The 5G network is the fifth generation of wireless technology for cellular networks. 5G enables wireless devices to be connected to the telephone network and internet through radio waves.
The service area for the 5G network is divided into small geographical areas. These cells provide the network to its location through the installed 5G towers. These 5G towers are considered essential ingredients that provide faster speed, greater capacity, and low latency for their devices.
5G towers are made up of low, mid, and high-frequency bands for various needs of connectivity and network. The low-frequency 5G bands can spread to a vast area and travel through walls, windows, and other physical barriers.
Hidden 5G Towers
5G towers help transmit radio waves or data necessary for the network directly to devices. These are telecommunication sites that provide a 5G network in wide-area coverage. They are mostly hidden to keep them discrete.
5G towers are strategically planned to be installed in a way that they blend with the environment. They are usually 50-200 feet tall and are accessible and can be disguised as trees to make an aesthetic impact.
What Is A Safe Distance From A 5G Cell Tower?
According to recent research and studies, it has been proved that 5G towers can be short and long-term risks for humans within a distance of 300-400 meters from the tower.
So, it has been suggested to keep a suitable distance from these towers to avoid such problems. The authorities are making all the efforts to take these precautions, especially for the vulnerable population, such as children.
Why Are They Hiding 5G Towers?
Hiding 5G towers is a plan to conserve the city’s aesthetic appeal. This can involve disguising towers in the form of a braid, street lights, etc. Cell phone providers have used this tactic to hide their 4G LTE and 5G antennas in various ways.
Why Are 5G Towers Disguised As Trees?
Since 5G radio signals operate at a higher frequency than 4G, they are easily blocked by objects. These towers should be installed every couple hundred feet to eliminate this issue.
This distance can shrink in the future when self-driving cars are on the roads. These towers should also be close to the street level so people can get this signal on their devices.
Because of this need for 5G towers to be almost everywhere on the street, they are disguised or hidden as trees to maintain the aesthetic and architectural value of the city.
How Far Apart Are 5G Towers?
5G towers are built over a technology of high-frequency band, and these waves cannot travel for a very long distance. They also can be obstructed by various objects in their ways.
Due to these problems, 5G networks are built on small cell site technology with antennas 500 feet apart. According to this, a town can have over of devices installed.
How Do I Know If A 5G Tower Is Near Me?
A few apps can help you trace if you are near a 5G tower at a given moment. Some of them are:
1. CellMapper.net
CellMapper.net is one of the most accurate apps that detect cell tower locations. It also uses the crowdsourced database to get the locations of 4G and 5G towers.
2. Network Cell Info Lite
Network Cell Info Lite is a free application meant for android that can detect the location of 5G and 4G towers. You can get access to it by installing the app for free. It indicates the presence of the towers that you are connected to by a blue-colored line on the screen
3. Wardrive
Wardrive is a way to find out our nearest cell tower manually. This requires two things:
- a tower identifier (PCI or eNodeB ID), and
- signal strength reading
This can be quickly done through android phones. Unfortunately, only a few iPhone models can get you access to tower identifiers and signal strength data.
It is important to note that there is no government regulation on which carriers must disclose their 4G or 5G tower locations.
What Does A 5G Tower Look Like Vs. 4G?
A 5G tower is more compact than a 4G tower. Therefore, they tend to be smaller and cover less area. Because of this reason, they are also known as small cell towers.
To cover a particular space, you’ll need more 5G towers than 4G towers. This is because 5G towers also transmit waves on a different spectrum than 4G cell towers.
Why Do Trees Block 5G Signals?
The 5G network uses millimeter waves that operate at a higher frequency than 4G, and they are known to be easily blocked by objects, such as trees, wooden fixtures, leaves, houses, etc.
Huge branches from a tree or other materials absorb and deflect radio waves that create the 5G signals. This can be eliminated only by installing these towers every couple hundred feet.
To maintain the aesthetic and infrastructure of the area, these are hidden in the form of trees. This fulfils all the requirements of an exemplary network without any disturbance.
Winding Up
With the future demand for a 5G network worldwide, the appropriate and comprehensive planning of installation of 5G towers is happening all across. The 5G network provides faster speed, greater capacity, and low latency for its devices.
These towers operate at a higher frequency than 4G and require installations at every 100 feet. To overcome the obstacles of the cities losing their beauty due to the increase in these towers, these are installed and disguised as trees. This way, the city can maintain its aesthetic appeal, and the people can access a high-speed network.