Many phone users have noticed that their screen sometimes shows 5G and sometimes 5G Plus, and wondered what separates the two. Instagram digital creator @domyo.ai breaks it down in a short video, replying to a user who asked exactly that question. Before giving the answer, she says, it helps to understand how cellular networks work.
The creator starts with the basics. The G in 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G literally stands for generation. Each generation is a new standard for how a phone communicates with cell towers.
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She says 1G and 2G were pretty basic, while 3G made mobile internet actually usable. 4G, in her words, is what really opened up the smartphone era.
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With 4G, users also get LTE, a label many people will have seen on their phones. The creator explains that LTE stands for long term evolution and is one of the technologies used to deliver 4G.
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Not All 5G Is The Same
Then came 5G, and this is where things get really interesting, according to the creator, because not all 5G is the same. It runs on different frequency bands, and each band behaves differently.
Low band 5G travels farther and gives better coverage, but she says its speeds can be similar to 4G. Mid-band 5G is much faster while still covering a decent area. High band 5G can get instantly fast, reaching speeds at the gigabit level, but it does not travel nearly as far.
Why Carriers Use Different Names
This is where the little symbols on a phone's screen come in, the creator says. Each carrier has its own name for the faster part of its 5G network. AT&T calls it faster 5G, or 5G Plus. T-Mobile calls it 5G UC, and Verizon calls it 5G UW.
The names differ, but the creator says they all tell the user the same thing: the phone is connected to a faster part of the 5G network.
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The Takeaway
In short, her explanation shows that 5G is not a single speed. Coverage and speed trade off across the bands. Low band reaches farther, high band is much faster but covers less ground, and mid-band sits in between. A label such as 5G Plus, 5G UC or 5G UW simply signals that the phone has reached one of the faster layers.
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