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5G in Texas

Nice Guy Eddie

By Nice Guy Eddie
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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13,512

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I know Verizon has a limited 5G service in Houston but I can find very little information regarding how many people are using it, where exactly it's an option, and how they are growing it. At best, Verizon is vague about their growth strategy. Does anyone have any inside scoop on current and future coverage maps for their Houston home 5G service?

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elfenix

elfenix 34,240

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51 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I know Verizon has a limited 5G service in Houston but I can find very little information regarding how many people are using it, where exactly it's an option, and how they are growing it. At best, Verizon is vague about their growth strategy. Does anyone have any inside scoop on current and future coverage maps for their Houston home 5G service?

they're not.  the 5G they rolled out is using non-standards compliant equipment and will have to be replaced at some point.  not really an issue for what they're doing (fixed wireless - basically gigabit service to compete with comcast).  they only rolled it out to claim they're the first to 5G.  the coverage area is tiny, too (and this probably overstates since these are zip codes where service is available, i doubt that much of the 3rd ward has service):

541776-houston-5g-coverage-map-v3.jpg

 

@mycox has their service, though

Edited by elfenix
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smokebomb

smokebomb 357

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2 hours ago, deadshank said:

I’m old.  I don’t understand.  Should I give a shit?  

If 5G does what it promises, people would potentially be able to get rid of cable internet and use mobile 5G for their home internet access, not just their phone. It could also provide access to high speed broadband in rural areas since all it involves is putting up a tower, not running wires to individual houses. 

Don't expect it to arrive overnight though - they just approved last month the official 5G technical standard. But the mobile networks are very keen to get it push out (see Verizon's early rollout of unofficial standard above) so it may be available sooner than expected since it has the potential to be such a game changer. 

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relapse98

relapse98 634

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12 hours ago, Parliament said:

Uhh...don't most of them have NO cap?

Well, why don't we take a look at Verizon

They have 3 "unlimited" data plans. Go unlimited for $40/line, Beyond Unlimited for $50/line and Above Unlimited for $60/line.

Go says "Unlimited 4G LTE Data"

Beyond says "Premium Unlimited 4G LTE Data (22GB)"

Above says "Premium Unlimited 4G LTE Data (75GB)"

 

So - they sell it as "unlimited" but what that means is when you hit that listed cap, you get throttled. I seriously thought this was common knowledge that the cell companies got away from actual, really unlimited data like a decade ago. I'm suprised there are people out there that believe they have "NO cap" but that's how good their marketing departments are - they sucker you in. I guess I could agree that it's "NO cap" but if my 4G LTE is throttled down to the point where its not usable - it's the functional equivalent of a cap.

 

And remember - we are talking about this being a replacement for a hard wired line. That means everything in a house is coming out of a hot spot. Oh wait, their FAQ actually happens to list hotspots - I wonder what the limit is there with their most expensive "unlimited" plan. 20GB? Oh boy. If you are streaming anything and plan to run your house of a cell hot spot with a 20GB monthly limit? Good luck.

 

The cell companies may increase their data limits. But until they do, cellular delivery isn't a replacement for hard wired connections unless you are 80 years old and still reading email via AOL.

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relapse98

relapse98 634

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5 minutes ago, mycox said:

I like the 5G service. $50/month with no data cap

Do you have a URL for the plan? https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/5g-home-faqs/

If they stick to no cap for 5G home, I'll be impressed. We'll see how they do on the roll out. It'll all come down to usage - they either have to make the cells smaller or use caps.
 

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mycox

mycox 582

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32 minutes ago, relapse98 said:

Do you have a URL for the plan? https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/5g-home-faqs/

If they stick to no cap for 5G home, I'll be impressed. We'll see how they do on the roll out. It'll all come down to usage - they either have to make the cells smaller or use caps.
 

It's $50/month if you have a cell plan with Verizon. $70 if you don't.
https://www.verizonwireless.com/5g/home/?cmp=KNC-C-HQ-NON-R-AW-NONE-NONE-2K0PX0-PX-GAW-71700000042928608&gclid=Cj0KCQiAtvPjBRDPARIsAJfZz0q-fnCacLY7eErMsJc6DAYJ8xRt0QX4i51ZdT8NyaxXxaovakhORvoaAi7rEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

They install a small receiver outside your home and it's wired to a modem inside. There might be an option to install inside the house if they can get a good signal.

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13,512

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The problem with "no cap" are the people that really abuse it.  If someone overly abuses no cap, such as downloading every movie made to mankind, or uploading tons of data to the internet, it can create performance issues for every other user in the immediate area. Then those subscribers get pissed that they can't get close to the advertised rates they are paying for.

In those cases, the ISP would rather lose the abuser to keep everyone else happy.

and I understand that someone that downloads many GBs of data per day hates this but you can eventually get banned from the "all you can eat" buffet if you sit there 8 hours per day.

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elfenix

elfenix 34,240

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they're going to split fixed and mobile offerings.  mobile will probably be subject to much lower caps than fixed.  because that's where consumer expectations currently are.  it's kinda like the expectation that you have both a phone line and a cable line coming into your house, even though lots of people only use one or the other at any one time nowadays.  though we should stop using both for new construction and switch to fiber. 

also it's kinda the nature of the technology.  fixed is largely going to rely on low power UWB (basically wifi on steroids).  it has very high spectral efficiency  so the concerns about heavy users saturating it isn't as high (and keep in mind lots of people will remain on wired connections). 

but we're also talking about ranges in the hundreds of meters  before you need outdoor antennas, or antennas on poles.

 

 

Edited by elfenix
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52-80

52-80 19,158

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11 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

The problem with "no cap" are the people that really abuse it.  If someone overly abuses no cap, such as downloading every movie made to mankind, or uploading tons of data to the internet, it can create performance issues for every other user in the immediate area. Then those subscribers get pissed that they can't get close to the advertised rates they are paying for.

In those cases, the ISP would rather lose the abuser to keep everyone else happy.

and I understand that someone that downloads many GBs of data per day hates this but you can eventually get banned from the "all you can eat" buffet if you sit there 8 hours per day.

as i understand the commercial capacity surpasses the consumption by far.  these caps and tiers are artificially set for revenue.  what i mean by that, is having every teen in the  neighborhood torrenting 24/7 isnt going to make a dent in the traffic.  its someone trying to run a datacenter out of their garage.  the telco are just trying to make a relatable boogeyman

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crash_davis

crash_davis 23,113

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when the wireless carriers first rolled out unlimited, they were truly expecting unlimited usage from consumers.  they thought everyone would be using the shit out of the cell networks.  that did not happen.  the VAST overwhelming majority used under 2 gigs a month.  this is why tiered data plans came about.  also, the networks were then built on these usage models.  so we have only ourselves to blame for not using the shit out of unlimited when it first debuted.

5G doesn't really mean shit for cell phones.  cell phones do not need 5G throughput.  5G really is a residential and enterprise broadband solution.  the most expensive part of deploying new network is digging and laying fiber.  with 5G, you have the same throughput without digging and laying fiber for the last mile.  this will save billions in operations and maintenance.  all you need is a 5G cell tower and a dedicated modem with 5G antenna at the house/business.  you turned up broadband service immediately.  no more delays, headaches, and costs working with building owners and munis for entrance facility and fiber plans.  

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clapclapclap

clapclapclap 9,000

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On 3/3/2019 at 12:06 PM, elfenix said:

the coverage area is tiny, too (and this probably overstates since these are zip codes where service is available, i doubt that much of the 3rd ward has service):

541776-houston-5g-coverage-map-v3.jpg

Good news, some judge will soon rule this gerrymandering unconstitutional.

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bolverk

bolverk 29,672

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On 3/3/2019 at 3:44 PM, smokebomb said:

If 5G does what it promises, people would potentially be able to get rid of cable internet and use mobile 5G for their home internet access, not just their phone. It could also provide access to high speed broadband in rural areas since all it involves is putting up a tower, not running wires to individual houses. 

Don't expect it to arrive overnight though - they just approved last month the official 5G technical standard. But the mobile networks are very keen to get it push out (see Verizon's early rollout of unofficial standard above) so it may be available sooner than expected since it has the potential to be such a game changer. 

3

I started doing this a little over a year ago (dropped cable television about ten years ago and internet in Fall 2017 - I was anticipating getting hooked up to Google Fiber which never happened). Granted, I'm not a heavy data user but I stream all my Netflix, Hulu, Prime content using my cell phone as a hot spot for the TV and laptop using Sprint LTE and have had close to zero issues with it. I'm not a gamer though, so I don't know if it'd be able to handle graphics intensive or multi-player games.

Supposedly, Sprint is the only major carrier that offers true unlimited wireless without throttling (or at least that's what I heard somewhere) and I've never had an issue. I'm not sure if they offer it to new customers or whether I've been grandfathered in due to being with them for several years. My phone bill has stayed at about $90/mo (includes insurance) for several years now with the Hulu subscription being free which is fairly recent.

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The Royal We

The Royal We 3,072

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I live out in the sticks and am hoping/praying that this gets rolled out with the quickness, but am dubious about how much it will cost and/or how much data you will get.

Our only options for high speed internet are satellite, long-haul fixed wireless using ubiquiti gear (what we have) and Verizon MiFi (we recently got).  The long-haul internet has speeds of ~5mbs gets fouled up every 8 months or so by trees growing and blocking the signal and the latency is too much for online gaming.  It's truly unlimited though.

The Verizon hotspot has higher speeds up to ~20 mbs but is capped at 15 Gbs per month.  It works fine for online gaming but I can't use it for anything else during the month or I hit the 15 Gbs and get throttled to 600k/s.  You can purchase a "boost" at that point and get another 5 Gbs for $35.

 

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Orange&White

Orange&White 5,528

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24 minutes ago, crash_davis said:
not sure what anyone is going to do with all that speed on a cell phone...

 

I believe it was discussed a while back up thread, but 5G is not so much for phones as much as it is to replace home entertainment/cable services because it has the bandwidth to match the cable company but without having to bury wires all of the planet to reach all of the customers.

It will be nice for my surly perusing on my phone though.

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elfenix

elfenix 34,240

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17 minutes ago, UTPhil2006 said:

So its live?

in chicago and minneapolis.  dunno about anywhere else.  and you either need a clunky modem to add to a moto z4, or a $1300 S10 5G.  plans aren't terrible, at $90/month for unlimited 5G, though it only includes unlimited 4k streaming (throttle 8K, maybe?).  that unlimited includes hotspot, which could replace your home internet service.   assuming it works on your 30th floor apartment overlooking lake michigan (narrator: it doesn't)

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