Let‘s cut through the confusion surrounding 5G and 5GE. You keep hearing how 5G delivers amazingly fast speeds. Then why does your phone now display something called "5GE" instead? This straightforward guide clears up the hype, giving you realities on the present and future of mobile broadband.
We sort technical complexities into plain english. No matter your current understanding of modern network technology, you‘ll gain insight on what impacts your daily mobile experience. Read on to learn what‘s really different between these networks, with evidence behind the claims.
How Do the Wireless Generations Compare?
Since the first analog cell networks in the 1980s, each generation improved dramatically on the last. The upgrade from 3G to 4G LTE represented an enormous leap, enabling the mobile media consumption boom. But relentless demand keeps pushing infrastructure limits.
So 5G utilizes new radio spectrum, dense cell architecture, and sophisticated antennas to launch network speeds, capacity and flexibility to entirely new tiers. Officially, it aims to offer peak download speeds up to an astonishing 20 Gigabits per second!
But deploying complex new infrastructure nationwide takes time. So AT&T adopted misleading "5GE" branding in the interim for certain enhanced 4G service areas. Think of it more as a stepping stone upgrades path, rather than true next generation 5G.
How do the user experiences actually compare? This table summarizes the technical differences across recent wireless generations:
| 4G LTE | 5GE | 5G | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Download Speed | 10 Mbps | 75 Mbps | 100+ Mbps |
| Peak Download Speed | 100+ Mbps | 100+ Mbps | 20 Gbps |
| Typical Video Quality | 480p | 1080p | 8K |
You‘ll gain more consistent speed boosts as 5G infrastructure rolls out further. But even the intermediate upgrades already enable noticeable improvements. Streaming higher resolution video is an obvious benefit users see daily.
Demystifying True 5G Capabilities
Now let‘s explore 5G‘s advanced technology to better understand the experience promises…and limitations.
New High-Frequency mmWave Spectrum
Much 5G deployment uses very high frequency millimeter wave (mmWave) signals near 25 GHz or more. Massive bandwidth capacity here facilitates those extreme peak throughput speeds.
Think of it as upgrading from a two-lane road to 8 bustling lanes of traffic. More spectrum enables transporting more data at once.
But at such high frequencies, coverage range plummets. Signals also struggle penetrating walls and other obstacles. Solving this requires densifying infrastructure by installing many more small transmission cells throughout service areas.
Advanced Antennas
Sophisticated antenna implementations further optimize these mmWave signals for faster, higher quality connections:
-
Massive MIMO – More antennas communicating simultaneously using beamforming techniques to dynamically target transmission between tower and user device locations resulting in the fastest throughput. This coordinates signal reflections to concentrate signals rather than diffusing in all directions.
-
Uplink/downlink decoupling – Separate sets of antennas for receiving vs transmitting signals means more efficient operation in both directions
Lower Latency
All the spectrum, infrastructure, and antenna innovations also translate to much lower communication latency on 5G networks. Latency refers to the time delay as data makes a round trip through the network. 5G aims to cut this down to around just 1 millisecond, versus roughly 50 ms typically seen on 4G.
This near real-time responsiveness becomes critical for applications like industrial automation, autonomous vehicles, remote healthcare, and more. Even for mobile broadband, it accelerates how quickly pages load and videos start buffering.
But Isn‘t 5GE Still Faster Than Regular 4G?
Absolutely – the enhanced AT&T service marketed as 5GE does offer meaningful improvements for capable devices in coverage areas. Upgrades like installing more fiber transport connectivity between towers, advanced antennas, and improving signal encoding algorithms accelerate performance.
Independent testing confirms this – Opensignal found AT&T 5GE average download speeds around 36 Mbps in 2019, versus 22 Mbps on their standard 4G LTE.
So users with recent premium phones like an iPhone XS or Samsung Galaxy S10 do experience a boost. But inconsistently, and still well short of standards-based 5G expectations ahead.
Why the Confusion Between 4G, 5GE and 5G?
AT&T faced heavy criticism for essentially misleading customers that 5GE represented their widespread launch of next generation 5G capabilities. It fueled confusion understanding incremental enhancements versus truly transformational network technology advances still years from extensive availability.
In reality, the strategic branding tactic aimed to incentivize upgrading devices that could best utilize their intermediate performance upgrades. The industry depends on continually upselling new phones with claims of unlocking the "latest technology".
But framing evolutions of existing infrastructure as revolutionary does a disservice to consumers. It risks disappointment from perceptions exceeding complex deployment realities.
Moving ahead, continuing 5G rollouts should steadily resolve frustration gaps. Improving transparency and education on actual technical capabilities vs aspirational hype remains critical in the interim.
Bottom Line for Consumers
There‘s understandable impatience awaiting the amazing speed vision decades of research points toward with real 5G networks. Hype cycling through targeted marketing adds to confusion separating incremental advances from the immense leap promised ahead.
But early adopters should temper expectations understanding the constraints. Building such an intricately complex new national infrastructure demands diligent patience. Prioritize your needs for improved services today rather than betting on speculative future-proofing.
Carefully weighing independent testing data and technical analysis offers the best safeguard. Look past slogans and commercial imagery showing idealized use cases. Dig deeper into realistic assessments of current speeds actually delivered across entire customer journeys in your area.
Progress accelerates excitedly as technology, standards and testing processes align. But true 5G remains unevenly scattered amidst islands of advanced infrastructure surrounded by seas of legacy networks. There‘s a long journey ahead before its transformation potential unlocks fully.
