While 5G has massive potential, the only major effect it has achieved so far in the US is confusing the general public. That’s due in large part to ill-advised marketing strategies and questionable 5G “launches” by the four major wireless carriers. In the latest addition to this frustrating saga, we’re finally seeing speed tests of AT&T’s fledgling 5G network, and the results are far from impressive.
The results were posted to Reddit and reported on by PCMag’s Sascha Segan…not a bad result, per se, but it’s also roughly the same as the gigabit LTE speeds we’ve been seeing these days…a 4G test from that same area…came back with a very similar result. How could this be?…
…The 5G hype machine has promised a whole lot more than marginally better performance, higher floors, and slightly lower latencies, so it’s fair to be somewhat perturbed by these early results which, it’s worth pointing out, are the only reports we’ve seen so far, due to AT&T’s refusal to hand out review units…
Most independent communications geeks agree that what American consumers will have available after another year or two of disinformation and crap outright lies — will be roughly 20% increase in overall capability compared to other nations who are actually installing the real deal.
My only hope is that we’re not forced to buy the “upgrade”.
Eideard 
Wild conspiracy theories linking 5G networks to the coronavirus pandemic are being blamed for a spate of attacks on UK cellphone towers https://nypost.com/2020/04/05/woody-harrelson-sharing-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-tied-to-5g/
Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England, called the theories blaming 5G for the spread of coronavirus “the worst kind of fake news”.
Dr. Michael Head of the University of Southampton also told the Evening Standard that such “ignorance” could prove dangerous.
“Conspiracy theorists are a public health danger who once read a Facebook page,” he told the Evening Standard. “The celebrities fanning the flames of these conspiracy theorists should be ashamed.” https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-5g-conspiracy-theory-fake-news-nhs-a4407146.html
…but they’re not
“The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly issuing alerts to wireless telecom providers and law enforcement agencies about potential attacks on cell towers and telecommunications workers by 5G/coronavirus conspiracy theorists. The DHS warned that there have already been “arson and physical attacks against cell towers in several US states.”
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/05/prepare-for-cell-tower-attacks-by-5g-covid-19-conspiracy-theorists-us-warns/
“DHS to advise telecom firms on preventing 5G cell tower attacks linked to coronavirus conspiracy theories” https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dhs-to-advise-telecom-firms-on-preventing-5g-cell-tower-attacks-linked-to-coronavirus-conspiracy-theories/2020/05/13/6aa9eaa6-951f-11ea-82b4-c8db161ff6e5_story.html
US military is furious at FCC over 5G plan that could interfere with GPS : FCC accuses military of “baseless fear-mongering” in fight over Ligado network. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/05/millions-of-gps-devices-at-risk-from-fcc-approved-5g-network-military-says/
“AT&T’s current 5G is slower than 4G in nearly every city tested by PCMag : AT&T phones often get just 5MHz of 5G spectrum, slowing them down in speed tests.” https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/09/atts-current-5g-is-slower-than-4g-in-nearly-every-city-tested-by-pcmag/
The 5G lie: The network of the future is still slow https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/09/08/5g-speed/