5G coverage improves during power failure??

[MWalsh14]

My Pixel phone on Public Mobile shows 5G coverage in all the areas I normally travel to around Vancouver and Richmond in my weekly routine - except for my home area in central Richmond, which remains stubbornly stuck at LTE. I can go a few blocks in any direction and get 5G, but my home appears to be in a 5G coverage hole. (This in spite of the fact that there are Telus micro-transmitters on the hydro pole in front of my house that the installation crew told me were to improve local high speed cellular data coverage.)

But today we had a 2 hour power failure in central Richmond, and throughout that time my phone showed 5G coverage at home. Power failure ended, back to LTE.

What gives??

I have a theory. My theory is that the local Telus micro-transmitters which predate 5G only handle LTE, but they are so close and powerful that they overwhelm more distant 5G coverage - unless they are knocked out by a power failure.

[computergeek541]

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@MWalsh14 wrote:

So if the phone is set to prefer 5G, but it detects a stronger LTE signal, it would connect to LTE instead?

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That's certainly possible in some circumstances depending on how the phone's software has been programmed.

[MWalsh14]

So if the phone is set to prefer 5G, but it detects a stronger LTE signal, it would connect to LTE instead?

[computergeek541]

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@MWalsh14 wrote:

My Pixel phone on Public Mobile shows 5G coverage in all the areas I normally travel to around Vancouver and Richmond in my weekly routine - except for my home area in central Richmond, which remains stubbornly stuck at LTE. I can go a few blocks in any direction and get 5G, but my home appears to be in a 5G coverage hole. (This in spite of the fact that there are Telus micro-transmitters on the hydro pole in front of my house that the installation crew told me were to improve local high speed cellular data coverage.)

But today we had a 2 hour power failure in central Richmond, and throughout that time my phone showed 5G coverage at home. Power failure ended, back to LTE.

What gives??

I have a theory. My theory is that the local Telus micro-transmitters which predate 5G only handle LTE, but they are so close and powerful that they overwhelm more distant 5G coverage - unless they are knocked out by a power failure.

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During a power failure, coverage is going to usually be worse.  Any LTE or 5g signals that are on different fequencies would have no effect on the other.  The phone device plays a part in selecting the network.   I suspect that the actual 5g signal during the power failure wasn't actually any stronger than usual but rather that the phone decided not to connect to a weaker LTE signal.   During periods of high demand, a network condition callled cell breathing causes coverage areas to shrink.