NSA in 5G stands for “Non- Standalone Access” which is a joint networking of 5G and 4G LTE, which means that operators can share 4G and 5G core networks . It can deploy the 5G network on the basis of existing 4G equipment.
While SA in 5G stands for “Standalone Access” Network is a final form of 5G. Infrastructures like base stations, core networks are all dedicated to 5G, which can be used to maximize the potential of the 5G network.
There are basically three core differences between 5G NSA and SA:
- SA has a 5G core network NSA does not have any core network.
- NSA is dual – connected wireless technology i.e. LTE and NR, while SA is only connected to NR so it is single wireless access technology.
- The interconnection in NSA is complicated because it contains both 5G and 4G network while in SA networking 5G networks are independent to 4G network so it contains simple interconnection.
Below are the main differences between 5G NSA and SA:
| 5G NSA | 5G SA |
|---|---|
| 5G NSA stands for 5G (Non-Standalone Access) network. | 5G SA stands for 5G (Standalone Access) network. |
| NSA contains 5G and 4G networks both so it has complicated interconnection. | SA has simple interconnections because it contains only 5G networks. |
| NSA is a combination of both i.e. LTE and NR so it is a dual connected wireless technology. | SA is only connected to NR so it is a single wireless access technology. |
| 5G NSA offers high speed connectivity to consumers with 5G enabled devices. | The architecture of SA enables end to end slicing to logically separate services. |