5G connectivity has long since gone from being a topic of conversation to being a reality. With telephone companies working for a long time on the implementation of this network, it is more than likely that you are already using it, and that you will be surprised by its speed and by everything it offers. Now, do you know that not all 5G is the same and that there are other variants of it?
5G, a level jump to hyperconnectivity
Speed, density and latency are the main characteristics of 5G networks, the infrastructure that responds to the need for massive connectivity and on which all operations in the world will be based in the coming decades. We have to go back to the 1980s to see the birth of the first generation of mobile networks, 1G.
This was still an analog technology, which in the 90s would be replaced by 2G, the first digital mobile communication technology. 3G significantly improved the quality of calls and made data transmission possible in the first smartphones, but it was not until the arrival of 4G that the general explosion in mobile data consumption took place.
In those, we currently have this 5G, which is the new generation of mobile networks, an evolution of the wireless communication technology that we had until now and that represents a level jump towards hyperconnectivity. With all this, and beyond this, we can say that other branches are born on it that differ from each other with different uses from each other.
Its typologies
In views of wireless networks , they represent a fundamental part of our connections today. More and more we connect from mobile devices and that means that we make less use of wiring. If we look back, just a few years ago, most of the time we connected with a cable to the router.
This has changed radically and WiFi or mobile data connections have been gaining ground little by little. And that is where the typologies of 5G, 5G Plus, 5G UW and 5G UC appear in the most modern days, which are all part of the most modern network. This is something similar to what happens with 4G networks, since there are 4G, 4G+, LTE, LTE+, LTE-A networks… and they are all different. But what are each and what are they based on?
5G
The main one and the one that everyone knows. Referring to the fifth generation of mobile networks, it represents improvements in bandwidth and latency, which allows services to be provided that could not be provided with previous networks. Its design seeks to extend previous 4G LTE mobile phone networks and, in some cases, replace them entirely.
There are several factors that define each generation, such as the technology used, the time between sending and receiving a signal (latency), and the speed at which data is transmitted through a network to connected devices. . These, for their part, promise data transmission speeds that are in the 6 GHz band. In some places, the name mid-band 5G is also referred to, since it operates between 600 MHz and 6 GHz.
5GPlus
This identifier, also positioned as 5G+, is a connection that operates at ultra-high frequencies, between 24 and 100 GHz , although some place it at 17 GHz. Many operators assure that it will have speeds as high as those of fiber optics .
The speed thing is true, since the 5G millimeter band (mmWave) network is capable of reaching up to 100 Gbps. However, it has two great details: the first is that its implementation is very expensive, since the entire architecture is new; and the second, that its coverage is very limited and depends on many antennas. This makes it an ideal network for spaces where many people come together and high-speed connections are required.
5G UW
As far as 5G UW or ‘Ultra Wideband’ is concerned, that’s what carriers will use to refer to their specific millimeter wave and C-band networks. It means, in your case, that we’ll have the fastest 5G connectivity offered by their respective operators.
However, note that it may also be referred to as ‘UWB’, which will add to the network on certain devices, but is essentially the same with ultra-wideband frequencies.
5G UC (Ultra Capacity)
This, in turn, indicates that we are connected to a type of 5G network and we will only see it on our devices with 5G support. Specifically, this icon is displayed when we are connected to the ‘Ultra Capacity’ network which, as its name suggests, has a much higher capacity than we can accommodate.
Technically, 5G UC indicates that we are connected to the mid-band or millimeter wave (mmWave) 5G. In the same way as with the UW, we will probably connect in the mid band, since that is the majority of the 5G network of some companies. Your icon will be followed by ‘UC’.