5G: THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH!

Vol 55: Does a 2 Gbps Live up to its Promises and how it Compares with 5G FWA

12/18/2025 | 52 pages
Price: $1,295.00

SRG just completed its 55th 5G benchmark study. For this endeavor, we revisited our Verizon 5G FWA service, which has been our exclusive home internet service for nearly the last two years. This time around, we compared it with a Midco 2 Gbps fiber service – yes, fiber finally arrived in Independence, MN.

Our Thanks.  We did this study with the support of Accuver (XCAL5 and XCAP) and Spirent Communications, now part of Keysight (Umetrix Data). We used XCAL5 to collect chipset data (Wi-Fi and cellular) for those tests involving a smartphone and we used XCAP to post process and analyze those logs. We used Umetrix Data to generate high bandwidth downlink and uplink data transfers as well as for extended UDP-based latency tests.

The Methodology.  We used a mix of Umetrix Data, Wireshark, XCAL5 (chipset) and video captures to collect the results. We benchmarked the two services against their advertised claims as well as their performance from a user perspective with a host of applications and services, including Drive, YouTube (streaming and downloads/uploads), YouTube 4K TV, Netflix (streaming and downloads), Gmail, web browsing and Xbox gaming. We tested with multiple TVs and PCs, and included ethernet versus Wi-Fi.

The Results.  Both services delivered on their promised data speeds. Latency favored fiber, but the delta was modest while the impact was minor, even with web browsing and gaming. With a few caveats, 5G FWA data speeds were more than adequate, meaning little to no impact on the user experience (uplink performance is a noted exception with some applications). It is rare, if not impossible, to find applications which generate Gigabit-per-second data speeds. Wi-Fi, we believe, is the biggest culprit behind people complaining about a home Internet service (switching to ethernet solves a lot of problems).

Up Next.  We are just now kicking off testing on our next Signals Ahead report, an evaluation of how generative AI impacts cellular networks or smartphone battery life. We’ll be looking at a mix of applications and devices, conducting real world use cases, and capturing chipset data to determine the amount of downlink and uplink data transferred.