Verizon is promoting yet another 5G speed enhancement.
Angela Lang/CNET
Verizon is continuing to enhance the 5G speed of its millimeter-wave network, with the business promoting today that it has actually reached a brand-new peak of 5.06 gigabits per second in download speeds. In theory, a connection that quick would let you download a whole season of a TELEVISION program, in HD, in seconds. The brand-new achievement, which was done together with Ericsson and Qualcomm, comes one week after Verizon boasted 4Gbps download speeds over millimeter-wave throughout Apple’s iPhone 12 launch.
Unlike the 4Gbps result, which the provider states can be discovered in specific cities today, the brand-new peak download speed was available in a “lab environment” utilizing Qualcomm’s upcoming X60 5G modem. Verizon states that the speeds were achieved utilizing provider aggregation that integrated its millimeter-wave signal and a 4G LTE anchor, a pairing of cordless spectrum that the business states is possible in “several 5G devices available today” that utilize Qualcomm’s existing X55 chipset.
The cordless provider promotes that when “fully mature” the 5G innovation will have the “potential of reaching speeds up to 10Gbps” with “latency under 5 milliseconds” for more immediate connections.
While a remarkable turning point, it’s uncertain when these speed enhancements will come to its existing 5G cities.
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Despite launching a nationwide 5G network last week using some of its lower-band spectrum, Verizon has continued to push its millimeter-wave technology, which is significantly faster than low-band 5G but severely limited in range. Verizon has millimeter-wave 5G (or what it calls “Ultra Wideband”; it’s sometimes styled “mmWave”) available in parts of 55 cities with plans to get to 60 cities before the end of 2020. You will, however, need to be on the right block and outdoors to use the connection, as the signal does not travel far, cannot penetrate into buildings and can be disrupted if items like leaves get in the way.
The lower-band 5G network, which Verizon calls “5G Nationwide,” is available to more than 200 million people, but its current speeds and coverage are largely the same as a good 4G LTE connection. Verizon’s millimeter-wave 5G also requires having the right plan, while its nationwide 5G network works on all older plans so long as you have a 5G phone.
Read more: 5G’s many names explained
