Samsung S20+ 5g

[gbranscombe1963]

I have a 5G plan and my phone indicates 4G on Samsung S20+ 5g. I know the phone does 5g because it worked in the US with another e-simm that I used in Florida. I live in a 5g area because my brother has an iPhone and it says 5g on his phone. I can't change the network mode cause it's greyed out but says automatic. Any Ideas? Does anyone know which bands PM works on? The 5g band that it works on are 2, 5, 41, 66, 71, 260, 261 SA/NSA/Sub6/mmWave for Model SM-G986U.

5G capabilities

5G 2500 (41), 5G 39 (260), 5G 28 (260), 5G 600 (71)

in Canada. 

[Handy1]

@gbranscombe1963  Your not alone . I just like iPhone because it’s easy to sell 1 year iPhone and get the new one each year . 

[gbranscombe1963]

I don't like Iphone I am an android guy

[Handy1]

Boo 

[hTideGnow]

HI @Handy1 but you might not want your new shiny iPhone, it probably eSIM only!!!

i see Lucky is going eSIM too.  More hints physical sim is vanishing

[dust2dust]

Just say no to Apple products. 🙂
The manufacturers are also somewhere in the middle of all this. The providers and manufacturers can agree to limit features on devices at each others whim. Or the manufacturers fall for the demands of the providers or else the providers could say fine then we'll not sell your products.

Yes of course I'm completely aware that Public themselves do not sell phones. Telus owns Public. Telus owns Koodo. Telus calls all the shots.

[Handy1]

@gbranscombe1963  Or just pull the trigger like your brother did and get a iPhone . Problem solved new shiny iPhone 15 coming next month 😉

[hTideGnow]

HI @gbranscombe1963 

sorry to hear that.. Keep google for solutions then

this might not be a issue with PM. Seems to be a common issue with S20. 

[softech]

@dust2dust 

PM does not sell phones so banning phones and asking people to buy compatible phones would have no positive financial impact to PM,  nor Telus (people can buy compatible phones anywhere and not just from Telus)

On the other hand, I see PM has been taking care its customers well.  The legacy rewards program and the Public Points has been a great way to help customers to save money.  Many are taking advantage of it and enjoying completely free service monthly!! 

[gbranscombe1963]

Bands not bans lol. Great response though ha 😁

[gbranscombe1963]

That doesn't work.. still says 4G 

[dust2dust]

Yeah they seem to want to ban phones that they don't sell so as to maximize their profits with no regard for the customer who are the only reason they profit at all.
I'm well aware you meant bands. 🙂
I would be surprised your phone is not compatible. They just don't want it on their 5G network. Apparently.

[hTideGnow]

HI @gbranscombe1963 

try this and tell us if it works, 

someone same change the network from Automatic to manually pick Public Mobile and you will see 5G comes up

[gbranscombe1963]

When I was in Florida with this same phone I used an E-simm from a company there and the phone did 5 g and it indicated 5 g on the phone. I think it has something to do with the Bans that PM uses. 

[gbranscombe1963]

I haven't found any solution that works so far. 

[gbranscombe1963]

It does say 5 g on my phone with another companies e-simm in the USA

[softech]

@burkely001 

the dialing code has to do with the version of Android

for firmware, I always check sammobile.com

[burkely001]

Things work in mysterious ways I suppose. Do you guys with the unlocked version of this phone (which I guess would be all of us lol) have issues when using the dialer to enter certain codes? Does it give you an error output something like connection error or invalide MMI code? I've had this error since the day I bought the phone (or atleast as long as I can remember).

 Is there any chance you can share with me a reliable source for roms? For something simillar to what you did. I had checked a few sites out, landed on one promising one but then the download option unless I wanted to pay an absurd amount of money per month, was the "slow" option. I started a download, it ran for 4 hours and when I checked it out, it stil had 4 hours to go.. that's just beyond "slow" in my books! 🙂

[dust2dust]

I was saying that the correction you wrote is the correct dial code.
Bought the phone outright from BestBuy. A Canadian A32. A few months ago it took an update that woke up volte and 5G. There wasn't 5G at the time but I guess it was kind of there. And then they turned it on. But volte worked.

My other phone is an international Samsung phone that has no 5G but is able to do volte but this place refuses to enable it. I changed the country of the rom but stayed stock which fixed a different problem. I use Google Wallet and wanted to keep using it and so rooting was unwanted. So I was able to change the rom without rooting. It's very nerve-wracking when it's not a thing you do everyday. And the complete loss of everything on the phone except for some backups that also unfortunately don't back up everything.

[hTideGnow]

HI @burkely001 

to prove Koodo lies, just ask them where the 2 towers are , drive there, test it , send them a pictures with the tower on top of you and your phone screen showing 4G 🙂

Do you have any friend with a more recent phone or iPhone ? test your sim card there and you can tell if it is a device or account problem

[burkely001]

Correct, my phone is a Canadian model. Purchased from Best Buy a few days after the phone hit the market. I am with Koodo, I no longer have the 5G plan as I was on a grandfathered plan with a 4G connection for super cheap and since they couldn't get me that 5G connection and I tried going elsewhere without any luck (any luck for 5G, I mean), I complained till they game me my 4G plan back! So at this current time, it's the 4G plan. 

Both Koodo and Virgin checked for everything. Koodo gave me a new sim card, they sent several resets to the accounts, etc, etc. At the end of the day, Koodo didn't give me an valid reason as to why 5G wasn't working except for "there's only two 5G towers in your City". Which was a complete lie, but they were left with nothing left to tell me, so I guess they had to come up with something lol... As for Virgin, they tried it all and then some... At the end of the day, they just apologized and agreed to close off the account.. 

So, yeah. It's been frustrating nonetheless trying to figure out why it's not allowing a 5G connection and what the heck might be the issue. I was the closest to a 5G connection with Virgin, under mobile networks, I was able to force some sort of 5G connection by choosing a certain option using *#*#4636#*#*. But I never actually got a 5G connection. It never wanted to get passed the LTE/LTE+

[softech]

@burkely001 

it looks like you have a Canadian phone and not US.  Your firmware has a region code BMC and BMC is Canada,  and SM-G986W is a Canadian model 

and you are on Koodo? you sure you have a 5G plan with Koodo? Koodo just launched 5G plan no long ago.  The network has to support 5G for the 5G option to comes.  Maybe your account somehow to provisioned for that yet?  Did you check with Koodo?

[burkely001]

Makes sense. I've noticed a few "issues" with this device as of lately. And I say "issues" because they dont really cause me any problems, but for example, *#06# just results in "Connection Problem or Invalid MMI Code". Same goes for most of the "secret" codes compatible with the phone. I've tried this with a new sim, old sim, sim from different carriers, etc, etc, you name it, I've tried it. Very odd stuff..

So the exact Model is the SM-G986W and it's running build # (or CSC as I believe it's actually called) G986WVLS6HWG9. it's important to note, this s20+ 5G is not with Public Mobile, but rather with Koodo. I use PM for my business phone as it's only to give my clients a way to reach me via text (which I use pulse sms on my S20+ so that it's not necessary for me to carry around two phones). However,  I've been pondering as of lately to switch my s20+ over to PM. 

  I only just recently realized that it didn't have the 5G connectivity that it should, which sent me down this rabbit hole looking for answers.. First it was with Koodo, then Virgin, etc,  etc.. The reason I commented on this thread, was simply because I've been encountering the same issue and would like to find a solution before I decide to change the provider again. 

But I do completely agree with you, 5G isn't a huge deal. In fact, I don't really care whether I have it or not but when I come across issues such as this one, where something is supposed to perform a certain way but doesn't, I tend to get myself fixated on it and seem to dig until I either find a solution or I get a concrete answer (in this case, I feel like the concrete answer would be Canadian Carriers do not provide 5G on the bands that the s20+ uses). Unfortunately, I know that's not the case here and thus is driving me up  a **bleep** tree!! LOL But I completely do agree, 4G realistically is good enough and in some circumstances, even better then having 5G!

[softech]

@burkely001  I got mine s21 from Amzon US,  which is sold by Samsung US.  Mine has a 5G option and works.  Of course, mine is a different model and hence not suffer the same

curious, what exact model is yours and which CSC firmware you got?

And one thing, if you got a speed over 100Mbps on LTE network with your 5G speed plan, and you don't want the spend time to flash another ROM, then properly not worth the extra effort 

[burkely001]

I'm not sure which Samsung phone you're running, however, for me the dialer code is not *#*#4636*#*# , but rather; *#*#4636#*#* . Virtually the same thing, only different is the last phone digits are backwards. Strage though. When I attempt to enter *#*#4636#*#*, it simply throws a code my way. 

  About the firmware, I was under the impression that usiing a tool like Odin would require the device to be rooted, so that's my mistake. But yes, you're correct it's definitely a ton of fiddling and at time troubleshooting. I do recall that much from the days I used play with custom roms.

  Yes, I was well aware that mobile data would need to be enabled and active (no wifi connections at the time) in order for 5G to appear.

  I'm curious, which Samsung phone do you currently have? Did you purchase it outright through a retailer simillar to somethign like Best Buy? I only ask because, I swear this issue comes to play when buying a factory unlocked device not through the cell phone provider, but through something like a box store. Every post I read online that's complaining about not being able to get a 5G connection the person also purchased the phone outright instead of on a plan.. It feels very much like perhaps the phone isn't able to download the proper firmware for the carrier that it's connected to (or something simillar along those lines)???

Either way, I plan on reaching out to Samsung and hopefully with any luck, I'll be able to get someone fairly savvy on the line who knows their stuff but is also willing to put a little effort into looking into the issue for me!

[dust2dust]

It's worth a lot as that is the correct dial code.  You don't need to root the phone to install a different rom. But it certainly is a lot of fiddling. And trusting of the source.
I'm not sure if you were aware that when you got that 5G option that you won't see it being used until you actually turn on mobile data. I have a Samsung with 5G and that's when I see it.

[burkely001]

for what it's worth, the proper code (for myself anyway) is not *#*#4636*#*#  but rather *#*#4636#*#* 

[burkely001]

Hey,

  So, yes. I was able to see 5G. But probably not where you think I did. It was under Settings- networks - Mobile Networks. Where as it usually appears as "LTE/WCDMA/GSM", with Virgin and after messing around with several codes I entered into the dialer, "5G/LTE/WCDMA/GSM" (or something simillar with 5G in it) did appear. But to be clear, I never could actually get 5G to show at the top (and I verified 5G wasn't the connection using couple different apps).

  My phone isn't a Verizon version no, but it is factory unlocked. And from what I'm reading online, it sure as heck seems like every s20+/s20 Ultra that's either unlocked or purchased factory unlocked suffers from this same issue.. I think I may take a few hours tomorrow (hopefully it doesn't take that long) and since I'm still on Holidays, I may try hitting up Samsung support to see if I can get some concrete answers on this. I mean, it shouldn't be this difficult to get a 5G connection on a device that's obviously 5G capable.. 

I have yet to even consider wiping the phone to be honest, I've just got too much data on it. It's been a long time since I created a full back of my phone, I don't even think I'd remember how lol.

I could certainly flash the phone, I'd just need to do some reading ahead of time. It's been ages since I've rooted a device or played with the firmware, but I'm definitely willing to try it out if that will solve the issue.. It's funny though, you'd think there'd be more articles/discussions out there on how to solve this. I see a ton of articles about the problem, but none of them seem to ever get solved.

[softech]

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@burkely001 wrote:

.so I then ordered a Virgin 5G plan. I went through the exact same issue. Only they went more in depth to troubleshoot and in the end, I had asked them to just  cancel the plan (virgin is the one carrier where I was able to see a 5G option under network settings).

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@burkely001 

So, you were able to see 5G with Virgin Mobile?

did you try to wipe the phone and re-setup and see if you see 5G?  But if it is down to the CSC firmware issue, I think it won't help

Is yours a AT&T version of the phone too?  As said above, look like AT&T could have hidden the 5G option.  You can use Odin tool to flash a different but compatible firmware from another carrier.  Of course, if you are worry, get a local mobile shop to do it for you

Some people mentioned some app on Google store could help, but those are third party app, so use with caution. 

[burkely001]

Hello,

  I'm wondering how youve made out with this issue. Have you found anything else out about why you're unable to pull in a 5G connection? 

I ask only because I have been banging my head against the wall for the last month or so with multiple carries as I try to find support for my S20 Plus 5G. So far, I've come up with absolutely nothing. 

I've found a few articles that state that it's possible in my case (and likely yours), that since I bought the phone unlocked as I usually do with all my phones, that the phone somehow became locked to the first carriers firmware. I've found a few different sources online where these firmwares (or baseband, I believe they're called) can be downloaded but I'm not sure how I feel about doing that without anyone explaining the process and what to expect from it. 

 A little example of what I've been through this last month; I changed my Koodo plan from a 4G plan to a 5G. Couldn't get a 5G connection. I spoke to multiple reps at Koodo, none were helpful. The last rep told me Telus/Koodo/PM only have 2 two tower in my city (I live in Sudbury, Ontario) which is absolute lie then made me get pretty heated when they tried to tell me they wouldn't give me back my 4G plan at the rate I was paying. 

.so I then ordered a Virgin 5G plan. I went through the exact same issue. Only they went more in depth to troubleshoot and in the end, I had asked them to just  cancel the plan (virgin is the one carrier where I was able to see a 5G option under network settings). Then I decided I would try Rogers. And of course, NOT to my surprise, no 5G connections. So again, went through troubleshooting with them. End result, I asked them to cancel the plan. 

So where I'm going with this, is there must be some sort of way to permanently unlock the 5G bands with this phone specifically (the s20 line).

ivs read that both the s20 plus and the s20 ultra suffer from this same issue. 

Id be all ears if you or anyone else has some sort of solution.

[gbranscombe1963]

It's a Verizon phone.