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Difference Between 5G vs LTE – Overview
The 5G network is now available in almost every major city. Soon, it will be widely available in towns and rural areas, like the 4G networks. However, most people now feel comfortable using LTE or long-term evolution technology.
LTE technology was first introduced in the year of 2009. It is a standard for wireless communication. It took years for 4G LTE to become a part of this national connectivity fabric.
LTE is present almost everywhere except for a few areas in developed nations like the UK. LTE can offer a stable and reliable force altogether.
Differences Between 5G and LTE
Differences Between 5G and LTE
LTE was established by the International Telegraph Union Radio communication or ITU-R as a standard that indicates progress towards 4G. Many telecom infrastructure companies needed help to clear the bar for providing 4G speed.
In theory, 4G LTE may achieve up to 150 Mbps data transfer speed for downloading any content. It can achieve around 50 Mbps speed for uploading anything. Network speed may vary depending on multiple other things.
What is LTE?
LTE signifies long-term evolution. The average 4G LTE speed is 50-250 Mbps. It is an advancement of technology that only a 4G network can offer. They have arrived in multiple waves.
The 4G network has developed and upgraded with time, from the rollout of 4G LTE to 4G LTE advanced, 4G LTE advanced pro, and 4G LTE-AP. Currently, 4G LTE-AP is the fastest available 4G network.
LTE has always been an upgraded and more powerful network than 3G. They can create a continuum of good performance to 5G. A 4G network is sufficient for most applications. It shares bandwidth with the 5G network. Therefore, 4G networks will continue their services for years.
What is 5G?
5G indicates the Fifth Generation. In urban areas, 5G networks offer fixed wireless access or FWA. They can connect businesses and homes to the Internet. However, trenching weirs are always very expensive and wireless connections are unreliable. Hence, the customers use a 4G LTE network as a wireless backup.
5G has a higher performance rate and more resilient infrastructure. More people are transitioning to the 5G network as their primary connection for a better experience. It reduces the complexity and overall cost. The possible applications for this 5G network are limitless. It’s because the speed of this network is higher than any other network.
Top 3 Benefits of LTE
There are multiple benefits of using the 4G LTE network.
1. Inexpensive Radio
More than 100 Mbps is overkill for multiple simple radio applications. This operates adequately at the 3G performance level. In order to support a variety of products, the 4G LTE network can use low frequencies. These products can help to operate with greater cost-effectiveness.
2. Broad Coverage for IoT
4G LTE networks are almost universally available at this stage. It is a reasonably priced network connection. Most wireless IoT deployments prefer using this network for their business due to its availability and affordability.
3. Mobile Video
Playing a video with a 3G network can offer poor resolution and frequent buffering, which results in a bad user experience. However, LTE can offer steady and high-quality video streaming compared to the 3G network connection.
Top 4 Benefits of 5G
The 5G network offers a better customer experience with higher speed and increased reliability. It can allow multiple devices to communicate with each other. Along with better cellular coverage, the 5G network has multiple other benefits.
1. Virtual Reality
Virtual reality (VR) and AR or augmented reality are always open to gamers. They have multiple uses in the medical field for training purposes. Experts can guide their trainees in remote settings with the help of AR and VR. The key factors for this application are low latency and high bandwidth.
2. Industrial Automation
In this era of automation, machines can detect all the abnormalities in a component. They can perform other actions like sending alerts or stopping conveyor belts in real time. The ability to send these signals within milliseconds can increase efficiency and safety significantly. This is called industrial automation.
3. Autonomous Cars
Autonomous cars or self-driving cars need to communicate with each other. They also need to communicate with the traffic management system. These autonomous cars must be able to detect the presence of any obstacles or pedestrians in seconds.
The lower latency of the 5G network can reduce the time that a vehicle needs to react to certain variables like road construction, potential dangers, signage, etc.
4. Telemedicine and Remote Surgery
The low latency and high speed of a 5G network can speed up the development of telemedicine applications like remote surgery. For example, the experts can provide real-time guidance to a surgical team opening in another city via live stream using a 5G connection and high-definition cameras.
LTE Speed
The speed range for LTE is between 20 Mbps of 3G and 100 Mbps of 4G. The speed can change depending on the service provider and the proximity to a cell tower. Though it is not as fast as a 5G network, the performance of 4G LTE is adequate for multiple commercial applications.
5G Speed
The maximum speed of a 5G network depends on multiple factors. For example, factors like the proximity to the cell tower, antennas, the amount of spectrum, and available processing speed can affect the speed of the network.
Theoretically, 5G network speeds can reach 20 Gbps in ideal conditions. But, practically, it can offer a speed of 1 Gbps when the customers are within a towering range.
Conclusion
However, the 5G network also has several challenges. The requirements include a seamless handoff between 4G/LTE and 5G at the customer end. However, the 5G core network is very dissimilar from the 4G/LTE core network.
Current 5G services work by linking the new 5G radio access network to the legacy LTE/4G core network. Due to its foundation in cloud computing, the 5G core is complicated. Operators want to introduce innovative new services based on cutting-edge cloud architectures.
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