Forum Discussion
No 5G
Just got my sim and everything transferred from Three on the 26th. I had 5G working fine on my iPhone 12 Pro Max and Pixel 5 with Three, but it's not working on Smarty. I've tried APN settings and resetting my phones, nothing has worked. So I put in another Three sim I have laying around and I get 5G still on both phones.
I'm not sure what to do other than moving network? I thought Smarty used Three's network?
Hey Scaramoosh
Although SMARTY uses Three's network, we are different providers and offer different coverage levels for certain devices. Please check our coverage checker to see if 5G is available in your area - Coverage checker | SMARTY
We also have a 5G compatibility list which shows all the devices that can use 5G, please see here - Which devices are compatible with 5G? | SMARTY Help Centre
I hope this helps! 😊
5 Replies
Yeh I'll have to switch again
Hey Scaramoosh
Although SMARTY uses Three's network, we are different providers and offer different coverage levels for certain devices. Please check our coverage checker to see if 5G is available in your area - Coverage checker | SMARTY
We also have a 5G compatibility list which shows all the devices that can use 5G, please see here - Which devices are compatible with 5G? | SMARTY Help Centre
I hope this helps! 😊
And as proof, my phone in the exact same location and orientation.
I walked right next to a 5G tower and got it on my 12 Pro Max and not my Pixel 5. However I get it on neither where I got it on both phones at home with Three..... So something is off with this network. I'm going to guess they may use Three, but they do not have access to the whole of their equipment.
That would indicate IMO the same device is picking up different radio frequencies/bands across the 2 SIMs you're using - which would make sense since it's not always the case that a network piggybacking off the host network would have access to the full infrastructure. And if Smarty is a 'Light MVNO' then they simply get access to the capacity/bandwidth/antennas that they have negotiated since it is less of a burden for them to manage full network operations. Just a thought.
You definitely have 5G selected as the 'network type' on your device I'm assuming?
Bear in mind certain phones will auto switch to the network type that they `feel` offers fastest connectivity/ stronger signal, in other words they 'avoid using 5G unless its really required for what you are doing' to save battery etc. On Pixel phones I've seen this as 'Adaptive Connectivity' or 'Smart 5G' on other Androids. That might affect when and where you get 5G.
