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5G network

What's 5G​

  • The Wikipedia page provides a good basic understanding though it tries to dictate the reception by labeling diverging arguments as "fringe": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5G
  • We need to be aware 5G is both a new tech and a new concept and should explore all the pros and cons with curiosity and humility

What's new​

  • New materials for antennas
  • Higher frequency carrier waves
    • 4G at 300 MHz-5 GHz
    • 5G at 30 GHz~300 GHz
  • Multi-input Multi-output
  • New standards (IoT etc.)

What's Internet of Things (IoT)​

Claimed advantages​

  • higher transmission rate, 50 Mbps to over 1 Gbps
  • shorter lag, "air latency" is of the order of 8–12 milliseconds

Potential concerns​

  • The higher frequencies may be harmful. Censorship and lack of studies in this area
  • Many more transmitters need to be built, since higher frequency waves get disrupted in shorter distances. Number of towers will increased from 300k to 800k in the US alone.
  • Disrupts airplane communications and sensors
  • The actual Internet speed didn't increase for many users

How to access it​

  • Need dedicated hardware
  • Need dedicated internet service provider

The development​

  • Has become a contentious national security issue, especially because of its IoT concept
  • ISPs initially wanted higher frequencies but settled around 4 GHz frequencies
  • Airlines have major pushbacks. About 50 small airports have banned 5G towers to be built too close.