Those 5G speeds might be possible at home depending on where you live, as Telstra joins Optus in offering the tech not just out and about, but at home, too.
Now that the National Broadband Network is close to being made available pretty much everywhere, it makes sense for a technology offering potentially faster speeds to rock up, because that sounds about right.
Less Murphy’s Law and more the rate of technological progress, Telstra’s approach to 5G internet is on its way to more than just the handful of phones across Australia that it has supported over the past year, as the technology makes its way to where people live.
According to Telstra, its 5G network is supported in over 1000 suburbs across the country, meaning 5G phones in those over 1000 places can find speeds as low as 4G’s 50Mbps and as high as 2Gbps. One recent Telstra 5G test put the speed closer to 4Gbps.
The closer you are to a 5G tower and the less going on with the network traffic at the time, the more you’ll hit those incredibly high speeds, but the technology does cater for some fast speeds overall, and that’s something Telstra is hoping to capitalise on.
This week, it’s joining Optus in launching a 5G internet solution at home, aptly named “Telstra 5G Home Internet”, with the initiative starting out as a 500GB per month plan for $85 monthly, and an expectation of download speeds between 50Mbps and 300Mbps. That’s consistent with Category 4 to Category 6 4G LTE, but also not out of reach for what 5G can hit, with the technology set to improve over the next 12 months, the company says.
And for the moment, it’s also invitation only.
“Our starting principle is to offer the right internet connection to deliver the best experience for our customers based on their data needs, location, and what technology is available,” said Michele Garra, Executive for Telstra Connected Home & Business.
Upload speeds on Telstra’s 5G Home Internet solution will likely hover between 25 and 50Mbps, similar to what happens on 5G mobile internet, but hovering is what the plan will likely do on 5G, because mobile speeds are rarely set to one specific number. Rather, they waiver, running between a low and a high, and may in turn offer those crazy 5G speeds, but could at times also not. It’s distinct to the expected speeds from the National Broadband Network, because when you pay for 50Mbps, you typically hold a speed close to it, usually around the 40Mbps mark. Whereas mobile connectivity can be a little like the House of Pain and jump around.
Right now, however, 5G internet will be available in very small numbers. As an invitation only product, you’ll need Telstra to reach out to you before you aim to give it a try. However if you’re lucky enough to do that, you might just nail speeds better than the wired broadband network, and be at the forefront of what 5G can do at home.
