Will 5G Replace Broadband? Pros & Cons

Broadband in your home and 5G in your phone, that’s the rule. But have we slipped into an easy and unconscious bias here? Today we’re exploring 5G vs broadband — and whether there’s an argument to run your household purely from a mobile network.

It follows a recent outage of my 60MB home broadband connection, and — like many of you, I’m sure — I activated my phone’s mobile hotspot to save the day.

A quick speed test revealed that my mobile 5G connection was providing me with a download speed of 1Gbps — or 18 times faster than my home Wi-Fi. I had an epiphany as I pondered whether 5G can replace home broadband.

Unfortunately, it’s a little more complicated than that.

Join us at Techopedia as we compare fiber broadband vs 5G and explore if it’s realistic to throw your landline, routers, and cables into the trash.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Will 5G Replace Broadband?
3. Broadband vs. 5G: Comparison Table
4. What the Experts Say
5. Case Study: Replacing Broadband with 5G
6. The Bottom Line
7. FAQs
8. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Will 5G Replace Broadband?
3. Broadband vs. 5G: Comparison Table
Show Full Guide
4. What the Experts Say
5. Case Study: Replacing Broadband with 5G
6. The Bottom Line
7. FAQs
8. References

Will 5G Replace Broadband?

Whether 5G can replace your home broadband may depend largely on where you live, and the strength and the price of your local 5G coverage, but we cover some of the pros and cons associated with the two options:

Why 5G is Better than Broadband

If you are one of the lucky ones with fiber optic internet available in your area, your broadband will probably consist of unsightly wires, an old router that occasionally needs rebooting, and a landline gathering dust in the corner of your room.

The bad news is that your connection will likely slow down during high-traffic periods, and you will probably be locked into a lengthy contract for 18 months with no way of escaping.

By contrast, 5G can offer a simple alternative. No, waiting around for engineer visits for expensive installations, and no more cables or tech from yesteryear. Best of all, you can finally cut the cord and stop paying even more for a landline you don’t use.

An old phone, trickle-charging in a corner, allowing a dozen devices to connect at once, and potentially offering shared storage along with privacy via a VPN provider, can alleviate all of that.

And with uncapped data charges becoming easier to find at cheaper prices, it starts to look alluring.

Especially as 5G is a big leap up from 4G  — with faster downloads and upload speeds, meaning no more buffering when gaming, video calling, or uploading a large file.

No equipment fees, data caps, or contracts also mean you can easily switch to another if you are unhappy with your provider. So what’s the catch?

Why Broadband is Better than 5G

5G might be the new kid on the block, but traditional home broadband is still considered a safer option. Although fiber has problems, it’s an underappreciated, reliable, and stable connection that rarely lets you down.

5G speed can vary based on network conditions, weather, RF interference, distance from the tower, and the number of connected users. Many telco providers also have data caps that that be reached much easier than you might think, and others throttle VPN.

In one afternoon, the average home could see a different family member streaming a 4K movie (up to 7GB), downloading the new Black Ops 6 Game (300GB), and a one-hour Microsoft Teams call (220MB).

Your Internet of Things smart home products, from TVs, lightbulbs, thermostats, and doorbells, will also compete for bandwidth simultaneously. But your fiber optic broadband will handle it all with minimal fuss.

Your new shiny 5G connection might have an all-you-can-eat data package, but many T&Cs typically include a disclaimer or fair usage policy of 750GB per billing cycle.

One of fiber internet providers’ biggest strengths is the promise of unlimited data, which is crucial when managing our unstable bandwidth appetite and expecting everything to download quickly.

Broadband vs. 5G: Our Verdict

The arrival of 5G provides a glimpse into a future where we will no longer need home routers, landlines, and bundled TV contracts. However, it’s not ready to take over the reins as the primary connection in our homes.

We all expect 100% availability and collectively lose our minds if we lose a connection at the most inconvenient time. But the only way to avoid any downtime is to have a backup solution that you can switch to when the inevitable happens, and 5G plays this role perfectly.

Whereas fiber internet delivers speed and reliability without the hassle of data caps, 5G offers the flexibility of a superfast connection when needed. Although we expect this to change in the future, your safest option to avoid problems with your home internet is to have fiber and a 5G hotspot as a backup.

Broadband vs. 5G: Comparison Table

What the Experts Say

The EU has set Digital Decade targets for 2030, with all EU households having easy access to a fixed gigabit network and all populated areas covered by 5G. Achieving these technology goals will require both 5G and fiber broadband rather than one technology ruling over the other.

In the U.S., AT&T is on a mission to bridge the digital divide and help ensure the remaining 8% of U.S. citizens without the internet can get it if they want it. Across the world, 40% of people do not have access to the internet.

And we must remember that 5G is often just the ‘final mile’ of your internet connection. As Brian Lavallée, Senior Director, Market & Competitive Intelligence, of Ciena wrote:

“Areas targeted for 5G coverage require lots of fiber to be successful, and not just for capacity reasons but also to meet the other rather formidable 5G performance goals related to network diversity, availability, and coverage.”

Case Study: Replacing Broadband with 5G

Content editor Eddie Wrenn recently tried this approach. Here’s his verdict.

I moved last month to a home which, for a myriad of reasons, has never had a landline installed.

After pushing a wardrobe in and meeting the landlord, my thoughts naturally turned to installing broadband, mainly to carry on with work uninterrupted, but with a dose of Netflix at night.

But considering I’d need to organize a landline, and then broadband, and set an appointment for wires to enter the home, the easy path to start with was a SIM card and an old Android tablet.

The experience has been… remarkable. I am in the UK, where 5G coverage is good and data is cheap. £11 ($14) gives me 40GB a month with unlimited tethering and no lock-in (I can hear some American colleagues weeping).

The entire flat is covered, I’ve connected two phones, two laptops, two tablets, and two smart TVs, along with a Google Home hub and two or three smart lights up. In three weeks I have had no downtime, no slowdown, streamed plenty of TV shows in the evening, and used 25GB — so I am comfortably within my data cap.

The 8″ tablet sits in a corner, trickle-charging (technically, charging on a smart plug that turns on for 20 minutes a day), connected to a VPN, and from previous experience I know I can plug a USB stick in and share files around my network.

As a bonus, I’ve re-organized the homescreen and connected to Bluetooth so that the tablet also serves a double purpose as a home media player.

So it’s location dependent and not for everyone — but for now I’ve canceled my call to the technicians.

The Bottom Line

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to picking the best home broadband provider. Your choice between 5G and fiber internet will most likely be determined by your location, building type, and whether you have a fiber service or 5G signal where you live.

Your next move will then depend on how many people and devices will be competing for bandwidth in your home. If it’s just you and your partner browsing the internet and streaming a few 4K boxsets, 5G will be fine. But if you are in a big family home with smart devices taking you up to 50-100 connections, fiber will be best for you.

However, the belts and braces approach to IT always involves having a backup plan in place. So, for most family homes, having a fiber connection and 5G hotspot as a backup should give you the 100% uptime required to maintain a peaceful household. Ultimately, fiber and 5G are better together than apart.

FAQs