What is the difference between 3G, 4G and 5G?
In: Technology
3G is the third generation of wireless communication technology. Near the end of its life it was capable of data transfer rates of a few a Mbps. 3G saw the introduction of high speed data downlink packets which raised data transfer speeds to nearly 6 Mbps.
4G/4G LTE was the next generation of wireless communication technology. 4G saw the introduction of Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), IPv6 support, frequency division multiplexing and frequency-domain statistical multiplexing. These advancements in signals processing allowed 4G to reach speeds of 100Mbps.
5G is the current generation being rolled out worldwide. It is a major step forward in wireless technology. It completely replaces the LTE standard and offers astronomical data transfer rates. Rates could be in excess of 1Gbps for a small group of concurrent users. It supports tens of thousands of simultaneous connections and brings with it the chance for the Internet of Things concept to truly come to fruition. 5G operates on very high frequencies with Verizon using millimetre scale wavelengths in its 5G network. It comes with more technological advances than I can put here. The downside is that range on 5G signals is very low, just 10’s of meters for the highest bandwidth signals. This means that for true national 5G coverage to come to pass tens of thousands of 5G transmitters need to be installed. If you live in one of the roll out cities it is highly likely you have seen Verizon installing 5G transmitters on existing structures in your city.
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