Excitement about 5G, the fifth generation of mobile network technology, has been building steadily for years now. All the major carriers have deployed their initial “nationwide” networks, and they’re all poised to seriously expand the reach and capabilities of those networks throughout this year and into the next. There are a lot of potential benefits to 5G, but one of the critical questions that immediately crops up in any discussion about it is, How fast is it?
We could say, “How long is a piece of string?” But that wouldn’t be a very useful answer. The truth is, the speeds you get will depend on many factors, including where you are, what network you’re connecting to, how many other people are connecting, and what device you’re using.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Theoretical 5G speeds
The theoretical maximum speeds of 5G are pretty groundbreaking — but we have a very long way to go before you’re likely to run into those speeds in the real world. Maximum download speeds often range from 1Gbps to 10Gbps, and latency, or the time it takes to send data, could go as low as 1 millisecond (ms).
That doesn’t mean very much in isolation, so here’s a table that compares the theoretical speeds of different generations of cellular technology:
| Generation | 2G | 3G | 3G HSPA+ | 4G | 4G LTE-A | 5G |
| Max speed | 0.3Mbps | 7.2Mbps | 42Mbps | 150Mbps | 300Mbps-1Gbps | 1-10Gbps |
| Average speed | 0.1Mbps | 1.5Mbps | 5Mbps | 10Mbps | 15Mbps-50Mbps | 50Mbps and up |
The averages here are approximate, and all the different technologies complicate the results because each generation has evolved and continued to grow, even after the next generation began to roll out. Then there’s the issue of carriers mislabeling their networks; many labeled HSPA+, which is a 3G technology, as 4G.
The latest flavors of 4G LTE-A can theoretically go as high as 1Gbps, which ranges into 5G territory. Still, those speeds are not available anywhere right now and are mostly dependent on the modem inside your device.
Real-world 5G download speeds
Of course, download speeds vary a lot depending on the type of 5G you’re connected to. For the uninitiated, 5G is made up of a few different frequency bands. Low-band spectrum, often referred to as Sub-6, is able to travel long distances and penetrate obstacles, but it delivers slower download speeds. The opposite is true for high-band mmWave spectrum — you’ll get superfast download speeds, but radio waves can’t travel far or make their way through obstacles. For more about the types of 5G, check out our guide.
The currently available nationwide networks all depend on low-band spectrum, and while there are pockets of mmWave coverage around the country, you won’t spend much time, if any, in those pockets. That will likely change as time goes on and carriers improve the quality of the 5G networks.
According to a recent study from Speedcheck, the current average 5G download speed is 59Mbps, which isn’t much faster than most 4G networks. This varies a little depending on the carrier — AT&T offers an average download speed of 53Mbps, T-Mobile a download speed of 47Mbps, and Verizon a download speed of 44Mbps. According to Speedcheck, the average speed is only 2.7 times the average speed of 4G, not the hundreds of times faster that we could eventually get.
Download speeds don’t just vary depending on the type of 5G you’re connected to; they’ll also vary depending on how many people are connected to the network. The more people connected to a cell tower at once, the less bandwidth that can be dedicated to you specifically. That’s why mmWave could prove important in places like stadiums, where potentially thousands of people could be connected to a network at once.
Latency and 5G
Perhaps more important than actual download speed, at least initially, is latency.
“The arrival of 5G will undoubtedly bring higher speeds for end users — but those speeds will vary depending on how operators design their networks and how many users are on the network,” Els Baert, director of marketing and communications at NetComm, told Digital Trends in an interview. “Although 5G will be able to deliver higher speeds, the main difference end users will notice will be the extra-low latency on 5G compared to 3G or 4G — this will open up new applications in the Internet of Things space.”
Perhaps more important than actual download speed, at least initially, is latency.
According to a white paper from the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, which helped establish standards, 5G networks should offer 10ms latency in general and 1ms for special cases that require lower latency. The report also suggests, “data rates up to 1Gbps should be supported in some specific environments, like indoor offices, while at least 50Mbps shall be available everywhere.”
Conclusions
Although 5G is widely available now, it’s not the superfast replacement to 4G that many were hoping for — yet. As carriers continue to work on their 5G networks, you should expect speeds to continue to get better. Over the next few years, you’ll see better access to midband and high-band frequencies in addition to the basic expansion of the area that 5G networks cover.
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