Verizon Insists Gigabit Wireless is Just Over the Horizon Verizon Wireless just announced that it conducted a successful, real world test of commercially-available Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) technology that they used to set a new outside-the-lab speed record of 953 Mbps. To obtain these speeds, Verizon is aggregating three 5 GHz channels with one 20 megahertz channel of AWS spectrum, then using a combination of four carrier aggregation with 4X4 MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) antennas and 256 QAM to reach nearly-gigabit speeds.

Verizon claims you'll see these ultra-fast speeds in the real world sooner rather than later. In an interview with RCR Wireless, Verizon Wireless VP of network support, Mike Haberman states that the company will begin deploying LAA and these other technologies at "select cell sites" around the United States sooner rather than later, bringing 1 Gbps connectivity to a few lucky cities. While some of these improvements can be software updated, LAA requires physical hardware replacement on the towers, likely slowing the pace of deployment. The hardware used in Verizon’s recent demonstration was Ericsson’s micro Radio 2205 for LAA, which operates in the unlicensed 5 GHz band. "You’re going to see these pop up all across the country,” Haberman said. In addition to LAA upgrades, Verizon Wireless says that 4X4 MIMO antennas are already being deployed at cell towers across Verizon’s network, and software upgrades to implement 256 QAM are starting sometime this month. You'll of course need the right hardware to connect to these faster upgrades, with Halderman stating that devices with Qualcomm’s X16 modem will leverage Verizon’s network enhancements to “get on and off the network faster.” Verizon's Verizon's full announcement of its recent speed tests offers a little more detail for those interested.







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Most recommended from 56 comments

Windfarmer

daeligt kaeligps no mr

join:2015-08-30 5 recommendations Windfarmer Member Don't need gigabit wireless What we do need is expansion and upgrade of wireline such as DSL and fiber.

Tomek

Premium Member

join:2002-01-30

Valley Stream, NY 4 recommendations Tomek Premium Member Data Usage caps With those blasting speeds you can blow through usage cap within minutes!



And new "feature" or network shaping to "improve" your internet "experience" (of course you do not want to watch 1080p Netflix, 480 is all you need!) tmc8080

join:2004-04-24

Brooklyn, NY 4 recommendations tmc8080 Member LTE/5g this is NOT 5g.. LTE has a path to get from 400-600mbps today (in advanced handsets such as Galaxy 7 / 8) to gigabit in the coming years (2-4).

pclover

join:2008-08-02

Santa Cruz, CA 4 edits 3 recommendations pclover Member real world results will vary greatly. EDIT: Missed this was done outside a lab however still many variables at play. A single location doesn't mean much.



Sure 256 QAM is great but it requires a very high SNR. This also fails to take into account real world variables for MIMO since multipath will vary greatly Especially at 5 Ghz.



256 QAM on towers will be a even tougher challenge since again SNR.



Before people start saying this will destroy wifi you need to understand 5 Ghz is subject to tuns of path loss and part 15 unlicensed rules. It can't work at a wide scale.



Will all these things improve performance? Yes, but not to the degree Verizon is claiming here.