{"id":24434,"date":"2019-09-26T12:22:01","date_gmt":"2019-09-26T16:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/?p=24434"},"modified":"2019-09-25T22:23:44","modified_gmt":"2019-09-26T02:23:44","slug":"what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the point of 5G in a country that has coverage problems?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>People are complaining that the latest iPhones can\u2019t support <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/5G\">5G, a high-speed cellular data standard <\/a>that uses high frequencies and therefore will presumably require new antenna and radio circuits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am not sure what the point of 5G is in the US, though. The range and ability to transmit through walls, rain, etc. is inferior with 5G. The problem with the US is not that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomsguide.com\/us\/best-mobile-network,review-2942.html\">the 30-50 Mbit speeds<\/a> in areas with good <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/LTE_(telecommunication)\">LTE<\/a> (4G, sort of) coverage are not fast enough. It is that the speed in a lot of places is  0 Mbps (i.e., there is no coverage).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Readers: What will be the practical advantage of 5G over LTE?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Separately, if 5G does prove useful, will 5G make our traffic-choked suburbs even less attractive compared to cities? If carriers didn\u2019t want to invest in good LTE coverage for American suburbs why would they build 5G towers every 1,500\u2019 in medium-density environments?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People are complaining that the latest iPhones can\u2019t support 5G, a high-speed cellular data standard that uses high frequencies and therefore will presumably require new antenna and radio [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-engineering"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is the point of 5G in a country that has coverage problems? - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is the point of 5G in a country that has coverage problems? - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"People are complaining that the latest iPhones can\u2019t support 5G, a high-speed cellular data standard that uses high frequencies and therefore will presumably require new antenna and radio [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-26T16:22:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"philg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"philg\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"philg\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e\"},\"headline\":\"What is the point of 5G in a country that has coverage problems?\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-26T16:22:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/\"},\"wordCount\":167,\"commentCount\":22,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Engineering\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/\",\"name\":\"What is the point of 5G in a country that has coverage problems? - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-26T16:22:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What is the point of 5G in a country that has coverage problems?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog\",\"description\":\"A posting every day; an interesting idea every three months...\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e\",\"name\":\"philg\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2047,\"height\":2560,\"caption\":\"philg\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/author\/philg\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is the point of 5G in a country that has coverage problems? - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is the point of 5G in a country that has coverage problems? - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","og_description":"People are complaining that the latest iPhones can\u2019t support 5G, a high-speed cellular data standard that uses high frequencies and therefore will presumably require new antenna and radio [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/","og_site_name":"Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","article_published_time":"2019-09-26T16:22:01+00:00","author":"philg","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"philg","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/"},"author":{"name":"philg","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e"},"headline":"What is the point of 5G in a country that has coverage problems?","datePublished":"2019-09-26T16:22:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/"},"wordCount":167,"commentCount":22,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e"},"articleSection":["Engineering"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/","url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/","name":"What is the point of 5G in a country that has coverage problems? - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-09-26T16:22:01+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/26\/what-is-the-point-of-5g-in-a-country-that-has-coverage-problems\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What is the point of 5G in a country that has coverage problems?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/","name":"Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","description":"A posting every day; an interesting idea every three months...","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e","name":"philg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg","url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg","width":2047,"height":2560,"caption":"philg"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/author\/philg\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paokyZ-6m6","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24434"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24446,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24434\/revisions\/24446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}