Samsung’s Galaxy S10 5G is among the first telephones out there for the next-generation wi-fi networks simply now coming into service.
Sarah Tew/CNET
It is one factor for wi-fi carriers like Verizon and Dash to point out off 5G speeds in a single metropolis or one other. It is one other to check the identical cellphone on two totally different networks in the identical metropolis to get a style for a way the 5G competitors is absolutely heating up. That is precisely what I am doing right now in Chicago — testing peak and real-world 5G speeds on the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G on each Verizon and Dash.
Dash, awaiting authorities approval on its pending acquisition by T-Cellular, on Thursday turned on its fifth promised 5G metropolis, Chicago. That occurs to be one of many two launch markets for the 5G service from bigger rival Verizon, which yielded spectacular speeds, if restricted protection, in our early checks.
Dash’s enlargement into the Windy Metropolis, because the second provider to supply 5G there, turns Chicago into one of many early battlegrounds for 5G. It additionally marks an early take a look at of the totally different approaches taken by the 2 carriers. Dash has targeted on utilizing the slower, however wider-ranging midband spectrum (sometimes called sub-6GHz) for its 5G community versus Verizon (and AT&T and T-Cellular’s) prioritization of utilizing super-fast — however severely restricted — millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum.
The place Verizon will get obtain speeds near or exceeding 1Gbps on its mmWave 5G community, Dash’s midband community is a good bit slower. John Noticed, Dash’s chief expertise officer, stated that the typical obtain pace the corporate is seeing is 328Mbps, with a peak of about 800Mbps. As extra folks get on-line, the typical pace needs to be round 150Mbps, almost 5 occasions quicker than the roughly 30Mbps common obtain pace of 4G LTE.
Dash plans to achieve roughly 700,000 folks instantly throughout the Chicago space with 5G, a a lot bigger space than the choose metropolis blocks that Verizon is focusing on.
All three of Dash’s first 5G units — the Galaxy S10 5G, the LG V50 ThinQ 5G and the HTC 5G Hub hotspot — might be out there nationwide on July 19.
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Limitless Premium, Dash’s priciest model of limitless (it comes with Amazon Prime, Hulu and Tidal) is required for 5G connectivity. It begins at $80 per 30 days for one line.
Noticed stated in an interview that 4 extra markets — New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC and Phoenix — will get 5G within the subsequent “couple of weeks.” Dash’s 5G community is already in operation in elements of Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Value, Houston and Kansas Metropolis, together with Chicago now.
Whereas Verizon has had a while to roll out its community and work out “day one” kinks, I am getting the possibility to take each networks by their paces in our first head-to-head 5G showdown. Keep tuned to this web page all through the day to see how the 2 stack up.
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