dsds

Member

Re: Apple will be on the last bus of the day

That's why when Apple released the original iPhone, I laughed at their customers because my UMTS flip phone had faster internet access than their EDGE iPhone. 3G was pretty widespread in urban areas at that time, and I thought it was silly to buy a smartphone that used EDGE. So when I bought the iPhone 3G, I was pretty impressed with myself, because it was fast. That's still before everyone and their grandma had iPhones.

megarock
join:2001-06-28
Fenton, MO

megarock

Member

Five Gee's

Is what we will get when we already have some of the slowest most expensive wireless broadband in the world...it's only going to get even more expensive and even slower (yippee, dialup is back!!).

I have a better idea...how about reasonably priced wireless that actually works as it does in less developed nations that have COMPETITION.

Guess it doesn't matter when you own Congress and can write your own laws protecting your duopolies.
Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Binghamton, NY

Crookshanks

Member

Re: Five Gee's

The United States has four national carriers, some regional ones, and countless MVNOs. Pray tell, which countries have more competition than we do?

The Limit
Premium Member
join:2007-09-25
Denver, CO

The Limit

Premium Member

Re: Five Gee's

LOL! I really hope you are being sarcastic here. How about Europe?
Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Binghamton, NY

Crookshanks

Member

Re: Five Gee's

Which European country has more than FOUR national carriers, not counting MVNOs?

Europe may have better pricing than we do (though this is debatable, ever heard of caller pays?) but it's not because of the competition fairy.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25

Member

Re: Five Gee's

Maybe you should look into the European market a little before speaking such nonsense.

The number of carriers in any particular county over there means absolutely nothing being they still get better service for a better price and can more easily switch between services than we can here. Thus they have more competition period.
Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Binghamton, NY

Crookshanks

Member

Re: Five Gee's

"Better service for a better price" is in the eye of the beholder. See "caller pays".

Of course, you're welcome to emigrate there if you think the cellular service is that superior and oh so important to your life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. You might find the free speech laws, gun rights, and criminal protections a bit lacking, contrasted to the States, but hey, you won't have to deal with Verizon and AT&T anymore.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25

Member

Re: Five Gee's

Really? Your response is going to include the very mature.... "if you don't like it you can move". Moron.
waycoolphil
join:2000-09-22
Cathedral City, CA

waycoolphil to Crookshanks

Member

to Crookshanks
Right. And we have: health care for all, college education for all, higher minimum wages and better working conditions, lower murder rates, less poverty, etc. NOT. I guess you're saying it's un-American to want better cell service?
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

2 edits

jjeffeory to Crookshanks

Member

to Crookshanks
lol. EU countries sometimes have more strict laws than ours on some things ( free speech laws in France; there are a ton of times where we don't have free speech and they've been in the news pretty recently.) but they're and better in other ways (Unified Privacy laws, EU Directive 95/46/EC; In America we have a patchwork of "Laws" that have so many holes they don't really matter). But it's all about the same in the end. I take it you haven't traveled abroad much with that nationalist attitude.

...and the "caller pays" idea they have over there seems better than the "everybody pays" system we have here in the US. I mean, unless I have unlimited minutes, or I'm calling someone on my friend's list, I pay for a connection to them. If they're on a cellphone with the same deal, they pay for minutes on their end. So, "Everybody" pays... How's that not worse than "caller pays". Also, those type of charges are going away slowly as business figure out a better way to "generate revenue"

I agree with Skippy25 about your comments on here.
Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Binghamton, NY

Crookshanks

Member

Re: Five Gee's

said by jjeffeory:

In America we have a patchwork of "Laws"

It's the United States of America. 50 different States, that retain most of their sovereignty, surrendering only limited and enumerated powers to the Federal Government.
said by jjeffeory:

I take it you haven't traveled abroad much with that nationalist attitude.

You'd be wrong. I've been to Italy, the UK, Ireland, Finland, Germany, Greece, and Australia.

There's nothing nationalist about my attitude. I don't think we're inherently superior or inferior. I'm just sick of the constant whining about the grass being greener on the other side of the fence. Hint: It's not, everything is relative.
said by jjeffeory:

and the "caller pays" idea they have over there seems better than the "everybody pays" system we have here in the US.

You'd think that, until you get to spend an extra $0.10 - $0.20/min just for the privilege of calling a friend with a cell phone. That's what "caller pays" is, extra charges for calling a cell phone, above and beyond the usual airtime/long distance charges that we pay in the United States.
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

jjeffeory

Member

Re: Five Gee's

said by Crookshanks:

It's the United States of America. 50 different States, that retain most of their sovereignty, surrendering only limited and enumerated powers to the Federal Government.

These "Laws" are mostly at the federal level, and in case you haven't noticed, we've been going towards more federal power for a long while.
said by Crookshanks:

You'd think that, until you get to spend an extra $0.10 - $0.20/min just for the privilege of calling a friend with a cell phone. That's what "caller pays" is, extra charges for calling a cell phone, above and beyond the usual airtime/long distance charges that we pay in the United States.

...and that is changing there too.
said by Crookshanks:

There's nothing nationalist about my attitude. I don't think we're inherently superior or inferior. I'm just sick of the constant whining about the grass being greener on the other side of the fence. Hint: It's not, everything is relative.

Which was my point and why I took exception to your comment. It's not all roses and daisies here. We have some things that should be worked on and it doesn't look like we're doing that very well to the benefit of our our citizenry.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT

1 edit

SimbaSeven

Member

5G = LTE-A..

..which is what 4G really should be. Of course, we all knew that *G is really a marketing term by the corporations.

Heck, even AT&T is still touting HSPA+ as 4G.
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

jjeffeory

Member

Re: 5G = LTE-A..

T-Mobile shows HSPA+ as 4G on my phone, and then when there's really 4G it shows "4G LTE".

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT

SimbaSeven

Member

Re: 5G = LTE-A..

Technically, 4G is LTE-A.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

jjeffeory

Member

Re: 5G = LTE-A..

Right; I find it funny that the carriers are calling HSPA+ "4G" when it technically isn't.

tmh
@verizon.net

tmh

Anon

Bah!

Any "G" is now obsolete. Time to bring out the next letter of the alphabet.

Behold! The super duper 10H network!

RR Conductor
Ridin' the rails
Premium Member
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA

RR Conductor

Premium Member

28 to 90 Ghz, are you kidding?

"Theodore Rappaport foresees networks using 28 to 90 GHz bands to deliver several Gbits/second to tomorrow's mobile devices"

Oh yeah, that ought to have great range.