https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/59xnw8/5g-may-never-live-up-to-the-hype

To hear wireless carriers tell it, fifth-generation (5G) wireless is going to change the world. Verizon, for example, insists the technology is part of a “fourth industrial revolution” heralding the smart cities of tomorrow. Others have claimed 5G will do everything from revolutionize rural telemedicine to have us all working a 4-day work week in no time. But so far, 5G is falling well short of the hype, thanks to mobile carriers that are not only overstating what 5G can do, but where it’s actually available. AT&T, for example, has been widely criticized for trying to trick customers into thinking its existing 4G network is actually 5G—simply by changing phone network icons. Verizon’s early home 5G service (which affixes a 5G antenna to a home’s roof) has been maligned for being barely available in “launched” markets like Sacramento.

The same problem popped up again last week, when Verizon proclaimed the company was the “first in the world” to launch truly mobile 5G service in both Chicago and Minneapolis. But when outlets like CNET and The Verge took a closer look, both found a product that wasn’t ready for prime time. While Verizon’s new networks delivered speeds upwards of 500 Mbps, actually finding a 5G signal in either city was difficult to impossible. And in addition to paying Verizon $10 extra just to connect to 5G, the launch came with several other caveats.