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At this point, 5G is a bad joke

50 points| CrankyBear | 5 years ago |computerworld.com | reply

20 comments

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[+] jkchu|5 years ago|reply
I am personally fine with my current phone speeds. I even use my phone as a hotspot for my laptop when I do coding at the park.

Curious what the bottlenecks for people are that make them want 5G so urgently?

[+] vimax|5 years ago|reply
Our phones can't upload all the user data they could collect.

Our phones can't download the all the ads that could be sent to them fast enough.

[+] 1123581321|5 years ago|reply
For one, many people don’t have data fast and low-latency enough to make hotspot usage a good enough experience.
[+] ArkVark|5 years ago|reply
The point of 5G is to allow carriers to serve more data with the same amount of spectrum. Usually that leads to consumer benefits in the form of a cheaper rate per megabyte. That's basically it.
[+] bitminer|5 years ago|reply
I disagree. I think the purpose of 5G is to allow carriers (formerly known as The Phone Company) to sell value-added services to other companies large and small. IoT, video-on-demand, Big Data, AI, automation, etc. The bandwidth story is the distraction.

Guess who pays?

[+] chrisco255|5 years ago|reply
It also allows wireless providers to directly compete with cable for home internet access. It could also help in many rural areas that still lack cable.
[+] patrickthebold|5 years ago|reply
Or investor benefits in the form of stock buybacks, rise in share price, or dividend payments.
[+] kierank|5 years ago|reply
I have 5G home broadband in London and receive 700Mbps down with no cap. There's service from multiple operators. Yes we've had teething issues but they were all resolved.
[+] Dayshine|5 years ago|reply
With who? I've never seen unlimited data only sims in the UK.
[+] Eleopteryx|5 years ago|reply
Feeling somewhat validated in my choice to upgrade to a discounted phone from 2019 rather than spring for a newer phone with 5G support. I just had a feeling 5G was going to be something I would certainly eventually want to have, but wouldn't make a huge practical difference in the short-term (the next couple of years).
[+] Fr33maan|5 years ago|reply
There is a 5g specification called 2D2 which is an acrobym for device to device. Could we create a "p2p" network so we don't need to all pay provider to get internet but rather share bandwidth ?
[+] quantum_state|5 years ago|reply
The pop up ads from the site is very annoying and out of date ...