Unlocked S20 and T-Mobile 5G Issue

[Marty1781]

Hi everyone! I have an unlocked S20 (purchased directly from Samsung) and am using it with T-Mobile in a solid 5G area (DC metro area). For whatever reason, the phone will not utilize the 5G network. My friend who has a T-Mobile S20 can be sitting right next to me and his phone will show 5G. I have also been to my local T-Mobile store where I know they have 5G there and my phone will still only show LTE or LTE+.

I have somewhat narrowed down the issue. If I go into Settings, Connections, Mobile Networks, Network Mode, there is suppose to be an option for "5G/LTE/3G/2G (auto connect)." However, my phone only has options for "LTE/3G/2G (auto connect)," "LTE/3G (auto connect)," "2G only" as options. The S20 at the T-Mobile store has the 5G option from above, but again, my unlocked S20 does not.

When I talk to T-Mobile tech support, they say their system recognizes my phone as "5G capable" but that its in a "pending" state for 5G.

Some of the troubleshooting steps I have taken include:

- Swapping out my SIM for a new SIM at the T-Mobile store
- Creating new APNs with the settings T-Mobile recommends for the S20 (https://www.t-mobile.com/support/tu...nd-data-settings/device/samsung/galaxy-s20-5g) and the S20 Ultra (https://www.t-mobile.com/support/de...-and-volte-samsung-galaxy-s20-ultra-5g#steps3) and neither of those work as far as getting my phone onto 5G
- Having T-Mobile tech support send out a "refresh signal" to my phone
- Confirming with the T-Mobile Tech Support and Customer Service that my account is properly setup for 5G and that no additional code or marker is needed to enable 5G on my account.
- Doing a factory reset and doing just a "Reset network settings"

Does anyone have an unlocked S20 that they are using on T-Mobile 5G? Trying to figure out if maybe my phone phone has an issue or if it's an issue with all unlocked S20s and T-Mobile 5G.

Any other recommendations for troubleshooting steps to try and get 5G enabled on my unlocked S20 are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[msm0511]

Could just take some time for 5G to enable. Also, are you on one of the older plans or the newer Magenta plans (or whatever they're called)?

 

[jdfry15]

I have an unlocked ultra on T-Mobile. It is connecting to 5g with no issues. I'm also on an old plan.

 

[Marty1781]

Could just take some time for 5G to enable. Also, are you on one of the older plans or the newer Magenta plans (or whatever they're called)?

Thanks for the response! Tech support said it could take "2-6 hours" to provision. With my original SIM, I waited over 24 hours and 5G never enabled. With the new SIM, it's been 15 hours and still on LTE. I'm on the "T-Mobile One" plan according to my account page.

 

[daswooski]

Hi everyone! I have an unlocked S20 (purchased directly from Samsung) and am using it with T-Mobile in a solid 5G area (DC metro area). For whatever reason, the phone will not utilize the 5G network. My friend who has a T-Mobile S20 can be sitting right next to me and his phone will show 5G. I have also been to my local T-Mobile store where I know they have 5G there and my phone will still only show LTE or LTE+.

I have somewhat narrowed down the issue. If I go into Settings, Connections, Mobile Networks, Network Mode, there is suppose to be an option for "5G/LTE/3G/2G (auto connect)." However, my phone only has options for "LTE/3G/2G (auto connect)," "LTE/3G (auto connect)," "2G only" as options. The S20 at the T-Mobile store has the 5G option from above, but again, my unlocked S20 does not.

When I talk to T-Mobile tech support, they say their system recognizes my phone as "5G capable" but that its in a "pending" state for 5G.

Some of the troubleshooting steps I have taken include:

- Swapping out my SIM for a new SIM at the T-Mobile store
- Creating new APNs with the settings T-Mobile recommends for the S20 (https://www.t-mobile.com/support/tu...nd-data-settings/device/samsung/galaxy-s20-5g) and the S20 Ultra (https://www.t-mobile.com/support/de...-and-volte-samsung-galaxy-s20-ultra-5g#steps3) and neither of those work as far as getting my phone onto 5G
- Having T-Mobile tech support send out a "refresh signal" to my phone
- Confirming with the T-Mobile Tech Support and Customer Service that my account is properly setup for 5G and that no additional code or marker is needed to enable 5G on my account.
- Doing a factory reset

Does anyone have an unlocked S20 that they are using on T-Mobile 5G? Trying to figure out if maybe my phone phone has an issue or if it's an issue with all unlocked S20s and T-Mobile 5G.

Any other recommendations for troubleshooting steps to try and get 5G enabled on my unlocked S20 are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hey, I have the Unlocked S20 on a Tmo Prepaid plan. When I first tried to make sure I could get their 5G I tried to go to Settings- Mobile - etc and like you the choice was not visible to choose 5G,LTE,3G,2G etc..
Then after leaving my home to run to the store... I looked again and the choice was there! I changed it and still no 5G...until the next morning. I went to a place about 5 miles from my home and it was picking up 5G on the 600 MHz frequency and the 2100 MHz
See screenshot:. (the app still says LTE but the Status Bar shows 5G)

 

[Marty1781]

I have an unlocked ultra on T-Mobile. It is connecting to 5g with no issues. I'm also on an old plan.

Thanks! Interesting. One thing I noticed is that T-Mobile's recommended APN settings are different for the S20 vs the S20 Ultra. So I'm wondering if the fact that they need different APN settings might indicate the phones are different enough to assume that my issue may be unique to the S20.

 

[msm0511]

Thanks for the response! Tech support said it could take "2-6 hours" to provision. With my original SIM, I waited over 24 hours and 5G never enabled. With the new SIM, it's been 15 hours and still on LTE. I'm on the "T-Mobile One" plan according to my account page.

I'd hit up TMo Help on Twitter and make sure the One plans are 5G capable. The phone reps may not know. You might need to change to a Magenta plan.

 

[Marty1781]

Hey, I have the Unlocked S20 on a Tmo Prepaid plan. When I first tried to make sure I could get their 5G I tried to go to Settings- Mobile - etc and like you the choice was not visible to choose 5G,LTE,3G,2G etc..
Then after leaving my home to run to the store... I looked again and the choice was there! I changed it and still no 5G...until the next morning. I went to a place about 5 miles from my home and it was picking up 5G on the 600 MHz frequency and the 2100 MHz
See screenshot:. (the app still says LTE but the Status Bar shows 5G)

Thanks for the information! Would you by any chance be able to take a screen shot of your APN settings and post them? There is the default APN settings, T-Mobile's S20 settings, and T-Mobile's S20 Ultra settings, all of which are different and not sure which one I should be using. Normally I'd say the T-Mobile S20 settings but with all the issues I'm having, just not sure. Thanks!

 

[msm0511]

Thanks for the information! Would you by any chance be able to take a screen shot of your APN settings and post them? There is the default APN settings, T-Mobile's S20 settings, and T-Mobile's S20 Ultra settings, all of which are different and not sure which one I should be using. Normally I'd say the T-Mobile S20 settings but with all the issues I'm having, just not sure. Thanks!

I'd say they're probably different between the standard S20 and the Ultra b/c the S20 isn't capable of mmwave.

 

[Marty1781]

I'd say they're probably different between the standard S20 and the Ultra b/c the S20 isn't capable of mmwave.

Agreed! If anyone has an unlocked S20 that is currently on T-Mobile 5G, would very much appreciate a posting of your APN settings. Thanks!

 

[msm0511]

Agreed! If anyone has an unlocked S20 that is currently on T-Mobile 5G, would very much appreciate a posting of your APN settings. Thanks!

I would really suggest reaching out to TMo Help on Twitter. They are much more knowledgable and helpful than phone reps.

 

[Marty1781]

I would really suggest reaching out to TMo Help on Twitter. They are much more knowledgable and helpful than phone reps.

Thanks for the suggestion! Will do! Any other troubleshooting tips, APN settings, etc are greatly appreciated.

 

[msm0511]

Thanks for the suggestion! Will do! Any other troubleshooting tips, APN settings, etc are greatly appreciated.

I've got the Note 10+ (non 5G) so any APN settings I have wouldn't do you any good. I do know that it took a couple weeks for my unlocked Note 10+ to pick up better signal and faster speeds on T-Mobile. I never actually reached out to TMo, but one day I woke up, and my phone was getting much faster speeds and a better signal just like that. No idea what they did though. I assumed it either took a while to get my phone properly provisioned, or more likely 600mhz went live in my area.

 

[daswooski]

APN Settings on UNLOCKED S20+ with T-Mobile picking up 5G...pls hit Like button if this helps

 

[nuangel2]

APN Settings on UNLOCKED S20+ with T-Mobile picking up 5G...pls hit Like button if this helps

thanks this helped

 

[atliens]

whew I'm in DC too and I was going to get the s20+ this week...I hope I don't have these issues

 

[Marty1781]

Quick update on my 5G issues. As suggested, I contacted T-Mobile through Twitter and the rep was both quite helpful and knowledgeable, bu ultimately still could not resolve. She did say though that their system is showing my phone as fully provisioned for 5G so still not sure what the issue is. She created a ticket for the engineers so hopefully they will be able to resolve. And while it shouldn't make a difference, just to note, my phone is the unlocked S20 (vs the S20+ settings which I'm very thankful/grateful were posted earlier).

 

[daswooski]

Quick update on my 5G issues. As suggested, I contacted T-Mobile through Twitter and the rep was both quite helpful and knowledgeable, bu ultimately still could not resolve. She did say though that their system is showing my phone as fully provisioned for 5G so still not sure what the issue is. She created a ticket for the engineers so hopefully they will be able to resolve. And while it shouldn't make a difference, just to note, my phone is the unlocked S20 (vs the S20+ settings which I'm very thankful/grateful were posted earlier).

Just making sure but your Roaming is ON and you have confirmed the correct option for 5G is Chosen like the attached screenshot?

 

[Marty1781]

Just making sure but your Roaming is ON and you have confirmed the correct option for 5G is Chosen like the attached screenshot?

Yup. That's actually the problem. I don't have that option for 5G in "Network Mode." I only have the LTE/3G/2G options.

 

[Marty1781]

Just wanted to provide an update that I got the issue resolved. Short answer: A SIM sticker I had on my previous SIM from "Know Roaming" (which basically allows you to have two SIMs without physically swapping SIMs...great for international travel) was the culprit. But it's actually a bit more complicated than that.

Long answer:

• I moved the SIM from my S10 to my S20 and everything worked fine with T-Mobile (my carrier) except for 5G. Calls, texts, LTE, no problem.
• The SIM still had the "Know Roaming" (KR) SIM sticker attached. With that sticker attached, an app gets auto installed called "SIM tools" that let's you switch between my home SIM (T-Mobile) and the KR SIM. Switching between the two SIMs requires a device reboot.
• When I inserted the SIM with the KR sticker into the S20, I never selected "home SIM" form the "SIM Tools" app. Everything seemed to be working fine (minus 5G) so it just never occured to me that I needed to select "home SIM." I had also forgotten that I had the KR sticker attached to the SIM card.
• Thinking the issue might be that my SIM card was old or malfunctioning, I had T-Mobile swap out the SIM card for a new one. The store rep remarked he had never seen a SIM card with a back that looked mine (due to the SIM sticker) and speculated that may have been the problem (that was the lightbulb that reminded me that I had the KR sticker attached to the SIM card). So the store rep put in the new SIM card and gave me back my old SIM (with the KR sticker still on it). I almost threw the old SIM away but thankfully did not (more on this later).
• But after putting in the new SIM and waiting 24 hours, still no 5G. So while I initially thought the sticker might have been the culprit, the fact that the new SIM didn't fix the no 5G issue made me think otherwise.
• So after troubleshooting with the very responsive and knowledgeable T-Mobile reps through Twitter, I still couldn't get the issue resolved and was ready to pull my hair out.
• On a whim, I decided to pop my old SIM (with the KR sticker still attached) into the S20. Went into the "SIM tools" app and told it to use my "home SIM." Being that this SIM was now inactive, nothing really changed. Rebooted the phone. Still no change.
• I then went back into the "SIM tools" app and told it to use the KR SIM. Phone rebooted.
• Now with the phone on the KR SIM, went back into the SIM tools app and told it to use the home (T-Mobile) SIM.
• After the phone rebooted, to my surprise, even through the phone wasn't connected to T-Mobile's data network, I saw the option for "5G/LTE/3G/2G" in the "Mobile Networks" page under Connection Settings. As I had detailed in my initial post, this was the option that had been missing and had presumably been keeping me from accessing 5G.
• I powered down the phone, popped in my active T-Mobile SIM (without the KR SIM sticker), and sure enough, I immediately got 5G.

Seems what I needed to initially do when I had my previous SIM with the KR sticker attached to it was to select my home SIM, toggle to the KR SIM, then toggle back to my home SIM. I am still perplexed that replacing the SIM did not fix the issue and that it took me putting in my old SIM and toggling between the home and KR SIMs to access 5G. As I mentioned previously, good thing I did not throw away the deactivated SIM card with the KR sticker attached to it. Otherwise, I might have never been able to access 5G with my S20.