Author: valerie

Move Over 3G, Here Comes 5G!

Another reminder that 3G is going away! The time approaches as quickly as the holiday season! So when exactly is 3G going away?

AT&T – shutdown is planned for February 2022. 

Verizon – shutdown is scheduled for no later than the end of next year. 

T-Mobile – all its 3G networks, including those obtained through its merger with Sprint, will shutdown by 2022.

Which devices are impacted by 3G shutdown?

AT&T has a complete list of the phones affected by the shutdown, including all iPhones before the iPhone 6 and several Galaxy models. It also impacts 4G phones that do not support the HD Voice feature.

According to the FCC, other gadgets such as medical devices, home security systems, and other connected products could stop working when 3G goes away for good. They advise contacting your carrier to determine whether your phone is affected, as you will no longer be able to make phone calls with an older phone. Some devices might only require a software update to continue working once 3G is retired. 

What is 5G? 

This is defined as the fifth generation mobile network. It is a network that runs on several new frequencies, as well as old, and means that our bandwidth speeds should be well improved (at least in some cases).  

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Verizon Reaches More Customers with 5G

With more 5G devices being released, carriers are feeling the pressure on providing connectivity to more of their users. As we all know, Verizon Wireless has been hard at work on this and have reached about 4 percent of all customers with their mmWave 5G service. 

During a recent quarterly call, Verizon’s CEO, Hans Vestberg, said that, “customers’ use of millimeter wave more than doubled compared to the second quarter of this year, and that in some areas with more established mmWave build-outs, Verizon is seeing more than 20% of network usage carried by mmWave.” He added that the carrier is on track for between 5-10% of all of its traffic to be carried by urban mmWave by the end of this year.

Amongst this growth, they’ve reported adding 699,000 retail postpaid net additions for the quarter, including 429,000 phone net adds — a 51.6% jump compared to the same quarter in 2020. They also gained 129,000 total broadband net additions, which includes both wireline and fixed wireless. “Our strategy remains unchanged. We’re delivering on everything we promised, and we’re gaining momentum on all of [our] five vectors of growth,” Vestberg said, adding, “We expect to have a strong finish of the year as we approach the launch of C-Band.”

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5G Solutions Are Hard to Find, But Do You Need it?

With the fast approaching holiday season, everything from toys to kitchen appliances is getting dangerously low on stock. Shipments from overseas are delayed more and more with each day. It’s unfortunate that one of the most affordable 5G cellular routers on the market today is now included in that growing list. The Pepwave MAX Transit 5G may be available soon, but is your 5G service ready? 

Just earlier this week, we talked about the confusing advertising regarding 5G service. What you see as 5G, or are told is 5G, may not truly be 5G. And what about the blazing fast speed tests you’ve seen reported online from other users? The truth is that the 5G you have may not be any better than the 4G LTE connection you had previously. 

There’s also carrier restrictions on new cellular devices. Each device must go through a certification process. This is much like an approval process in which the carrier takes time to review the device and verify that it will work with their network. Once this approval is provided, the cellular devices’ IMEI number (a unique identifier) gets loaded into the carriers’ systems. Now, when a user like yourself goes to a store to activate their cellular device, the carrier can identify that it is supported and verify the compatible data plans. At this time, the Transit 5G is still pending certification with Verizon, but users can activate them on AT&T, T-Mobile, and US Cellular. 

The BR1 Pro 5G – which is now the most affordable 5G cellular router on the market – is also not yet certified with Verizon, but is with the others (AT&T, T-Mobile, and US Cellular). While this does mean new users cannot get a SIM card to use with them, users with already active SIM cards MAY* be able to connect to at least 4G LTE service – that is, until the certification process is complete, at which point it will allow a 5G connection. 

By now, we hope you may have gathered that 5G is not quite relevant for all users at this time. In most cases, unless you are a large company or working in rescue or healthcare services (where 24/7 connectivity and high bandwidth is important), LTE connections will be sufficient. 

If you are still looking for a more affordable 5G solution however, consider the Pepwave MAX Adapter 5G. This is a small, portable modem that connects via USB. Use it with just about any Peplink or Pepwave router that supports a USB port (e.g. the Balance 20X). 

Should the Transit 5G, or even the Transit Cat 18 LTE, be on your mind, add your name to our sign up sheets – Transit 5G – Transit Cat 18 LTE. 

*5Gstore has tested a Verizon LTE SIM/ data plan with the Transit 5G and BR1 Pro 5G and were successful in connecting to LTE service. Although this did work for a short test, we CANNOT guarantee that this will work for all users, nor with all carriers. 
Edited 10/28/2021 to update carrier certification details.
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T-Mobile’s Halloween of 5G

Halloween is almost here again and with the hype around 5G, it’s no surprise that companies are taking advantage of how much everyone loves this season. T-Mobile and Resse’s – the current leader in 5G and America’s favorite Halloween candy – have partnered to give away candy and 5G goodies like new cell phones. The giveaways will take place on Halloween at select locations they’ll be calling “Apartment 5G.” Apartment 5G will pop up at 478 13th St. Brooklyn – a classic NYC brownstone – as well as in three T-Mobile stores around the country. This includes Southlake, Texas, and the Signature Stores in Miami and Santa Monica. Not only are they re-vamp-ing these locations, but Reese’s will have a special Take 5G bar for a limited time. Unfortunately, the 5G team here in Chicago won’t be able to go, so for everyone that doesn’t live in these cities, head to Twitter on Tuesday 10/26 and watch out for details on how to enter their sweepstakes.

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To Be, or Not to Be 5G…

That is the question indeed, on many of our minds! Much like the confusion around AT&T and T-Mobile’s 4G HSPA+ – an update to 3G, but not quite comparable to LTE performance – carriers are leading customers to believe they’ll be getting all that 5G service has been promising – faster speeds and lower latency. However, that’s not quite the case. 5G operates on many different bands, some of which are simply repurposed from LTE. This makes it typically better than LTE, but not quite at the level of 5G (or at least our perceptions of what it should be). 

So what about the coverage maps showing 5G service? And your phone says 5G sometimes, right? Here’s what that can mean…

  • 5G running on Low Band spectrum is the slowest, but it has the advantage of considerable range
  • Mid-band can’t travel as far, but is faster
  • High Band spectrum, which is sparsely available, may travel only a mile but is by far the fastest.

An analysis done by OpenSignal released last week found that their testers connected with T-Mobile 5G just 34.7% of the time, AT&T 16.4% of the time and Verizon just 9.7%. And that’s generally not for the fastest 5G service.

In comparison, the numbers shown have quite a significant difference to what the carriers promise about 5G in their advertisements. This just goes to show you that not everything advertised is in fact true. Carriers admit they are still working on their 5G networks and that there is quite a bit of “dishonesty in advertising.” Still, we can see in the fine print how they manage to get away with it. Though, you wonder for how long? 

National Advertising Division – a division of the independent non-profit organization BBB National Program – has criticized claims made about 5G by all three of the companies. “5G right now is (in) the fake it until you make it stage,” said Harold Feld, of advocacy group Public Knowledge which promotes affordable communication, adding that when new technology is developed, advertising often gets ahead of actual deployment.

For more on this story, head to the Washington Post.

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New Data Sheets at 5Gstore.com!

Our 5Gstore team has always tried to stay up to date with the latest in cellular, and keep our customers informed. We also want to make the customer experience as clean and seamless as possible. Our current efforts have been focused on including our contact information with our vendor data sheets. The sheets can be found at the bottom of the product pages at 5gstore.com. Contact details will be found at the bottom of each sheet. 

We hope this will help customers when they need to reach out for assistance with pre-sales or post-sales support!

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5G Service Paves the Way for New Gadgets

5G service is clearing the way for the next generation of electronics. We’re seeing that it is so much more than having the Internet on your smartphone. It gives us everything from enhanced virtual-reality video games, to remote surgery. While it has been a slower rollout, we’re continuing to see waves of 5G-enabled gadgets.

Samsung Electronics Co. has teamed up with Verizon Communications Inc. to offer wireless 5G routers – ones that have the ability to match performance of wired broadband. There’s also 5G-compatible laptops from several makers. Among the latest: Lenovo Group Ltd. in August teamed up with AT&T Inc. to release a 5G laptop, the ThinkPad X13 5G. Samsung in June also introduced a new laptop offering a 5G chip – the Galaxy Book Go 5G.

If you want a 5G connection on your yacht, miles offshore? Check out the Meridian 5G, a Monaco-based provider of internet services for superyachts advertises what it calls a 5G Dome Router (much like Pepwave’s HD Dome routers). It provides a combination of antennas and modems that allows yachts sailing within about 60 miles of the coast to access 5G connectivity. 

New drone technology unveiled in August by Qualcomm Inc. with 5G and artificial-intelligence capabilities. The technology, called the Qualcomm Flight RB5 5G Platform, enables higher-quality photo and video collection, the company says. Drones equipped with the 5G technology can be used across a range of industries, among them movie making, mapping and emergency services like firefighting, Qualcomm notes.

Additional hardware will include Internet of Things type devices like our smart speakers and doorbell cameras. This can of course apply not only to home and office appliances, but industrial equipment, hospital equipment, vehicles, etc. So as the coverage of 5G service slowly expands, so does the market of new technology to harness its power.

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Tech Tip: How to Use VLANs to Secure Your Router Network

IoT devices – such as cameras, smart thermostats & doorbells – can generally be less secure than most network attached devices (i.e. computers, network drives, servers, etc). Still, they require Internet service to operate and allow you remote access for control and monitoring. In effort to better secure these devices from the rest of your network, this is where creating a “VLAN” can help. This stands for “Virtual Local Area Network.” This is much like creating a Guest WiFi network on your router, so it can be done on just about any router including Sierra Wireless, CradlePoint, Peplink and Digi devices. 

Check out our video on how to create a VLAN for IoT security here! 

For more videos like this, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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Working Remote in Rural Kentucky on LTE

In our business, even before the pandemic, we’ve been helping customers find ways to work remotely. As an experiment I wanted to test this out for myself. So, I took a week trip to our family farmhouse in Isonville, KY. This is in a remote area with lots of hills and little to no cellular reception. In the recent past we have been able to achieve a better signal, though it usually teeters around one bar, if we are lucky!  

Knowing the challenge of getting a good enough cellular signal – and that I would need to be able to maintain VoIP calls and load webpages and videos correctly – I decided to go with two styles of antennas. One would be an outdoor omni-directional antenna and the other would be an outdoor high gain Yagi antenna. The Omni-directional antenna I went with was a SureCall Ultra-Wideband LTE/5G Antenna. The Yagi antenna was a SureCall Ultra Wide Band Outdoor Yagi Antenna. 

My antenna setup

I also decided since this would be a test for future use, I wanted to do a temporary setup. I bought some standard 2 foot length 1.25 inch PVC tubing from the local hardware store and a few fittings to fashion a temporary mounting pole in the upstairs room of the farmhouse. The Peplink router I used was a Pepwave MAX BR1 Mini LTE-A. 

Armed with my Pepwave Max BR1 Mini, the antennas and the PVC I went to work on getting the antennas mounted and aligned for the best signal acquisition I could obtain. I used the data from cell mapper to get an idea of where I needed to aim the Surecall Wide-Band Yagi Antenna and an app on my phone (which I use when I go hiking) called GPS Status (iOS Link | Android Link) to aim the antenna precisely.

Results from GPS Status

Using the stock antennas on the Pepwave Max BR1 Mini on the second floor I had a signal value of -119dBm, and this is a horrible signal to be sure. After connecting the omni-directional antenna to Cellular Main and the Surecall Wide-Band Yagi Antenna to Cellular Diversity I was able to acquire a signal value of -73dBm. This was a HUGE improvement. I ran a speed test with the stock antennas, and I was only able to get about 4.5Mbps down and 0.4Mbps up. With the antennas in place, I was able to get 19.8Mbps down and 8.7Mbps up. This was about 15.5 miles to the nearest tower from the farmhouse.

Distance from farmhouse to tower; Frequency bands use in the area

As another test I decided to try and use my old cellular router, a Netgear LB1120. This is what I had used prior to receiving the Pepwave Max BR1 Mini. With the stock antennas I had absolutely no signal. With the SureCall Wide-Band Yagi antenna, I aimed it at the one and only cellular tower that had the band it supported in the area (Band 4.) The result was staggering, to say the least. I went from no signal to a signal of -89dBm. Now while that doesn’t sound like a huge improvement, let me explain why this result was so jaw dropping. The tower I was connected to was just shy of 24 miles away!

Distance from farmhouse to cell tower
Additional frequency info for the area

My results with these antennas have given me the ability to have a future permanent setup at a very remote rural location that I can reliably work from. With a relatively low budget. I know that other people in “Rural America” have this exact same issue with not being able to get steady service in an area that is usually not serviceable. My results are a testament to how well these antennas perform.

You can check out the products we used (just with longer cables) at the following link: https://5gstore.com/cart/33660

If you have any questions please give us a call and we will be happy to assist you Monday – Friday 9am to 6pm CST (833) 547-8673.

Tests performed and addressed in this article were done, and details written by David W. with the 5Gstore team.

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The Big 3 Achieve 5G Coverage for 230 Million Americans

As the two-year rollout of 5G cellular service continues, separate announcements from the big three phone carriers show that each is reaching at least 230 million Americans.

According to an AT&T and Frontier Communications announcement Wednesday (Oct. 6), the two have struck a network deal that will support deployment of AT&T’s 5G mobility network.

For its part, Verizon reported expansion of 5G to parts of five new cities, while T-Mobile said it now covers over 90% of Americans with 5G.

AT&T = 250 Million

AT&T’s coverage map reports its 5G service reaches more than 14,000 cities and towns in the U.S. 

Verizon = 230 Million

Verizon reports that its 5G Nationwide low-band 5G network is now available in more than 2,700 cities across the U.S., and its coverage area includes more than 230 million people. Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network is available in parts of 70 cities. 5G Ultra Wideband mobility will be available later in the month, increasing that number to 87 cities.

T-Mobile = 305 Million

T-Mobile reports its 5G network now covers over 90% of Americans, and in just a few years, it will provide 5G to 99% of Americans. It also covers 92% of interstate miles. Its Extended Range 5G network covers 305 million people, and its Ultra Capacity 5G network covers 165 million.

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