We have come a long way in wireless or mobile phone communication – each generation of telecommunications networks poses new challenges not only for users and companies from the telco industry. Over the past few decades, from voice calls to ultra-high-speed internet connectivity, mobile phone networks such as 2G, 3G, 4G, etc. have improved multiple folds. Wireless communication aims to provide high-quality, reliable communication as there has been a significant improvement in connectivity and data transfer speeds with each generation of telephone network standards. For example. 1G offers 2.4 kbps, 2G offers 64 Kbps based on GSM, 3G offers 144 kbps-2 mbps, whereas 4G offers 100 Mbps – 1 Gbps based on LTE technology. So, now let us differences between the previous generations of mobile networks and 5G along with Smart Mobile Network Monitoring Tools, Mobile Network Drive Test Tools, Mobile Network Testing Tools and Smart Best wireless site survey software, site survey tools for wireless networks & Wifi site survey software app in detail.
1G
It refers to the First Generation of cell phone technology, which was introduced in the 1980s by Telecom (known today as Telstra). 1G is an analog technology, and 1G devices transmit information using analog radio waves. The maximum speed of a 1G network is 2.4 Kbps, but there were certain advantages as 1G devices had poor battery life, large voice quality without much security, and users experienced dropped calls. Such technology did continue till the arrival of 2G digital telecommunications.
2G
It refers to the Second Generation technology, which was introduced in the 1990s. Network 2G implements the concept of CDMA and GSM as well as provides a secure and reliable communication channel. 2G Cellular phones are used for data, voice, SMS, and MMS. The main difference between the 1G and 2G is that the radio signals used by the 1G network are analog, whereas 2G networks are digital which allow text and picture messages to send for the first time. With 2G, several services are being utilized such as SMS, internal roaming, conference calls, call holds, and charges based on long-distance calls and real-time billing.
3G
Third Generation or 3G is the wireless technology introduced in 2001 with an aim to facilitate greater voice, data capacity, support a wider range of applications, and increase data transmission at a lower cost. 3G network has made mobile internet access more widespread, and much faster along with greater data capacity, for example, video calls or watching relatively low-resolution videos on wireless devices. The third generation technology is able to increase the efficiency of frequency spectrum by improving audio quality (how audio is compressed during a call), so that simultaneous calls can happen more in the same frequency range.
4G
Fourth Generation is a different technology as compared to 3G – five times faster than 3G, making it far more useful for streaming and playing games. 4G networks were introduced in 2009 with an aim to provide high speed, high quality, and high capacity to users. A 4G phone can communicate through a 3G or even 2G network and improve security and lower the cost of voice and data services, multimedia, and internet over IP. With 4G, current applications can be managed, such as amended mobile web access, IP telephony, gaming services, high-definition mobile TV, video conferencing, and cloud computing, etc.
5G
5G is the fifth-generation technology standard for mobile phone networks, and the most recent mobile providers intended to improve on 4G. 5G is designed to provide significantly faster data rates, higher connection density, much lower latency, faster download speeds, faster online tasks, and function across a larger spectrum of radio frequencies. Thus, 5G can allow carriers to increase their network services in ultra-high mmWave bands. 5G is much faster and able to accommodate more users at once as its data capacity is significantly higher than 4G – the maximum speed of 5G is fast over 35 times faster than 4G (35.46 Gbps).
Conclusion
Each Generation of mobile networks is defined as a set of telephone networks and wireless technology that aims to provide high-quality, reliable communication. For this, network monitoring and testing on 5G/4G/3G/2G coverages are necessary to conduct. With RantCell, you can perform network measurements continuously by installing the app on any Android and iOS mobile phone. You don’t need to visit the site physically, use the RantCell tool to run the test even remotely.
