• For more information on how to avoid pop-up ads and still support SkiTalk click HERE.

5G Home Internet?

Jenny

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Dec 6, 2015
Posts
1,838
Location
Michigan
Speed tests will also vary based on the device that you are checking them from.. Checking the speed directly from your router/access point will give the full speed that your home/office is receiving from the provider. Checking it vi a phone or computer connected to that access point will only show what that device has carved out at that moment from the total available.. Rest is shared with other connected devices, TVs, Ring/Nest devices, other computers and phones, etc all add back up to that total pull at the access point itself..
I’ve been just checking from my user endpoint - meaning, my tablet. But have been doing two or three different ones right in a row, just to see consistency of results, and the google one is much slower every time.
 

dovski

Waxing my skis and praying for snow
Skier
Joined
Jan 7, 2018
Posts
2,859
Location
Seattle
so side by side comparison of 5G vs. fiber (over wifi) on my iphone

My 5G connection gets 43 MBS down 27.1 MBS up and has a latency of 83ms
My wi-fi connected to fiber gets 363.3 MBS down 37.1 mbs up and has a latency of 8ms

My desktop computer hardwired to my wifi router gest 592 MBS down, 40.2 MBS up and has 6ms of latency

Xfinity is in the process of upgrading the fiber in our neighborhood and promise to get connection speeds of up to 2G afterwards.

So for us the decision is clear, we need to stick with Fiber.

The other factor that needs to be accounted for is the number of devices connected to our wifi router ... we have about 27 different internet enabled devices connected at any given times (5+ computers) 4 iphones, 5 apple watches, 2 ipads, 3 smart TVs, Printer, smart thermostat with 6 wifi sensors, smart video doorbell. So you need to account for the amount of data we are pulling through all these devicies simultaneously when you account for our performance with wi-fi connected to fiber. Don't think 5G would even come close to meeting our needs at this time. Also with Covid our data usage has gone through the roof and having a reliable pipe has been essential for work from home and remote school which happens at the same time. Love where 5G is going and love the speed on on my phone when traveling but do not think it is at the stage to replace fiber just yet.
 

dovski

Waxing my skis and praying for snow
Skier
Joined
Jan 7, 2018
Posts
2,859
Location
Seattle
What's your wifi cost you @dovski?
So we have a package that includes cable, home security and high speed internet from Xfinity. Total cost including equipment rental is about $225 a month. We actually use all the services we buy so switching to save a few bucks on an internet service that is much slower and likely would not meet our basic needs is a non-starter.
 
Thread Starter
TS
crgildart

crgildart

Gravity Slave
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
16,321
Location
The Bull City
so side by side comparison of 5G vs. fiber (over wifi) on my iphone

My 5G connection gets 43 MBS down 27.1 MBS up and has a latency of 83ms
My wi-fi connected to fiber gets 363.3 MBS down 37.1 mbs up and has a latency of 8ms
Our phones are pulling down low 300 mps when connected to the 5G home Wifi device.. Spectrum cable modem and gig router wifi's pulling down abut 150mps. The 5G home wifi device is different than just connecting your phone to a cell tower without it..
 
Thread Starter
TS
crgildart

crgildart

Gravity Slave
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
16,321
Location
The Bull City
It all depends on your location, the capabilities of the towers in your area, obstructions, weather, etc. Two people on adjacent lots can have totally different service.
Yep.. They don't offer the 5G home internet places that aren't within range of that signal. And some places where the signal is receivable still haven't gotten added to the available list yet.
 

dovski

Waxing my skis and praying for snow
Skier
Joined
Jan 7, 2018
Posts
2,859
Location
Seattle
Our phones are pulling down low 300 mps when connected to the 5G home Wifi device.. Spectrum cable modem and gig router wifi's pulling down abut 150mps. The 5G home wifi device is different than just connecting your phone to a cell tower without it..
Comcast just finished upgrades to our neighborhood and hear is the new performance from my desktop
1652739328612.png

On my cell phone over Wifi we are now getting the following:
457.5 MBS download
40 mbs upload
9 ms latency

So still significantly better than 5G and that is with 27 active devices on our wifi and pulling data through our connection at the same time.
 
Thread Starter
TS
crgildart

crgildart

Gravity Slave
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
16,321
Location
The Bull City
Comcast just finished upgrades to our neighborhood and hear is the new performance from my desktop
View attachment 169336
On my cell phone over Wifi we are now getting the following:
457.5 MBS download
40 mbs upload
9 ms latency

So still significantly better than 5G and that is with 27 active devices on our wifi and pulling data through our connection at the same time.
Ya but is it $25/month? I'm getting 300 down and 30 up on my work PC while two teenagers are gaming and wife is streaming music and also working. Definitely over 20 devices connected here right now. All for $25/month. Sounds like your 5G signal isn't as good as ours


Not All 5G Is the Same: All the Flavors and Names Explained

 
Thread Starter
TS
crgildart

crgildart

Gravity Slave
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
16,321
Location
The Bull City
Update. It's turning out to be unreliable. Signal (5G home but not regular phone band) has gone out twice in the past week. They can't figure out why. Factory reset on the home modem/router did nothing last week, but it came back in it's own an hour later. It's out again and they have no explanation. So, I've just ordered another Spectrum modem (now less than half what they were gouging us for before I cancelled it last week. So I guess we run BOTH! It will still be less than Spectrum alone before cutting the cord.

FWIW the 5G tower is about 1000 feet from my house as the crow flies.
 

cosmoliu

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Dec 6, 2015
Posts
1,314
Location
Central CA Coast
Interesting. Not surprised that a brand new technology is having growing pains. A dependable broadband connection is critical to my work, so I'm definitely not going to be an early adopter for home 5G. I spoke with someone a couple of weeks ago at Spectrum on a different matter and in looking at my account, she mentioned that the baseline speed had since gone up from 100 MBps to 200 MBps and she would have a new modem sent out. She also decreased my monthly bill by about 20%. I plugged in the new modem and I'm consistently getting 450 MBps!
 
Thread Starter
TS
crgildart

crgildart

Gravity Slave
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
16,321
Location
The Bull City
Interesting. Not surprised that a brand new technology is having growing pains. A dependable broadband connection is critical to my work, so I'm definitely not going to be an early adopter for home 5G. I spoke with someone a couple of weeks ago at Spectrum on a different matter and in looking at my account, she mentioned that the baseline speed had since gone up from 100 MBps to 200 MBps and she would have a new modem sent out. She also decreased my monthly bill by about 20%. I plugged in the new modem and I'm consistently getting 450 MBps!
Spectrum reliability here was/is no better. Goes out briefly several times a day... goes out for hours a couple times a month. I'm hedging my bets and will run BOTH for the foreseeable future... until the new customer price goes up.. 3 years for Verizon 2 years for Spectrum.
 

Jenny

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Dec 6, 2015
Posts
1,838
Location
Michigan
We’re not having any issues yet, and DH works from home so I know I’d be hearing about it if we were.
 

cosmoliu

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Dec 6, 2015
Posts
1,314
Location
Central CA Coast
We had AT&T DSL (!!) up until about 3 years ago, combined with Direct TV for television service. We held out so long because Cox Cable in the 80s-90s provided truly abysmal service in our town. When I set up a home office those 3 years ago, continuing with DSL just wasn't going to cut it, and I made the switch to Spectrum with great trepidation. I have to say that Spectrum has been 99.9% dependable in the interval, with a few TV hiccups, but never an internet outage.
 
Thread Starter
TS
crgildart

crgildart

Gravity Slave
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
16,321
Location
The Bull City
Heh. My house is just downhill from the tower here. Like 3 blocks.

Except it's too far downhill - and none of the modeled signal strength maps show the hole.
I can see the tower from the driveway, less than a thousand yards away, same elevation. It's still not delivering an internet signal, but I can still print to the wireless through the Modem/Router. So, it's working, just not putting out (or receiving?) the internet connection to/from the tower. If it's still out tomorrow morning I'll tell them to send another box. This one's already been factory reset once, last time this crap happened.. which didn't resolve the problem, but waiting another hour did.

If box 2 is DOA again within a month after it gets here I'll tell them to cancel the contract. They already said they would if they can't make this work here..
 

Sibhusky

Whitefish, MT
Skier
Joined
Oct 26, 2016
Posts
4,804
Location
Whitefish, MT
We have two different towers that our T-Mobile gateway will connect to. One is 2 miles away, but through a lot of trees. The other 13 miles away. Guess which one is faster? The one with fewer trees in the way, due to the different hypotenuse of 13 miles.
 
Thread Starter
TS
crgildart

crgildart

Gravity Slave
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
16,321
Location
The Bull City
We have two different towers that our T-Mobile gateway will connect to. One is 2 miles away, but through a lot of trees. The other 13 miles away. Guess which one is faster? The one with fewer trees in the way, due to the different hypotenuse of 13 miles.
This morning, 2nd factory reset.. Standing on the porch with it plugged in and I can actually SEE the tower, less than a half mile away.. Box still blinking red. Yes there are some trees, but no way that should matter this close. I can take five steps to the left of my porch and have total line of sight to the tower They are sending another one. So much promise.. Such an utter failure. Even if the new one works, I'm hedging the bets with a spectrum modem as long as I get the introductory price on it.

1654089977135.png
 
Last edited:

Sponsor

Staff online

Top