Aug 3, 2022
What is 5G?
Reading time: 6 minutes
It’s everywhere: the announcements of the 3G shutdown popping up on your phone, talk of 4G, and the new, improved – will someone please explain to me what it is! – 5G. Ads on television and radio. Ads in magazines. On enormous billboards. Ads everywhere and none of them explaining:
what 5G is
why poor 3G has to be shutdown
and where 4G fits in
It’s enough to make you want to crawl under a rock and not come out until someone sounds the “all clear”.
Well, consider the “all clear!” sounded. Right here, right now, we’re going to take the mystery out of all this G business. And believe it or not, it’s simple.
For starters, we’re going to break down 4G and 5G. We’ll circle back to poor, beleaguered, 3G later. Because by then its situation will be crystal clear.
Let’s address the G business first
G stands for generation of mobile communication. 5G is the fifth generation, 4G was the fourth generation, and 3G was the third generation. (I know, I said we’d address 3G later, but this tidbit you need to know now.) Each new generation is an improvement in mobile communication speed and other factors over the last. Having said that it should come as no surprise that….
5G is faster than 4G
Of course it is. But 5G has a lot more going for it than just that. Among other pluses, 5G also offers better bandwidth than 4G. Bandwidth is the amount of data, say, photos of your children or grandchildren, that can be transmitted over a network connection. And coupled with superior latency, which is the speed with which your photos of your children or grandchildren can be uploaded to Facebook or texted to friends, 5G trumps 4G every time. In fact, 5G will at some point be one hundred times faster than 4G. (And of course, PureTalk is on the nation's most dependable 5G network!)
Poor 4G. Can’t you just feel it going the way of the Dodo like sweet 3G?
Even though 4G can transmit those sweet smiling faces you adore in just 50 milliseconds, 5G – at some point soon – will be able to do so in 1 millisecond. 1 millisecond! It takes longer to blink your eyes!
5G also offers stronger connectivity, better coverage, and more reliability. That means your calls go through no matter where you’re calling from, or where you’re calling to. And that’s not all.
5G is also capable of handling hundreds of thousands of people being on their cell phones at the exact same time with far fewer disruptions in service. In geek speak, this is known as network density, and 5G’s is huge in comparison to 4G. To put it in layman’s terms – with 4G, if you’re at a pro sports game and try to send photos or texts, your smartphone probably runs more slowly than usual due to the number of other people doing the same thing at the same time in the same place with their smartphones.
With 5G you can forget those slow speeds, dropped calls and lousy connections. You’ll never again be able to tell your boss or your mother in law “You’re breaking up! I’ll call you as soon as I get reception!”
Hmm. Maybe we need to rethink this 5G business.
5G though is a huge deal for wireless companies and, more importantly, people who count on their smartphones to stay connected with their kids and grandkids, and who want to be able to call for help when their car breaks down in the middle of the night, on a dark road, in some little town they find themselves lost in.
Sorry. One of us has been watching far too much Virgin River. But you get my point.
5G is the pinnacle. Which is why 3G has to go bye-bye to make room for this incredible new technology.
But more about 3G… in a minute.
Right now, let’s delve deeper into the differences between 5G and 4G. You know you want to geek out and get into the nitty gritty.
The nitty gritty
So 5G is stronger, faster, so reliable it leaps tall buildings in a single bound (actually it does better than that: it can blow right through walls and buildings) and is the Superman of mobile communication.
But how does it actually work?
All mobile communication works by sending information over the air. 5G does as well, but at much higher, much cleaner frequencies. This means those photos of your kids, grandkids, new car, new haircut, new house, are transmitted faster than ever before.
5G’s with the band. Actually, 3 bands
Remember how we mentioned that bandwidth is the amount of data, say, photos of your children or grandchildren, that can be transmitted over a network connection? 5G actually has three bands – a high band, a low band, and a mid-band. That’s another one of the reasons it’s better than 4G. As you can probably guess, the different bands operate at different speeds. The high band operates fastest, the low band operates slowest (relatively speaking; it’s still incredibly fast), and the mid-band operates at a speed between those two. Now here’s what’s cool about that. At some point, each band could be dedicated to a different user group. One for consumers, one for businesses, and the third for…. a variety of industries, or security measures, or… who knows? There are so many options and opportunities for 5G to improve our lives.
And, along those lines...
5G can be sliced and diced for further flexibility
Along with the three different bands, 5G networks can be used as separate networks. This is called network slicing. (Now we’re really geeking out!) The result of this capability is that each separate network can be used for a different purpose and a different form of mobile communication. 4G could never provide this kind of flexibility and the opportunities for new mobile communication improvements and advancements that come with it.
So, 5G will replace 4G, right?
At some point, yes. But not in the near future. As we mentioned, 4G is more available, and 5G is pretty much still in the starting block. For the time being, both networks will be utilized which is fine as most phones are 4G and 5G compatible.
How can I be sure my phone is 4G or 5G compatible?
You can check the box or manual, which should be accurate, but for safety’s sake, I’d go online and ask Google. I did, and was promptly informed that my iPhone 11 Pro Max is, sadly, not 5G compatible.
So I guess I need a 5G phone to get 5G, right?
Exactly. You also need to be in an area where 5G is available. If you’re with PureTalk, you’re in luck as we operate America’s most reliable 5G network. Visit our coverage map and type in your zip code, hit enter, and in seconds you can see if your home is in a 5G area.
As we’ve already mentioned, the 5G network provides the best cell coverage at significantly greater speed and is more flexible, reliable, and secure than any network before it. This means not having to worry about whether or not you’ll miss your favorite podcast – you won’t, or connect with your college-age child or grandchild before he or she takes off on spring break – you will.
Now what if, like me, you need a 5G phone? PureTalk has you covered there, too. The iPhone SE 3rd Gen, iPhone 12, to name just a few, and many new Android devices, like the Samsung Galaxy 21 FE 5G, all support 5G and are available right here.
5G coverage. 5G phones. And plans that start at just $25 a month. That’s right. Switching to PureTalk saves the average family of four $75 a month. That’s $900 a year.
In addition, PureTalk offers a risk-free, thirty-day money back guarantee. That means you have absolutely nothing to lose. Sign up and give us a try for one month. We know you’ll love us. But if you don’t, simply cancel your service within thirty-days and we’ll return your money without any penalties.
But… back to 5G. Or more accurately, the fate of 3G. Because I promised I’d cover that and I keep my promises.
So what happened to poor, beleaguered 3G?
In general, 3G networks simply became outdated. And specifically, they became too slow. Really slow. As that happened, they began draining cell phone batteries faster and faster. The 3G network simply couldn’t keep up with the hundreds of thousands of cell phone users sending data over it. It wasn’t powerful enough, although it was a heck of a lot faster than 2G (as in second generation mobile communication because geeking out about this stuff is what it’s all about). Each generation of this technology gets bigger, better, faster, and more reliable. 3G, like 2G before it, got put out to pasture to make room first for 4G networks and now 5G networks.
Hold on, let me clarify that: 3G is getting put out to pasture. And it should be there by end the end of this year.
Wait. I thought 3G was already shutdown.
Not completely. Some 3G networks were shut down early this year, some are shutting down now, over the summer, and others will shut down by the end of 2022.
Once the 3G shutdown is complete, you’ll be unable to call for emergency assistance or call and text those children and grandchildren you love so much. I don’t know about you, but the latter part of that sentence is the one that worries me most!
Of course the PureTalk 3G shutdown has already happened, so making the switch to PureTalk now guarantees you won’t be affected by it.
We’re sure you love your 3G phone, but it’s time to say “Thanks for the memories” and stroll confidently into the future. And we’ve got some terrific phone plans and phones that can help you do just that.
Hold on a sec. Are they going to get rid of 4G too?
The short answer is no. The long answer is also no. 4G has at least ten to fifteen good years ahead of it. All you need to be attuned to right now is the 3G shutdown and the fact that if your current phone is 3G and your wireless company is on a 3G network, you need to get that situation “sorted,” as our British friends like to say.
Posted 2 years ago