- Massive bandwidth (up to 50 Gigabit/s in certain configurations).

- Allows real concurrent connections (one "antenna" can connect simultaneously multiple clients vs. the switch that Wifi does for each client).

- The above improves latency, and you can achieve 1ms latency in private networks with multiple connections.

- The stack allows slicing which can help to isolate networks or devices.

5G has the ability to run on licensed and unlicensed frequencies too. Unlicensed spectrum is highly interfered and is a reason WiFi performs so poorly sometimes. Using licensed spectrum means you control the RF environment and therefore have much better control of network performance.

Digital Trends has a good article about this. You can read it here: https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/5g-vs-wi-fi/

I had the same question as the parent poster, so thanks for the link.

Still, I'm confused. The article says that both WiFi 6 and 5G have similar theoretical max speeds. The main difference in the article seems to be that 5G operates on licensed spectrum. But if I understand correctly, this AWS service uses an unlicensed spectrum, so I'm still not sure why would I choose this over WiFi.

5G can handle more clients. WiFi (vaguely) slows down if a slow client connects to the same network as you, rather than a fast client using all the bandwidth.

Cellular ISPs also don't do routing the way wifi/wired ISPs do, so your IP address isn't tied to your physical location anymore. That wouldn't apply to private 5G so much though.

+1 authentication is much smoother and quicker

It's not really a good article in terms of answering my question what makes 5G a better wireless communication platform than Wifi (besides having a different spectrum - how much does it matter?).

When I think about creating a high speed wireless network for my factory/campus I don't think of 5G first, since it appears like it has the speed of Wifi, the range of Wifi (the power efficiency of Wifi?) and way more associated cost for stations, modems and SIM stuff while Wifi APs are pretty cheap and Wifi modems virtually free.

Most of articles comparing 4G/5G and Wifi are focusing just on bandwidth and latency. That is somehow like comparing cars in just how fast they can go.

3G/4G/5G are standardized and built for operators that are used to manage huge amount of users. A lot of effort is put in avoiding congestion, providing guaranteed bitrate/latency for dedicated services (like your phone calls), smooth handovers between different antennas, a lot of of security features, and obviously, an excellent user tracking in order to charge the customers.

the article doesn’t answer the question. Why setup an expensive private 5G network instead of a private wifi lan, also considering wifi maturity and wide support?

Because if you need a private 5G to solve your own supply chain problems, why not set it up so you can also make money off of it.

so I guess the question is: why can’t one use wifi for these “supply chain problems” ?