5G Wireless is Coming...But What Is It, Anyway?

Fifth Generation (5G wireless service) is a complicated mix of nationalism (yes, nationalism) and plans for an omnipresent world of connected devices and smart automobiles. The integration of sensors into cars is matched by the expansion of sensors and connected devices into our offices and factories. Unlike 4G, which is based around cell phone antennas as the primary network infrastructure, 5G networks will require routers and equipment being placed throughout offices and factories. The goal is to make wireless data transmission faster and more effective than broadband Internet, and to create a data infrastructure that will support everything from refrigerators that detect when you’re out of eggs to factory equipment that automatically pings a faraway repair person when a gear starts getting loose.

Ken Hosac of Cradlepoint, a company that provides 4G infrastructure equipment to customers like Redbox video, Whole Foods Market, and Southwest Airlines, said that "There’s plenty of time before it will roll out to the mainstream," and pointed out that 4G speed and capacity are still increasing at a rapid clip. But, he did add, the 2018 Olympics is supposed to be a major debut time for the product, and it would tie deeply into business and industrial needs rather than ordinary consumers.