Each generation of cellular technology differs in its data transmission speed and encoding methods, which require end users to upgrade their hardware. 4G can support up to 2 Gbps and is slowly continuing to improve in speeds. 4G featured speeds up to 500 times faster than 3G. 5G can be up to 100 times faster than 4G.
One of the main differences between 4G and 5G is the level of latency, of which 5G will have much less. 5G will use Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) encoding, similar to 4G LTE. 4G, however, will use 20 MHz channels, bonded together at 160 MHz. 5G will be up to between 100 and 800 MHz channels, which requires larger blocks of airwaves than 4G.
Samsung is currently researching 6G. Not too much is currently known on how fast 6G would be and how it would operate; however, 6G will probably operate in similar differences in magnitude as between 4G and 5G. Some think 6G may use mmWave on the radio spectrum and may be a decade away.
