Is there a benefit in upgrading to a 5G plan if your phone or Sim doesn't support 5G.

[Anerkons]

I am a bit confused reading posts on this forum regarding SIM card and phone compatibility . I am led to believe the following however there  are some posts that disagree --- Can someone please confirm or disagree with the following.

(1) 4G SIM can generally connect to 5G older pre 2016 cards do not support the full potential of 5G .—

(2) Older phones do not  support 5G.  For example ---iPhone 12 (released in 2020) was the first iPhone to support 5G. Older models, such as the iPhone 11, do not support 5G.

[slusagm]

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@Anerkons wrote:

I have an iPhone 12. Just re-did a speed test by Aokla with full bars at 5G - with results 160 mbps download and 1.3 mbps upload.

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@Anerkons wrote:

Tried the speed test again and this time set data ton5G always on. Received a message that 5G on would reduce battery life and performance . Anyways this time the results were 164mbps download and 12 mbps upload. Also did a speed test on my home wifi set to 5G and results were 835 mbps download and 670 upload . 

PS. My data settings are set to isp.mb.com is this correct? 

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@Anerkons 

for iPhone, you need need to check APN.  The isp.mb.com is for hotspot, not for normal data use

All you need to do is to make sure your Carrier Profile is updated

a 164Mbps download and 12Mbps upload is normal, not bad at all.  

you cannot compare your 835 and 670, you were using Wifi (even your 5G is on).  Home Wifi are generally much faster.   And from your upload number, look like you are using Bell or Telus Fiber (does not look like Rogers cable at all)

[Anerkons]

Tried the speed test again and this time set data ton5G always on. Received a message that 5G on would reduce battery life and performance . Anyways this time the results were 164mbps download and 12 mbps upload. Also did a speed test on my home wifi set to 5G and results were 835 mbps download and 670 upload . 

PS. My data settings are set to isp.mb.com is this correct? 

[Anerkons]

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@slusagm wrote:

what phone do you have?

the download speed is decent, not great.  People with 4G plan get a max of 100Mbps.  Your 129 Mbps is better than the 4G plan speed, but 5G plan speed can go as good as 250Mbps

Upload with a 2Mbps is not great, it should be around 10-25

you can try Reset network settings and test again.  Also, test at different places.  If you can, test your sim card using another phone, use a Samsung S2x or iPhone 

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I have an iPhone 12. Just re-did a speed test by Aokla with full bars at 5G - with results 160 mbps download and 1.3 mbps upload.

[slusagm]

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@Anerkons wrote:

I have a PM 5 G plan. Just finished several speed tests and  the results were consistently around 129mbps download and less than 2 mbps upload . Are these later  results normal?

The speed test results  when I’m on my home wifi are around 450 mbps download and 350 mbps upload .

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what phone do you have?

the download speed is decent, not great.  People with 4G plan get a max of 100Mbps.  Your 129 Mbps is better than the 4G plan speed, but 5G plan speed can go as good as 250Mbps

Upload with a 2Mbps is not great, it should be around 10-25

you can try Reset network settings and test again.  Also, test at different places.  If you can, test your sim card using another phone, use a Samsung S2x or iPhone 

[Anerkons]

I have a PM 5 G plan. Just finished several speed tests and  the results were consistently around 129mbps download and less than 2 mbps upload . Are these later  results normal?

The speed test results  when I’m on my home wifi are around 450 mbps download and 350 mbps upload .

[BKNS27]

@softech @Anerkons 

What I meant beside the speeds of the 4G and 5G.

The 5G plans have 40gb to 150gb of data…nothing lower.

The 4G plans have 250mb to 15gb of data and nothing higher.

I am a home most of the time connected to home wifi so I don’t need anything more than 2gb of data and I am on 500 Mbps speed.

[softech · Accepted solution]

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@Anerkons wrote:

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@BKNS27 wrote:

@Anerkons 

Adding to the difference of a 4G and 5G plans.

The 5G plans are for heavy data users while 4G are for light data users.

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Ohh man now this add's to my confusion. If as the Oracle explained , 5G speeds can be obtained even on 4G networks what would it matter, as you say that ------> "The 5G plans are for heavy data users while 4G are for light data users."

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hi @Anerkons 

the comment about "light data users" was not true

4G and 5G difference is only the speed.  I think the incorrect comment were trying to refer to 4G plans offer less data per cycle, that was not entirely true either.  While plans with less data (like 1GB or 5GB) were only offered on 4G plans, 4G plans sometimes also large amount of data.

Again in conclusion, only difference between 4G and 5G plan is just the data speed, maximum speed of  100Mpbs for 4G plans vs 250Mbps for 5G plans.   5G plans speed of 250Mbps will work on 4G/LTE network as well.  And a phone without 5G can also subscribe 5G plans and enjoy the same high speed of 250Mbps 

[Anerkons]

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@BKNS27 wrote:

@Anerkons 

Adding to the difference of a 4G and 5G plans.

The 5G plans are for heavy data users while 4G are for light data users.

---

Ohh man now this add's to my confusion. If as the Oracle explained , 5G speeds can be obtained even on 4G networks what would it matter, as you say that ------> "The 5G plans are for heavy data users while 4G are for light data users."

[BKNS27]

@Anerkons 

Adding to the difference of a 4G and 5G plans.

The 5G plans are for heavy data users while 4G are for light data users.

[softech]

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@Anerkons wrote:

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@softech wrote:

@Anerkons 

1. all sim card support 5G, even older one  The SIM card is only used for accessing the network, nothing to do with 3G or 4g or 5G

2. Even older 4G phone without 5G can be benefit from 5G plan.  All 5g plan does is to raise the download speed to 250Mb on both 4G and 5G network.  So, a 4G phone can get the speed boost as well

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Thanks for explanation -- but just to clarify in my mind - Am I correct in understanding that on a 4G phone one can access 5G speeds without connecting to a 5G network?  And if I understand this correctly then it's not necessary to enable 5G setting on my iPhone that apparently eats up battery life and data.

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yes.  using 4G can still access the full 250Mbps speed.  

and yes, using 4G can help to ease the battery life

[Anerkons]

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@softech wrote:

@Anerkons 

1. all sim card support 5G, even older one  The SIM card is only used for accessing the network, nothing to do with 3G or 4g or 5G

2. Even older 4G phone without 5G can be benefit from 5G plan.  All 5g plan does is to raise the download speed to 250Mb on both 4G and 5G network.  So, a 4G phone can get the speed boost as well

---

Thanks for explanation -- but just to clarify in my mind - Am I correct in understanding that on a 4G phone one can access 5G speeds without connecting to a 5G network?  And if I understand this correctly then it's not necessary to enable 5G setting on my iPhone that apparently eats up battery life and data.

[softech]

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@Anerkons wrote:

I am a bit confused reading posts on this forum regarding SIM card and phone compatibility . I am led to believe the following however there  are some posts that disagree --- Can someone please confirm or disagree with the following.

(1) 4G SIM can generally connect to 5G older pre 2016 cards do not support the full potential of 5G .—

(2) Older phones do not  support 5G.  For example ---iPhone 12 (released in 2020) was the first iPhone to support 5G. Older models, such as the iPhone 11, do not support 5G.

---

@Anerkons 

1. all sim card support 5G, even older one  The SIM card is only used for accessing the network, nothing to do with 3G or 4g or 5G

2. Even older 4G phone without 5G can be benefit from 5G plan.  All 5g plan does is to raise the download speed to 250Mb on both 4G and 5G network.  So, a 4G phone can get the speed boost as well