A Comparative Study of 5G and 6G Wireless Communication Networks Architecture, Performance Parameters, Challenges, and Emerging Applications

Fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks have been commercially deployed worldwide, delivering substantial gains in data rate, latency, and device density relative to 4G. However, persistent limitations in architecture, scalability, and energy efficiency have motivated early research into sixth-generation (6G) networks, which are envisioned as an AI-native, semantic, and terahertz-enabled successor. This paper presents a comparative study of 5G and 6G, structured around a systematic literature review, a parameter-by-parameter technical comparison, an assessment of open challenges, and an overview of applications where 6G's added capability is expected to matter most. The comparison draws on recent peer-reviewed surveys and standards-track documents to distinguish deployed 5G benchmarks from projected 6G targets. Findings indicate that while 6G promises order-of-magnitude improvements across most key performance indicators, its most significant departure from 5G is architectural a shift from centralized, bit-level transmission toward distributed, AI-native, and semantic-aware networking. The paper concludes by identifying standardization, hardware feasibility at terahertz frequencies, and security as the most pressing open research areas.