Non-GBR
Non-Guaranteed Bit Rate: a QoS flow type with no guaranteed bit rate allocation, using best-effort delivery. Used for web browsing, email, and similar services.
Non-GBR is the default treatment for the bulk of mobile traffic. There's no reserved rate and no admission check — the flow simply competes for whatever capacity is going, and when the cell is busy everyone's share shrinks together. That sounds austere, but it's exactly right for elastic traffic like web, email, app sync and video streaming with a buffer, where TCP and the player absorb rate variation without the user really noticing.
Because nothing is reserved, the network can admit a large number of non-GBR flows on the same resources and rely on statistical multiplexing — not everyone is busy at once. The control you do have is the AMBR, which caps the aggregate non-GBR rate per session or per subscriber so no single user monopolises the cell. Priority still applies between non-GBR flows via their 5QI, so signalling can sit above bulk download even when neither has a guaranteed rate.
Related terms
Related comparisons
Want to truly understand Non-GBR? Learn it in context.
Non-GBR is taught inside our 5G QoS & Policy Framework course with diagrams and worked examples. The first module is free with an account; labs, TelcoMentor and the rest of the curriculum are on Pro.
- Free to join
- First module of every course
- No card needed
- TELCOMA since 2009
Get one 5G/LTE engineering deep-dive a fortnight
One thing explained properly every other Tuesday — a real failure, and the lab or trace where you work it yourself. No spam, no marketing, just engineering. Unsubscribe in one click.