T-Mobile’s 5G Upgrade Will Reduce Lag in Gaming and Video Calls

5G is fast, and every mobile carrier that offers it makes sure that you know that (since there's a surprising number of people still using devices stuck on 4G LTE). At the current speeds we already enjoy, you might not need your internet to get any better if all you do is watch YouTube or read news articles.

However, for people who depend a lot on low latency, whether that's for video calls, streaming, or playing online games, there's definitely room for improvement, and T-Mobile knows that. The company has just rolled out a pretty notable upgrade to its 5G network, the first in the US, and it will make latency less of a problem for you.

T-Mobile Rolls Out L4S Upgrade to Its 5G Network to Reduce Latency

Have you ever tried to sing along to something you hear on the other end of a video or voice call? It might sound fine on one end of the call, but on the other, things are delayed. The reason for that is latency. It takes some time, however minimal, for data to be sent over the network and received on the other side. That delay can be measured in milliseconds and is referred to as latency (gamers might know it as “ping”).

Zero latency isn't exactly possible, but we can work towards getting it as low as possible, and T-Mobile has taken a step in that direction with a big new upgrade for its 5G network. It is the first carrier in the US to upgrade its 5G network to the new L4S standard, which means “Low Latency, Low Loss, Scalable throughput”.

The technical aspect of it probably doesn't matter as much to you as a consumer, but what you should know is that with reduced latency, certain online scenarios will become a lot more enjoyable for you. For instance, here are some things that benefit from lowered latency as a regular consumer:

• Online gaming
• Video calls
• Streaming
• VR applications and games
• Cloud processing

As a bottom line, if you're not particularly doing things that benefit from low latency, this upgrade might make very little difference to your daily life. Download speeds will stay the same, so you're not necessarily getting faster internet.

The Upgrade Is Entirely From T-Mobile's End, So Your Current 5G Device Will Feel the Difference

One of the most important things you should know is that you can keep using your 5G-enabled smartphone and still feel the perks of this upgrade. The changes will take place entirely on T-Mobile's end of the equation, and you don't need special hardware on your side.

These changes come not too far after T-Mobile's release of 5.5G (or 5G-Advanced). In the case of 5G-Advanced, you will need a device that supports the new network generation, so that might necessitate getting a new device. Flagship Android phones with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or higher should be supported, though.