5G is still terrible unless you live in one of these places

5G hasn’t become the panacea for our internet woes yet, with a slow roll-out of coverage and competing bands used in the US as the carriers decide to not break with tradition and argue with each other. A new report from WhistleOut has a deep dive into availability across the US, showing where the 5G is strongest.

If you’ve got a preconception that 5G is going to be better in major metro areas, prepare to be disappointed. Apart from Minneapolis, MN, which came in second, the majority of the top ten are all smaller cities.

Witchita, Kansas is the best place in the US if you absolutely need 5G, with over 99% coverage from AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.

The coverage maps don’t necessarily mean the fastest speeds though. Major cities like New York (29th) and Los Angeles (49th) both did poorly for coverage, but they have faster speeds as mmWave hotspots are studded around the metropolis.

Top 10 5G cities in the US

That still doesn’t mean much though, as coverage > speeds when mmWave only reaches a very short distance before the 5G-enabled phones switch over to the sub-6GHz bands.

That’s not to say 5G won’t benefit the wider population eventually. It took about a decade for 4G (LTE) to be installed in enough places for solid coverage and speeds close to the promised ones at launch. 5G will possibly take even longer, as the pandemic has slowed the roll-out of new equipment.

Phone manufacturers are putting 5G radios in almost every new device, so the carriers now need to catch up.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• T-Mobile is celebrating its 5G success with new 5Gin and 5Ginger Beer
• Verizon’s super-fast mmWave 5G is great, but good luck accessing it
• The FCC is now rolling out its $50 monthly internet discounts – here’s how to see if you quality
• Samsung’s latest Galaxy laptops have 5G and a “secret screen” function

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere. His hobbies include photography, animation, and hoarding Reddit gold.