The 3 different types of 5G technology for enterprises

Instead of viewing 5G as one sole flavor, we can compare the different 5G types to the flavors of Neapolitan ice cream, a type of ice cream made of three separate flavors in one container. Low-band, midband and high-band 5G are similar to vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, respectively.

Low-band 5G — vanilla

Low band is the closest 5G spectrum to 4G and 4G LTE and operates on the closest frequencies to TV and radio stations. That’s why it’s vanilla: It’s classic, everyone’s familiar with it and it’s fairly basic in terms of advanced frequencies.

This doesn’t mean low-band 5G isn’t worthwhile, though. Low-band 5G will be 10 times faster than 4G speeds, Notwell said, and this type of 5G can travel long distances. TV stations used — and some still use — similar, if not the same, frequency bands because of the bands’ abilities to cover large areas. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) claimed low-band 5G will range from 600 GHz to 900 GHz.

Lindsay Notwell

However, low-band 5G isn’t as fast as the other flavors, which is why it can travel so far. Low-band 5G has low bandwidth: It can travel far because it has a lower capacity to carry data than higher frequencies.

“It’s sort of a two-edged sword,” Notwell said. “The low band has great characteristics — reach, frequency and penetration — but it’s just not very wide.”

Midband 5G — chocolate

Midband 5G is like chocolate ice cream: a bit more advanced than vanilla low band yet not the most hyped of the different types of 5G. Midband is generally synonymous with the sub-6 GHz spectrum, as the FCC claimed midband 5G will range from 2.5 GHz, 3.5 GHz and 3.7 GHz to 4.2 GHz bands. Midband 5G spectrums are five times as wide as low-band spectrums, Notwell said.

While midband 5G is wider than low-band 5G with more capacity to transport larger amounts of data, it can’t travel as far. Buildings and other solid objects can affect higher ranges of midband 5G, although that permeation issue more prominently impedes high-band 5G.

High-band 5G, or millimeter wave — strawberry

High-band 5G is effectively the opposite of low-band 5G: It can’t travel far, but it has the superfast speeds that result from 5G’s most touted benefits. High-band 5G correlates to strawberry ice cream, as it adds a distinctive flavor to the Neapolitan combination: speed. The FCC claimed high-band 5G will include 24 GHz, 28 GHz, 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz bands.

Just as strawberry ice cream contains tiny pieces of strawberry, high-band 5G includes an added surprise: millimeter wave (MM wave), the spectrum between 30 GHz and 300 GHz that provides high-speed connectivity and download speeds. These capabilities — and MM wave’s high bandwidth and ability to carry more data between destinations — have increased global interest in 5G technology.

Yet, MM wave’s line-of-sight travel capability prevents this type of 5G from traveling long distances — even heavy rainfall could impede MM waves. This line-of-sight travel is high-band 5G’s biggest challenge, Notwell said, and proper installation will be critical for an organization’s successful 5G deployment.

“If all we had to rely on was millimeter wave, that would be a problem,” Notwell said. “But what we’re seeing is newer technologies enabling 4G and 5G to work in the same frequency. That’s called dynamic spectrum sharing.”