So a lot of people have been asking me in the past couple of months "Will the new 5G make Wi-Fi redundant technology, Like the MP3 player to CDs?" and my answer is absolutely not and yes that is coming from someone who works in the Wireless networking. So apologies if this sounds a bit bias. So I have broken it down into 4 key reasons why Wi-Fi will still be in demand for many years to come.
5G will give us massive advances in speeds, capacity, and distance from the cell tower and will revolutionize what can be achieved on mobile devices. With the possibility of replacing your FTTC/DSL home broadband with a 5G connection. Which would eliminate the need for a landline and could be as flexible as a mobile contract?
But the main things people need to remember when reading all the lovely marketing the big telcos are pushing at the moment are as follows
Wi-Fi is Already here
With all-new technologies. The key is the adoption rate and how quickly the infrastructure can be deployed. Also when the price point of the equipment lowers enough to make it more viable for business. Wi-Fi is already prevalent and is virtually expected at almost everywhere whether that is the office to coffee shops to public spaces like train stations.
4G didn't stop Wi-Fi
Another key point is 4G hasn't had had much impact on Wi-Fi. If anything since 4G came in Wi-Fi has exploded and more and more places have Wi-Fi and it has become more business-critical to business to have good, fast reliable Wi-Fi
Indoor Coverage
one thing that has always made Wi-Fi excel over cellular is indoor coverage. Due to the cost of install cell towers indoors. Companies very rare invest in it. Whereas wireless is far cheaper and easier to install indoors. I have not heard anything that will suggest that this will change with 5G.
Private networks
Another big selling point for Wi-Fi over 5G is the ability to have a private network. For corporate devices that have sensitive data, this is a big one and 5G can not deliver.
So in conclusion in my Opinion from the data and the documentation I have read and my own personal experience. I think 5G will open a lot of doors and will be a game-changer in the mobile connectivity. But there will still be a need for Wi-Fi and think Wi-Fi will only have more key services running over such as IoT devices to make Wi-Fi as critical as having any other building services.
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