Qualcomm Simulates 5G Network Conditions To Give Us A Preview Of Real-world Speeds

In case it somehow isn’t obvious by now, Qualcomm is really excited for 5G, and it seems to be of the same mind as mobile enthusiasts all over: the deployment can’t get here soon enough. Where 4G was a massive upgrade over 3G, 5G is likewise a massive upgrade over 4G, and Qualcomm has the benchmarks to prove it.

Since there are no active 5G networks in operation at the moment (which is OK, since there are no 5G handsets), gauging real-world performance is difficult. Thus, simulations need to be brought in, to give Qualcomm, and the rest of the world, an idea of what to really expect from 5G.

To get its numbers, Qualcomm put two faux networks into place:

The first one, modeled a NSA 5G NR network in Frankfurt, Germany, operating on 100 MHz of 3.5GHz spectrum, with an underlying Gigabit LTE network operating across 5 LTE spectrum bands. The second simulation modeled a hypothetical NSA 5G NR network in San Francisco, California, operating in 800 MHz of 28 GHz mmWave spectrum, with an underlying Gigabit LTE network operating across 4 licensed LTE spectrum bands plus License Assisted Access (LAA) bands.

All told, the gains are just as impressive as we’d hope. With the Frankfurt test, and with a gain of about 900%, the median 4G user leaped from 56 Mbps to 490 Mbps. Getting getting into the nitty-gritty, a 10th percentile 5G user (90% of customers) could still attain 100Mbps when downloading files – a massive gain over 8Mbps for the same metric on 4G.

I’ve heard a few comments in recent weeks from some people who think that 5G will only ensure that they hit their download quota quicker, and while that’s technically true, it’s not only about peak throughput. If you browse at all on your device, you will notice the difference between 4G and 5G. In Qualcomm’s tests, latency with 5G dropped from 116ms to 17ms. For competitive gaming, 116ms would be a major detriment, and 17ms is basically what we’d demand from a home internet connection. Ultimately, page elements will be fetched quicker, which should noticeably improve the speed at which a webpage will fully load.

We’re getting ready for #real5G deployments in 2019, also expanding the #5G ecosystem to more industries. See what we’re showcasing at #MWC18 in our virtual showroom ➡

— Qualcomm Tech (@Qualcomm_Tech) February 26, 2018

The San Francisco tests yielded some jaw-dropping results, as well. How does an improvement of 4G 71Mbps to 5G 1.4Gbps sound? To be clear, that’s even faster than Google Fiber. Overkill for a phone, perhaps, but given the option, I’ll still take it! In this testing, the latency results were even more impressive than they were in the Frankfurt test. Here, 115ms became 4.9ms. Further, the 10th percentile enjoyed 186Mbps download speeds, whereas the median was 442Mbps. Not too shabby!

You can dig deeper into the methodologies and other results from Qualcomm right here.