Verizon 4G appears to be getting even better than its national 5G network, according to new tests conducted by PCMag’s Sascha Segan. After last week’s tweet suggesting that users turn off 5G on their phones to conserve battery power, there seems to be a multitude of reasons why Verizon customers keep 4G now.
The additional spectrum is making a difference for Verizon 4G now, not the C band spectrum that has been in the news recently. This is CBRS, a set of frequencies that is close to the C band. Verizon offered $ 1.89 billion in CBRS licenses last year and has put the newly acquired spectrum to work for its 4G service in certain locations (there are likely technical reasons, which Segan explains in his post, because Verizon is not using this spectrum for 5G right now).
Segan found some of these points and tested 4G speeds assisted by CBRS versus 5G. With the exception of the ultra fast and limited range Ultra Wideband 5G, 4G won by a landslide. In one place, the download speed of 4G reached 815 Mbps, while the 5G based on Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (which is the most widespread but slowest variety, known as DSS) reached only 358 Mbps. This was a test of only a few locations, of course, but Segan points out that it bodes well for the types of improvements we can expect when the C band is available.
So, is there any reason for someone at Verizon to keep 5G active instead of switching to 4G? Perhaps, Segan tells us. “If you’re in a tough spot with Verizon’s 5G millimeter wave ‘UWB’, it’s absolutely fantastic. UWB is the fastest form of 5G available today. But the ‘national’ 5G DSS is simply not offering any advantages at the moment. I would say, turn it off if you can and check back in a few months to see if they have improved the situation. “
The bright side, of course, is that Verizon 4G is really good – and it’s getting even better for some. In the long run, it will be the C band spectrum that is likely to make the difference for Verizon 5G. “If you are buying a phone from Verizon soon and are interested in future performance, make sure it has a C band,” says Segan. In the meantime, unless you live next to an Ultra Wideband mobile site, you can probably turn off 5G and be sure you’re getting the best possible network performance for now.