Verizon's 5G Network Lets You Download An Episode Of A Netflix Show In 8 Seconds

In just a few weeks after the release of Verizon’s 5G network, a handful of people who had the first-hand experience with it do not seem to have much of a positive thing to say. The download speed is definitely faster than LTE, but not as much as most people expect. And you may have to travel far just to find the coverage.

However, things get a little bit better when the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G debuted and showed us how the next generation of mobile communication should feel like. Although coverage still varies wildly depends on where you stand, the speed is fantastic. All you need to do is to find a suitable spot and see for yourself how quickly you can download content from the Internet. The speed is not just better than a regular LTE but rather a real leap from the old technology.

If a typical iPhone XS Max is hard pressed to surpass 20Mbps, the 5G network now allows you to reach the speed of 1Gbps. You can expect 700Mpbs as a normal thing to happen, and if you stand anywhere near one of the carrier’s 5G nodes, the download rate can be even faster. Here are a few examples so that you can form a general idea of this leap:

It took eight seconds to download the first episode of The Office from Netflix.

Iron Man 2 right from Amazon Prime Video was pulled down at the highest quality in just 90 seconds.

However, with this kind of performance, another question is raised. Can the CDNs and servers of your frequent streaming services keep up with 5G speed? If we are talking about home broadband, it might be.

To reach this level of coverage for the now-outdated LTE, it took years and a lot of effort. And if we want the same thing for 5G, we may have to wait at least that much time to see that reality. The millimeter wave tech is nowhere near enough to meet the requirement. And we have no such thing as indoor coverage, which is the most pressing problem right now. Downloads are fast, but uploads still rely on LTE on Verizon’s 5G network.

Things are bright if you stand still in the area near any 5G node, but if you walk out of there, the speed will drop as fast as the way it helps you download content with 5G. Try move a little further, and you will see no sign of signal anymore. If your phone is using data, that will be the only time the 5G icon appears. In other occasions, it displays 4G. So if you want to check whether you are standing in an area with signal or not, it is really difficult to be sure.

There is another thing you need to bear in mind. The 1Gbps speed is achievable when there are not many people on the network. This might change when people started to purchase 5G devices. So for now, when coverage still varies depending on the spot you stand, stretch your budget to buy a new Galaxy S10 5G is not a wise investment.

No one can deny that the speed is impressive, and Verizon’s rivals are hot on their heels in order not to be left behind. Customers are the ones who get the benefit from this competition, but we may have to wait until this trend gains enough momentum to be a reality on which we can count. Both Samsung and Verizon should consider making a proper 5G network first, but this is still the fastest downloading rate anyone has ever seen.