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HTC reminds us the HTC One supports next-gen 5G WiFi, as well as legacy 802.11a/b/g/n

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Broadcom-5G_WiFi_FEATURED

HTC took to their blog this afternoon to remind new (and prospective) HTC One customers know about one of the device’s commonly forgotten hardware features. According to HTC, because of the Broadcom wireless chips found inside each and every HTC One, the device is able to connect to, not only 802.11a/b/g/n, but also 5G WiFi, the next-generation standard based on 802.11ac.

5G WiFi (802.11ac) promises downloads up to 3x’s faster, with 6 times more power efficiency than legacy a/b/g/n. Because 5G WiFi operates on the 5GHz frequency, this means it’s less congested and thanks to its higher bandwidth (using 80MHz channel bandwidth), can support more traffic from more connected users without bogging down. This should come in handy when mom is watching her favorite HD shows on Netflix.

While 5G WiFi routers are only beginning to hit the market, there’s a good chance your future router (maybe even current?) will support it. Nice to know your HTC One is already future-proof and ready for it, right? Don’t even get us started on the confusion caused once wireless network providers make the move from 4G to “5G.” Ugh.

Chris Chavez
I've been obsessed with consumer technology for about as long as I can remember, be it video games, photography, or mobile devices. If you can plug it in, I have to own it. Preparing for the day when Android finally becomes self-aware and I get to welcome our new robot overlords.

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64 Comments

  1. 802.11ac is what it is called.
    THERE IS NO 5G wifi. It is simply 802.11ac, don’t play their stupid renaming game.

    1. I couldn’t have said better.

    2. It’s a marketing ploy for the technological disabled…

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        Currently on the phone with At&t trying to finish my order. I finally accepted terms and conditions to find that the address they entered was wrong. Luckily I have found the only competent rep, however, she is a supervisor. I really hate At&t.

      2. Also 5GHz band doesn’t penetrate walls as well as 2.4GHz band. I have the ASUS Dark Knight router dual band, but they also make a dual band AC if anyone is interested. Highly recommended. There’s pro’s and con’s to all but they always try to make things sound better than they are.

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    3. I’ll say wifi ac or 5G, but I’m not going to get all neardy and say 802.11ac because no one will have a clue what I’m talking about. And then after explaining, they’ll look at me like I’m the idiot for being all technical and making life difficult lol.

      1. Or you can do like I do with my not so tech savy friends and family. When they ask me about the best router to get I just say get this one cause it’s fast and has better range (which is usually the router with the latest standard) and they all say the say the same thing, yeah, I want that one!

      2. Yeah, FSM forbid someone confuse you for a nerdy educated person. Much better than you be ignorant like the majority of folks.

    4. I like the “stupid renaming game.” I have no interest in researching the differences between 802.11 ac and 802.11 b or 802.11 g or n. Or which one is better because its not like they are following sequential alphabetical order. Just give me 5G and call it a day.

      1. Even though I agree 5g wifi is a ridiculous term, can we all take a minute realize how stupid and confusing of name is 802.11ac? o does it have something to do with 802.11a that standard a bunch of my stuff had but i never new what to do with? no it is unrelated, o is c better than b but worse than g? no that is also unrelated… o… also i do not understand why it takes so many years to finalize a standard like ac that companies are forced to start putting out draft models…which basically means, it might work or it might be nonstandard your move consumer

      1. That is called marketing. Get back to me when the IEEE says so.

  2. 5G……….. Can someone get me an epic face-palm GIF?

  3. Does the galaxy s4 support it?

    1. From what I’ve read, yes it does.

    2. yes, just like every snapdragon 600 or 800 based phone

    3. Yes, it does.

    4. I got 802.11 AC at home, it works.

  4. 5G = 5th generation of WiFi technology after 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n.

    1. Someone thinking logically. I like it.

    2. you forget plain 802.11 which was 1-2 Mbps

      They are trying to mislead consumers here. 5G looks like 5 GHz and looks better than 4G (an other marketing term which shouldn’t exist)

      1. And 802.11ir. Which never really got off the ground, but it should be another generation.

        5G is a stupid name for stupid people. Marketing folks please follow Bill HIcks advice.

      2. It’s the 5th generation of Gigabit* WiFi technology.

        1. So there’s been 4 other generations of gigabit Wifi tech? Where the hell have I been? My router is wireless -N router the wifi doesn’t even begin to reach gigabit speeds but the wired ports do. Hmmmm.

      3. i think everything being labelled 802.11 with a different letter but not necessarily in alphabetical order is more confusing than saying 5G.

        1. 5 GHz is confusing because it could mean 5 GHz. 802.11a and 802.11n are also 5 GHz.

          Why would you call it 5G? It’s at least the 6th generation of Wifi.

          1. so call it 6G? i dont care, i dont know what 5ghz even means when it comes to wifi. And most people don’t i come in contact with don’t. So they are either asking best buy employees (you know how that can sometime go) or they are just grabbing whatever. I dont know the what’s better, 802.11a or 802.11n or 802.11ac or 802.11g. I mean isnt that why we have names for our phones in the first place? so we dont have to go by long confusing product numbers?

          2. Then ask for the troughput, not the number of Gs.
            You know that 54 Mbps is better than 11 Mbps don’t you?

          3. That’s fine, but what’s the big deal if they lump in by category? Its not hurting anyone. I understand 54 mbps vs 11 mbps but others dont. My girlfriend doesnt, my mom doesnt. They just know 4g is faster 3g.

          4. You sit in front of a machine that could give you nearly all the worlds knowledge and instead you want to talk about how ignorant you are? You are what is wrong with America.

          5. and that my friend is my problem with tech nerds. They expect everyone to be as technologically knowledgeable as they are. Yes i could walk into a store look at routers, then sit there on my cell phone for a half hour in the store googling different router specs and standards. But my mom isnt going to do that, my girlfriend isnt going to do that. Even if they did they also have a low tolerance for technology terms. People have different levels of understanding and just take to ideas and concept more easily than others, people also have little interest in how things work n just want them to work. you are the kind of person who will get mad at someone who doesn’t know how to root their phone. Do you get mad at your mother for not knowing that the mechanic is ripping her off? She should just go home and google the problem and fix her car herself?

          6. I get it, you are proud of being ignorant. Have fun with that.

            I am not mad at you, just sad that this is what we as a nation have come to.

          7. lol and you sir is what i think is wrong with america. The inability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. But hey when the doctor laughs at you because you are asking him questions about the different types of medications he prescribe, that’s you taking pride in your ignorance as well. Also, i dont want to ever see you calling the Galaxy s4 by its “lamen name” you should be using “Samsung GT-I9505” otherwise one might think you to be a hypocrite. And we wouldnt want that.

          8. I google those medicines the doctor prescribes. No one would laugh if you asked a question. You did not, instead you stated you did not know what 5Ghz meant, which is the frequency of the radio waves involved when you could have asked. You celebrated your ignorance.

            I can put myself in your shoes, and I realize in that situation I would shutup and learn to use google. I would surely not start sentences with LOL nor would I advertise my ignorance to the world.

          9. sigh, check your high horse at the door. This is a comment section on a tech blog, not an article published in the science journal. You don’t have to start your sentence with LOL or “-.-” faces or unnoficial internet acronyms which i’m guessing you hate too, but those types of terms were built for these type of internet outlets. So i think i will continue to use them at my own discretion.

            Ok and what if you don’t understand the ingredients of the medicine? or what if you don’t understand the definition of the terms? Should a doctor be mad because because they have laymen terms because you might not fully get all of the medical terminology?

            Yes Ghz is the frequency sure, i could have google that, n then i could google why that matters, and i could google whats important. And I could also find myself on forums with conflicting information. I could spend an hour and a half researching detailed information about how routers work. I could research everything there is to know about everything i ever touch. You must have a curious mind and abosrb everything you read, that’s a great talent a lot of people dont have. Do you own a car? I presume you know how to build one from the ground up? I presume you never use the term “regular or premium gas” and only refer to them by the amount of octane they contain? Do you refer to batteries as AA or AAA or do you refer to the amount of juice each contains when you go to the store to buy a pack?

          10. I google what I do not understand. Spending a few hours of my life on education is well worth it. I highly suggest it. I do not require my doctor to use laymans terms, I often read lab results myself. Believe it or not 90% of the time the doctor looks up the values while they are reading results too.

            Yes, I have built a car, both model and full size. I use NIMH rechargeables. This means they float at ~1.45v but are normally considered 1.2v batteries. AA and AAA are actually standardized sizes not slang or marketing speaking.

            I don’t see why you are content to be uneducated. In fact it kind of scares me.

          11. lol content to be uneducated (there’s that lol again). If you knew anything about my educational background then you’d realize how silly that sounds and by you only addressing the battery and doctor bit i assume you dont use the term “galaxy s4” or “premium gas” or terms like medium or large when ordering soft drinks, you use the appropriate amount of ounces that drink container contains.

            That’s great that you can build your own car and you know as much as the doctors do. You have me beat there, but again that is failing to put yourself in other people shoes. Not everyone enjoys, cares for, or easily understands the manufacturing process, build materials, and internal workings of every single product they buy. There’s a difference between being content to be uneducated, and not caring about something in particular.

            People can be very educated in their fields of study and have a decent appetite for knowledge but if they don’t know how to build a car, then they are uneducated by your standards. That sounds quite silly if you ask me.

          12. Not caring about being ignorant is being content with being uneducated.

            “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”— Robert Heinlein

          13. Well technically the standard use of uneducated means lacking of formal knowledge taught in schools/universities. And the difference between router 102.11ac and 102.11b is not something that is taught in your traditional school systems or general course load in traditional university either. Uneducated is a term reserved for general knowledge, the differences between different router frequencies, would fall under a very specific skill-set. So it is quite irregular for someone to be deem “uneducated” because they don’t know specific details about the workings of very specific piece of technology. Then you would be able to call someone who has two PhD’s in medicine and law, uneducated because they don’t know how to root their phone. Quite ridiculous if you ask me.

            That quote you posted is a very nice one, however that does not mean one is uneducated because they cannot do all of the above. There is also a difference between uneducated and less educated than yourself. Is Kobe Bryant un-athletic because Lebron James is more athletic? A nice well rounded understanding is a very good thing to have, but where do you draw the line? fight efficiently, does one have to be of the highest belt of every discipline as well as cook a tasty meal of every type of cuisine on this planet as well as a have a PhD in every field imaginable? Is it not acceptable for an individual to be disinterested in a certain genre of music? Is it not acceptable for someone to be disinterested in guns? is it not acceptable for someone to be disinterested in fashion? Is it unacceptable to sell close to these people disinterested in fashion? Is it a crime to label shirts “small” “medium” and “large” instead of by the neck line and width of the garment?

          14. According to your first sentence, 5 GHz isn’t confusing at all cause it does mean 5 GHz. Unless you’re saying it’s confusing to differentiate between 802.11a/n cause they’re both 5 GHz? In which you’re still wrong; 802.11a does not transmit on 5 GHz unless I am missing something here…please educate me kind person.

          15. 802.11a does transmit on 5 GHz. 802.11n also have this possibility.

      4. I agree that 5G isn’t what it should be called, but 4G is a technical term. 4G and 4G LTE aren’t actually 4G – they are what should be classified as 3.5G. 4G LTE Advanced would be the first true 4G technology.

        1. 4G is marketing, not technical.

          1. It’s actually both and justin is right, thus it’s a stupid term.

  5. Currently on the phone with At&t trying to finish my order. I finally accepted terms and conditions to find that the address they entered was wrong. Luckily I have found the only competent rep, however, she is a supervisor. I really hate At&t.

    1. Huh? Wrong post? O_o

      1. Whoops! I left out a relevant pice of info about my order being an HTC One. :p I guess more people like At&t than I thought.

  6. lol i knew that. got a 5G router, most high end phones support that. next

    1. Most high end phones? From this year right? Cause I have a high end phone from Aug of last year and it doesn’t support it…IJS.

      1. Just got the One, but as you said, most older phones don’t support 802.11ac. It’s mostly new high-end phones. Does anyone know if the Xperia Z even supports it?

      2. Right now that high end phone you picked up last Agust is this year midrange phone o_0

  7. WHAT HAPPENED TO 4GLTE? o,O

    1. That’s a different kind of wireless, as in cell towers used for cell/smart phones. This article it talking about WiFi that you would find in your home or in Starbucks. Nothing happened to 4GLTE, as a matter of fact, the next iteration is set to be called LTE-A (Advanced – which basically means faster speeds).

      1. thank you i just read an article that made me totally understand. :)

  8. Nice try HTC… but the Samsung Galaxy S4 has it as well..

  9. Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t the wifi standard 802.11ac part of the S600 and not on a separate wireless chip.

  10. In reality I end up using the old 2.4GHz wireless G way more often than 5GHz wireless N (on my dualband router), simply because G’s longer wavelength gets better range. What good is higher bandwidth if you can’t connect to the AP from the far bathroom?

    Maybe 802.11ac is better wrt to range, but it’s still 5GHz, so I doubt it.

    1. I find that with my dual band n900 router, sometimes the 2.4ghz gets me farther range (we use it on the roof) and sometimes 5hz gets me further range, it seems to be completely arbitrary. Admittedly they both destroy the range my old 54g was putting out.

  11. The way they mention 5G and WiFi in the same grouping slightly confuses me. Is it 5G as in the next step up from 4G LTE or an advanced form of WiFi ?

    1. 4g phone networks, and 5g wifi are completely different, 5G as in 5th generation of wifi

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