Abstract In next generation of mobile networks, the 5G, millimeter-wave communication is considered one of the key technologies. It allows high data rate as well as the utilization of large antennas for massive multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) and beamforming. However, it is mandatory that transmitter and receiver perform a training of their beams in order to gain all the benefits of a large array gain. In this paper, we study the impact of the beamtraining overhead on the data rate when an exhaustive or hierarchical strategy is used. Also, we show that the beamtraining phase can be used for positioning and, in this regard, we study the trade-off between positioning and data rate.