Go-To 5G Connectivity

5G networks are rapidly rolling out and those who want to deploy can do so now. Full 5G deployment will take another decade, but in many urban areas 5G is already fully operational. The good news is that 5G and 4G LTE will co-exist for many years to come. So, whether you want to future proof your deployment with new 5G solutions now, or continue with 4G LTE, you can’t go wrong. For many applications operating well on LTE networks or that do not require 5G performance, it may be another 5-10 years before it makes sense to upgrade.

Digi operates in the commercial space, serving commercial, industrial, medical and government entities and developers. For this reason, information on this page is geared toward these customers. See your mobile phone vendor or carrier for updates on the timeline for handheld 5G devices.

The right solution for any specific application depends upon the business case. Not every application is ready – or right for 5G. The key considerations include:

• Analysis of the application’s network speed and throughput requirements.
• Analysis of 5G availability in the application’s deployment area.
• Analysis of 5G costs, based on the deployment scope and scalability requirements.

5G is already an official technology standard, via 3GPP Release 15, which was released in December 2018.

The "million dollar question" is really about when will 5G be everywhere, with the carrier-promised speed, latency and density. Today, enough 5G infrastructure is deployed nationwide for the majority of applications to fully benefit from 5G. The Ericsson Mobility Report predicts that by 2031, the thirds of mobile subscriptions will be 5G.

Carriers are currently in the process of phasing out 2G and 3G networks, as they need to replace them with more up-to-date networks, rather than maintain everything from 2G to 5G, which is costly and labor-intensive. See our article, Upcoming 2G and 3G Global Cellular Network Sunset Dates, for a roadmap of projected shutdown dates by region and carrier.

For those who have made investments in 4G LTE technology or are preparing to deploy devices now, there is very good news. 4G LTE networks and devices will migrate to 5G over time, without the requirement to replace all of your equipment. As LTE stands for Long Term Evolution, this infrastructure has a long life ahead, thanks to a new technology called Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS). DSS allows 4G and 5G devices to share the same band, resulting in a faster rollout of 5G and long-term availability of 4G, as spectrum does not have to be taken away from 4G to support 5G.

Digi International works with customers who are ready to define their path to 5G to ensure they can sort through the massive amounts of information, perform a careful needs assessment, and identify the right solution. Contact us for a consultation to learn more about 5G planning and 5G technology selection.

Digi proposes that customers who are certain they want to migrate to 5G as soon as possible plan for a three-phase approach:

In general, 5G use cases can be broadly categorized into three main types of connected services:

1. Enhanced Mobile Broadband: 5G will not only make our smartphones better, but it will also support new immersive experiences, such as VR and AR, with faster, more uniform data rates, lower latency, and cost-per-bit. This will be especially important for field service technicians, for example, who have to repair sophisticated systems and machines.
2. Mission-Critical Applications: 5G will enable new services that can transform industries with ultra-reliable/available, low latency links — such as remote control of critical infrastructure, vehicles, and medical procedures.
3. Massive Internet of Things: 5G will seamlessly connect a massive number of embedded sensors in virtually everything through the ability to scale down in data rates, power and mobility to provide extremely lean/low-cost solutions.

A defining capability of 5G is also the design for forward compatibility — the ability to flexibly support future services that are unknown today.

5G was designed to support theoretical peak data rates of up to 20 Gbps, but real-world performance varies based on spectrum type, network configuration, device capabilities, and carrier deployment.

Today, most 5G deployments use sub-6 GHz spectrum, where typical speeds often range from modest improvements over advanced 4G LTE to several hundred Mbps. In some locations, sub-6 GHz 5G performance may be similar to LTE-Advanced, particularly where spectrum bandwidth is limited.

Millimeter wave (mmWave) 5G can deliver multi-gigabit speeds — often exceeding 1–2 Gbps — but availability is limited to dense urban areas and specific use cases due to its shorter range and line-of-sight requirements.

5G is about more than peak speed alone. Its primary advantages include increased network capacity through access to new spectrum, improved uplink performance, and lower latency—particularly as carriers transition to 5G Standalone (SA) architectures. These capabilities enable more consistent performance, better support for high-density deployments, and improved responsiveness for latency-sensitive applications.

In practice, 5G and advanced LTE technologies operate together, with LTE-Advanced continuing to provide broad coverage and reliability while 5G adds capacity and performance where available.

This hybrid approach ensures a consistent, resilient user experience as networks continue to evolve.

5G does not have a single, universal price. Today, 5G service is typically priced similarly to 4G LTE, with costs determined by factors such as data usage, service level, coverage, and carrier plan structure. In many cases, 5G is included in existing data plans rather than offered as a separate premium service.

One of the core design goals of 5G is to improve network efficiency and reduce the cost per bit for mobile operators by using wider channels and additional spectrum, including mid-band and millimeter wave frequencies. While this increased efficiency helps carriers manage growing data demand, it does not necessarily translate to unlimited data or lower costs for every use case.

For enterprises and IoT deployments, overall cost is influenced by device capabilities, data consumption patterns, management requirements, and service reliability—not just peak throughput. As a result, many organizations deploy 5G alongside 4G LTE, using each technology where it delivers the best balance of performance, coverage, and cost.

Rather than focusing on a fixed price for 5G, organizations should evaluate total cost of ownership, including hardware, connectivity, management, and lifecycle considerations, when determining how and where 5G fits into their network strategy.