3g, 4g and 5g mobile communication: what are they, what is the difference, features

Mobile communications are now used not only in densely populated cities, but also in many remote villages, and even in the mountains. Advertisements of mobile operators attract customers with quality support of 4g networks. The world is waiting for 5g technology. What are these designations? What is the difference between 3g, 4g and 5g mobile networks?

Types of mobile networks

A mobile network is a channel that connects a customer transmitting data to a recipient using a radio station. The towers are located at some distance from each other, covering a certain radius. The signal areas overlap at the edges, forming a honeycomb-shaped radio wave coverage. In this way, mobile communications operate over a large area.

The user can move around and make calls, send messages, and the connection will be uninterrupted. The designation «G» stands for «generation» of the technological process. Three types of mobile communications are now used: 3G, 4G, 5G.

Features of 3G

3G network is a type of communication in which the Internet works steadily. You can send and receive data at a fairly high speed. When the user is moving, the data transfer rate drops significantly from 2048 kBits/s when stationary to 144 kBits/s when moving at a speed of 3 to 120 km/hour.

Two types of communication are used: the channel type of communication for voice and the packet or digital type of communication for the Internet. When the user moves away from one station, its signal weakens and the user automatically switches to the network from another tower whose signal is stronger.

Features of 4g

A 4G network is supposed to provide connection speeds of at least 100 mBit/s, whether the user is in one place or moving in a train or car. In practice, however, the speed is much lower. But it is enough for calls and stable Internet.

The difference between 4G is that in LTE mode, data is transmitted only through a digital channel. GSM and UMTS standard provides the Internet through digital channels, while the voice calls are made on the basis of dial-up technologies. The most versatile technology is VoLTE, thanks to which not only packet Internet data, but also voice calls are transmitted over the LTE network.

Features of LTE technology:

• Supports interactive multimedia, video, voice transmission.
• Lower cost per bit at high speed.
• Mobile networks are global and scalable.
• The network can operate at many speeds.

Features of 5g

The 5G network has the highest data rates of up to 1 Gbps. It operates on short, extremely high frequency radio waves with clear directionality. This is in contrast to 4G towers, which emit radio waves in all directions, even if not all of them are engaged.

An important indicator, which is expected from the 5G technology - ultra-low latency during the transfer of data from sender to receiver of 1 ms. When data is transmitted using 4G technology, the delay is about 50 ms.

5G technology is being introduced in many countries in testing mode. It is unknown whether it will live up to the expectations of its developers. At the moment, the most popular technology that is used worldwide is 4G, 3G is also used.