Relax your mind and take a deep breath and hold it in; hold, hold, hold….

Maybe we shouldn’t hold our breath for too long because in most areas 5G may not become available for some time, if at all. Further, 5G may have some very serious physical limitations, especially indoors.  

If and when 5G fully matures could it replace WiFi 6 or will it complement it? Looking back may shed some light on what to expect; this article from Qorvo.com sums it up nicely;

“Every time a new cellular phone standard comes out, we see new claims about the “end of Wi-Fi.” When 3G was announced, the promise was that it would make Wi‑Fi (802.11b) redundant, which clearly turned out to be incorrect. With 4G (LTE), this story repeated itself and claimed it would put Wi‑Fi (802.11ac) in the shredder. And now the 5G message is that it will cover both the inside and outside of homes and buildings. It’s almost as though Wi‑Fi will soon no longer be needed [sarcastically].”

In any event, the best bet for lighting fast, affordable Internet for apartments or any group-setting, whether it be with 5G, Fiber or the latest WiFi technology (or a combination), might be with a Private Network Operator (PNO). PNO’s build privately-owned networks for small group settings like apartments, HOA’s, neighborhoods and community clusters. And yes, you can have a Private Network that uses all three technologies; 5G, Fiber and WiFi 6. These privately-owned networks have the flexibility to stay ahead of the technology curve, generate revenue for the decision-makers, and save money for the end-users. Further, with ownership, comes the flexibility to make key technology decisions that can bolster your brand, resale value, and rental values in ways those 3rd party providers (i.e. Big Box Cable, Wireless Cell Carriers) could never do.

Even if 5G were to become available, it doesn’t have to replace your Private Network, unless you let it. Moreover, you can easily implement 5G technologies as part of your Private Network strategy.

Rest assured, if you are already in the business of selling Internet to your residents; your Private Network is safe, as long as you keep your competition out. Wireless carriers need to get their last mile, 5G equipment extremely close to your residents in order to fulfill on their high speed, high latency promises indoors. They will need your permission and access to your property to do so. At some point, most property owners (HOA’s, etc.) will get a call or a knock on their door from a large wireless carrier (i.e Verizon, At&t, Sprint, etc.) asking for permission to install 5G equipment on the property. If you say yes you will be giving a 3rd party access (i.e easement and or a right-of-way) to sell services to your residents. For those of you who own or plan on owning a private “Revenue-Generating Internet System” and want to keep your Internet monopoly intact, simply turn away the 5G installation request and if necessary, upgrade your network with 5G equipment.

Potential Property Value Increase Is 8 Times Your Investment

Over the next decade, we will be seeing a mass migration in the Multifamily industry to privately owned, “Revenue Generating Internet” networks. The revenue streams are too lucrative to ignore and the increase in property value is intoxicating. For an industry mad on flips and quick returns, spending $1 that returns $8 at the table is very sexy. Consider that 99% of all Garden-Style apartments do not own a Private Internet System, this means most sellers are listing properties without this revenue and the property resale value that comes along with it. In a sellers’ market, creatively increasing NOI from technology improvements not only sets your brand apart but capitalizes on easy NOI others are missing. Many owners are already taking advantage of this sweet- spot. Multifamily Real Estate Broker professional and podcaster Mark Allen from the Dallas-Fort Worth area includes this multifamily strategy for his buyers and sellers.

5G Technology Explained

Let’s take a step back and explain what 5G is and is not. First, 5G is not the same as the WiFi 5Ghz term. 5G stands for “5th Generation” and is wireless technology. While 5Ghz is a radio frequency used by most WiFi routers and Access Points and is part of the 802.11 WiFi protocol. They are vastly different in form and structure but live in the same genre; data/Internet services. To further complicate matters, there are 5Ghz radios that provide long-distance point-to-point connections that are NOT the same as 802.11 B/G/N/AC WiFi radios and are more commonly used by Network professionals for specialized deployment purposes. Adding another layer of confusion to this arena is the borderline irresponsible use of the term 5G E.

“…But the designation, which showed up on phones early this year, has caused some consumer confusion, with some thinking they already have 5G. To be clear, it's not, with many bashing AT&T for misleading customers.” 

5G vs. WiFi 6

Many people just assume 5G and WiFi are direct competitors but as we have seen in the past the wireless industry and the WiFi industry are perhaps more complementary than competitive. For example, WiFi calling has been marginally successful in offloading cellular bandwidth to WiFi networks while providing expanded coverage for their customers. WiFi offloading will presumably continue as long as both wireless and WiFi technologies are relevant. We interviewed Connect 802’s CEO, Joe Bardwell, a Radio Frequency and WiFi expert; he had this to say:

“As 4G cellular evolves to 5G for cellular voice and data, we see WiFi evolving from 802.11ac into WiFi 6 (802.11ax), the forthcoming standards for privately owned, predominantly indoor data applications. The factors that differentiate these two complementary technologies are a combination of RF engineering, FCC regulatory requirements, and marketplace inertia. We can expect to see WiFi as the predominant standard for home and business connectivity as 5G expands the use of cellular connectivity in the wide area. We will also see 5G becoming an alternate Internet backbone to augment (and compete with) cable, fiber, and phone line Internet providers.”

~Joe Bardwell

CEO & RF Engineer

If 5G does become a popular replacement for cable, fiber, and phone line Internet providers; all we have done is effectively replaced the more reliable wire connection into our WiFi modem/router with a wireless connection. In today’s marketplace, the few 5G home offerings that are available, are set up this way. Further, WiFi is used by billions of devices across the globe and it is considered the better indoor technology because of this it’s unlikely 5G will ever become more than just “another option”.

Indoor Use

Unfortunately, the wireless carriers have not actually developed an indoor 5G solution yet, despite good intentions. In fact, it is a major concern. 4G LTE penetrates walls, foliage, and other structures much better than 5G does. In fact, with 5G, there are some very real physical limitations.

The current 4G cellular networks operate in frequency bands below 1 GHz in the UHF frequency band. 5G cellular will operate at frequencies above 28 GHz in the millimeter-wave frequency bands. Radio signals carry energy that is vibrating at a particular frequency. As frequencies increase above roughly 10 GHz the vibration of the electromagnetic signal begins to resonate with the vibrations of water and gas molecules in the atmosphere. The resonance results in energy transfer from the radio signal to the water and oxygen molecules and, hence, reduced signal strength. The result is that 5G cellular will experience greater atmospheric signal degradation (loss) as compared to 2.4 or 5.8 GHz WiFi in the same scenario. This fact accounts for the need to place 5G transmitters much closer together than 4G cell towers. Regarding indoor connectivity, both 5G and WiFi signals don’t do well penetrating the exterior walls of buildings. This is why 5G on the pole outside may not be the optimal choice for data connectivity indoors.

~Joe Bardwell

CEO & RF Engineer

So, if you are currently having 4G LTE coverage issues in your building, you can likely expect greater issues with 5G coverage. Perhaps even worse, those who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) for 4G LTE for their building, will now require all new equipment to disseminate the 5G technology indoors. 5G isn’t going indoors anytime soon.

“Most of today's 5G networks in the US, particularly those running in high-band spectrum, are specifically intended for customers who are walking around outside. When 5G subscribers go inside, they definitely won't get 5G. In fact, they might not even get 4G.

And, according to a wide range of executives in the wireless industry, that situation is not going to change anytime soon.”

Further, Cisco believes that WiFi and 5G will continue to cohabitate, with WiFi 6 winning the indoor battle once again. 

“With improvements in speed, latency, and higher density of connected devices, Wi-Fi 6 is ideal for indoor enterprise networks. Combined with its reasonable cost to deploy, maintain and scale, it will prove an ideal system for indoor wireless connectivity—"

Which is Faster?

WiFi 6 is available as we speak and rolling out more widely throughout 2020. WiFi 6 is poised to actually surpass performance promises of 5G and, for the most part, keep pace or beat the wireless industry in speeds and latencies for years to come.

The new 802.11ax Wi-Fi standard was announced in April 2018, with the headline feature that it will support transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps – almost 10 times faster than previous mainstream standards.

While 4G tops out at a theoretical 100 megabits per second (Mbps), 5G tops out at 10 gigabits per second (Gbps). 

In the end, these technologies seem to keep pace with each other; with WiFi edging out wireless historically generation to generation. What will matter most, with regards to speed, will be your proximity to the equipment.

Which Is More Affordable?

If available, then the most important question becomes; is 5G affordable?

It’s safe to say WiFi will stay rather static or even drop (based on 5G competition) in price as it is directly correlated with your Internet connection cost and those costs are predominantly mature in the marketplace. The fixed equipment cost should hover around $100 to $300 per router. Current Internet connection costs nationally are around $75 for 50 to 100Mbps and around $120 for Gigabit speeds. 

If 5G can solve the indoor riddle; than a true luxury service may be a 5G all-in-one bandwidth service that combines outdoor and indoor (home) access. It would be great if 5G was cost-effective enough to provide both. In today’s market place most residents have separate services and combining these would be a nice convenience. But can the wireless carriers charge less for this type of bundle or will it be a luxury service? 

"5G brings capabilities that are going to cause us to think different about pricing," AT&T said. "We expect pricing to be at a premium to what we charge today."

That echoes a comment made back in March by then-Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure, who said he saw 5G as a premium service. New CEO Michel Combes declined to comment on pricing, but there hasn't been a premium added yet. 

For most of us, we will continue to do what we have done in the past; balancing cost, value, and service. For others, it may be worth paying a premium for convenience.

In the end, the value could be hard to come by if there are data caps from your 5G “backbone” provider. This may not be a good fit, as many people migrate to 4K Video streaming. 4K (and 8K after that) streaming could easily surpass a terabyte of data a month.

Here’s what CNN Money thinks:

“But with great speed comes great cost.

A typical standard-definition streaming video that you watch on your phone uses up to 0.7 GB of data per hour, according to Netflix. An hour of 1080p HD video uses up 3 GB. 3-D video uses up 4.7 GB and 4K video uses 7 GB of data. That's more than three times the average monthly data plan, gone in a single hour.”

All this being said, most wireless carriers plan on charging you for the in-home service as a separate service anyways.  “Verizon's home broadband service costs $50 for wireless subscribers, and $70 for everyone else. Those are in line with other broadband costs…”So really you just end up with another home service option. Moreover, there is a likelihood of data charges and or caps similar to your wireless plan. For my money, I would like to skip the extra data costs and bandwidth caps when at home, so I can enjoy video streaming without limitations.

To further drive the point, the 5G infrastructure costs by wireless carriers stand to surpass 1 trillion dollars. In addition to that, there are astronomical spectrum costs seen in the recent spectrum bidding wars, some of which have recurring charges. These companies need to recoup their investments and become profitable before 6G starts rolling out. It may be a bad investment since most end-users are not actually buying current premium services from ISP’s like Gigabit Fiber.  

Conclusion

The Internet landscape is very exciting right now as everyone pushes for faster Internet services. 5G promises to be fast and mobile but many proponents of WiFi are still skeptical that for static high bandwidth environments 5G will make sense from a cost, deployment and health perspective. Technology is always changing, everyone knows that. What's not going to change is our need to access the Internet and our willingness to pay for it on some level. Multifamily owners, building owners, developers, neighborhoods and HOA’s could wait for the big wireless carriers (or the cable guys or whomever) to roll out 5G (or the next latest tech) or they could start making money with a privately owned and managed Internet network now. As a property owner, you get to decide who makes the Internet income on your property, how your brand will profit, and ultimately what technologies you offer. 5G, Fiber, and WiFi 6 can all work together and as technology evolves so will your Private Network.