« Back to Glossary Index
5G NR is the radio technology behind 5G networks. For an industrial router at a connected factory site, it means peak download speeds measured in gigabits per second, not megabits – and enough bandwidth to run multiple HD video feeds, real-time sensor streams, and remote SCADA sessions simultaneously over one cellular connection.
5G NR operates in two spectrum ranges with different characteristics:
- Sub-6 GHz (FR1) – the primary range for wide-area industrial coverage; similar propagation to 4G LTE with much higher throughput
- mmWave (FR2) – extremely high bandwidth over short range (50-200 m); used for factory floor private 5G networks
- NSA (Non-Standalone) – 5G radio with 4G LTE core network; the most common current rollout
- SA (Standalone) – full 5G core; enables true sub-millisecond latency and network slicing for guaranteed application bandwidth
- Carrier aggregation – dual carrier aggregation in Sub-6 GHz can push peak download above 4 Gbps under good conditions