Living in a fast-paced world, keeping up with technology, and all its upgrades and changes, has become key to keeping up in general! Occasionally, we hear about a new technology that is meant to make our lives easier, that is currently 5G; the latest network promising to offer faster downloads and better performance.
What is 5G?
5G is the 5th generation wireless network technology. It is a new network technology designed to optimize the online experience on devices. It is the newest technology with a peak speed of 20 Gbps. 5G is confidently being positioned as the most efficient type of network nowadays as it is the improved version of 4G, expediting the online experience and the connection we have with one another online. It is intended to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra-low latency, more reliability, and a better user experience than all other networks.
The Evolution of 5G
The very first technology of network designed was 1G, which soon became 2G, 3G, 4G, and has now evolved to 5G.
1G was designed in the 1980s and it introduced us to wireless telephones.
2G was in the 1900s and it stepped things up a notch and allowed us to send messages and e-mails while on-the-go.
3G may be sounding a bit more familiar, exisitng in the 2000s, when it brought us higher speed transitions, multi-media access, apps, and global roaming to its consumers.
4G being the most recent in 2010, brought all-IP services and a fast broadband overall experience.
Now, beyond the development of all previous technologies, 5G is the game changer. It enabled the latest next-generation user experience and has authorized new deployment models. It is notorious for its unsurpassed connectivity, latency, and bandwidth. Already impacting a number of industries making workflow seamless, 5G has already aided the health, agriculture, education, and transportation industries.
How does it improve things?
5G will cover broad spectrums such as rural areas, that are not covered in 4G. It has many benefits when compared to 4G such as, optimized speed and capacity, lower latency, and a supports a wide spectrum of technologies.
When it comes to capacity, it has the ability to connect the highest number of devices to each other to date, not just smartphones. As for latency, which is how long it takes for one device to receive information from another, 5G has proved to exceed expectations with a groundbreaking speed of one thousandth of a second. Keeping in mind that 5G has been applied to the education system for example, 5G has improved its bandwidth for very high download speeds to make virtual connectivity its utmost best for streaming. What a time for 5G to swoop in while a pandemic has been taking work and educational experiences online!
Is it worth it?
5G is the way to go in order to stay on top of the times and have a connection that breaks barriers we have experienced with past connections. 5G is significantly faster than 4G, delivering 20 gigabits per second and 100+ megabits per second. Additionally, it also has 100x the capacity that a 4G has to offer and has a 10x decrease in end-to-end latency for an immediate response to send things across devices. Demolishing the delay for the end user to receive information, it has improved from 200 milliseconds from 4G, to 1 millisecond with 5G. Many of the big carriers in Canada have already adopted 5G towers such as, Rogers, Bell, and Telus that are spread out across the country in Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, and Ottawa. 5G also has huge potential to also create thousands of new jobs and improve infrastructures in many cities and countries.
While all the advantages give 5G an edge, there is a downfall and that is having to buy a new phone and a carrier that supports 5G, plans will likely become more expensive. It is also still more difficult to install and deploy in many areas, as it is not fully accessible everywhere as of yet. Another aspect to consider is security, because the more devices connected to one another, the higher the risk of hacking, as cybersecurity is still not fully incorporated. As time progresses, so will cybersecurity and its involvement in order to manage the increase of participants and capabilities of 5G. As technology is already a vital part of our daily lives, so is security, and just like everything else, we must weigh out the pros and cons before fully incorporating it into our lives and diving deep within it.