Verizon's slow 5G speed leaves much to be desired for some users; makes them switch to LTE instead

Verizon is one of the biggest mobile network operators in the US and serves millions of customers with cellular service.

Its high-band and mid-band networks make up 5G UW (Ultra-Wideband), which provides substantially higher speeds than standard 5G at the cost of a narrower service area.

This narrow service area is also likely the reason iPhone 14 Pro Max users recently as they encountered various connectivity issues with Verizon.

Verizon 5G speed is surprisingly slow

Some Verizon users (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) are now reporting an issue with the service’s 5G speeds as it is astonishingly very slow, and sometimes even slower than LTE speeds.

Good morning, @verizon! Why is 5G so slow? It’s always been terrible. Like, really, really bad. Why is that? I see all your commercials touting how great it is. What am I missing?
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Just curious; Why is the 5G UW rollout so slow? And I look at your map online and it says there’s UW in my area, and that just isn’t true.
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Reports also hint towards congestion and poor reception in some areas. Moreover, the battery drain issue that comes with turning on 5G exacerbates the problems for the users.

For some, the 5G Ultra Wideband receptivity is so poor that they believe it would be better off using LTE services.

Possible explanation

It seems that the root cause of the issue is owing to a deal that led to Nokia’s setback. It happened because Samsung won a portion of the deal to provide new 5G equipment to Verizon in the United States.

So the ongoing efforts by Verizon to switch its network equipment from Nokia to Samsung may be the cause of the poor speeds.

However, we cannot necessarily attribute the issue to this alone as the speed and accessibility may also be influenced by other factors.

Things, however, seem to be on the right path as Verizon recently announced that its UW service has now reached 200 million people.

It’s also worth noting that in a new survey conducted by the financial analysts at Cowen, around 40% of the users agreed that Verizon has the best 5G network.

And, according to new data from the financial analysts at Cowen, that seems to have helped Verizon’s perception among US consumers. The firm reported that 40% of survey respondents said Verizon has the best 5G network, ahead of T-Mobile’s 34% and AT&T’s 26%. Cowen’s figures are based on a December survey of around 1,200 US shoppers.
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So if the reports are anything to go by, it’s clear that the current 5G experience has left users with divided opinions. Some say Verizon’s 5G is slow while other surveys indicate that it’s considerably better than other carriers.

We’ll keep an eye on this matter and update this story to reflect noteworthy developments.

Note: You can also checkout our dedicated Verizon section for more related coverage.

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