5G vs. 5GHz: What Are the Differences?
Before we start sharing today, I’d like to ask you a few questions:
Is your phone 5G? Is your wifi 5G?
And the difference between these two 5G?
If you’re not sure, let me clarify: These two 5G are different.
What is 5G
“G” in the name of a mobile communications technology is different from how much G traffic or how much G rate is. Here, it is not a unit of quantity, but a short form of the word Generation.
5G means a fifth-generation mobile communications technology, that is, a fifth-generation cellular network technology that provides broadband access. 5G is an extension of development after 4G, LTE, and 3G, and is a current latest generation
wireless communications technology.
If you’re talking about Wi-Fi, “5G(Hz)” refers to one band: 5 GHz.
In a traditional networking manner in which cell coverage is implemented by using a base station as the center, a personalized and diversified service requirement of a user cannot be met. With the rapid development of network technologies and the arrival of a
heavy-traffic 5G era, direct communication technology between devices is urgently needed. The D2D communication technology can increase the traffic of wireless data. The networking flexibility is improved. The reliability of the information can be enhanced. It
can improve efficiency and reduce consumption. The communication quality is improved.
The fifth-generation mobile communication technology eliminates the interference from the inherent transmitter signal of the communication duplex node so that bidirectional communication can be performed simultaneously and at the same frequency on a
physical channel. This technology can reduce the waste of radio resources and improve spectral efficiency utilization. There is a set of specifications that define 5G, and the industry has identified 5G NR (“New Radio”) as the standard technology that meets these
specifications. 5G NR is a new way to encode over-the-air data that is more efficient than previous generations.
Certainly, the power of the fifth-generation mobile communications technology goes far beyond that. Through multi-user MIMO, antennas are disposed at both the input end and the transmit end of the device, thereby increasing the capacity of the MIMO channel.
This technology can widen the coverage of wireless signals, improve the reliability of transmission, and increase the system capacity. In addition, the fifth-generation mobile communications technology supports high-frequency band transmission in an
environment with few low-frequency band spectrum resources.
Compared with traditional mobile communications networks, key technologies, such as large-scale antenna arrays, ultra-dense networking, new multiple access, full-spectrum access, and new network architecture, are used to achieve the Gbps user-perceived rate.
What is 5 GHz
5 GHz Wi-Fi is a short-range home network system that operates in the 5 GHz radio band.
Currently, there are two mainstream Wi-Fi frequency bands: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.
The main differences between the two frequencies are the range (coverage) and bandwidth (speed) provided by the band.
IEEE 802.11, the first generation wireless transmission standard, was born in 1997. Therefore, many wireless electronic devices, such as microwave ovens and Bluetooth devices, generally use the 2.4 GHz wireless frequency. When multiple devices attempt to use
the same radio space, overcrowding occurs, and the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi speed becomes very low.
The 5 GHz Wi-Fi frequency band that uses the 802.11ac protocol of the fifth generation supports a transmission rate of 433 Mbit/s at 80 MHz, and a transmission rate of 866 Mbit/s at 160 MHz. Compared with the 2.4 GHz transmission rate of 300 Mbit/s, the
transmission rate is greatly improved. The 5 GHz Wi-Fi uses a higher frequency band, resulting in less channel congestion. The 5 GHz Wi-Fi uses 23 channels and does not interfere with each other. Compared with the 11 channels on the 2.4 GHz frequency band,
the 5 GHz Wi-Fi significantly reduces signal congestion. Therefore, the transmission rate of 5 GHz is faster than that of 2.4GHz.
Wi-Fi is an electromagnetic wave that propagates in a straight line. When it encounters an obstacle, multiple phenomena such as penetration, reflection, and diffraction occur. Most of the signals are transmitted through Wi-Fi, and a small number of signals are
reflected and diffracted. The physical characteristics of radio waves are that the lower the frequency, the longer the wavelength, the smaller the loss in the propagation process, the wider the coverage area, and the easier it to bypass the obstacles. The higher the
frequency, the smaller the coverage, and the harder it is to get around obstacles.
Therefore, high-frequency and short-wavelength 5 GHz signals have relatively small coverage and are less capable of crossing obstacles than 2.4 GHz.
For comparison between 2.4ghz wifi and 5ghz wifi, you can refer to the following articles:
2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and 5 GHz Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi Standards
As the article shows:
Generally, we can find the standard supported by the device in the device’s specifications to determine whether the device supports dual-band wifi.
For example, the EG8145V5 supports the following standards in the specifications of the EG8145V5:
For details about how to set 5G Wi-Fi for Huawei ONT, click: How to set 5G WiFi
Now, do you know the difference between 5G and 5 GHz?
That’s what I’m sharing today. I hope it’s helpful.
If you have any questions about the above, please leave a comment below.
Thank you!