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Beehaw technology can you help explain like I'm five, 5g vs 4g? (beehaw.org)
submitted 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) by to c/technology@beehaw.org
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I kinda understand it has to do with frequencies and the speed they can send information but I don't know enough to have a productive conversation with those that think it's mind altering cancer rays. Thats also what i keep running into online when I'm trying to find a dummy version for how it all works. I know I'll probably never be able to have a truly productive conversation with those types but i would like to have a better understanding myself.

It would be helpful to explain and frame it with radio and public broadcasting as well. to me, these are all happy information rays that send me thing i like but i don't full understand the technology behind it.

Thanks everyone this has been super helpful! Might try and make an info graph for to hang in my post box since I've gotten some crazy anti 5g flyers recently

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[–] 9 points 3 years ago (1 child)

One of the biggest changes in 5g is the separation of the control and data planes, this means downloading pix of kitties doesn't interfere with phone control signals and gets everyone better bandwidth and responsiveness.

This also facilitates "edge computing", which is like a tiny clouds at the base of cell phone towers, this tech is used for super fast facial recognition and things like that where sending the data all the way to the cloud and back is a few milliseconds too slow.

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    When you say clouds are these like little mini servers? Just super localised so they don't have to go as far and can respond quicker?

    Was 4g on the same plane as usual talk/text? Does it have to go all the way to a bigger cloud through the tower instead of just to the tower?

    Also this all sounds really good i really don't understand the hate. Is it just because it's new? Tbf, it seems to be the same people who believe in chemtrails and a few who believe in 2 suns but they are getting into politics now which is worrisome

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago)

    At the radio level much is very similar comparing 4G and 5G. So the radiation exposure, etc is mostly the same. Lots of studies show that below 6GHz has no known health impacts.

    Above 6Ghz the scientific status is: probably no problem, but there still is a lack of longer studies, so it is easier to attack and researchers are hesitant to call it safe.

    5G differs from 4G in many little details that extend the flexibility of the system. A main paradigm change is the extension to machine communication. 5G no longer only focuses on human communication, but also provides services for industrial communication or large sensor networks.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

    When you say clouds are these like little mini servers? Just super localised so they don’t have to go as far and can respond quicker?

    Exactly

    Was 4g on the same plane as usual talk/text? Does it have to go all the way to a bigger cloud through the tower instead of just to the tower?

    Yep, well data that needs to go to the cloud does. Facial recognition happens quickly and in small devices, but the computing power comes from a cloud or edge computing back end, and the edge is much faster. Voice traffic doesn't go to the cloud AFAIK.

    There are also differences in the frequency, I know much less about this, but different frequency ranges have different properties as far as ability to penetrate walls, etc. The 5G signal doesn't travel as far or as effectively through walls so there must be more cell towers to cover a given area. This may be where the conspiracy people are getting it from, only I think they have it backwards, pretty sure 4G would penetrate your skull better than 5G (actually not sure what they believe).

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