this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2024
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How the fuck can they not compete with 5G? Is using the advantages of their wired infrastructure to just provide customers with the same service as always but without the bandwidth caps, effectively overcoming the 1 major disadvantage of mobile internet, really that hard?
Cable definitely does have a capacity and speed advantage over 5G in most cases. But 5G is plenty fast and reliable for most people these days, and it's cheaper because there is no last mile maintenance. T-Mobile doesn't need to repair a bunch of decades old coax line every time the wind blows.
Perhaps they should have invested in infrastructure with the government handouts they were given to do so?
They spent it all blocking access to the fiber lines that are already there and padding the wallets of their execs.
I get 1600Mbps down, 180 up on my 5G home internet (for $60/mo). The fastest cable can offer here is 600 down, 30 up (for $120/mo).
So yeah, I'd say 5G is fast enough for most people. It maxes out my ethernet ports. I have to use wifi to hit my bandwidth cap. Eventually I will upgrade to 2.5G ethernet.
I've seen that last mile, you're lucky if the cable is buried more than one shovel length down. It's the tech equivalent of the porn trope of using spit for lube.
Depends on where you live. Here in the city I live, the last mile is in underground conduit next to power, water, and sewer lines. It transitions to pole-mounted at the suburbs.
According to the article, for the last few decades the cable and telecommunications companies have avoided upgrading infrastructure to increase profit margins, while wireless companies have been building and upgrading towers like mad. Wireless companies have also successfully lobbied to gobble up a bunch of frequency allocation to increase their bandwidth.
I think if you allow a bit of simplification, it's essentially the same thing as Ethernet vs Wireless as your home network solution. The other is slightly better in performance and reliability but way less flexible. That's why 5G is winning.
5g is by far the best option in my shitty small town in Iowa. The two wired options are more than twice as expensive for less than half of the speed.