By Michael Simon, 02/05/2019
If you’ve seen 5GE on your phone’s status bar, don’t be fooled.
The 5G revolution is coming at some point, but AT&T wants Android and iPhone users to think it’s already here—even though it’s not. In short, if you see a new “5GE” icon in your status bar, you aren’t magically getting an upgrade to 5G. But there’s more to it than that. Here’s what you need to know.
What is 5G?
5G is the next step in wireless communication, offering theoretical speeds that absolutely blow away LTE. Even at the outset, customers will see wireless speeds that match what they get over Wi-Fi—up to 1Gbps in some cases. That’s far greater than the 20-30Mbps capable over LTE.
When is 5G arriving?
Actual 5G won’t arrive for a while, at least not in a nationwide capacity. Some 5G networks are technically live already, but they’re limited to home-based broadband and hotspots in certain areas of the U.S. So while the first true 5G phones should be arriving later this year, there won’t be anything close to nationwide coverage until at least 2020.
So then what’s 5GE?
AT&T’s 5GE network is merely a slightly faster LTE network. You’re still connecting to the same network as before, but through a combination of 4×4 MIMO and 256 QAM, some phones might see faster speeds in some areas. It’s basically marketing lingo.
What does the “E” stand for?
Evolution.
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