The massive C-band upgrade that Verizon announced this week is supposed to immediately boost your 5G speeds if you happen to live in an area that received more spectrum access. We listed out all of the major cities who could see that instant upgrade of 5G already, but Verizon also suggested that many rural areas will get a super boost with the maximum amount of C-band spectrum available.
C-Band refers to Verizon’s mid-band 5G network that they spent billions on a few years ago in an attempt to catch-up to T-Mobile’s mid-band 5G network. It still might be a while before they fully close the gap, because T-Mobile has such a huge lead in the mid-band race, which is the most important of them all in terms of 5G (it’s both fast and far reaching). But they are well on their way, even if they are late to the party after making an early and incorrect bet on 5G millimeter wave (mmW).
If what they have announced this week is the real deal, a simple network software update can flip the switch towards giving you access to more spectrum and an overall better Verizon 5G experience. We’re talking big upgrades in speeds. as well as the capacity to handle all of the people thirsty for this network.
Since Verizon shared news of the C-band expansion, we let it marinate for a few days to see how quickly they turned everything on and whether or not you are finding an improved network experience already. They said it could start to hit areas in the “the immediate next few days and weeks.”
As you can see from the image at the top of this post that I took today, I am most definitely not getting the boost yet. I live in southwest Portland, which Verizon continues to struggle in. Portland is one of the cities listed for a C-band boost, it’s clearly just not in my neighborhood yet, even when I’m standing next to a tower with a full “5G UW” or 5G Ultra Wideband connection.
So you tell us – are you seeing a big speed boost in recent days, or at the very least, a better Verizon 5G connection?
This post was last modified on August 18, 2023 1:14 pm