Why is 5G so SLOW?

[kmk1012]

Old phone on 5G always slowed down when I'd get close to potland and in 5G. Now, new phone and the same. Anyone else experience this?

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[Flopsweat]

You're making this joke way too easy...

 

[kmk1012]

You're making this joke way too easy...

Honestly not trying to joke here, just noticed that when on LTE (4G), it is much faster. I'm not the only one here with the same conclusion either. I do think it's funny though that the "greatest advancement in wireless history" make it like the old days-hit enter and then wait, and wait, and wait, LOL.

 

[Flopsweat]

Honestly not trying to joke here, just noticed that when on LTE (4G), it is much faster. I'm not the only one here with the same conclusion either. I do think it's funny though that the "greatest advancement in wireless history" make it like the old days-hit enter and then wait, and wait, and wait, LOL.

LOL, near me 4G was like that when it first came out. The joke was going to be that everything sucks in potland, but maybe it's everything but 4G.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Old phone on 5G always slowed down when I'd get close to potland and in 5G. Now, new phone and the same. Anyone else experience this?

Half of the energy is used to kill birds and stuff is why.

 

[The Heretic]

Probably depends on provider.

Excuse me for resurrecting this thread, but I just tested my new phone (Google Pixel 4a 5G) with 5G vs 4G LTE

Provider is T-Mobile - local tower is probably Sprint tower (they merged) and is visible from end of my driveway - probably about 3 miles away. T-Mobile is using Sprint towers to provide 5G @ 600 mHz, which is a much lower freq than usual for 5G. T-Mobile also uses the higher freqs for 5G where possible?

5G bands cheat sheet: Verizon vs AT&T vs Sprint vs T-Mobile vs World

What 5G bands are used by the major carriers in the USA? What 5G bands does Verizon use? What about AT&T's 5G bands and the 5G bands that Sprint and T-Mobile employ...

www.phonearena.com

Inside house signal strength is -101dbm and it falls back to 4G LTE - speed is ~12-15 mbps.

Outside with a clear view of the tower, I get 5G at -115 dbm and ~18 mbps

The higher the negative number, the less signal strength.

So you can see that for me, 5G is faster, even with the lower signal strength.

To see the signal strength on an Android 12 phone, you go to Settings->About Phone->SIM Status

I should mention that a lot of this depends on the battery charge of your phone - the lower the charge, the harder the phone has to work to get a good signal - you want at least a 25% charge.

 

[Alexx1401]

Probably depends on provider.

Excuse me for resurrecting this thread, but I just tested my new phone (Google Pixel 4a 5G) with 5G vs 4G LTE

Provider is T-Mobile - local tower is probably Sprint tower (they merged) and is visible from end of my driveway - probably about 3 miles away. T-Mobile is using Sprint towers to provide 5G @ 600 mHz, which is a much lower freq than usual for 5G. T-Mobile also uses the higher freqs for 5G where possible?

5G bands cheat sheet: Verizon vs AT&T vs Sprint vs T-Mobile vs World

What 5G bands are used by the major carriers in the USA? What 5G bands does Verizon use? What about AT&T's 5G bands and the 5G bands that Sprint and T-Mobile employ...

www.phonearena.com

Inside house signal strength is -101dbm and it falls back to 4G LTE - speed is ~12-15 mbps.

Outside with a clear view of the tower, I get 5G at -115 dbm and ~18 mbps

The higher the negative number, the less signal strength.

So you can see that for me, 5G is faster, even with the lower signal strength.

To see the signal strength on an Android 12 phone, you go to Settings->About Phone->SIM Status

OK, now most of this just goes over my head but this of course got me interested. On the phone Tracfone just gave me I followed this, turned off the WiFi showing-90 to-98 dBm 44-53 asu both of these numbers fluctuate while looking at it. So WTF does this all mean?

 

[The Heretic]

OK, now most of this just goes over my head but this of course got me interested. On the phone Tracfone just gave me I followed this, turned off the WiFi showing-90 to-98 dBm 44-53 asu both of these numbers fluctuate while looking at it. So WTF does this all mean?

A signal strength or power level. 0 dBm is defined as 1 mW (milliWatt) of power into a terminating load such as an antenna or power meter. Small signals are negative numbers (e.g. -83 dBm).

https://www.fcc.gov/file/14382/download#:~:text=A%20signal%20strength%20or%20power,(e.g.%20%2D83%20dBm).

dBm stands for decibel milliwatts. dBm can be used in radio, microwave, and fiber-optical networks as a measure of absolute power because of its capability to express both very large and very small values in short form. The closer the number is to 0, the better off your signal strength is.

The strength of the signal at your cell phone is weaker than the signal output at the transmitter (the cell tower). The farther away, and/or the more obstructions to the signal, the weaker it is. Every 3 decibel halves the strength of the signal. So -103 dBm is half the strength of -100dBm. Ten dBm is a tenfold difference (decibels are logarithmic) so -110 dBm is one tenth the signal strength of -100dBm.

ASU is a different measure of signal strength.

----
Note that the higher the frequency, the more data can be theoretically fit into the signal, but also, the signal is more prone to interference by obstructions. So cell phones are generally "line of sight" devices - meaning a hill can obstruct the signal - also, buildings can interfere with the signal, as can being inside a car.

Some of the newer 5G systems use a much higher frequency - in the tens of gHz (24-54 gHz) - whereas 4G can be less than 1gHz to 5gHz. There are three 5G bands; 600 mHz (0.6 gHz), 2-5 gHz and 24-54 gHz. So it depends on your phone and the cell provider.

In short, there are all kinds of variables with signal strength - the freq, the terrain/environment, the cell tower frequencies, the distance, etc.

But in general, if you can get a good 5G signal, you can usually get faster data speeds.

5G - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This is an issue for me; I live in the boonies on a forested mountain. I do not have cable or fiber or satellite. I have a WISP as my ISP - i.e., no wires, it is long distance WiFi; the actual connection to the fiber connection is about 3 miles away and I connect to it with a parabolic antenna on my roof, pointed towards that provider's network connection. I only get 5-6 mbps at best and it is not reliable.

I have put in a deposit for Starlink (a satellite provider) but that was a year ago and they are saying I won't get a dish until late this year - at best.

So I am thinking I want to get a cell "hotspot" with an external antenna on my roof, to get 5G speeds - maybe. Thinking about it and doing research. It is good that I can get 5G though.

 

[TTSX]

You wanna go back to dial up?

 

[The Heretic]

You wanna go back to dial up?

I've tried most everything. I used to have dialup (sucks), then satellite almost as bad as dialup), then cable (tolerable, but kept having to reboot the modem - almost every day), then fiber which was great. Then I moved to the boonies and tried DSL but it was way too slow because I was too far from the CO. Now I am on WISP waiting for Starlink.

I can't seem to find a hotspot device/plan that would work well for what I need. I want to be able to stream 4K video, but I will need an external antenna to get a good signal, and I don't see any hotspot devices that allow that, and the plans are limited.

So I guess I will have to wait for Starlink.

 

[TTSX]

I've tried most everything. I used to have dialup (sucks), then satellite almost as bad as dialup), then cable (tolerable, but kept having to reboot the modem - almost every day), then fiber which was great. Then I moved to the boonies and tried DSL but it was way too slow because I was too far from the CO. Now I am on WISP waiting for Starlink.

I can't seem to find a hotspot device/plan that would work well for what I need. I want to be able to stream 4K video, but I will need an external antenna to get a good signal, and I don't see any hotspot devices that allow that, and the plans are limited.

So I guess I will have to wait for Starlink.

I have a friend who was amongst the beta testers for starlink. Had to put a name in a hat and see if he was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to purchase a $1k (or close to) dish/antenna/receiver. As far as I'm aware, he's very happy with the service and he was in roughly the same space of unreliable service you're in. I'd say it's worth getting.

 

[The Heretic]

I have a friend who was amongst the beta testers for starlink. Had to put a name in a hat and see if he was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to purchase a $1k (or close to) dish/antenna/receiver. As far as I'm aware, he's very happy with the service and he was in roughly the same space of unreliable service you're in. I'd say it's worth getting.

I think it would be worth it - IF I could get it. By the time they are ready to send me a Dishy, I will have sold my property and moved, then I will be at the back of the queue again.

 

[arakboss]

Half of the energy is used to kill birds and stuff is why.

....and bring down aircraft. The Ukrainians could put a no fly zone in by turning up the 5G

 

[Alexx1401]

A signal strength or power level. 0 dBm is defined as 1 mW (milliWatt) of power into a terminating load such as an antenna or power meter. Small signals are negative numbers (e.g. -83 dBm).

https://www.fcc.gov/file/14382/download#:~:text=A%20signal%20strength%20or%20power,(e.g.%20%2D83%20dBm).

dBm stands for decibel milliwatts. dBm can be used in radio, microwave, and fiber-optical networks as a measure of absolute power because of its capability to express both very large and very small values in short form. The closer the number is to 0, the better off your signal strength is.

The strength of the signal at your cell phone is weaker than the signal output at the transmitter (the cell tower). The farther away, and/or the more obstructions to the signal, the weaker it is. Every 3 decibel halves the strength of the signal. So -103 dBm is half the strength of -100dBm. Ten dBm is a tenfold difference (decibels are logarithmic) so -110 dBm is one tenth the signal strength of -100dBm.

ASU is a different measure of signal strength.

----
Note that the higher the frequency, the more data can be theoretically fit into the signal, but also, the signal is more prone to interference by obstructions. So cell phones are generally "line of sight" devices - meaning a hill can obstruct the signal - also, buildings can interfere with the signal, as can being inside a car.

Some of the newer 5G systems use a much higher frequency - in the tens of gHz (24-54 gHz) - whereas 4G can be less than 1gHz to 5gHz. There are three 5G bands; 600 mHz (0.6 gHz), 2-5 gHz and 24-54 gHz. So it depends on your phone and the cell provider.

In short, there are all kinds of variables with signal strength - the freq, the terrain/environment, the cell tower frequencies, the distance, etc.

But in general, if you can get a good 5G signal, you can usually get faster data speeds.

5G - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This is an issue for me; I live in the boonies on a forested mountain. I do not have cable or fiber or satellite. I have a WISP as my ISP - i.e., no wires, it is long distance WiFi; the actual connection to the fiber connection is about 3 miles away and I connect to it with a parabolic antenna on my roof, pointed towards that provider's network connection. I only get 5-6 mbps at best and it is not reliable.

I have put in a deposit for Starlink (a satellite provider) but that was a year ago and they are saying I won't get a dish until late this year - at best.

So I am thinking I want to get a cell "hotspot" with an external antenna on my roof, to get 5G speeds - maybe. Thinking about it and doing research. It is good that I can get 5G though.

Well that left me more confused than when I started

So on the phone thats 5g I turned off WiFi and did one of those speed tests. Showed 16 mps down and 10 up. So then did the same on PC on cable showed 116 up and 18 down. So phone is a hell of a lot slower I guess. Never tried to really do much off the phone so not sure what that speed translates to if I ever have to use the mobile data but at least I have some idea now

 

[The Heretic]

Well that left me more confused than when I started

So on the phone thats 5g I turned off WiFi and did one of those speed tests. Showed 16 mps down and 10 up. So then did the same on PC on cable showed 116 up and 18 down. So phone is a hell of a lot slower I guess. Never tried to really do much off the phone so not sure what that speed translates to if I ever have to use the mobile data but at least I have some idea now

Up at the top by the place where it shows the signal bars, does it say 5G or LTE or what?

Phones will typically switch automatically from one mode to the other as needed to maintain a signal.

the nice thing about phones today is that they can use WiFi, and many will switch between WiFi and cell automatically. The problem is that WiFi consumes battery power more than cell - usually.

 

[Alexx1401]

Up at the top by the place where it shows the signal bars, does it say 5G or LTE or what?

Phones will typically switch automatically from one mode to the other as needed to maintain a signal.

the nice thing about phones today is that they can use WiFi, and many will switch between WiFi and cell automatically. The problem is that WiFi consumes battery power more than cell - usually.

Just showed bars, between 3 and 4. So I turned off the WiFi and then it shows LTE+. So checked the phone I actually use that is not 5G. Turn off the WiFi on that it just shows LTE. So guess the LTE + is their way of saying 5g?? The new phone is also on Verizon where as my old phone is on AT&T.

 

[The Heretic]

No, LTE is 4G and LTE+ is an enhanced version of LTE that AT&T markets as "5GE", but it isn't 5G. If it was 5G it would say 5G.

 

[Alexx1401]

No, LTE is 4G and LTE+ is an enhanced version of LTE that AT&T markets as "5GE", but it isn't 5G. If it was 5G it would say 5G.

What a mess. The phone saying LTE+ is on Verizon towers so I have to guess they are doing that too then. Hell as long as the damn thing works it was free. Its just kept as a back up phone for us in case something happens to one of our phones since we long ago got rid of our land lines. If the 5G does get here with the as claimed speeds may be nice to be able to get some competition to Comcast.Right now they are the only choice where I live which sucks. The city long ago built their own fiber system that is far nicer but sadly we are no longer in the city. The one thing I still miss about living in the city was that cable system they built.

 

[The Heretic]

The one thing I still miss about living in the city was that cable system they built.

Ditto.

If I had Starlink I would be just fine.

 

[Alexx1401]

Ditto.

If I had Starlink I would be just fine.

Any competition should be great for all of us. Every time one Co has total control they of course don't care because they don't have to. Just like the days when we had Ma Bell. Take it or leave it was their motto