Enlarge / Verizon 5G in the Fenway / Kenmore area of Boston.
Verizon has continually promoted the rollout of 5G as it reaches more cities with the latest mobile technology, but new coverage cards confirm what consumers have experienced: Verizon’s 5G network is scarcely deployed even in large cities.
You can view the new Verizon coverage maps with 5G mobile implementation in 18 cities on the Verizon website and we will show you some highlights in this article. Many of the maps show one or two densely populated areas covered by 5G, with only small 5G bags scattered around the surrounding streets. You also see many areas with 5G in every street, but not in every street, suggesting that Verizon does not penetrate 5G.
This is how you read every coverage card. For each city we start with the extremely simple and block map of Verizon that displays gray shapes for areas with at least a few 5G and white shapes for parts of the city that have no 5G at all.
After each city map you will see a selection of the more detailed maps of Verizon for individual parts of that city, including street grids. On these street maps the dark, reddish areas show where Verizon 5G is accessible. But most streets and neighborhoods on every map are light pink, which means that 4G LTE is available, but 5G is not.
This first gallery includes Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, Providence and St. Paul, the first five cities that received Verizon 5G. Chicago and Minneapolis were the first in early April, so Verizon has had more than seven months to expand the network in those cities. But even in those cities, 5G is still only in limited areas, so customers get 4G in most places. Look:
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Verizon 5G in Chicago.
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Verizon 5G in the Chicago Loop.
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Verizon 5G at Lincoln Park in Chicago.
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Verizon 5G at Rogers Park in Chicago.
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Verizon 5G in Wrigleyville, Chicago.
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Verizon 5G in Minneapolis.
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Verizon 5G in Minneapolis.
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Verizon 5G in Denver.
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Verizon 5G in Capitol Hill, Denver.
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Make up 5G in the Central Business District of Denver.
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Verizon 5G in the Sun Valley in Denver.
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Verizon 5G in Providence.
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Verizon 5G in College Hill of Providence.
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Verizon 5G in Federal Hill of Providence.
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Verizon 5G in the Upper South area of Providence.
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Verizon 5G in St. Paul.
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Verizon 5G in St. Paul.
It will clearly not be much better in cities where the Verizon 5G network has been implemented more recently. After the first rollout to five cities, Verizon announced the arrival of 5G in Atlanta, Detroit, Indianapolis and Washington, DC on July 31. Here are some Verizon 5G coverage maps of those cities:
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Verizon 5G in Washington, DC.
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Verizon 5G in downtown Washington, DC.
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Verizon 5G in Georgetown, Washington, DC.
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Verizon 5G in Washington, DC’s National Mall.
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Verizon 5G in Atlanta.
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Verizon 5G in Atlanta.
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Verizon 5G in Detroit.
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Verizon 5G in the center of Detroit.
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Verizon 5G in Dearborn, near Detroit.
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Verizon 5G in Westland in the Detroit Metro area.
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Verizon 5G in Indianapolis.
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Verizon 5G in Arsenal Heights, Indianapolis.
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Verizon 5G in the Renaissance Place of Indianapolis.
Let us now end by looking at some of the cities where Verizon 5G is much newer: New York City, Houston and Boston. Verizon launched 5G in New York at the end of September and this week in Houston and Boston. Here are some cards:
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Verizon 5G in Boston.
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Verizon 5G in the Fenway / Kenmore area of Boston.
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Verizon 5G in New York City.
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Verizon 5G in the center of Brooklyn, New York City.
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Verizon 5G in the Harlem area of New York City.
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Verizon 5G in Hunt’s Point of New York City.
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Verizon 5G in downtown New York City.
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Verizon 5G in Washington Heights, New York City.
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Verizon 5G in Houston.
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Verizon 5G in East Downtown, Houston.
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Verizon 5G at the Greenway Plaza in Houston.
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Verizon 5G in the Museum District of Houston.
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Verizon 5G in the Uptown / Galleria area of Houston.
5G is not a revolution
Verizon also offers 5G in Boise, Dallas, Omaha, Panama City, Phoenix and Sioux Falls. You can view all maps of each city and zoom in and out on street grids on the Verizon website. Verizon says his 5G is coming “soon” to another 10 cities, namely Cincinnati, Charlotte, Cleveland, Columbus, Des Moines, Kansas City, Little Rock, Memphis, Salt Lake City and San Diego.
T-Mobile also publishes 5G coverage cards.
The scarcity of Verizon 5G is not surprising, since the early rollout of Verizon is dependent on millimeter wave signals that travel not far and are easily blocked by walls and other obstacles. So far, Verizon 5G has not been able to cover all seats in NFL stadiums and NBA arenas. Rural areas will have even less chance of 5G coverage in millimeter waves.
It is clear that 5G is not the revolutionary technology promised by carriers and government officials such as the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, who caused a 5G hype while trying to prevent local government regulation. AT&T and other mobile providers have urged the FCC to exclude 5G from the government’s data collection. Although Verizon and T-Mobile have voluntarily published 5G coverage maps, an FCC-required airline could force airlines to provide more accurate and detailed data than they share today.
Verizon 5G should become wider as the company uses it on the lower frequency bands currently being used for 4G, but Verizon has warned that 5G on lower frequencies will not produce the large speed increases seen on millimeter-wave bands. Instead, Verizon says that 5G on lower frequencies will look more like ‘good 4G’, so consumers won’t even notice much difference if they already have strong 4G coverage. These limits are a good thing to keep in mind when Verizon tries to sell you with a 5G subscription, because the company charges an extra $ 10 per month for 5G service, even if you use 4G almost exclusively.
