{"id":351453,"date":"2020-05-12T07:30:50","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T05:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=351453"},"modified":"2020-05-12T07:31:52","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T05:31:52","slug":"vodacom-5g-vs-vodacom-4g-side-by-side-comparison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/351453-vodacom-5g-vs-vodacom-4g-side-by-side-comparison.html","title":{"rendered":"Vodacom 5G vs Vodacom 4G – Side-by-side comparison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vodacom recently launched its 5G mobile network<\/strong><\/a> in three cities \u2013 Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town.<\/p>\n

This 5G network is available on 20 live 5G sites which are grouped into six clusters \u2013 Midrand, Sandton, Menlyn, Centurion, Waterfall\/Sunninghill, and Century City.<\/p>\n

Vodacom\u2019s 5G network uses the 1 x 50MHz of temporary spectrum in the 3.5GHz band which was granted by ICASA. Vodacom also installed new radios to support the 5G network and new frequency band.<\/p>\n

The good news is that its 5G network will continue to operate<\/strong><\/a> after this temporary spectrum is handed back after the current state of disaster.<\/p>\n

At that point, Vodacom will roam entirely on Liquid Telecom\u2019s 5G network. \u201cThe loss of temporary spectrum will not impact customer experience or our 5G rollout,\u201d Vodacom said.<\/p>\n

Vodacom added that the performance of its 4G network will not be impacted by the launch of its 5G network, as no 4G spectrum was re-farmed.<\/p>\n

The company said that, given enough spectrum, 5G will work at average speeds of between 150Mbps and 200Mbps.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe speeds and latency will be determined by the coverage at the user\u2019s location and the load on the network at a given point in time,\u201d said Vodacom.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther factors that need to be taken into consideration include how far away you are from a mast, which spectrum is being used, and how many people around you are using 5G.\u201d<\/p>\n

Latency and transmission<\/h3>\n

Vodacom said upload speeds through 5G will initially not be as good as download speeds, and can be expected to be between 10Mbps and 20Mbps.<\/p>\n

This is because a smartphone has lower transmission power to communicate back to a base station relative to a base station communicating to the customer device.<\/p>\n

This is combined with other elements such as the lower propagation characteristics of higher frequency bands such as 3.5GHz.<\/p>\n

Uplink performance will improve as newer devices support capabilities such as uplink and downlink decoupling, it said.<\/p>\n

Vodacom added that 5G latency is influenced by how far away a site is from its core network, and distance from a speed test server.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, 5G latencies will be very similar to 4G until new elements such as mobile edge computing and new capabilities like network slicing are introduced,\u201d Vodacom said.<\/p>\n

5G versus 4G performance<\/h3>\n

To compare Vodacom\u2019s 5G and 4G networks, MyBroadband used two LG V50 ThinQ 5G smartphones \u2013 the only 5G phone currently available in South Africa.<\/p>\n

Multiple speed tests were performed on Vodacom\u2019s 5G and 4G networks at three locations \u2013 Menlyn, Eco Park, and Midstream.<\/p>\n

The tests were performed at the same location and at the same time to ensure a like-for-like comparison.<\/p>\n

All the locations were close to the 5G\/4G tower with a clear line of sight, which means the results reflect near perfect conditions.<\/p>\n

It showed that Vodacom 5G easily outperformed 4G on download speed – but this was not the case with upload speed and latency, however.<\/p>\n

The average 4G upload speed was nearly triple that of the 5G network, while 4G latency was lower than 5G latency.<\/p>\n

The tables below provide an overview of the performance of Vodacom\u2019s 5G and 4G networks.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Vodacom Network Performance<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Component<\/strong><\/td>\n5G<\/strong><\/td>\n4G<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Average Download Speed<\/strong><\/td>\n251Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n117Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Maximum Download Speed<\/td>\n274Mbps<\/td>\n144Mbps<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Average Upload Speed<\/strong><\/td>\n14Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n37Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Maximum Upload Speed<\/td>\n14Mbps<\/td>\n46Mbps<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Average Latency<\/strong><\/td>\n27ms<\/strong><\/td>\n24ms<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Minimum Latency<\/td>\n23ms<\/td>\n20ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Menlyn<\/h3>\n
\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Menlyn<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5G<\/strong><\/td>\n4G<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Download Speed<\/strong><\/td>\nUpload Speed<\/strong><\/td>\nLatency<\/strong><\/td>\nDownload Speed<\/strong><\/td>\nUpload Speed<\/strong><\/td>\nLatency<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
273.94Mbps<\/td>\n13.89Mbps<\/td>\n26ms<\/td>\n140.25Mbps<\/td>\n45.15Mbps<\/td>\n20ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
266.35Mbps<\/td>\n14.10Mbps<\/td>\n27ms<\/td>\n137.28Mbps<\/td>\n44.34Mbps<\/td>\n22ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
265.08Mbps<\/td>\n13.85Mbps<\/td>\n27ms<\/td>\n129.88Mbps<\/td>\n40.20Mbps<\/td>\n23ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
264.13Mbps<\/td>\n14.17Mbps<\/td>\n26ms<\/td>\n120.80Mbps<\/td>\n42.52Mbps<\/td>\n22ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
261.87Mbps<\/td>\n13.43Mbps<\/td>\n26ms<\/td>\n115.57Mbps<\/td>\n44.81Mbps<\/td>\n24ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
266.28Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n13.89Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n26ms<\/strong><\/td>\n128.76Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n43.41Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n22ms<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

*Average performance in bold<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Eco Park<\/h3>\n
\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Eco Park<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5G<\/strong><\/td>\n4G<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Download Speed<\/strong><\/td>\nUpload Speed<\/strong><\/td>\nLatency<\/strong><\/td>\nDownload Speed<\/strong><\/td>\nUpload Speed<\/strong><\/td>\nLatency<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
268.64Mbps<\/td>\n13.63Mbps<\/td>\n26ms<\/td>\n143.76Mbps<\/td>\n44.20Mbps<\/td>\n21ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
237.58Mbps<\/td>\n14.24Mbps<\/td>\n29ms<\/td>\n140.50Mbps<\/td>\n44.45Mbps<\/td>\n25ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
236.00Mbps<\/td>\n13.87Mbps<\/td>\n23ms<\/td>\n139.49Mbps<\/td>\n46.40Mbps<\/td>\n29ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
220.78Mbps<\/td>\n14.24Mbps<\/td>\n27ms<\/td>\n136.15Mbps<\/td>\n40.49Mbps<\/td>\n21ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
218.77Mbps<\/td>\n13.89Mbps<\/td>\n28ms<\/td>\n128.38Mbps<\/td>\n43.39Mbps<\/td>\n24ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
236.36Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n13.98Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n27ms<\/strong><\/td>\n137.66Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n43.79Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n24ms<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

*Average performance in bold<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Midstream<\/h3>\n
\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Midstream<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5G<\/strong><\/td>\n4G<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Download Speed<\/strong><\/td>\nUpload Speed<\/strong><\/td>\nLatency<\/strong><\/td>\nDownload Speed<\/strong><\/td>\nUpload Speed<\/strong><\/td>\nLatency<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
267.99Mbps<\/td>\n13.95Mbps<\/td>\n30ms<\/td>\n93.00Mbps<\/td>\n39.07Mbps<\/td>\n23ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
251.08Mbps<\/td>\n14.32Mbps<\/td>\n30ms<\/td>\n87.60Mbps<\/td>\n18.47Mbps<\/td>\n24ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
248.71Mbps<\/td>\n13.99Mbps<\/td>\n28ms<\/td>\n85.59Mbps<\/td>\n10.01Mbps<\/td>\n27ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
247.32Mbps<\/td>\n14.10Mbps<\/td>\n28ms<\/td>\n81.82Mbps<\/td>\n13.26Mbps<\/td>\n27ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
243.08Mbps<\/td>\n14.19Mbps<\/td>\n28ms<\/td>\n78.45Mbps<\/td>\n37.32Mbps<\/td>\n28ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
251.64Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n14.11Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n29ms<\/strong><\/td>\n85.30Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n23.63Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n26ms<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

*Average performance in bold<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Now read: MyBroadband tests Vodacom 5G \u2013 Unexpected results<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MyBroadband ran a side-by-side comparison of Vodacom\u2019s 5G and 4G network performance, with interesting results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[2542,19420,35,41],"class_list":["post-351453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cellular","tag-4g","tag-5g","tag-headline","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351453"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":351657,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351453\/revisions\/351657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}