5G Technology – Pros And Cons Of 5G Technology
5G Technology – Pros And Cons Of 5G Technology
The next major advancement in wireless technology, 5G, has been years in the making but is finally on its way to becoming widely used. Nearly all of today’s top smartphones are 5G-capable, and while it isn’t yet universally accessible, you’re much more likely to see a 5G icon lit up on your phone than not.
However, 5G is more than just a flashy new number. Since the technology covers a much wider spectrum of frequencies than older 4G/LTE technology, with different trade-offs for each, it has been significantly more difficult for carriers to implement.
It’s also a wireless technology with a broader application, promising the kind of global connectivity that was previously only a pipe dream found in futuristic sci-fi novels.
What Is 5G?
The most recent cellular technology, known as fifth-generation (5G), is designed to significantly speed up and improve wireless networks’ responsiveness. With 5G, wireless broadband connections can transmit data at multigigabit speeds, with peak rates that could reach as high as 20 gigabits per second (Gbps), according to some estimates.
These speeds are faster than those of wireline networks and provide a latency of 5 milliseconds or less, making them useful for applications that need real-time feedback. Due to more available bandwidth and improved antenna technology, 5G will allow wireless systems to transmit much more data than they currently can.
To accommodate the growing reliance on mobile and internet-enabled devices, 5G networks and services will be introduced gradually over the coming years. As the technology is implemented, many new applications use and business cases are anticipated.
How Fast Is 5G?
By how much is 5G faster than 4G, though? “It depends,” is the succinct response. Although the 3GPP standards for telecommunications technologies are somewhat complicated, the following is a general overview of the speeds that 5G can achieve under ideal circumstances:
- Peak data rate: Significantly faster data speeds are provided by 5G. Peak data rates per mobile base station can reach 20Gbps downlink and 10Gbps uplink. It’s the speed that all cell phone users share, not the speed you’d get with 5G (unless you have a dedicated connection). Even then, only a theoretical maximum illustrates the 5G standard’s upper bounds.
- Real-world 5G speed: Although the peak data rates appear to be impressive, actual speeds will be much slower and will differ greatly depending on a number of factors, such as the spectrum your signal is using and how far you are from the nearest tower. For downloads, typical 5G speeds can be between 50Mbps and 3Gbps. According to recent reports, the average download speed across the country is between 100Mbps and 200Mbps.
- Latency: The period of time it takes to establish a network connection and start sending data is referred to as latency. Smaller amounts of data are frequently sent back and forth during activities like gaming and surfing, which significantly impacts those activities. Under ideal conditions, latency should be less than 4 milliseconds (ms), though anything less is preferable. The best wired fibre-optic networks can provide latency between 1 and 2 milliseconds.
- Efficiency: When in use, radio interfaces should use little power and switch to a low-energy mode when not. When not in use, a radio should be able to transition into a low-energy state in less than 10 milliseconds.
- Spectral efficiency: Optimum use of the spectrum or bandwidth to transmit the most data with the fewest transmission errors is referred to as spectral efficiency. For instance, spectral efficiency at 30 bits/Hz downlink and 15 bits/Hz uplink should be better for 5G than LTE.
- Mobility: Base stations for 5G should be able to accommodate speeds of 0 to 310 mph. Thus, despite changes in antenna position, the base station should continue to operate. 5G low-band and mid-band frequencies can handle this much better than by mmWave frequencies. But once you start moving at faster speeds, you’re more likely to leave mmWave coverage, so that probably won’t be a practical concern.
- Connection density: More connected devices than 4G/LTE can be supported by 5G. According to the specification, 1 million connected devices should be supported per square kilometre by 5G. This enormous figure includes the multitude of connected objects that will power the Internet of Things (IoT). What kind of performance you’ll get with that many connected devices is a different story, but mmWave offers a significant advantage in that regard.
What Are The Benefits Of 5G?
- use of higher frequencies;
- high bandwidth;
- enhanced mobile broadband;
- a lower latency of 5 ms;
- higher data rates, which will enable new technology options over 5G networks, such as 4K streaming or near-real-time streaming of virtual reality (VR); and
- the potential is to have a 5G mobile network of low-band, midband and mmWave frequencies.
Important Advantages
There are several advantages of 5G technology, some of the advantages have been shown in the above Ericsson image, and many others are described below −
- High resolution and bi-directional large bandwidth shaping.
- Technology to gather all networks on one platform.
- More effective and efficient.
- Technology to facilitate subscriber supervision tools for quick action.
- Most likely, it will provide a huge broadcasting data (in Gigabit), supporting more than 60,000 connections.
- Easily manageable with the previous generations.
- Technological sound to support heterogeneous services (including private networks).
- Possible to provide uniform, uninterrupted, and consistent connectivity across the world.
Disadvantages Of 5G Technology
Though 5G technology is researched and conceptualized to solve all radio signal problems and hardships of the mobile world, because of some security reasons and lack of technological advancement in most of the geographic regions, it has the following shortcomings −
- Technology is still being processed, and research on its viability is ongoing.
- The speed this technology claim seems difficult to achieve (in future, it might be) because of the incompetent technological support in most parts of the world.
- Many of the old devices would not be competent to 5G. Hence, they all need to be replaced with new ones — an expensive deal.
- Developing infrastructure needs high cost.
- Security and privacy issues are yet to be solved.
Is 5G Safe?
Yes, 5G is safe; it won’t endanger your health. We have yet to find any evidence that radio waves are harmful to human health, even though there have long been concerns about their safety and despite the 5G conspiracy theories.
The two types of radio waves are ionizing and non-ionizing. It is undoubtedly possible for ionizing radio waves, like those used in X-ray machines and radiotherapy, to harm human health.
When these waves are measured, the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums begin at terahertz (THz) and petahertz (PHz). Even the highest frequency in the 39GHz range used by mmWave 5G is a magnitude lower than that.