News 5G Cellular Service Installation Under Way at WDW

The Visionary Soul

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It appears that new 5G cellular towers are popping up all over Walt Disney World. So far they are mostly being installed at the resorts first, but certainly more to come. 5G works best with direct line of sight to your device, and the towers are very short (only 10-30 feet tall in most cases) and can easily be overlooked. This does mean they need a lot of them to cover even a small area. To my knowledge, they are not active yet and are currently just in the installation phase. This does bode well for the future, as you will be getting much better cellular service speed at WDW. If anyone knows anymore about this project and the scope (in particular which providers will be involved and the types of 5G being installed) it would be great if you could chime in.
 
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networkpro

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
The density of the cell towers is a good indicator of the frequencies they intend to use. The closer together, the higher the frequency, or conversely the higher the frequency, the less distance it can effectively service. The last strategic partnership Disney made that we know about for cellular service was in 2012 when they went from Verizon and the carrier-specific "Mobile Magic" app to AT&T Later that year they launched MDE that was carrier-agnostic. The carrier landscape has changed a bit since then, both in market dynamics and technology since then.

Towers themselves mean little, all those sessions have to be backhauled to the nearest eNodeB (Non-standalone 5G core) and switch site to do anything like go out to the internet or land on another handset.
 

The Visionary Soul

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Bio got some pictures of the towers going up at Beach Club.

I'd be surprised if the bulk of these towers were not AT&T, as I believe they are Disney's official provider atm, but Disney has also made a bunch of partnerships with Verizon recently, so who knows.
Oh I didn’t see bio’s photos. Regardless, another user chimed in that with 5G, a lot of sharing can occur with the towers, so these could very well be shared between all three major US providers. I don’t know the underlying tech well enough in how it works to share, but it seems to me that they just need tons of fiber to make it happen.
5g is faster but to an average consumer, you probably won't be able to tell much of a difference
If 5G is installed well, it can give you speeds that are considerably faster than most at home broadband. They were demoing it a few weeks ago with the fastest version of the tech (not at WDW) and they were getting speeds upwards of 2 gbps. That’s pretty darn impressive for cellular IMO. I would definitely notice that.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
If 5G is installed well, it can give you speeds that are considerably faster than most at home broadband. They were demoing it a few weeks ago with the fastest version of the tech (not at WDW) and they were getting speeds upwards of 2 gbps. That’s pretty darn impressive for cellular IMO. I would definitely notice that.
What’s the point of 5g speeds? I can watch movies, send photos and video via email, and any other desired day to day activities on my phone.
 

tanc

Well-Known Member
Oh I didn’t see bio’s photos. Regardless, another user chimed in that with 5G, a lot of sharing can occur with the towers, so these could very well be shared between all three major US providers. I don’t know the underlying tech well enough in how it works to share, but it seems to me that they just need tons of fiber to make it happen.

If 5G is installed well, it can give you speeds that are considerably faster than most at home broadband. They were demoing it a few weeks ago with the fastest version of the tech (not at WDW) and they were getting speeds upwards of 2 gbps. That’s pretty darn impressive for cellular IMO. I would definitely notice that.
Yeah of course it is, but realistically something like that would be used to transfer giant files rather than using it for instagram or something.

If anything, I wonder if Disney themselves will utilize the technology due to its data speeds and faster latency.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
What’s the point of 5g speeds? I can watch movies, send photos and video via email, and any other desired day to day activities on my phone.
A user takes around 13 minutes to download the content of a DVD (4.7 GB) over a DSL line with a bandwidth of 50 Mbit/s.
A 5G-enabled smartphone or laptop could download the content of an entire DVD over a mobile 5G data link in just four seconds in the best-case scenario.

 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
A user takes around 13 minutes to download the content of a DVD (4.7 GB) over a DSL line with a bandwidth of 50 Mbit/s.
A 5G-enabled smartphone or laptop could download the content of an entire DVD over a mobile 5G data link in just four seconds in the best-case scenario.

So it’s more for laptop use? Like it’s designdd to replace cable internet for your computer?
 

Piebald

Well-Known Member
What’s the point of 5g speeds? I can watch movies, send photos and video via email, and any other desired day to day activities on my phone.
For more advanced technologies without hiccups. Possibility of medical procedures using such connections. Better service in rural areas. It's not for you to go on Facebook faster or download a meme video.
 

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