Skip to main content

Understanding the mobile experience on T-Mobile’s standalone 5G network

Posted: Feb 18, 2021

Many different kinds of 5G service are now available. Most carriers have launched an early version of 5G technology that continues to rely on the availability of 4G service and access to the legacy 4G core network. This is called non-standalone access (NSA). But for most of the planned benefits of 5G — beyond speed alone — carriers need to offer standalone access (SA) where a smartphone connects exclusively to 5G signals and uses a modern 5G core network.