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Originally Posted by Quoth
Try it somewhere busy and with more than one client.
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Suburban residential neighborhood in a modest city (250,000).
Not downtown manhattan.
(I was getting 17-24Mb. Not the 30-40Mb range of cable, but since cable wasn't working for months...)
But Downtown manhattan in exactly where 5G shines because of the new frequencies on the block by block transmitters.
And again: I'm not talking marketing speak here but realworld bandwidth use.
I hate to bring them in again, but in real world use:
https://help.netflix.com/en/node/306
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Below are the internet download speed recommendations per stream for playing TV shows and movies through Netflix.
3.0 Megabits per second - Recommended for SD quality
5.0 Megabits per second - Recommended for HD quality
25 Megabits per second - Recommended for Ultra HD quality
Watch Netflix in HD
To watch Netflix in HD, ensure you have an HD plan, then set your video quality setting to Auto or High. Titles will play in HD as long as you have a connection speed of 5.0 megabits per second or faster.
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5G is a layered tech. Using high microwave frequencies over short distances in dense locations and older 4G in low density areas. Total bandwidth will scale with user density. The 5G 1GB promises are peak and as relevant to the streaming world as Google's gigabit fiber. What is relevant in the streaming world is the low end tier in the 30-100 Mb range.
That is what people getting gouged by cablecos for 20/40MB and data caps will now have a choice.
This explains the 5G architecture:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/what-is-5g/
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Unlike LTE, 5G operates on three different spectrum bands. While this may not seem important, it will have a dramatic effect on your everyday use.
Low-band spectrum can also be described as sub 1GHz spectrum. It’s the primary band used by carriers in the U.S. for LTE, and bandwidth is nearly depleted. While low-band spectrum offers great coverage area and wall penetration, there is a big drawback: Peak data speeds will top out around 100Mbps.
T-Mobile is the key player when it comes to low-band spectrum. The carrier picked up a massive amount of 600MHz spectrum at a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction in 2017 and is using it to quickly build out its nationwide 5G network.
Mid-band spectrum provides faster speeds and lower latency than low-band. It does, however, fail to penetrate buildings as effectively as low-band spectrum. Expect peak speeds up to 1Gbps on mid-band spectrum.
Sprint has the majority of unused mid-band spectrum in the U.S. The carrier is using Massive MIMO to improve penetration and coverage area on the mid-band. Massive MIMO groups multiple antennas onto a single box, and at a single cell tower, to create multiple simultaneous beams to different users. Sprint will also use Beamforming to bolster 5G service on the mid-band. This sends a single focused signal to each and every user in the cell, and systems using it monitor each user to make sure they have a consistent signal.
High-band spectrum is what delivers the highest performance for 5G, but with major weaknesses. It is often referred to as mmWave. High-band spectrum can offer peak speeds up to 10Gbps and has extremely low latency. The main drawback of high-band is that it has low coverage area and building penetration is poor.
AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon are all rolling out high-band spectrum. 5G coverage for the carriers will piggyback off LTE while they work to build out nationwide networks. Since high-band spectrum sacrifices building penetration and coverage area for high speed, it will rely on many small cells. These are low-power base stations that cover small geographic areas and can be combined with beamforming to bolster coverage.
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Performance?
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Both NSA and SA standards share the same specifications, but NSA uses existing LTE networks for rollout while SA will use a next-generation core network. Carriers are starting with the NSA specification, which means you will fall back on 4G LTE in a non-5G environment.
The standards set by 3GPP closely correspond with IMT-2020 performance targets and are somewhat complex, but here’s a general rundown:
Peak data rate: 5G will offer significantly faster data speeds. Peak data rates can hit 20Gbps downlink and 10Gbps uplink per mobile base station. Mind you, that’s not the speed you’d experience with 5G (unless you have a dedicated connection) — it’s the speed shared by all users on the cell.
Real-world speeds: While the peak data rates for 5G sound pretty impressive, actual speeds won’t be the same. The spec calls for user download speeds of 100Mbps and upload speeds of 50Mbps.
Latency: Latency, the time it takes data to travel from one point to another, should be at 4 milliseconds in ideal circumstances, and at 1 millisecond for use cases that demand the utmost speed. Think remote surgeries, for instance.
Efficiency: Radio interfaces should be energy efficient when in use, and drop into low-energy mode when not in use. Ideally, a radio should be able to switch into a low-energy state within 10 milliseconds when no longer in use.
Spectral efficiency: Spectral efficiency is “the optimized use of spectrum or bandwidth so that the maximum amount of data can be transmitted with the fewest transmission errors.” 5G should have a slightly improved spectral efficiency over LTE, coming in at 30bits/Hz downlink, and 15 bits/Hz uplink.
Mobility: With 5G, base stations should support movement from 0 to 310 mph. This basically means the base station should work across a range of antenna movements — even on a high-speed train. While it’s easily done on LTE networks, such mobility can be a challenge on new millimeter wave networks.
Connection density: 5G should be able to support many more connected devices than LTE. The standard states 5G should be able to support 1 million connected devices per square kilometer. That’s a huge number, which takes into account the slew of devices that will power the Internet of Things (IoT).
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Much more at the source.
My local case is that ATT is building out their core base stations along the suburban roadsides, with a three foot orange tube every few hundred feet. Once they officially launch, they'll add the connection stations inside the specific development. Sprint and T-Mobike already have most of their 5G system in place and are waiting on consumer hardware to come down in price. It'll be a year or so before they start selling consumer internet but Liberty is already doubling speeds for "some reason".
In dense city centers, the wireless carriers are installing their stations (which are very small boxes) by negotiating with the municipalities to attach tbe boxes to light poles and trafic signals.
In less denser exurbs, they use proprietary wire to link the stations to their network.
None of it is cheap. It is costing the carriers billions and it is why T-Mobile bought Sprint (they already owned oodles of tbe best spectrum). They aren't spending this for smoke and mirrors marketing (though there is plenty of this in some areas).
They're doing it to take market share away from the cablecos and take advantage of the cordcutting boom.
Free market economics.
Cablecos have been abusing customers for decades and gatekeeping content providers. They've raked in hundreds of billions over those decades.
But they've also made themselves thoroughly detested.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemo.../#7367a43690b5
The pay TV business has been in decline for over five years and the move to higher broadband prices has made them the target of new technologies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/03/cabl...one-shows.html
Bottom line is the world of 2020 isn't the world of 2019/
There are at least five major technologies (cordcutting, 5G, reusable space launch systems, LEO SAT communications, superbatteries, and electric cars) maturing at the same time and are collectively disrupting a lot of major business.
ViacomCBS isn't alone in getting caught with their pants down.