Verizon's 5G network is live: here's how it's used

I'm in Chicago – not for the deep dish pizza, but to see how fast the first 5G network in the US is running on a smartphone. The verdict? Rather fast. I hit more than 600 megabits per second at one point. And yes, the pizza is very good too.

Verizon took the plunge and released its 5G network on April 3, a full week earlier than its initial launch date on April 11. This is likely to be the case with the three South Korean operators who are also launching their respective 5G services – all for the chance to claim that it is the first to launch a 5G commercial network in the world. (It made).

But Verizon's new network is like nothing. 4G LTE is not available today in the country, but is only available in Chicago and Minneapolis. Here's how Verizon explains:

"In Chicago, 5G coverage is concentrated in the West Loop and South Loop areas around landmarks such as Union Station, Willis Tower, the Chicago Institute, Millennium Park and the Chicago Theater." announced the company in a press release. "Customers also benefit from the 5G Ultra Wideband service in the Verizon store on The Magnificent Mile and throughout the Gold Coast, the Old City and River North."

Why is Verizon's 5G network available in only a few Chicago tourist locations? We knew this would have been the case for a while, because the operators told us that 5G would deploy slowly in small areas for some cities, and then it would develop gradually over the next few years. Sprint, for example, plans to launch its 5G network in May also in Chicago, but it will only be available for about 20 square miles (The city of Chicago is about 234 square miles, for reference).

The reason is related to 5G technology. Verizon uses millimeter wave (mmWave) to provide ultra-fast speeds from base stations around Chicago, also known as 5G nodes. The only drawback of the mmWave technology is that it can easily be blocked (by walls, cars, etc.). ), and that he has a very, very short reach. Pass a block in front of one of these nodes and it is likely that you come back in 4G LTE. That's why T-Mobile and Sprint approach 5G differently, with a low-bandwidth spectrum that can penetrate objects and cover a much larger area. This is not perfect, however, as it does not offer speeds as fast as mmWave.

With Verizon's approach, you can see the challenge of deploying 5G coverage across the country as it requires the deployment of many of these nodes. We are therefore starting modestly with these areas in Chicago and Minneapolis, but the carrier plans to expand its 5G network to 30 cities by the end of the year.

You also need the right material

Finding a 5G node is one thing – you need a 5G smartphone to connect to these networks (yes, you will need to upgrade). The only option at the moment is the Motorola Moto Z3, a mid-range Android smartphone launched last summer, paired with a separate Moto Mod 5G that magnetically attaches to the back of the phone. The Moto Z3 alone can not connect to 5G networks, so you need the mod, which has four mmWave antennas and a built-in 2,000 mAh battery for switching between 4G and 5G.

The Moto Z3 can be purchased for around $ 480 (it's exclusive to Verizon's network), and the mod costs $ 200 more – it's a promotional price for a limited time since it actually costs $ 350. And that's not all: Verizon Postpaid subscribers will have to spend $ 10 more and more on their unlimited plan to access 5G wherever it's available (the first three months are free).

This brings the total cost to around $ 700 (unless charged by your cell phone), which is a surprisingly affordable way to access the 5G right now. At least, compared to the handful of 5G smartphones that will be released soon, like the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G or the LG ThinQ V50, where the price tags will undoubtedly exceed $ 1,000.

But that means using a mid-range Android smartphone if, for whatever reason, you want to connect desperately to Verizon's current 5G network. In addition, the Moto Z3 associated with the 5G Moto Mod turns into a stocky phone that is far from the futuristic device that you thought might be used to connect to the long-awaited 5G network. The other 5G Android phones coming out soon have the advantage of being thin and more like modern smartphones, but they will eat a big chunk of your wallet.

If you use an iPhone, you're out of luck because the company is not supposed to launch a 5G-compatible phone before 2020.

The sacred flames it is fast!

Agree, agree – now for the part you want to hear about. What is the speed of Verizon's 5G network? I have never reached top speeds, but what I've gotten me has always blown away. Viewing:

Yes, it is 624 Mbps. This is the fastest download speed I got with the Ookla Speedtest app on the Moto Z3 with the 5G Mod. If that does not matter, the average speed of 4G LTE on various US carriers is between 15 and 50 Mbps, with a latency of about 60 milliseconds or more (the delay between data transfer). I reached 29 milliseconds. It's impressive.

I also had another Moto Z3 that did not have a Moto Mod 5G, on the same Verizon network, and it reached 230 Mbps download and download speeds of 7.12 Mbps. It's still pretty fast on average, but the 5G mod is making a spectacular leap forward.

What does this mean in terms of everyday use? The download of songs and movies should in principle only take a few seconds, if it took a few minutes before. Do not expect download speeds to change much for the moment – Verizon said it currently uses 4G LTE technology for downloads, so you will not see much difference there.

Verizon says its existing 5G network in Chicago and Minneapolis will offer typical download speeds of 450 Mbps, which can reach nearly 1 Gbps and less than 30 milliseconds of latency. It's about the height of what I've seen so far in the city near these knots.

But until now, we've heard that 5G offers speeds of 1 to 10 Gbps, and between 1 and 10 milliseconds of latency, which we are currently seeing is in the lower end of the spectrum. But that's the beginning, and Verizon announced that it would regularly improve the speed, latency, and overall performance of the 5G Ultra Wideband network. " So you should get faster results by the end of the year.

The phones I was using were not fully configured with all my usual applications. So I could not have a clear idea of ​​how a 5G connection could change the use of my smartphone. Your applications will not work faster or something like that; Instagram and Twitter load content faster, but I'm not sure it will be enough to notice a difference, because it is already fast if you have good 4G LTE coverage.

I tried to download a Netflix show, but things did not go as well as expected.

It was an episode of Black mirrorand the Moto Z3 with the Mod 5G has downloaded 14% (25 MB on 168 MB) of the series in two minutes. It's far from fast. Meanwhile, the Moto Z3 without the mod has downloaded 33% (57 MB on 168 MB) of the same episode during the same period. Color me confused. I asked Verizon, and it was explained that the reason is that the host server on which I download the series is not optimized for a 5G connection – companies like Netflix will need to make changes to optimize their experience . This is a disappointing answer, because you want it to work, but as with the 5G deployment, the adaptation to 5G will also take time.

When you're not connected to the 5G, the Moto Mod should provide slightly faster data speeds when connected to the 4G LTE. I did a test on the Moto Z3 without the mod and the one with it (not simultaneously as this may affect the speed of the other device) on 4G LTE, and the old one gave me a download of 16.9 Mbps and a download speed of 14.7 Mbps with 22 millisecond latency. The phone equipped with the 5G Moto Mod offered a download of 70.9 Mbps and a download of 9.15 with a latency of 25 milliseconds. So, for the Moto Z3 at least, it's a good reason to keep the mod when you're out.

I've launched the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus and inserted the same Verizon SIM card, just to see what the latest flagship product can offer on the 4G LTE. The results are as follows: download 86.6 Mbps and download 18.8, with a latency of 33 milliseconds. It's better than the 5G Moto Mod on 4G LTE, so it depends a lot on the modem of your phone and the network on which you are. For example, the iPhone XS Max on the AT & T 5G E network only reaches 26.3 Mb / s for download and 11.3 for download with 22 millisecond latency in the same area.

Warnings

Although fast download speeds thrill me, there are a lot of caveats. I walked up to five different 5G nodes around downtown Chicago, all located near popular sites like the Magnificent Mile. The description of these 5G sites in Verizon's press release was vague – I would have lost a lot of time looking for them if I had not given more precise intersections.

Even then, I still had to make a few comings and goings to find the knot. It's not like I'm automatically connected to 5G when I was in the area. I often needed a line of sight to the node for the phone to connect.

One important thing to note is that walking around the status bar is apparently a bad way to search for a 5G connection. The 5G Ultra Wideband symbol will only appear when you request data. Therefore, when using an application like Netflix or scrolling through Twitter. This is the reason why several journalists mentioned the symbol exchanging between 5G Ultra Wideband and 4G LTE. It is not that the 5G connection is irregular, but simply that the phone is probably not (or very few) requests for data. I saw the same problem occur, but as soon as I started an application that required data, the 5G Ultra Wideband logo persisted in my status bar.

It's still incredibly confusing for consumers who can see their phone simply exchanging logos between 4G LTE and 5G. Verizon said he listened to comments. It would be easier to understand when you will be connected to the 5G on the phone at some point.

The other big problem is the coverage – not about the number of 5G nodes set up (which will grow over time) – but the distance that separates you from the 5G node to stay connected. I walked a block away from a node and I could not connect to that node anymore. Here is the result of the speed test of this distance: 20.8 Mbps and 13.7 Mbps. This is the average 4G LTE speed.

At another knot, I was half a block away from it and I did a speed test while it was in my line of sight. My results were 470 Mbps download and 52.4 Mbps download. It's great! Well, I walked down a driveway and re-tested it: 29.8 Mbps download and 14.8 Mbps download. This is the disadvantage of mmWave, but it is still amazing how far the penetration through the walls is really mediocre. I entered a café near another knot and the Moto Z3 did not connect to the 5G. So far, Verizon's 5G will work well outdoors in a radius of about 800 meters from these nodes – not so much inside or beyond.

Finally, the other big concern is the life of the battery. I spent about two and a half hours traveling the knot of downtown Chicago, mainly by performing only speed tests with the Ookla app on the Moto Z3 with the 5G Mod. The phone itself did not lose much of its juice – it still had 80% of the total – but only 35% of the Moto Mod remained. I can not imagine what it would be if I actually used the 5G connection to download content. The depletion of the battery is certainly a concern, and it will be interesting to see how phones like the Galaxy S10 5G handle it. Samsung has put a huge battery of 4,500 mAh in this phone, and it seems that may be the reason.

Do you need the 5G now?

I do not see why everyone should buy a Moto Z3 or a Moto Mod now, even if you call yourself an early fan and are based in Chicago or Minneapolis. 5G nodes are far too sparse and do not even guarantee a solid connection at only 1,000 meters. At $ 700, the investment remains considerable and the Verizon network is not yet there.

Does this mean that you should buy a 5G phone in 2019? Probably not. The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus costs US $ 1,000 and can not connect to the 5G – the Galaxy S10 5G can do this, and will probably cost a bit more. The same goes for the LG V50 ThinQ. This year, 5G phones will be expensive. It is therefore not interesting to escape when networks are so rare and limited to certain cities.

It is likely that prices will drop significantly by 2020 or 2021, which will be a better time to upgrade, as operators will have significantly improved coverage across the country.

All of this is very similar to the beginnings of 4G, where the connection was not available everywhere, and battery depletion was a huge problem, with phones trying to find the right network. The beginnings of 5G will be a problem, and we will simply have to wait for the carriers to iron them out over the next few years. Until then, you will continue to use the 4G LTE in the same way.

The beauty of 5G does not lie only in the faster internet speeds on your phone. The lower latency means that doctors can perform robotic surgery from remote sites; or play with a friend in 4K via virtual reality will be fluid and without latency. It opens the way to smarter cities, smarter autonomous cars and more. That will really change the game – but from what I've seen here in Chicago, it's clear that we still have a long way to go before the 5G becomes as revolutionary as promised.