Wednesday, December 13, 2017

What 5G Networks Should Be Like

5G is the next generation of cellular networks and is already rolling out in test cities across America. I am not sure how cellular networks will look by 2020 when most of 5G is slated to be turned on but here are features I would like to see.

Every device is a cellular device:
This means that your TV, computer, phone, DVR, Chromecast, refrigerator, washer, dryer, and toaster will all have some soft of Internet capability with a 5G device. This is a lot of devices so IPv6 will obviously be used.
I even believe that home and possibly business wireless networks will eventually become unnecessary.

One standard worldwide:
Ok this one might not happen but it should! All 5G networks should be the same standard across the world and work on any providers network.

Backward compatible:
Should be backward compatible to at least 4G if not 3G networks.

Security:
I believe that the 5G radio itself should have a firewall with fully closed settings as a default then the manufacturer or user of the device will open what services need to go in and out. Each 5G provider should have a easy to use tool/service that will run a security check/probe against your 5G devices to look for known vulnerabilities.

Virtual Networking:
Imagine you have 30 or so 5G devices in your home. Now imagine linking all of them to the same virtual network that belongs to just your devices. You can be anywhere on your providers network and maybe even any provider's network and all your devices can talk to each other. This is not a far fetched idea and would have lots of benefits.
From a home user's perspective lets say you have security cameras all over your property, your rental property, your parents house, and even on your car. The physical location does not matter and you can securely access these cameras from your phone or tablet that is also connected to this secure virtual network.
For a business this is a huge plus! Right now there are MPLS networks through a single provider. VPNs between locations, and then there are servers and resources that are accessed through the public Internet. By setting up virtual networks all the business 5G devices could easily talk to each other with minimal configuration.

Customer Control:
You should be able to control each of your devices bandwidth, usage as well as security settings at any time from a user friendly console.

Lots of Services:
Just think how many services ISPs could offer with the 5G and even 4G capabilities. Like content filtering, Intrusion detection, Anti-Virus, advanced firewalls, caching, data compression, and so much more.

Cost is key!
In order for 5G to really get to its full potential the price is going to have to be economical. If you want your fridge to be online a consumer is not going to pay very much but a few dollars and then for usage per device seems reasonable.
Billing by usage instead of speed makes more sense to me. Should be full speed all the time or at least what the network can handle. Devices and users that use a small amount of data will pay less that those that use a lot of data.
Pricing per GB now is too expensive. It should be more like a dollar a GB not the $10 to $20 it is now.

Zero Cost Bandwidth:
This is already done. If a company like Netflix wants to pay to subsidize a user's bandwidth for their streaming then they should be allowed to do that. Since an ISP is there to make money they don't care where the money comes from. I know what many of you are thinking. What about a small company that wants to compete with NetFlix or Youtube. Think of this from the ISP side. Streaming video uses a LOT of bandwidth and is the most expensive data to push through a network. Someone has to pay for all that bandwidth, sorry but that is just how business works.

Bottom line is 5G has a lot of potential with 10 to 100 times throughput, much higher density and lower latency than 4G networks. If the Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T's play their cards right they may quickly put terrestrial based ISPs out of business.

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