No 5G

[Scabutz]

I recently upgraded to a Samsung S20+ 5G. I got a message from O2 saying my tariff was now enabled for 5G. If I stand outside my house and lob a stone I can hit a 5G tower. But I can't get 5G at all, my phone has never switched to 5G.

Anyone know why?

[camel_landy]

Firstly, how do you know it's a "5G Tower"?

Even so, it may not have even been switched on yet.

M

[Scabutz]

camel_landy said:

Firstly, how do you know it's a "5G Tower"?

Even so, it may not have even been switched on yet.

M

Hmm. May have made a cock up. So at the end of the road there was a cabinet and a large mast, then about 12 months ago right next to it they installed a new mast and 3 cabinets. I assumed that was a 5g mast. Maybe it is and it's not switched on.

Don't even know I'm bothered, I never leaving the house these days anyway. Was just wondering

[gus607]

Funnily enough my 5g phone works great, in my flat I receive great speeds from my local 5g mast BUT my provider Three say I have no 5g coverage in my area just yet.
I beg to differ.

[craigjm]

There will be a page on your providers website showing you where 5G is available based on postcode

[sgrimshaw]

Can check to see what (if any) 5g providers are in your area with this:

https://kenstechtips.com/index.php/5g-network-cove...

[ecsrobin]

gus607 said:

Funnily enough my 5g phone works great, in my flat I receive great speeds from my local 5g mast BUT my provider Three say I have no 5g coverage in my area just yet.
I beg to differ.

They won’t declare 5g coverage unless the whole area is covered.

[malks222]

maybe worth a call to o2 customer services, I needed a new sim card sent out to activate my 5G when I got the new iphone. Maybe check that the sim is capable

[camel_landy]

gus607 said:

Funnily enough my 5g phone works great, in my flat I receive great speeds from my local 5g mast BUT my provider Three say I have no 5g coverage in my area just yet.
I beg to differ.

Rolling out infrastructure isn't 'binary'... It doesn't suddenly appear in an entire city or region, overnight!!

Until they get to an acceptable level of reliable coverage, they'll not advertise the availability otherwise they spend half their time, fielding calls from people whinging about lack of coverage.

M

[surveyor]

Picture of mast and cabinets?

[Scabutz]

surveyor said:

Picture of mast and cabinets?

One on the right has been there for years. One on the left appeared a few months back, that's the one I assume is the 5g mast

[surveyor]

I suspect that is a MBNL (EE and H3G) mast. Have a look for some signage if you wander by the cabinets.

[Scabutz]

surveyor said:

I suspect that is a MBNL (EE and H3G) mast. Have a look for some signage if you wander by the cabinets.

I will take a look when I can. They are on a main road with no path. Bloody MBNL. I worked in an office in Amersham a few years back, they were in some of the other offices, and slowly took over every other sodding office that became empty. Took up all the parking

[tonyb1968]

You need to check on here>>>> https://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker

[Slackline]

tonyb1968 said:

You need to check on here>>>> https://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker

I just checked that, there's no 5g where I am. It also looks like the closest places I could find with it only have good coverage outdoors.

Does 5g not work indoors then, or is that just a blip whilst it's still being set up?

[surveyor]

Slackline said:

I just checked that, there's no 5g where I am. It also looks like the closest places I could find with it only have good coverage outdoors.

Does 5g not work indoors then, or is that just a blip whilst it's still being set up?

Gets technical. Most operators are using a higher frequency of around 3.5 GHz for 5G (with some outliers). Higher frequencies tend to not go as far and suffer bigger losses propagating through physical features.

Turning the power up helps, but gives issues nearer the antennas where there are safety limits.

[Scabutz]

tonyb1968 said:

You need to check on here>>>> https://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker

Thanks I did. No coverage anywhere near me. Interestingly none at my office either, right in the square mile. Not that I will be going back there soon anyway.

[tonyb1968]

Slackline said:

tonyb1968 said:

You need to check on here>>>> https://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker

I just checked that, there's no 5g where I am. It also looks like the closest places I could find with it only have good coverage outdoors.

Does 5g not work indoors then, or is that just a blip whilst it's still being set up?

The higher the frequency, the faster it is, the down side is that higher frequencies have less penetration so buildings will reduce coverage, this is why 5G is meant to be small cells but lots in an area, basically saturation coverage, this gives you the speed but you need lots of them to do it.
You will find most operators will keep using 4G for rural area's and 5G in dense population area's like city centre's, so if you are rural you may not get 5G at all