When we moved from the 3G to the 4G era, we more or less just got Faster connections for our phones. After all, what else did we need? Home internet covered computers, and phones were the only other things that needed a connection to the internet.

It’s been nearly 10 years since that transition took place, and the situation has changed completely. While 4G LTE networks are perfectly capable of supporting our phones, they’re not going to be able to handle everything else clamoring for a connection — drones, autonomous cars, smart home devices, and wearables. That means networks will not only need to be faster, they’ll need to support that whole Internet of Things.

5G as planned will do both. It’ll be rolled out in two stages, but if all goes well, the new networks will provide speeds fast enough to make streaming 4K movies smooth while having so little lag that autonomous cars will be able to rely them to deliver information in split-seconds. But, here’s what could make 5G a truly global, all-encompassing network — there are plans for 5G to replace home internet, too.

Next page: Early 5G trials