5G For The Digital Nomad

One of the challenges that digital nomads face is finding a fast and stable connection to work remotely from.

16:38 12 May 2020

Typically the reliance has been placed on public locations such as coffee shops, but with the global spread of the coronavirus many of these places aren’t available and may have restricted capacity heading into the future - fortunately the next big alternative is starting to become widespread. 

There’s plenty of information out there for making the most from your public connection at the Digital Nomad World but this connection is often limited by speed and availability, and when a location gets a bit crowded it can also have an impact on the connection you have - luckily the spread of 5G is starting to widen out and become more widely available, alongside the devices that are also 5G compatible. If you’re working to a budget whilst travelling and working remotely, you may not have the newest set of devices as the price tag may not have matched the gain, however with this new connection it may be worth splashing out a little for a newer device just to gain access to the increasing speed and availability. 

Speaking of speed - the difference is quite dramatic, although it is somewhat limited by the device hardware available - the max speed of 4G theoretically tops out at 100 megabits per second, which for perspective is to download a two-hour movie in six to ten minutes - compared to that of 5G which has a theoretical max speed of 10 gigabits per second - the same two hour movie example would take just three seconds to download. It is important to note that the speed is theoretical however as hardware constraints in network chips will reduce that available speed as well as other factors such as distance and availability - but at its core it provides a much better connection than the 4G alternative.

The spread of 5G has come at a opportune time for travelling remote workers, however, as mentioned the spread of the coronavirus has put many of the public places that would be used as a working location at risk - just within the UK it is expected that many cafes and pubs may not reopen until at least July, with tentative signs that it could also be much later than that - with no ability to work remotely for many it puts the lifestyle choice at risk, but a stronger mobile connection could serve as the crutch needed to stay afloat - this also follows good news from popular manufacturer Apple announcing their new lower powered iPhone at a much lower price making it a very good entry level choice - it’s just yet to be seen if these new devices will have 5G as the popular smartphone giant have been amongst the last to work the newer mobile connectivity into their phones - the expectation that the entire next range will have this access, but the specs of these devices will only be revealed in September, so there’s still a wait for many to find out.