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Verizon Launches 5G in 4 More Cities

The move follows earlier rollouts in parts of Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, Providence, and St. Paul for a current total of nine Verizon 5G mobility cities.

 & Angela Moscaritolo Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

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Verizon on Wednesday lit up its 5G network in parts of four more cities: Atlanta, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Washington, D.C.

The move follows earlier rollouts in parts of Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, Providence, and St. Paul for a current total of nine Verizon 5G mobility cities. At this point, only five devices work with Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband network: the LG V50 ThinQ 5G, Motorola Moto Z3 and Z4 combined with the 5G moto mod, Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, and the Inseego MiFi M1000 hotspot. Verizon says that's "the most 5G devices available on any 5G network."

The company plans to have its 5G network up and running in parts of more than 30 cities by the end of the year, including Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Des Moines, Houston, Kansas City, Little Rock, Memphis, Phoenix, San Diego, and Salt Lake City. We're tracking all of the carriers' 5G progress on our Race to 5G page.

"Verizon has an annoying habit of describing its coverage areas in words rather than releasing maps," PCMag's Lead Mobile Anayst Sascha Segan wrote following the company's 5G launches in Denver and Providence. That holds true for today's launches. PCMag is in the process of building those maps for today's launches, but that will take some time. In the meantime, here's where Verizon says its 5G service is available in these new cities:

Washington, D.C.: "areas of Foggy Bottom, Dupont Circle, Cardozo / U Street, Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, Le Droit Park, Georgetown Waterfront, Judiciary Square, Shaw, Eckington, NOMA, National Mall and the Smithsonian, Gallery Place / Chinatown, Mt. Vernon Square, Downtown, Penn Quarter, Brentwood, Southwest Waterfront, Navy Yard, and nearby Crystal City, VA, as well as around landmarks such as the Ronald Reagan National Airport, United States Botanical Gardens, Hart Senate Building, National Gallery of Art, Lafayette Square, The White House, Freedom Plaza, Farragut Square, George Washington University, Capital One Arena, Union Station, Howard University Hospital, George Washington University Hospital, and Georgetown Waterfront Park."

Atlanta: parts of "Downtown, Midtown, Tech Square, and around such landmarks as The Fox Theater, Emory University Hospital Midtown, Mercedes Benz Stadium, Home Depot Backyard, Centennial Olympic Park, Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca Cola, and parts of Renaissance Park."

Detroit: parts of "Dearborn, Livonia, and Troy, including areas around the Oakland-Troy Airport."

Indianapolis: parts of "Arsenal Heights, Bates Hendricks, Castleton, Crown Hill, Fountain Square, Grace Tuxedo Park, Hawthorne, Historic Meridian Park, Lockerbie Square, Ransom Place, Renaissance Place, St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood, Upper Canal and Woodruff Place and around such landmarks and public spaces as Garfield Park, and Indiana University School of Medicine."

PCMag's Segan recently tested Verizon's 5G network in Chicago using a Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and got great speeds where obstacles like trees and buildings didn't cause signal drops.

"I got speeds up to 1.17Gbps with a clear line of sight to a cell site 500 feet away," he wrote. "But millimeter-wave technology is still extremely finicky and deals poorly with obstacles, which will be a big obstacle as Verizon and AT&T try to extend their coverage over broader areas."

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth. 

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light. 

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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