can anyone tell the difference between the two? Is there any? I didn't think so.

Silly marketing.

5G has much lower latency and higher bandwidth.

If you hit a website on your browser, it will be much faster getting the bytes to the server and back again, and in then serving the page. As a silly example.

The purpose more than anything else is the Internet Of Things where everything is connected, like WiFi but on the public network. That’s my thought on it anyway. We have far smarter people here.

Current US deployments are not the 5G endgame. Blame AT&T for marketing something that isn�t.

As to your question 5G is to 4G as 3G was to the flip phone. But for connectivity writ large. So in that sense it�s 100x more substantial. At a minimum.

4G is safe. 5G spreads the virus. I saw it on Faux!!

After exhaustive calculations I have determined that the difference is 1G.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5G
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G

You really think there is no technical difference between 4G and 5G telecommunications?

Safe to assume you are still on 1G then, since supposed technology improvements are all just marketing?

The carriers have blurred the distinction. AT&T has been the worst offender, labeling their LTE-Advanced service as "5G E".

5G is the fifth generation, which will provide the everyday capability of gigabit service and low latency. As has been mentioned, this will be mostly useful to the internet of things (allowing another order of magnitude-worth of stuff to connect).

Both T-Mo and Verizon have been making big strides in deploying 5G. T-mo does it using low-band frequencies, principally their 600 MHz spectrum, which has limited capacity but good reach. 5G on T-mo will mostly feel like fast LTE. Verizon has done it using millimeter-wave frequencies (around 60 GHz I think) which has only a few hundred feet range at best but can support much faster speeds.

Few 'deadly radiation" type posts pop up on my feed fairly regularly.

google's going to change 5G icons in Android 11 to make things clearer (or not)
https://www.androidauthority.com/5g-...id-11-1121554/

there's two "true" types of 5G: 5G+ and 5G both use the new 5G standard
5G+ or 5G mmWave, which offers very very very fast speeds due to more spectrums, but get blocked by your hand

5G (sub-5ghz 5G), which offers better latency than 4G LTE, slightly better speeds (but not as much as 5G+).
uses similar frequencies as 4G LTE (low-band <1ghz for coverage, mid band <6ghz for others)



not-5G:
5Ge, which is just LTE Advanced PRO (which is 4G LTE with more features to get higher speeds)

LTE+: 4G LTE with carrier aggregation (combining multiple frequency bands to boost speeds)

LTE: regular 4G LTE



difference between 5Ge, LTE+ and LTE? there can be significant differences if you can use carrier aggregation(CA) vs no carrier aggregation)
4G LTE hardware is pretty mature - you can find phones that support 30+ LTE bands with CA

5G/5G+ hardware on the other hand: not mature, pretty fragmented market right now.


mmwave:
5G+ n260 (37-40ghz) - Verizon, AT&T, T-mobile
5G+ n261 (27.5-38.35) - Verizon, AT&T, T-mobile
-> Verizon's deployed a lot of mmWave, the other two not as widely deployed, can reach 2000mbps in speed tests with 4x100mhz blocks

sub-6ghz 5G(the 5G band numbers below are shared with LTE band numbers, aka using same frequency)
5G n2 (1900mhz) Verizon
5G n5 (850mhz) Verizon, AT&T
5G n41 (2500mhz) Sprint/Tmobile
5G n66 (1700mhz) Verizon
5G n71 (600mhz) Sprint/Tmobile
-> tmobile's deploying a lot of n71 and n41 (60mhz of n41 aggregating with 20mhz of LTE b66/b2 can get you about 800mbps), though 10mhz of n71 can be 5-100mbps in reallife, not fast)

coming soon: (1-5 years?)
5G n48 (3500mhz CBRS) Verizon
5G n77/78/79 (3300-5000mhz C-Band) whoever wins


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...al_deployments
I'm guessing that n40/41/78/79, n257/258/260/261 will get popular

To notice a difference you need a 5G capable phone not AT&T faux labeling service 5G E which has happened with my non 5G iPhone. The cell network in your market has to be upgraded to 5 G equipment which is still in deployment. Apple has not released a 5 G iPhone but the next iPhone release is rumored to include 5G capability.

The difference will be more money. When I am in the backwaters on 3G and have to wait maybe a couple more seconds for "stuff" to load, I really don't care if that is representative of the difference between 4G and 5G. I'll not be rushing out to upgrade until I am forced to, kicking and screaming. I don't live the instaeverythingnet life that some people consume constantly, so will not waste any time reading about it. Just not interested.

There doesn't appear to be a premium for 5G in the UK (at least for some providers). I just got a 3 SIM for �10 a month that includes unlimited minutes / texts and 12GB of data (including 5G). I also got �57 cashback from Quidco, so it works out at about �5 a month!!!

However, the nearest 5G coverage is about 3 miles from where I live I went for a walk last week to try it out - it was the first time I've seen the 5G icon on Android. Sad I know...

Was it noticeably quicker? And my comment about the more money was more directed at the phones or wherever they choose to hide their panzers. Perhaps I am wrong and there isn't much difference.

No idea. I just sent a WhatsApp