The promises of 5G are super exciting: next-generation cellular networks will make phones much faster, allowing you to do things like stream AAA latency-free games or download full HD series in seconds. So Verizon's proposed 5G home internet should be just as exciting, but from what we saw at a preview event, 5G home internet is struggling just as 5G mobile is. We were lucky enough to discover an apartment operating in Verizon's 5G home in Chicago, one of the largest 5G battlegrounds in the United States. We've already seen Verizon roll out the first 5G mobile network in this city, so we were eager to see how the telecom carrier could bring the same next-generation network to the internet in the home. The big point to remember is that 5G is just another way to get your data from point A to point B, and there's less reason to get excited than you otherwise would. I hope, even if that leaves the door open for faster improvements across the board. And luckily, Verizon makes it easy for new users to try out the new service – keep reading what we found.
What is 5G home internet?
There are many parts to the Internet infrastructure, but the most important to us is the last stretch that delivers it to our home, the so-called "last mile." Some of us get our Internet through DSL phone lines, some through satellites, and many of us through the copper wires that come into our homes. A few lucky people routed it over high-speed fiber optic cables, but this implementation was slow. The 5G home has been proposed as a higher speed alternative when transmitting the signal in the house. In the case of Verizon's 5G Home service, a high-frequency radio wave (mmWave) wirelessly sends data between a nearby cell tower and a receiver installed in a customer's home. So instead of having a physical cable connecting your house or apartment to the network, you have a wireless signal that carries data over the last mile. Once the 5G signal reaches the Verizon 5G Home Receiver, it is routed via a typical Ethernet cable to a standard Verizon router, which transmits the Wi-Fi signal in your home. From there, every device that connects to this internet signal does so via Wi-Fi or a wired Ethernet connection. None of them connect directly to this 5G signal.So is this really just a normal internet?
How much did it cost me?
Are there any benefits to 5G Home Internet?
To tell the truth, the price is an advantage. Verizon's 5G home seems to be fairly priced compared to other plans. This doesn't require you to sign a one-year contract to get a special rate, and this doesn't accrue equipment rental fees on top of the cost of service. For current Verizon wireless customers, it's even better. But that's where the benefits end, at least for now. We found that the service offered decent, but not blazing fast internet connection, and was in pretty ideal condition. The 5G receiver was attached to an upstairs window right in front of a 5G transmission tower. All that stood in the way of the two devices was a barren tree and perhaps 30 feet of open air. We've seen in previous tests of mmWave, such as what's used on the Sprint 5G network, that the 5G signal is easier to lose than to find. MmWave frequencies often have trouble traversing obstacles, and the space between the 5G tower and the home receiver is not necessarily a controlled environment. Customers at street level could have vehicles, pedestrians, or even trees blocking the line of sight between their receiver and the nearest tower, which could affect their fast Internet speeds, not to mention basic connectivity. However, there are some theoretical advantages of 5G home internet connection. For one, upgrades could be easier. Since there are no cables running along the poles or underground, the network could simply be upgraded with new towers or even software updates over time. This means no need to dig up cables to replace them with fiber and no need to lay new cables in areas that are still waiting on high-speed internet (although it may be some time before 5G home internet reaches these places). . There is also a small bonus for radio interference. Since mmWave has difficulty entering buildings, the radio waves used to transmit 5G internet will not penetrate all nearby buildings. In short, Verizon's 5G home internet is promising but not fast enough to recommend without caution, especially with so many unanswered questions about how the service will perform in real-world conditions. But if it lived up to Verizon's claims and avoided mmWave's signal deficits, 5G internet could change the way data enters our homes.- 5G phones: the first next-generation phones