Future of 4G tech in W222
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From: Raleigh, NC
2020 S560 4Matic
Future of 4G tech in W222
What is the expected life of the 4G tech in our vehicles? I see navigation does an Internet lookup. I wouldn’t want to lose that. Will 4G be around 5-10 years from now?
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From: Maysville, KY , est'd 1767
Mercedes S560
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From: Half Moon Bay, CA
2016 S550e, 2005 Nissan Xterra 4x4, 1984 300ZX
If you have a 4g phone you can still connect to 5g towers it is just slower. I have seen people with older iPhones standing next to me and they work fine so I think 4G receievers will work for a long time
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I had a 8-YO 4G-LTE phone and they made me switch to a 5G phone as that supplier was shutting down their 4G-LTE access to phones, text, ...
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We don't know yet. No carrier has announced any plans to shut down their 4G networks. Based on the 2+ decades that 3G stuck around, it's estimated that 4G will be commercially viable until at least 2030. It should also be said that 5G is an evolution of 4G. It's building on the existing 4G technology, so backwards compatibility into the future is s strong possibility. This is different from the transition from 3G to 4G. 3G was obsolete technology and didn't have a future. The promises of 5G have also not yet materialized. What's being marketed as 5G today is really just a faster version of 4G. True 5G operates at much higher frequencies to deliver the low latency and speeds it's supposed to bring. Those networks are still few and far between and also require a lot more towers as higher frequencies don't travel as far. Building towers is a time consuming process as lots of people don't want them in their neighborhood. There's also an ongoing concern with air traffic interference. 5G still has a few issue to solve before it can stand on its own. Most 5G phones today are 4G phones with a 5G radio. They primarily operate on 4G and add the 5G bands for additional bandwidth. They can't operate exclusively on a 5G network.
