What’s The Difference Between 4G LTE and 5G? Understanding Network Speeds (2024)

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What’s The Difference Between 4G LTE and 5G? Understanding Network Speeds? ›

Latency. The biggest difference between 4G and 5G is latency. 5G can offer low latency under 5 milliseconds, while 4G latency ranges from 60 ms to 98 ms. Lower latency brings advancements in other areas, such as faster download speeds.

4G LTE speeds peak at about 100 Mbps. Though 5G speeds are affected by things like network congestion, location, time, carrier, and the distance from the nearest cell tower, 5G is usually a whopping 10 times faster than 4G and could one day be 100 times faster.

Not only can 5G offer faster data speeds than LTE, but it can also support more devices and users on the same network. This is because 5G has a higher capacity than LTE. This means 5G can handle more data traffic without congestion or degradation.

"Many people still have 4G compatible and not 5G compatible phones. And when that ratio gets off, you might be in a place where 5G is under-provisioned, which is there are not enough resources kept behind 5G to make it works as fast as 4G," he said.

Frequency waves

One critical difference is that 5G networks use unique radio frequencies to accomplish what 4G networks cannot. While some 5G networks use higher frequencies, such as those at 30 GHz or more, 4G uses frequencies below 6 GHz.

Why does my phone say LTE instead of 4G? The network your phone connects to depends on the mobile carrier, the device itself, and your location. Some carriers do not support “true 4G” and offer LTE and LTE-A instead. Some devices cannot connect to 4G due to limited functions.

4G LTE vs.

Verizon 4G LTE wireless broadband is 10 times faster than 3G — able to handle download speeds between 5 and 12 Mbps (Megabits per second) and upload speeds between 2 and 5 Mbps, with peak download speeds approaching 50 Mbps. Cable speeds vary, but 4 to 12 Mbps are common.

LTE vs 5G Speed: LTE offers speeds of up to 100Mbps, while 5G can deliver speeds of up to 1Gbps. LTE vs 5G Coverage: LTE has widespread coverage, but 5G is still in the early stages of deployment. LTE vs 5G Capacity: LTE can support up to 1000 devices per cell, while 5G can support up to 10,000 devices per cell.

But the average LTE speed does not exceed 100 Mbps. If we talk about 5G, the speed of the fifth-generation network is many times faster. Theoretically, this network can transmit data at a maximum speed of 20 Gbps.

Speed and Capacity:5G NR offers significantly higher data speeds compared to 4G LTE. It can provide peak data rates of up to 10 Gbps, while 4G LTE typically offers peak rates of up to 1 Gbps. This means faster downloads, streaming, and overall internet performance. Latency:5G NR has much lower latency than 4G LTE.

How can I improve my 4G LTE or 5G speed? ›

Signal Quality (SINR)

In 4G LTE and 5G networks, signal quality is measured as SINR. Increasing your SINR can have a dramatic impact on your connection speeds. The best way to improve SINR is to use a directional outdoor antenna, either connected to a signal booster or directly to an LTE or 5G hotspot.

Verify that there is 5G coverage where you are. While 5G has been deployed worldwide, there are huge gaps that make it unreliable in lots of areas. If you have a 5G-capable phone and you've been on a 5G network recently, moving even a few feet can push you back to an older standard like LTE/4G.

In fact, one of the reasons that 5G phones don't seem to feel much faster than 4G phones is because many of the applications these phones have don't require speeds faster than what 4G already offers. That's not to say that the potential speeds 5G offers are not beneficial.

While 5G's algorithms are even more comprehensive than its predecessors, users are still vulnerable to cyberattacks. One area of concern is encryption. While apps on 5G networks are encrypted, the 5G NR standard doesn't have end-to-end encryption, leaving it open to certain kinds of attacks.

The three major differences between 4G and 5G are faster speeds, higher bandwidth and lower “latency,” or lag time in communications between devices and servers. But those perks are going to require building out a lot of new infrastructure and billions of dollars in annual investments.

Many experts say that 4G should be available well into 2030, so even though you may see 5G utilized more prevalently, especially in large cities, there's no reason to believe that 4G is becoming more scarce.

How fast is 5G compared to 4G? Depending on the plan, while top 4G download speeds can range from 50 to 180Mbps, 5G download speeds sometimes peak out at 250Mbps. But that number doesn't come close to the fastest 5G can get. In the best conditions, it can reach a whopping 20Gbps.

5G is designed to support a 100x increase in traffic capacity and network efficiency. 5G has lower latency than 4G. 5G has significantly lower latency to deliver more instantaneous, real-time access: a 10x decrease in end-to-end latency down to 1ms.