5G in Halifax

[JMarshall-CA]

I recently upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy A34, which I'm led to understand is compatible with Public Mobile's 5G network. I was keen to switch to a 5G plan on Public Mobile once they became available, but after I did, my phone won't connect to one. It still only connects to LTE+.

I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia, close to downtown, well within Public Mobile's claimed 5G coverage. My phone is compatible with one of the two 5G bands Public/Telus uses (n78 3500). I made sure to turn 5G on in my phone's settings. I even turned off my phone, pulled out my SIM card, and put it back, in the hopes it would find the network.

What else can I do? Does the 5G network in Halifax not use the n78 band? Do I have to do something else? Is the network being turned on soon, such that they can advertise its coverage? Should I not have been so **bleep** cheap and gotten the Galaxy A54?

[JMarshall-CA]

My new plan has 30GB; i'm pretty sure a 40MB speed test won't have much impact.

[Handy1]

@JMarshall-CA  Don’t chew up to much data on speeds test thou 🙂 data add ons now expire  30 days after purchase . Best to do those test a day or two before your renewal 

[JMarshall-CA]

I tried going into my network settings and switching around the preferred networks (like, from 3G only back to 5G, etc.) That didn't make the 5G work, but I tried a speed test. I got 185Mbps up and 30Mbps, which so far as I know, is faster than LTE-Advanced. I didn't think to test if this is faster than on my old plan, but it probably is.

[Handy1]

@JMarshall-CA it’s 5G device it should work maybe try resetting network settings see if that helps and yes you will still get the 5G speed on 4G /LTE  @JMarshall-CA 

add even someone in a 3G plan can still connect to the 5G network but only get 3G speeds 

[JMarshall-CA]

Does Halifax not have actual 5G coverage that my phone can tell is 5G, but is just cranked up to 5G-equivalent speeds? So the only difference is my phone won't display "5G" next to the bars?

[JMarshall-CA]

---

@MetaMorpheusMob wrote:

What phone are you using and is OS Updated> Your Phone maybe the issue>

---

Samsung Galaxy A34 running Android 13 with the June 1 security patch. It was last updated July 18.

---

@MetaMorpheusMob wrote:

In a 5G coverage area?

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/pe/coverage

---

According to this map, yes.

(Zoomed out to obscure my exact location, but well within Public's claimed coverage.)

[Handy1]

I’m in Halifax too and get 5G coverage all over HRM . Also note even if your phone doesn’t support 5G it will still get 5G speeds on LTE and be faster then if you were in a 4G plan