People listen to a speech with the theme of 5G during day one of the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Asia at Shanghai New International Expo Centre on June 11, 2019 in Shanghai, China.

You're going to hear a lot more about 5G this year as new phones and other gadgets that support the new wireless network begin to launch.

5G is really confusing because there are three different versions of it that are being built. The networking architecture will eventually work together but most of what you'll get right now, and probably for the coming years, isn't super fast. Even worse, there isn't anything that works with all three right now.

The four major U.S. wireless companies -- AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint -- all have their own plans for how to build out 5G to their customer bases. Their strategies relate both to their current wireless spectrum holdings and future plans to build fiber into the ground, which is essential for the fastest type.

Here's the cocktail conversation summary:

mmWave high-band 5G : T-Mobile (a little), AT&T and Verizon. About 10x faster than LTE with extremely low latency, which means individual messages are transmitted almost instantaneously. But you need to be standing really close to a tower or transmitter to get those speeds.

: T-Mobile (a little), AT&T and Verizon. About 10x faster than LTE with extremely low latency, which means individual messages are transmitted almost instantaneously. But you need to be standing really close to a tower or transmitter to get those speeds. Mid-band 5G : Sprint. About 6x faster than LTE, but with a smaller footprint than low-band.

: Sprint. About 6x faster than LTE, but with a smaller footprint than low-band. Low-band 5G: T-Mobile/AT&T. About 20 percent faster than 4G LTE.

Now let's unwrap that:

Millimeter wave is the "best" 5G. If you download a 4GB file, like a movie, you might be able to do that in about 5 minutes and 19 seconds on today's fastest 4G LTE networks (assuming a 100Mbps connection). On a mmWave high-band 5G connection, that same movie would take only 32 seconds (assuming 1000Mbps). But PCMag says that you have to stay within 80 feet of a tower or transmitter to get those speeds.

Some industries are more excited about other aspects of mmWave 5G because of its improved latency. That's fancy talk for the time it takes for a device to talk to the network. Companies building self-driving cars that may need to stop in a split second will take advantage of those aspects of 5G. Gamers also care about lower latency, so as companies like Microsoft, Google and Sony roll out streaming gaming services, the quality of play will improve.

But most carriers are rolling out millimeter wave 5G in an extremely limited area, and focusing on public spaces like stadiums and arenas. Cities are also rolling out this super-fast 5G in highly dense areas, like downtowns, and some carriers are selling transceivers for home use -- similar to how WiFi works today.

Most of what you're hearing about 5G today actually refers to mid-band or low-band, which won't be that much of a difference from today's wireless connectivity.