Best family phone plans for 2025

“5G” is an umbrella term that encompasses current fifth-generation wireless cellular network technologies. All major carriers and phones support 5G connections, which can offer faster data speeds than older technologies like 4G LTE or 3G.

There is essentially three types of 5G: Millimeter wave (mmWave), which can be fast but has limited range; low band 5G, which has slower speeds but works over a wider range; And middle bandwhich is a balance between the two that is faster than low band but also covers a wider range than millimeter wave. Midband also integrates Band Ca batch of spectrum auctioned by the Federal Communications Commission in 2021.

Your phone’s 5G connection depends on the type of coverage in the area you are in, as well as other factors, such as population density and infrastructure. For example, mmWave is blazing fast, but its signals can be thwarted by buildings – or glass, or leaves – or if you’re inside a structure.

When your device is connected to a 5G network, it may appear in several variants such as 5G, 5G Plus, 5G UW or others, depending on the carrier. Here’s a list of icons you see at the top of your phone for major services:

AT&T: 5GE (which is not actually 5G, but rather a sneaky marketing name for 4G LTE), 5G (low band), 5G Plus (mmWave, midband)

Verizon: 5G (low band, also called “Nationwide 5G”), 5G UW/5G UWB (midband and mmWave, also called “5G Ultra Wideband”)

T-Mobile: 5G (low band), 5G unified communications (mid-band and mmWave, also known as “Ultra Capacity 5G”)

There is also reduced capacity 5G (5G RedCap), which is a lower-power, smaller-capacity branch of 5G used by devices such as smartwatches and wearable health devices; the Apple Watch Ultra 3, for example, connects via 5G RedCap.

5G Advanced is just around the corner, promising much faster speeds through carrier aggregation or combining multiple spectrums.