5G network not regonized/ not registering

[NateDog1]

I just switched to the PM 5G plan, but it does not show for my S20 FE 5G. I have looked at all the recent forums on this (the past 2 weeks) and seems like this is a common problem. Here is a screenshot of my service mode. it shows upperlayer R15 not supported. I also chatted with samsung support and they suggest gettting a new sim card. Anyone have any other ideas instead of doing some 100 step fix of downloading and transferring a bunch of files. Also to note. When i am at home i do get 250mbs download speeds, but as soon as i am out and about the highest i get is like 80. Pretty big difference and the whole time it says LTE+

[abarouni2023]

the public mobile network does not support VOLTE and 5G on Samsung S20 FE 5G. Switch to other carriers. I switched to Freedom Mobile and their network supports VOLTE and 5G on this device. 

[maximum_gato]

@dust2dust 

I had one of my referrals perform a speedtest on "slow" data. It is as advertised 0.52mb download and 0.60mb upload.

[Goaway]

I've been beating my head against similar issues for a couple months now and I think I finally found an explanation. The problem seems to be in the modem/firmware/configuration on some "5G compatible" devices.

I think it is in the modem configuration (mbn) for phones with Qualcomm x55 modems.  iPhone 12, Samsung S20, and OnePlus 8T all have similar weird network issues where voLTE doesn't work, IMS registration doesn't succeed and 5G is flakey at best.  I've had weird network issues on LTE as well when my phone uses LTE Carrier Aggregation with certain bands as well, and I haven't found a way to force it not to use LTE_CA. Maybe some frequencies have been repurposed from LTE to 5G?

If there's no official firmware update for the phone that fixes it then the only option seems to be modifying the modem's firmware to correctly allocate the bands or if you're lucky, flashing modem firmware from another device/region that does have the correct config.

[mtbman]

Thanks @sheytoon for the tag...here we go @NateDog1 

Big news.....I've figured out how to enable both "5G" and "esim"!

Originally, it bugged me that my S20 Ultra 5G could not use an "esim" even though the hardware is ready for it. In finding the following solution, I enabled the esim manager AND managed to get the "5G" to show up on my S20 Ultra 5G, beyond "LTE+". I take zero responsibility to the phone procedure: if it works on your phone or not. I am only sharing the steps I took as I felt confident in my computer skills to piece together a solution that worked. As far as I am aware, this procedure does NOT "root" your phone so your phone is safe, in case you are worried. This is because an "official" Samsung Firmware will be installed.

1. Find out what your exact S20 phone is and the respective Samsung model number: https://galaxys20userguide.com/galaxy-s20-model-number-details/#:~:text=Samsung%20Galaxy%20S20%20com... In my case, the S20 Ultra 5G is the SM-G988. 
2. Download and install the Samsung Android USB Driver for Windows: https://developer.samsung.com/mobile/android-usb-driver.html
3. Download Frija from here: https://github.com/SlackingVeteran/frija/releases and save the download, preferably somewhere easy to locate (eg. Desktop).
   Extract and "run" Frija.
4. Type in your S20-series phone's model number into the Model box with "U1" after it. In my case, it would be: "SM-G988U1". In case you are curious, "U1" means "US factory unlocked," which has no branding and full features.
5. Type in "XAA" into the CSC box. In case you are curious, "XAA" means "USA (unbranded/unlocked/default)".
6. Hit the "Check Update" button.
7. Hit the "Download" button and select where to save the U1 firmware, preferably somewhere easy to locate (eg. Desktop).
8. Download Odin3 from here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachments/odin3-v3-14-1_3b_patched-zip.5158507/ and save the download, preferably somewhere easy to locate (eg. Desktop).
9. Extract and "Run as Administrator" Odin3. You may choose to follow or ignore the instructions to disconnect your various logins.
10. Extract the U1 firmware, preferably somewhere easy to locate (eg. Desktop).
11. Enable Developer Mode by going to "Settings" on your S20-series phone, then "About phone", then "Software information", then tap on "Build information" seven (7) times in rapid succession. Return to "Settings" and then go to "Developer options". Enable "USB Debugging". 
12. Turn off your S20-series phone.
13. Press and hold the "volume down" and "power" buttons at the same time to enter "Download Mode"
14. Connect your phone to the computer and return to Odin3 and it should recognize that your phone has connected.
15. Click the "BL" button and select the file that starts with "BL".
16. Click the "AP" button and select the file that starts with "AP".
17. Click the "CP" button and select the file that starts with "CP".
18. Click on the "CSC" button and select the file that starts with "HOME_CSC". < THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO SELECT THE "HOME_CSC" FILE AND NOT THE "CSC" FILE. THE "CSC" FILE WILL WIPE YOUR PHONE!!!!!!
19. Click the "Start" button and wait for the new firmware to be installed onto your S20-series phone.
    Once the installation process is complete, Odin3 will show a green "PASS" text. The phone will automatically restart and boot up.
20. You can check that it has worked by going to "Settings", then "Connections", and you will see "SIM manager". Furthermore, you can to go to "Mobile networks", then "Network mode" and you can either select "GLOBAL" or "5G/LTE/3G/2G (auto connect)".

Please note that the "5G" logo will show intermittently, only when the conditions/connection actually gets "5G'. If you are worried, you can go to www.fast.com and you can test your download speed. I managed to get around the advertised 250 Mbps so I'm happy, for my needs.

Here are some photos that show that it works!

1. The box my phone came in:
2. 
3. Here is a picture showing the information on my phone showing the "5G" status and "U1" firmware:
4. 
5. Under "Connections", you can see "SIM manager" pop up:
6. 
7. Using a physical PM SIM card as well as having access to an esim.
8. 
9. Latest software is August 2023, as of the date of this post.
10. 
11. Phone status is "Official", in case you are worried about resale value!
12. 
13. I selected "GLOBAL" but the "5G" option exists now:
14. 

Good luck!

[sheytoon]

Cellmapper seems to only show SA when you choose network 5G - NR.

You can see the details when you select a gNB. It'll say system sub type SA.

Telus has a lot more SA (and of course NSA) than what is shown on cellmapper. Keep in mind that cellmapper is crowdsourced and Telus has not publicly launched SA in Vancouver yet. There are limited data points to crowdsource and update the map.

[dust2dust]

@sheytoon- Well I don't know either. I have a fully Canadian A32 that gets 5G here. I turn on data and there's the indicator up top. (along with volte) This all showed up after an OS update. I was like oh hello there.

[maximum_gato]

@NateDog1 

There are two types of 5G. Stand alone and 5G that piggybacks on the 4G LTE network. The latter being used to implement 5G while they waited  for the spectrum auction for bands 66,71 and 78. Or at least that's how I understood it from @sheytoon 's post explaining 5G.

Edit:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/5G-overview/td-p/836214

[NateDog1]

I too would like to know the difference. Its obvious there is a discrepancy between the two. Telus claims a WIDE COVERAGE AREA and yet there is only 4-5 towers providing 5G..........interesting

[maximum_gato]

@sheytoon 

Can you explain the differences between the telus 5G coverage map and the handful of 5G cell towers? Is it as I surmised that cellmapper only shows the 5G network that doesn't use 4G LTE? Just band 66 and 71 for example?

Edit:

Oops forgot to add my pic!

[sheytoon]

I don't know for sure, but I suspect all Canadian CSC wouldn't allow 5G on PM

[softech]

---

@sheytoon wrote:

Basically Samsung blocks 5G capability on phones that have Canadian CSC. This was originally agreed / requested by Telus.

---

@sheytoon 

So, the block 5G that have Canadian CSC is for Telus only and not Rogers or Bell, right?

[sheytoon]

Basically Samsung blocks 5G capability on phones that have Canadian CSC. This was originally agreed / requested by Telus. The problem now is that Telus wants to have 5G on all phones, but Samsung will not go back to all the older models to enable it.

It seems @mtbman found a workaround by switching to another country CSC (USA in this case), and that software was not applying any restrictions to PM SIM cards.

To answer @NateDog1's question about UPPERLAYER_IND_R15, it should say supported when you're in 5G coverage.

DCNR_RESTRICTED = false means your subscription allows 5G.

[dust2dust]

@Handy1- lol I skimmed that thread but remembered the mention so had to go back and find it. I think I had seen one other like it earlier on. I went looking a few days ago in the image library but couldn't locate it.

[Handy1]

@dust2dust  Your correct you remember that screen shot . I had to copy it I had never seen anything like it before . So unfortunately no speed test @maximum_gato 

[dust2dust]

@maximum_gato- I may be wrong but I think that's a copied image from a customer earlier in the day. I replied to that thread asking the same thing.

[maximum_gato]

@Handy1 

Have you tried a speedtest? That should give you your answer.

[Handy1]

@dust2dust  Riiight so which is it ,what do we believe I’m at a loss 

[dust2dust]

@Handy1- lol ah the famous Public Mobile messaging. So the one line says PhoenixUnlBundle512kbps (Phoenix?) but the ominous black box says 256. lol Go figure.

Adding - oh right and that data add-ons are "incompatible". lol

[Handy1]

@maximum_gato and @NateDog1 That’s what I thought to throttled data to 512kbps but today I seen this look at bottom message says 256kbps and to but more data add on didn’t think we could buy it on 5G plan 

official website.

[maximum_gato]

@NateDog1 

I'm not sure why that is unless the 5G that piggybacks on the 4G LTE network only shows as 4G LTE. Maybe @sheytoon can enlighten us on the subject.

[maximum_gato]

@NateDog1 

....and unlimited slow data at 512kbps. Network operators have been waiting to buy more spectrum to fully deploy 5G. So you are not alone in waiting.....

[NateDog1]

Thought you would get a kick out of this. Off the telus website showing the have FULL coverage of there telus network. Maybe 5G only works telus and not PM?

[NateDog1]

Thanks for the .......sad update maximum. Yeah maybe i'll wait i guess. Just sucks when i pretty much pay a little more for no 5G. Only good thing is i get 10gb extra of data per month. Whoopy

[maximum_gato]

@NateDog1 

A southeast van man! Surprisingly there is hardly any 5G (N) telus towers in Vancouver and none in your immediate area. The closest is near east 33rd between knight st and Kingsway.

Changing Sim cards won't make a difference only patience while waiting for telus upgrades to occur.

[will13am]

@NateDog1 , 4G network is capable of reaching the capped speed of the 5G plans.  This is my opinion only, seeing how we are getting 5G NSA connectivity on 5G capable phones, I kind of wonder if your data performance will be all over the place just the same as connecting on 4G.  It is possible the 4G core could be the bottleneck.  A 5G SA connection would be the cat's meow.  Who knows when we are going to see that.  

Network limitations aside, it is rather disconcerting to see how Public Mobile is not able to leverage the full capability of the S20 FE 5G.  If Telus can do it, it is not like there is reinvention of the wheel here.  

[NateDog1]

thanks softech i shall try the network monitor app and if that dosent work then i guess i'll try doing mtbman's fix

[softech]

@NateDog1 

you can also give the app to force 5G a chance:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/E-sim-not-compatible-after-the-site-sayin...

[Handy1]

Follow his post on that thread or where ever else you seen it . We tried with SIM card first that just a told us it was a public mobile / Samsung issue 

[NateDog1]

Vancouver B.C V5S 4X5. When doing my speed test I only have my data on to test.

[NateDog1]

so is the only solution mtbman's post? should i try putting a new sim or doing an esim?