You couldn't be blamed if you watched the iPhone 12[1] release commercial -- excuse me, media event -- and thought you'd soon be getting Gigabit speeds from 5G. No, you're not. Most of you won't see one byte worth of a faster connection. Only T-Mobile[2] customers may see speeds boosts into the 100 Mbps range. Gigabit? Forget about it!
That's because Verizon's 5G claims[3] -- that over 200 million people in 1,800 cities around the US can get 5G -- are nonsense. In fact, the National Advertising Review Board told Verizon in September it had to stop claiming it's building "the most powerful 5G experience for America."[4]
In fact, Verizon' is years away from delivering on its crazy fast 5G promise. And, I speak as a happy Verizon customer. They simply can't do it.
Their marketing mouth is making promises that their 5G technology can't keep. Here's why.
Verizon's high-speed 5G promises are based on millimeter-wave[5] (mmWave). This is what Verizon calls 5G Ultra Wideband. Regardless of the name, it runs on 24 and 28 GHz bands[6]. Guess what? At those frequencies, it has a range better measured in yards than miles. Its range is much more like Wi-Fi than it is 4G.
Besides its limited range, it has no penetration to speak of. Your house's walls will block it. Leaves can block it. Even your window can stop it when it's down. The only way you'll see 5G inside your office is the same way you get Wi-Fi in it: By filling it with access points.
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