Confused about 4G vs 5G networks? Many who answered a new internet survey were. Here are basic 5G facts to know, and the 5G phones available now:
Can you explain how the internet works? Turns out, a full third of people surveyed in the US could not easily do that.
Another third of those Americans surveyed think their current smartphone uses 5G. And 43% think you can use the internet without a modem.
For the record, all smartphones have modems. And only some of the world’s wireless carriers have started rolling out 5G in limited areas. So far, only about a dozen of the newest phones can work on 5G networks — that list of 5G phones is further below.
Internet survey: 5G misconceptions
The 2019 Internet knowledge survey by the website HighSpeedInternet.com, asked 1,000 people some questions to test their internet and tech knowledge. Here are some of the most interesting findings:
86% of surveyed Americans say they know how the internet works, but when asked to explain it, a third of them could not.
33% of Americans believe their current cell phone already uses 5G.
That last number is backed up by Decluttr.com, who quizzed 2,000 Americans this year. On average, a third of those people also think they have a 5G phone.
But Decluttr also found that this 5G fantasy varies by carrier. While “only” 24% of Verizon iPhone customers polled thought they had a 5G phone, almost half of AT&T iPhone and Samsung phone customers thought so — and over half of T-Mobile Samsung customers.
Carriers are partly to blame for some 4G vs 5G falsehoods. AT&T, for one, was fined for misleading consumers by calling their 4G LTE network as ‘5Ge’.
On the bright side, most of those surveyed by HighSpeedInternet did know what an IP address is, what the difference between WiFi and internet is, and that you need more download speed than upload speed.
So, what is 5G?
After the first cell phones were introduced by Motorola in 1973, the first-gen analog networks were terribly slow, and only allowed for calls. It wasn’t until 1991 that the 2G digital network standard was put into place for making both wireless calls and texts. Then starting in 2003, new 3G networks made it easier for more phones to access the internet — though it was quite limited at first.
Just 10 years ago, 4G was slowly rolled out to deliver faster mobile internet speeds. This extra speed is needed for data-hungry mobile video streaming and interactive mobile gaming services, such as lifelike casinos for mobile phones.
5G is the 5th generation of an ongoing set of technology standards for wireless networks. Like its predecessors 3G and 4G, 5G was adopted by 3GPP (The 3rd Generation Partnership Project), the group that governs cellular standards.
4G vs 5G: What to expect
There are big differences between 4G vs 5G in speed and promised coverage. After you buy a new 5G capable phone, you’ll be able to get download speeds of up 1 Gbps on a high-band 5G network, and technically up to 10 Gbps. Even at the 5G low end, that means you’ll be able to download entire movies in seconds.
For businesses, 5G is especially exciting for its power to more seamlessly connect all kinds of things to the internet cloud, and to each other. This bigger “internet of things” or IoT as it’s called, will connect things like vehicles, city infrastructure, industrial equipment and home appliances — and that’s just for starters.
In this way, 5G networks can improve on smaller-scale Bluetooth mesh networks, which are also used to connect many devices.
5G phones available so far
So far, there are about a dozen 5G phones available, but not all carriers offer them yet. The new 5G phones include:
— Samsung Galaxy Fold 5G
— Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and 10 Plus 5G
— LG V50 ThinQ 5G
— Huawei Mate X (pictured above, unfolded)
— Huawei Mate 20 X 5G and 30 5G
— Honor View 30
— OnePlus 7 Pro 5G and 7T Pro 5G McLaren
— Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G
And there a few others — see TechRadar for the latest list. Apple’s new iPhone 11 series does not support 5G, so you can be sure Apple will add 5G next year to convince you to upgrade again.
For more review links to many of those phones plus more 5G facts, 4G vs 5G, and where 5G is available in the US, also check out the latest updated 5G report from Tom’s Guide.
