Cellular 5G : the end of wires at home – Bye Bye 3G/4G/LTE and ISP as we know them.
5G: Source : ATT
It seems that we just all got phones and tablets that are LTE (4G) capable, but the reality is that it’s been already 6-7 years that it’s been implemented and since then, mobility has just gotten bigger. How much bigger? We ran out of IPV4 and now using IPV6. Not that almost every human is connected, they are connected two to three times each. More and more objects/devices are connected to cellular Internet and it’s not going to decrease.
In fact, we are seeing cars with built-in cellular that create you a hotspot where car makers upload a new firmware update with new features. Forget satellite radio or HD radio, it’s Internet radio now. It’s easy to predict the future now and think that your watch, your augmented reality glasses and your portable gaming consoles will all be connected to a cellular network. You can say that you will also want them interconnected so they can talk to each other(same owner) but be on the Internet no matter where they are. This is again the power of the cloud. The cloud is going to another level.
You don’t need a crystal ball to know that changes are well under way from big cellular companies to keep you connected at any moments and this will include at home. Yes, your kids will probably be the last generation to see wiring at home. They will be the “Internet Cord Cutters”. Thanks to 5G.
The reason why you switch your phone/table from cellular to WiFi when you get home is because of the speed limitation, latency, but mostly data packages. This is coming to an end with 5G and here is why.
Big ISPs (Internet Service Provider) that bring the Internet to home has to pay big bucks to run and maintain wires to home. Either if it’s DSL, Cable or fiber, they are at big bucks and, needless to say, that converting a city to fiber cost billions. On top of the wiring, Cable, Fiber and DSL companies have to install a modem/router in every house to convert the signal for you to get the data, plus all the expenses related to customer support(think about the poor old lady that can’t understand what the tech support is trying to describe resetting…). Cellular companies want their share too if they are not already selling your cellular data and they have a cheaper way; 5G.
5G is the 5th generation of cellular data. It offers speed up to 20Gbps (20GBIT) and latency as low a 1ms. Just to give you an idea, you probably have between 10 to 100mbit at home right now and your latency with your ISP “switch” is probably around 5-10ms. At home, most of the routers/switches port between devices offer speed to 1GBIT (your network interface speed) and latency is probably around 1ms. So yes, 5G is like being at home and even better with speed greater than what your wired ISP can offer.
5G companies costs are very low compared to wired ones because they only have to install antennas in existing cell towers and they don’t have to provide a modem and support for it because your objects have it integrated. The modem is in the Cloud (one less trouble device for Grand-Pa/Ma). What cellular companies need is one fiber run to every cell tower as opposed to one fiber run to every home for wired companies. The good news is that these fiber runs are already to most of the cell tower or close to a POP (Point of Presence, a location where cables meet, like a junction).
At the moment you probably pay your phone bill ($50, and maybe x2 or 3 if you live with someone) and your home Internet bill ($50). It’s just a matter of months for 5G to be implemented everywhere and the cellular companies will start offering you something like 10 lines (devices) at unlimited data at 100Mbit+ as low as $100 a month selling you on the fact that wires are over.
What will happen in the next years is the end of multiple infrastructure(saving money), small to big ones. WiFi access points complexities at home or small businesses will be phased out, modems and routers are going to disappear and you will ALWAYS be connected on a very high-speed network, no matter where you will be. Streaming Netflix at any time, anywhere, playing multiplayer games (thanks to very low latency of 5G) on your gaming console anywhere or even make live streaming/upload vlogs in 4K on Facebook and YouTube. It will also be the end of “oh someone else was connected to my unsecured wireless router and slowed down the connexion”. All possible with 5G.
The cellular companies will eat the wired company markets, there is no dough about it, just like the land line has been replaced for cell/smartphones and cable TV replaced for Internet TV. Denying this is living in a bubble or under a dome. Here are some interesting YouTube Videos by Nokia and Samsung testing 5G.
