Some notes on 5G cell phone rollouts
Apr. 4th, 2019 10:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thewayneSome AT&T phones have been displaying 5Ge on their phones for a while now, but they are not, in fact, 5G. It's a newer form of 4G, allegedly faster.
It's not.
A group called Open Signal tested it for a month, and it's actually SLOWER than Verizon and T-Mobile's 4G networks!
I love techfail! Pay more, get less!
https://venturebeat.com/2019/03/22/opensignal-atts-5g-e-falls-short-of-t-mobile-and-verizon-4g-speeds/
If you want 5G with Verizon, there's a couple of things to be aware of. The biggest thing is that you only have one phone available: a Motorola Z3, which is surprisingly affordable at $240. Except it needs a $200 modification to work 5G. And the service is only being rolled out in Chicago and Minneapolis initially. Still, it will supposedly be pretty durn fast.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/03/verizon-begins-rolling-out-its-5g-wireless-network-for-smartphones.html
But the best thing about Verizon's 5G service? You get to pay an extra $10 a month for it! It's only available on their unlimited data plans, and it's going to cost you $85-105 A MONTH!
Best thing for Verizon.
So new phone. Upgrade phone. Then maybe upgrade your plan.
Samsung is going to introduce a 5G phone next year, and I expect we'll be seeing everyone else introducing 5G phones in the next 2-3 years, by which time everyone will have upgraded their networks or be nearly done with upgrades.
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/03/verizon-to-charge-10-extra-for-5g-but-wont-do-any-throttling-for-now/
I am more and more thinking about going back to an iPhone 5S. It's a smaller form factor, which I like, and I think it's 4G, which is all I need. And I can purchase it for about $150. Case is going to be a bit of an issue, it won't be easy getting a BookBook for it. But it runs the current iOS, at least for now.
It's not.
A group called Open Signal tested it for a month, and it's actually SLOWER than Verizon and T-Mobile's 4G networks!
I love techfail! Pay more, get less!
https://venturebeat.com/2019/03/22/opensignal-atts-5g-e-falls-short-of-t-mobile-and-verizon-4g-speeds/
If you want 5G with Verizon, there's a couple of things to be aware of. The biggest thing is that you only have one phone available: a Motorola Z3, which is surprisingly affordable at $240. Except it needs a $200 modification to work 5G. And the service is only being rolled out in Chicago and Minneapolis initially. Still, it will supposedly be pretty durn fast.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/03/verizon-begins-rolling-out-its-5g-wireless-network-for-smartphones.html
But the best thing about Verizon's 5G service? You get to pay an extra $10 a month for it! It's only available on their unlimited data plans, and it's going to cost you $85-105 A MONTH!
Best thing for Verizon.
So new phone. Upgrade phone. Then maybe upgrade your plan.
Samsung is going to introduce a 5G phone next year, and I expect we'll be seeing everyone else introducing 5G phones in the next 2-3 years, by which time everyone will have upgraded their networks or be nearly done with upgrades.
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/03/verizon-to-charge-10-extra-for-5g-but-wont-do-any-throttling-for-now/
I am more and more thinking about going back to an iPhone 5S. It's a smaller form factor, which I like, and I think it's 4G, which is all I need. And I can purchase it for about $150. Case is going to be a bit of an issue, it won't be easy getting a BookBook for it. But it runs the current iOS, at least for now.
