Modems and Phones with 5G can’t handle the heat
5G is fantastic, but has a limiting factor that affects where the technology can be deployed. Those limiting factors include walls, windows, people, water, or even water vapor in the atmosphere. Well, new reports have shown that 5G has another even more problematic limiting factor: heat.
According to reports from both The Wall Street Journal and PCMag, 5G devices are not holding up well in the hot weather of summer.
Sascha Segal of PCMag described the situation, stating “On a hot Las Vegas morning, my two Galaxy S10 5G phones kept overheating and dropping to 4G. This behavior is happening with all of the millimeter-wave, first-generation, Qualcomm X50-based phones when temperatures hit or exceed 85 degrees. We saw it with T-Mobile in New York, with Verizon in Providence, and now with AT&T in Las Vegas. It’s happened on Samsung and LG phones, with Samsung, Ericsson, and Nokia network hardware.”
Joanna Stern of WSJ took a more sarcastic view of the situation in her description of events “The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G isn’t reliable in the summer—unless, well, you summer in Iceland.
When I ran tests, the phone’s 5G often switched off due to overheating, leaving me with a 4G connection. Cellular carriers demo-ing or testing the phone have taken to cooling the devices with ice packs and air conditioners.”
PCMag also reported that AT&T also leaves the 5G indicator on the phone even when it’s dropped to 4G due to overheating.
Additional amateur testing has shown that at 85F, the Samsung Galaxy S10 is only capable of running a max-speed connection for less than a minute before overheating and dropping to 4G.
Hopefully, smartphone manufacturers will take a closer look at 5G issues and work on solutions to guard against the myriad of limiting factors in the near future so that 5G speeds are available year round and in all types of weather.
As always, if we can be of help with your network or computer, give us a call here at RHYNO Networks. (855) 749-6648
