Forget 5G

vermilye wrote:
My AT&T iPhone 10 showed 5G while visiting the Washington, DC area, but was no faster than normal.

That's because ATT is blatantly lying, and is being sued for it. The only difference on your phone is the 5GE symbol. The E stands for "evolution", which means they'll evolve to it someday, probably not in your area in your lifetime.

I see you didn't bother to read the article that started this thread. 5G is stopped by glass.

agesilaus wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:
Well.... Not to try and predict the future but when Cell PHones first came out they worked best in "Population centers" and poorly if at all in rual districts. tehn the network expanded.. They they went Digital. and again the new phones worked best in population centers at first.. then expanded

Then 2 g
Then 3 G
Then 4 G
Now 5 G
With 2,3 and 4 IT started in the population centers and now....

Well.. Why should 5G be different????

Were 2G thru 4G stopped by a glass door? What about the side of an RV?

Far as I know glass won't stop RF no matter the frequency less it is very special glass (Faraday shielded) Metal will. Fiberglass does not as near as I can tell.

And I throw a LOT of RF around at assorted frequencies.

BUT that said. Been a long, long, long time sine I used 2G or 3 Been 4 for several years and 4LTE for the last few.

I have followed a few tech sites and The 5g cell system as it is now ( or soon to be) being rolled out requires many transmitters as it’s range is blocks not miles. It was and is designed for cities and other high density areas but I guess the “towers “ are small and less noticeable according to one article I read.
5 g isn’t the solution for rural as some think and was never meant to be.
In my opinion until we subsidize rural access it won’t happen. It just isn’t profitable.
ATT is using 5g evolution as smoke and mirrors because 5 g evolution ( clever name to sound like 5g) to the mass public sounds like they are the latest and greatest. Pure deceptive marketing! But you know what .. it will probably do what they intended.

Lots of advantage with the increased bandwidth of 5G the major down side is the range.
You can double the transmit power but gain very little signal distance there will need to be twice as many transmitting towers plus the phones will have to have better batteries due to transmitting power requirements.

If you don't live in a subdivision you will probably need an outside antenna the good news the antenna will be small compared to today's antennas.

According to this article "AT&T originally announced “5G Evolution” back in 2017. It’s not a technical standard,
and it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just branding for marketing AT&T’s existing 4G network."

https://www.howtogeek.com/399560/5g-e-isnt-real-5g.-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

Same here, but I think it's more of a Marketing gimmick than 5g service.

My AT&T iPhone 10 showed 5G while visiting the Washington, DC area, but was no faster than normal.

This is no suprise. There are still so many areas that have no coverage, let alone 4G. In many rural areas you are lucky to get 3G.

I believe that this is one of the main reasons that the Government is about to hold the largest bandwidth sale in history. Today's infrastructure simply cannot handle the needs but, in theory, the new bandwidth would help solve some of these issues. For those who believe 5G is going to be the new normal and the end of everything else (including satellite TV) are in for a very BIG surprise. However, 10 years from now as 6G is being developed I would guess that most of the Country will have very good 4G coverage.