About 5G technology
The main aim of the first generations of mobile networks was simple. It provided reliable and fast mobile data services to users. The 5G network has enhanced this goal to provide a more extensive range of wireless services.
There are a few carriers in the US, for example, who have now released some form of 5G connectivity. But how different is 5G compared with 4G? As its availability increases, so it’s the people’s confusion.
5G is a generation of wireless technology that offers three new features. First, you can connect more than two devices at once. Then, there’s the thing with the lower latency, which is more responsive.
The last feature that 5G puts on the table is the more prominent channels that speed up data. If all seems too complicated to understand, you should know that there’s no rush.
It represents an investment for the next couple of years. So, we should expect it to become widespread around 2021 or 2022. Now, let’s set some things straight.
5G, 5GHz and 5G E are not the same thing
As similar as they might sound to you, 5G, 5GHz and 5G E are not the same. 5G is the latest generation of wireless technology. The 5GHz Wi-Fi is a developed home networking system, while the 5G E is a product made by AT & T for its 4G network marketing.
5GHz Wi-Fi is operating the five-gigahertz radio band. It has been released in 1999, but become praised when most Wi-Fi devices started to support it.
As for AT & T’s 5G E, things are more different, and they’re not what you expected them to be. The company re-branded its existing 4G LTE and claims that it’s very close to what 5G means.
Which is not. In the mobile world, a so-called “G” (generation) should represent a compatibility break. It’s a sign that shows users when new equipment is available, and when they would need it.
5G types
The 5G technology can work on any frequency, and there are three different types, low, middle, and high. 5G speeds are directly associated with how many channels are available and how wide they are.
Currently, low-band and high-band 5G are not a match, because no device can operate both of them yet.
Low-band 5G (frequencies below 1GHz)
Low-band 5G is being used for 4G and is slow. The channels our carriers are utilizing are approximately 10MHz in width. This type of low-band can go great distances, but now, there are not many wide channels available.
Mid-band 5G (frequencies of 1-10GHz)
Mid-band 5G covers the most current Wi-Fi and cellular frequencies. These networks come with a decent range of about a mile. Most countries offer approximately 100MHz to their carriers for mid-band 5G.
High-band 5G (the millimeter-wave)
High-band 5G is the new stuff. Until now, this type of 5G represents mainly airwaves in the 20-100GHz range. The airwaves haven’t been utilized before for consumer devices, and they’re very short in range.
The millimeter-wave emissions drop off quickly with distance than lower-wave signals do. Also, the immense amount of data the high-band can transfer will need more connections to landline Internet.
So far, T-Mobile has both high- and low-band, Sprint has mid-band, while AT & T and Verizon have high-band networks.
How 5G works?
Similar to other cellular networks, 5G network uses a system of cell sites that separate their territory into areas. They also transmit encoded data via radio waves.
5G’s air interface is developed for higher flexibility and much lower latency than LTE. The 5G radio system can reach almost 30 % better speeds because of its efficient encoding. 5G is made to utilize more extensive channels than 4G, so that’s why the gigabit speeds are so crazy.
According to Qualcomm, 5G can enhance the capacity by approximately four times over other systems. Such a thing is possible by using some advanced antenna technologies and leveraging broader bandwidths.
The plan is to obtain the highest speeds available, and higher capacity per area, at somehow lower latency than 4G. Currently, it is aiming at 20Gbps rates and 1ms latency.
How safe is 5G?
Ongoing researches about the 5G network stated that there might be some concerns, while some scientists declared that it is safe. So, what are the concerns?
Back in 2014, the WHO (the World Health Organization) stated that: “No adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use.”
However, the WHO teamed up with the IARC (the International Agency for Research on Cancer) and realized quite the study. Researchers succeeded in classifying all known radio frequency radiation (from mobile signals) as “possibly carcinogenic.”
So, their results indicate that exposure might cause cancer in humans. But again, we still don’t have such cases. No users have ever reported cases of cancer so far.
The 5G network needs more new base stations, meaning that there will be lots of transmitter masts. Should we be concerned about them?
Well, because there will be more installed, the level of radiation exposure from 5G antennas will be significantly lower. So no worries here.
Then, we have the heating dangers. Part of the 5G spectrum falls within the microwave band. Such a thing means that microwave produces heat in matters through which they pass.
Studies, however, showed that the maximum radio frequency level that a user could be exposed to from the 5G network is minimal. There wasn’t any temperature rise detected.
Conclusions
For now, all we know about the 5G connectivity tells us that we should not worry. After all, we use many technologies every day.
We should look after the advantages of 5G that will come in the coming decade. 5G will allow growing technologies that rely on connectivity to the Internet to be widespread. There are lots of real hazards that our world still has to face.
The 5G network, however, isn’t among them. We should rely more on scientific proof, rather than ideology, to guide our lives. 5G will represent the technology that will take all mainstream.
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