5G in the field test: 550 megabits per second from Vodafone

Finally it starts: After the hiccup at the 5G frequency auction I wanted to try out the new 5G mobile technology in August as fast as possible. Should be possible, after all, Telekom has announced its 5G launch long ago, Vodafone even completed it. Matching this, Samsung and Huawei have launched their first 5G smartphones. So you will probably be able to test 5G. Or?

It's not that easy. Because even if Vodafone already speaks of a 5G start, he is just very manageable. The group had equipped 25 radio stations in Germany with 5G technology when I started my test at the beginning of August. During the month, 25 more will be added.

There is no map of the locations. So I drive to the corporate headquarters in Dusseldorf, where there is at least a 5G radio mast.

photo gallery

17 pictures

Frankly, Vodafone Chief Technical Officer Gerhard Mack takes the hope that 5G could soon start on a grand scale: "My personal opinion is that it will take five years to see a significant 5G penetration That's why we have more time than we need to build the network. "

It also wants to use the experience of the first customers: "The early adopters and technology freaks are for us the most valuable test customers who can say very well what they like and what they find less good, so we can learn what works and not what we still have to work on. "

It feels different

At Vodafone, however, you obviously want to learn at your own front door, with the radio mast on the company's parking deck. There I go, equipped with a Mate 20 X 5G from Huawei, one of the few 5G smartphones already available, and start my tests.

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13 pictures

I did not expect much from it. But on the parking deck, the phone that I've been using for a few weeks now feels surprisingly different than usual. Everything seems to go faster, but it's just the Internet that's more fixed. The homepage of SPIEGEL ONLINE opens without any delay. As I scroll, I see that not only the top three or four articles have been loaded, but all.

Binge-watching in the chord

Quite similar is the case with downloads, first of two apps each ten to fifteen megabytes in size. From the download I get nothing with, instead, the installation seems to start immediately.

Matthias Kremp / SPIEGEL ONLINE

Smaller is faster: 4G and 5G antennas on a radio mast

So I need bigger files to get a feel for the download speed. I start Netflix and download a movie. For around 650 megabytes, Vodafone's test network takes four seconds. Next, I request two episodes of a new TV series, together about 500 megabytes. I want to check in Netflix 'Download Manager, how fast these two videos come on the phone. When I finally arrived after two finger tips, it's already too late: Both episodes are downloaded and ready to be viewed.

My data highway

I would not have expected it, but the 5G network has completely changed my sense of the Internet within minutes. For years, even decades, I have become used to waiting times. Sometimes they are barely noticeably short, sometimes endlessly long, but always present. Up here on Vodafone's parking deck, for the first time, I feel like I'm really in the middle of it. No matter if I go to a website, load an app or start Google Maps, everything seems to be already there when I request it.

Matthias Kremp / SPIEGEL ONLINE

Speedtest on the Vodafone parking deck: Free ride as the only driver on the new information superhighway

At this rush of speed but also the exclusivity should have its share. Just like a driver on a closed motorway, I'm just the only 5G user here. The state-of-the-art radio cell with its fiber-optic connection is just there for me.

A detour to the commercial area

Back in Hamburg, of course, nothing can be felt from the 5G feeling. Just like in Dusseldorf, Vodafone's 5G network here consists of a single radio mast, which is also located in a commercial area near the A7. A lot of public traffic is not expected here. To try out how well 5G works there, I use a trip on the weekend, which I extend by a detour to the commercial area.

Once there, I feel like a planter. Only that I photograph instead of aircraft a radio mast and perform performance measurements with rather disappointing result (see photo gallery). A radio mast alone does not make a new network.

First make 4G, before you start with 5G

Good that weekend is. What else would people in the offices think about anyone else doing selfies with a radio mast? But maybe it's just a new trend: 5G spotting. In any case, you can hardly use the new technology at the moment: For the time being, 5G is more a destination than a practically usable technology, at least for normal users.

Obviously this is also clear in Vodafone. "In the industrial sector, 5G applications will be introduced much faster," says chief technology officer Mack. For ordinary users, another topic is more important than the new high-speed technology: "I think it must be clear that for the next few years the focus will remain on 4G, as the operator we could have done a better job and uninterrupted phone calls and surfing, no matter where you are in Germany, that's still not good enough. "