Upgrade to 5G without increases in data allowances?

[jkwilson]

Upgrading to faster speeds while bragging that users can watch 4K movies and have 4K video calls without at least an order of magnitude data allowance increase seems like an inexplicable move from cell providers. 4K is about 7.2GB per hour which will quickly eat through any current data allowance. Kind of like having a car with a sports suspension and high horsepower engine when the only place you can drive has a stop sign every block.

I know data allowances, at least for more expensive plans, aren’t hard limits, but it seems that more subscribers with phones capable of eating data at a very high rate will result in the need for providers to throttle more often.

Is 5G going to result in a less usable network? Will 5G get the priority so the provider has bragging rights for the fastest 5G while 4G users effectively get downgraded performance?

My 2 cents is that a bigger pipe would have been a better upgrade than a faster one.

[way2roll]

Let me preface by saying I don't know a thing about the differences between 2,4 and 5 G. My phone has capability of 2 and 4. My home internet has 2 and 5. Of all three, 5g performs the worst. We cut the cord and stream everything and 2g performs the most consistently. 5g drops and requires re-connecting more often than 2g. I am sure there are reasons why this happens, but between 2 and 5g, we opt for 2g. It just performs better. My son is a gamer with a pretty sophisticated PC and can't tell the difference.

[theoldwizard1]

agesilaus wrote:
5G from what I've read is an urban only phenomena for the foreseeable future. It has very limited range,

Not true ! T Mobile signals are mostly (all?) FR1. Same range as 4G but not significantly faster.

[agesilaus]

5G from what I've read is an urban only phenomena for the foreseeable future. It has very limited range, measured in feet while 4G is in miles. So no signals away from dense population centers. Forget about it and concentrate on improving your 4G signal.

[theoldwizard1]

IMHO, 5G is a first class SCAM between the phone manufacturers and the network people !

First, you have to understand that there are TWO very different radio frequencies bands used. FR1 (<6GHz, around the same frequencies used by 4G) and FR2 (24–100GHz).

Second, most carriers are sticking with FR1 (for now) because they can continue to use some of their existing equipment and it works "better" (more below). 5G in the FR1 band is NOT significantly faster than 4G ! Now you know why I call it a scam !!

The "super fast" speeds that 5G is capable of only happen in the FR2 range. FR2 does not work well in cities with tall buildings (test prove that simply walking around a corner will cause your phone to switch to 4G or drop the call completely). It also does not reach as far as FR1 signals (no help for rural areas).

[Lwiddis]

Moving data faster is the goal of providers, so they can accommodate our...our continual need to download and upload more data. The pipe size is secondary to speed. If data is loaded faster, the size of the pipe isn’t an issue. Yes, 5G is preferred by providers and consumers.