Happy New Years from the 5Gstore family!
We hope you and your friends and family have a safe and prosperous 2022!
Remember that our store will be closed in observance of New Years Day on Friday 12/31. We’ll be back in the office on Monday 1/3 assist you with any needs!
With the growing 5G coverage and release of more 5G modems on the router market, we thought it would be nice to ring in the new year with some facts about 5G frequency bands.
It’s almost 2022 and the C-Band spectrum for 5G is still a hot topic. Amongst large sums of money AT&T and Verizon have spent on obtaining C-Band, and delays due to FAA concerns, the carriers are pressing on to continue rollout on January 5th.
Agreements were made to limit the amount of signal broadcasted on these frequencies around airports. These limitations will last for at least six months. The FAA also recently posted newly published documents, which provide further information about steps that will be required in areas potentially affected by 5G C-band interference.
The threat to airline safety remains the subject of debate. Aviation officials have even said that turning on C-band spectrum could lead to delays in air travel for passengers and cargo. A question of why it took this long to issue warnings is also something of debate now. After all, there were folks who voiced concerns over the 3.7GHz C-Band back in 2018. At that time they said radio altimeters operating in the adjacent 4.2-4.4 GHz radio frequency could be compromised.
In the FCC’s written decision about repurposing the C-band for 5G, the commission noted that a 220-megahertz guard band would protect radio altimeters in the 4.2-4.4 GHz band – this is double the minimum guard band requirement initially discussed by Boeing and other aviation officials.
In response to this, CTIA, the wireless industry trade group, pointed out that nearly 40 countries already are safely using these and similar radio waves for 5G. That is, at similar power levels, and with no evidence of harmful interference with aviation equipment.
Last week, CTIA issued a joint statement with the Aerospace Industries Association and Airlines for America about their “ongoing collaboration to find a data-driven solution” to deploy 5G while ensuring aviation safety. CTIA reiterated the wireless industry’s plan to launch 5G in the C-band on January 5, 2022.
“We are pleased that after productive discussions we will be working together to share the available data from all parties to identify the specific areas of concern for aviation. The best technical experts from across both industries will be working collectively to identify a path forward, in coordination with the FAA and FCC,” the groups stated. “Our belief is that by working collaboratively in good faith on a data-driven solution, we can achieve our shared goal of deploying 5G while preserving aviation safety.”
From our family to yours, we’d like to wish everyone a Safe and Happy Holiday! We’d also like to remind everyone that our store will be closed in observance of Christmas on Friday 12/24. We’ll return Monday 12/27 to assist you with any needs. Thanks, from the 5Gstore team!
Data Usage can add up quickly, especially streaming all those videos around the holidays. Monitoring data usage and tracking it can be done in a couple ways, but you can also get a general idea of usage before you even start. This can be important for ensuring you don’t go over any usage limits or reach your allotted high speed data before the month is over.
We only covered some of the most popular streaming services. If you don’t see yours listed, we also offer a handy data usage calculator you can use at our website. Check it out here!
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon has no public information for streaming data usage at this time. Based on research from users online, here’s what we can surmise from an hour episode:
Disney+
Disney+ automatically detects your system’s capabilities and internet connection speed and delivers the highest quality experience possible as a default setting. They also give you the choice to change your data usage settings on all devices. With the Auto option, you can stream in the highest quality, up to what your device supports.
For example;
HBO Max
There’s no specific data on this, but the application automatically adjusts the video quality based on your network bandwidth and connection speed. Most shows and movies are available in high definition (HD). Manual video quality settings are not currently available.
Hulu
HD video streaming will use about 650MB per hour. Data usage controls are NOT available, nor is an official data chart, but this data was confirmed from users on their forums. Hulu does however have quality control settings, which can help with data usage.
Netflix
For comparison, Netflix offers the following video settings:
Paramount+
Per their Help guide – mobile data use will fluctuate based on the quality of your Internet connection and varies from 74 MB per hour for the lowest connection speed, up to 800 MB per hour for the highest quality video stream.
YouTube
Happy Streaming!
Boeing and Airbus, two of the largest commercial airplane manufacturers, have joined the conversation about possible interference to aircraft tools from 5G’s C-Band spectrum. Like the FAA, they’re urging the Biden Administration to delay the rollout of service next month.
Statements from the manufacturing companies were sent in the form of a letter to the Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, to say the January 5 rollout could cause interference that could “adversely affect the ability of aircraft to safely operate.”
The CEOs presented the idea of a new proposal – limit the power of 5G transmissions near airports, and call on the Biden administration to work with the FCC to adopt such a plan.
Indications were made that amongst the trouble caused by the pandemic, it is not worth the risk of deploying the service without restrictions. Such as the new rule the FAA announced earlier this month. It forbids pilots from using auto-landing and other certain flight systems at low altitudes where 5G wireless signals could interfere with onboard instruments that measure a plane’s distance to the ground.
The rule was characterized as urgent, so the FAA bypassed the typical public feedback process in issuing the restrictions. It is that important, as it affects more than 6,800 US airplanes and dozens of aircraft manufacturers, and could lead to disruptions in some flight routes involving low-visibility conditions, which obviously poses potential risks.
Amidst the concerns over 5G’s C-Band spectrum, and cold weather, journalists and analysts went to the streets to test. They received a sneak peek of Verizon’s pre-commercial C-band 5G service in downtown Los Angeles, complete with handsets tuned to the C-band.
Among these testers was Bill Ho, a principal analyst at 556 Ventures. He later posted on Twitter that he was able to get download speeds of 649 Mbps, with upload of 63 Mbps.
The tests were conducted at an ice-rink within the LA Live entertainment district of downtown and detailed in this article. This is a well trafficked area of LA, a few blocks wide, where they set up a few devices to access the network.
Infrastructure in the area was supplied by Ericsson, and only available to these supplied devices (i.e. Samsung S21, iPhone 12, and iPhone 13). C-band nodes were often a half a mile away from the test area and still provided broadband speed and performance. Some reporters also used their own phones which would have had access to LTE and mmWave, but not C-band.
Verizon’s intent was to show off the unique power of C-band – specifically on 60Mhz – where on an unencumbered network with few users the speed and capacity are compatible with millimeter wave (mmWave). Though the 3.7 GHz C-band has much farther range.
Verizon hasn’t provided an exact time for when the commercial C-band service will launch, but reiterated its commitment to cover 100 million people by the end of March. “We’re confident we’ll do that,” a spokesperson said on Friday.
Now, the real question is whether Verizon can catch up to T-Mobile in mid-band 5G in a way that’s fast enough, and effective enough, so that T-Mobile’s advantage doesn’t significantly hurt Verizon’s business.
“T-Mobile is building out simply because they’ve got it and they know that they want to extend the competitive gap,” Ho said. From Verizon’s standpoint, they’re moving very fast – and from AT&T’s standpoint, “they’re doing it too, but maybe not as telegraphed as much as Verizon – and that is to limit the gap, or minimize the gap” that T-Mobile has created.
That, in part, is because “in my opinion, everybody is going after enterprise,” Ho added. That said, there are a lot of 5G growth sectors, such as fixed wireless access (FWA) and enterprise, both areas where T-Mobile intends to grow. Verizon has a huge enterprise base, so they need to bring that up to show and minimize any competitive gaps. T-Mobile says they’re two years ahead,” and that’s a snapshot in time.
Once Verizon turns on that C-band, “they kind of minimize that whole argument,” leading to questions as to whether or not T-Mobile’s head-start is indeed two years, Ho added. “It’s really the marketing message that T-Mobile has been saying for a while,” he said. “If Verizon gets it done fast, then they can minimize that marketing message totally.”
The “Log4j” vulnerability was reported late last week. It is a Java-based software that many large organizations use to configure their applications. According to cybersecurity experts, Log4j is one of the most popular logging libraries used online. It gives software developers a way to build a record of activity to be used for a variety of purposes (e.g. troubleshooting, auditing, data tracking). Since it is both open-source and free, the library essentially touches every part of the internet.
Many of you have been asking if this affects your 5Gstore hardware. Here’s an outline of what we found:
In case you missed it, the 3G cellular network will be shut down by 2022. Here’s a brief overview from the FCC:
While the shutdown won’t affect most of the devices we use today, there are some car companies that still rely on the older technology. Many modern cars, especially luxury vehicles, use 3G networks for things like owner apps, emergency call services, infotainment and navigation-system functions, and of course logging data.
The folks over at The Drive have created a great resource to help you figure out what to do – check it out here.
Here’s a list for quick reference. This rundown includes “every car that’s going to be impacted by the sunsetting of the AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon 3G networks in 2022, with links to the official OEM pages listing which services will be discontinued or altered.”
If your car is on here, contact a local dealership and see what they can do for you.
The following automakers say that its U.S. vehicles are unaffected by the end of 3G:
The following automakers did not provide information by publication time:
An iSIM is an integrated SIM built into a system-on-chip (SoC) and is expected to replace the nano-SIM and eSIM found in most modern-day devices. While both an iSIM and eSIM have similar functions, and benefits, there are some notable differences.
Most phones still have at least one physical SIM card slot for a nano-sized SIM card. The nano-SIM card has existed for years and is an evolution of the Mini-SIM and Micro-SIM card. The eSIM was released years later. It’s a smaller chip than the nano-SIM and is soldered onto the printed circuit board. It works no differently than the nano-SIM in how it connects the device to the mobile network. The difference though is that the eSIM uses multiple profiles it has saved to verify the mobile network, allowing it to connect to any network operator in minutes.
Unfortunately, the adoption of the eSIM has been very slow. Several manufacturers still make phones that don’t have support for an eSIM and those that do limit it to their high-end models. There are also a lot of mobile operators who have not even adopted the eSIM method. The area where the eSIM is most popular is in the wearable space, such as smartwatches like the Apple Watches.
Enter the iSIM, which was announced in 2018 by Arm as a secure identity solution that replaces a physical SIM card and an eSIM. An iSIM is supposed to make it easier to connect a wider variety of devices to the internet. Its ease of use and implementation eliminates not only the cost of issuing physical SIMs, but the cost of deploying them and the need for physical access when there is a need to change the mobile network operator.
With an iSIM, it is also easier to connect IoT devices with a smaller footprint that don’t have space for a physical SIM card. While an eSIM takes up less space than a nano-SIM, an iSIM is much smaller since it is integrated into the device’s processor. This allows manufacturers to use the additional space that would have been occupied by a SIM tray or eSIM for other components. Furthermore, without the need for a physical SIM card, a device with an iSIM (or eSIM) can be easily designed to be water-resistant.
The iSIM brings the benefits associated with an eSIM, but has a significant difference from an eSIM, which can also be termed its biggest advantage – its security. By integrating the SIM with the system-on-chip (SoC), the SIM is protected from being tampered with as it runs on a secure enclave built into the chipset. Also, since an iSIM can’t be removed, it makes it harder to steal a mobile device that has one.
iSIMs are mainly designed for IoT devices as it allows manufacturers to add cellular connectivity to these devices, but as we can see, smartphones can benefit from the advantages it brings. Unfortunately, Qualcomm’s new mobile processor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 appears to be the only mobile platform with support for an iSIM, so the adoption rate may even be slower than that of the eSIM.
