Is T-Mobile’s 5G Network Ready for Prime Time?
It’s been another year of big promises for 5G, and while we’ve seen the first 5G devices hit the market and the number of advertisements touting the glory of 5G speeds has grown steadily over the past 12 months, the technology is still not worth it. money for the average smartphone user. This is especially true for much of T-Mobile’s new nationwide 5G network.
T-Mobile may call its 5G network nationwide 5G, but it’s not real 5G. Like other carriers, T-Mobile uses so-called “low-frequency” 5G, as opposed to the faster “millimeter wave” (mmWave) or high-frequency 5G. The latter is the “real” 5G technology because it uses unused radio spectrum for faster connections and data rates. Lowband 5G, on the other hand, is technically 5G, but it can’t match the performance of mmWave.
The trade-off is that low-band 5G has better range and is easier to install and run, as in some cases operators may be using existing network technologies. On the other hand, mmWave 5G requires completely new hardware and would-be smartphone racers have to contend with mmWave’s initially limited range.
While AT&T and Verizon are busy building their highband networks that will offer a “real” 5G experience – a slow process – T-Mobile has used its low frequency access to expand its 5G network at a much faster rate. … However, the performance you get on this network can vary greatly.
T-Mobile’s 5G network is barely faster than 4G in many places
PCMag’s Sasha Segan recently released the results of a weeklong test of the T-Mobiles 5G network using the upcoming One Plus 7T Pro McLaren 5G smartphone. Shigan has visited and tested 5G speeds in over 22 US cities on T-Mobile’s network, and the results are not very good.
According to Segan testing, most cities on T-Mobile’s network often barely exceed 4G speeds, and in some isolated cases even slower than 4G, although there have been a few cities where 5G speeds markedly outperformed 4G:
- Boise, Idaho
- El Paso, TX
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Reno, Nevada
- Lubbock, TX
- Spokane, Washington
T-Mobile uses 20MHz, 30MHz or 40MHz spectrum for its low-band 5G, and cities that use 40MHz spectrum (and have little to no TV signal interference) tend to boost your mobile network speed significantly. In all other cities, 5G has shown minor improvements at best, with many showing no improvement at all over 4G. And in New York, 5G was much slower than 4G.
Some 5Gs are not actually 5G
These slow speeds seem to nullify the entire purpose of the 5G network in the first place, and it casts doubt on whether the upgrade to 5G is worth it – unless you’re a T-Mobile customer with a 5G phone and live in it. of the few cities where T-Mobile can connect to 40 MHz spectrum.
However, Segan’s results highlight another major issue with 5G: carriers can still legitimately call this 5G – even if it barely outperforms or even slower than 4G – since 5G is about signal type, not network speed. This allows customers to think they are getting 5G “speed” when they simply use a device that sends and receives 5G signals. Speed depends on network performance, not just phone capabilities.
The situation is getting worse: as we said earlier, many 5G networks and devices are switching users to 4G LTE without warning and still claim to be using 5G; In fact, some devices outright lie about whether you are using 5G or not . It’s not a good look and should make you wonder if you need to buy a 5G device at all in the near future. In many cases, 5G has little or no benefit.
Gradually getting better
Despite T-Mobile’s disappointing 5G report from PCMag, 5G has room to grow. Network performance and availability are improving, leaving a plethora of unused 5G frequencies for companies to start using in 2020 and beyond.
5G devices are getting better as well, and some may even mix 4G and 5G at the same time for faster speeds than 4G or 5G, like the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren that Segan used for testing. They are still not quite worth the jump in price, but they will hopefully get closer next year.
But even with incremental improvements in technology, 5G’s logistical challenges need to be overcome before it becomes the widespread standard that many companies aspire to. These issues include material issues like high power requirements and high prices for 5G devices, as well as infrastructure issues like mmWave 5G signals that are easily blocked by everyday obstacles like cloudy weather (or even your hand).
It’s because of these issues that I hold the same view about 5G in the final weeks of 2019 as I did at the end of 2018: it’s just not worth it . At least for now.