5G vs 5G – explaining the poor naming

Cell Phone providers are rushing to deliver the new “5G” Network. This of course is the next evolution after “4G” which most of our cell phones and devices run on these days. However many of us already have something that is “5G”, our modern routers! The catch? They are two entirely different things, both with the name “5G”

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Dual-band routers are common these days. You may have a network such as “MyHomeNetwork”, then a second one that’s “MyHomeNetwork-5G”. It’s the same network, just operating on a different frequency.

The old “2.4Ghz” wifi is very crowded. Many things all want to use the same frequency, which significantly hinders performance. Typically if you are connected to the 2.4Ghz network (the one that ISNT labeled 5G) the max speed you will get can be around 40Mb/s. However many of us have internet that is 100Mb/s or more. So to take advantage of this, it’s best to connect to the 5Ghz band. Keep in mind however, the 5Ghz band does NOT reach as far as the 2.4Ghz band does. So 5Ghz isn’t always better.

So for routers and home networking equipment 5G represents “5 Gigahertz”, the frequency it operates on.

However for the new “5G” cell phone networks is entirely different.  

For the cell phones the “G” stands for “generation”.

So 4G is the 4^th Generation of cellular data. 5G is the 5^th generation of cell phone data. It is NOT the frequency it operates on. The new 5G network used by cell phone providers actually uses a wide ranges of frequencies from 600Mhz all the way up to 100Ghz.

So there you have it! Hopefully this helps with some of the confusion people have (or will have) when they hear “5G”. Now you know 5G for your router isn’t the same as 5G for the cell phone network.

5G Wireless technology is poised to provide many new options to consumers such as ditching your cable provider - receiving all of your TV and data services with a "hotspot" that can actually keep up with modern wired technologies. We actually received a Verizon flyer for TV/Data provided through 5G. Others have expressed concerns about impact of radiation on these new frequencies.

So there you have it! 5G wifi is NOT the same as 5G Cell phone data. Hopefully this tech tip has or will help in the future!