5G is the next generation of telecommunication that will succeed 4G in the coming years. But what does 5G really mean, and how much better is 5G than its predecessor? Before we can answer these questions, we need to look back on 4G’s debut in 2009 to learn how each generation is fundamentally different than its forerunner. 4G was formalized in a set of standards by the International Telecommunications Union-Radio (ITU-R) to guarantee faster speeds and a more robust network. Unlike 3G’s hybrid “hub and spoke model,” where data is sent to a centralized hub before distribution to the recipient, 4G was required to have all-Internet Protocol packet-switched networks1. Essentially,…