Why is the 5G signal weak and the network keeps dropping? Here is the truth

In recent years, "5G" has been a veritable Internet buzzword. Today, 5G has gradually evolved from a conceptual form to commercial use. Its rapid development has made those of us who are in it feel deeply.

However, visions are often idealistic. For 5G, in the process of full popularization, even though the whole society is enthusiastic about it, in fact there are still some objective problems, and we need to look at it with a rational and tolerant attitude.

1. Lack of 5G experience leads users to switch devices but not networks

As one of the most important and widely used terminal devices for 5G coverage and popularization, mobile phones have been on this technological express train since 2019.

Image from the Internet Data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology shows that, influenced by the country's active promotion of 5G construction, my country's 5G mobile phone shipments reached 18.2 million units in December 2020, accounting for 68.4%. Looking at the whole year of 2020, the cumulative shipments of 5G mobile phones in the domestic market reached 163 million units, accounting for 52.9%.

Domestically, mainstream mobile phone manufacturers such as Huawei, OPPO, vivo, Meizu, ZTE, OnePlus, Xiaomi, etc. have been actively seeking change and have launched 5G models of different grades, including high, medium and low, covering almost all product lines; and the development abroad is equally rapid. Under the leadership of manufacturers such as Apple, Samsung, and Google, a large number of excellent 5G models have also emerged.

It can be said that, purely in terms of mobile terminals, it is not an exaggeration to say that we have fully entered the 5G era. But the question is, the rapid development of 5G mobile phones means that the 5G experience will also rise with it? Unfortunately, it seems not to be the case.

In fact, in the process of using 5G network, many users have reported that the speed of 5G mobile phones seems to be worse than that of 4G network. Although there is a big 5G "logo", they enjoy a download speed that does not match it. What's more speechless is that if you want to experience the ultra-fast 5G speed, you need to go to a specific location, and there may even be embarrassing situations such as freezes, delays, and network hopping. This is hard to understand. What about the promised "high speed", "large bandwidth", and "low latency"?

In short, the problem we are facing now is that 5G terminals are developing rapidly, but the 5G experience has not kept up. It seems to be a common phenomenon that users only change their phones but not their networks. So the question is, why does this happen? Is it because there are not enough base stations and the coverage is not wide enough? Or is it because the operators have "routines" or other problems?

2. 5G performance is affected by many factors. The lack of any one end will affect the experience

Why do many people feel that 5G Internet access is not particularly fast? And 5G signals are not always stable? In fact, this is caused by a variety of factors.

We know that the higher the wireless signal frequency band, the faster the data transmission speed, but the signal attenuation will also decrease. The 5G and 4G frequency bands are not the same. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China Mobile has two frequency bands: 2.5G-2.6G and 4.8G-4.9G, China Telecom has 3.4G-3.5G, and China Unicom has 3.5G-3.6G. In comparison, the 4G frequency bands of domestic operators are concentrated between 1.8G and 2.3G, with lower frequency bands and less severe signal attenuation. Therefore, the 4G base station can transmit information farther and its coverage is much higher than 5G.

5G coverage is smaller, which means its stability may be affected by the speed of movement. Once the moving speed is too fast, the signal range of the current base station will immediately shift to the next site. Always looking for sites back and forth will naturally affect the signal. Therefore, in high-speed vehicles, you can clearly feel the instability of 5G signals.

In addition, 5G coverage is also affected by the geographical environment. If a 5G base station can cover a radius of 100 meters, it does not mean that the 5G network can be received within this radius. The reason is related to the characteristics of the 5G signal itself. 5G is a typical high-frequency short wave. In addition to the small signal propagation range, the penetration ability is also insufficient and it is easily blocked. Therefore, in some areas with dense high-rise buildings, if the 5G base stations are not built very densely, the 5G signal will be affected. This is why there is a big difference in network speed in different locations.

In addition, 5G network performance is also affected by terminal performance, number of users and selected 5G packages, especially 5G packages, which determine the operator's 5G uplink edge rate and downlink edge rate. If the 5G service is not good, then no matter how high-end your 5G phone is, it will be useless. In short, a complete 5G experience is determined by many factors such as 5G base stations, 5G terminals and 5G packages. If any of these links has problems, the 5G experience will be greatly reduced.

3. Is it necessary to upgrade 4G to 5G? It depends on the timing, conditions and needs

Since the 5G experience is not perfect, is there any need to switch? In fact, the answer to this question is not absolute and there is no standard answer.

Generally speaking, whether or not to switch depends on whether 5G will intersect with the daily lives of mass consumers. It is undeniable that the beautiful visions of smart medical care, driverless cars, smart factories, smart industrial manufacturing, etc. will change our lives, but it is still a long way to go before they can be popularized. At least it is difficult to affect life at this stage, and naturally it is difficult to become the driving force for switching from 4G to 5G.

In addition to personal needs, some practical reasons also need to be taken into consideration.

At the "2021 China Academy of Information and Communications Technology ICT+ In-depth Observation Report Conference" held in December last year, it was pointed out that a total of 718,000 5G base stations have been built in China, but from 2020 to 2024, it is still in the stage of large-scale construction of 5G networks. In addition, at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on January 26, Zhao Zhiguo, Director of the Information and Communications Administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, also stated that "in 2021, it is planned to build 600,000 new 5G base stations, and on the basis of achieving deep coverage in cities at the prefecture level and above, accelerate the extension to counties and towns with conditions..."

There is no doubt that 5G construction is not a matter of overnight success. It will be difficult to achieve 5G universal coverage in the short term, especially in rural areas. There is no need to "get on board" at least in the next year.

Mobile Smart 5G Package (Personal Edition)

On the other hand, 5G package charges may also become a "stumbling block" for consumers. Although traffic charges are decreasing year by year, the monthly package charges have increased instead of decreased compared to 4G. "Monthly average starting from 100 yuan" is not just talk. Even with the addition of a secondary card, the per capita cost is diluted, and the attractiveness is still limited. In addition, limited by the development of 5G, compared with the marketing methods of 4G networks, the competition among operators in 5G networks is not fierce, at least in the short term. However, behind the "calmness", it also means that operators will not give too much benefit to consumers. It is still unrealistic for users to experience cheaper and more suitable 5G packages in the short term.

Therefore, if you have enough budget, or really need to experience the ultra-fast network experience, it is not a bad idea to "get on board" now. But if you think the 5G package charges are too expensive, it is recommended that you wait and see.

Finally, let me emphasize one more point. Whether to switch to 5G network actually depends on the operator, and has little to do with 5G mobile phones. At present, 5G mobile phone + 4G package is still the best solution. Users who have used 5G mobile phones can theoretically enjoy a peak downlink speed of 300Mbps even if they do not apply for 5G packages. In fact, it is also very good, right?

Finally, some words:

As the leader in new infrastructure and an information connection platform in fields such as artificial intelligence and big data centers, 5G will not only bring consumers an unprecedented mobile network experience, but also shoulder the important task of enabling the digital transformation of the industry and promoting social and economic changes.

But for the general public, the advanced vision can hardly offset the fact that the current 5G experience is imperfect, and "unbalanced development of base stations, low and unstable speeds", "too expensive package charges", "lack of top-notch 5G applications" and so on will become important reasons to eliminate everyone's enthusiasm for switching networks.

However, what is certain is that with the upgrading of 5G technology and the improvement of 5G infrastructure, the 5G environment in 2021 is bound to see further improvement. Both 5G terminals and 5G operation services will be able to better meet everyone's needs, and further progress is just around the corner.