What Comes After 4g LTE?

4G LTE is the ultimate evolution of wireless networks, at least for now. But most of us can’t help but wonder — what is faster than 4G LTE and when is it coming? What will 5G be like and what exactly will 5G speeds be? If you’re wondering when 5G is coming to the USA, here’s what we know so far.

Simply put, 5G will be ridiculously fast. While 4G speeds are significantly better than 3G speeds, we can expect 5G speeds to put them both to shame. 5G wireless internet could make 3G look like dial-up, and your days of waiting impatiently for software to download or pages to load could well be over once 5G gets into the mainstream.

Of course, when we talk about 5G we’re usually referring to internet speeds for our phones, but 5G could have major implications for home internet use, as well. That’s right — although 5G will make your mobile phone networks incredibly fast, it will also have applications for the much-lauded “Internet of Things,” and for your home internet setup.

How Do We Know What to Expect from 5G?

Samsung gave us a taste in 2017 when it showed off its 5G Home routers, which delivered data at a mind-boggling 1Gbps per second. To give you a sense of what that means, at that rate you could download a 100GB 4K movie in less than 15 minutes, or a 25GB game in under 5 minutes. In contrast, your existing internet probably delivers less than 7 megabits per-second during a good period, which is why similar downloads to your phone, computer or game console now could well take hours.

Of course, Samsung’s demonstration happened under optimal conditions, and even if you have a 5G router in your home it probably won’t be positioned in the perfect environment for those kinds of speeds. But, even if you get only a tenth of that kind of speed, it will be a massive improvement over what you have now.

In the past, to offer gigabit speeds like this in your home required a lot of expensive, time-consuming infrastructure construction, but Samsung’s work around this problem is to deliver 5G milliliter waves wirelessly, the same way your mobile phone network does it. You’ll get an antenna attached to the exterior of your home that will pick up a 5G wave and send it to the connected WiFi router in your house.

When Can We Expect 5G?

We’d all love to have this amazingly fast internet in our houses tomorrow, but it’s not quite ready yet. Providers need to be sure that the infrastructure 5G does require meets industry standards and that all the technical specifications are accurate. The security of the 5G network is also an issue that providers need to be sure is tucked away.

There will be a slow and steady rollout of 5G by ISPs, starting with Verizon and presumably spreading to all the major providers. If you can’t wait for superfast internet, you can get a 500 megabit plan from Verizon FIOS right now at the hefty price tag of $275 a month.

You can expect the rest of the country and all major providers to be supplying 5G in the United States and beyond somewhere around 2020. A more specific timeline might see fixed wireless hotspots for 5G in 2019, widespread smartphone 5G capability in 2020 and about 500 million subscribers with 5G-capable smartphones by 2022. When Samsung’s Home Router 5G plan will take effect is still unclear, but certainly all eyes will be on Samsung to watch how their plan progresses.

Trade in Your Phone to Get Super-Fast Internet Sooner

When the 5G-capable phones arrive, don’t forget you can get great value for your current smartphone by selling it to The Whiz Cells. There’s no faster, easier way to get great money for your used smartphone.

All you must do is provide the necessary information about the phone you’re selling on The Whiz Cells site, send in the phone using your own packaging with our pre-paid mailing label, or using our packaging if you’re willing to wait a little longer. As soon as we get your phone, verify it and process the sale, you’ll get paid through PayPal or with a check. If you’re ready to sell your phone today, head to our devices page right now and select your phone to trade in for cash.