5G- any good?

[alarmguy]

My iPhone 12 Pro has 2 sims. Only 1 is 5G capable. I can switch data between the 2 sims. 5G is sometimes faster, and sometimes so jammed up, I switch to 4G Just to get functionality.

I have noticed this too. But dont have the luxury of two sims.
I have a standard iPhone 13, at times on the 5g network in crowded areas, webpages will "hang" with horrible service. Even though I could have two bars. It's not often but happens and annoying, 5g still has a way to go.
A good LTE on a cell phone is just as good to me. Sure it's fun to run a speed test on a strong 5G signal, sometimes freaking amazing highest I ever recorded was around 700 Mbps. But in actually use I have no clue as to speed on a cell phone, its always fast except as mentioned.

 

[hemioiler]

I have noticed this too. But dont have the luxury of two sims.
I have a standard iPhone 13, at times on the 5g network in crowded areas, webpages will "hang" with horrible service. Even though I could have two bars. It's not often but happens and annoying, 5g still has a way to go.
A good LTE on a cell phone is just as good to me. Sure it's fun to run a speed test on a strong 5G signal, sometimes freaking amazing highest I ever recorded was around 700 Mbps. But in actually use I have no clue as to speed on a cell phone, its always fast except as mentioned.

You shouldn't need two sims. On android with 5g you can go into the settings and lock it down to whatever you want (4g/3g) all on the same sim.

 

[alarmguy]

You shouldn't need two sims. On android with 5g you can go into the settings and lock it down to whatever you want (4g/3g) all on the same sim.

Yes, that is what I have done. I forgot to mention it, I actually thought I did *LOL* but I see that I didnt!

 

[dogememe]

Greetings All-
Thinking of getting a new phone with 5G but will delay if its not any better than 4G so far. Looking for your experiences, opinions and recommendations. please. Lots of knowledge here at BITOG

Around here my new phone works a lot better than my old one. I can only speak for Verizon but overall quality of service is drastically better when I went from my iPhone SE 2020 (not 5G) to my iPhone 13 (with 5G). I’ve never had to disable 5G to get usable service or anything like that.

 

[hemioiler]

Around here my new phone works a lot better than my old one. I can only speak for Verizon but overall quality of service is drastically better when I went from my iPhone SE 2020 (not 5G) to my iPhone 13 (with 5G). I’ve never had to disable 5G to get usable service or anything like that.

Usable 5g is carrier dependent, not phone. If you're in a rural area (for me it's when I'm out camping in the sticks) then sometimes the signal can come and go, and at that point you're better off just dropping to the lower one because it's more stable.

5g is very sensitive to buildings, trees, weather etc. It's very fast but very weak, compared to say 3g which is much slower but travels much farther distances.

Just like 2.4 ghz vs 5 ghz wifi. 2.4 will go through walls much easier than 5, but it's definitely slower.

 

[Skippy722]

Usable 5g is carrier dependent, not phone. If you're in a rural area (for me it's when I'm out camping in the sticks) then sometimes the signal can come and go, and at that point you're better off just dropping to the lower one because it's more stable.

5g is very sensitive to buildings, trees, weather etc. It's very fast but very weak, compared to say 3g which is much slower but travels much farther distances.

Just like 2.4 ghz vs 5 ghz wifi. 2.4 will go through walls much easier than 5, but it's definitely slower.

It’s the frequency that matters, not 3g/4g/5G. For example T-Mobile offers 4G LTE at up to 2100mhz, which will result in poorer range than 5G operating at 600mhz.

 

[hemioiler]

It’s the frequency that matters, not 3g/4g/5G. For example T-Mobile offers 4G LTE at up to 2100mhz, which will result in poorer range than 5G operating at 600mhz.

Yep I'm aware of that, that's why I mentioned wifi; the lower the frequency, the further and better it travels. I wasn't aware 5g was available in 600mhz though so learned something new. I'm not that familiar with US carriers but in my experience in rural Canada sometimes you just have to drop down if you're getting stability issues.

 

[Freischneider]

I've had 5G now for a couple of years on T-Mobile. This is what speed I'm getting at home. It definitely makes downloading and starting movies faster.

 

[michaelluscher]

On T-Mobile, it means the most
On Verizon, it's you're best shot at avoiding congestion
On AT&T/FirstNet, it's rare (they're building out though)

 

[alarmguy]

I've had 5G now for a couple of years on T-Mobile. This is what speed I'm getting at home. It definitely makes downloading and starting movies faster.View attachment 151901

You're VERY close to a tower and that is needed. If you had 2 or 3 bars it would be almost unusable.
I know, I had 3 bar TMobile home internet, it was dysfunctional and I returned it, went back to Spectrum. This was two years ago.

My son tried T Mobile Home internet just 2 months ago, was thrilled at first and went downhill he had a solid 3 bars, sometimes 4.
He returned it and went back to traditional cable. It wasnt consistant.
I agree with your speeds though, I can go near ANY tower and get 5 bars and repeat the results you display and higher on my iPhone 13.
Being near a tower is the key. Over time, this will greatly improve but right now, if you're not near a tower. Forget it.

 

[Rygrego]

Have you looked into 10G that I see advertised by Comcast all the time? Is that twice as good as 5G?

No such thing, all the G stands for is Generation. We are currently at 5G, so next would be 6G, not 5 straight to 10. Just marketing crap.

 

[alarmguy]

No such thing, all the G stands for is Generation. We are currently at 5G, so next would be 6G, not 5 straight to 10. Just marketing crap.

Yes and with the traditional cell provider there is slower 5g (for distance) and Ultra Fast 5g.

The type of 5g you are connected to when you are on 5g is displayed next to the 5g symbol on your cell phone,

Example if you have T-MOBILE it will display plain 5g OR 5gUC which will show that you currently have a 5g Ultra connection.
TMobile 5gUC is incredible and that is when you get close to the 1gigabit speeds typically around 700 Mbps

Verizon have Symbols to show what type of 5g signal. I can only assume ATT too, easy to check.

Not sure if all phones display this but all Apple products do.

 

[supton]

Zero desire to get 5G. I rarely have cell service at home as it is, and am surrounded by dead zones. No value to me. I will occasionally turn on data and look something up while shopping, but that’s not that often these days.

 

[Cujet]

Wife and I went to a Mastodon+Gojira concert last night (it was a blast!). About 6000 people in attendance. Her 4G phone would not send or receive any pics or texts during the show. My 5G would send and receive, but very slowly. I was able to send out 2 pictures and get 3 texts over about 4 hours. The rest completed sending when we got home.

It was quite funny, as we are both old and my wife was in a wheelchair. Upon arrival, security asked if this was "our scene"! One 40 something lady said of my wife, oh look, grandma is here!

Conclusion: Both 4G and 5G were terrible, 4G was only slightly worse

 

[PandaBear]

It is all about the location, the carrier, and the phone.

In theory most 5G are deployed with higher frequency bands and need new tower equipment / phone to work, and since it is higher frequency it won't travel as far. So if you have a brand new tower nearby a new 5G phone would help if your area is congested. If you are in the rural area with no 5G tower nearby it won't help. If your area is not congested it won't help. If you are usually indoor using wifi calling anyways it won't help.

In concerts, densely populated with insufficient bandwidth but no wifi, 5G really helps.

I would still get a 5G phone these days regardless if you are upgrading. They already turned off 3G in most area so it makes sense to get the latest phone with newest standard so they last longer.

 

[davemunson]

Greetings All-
Thinking of getting a new phone with 5G but will delay if its not any better than 4G so far. Looking for your experiences, opinions and recommendations. please. Lots of knowledge here at BITOG

It's pure marketing hype. "5G" means a collection of newer frequencies that carriers use to transmit stuff to your cell phone part of the cellular data. The thing is, no one tells you if If "3.5 GHz: Band 48" is faster than "3.7 GHz: Band n77" and you can't tell unless things are extreme. If things are extreme, you are having too much fun and don't care. 5G new bands helps in places like times square and mega concerts but you can upload those pics later.

5G should be important to you in that it is a sign that the phone has the latest chips and technology. If it's important to you, look at the latest best phone and compare what bands it supports in comparison to the one you are looking at. Just because it says 5G does not guaranty it has all the bands by the way. If you are in mega populous areas, get it.

 

[willbur]

It's pure marketing hype. "5G" means a collection of newer frequencies that carriers use to transmit stuff to your cell phone part of the cellular data. The thing is, no one tells you if If "3.5 GHz: Band 48" is faster than "3.7 GHz: Band n77" and you can't tell unless things are extreme. If things are extreme, you are having too much fun and don't care. 5G new bands helps in places like times square and mega concerts but you can upload those pics later.

5G should be important to you in that it is a sign that the phone has the latest chips and technology. If it's important to you, look at the latest best phone and compare what bands it supports in comparison to the one you are looking at. Just because it says 5G does not guaranty it has all the bands by the way. If you are in mega populous areas, get it.

Do they tell you what "bands" your prospective 5G phone has available to it?

 

[alarmguy]

Do they tell you what "bands" your prospective 5G phone has available to it?

Yes, you can look up the specifications on any phone.