5G Bands, Explained

When 5G began deploying in 2019, it was touted as a revolutionary technology set to push the boundaries of performance on global connectivity. It promised to provide cheap, fast, ubiquitous connectivity by increasing connection over existing 4G services.

For the Internet of things (IoT) technologies, this meant that use cases across industries and businesses that required real-time communication, low latency, high data rates, and increased cost-effectivity, 5G held unlimited potential.

Essentially, from smart cities to remote health, 5G powers and unlocks new IoT applications that continue to improve the quality of life of everyone around the world.

But let's take a step back from the buzz and remind ourselves of the 5G spectrum and why there is hype surrounding the new bands.

What is 5G?

The 5G spectrum offers improved capacity, coverage, and even lower latency. When compared to 4G technology, 5G offers many improvements but relies on similar technological fundamentals to communicate with devices.

What makes 5G so different from 4G is the new levels of performance it offers including: 

• High reliability, similar to wired connections
• Ultra-low latency of less than 20ms compared to 50ms for 4G
• The high global data rate of up to 2.5 Gbps download speed and 1.25 Gbps of upload

Just as 4G fueled smartphones, 5G drives and will expand enterprise technology innovation. This is great news, especially for IoT use cases. Shaping new opportunities for both businesses and consumers alike.

5G bands improve on 4G, optimizing performance based on distance between source and device.

What are the 5G Bands?

5G is divided into 3 frequency bands – low, mid, and high - with each band equipped with different capabilities, catering to different IoT use cases.

• Low band: less than 1GHz with greater coverage but lower speeds
• Mid band: between 1GHz to 6GHz offers a balance of speed and coverage
• High band: between 24GHz to 40GHz offers significantly higher speeds but less coverage

5G bands are more flexible than prior generations. After all, it can utilize frequencies across all 3 bands to achieve the best possible performance. They can even use multiple frequencies simultaneously to maximize both coverage and reliability.

Many building materials also reflect or block high-frequency signals, posing a challenge in cellular networks. Due to the flexibility of transmitting across several bands, the 5G spectrum can combat this by transmitting via high, mid, and low-band ranges using multiple small cells.

5G networks can also use mixed band transmissions. For example, an IoT sensor is used to monitor the temperatures of sensitive packages as they travel across the world. Low-band handles rural long-distance communication, switching to high-band near the destination for better signal performance.

5G bands reduce dead zones by using optimal frequencies based on environment and source signal distance.

Let’s unpack some of the more technical aspects and use cases for each 5G band: low, mid, and high.

Low Band

Low band 5G transmits around 600 to 700MHz, providing widespread coverage across a large area. While it offers the broadest coverage, it transmits at slower speeds of around 50 Mbps.

Low-band ensures nationwide mobile coverage and supports IoT communication with rural sites, addressing costly, inconvenient rollouts.

Low band 5G is used in the green energy industry to communicate with wind farms. Smart sensors are also used in agriculture farmlands to monitor crops and even cattle from long distances.

Mid Band

Mid band 5G typically transmits around 1.7GHz to 2.5GHz, offering a good balance between transmission speeds and coverage. Speeds in the mid band hover in the range from 100 to 900 Mbps.

The mid band is the most used in 5G as it is designed to cover areas across suburbs and cities. Even at the lower speeds, the midband is often just as fast as home internet, making it ideal for a variety of smart city use cases.

Many college campuses and commercial parks also rely on the mid band to provide continuous service to use cases such as air quality sensors, HVAC systems, smart meters, traffic monitoring, waste management, and more. 

High Band

Finally, we have the high band 5G which operates at 24GHz and beyond, offering the fastest speeds but across shorter distances compared to the low and mid bands. High band 5G typically provides 1 Gbps speeds and to give it some context, at this speed, you could download your favorite TV series in a few minutes, and your favorite podcasts in a matter of seconds. 

High data rate and ultra-low latency allow companies to transmit large amounts of information reliability in near real-time such as the streaming of a "live" sports event. In IoT, sensors use the high band to relay environmental and safety insights in real-time, enabling a quick reaction to emerging issues.

5G Spectrum Possibilities

In sum, 5G brings a series of possibilities for cellular connectivity and will continue to pave the way for rapid IoT growth. However, what is vital is that your connectivity works for your specific business case.

For example, using 5G for connectivity for moisture sensors in a rural area might not be the ideal use case, but it is a viable option for security video surveillance.

Ultimately, if you still have your doubts, you should speak to your connectivity provider to discuss the ideal solution for your business case that suits your goals for your IoT deployment.