If you have ever wondered why your phone sometimes delivers blazing-fast speeds and other times struggles to load basic webpages, the answer often isn’t your device – it is the 5G band you are connected to.
Different 5G bands offer different combinations of coverage, speed, and penetration, and US carriers deploy a mix of them across the country.
To make this easier, we created an interactive 5G Spectrum Allocation Guide – USA tool (below on your page). It lets you:
- search by band name (like n77, n71, n260)
- filter by carrier (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, UScellular)
- filter by band class (low-band, mid-band, mmWave)
- see frequency ranges and usage notes
This guide explains how to use the tool and what each band type actually means in the real world.
5G Spectrum Allocation Guide – USA
Filter by band type, carrier, or search by band / frequency.
| Band | Frequency Range | FR | Band Type | Primary US Carriers | Notes |
|---|
Table of Contents
📶 What 5G “bands” actually are
A band is nothing more than a block of radio spectrum that devices and towers use to communicate.
Each 5G band has:
- a name like n71 or n260
- an assigned frequency range
- different propagation characteristics
- one or more carriers using it
Your phone constantly switches between bands based on:
- tower availability
- congestion
- distance from tower
- building penetration
- carrier policies
That is why your 5G experience varies—even in the same city.
🗂 The three main types of 5G bands
In the USA, 5G operates in three major spectrum groups.
🟢 Low-band 5G (< 1 GHz)
- longest range
- best indoor coverage
- lowest speeds (similar to 4G LTE)
Common low-band examples in the US:
- n71 (600 MHz) – T-Mobile’s “Extended Range” 5G
- n5 (850 MHz) – AT&T and Verizon coverage layer
These bands are perfect for rural areas and building penetration, but they’re not “gigabit-class.”
🔵 Mid-band 5G (1–7 GHz)
This is the sweet spot for 5G.
- balanced speed + coverage
- far higher capacity than low-band
- primary spectrum for urban and suburban 5G
Key mid-band players:
- n41 (2.5 GHz) – T-Mobile’s main 5G workhorse
- n77 (C-band around 3.7–3.98 GHz) – AT&T and Verizon
- n48 (CBRS 3.5 GHz) – shared/enterprise deployments
Mid-band is why 5G suddenly became “real” in the U.S. It provides hundreds of Mbps without requiring mmWave line-of-sight.
🔴 High-band 5G (mmWave)
This is the ultra-fast stuff people think of when they hear “5G.”
- extremely high capacity
- multi-gigabit speeds possible
- very short range
- easily blocked by walls, trees, hands, rain
Typical mmWave bands:
- n258 (24 GHz)
- n260 (37–40 GHz)
- n261 (28 GHz)
You will most often find mmWave:
- in stadiums
- at airports
- on busy downtown streets
- at event venues
- in fixed wireless access hubs
It is incredible—but not everywhere.
🧭 How to use the 5G Spectrum Allocation Tool
Here’s what you can do with the interactive tool:
🔍 Search by band or frequency
Type:
- n77
- 3.7 GHz
- C-band
- Verizon
- mmWave
The tool instantly filters results.
🏷 Filter by band type
Choose:
- Low-band
- Mid-band
- High-band (mmWave)
- All
This is helpful if you only care about long-range rural coverage or ultra-fast mmWave.
📡 Filter by carrier
Pick:
- AT&T
- Verizon
- T-Mobile
- UScellular
- Other / shared
You will see only the bands primarily used by that operator.
📱 Why 5G bands matter for device compatibility
Before buying:
- a new phone
- a hotspot
- an IoT modem
- a router
you should ensure it supports the bands your carrier actually uses.
For example:
- A phone with no n77 support will miss much of Verizon/AT&T 5G mid-band.
- A device without n41 won’t benefit from T-Mobile’s main 5G spectrum.
- Import phones sometimes lack US-specific bands.
Your experience depends more on band support than the “5G” logo on the box.
🏁 Final thoughts
5G in the USA is built from many different spectrum layers. Each layer serves a different purpose:
- Low-band: coverage and reach
- Mid-band: everyday high-speed performance
- mmWave: extreme capacity in dense areas
Our 5G Spectrum Allocation Guide Tool brings all of this together in one searchable place, so you can:
- understand which bands your carrier uses
- evaluate device compatibility
- learn which frequencies exist in your area
- explore how 5G is actually built
