5G Ultra

[chistery]

Has anyone managed to actually try it yet? I can't imagine there's many new and upgrading customers using an older Samsung phone but be interesting to see some comments and speeds from the user that has managed to get it!

https://www.vodafone.co.uk/network/5g 

My postcode has 5G Ultra, but I have an S23 Ultra and I won't be upgrading for a while.

[garetc]

Hi @Tacs2LTE 

I have a Samsung so am able to lock it to SA or NSA. Back and forth with CS was not productive, they told me it was still ‘processing’ 

In the end I went to a store, switched from eSIM to a physical one. Not sure if it was that or the SIM swap re-provisioned services on the line but it’s working now! 🥳

[JAMESORCHARD]

Hi was there any improvement if any? Cheers 

[garetc]

I’m in an ‘Ultra’ area and I’ve not seen great improvement, speeds are generally slower and the ping is marginally better. Generally NSA performs better in terms of speed at the moment.

The only place I saw a significant different is at Birmingham New Street yesterday when I was visiting. NSA was swamped and where as SA was speedy and low latency. 

[JAMESORCHARD]

Thanks for the reply 👍 sounds like it's not what it's hyped up to be.

[garetc]

It’s early days yet but I agree it’s a bit hyped up.

Hopefully/maybe when 3G spectrum starts to be reused on 4G/5G they could shift more spectrum over to SA or when all handsets are able to access SA they’ll do away with NSA completely. 

[SbVod]

I think I have got it.

I got a new vodafone contract sim just before Christmas and was using it in a Sony Xperia 10 1V 5G at home in Portsmouth getting 40-95mbps from random speedtests at different times of the day.

Last week I became aware of 5G Ultra for the first time. I was disappointed to see that Sony was not on the compatible handset list but I was apparently in the 5G ultra coverage area.

I swapped my sim into a Samsung A54 5G and now I get 156-361mbps at various times at the same location.

The A54 only ever shows 5G and signal strength in the status bar. 

I put the sim back in the Sony and was again getting the slower speeds.

I have also read online somewhere that the Samsung A53 also supports SA.

[garetc]

On a Samsung if you go to Settings, About, Status information, SIM card status, it'll tell you if you're connected to 'Ultra' (NR SA)

[SbVod]

garetc

Thanks for the info about the sim status in settings.

I have just done a speedtest and got 423mbps down and 75.5 up on Band 7 (LTE discovery).

5G was indicated on the status bar. This is the sim status from settings.

I then swapped my sim back into my Sony 10 1V 5G and got 104 down and 15.3 up.

Am I getting SA, or a version of it, on the A54?

If not, why is the A54 so much faster?

My A54 5G (256gb) was purchased Dec 23 from Carphone Warehouse so should be a UK phone and not an international version.

 

 

[SbVod]

Edit..Just noticed on my last attachment it does show 5G NR SA N77?

[SbVod]

Continued. 

I put my Vodafone SIM back into my Sony Xperia 10 1V last night and it did an a software update as soon as I turned it on.

I can now see 5G NR SA N77 in LTE Discovery on the Sony.

 I did a speed test this morning and the Sony now achieved 269 down (last best was 104).

The SIM status in settings indicated I was connected to 4G for voice and 5G NR NSA for data. (It wouldn't let me screenshot the SIM status page)

As the download speed has now more than doubled I suspect I am now getting 5G SA. It's not as fast as the Samsung A,54 5G and I suspect this might be down to signal strength and the Sony antenna. LTE discovery screenshot shows that the Sony handset is detecting the 5G NR SA N77 signal with no bars of signal strength.

The Samsung A54 5G nor the Sony Xperia 10 1V 5G give me any indication I am connected to 5G Ultra/5G SA. The only indication you get is the big increase in download speed from a speed test.

I've got LTE Discovery (free from Google store) on both my phones.

At home LTED shows my phone's can connect to bands B1, B7, B8 and B20. It also detects the 5G NR SA band N77.

•  I suspect I only get the fast 5G NR SA speeds when I am connected to band B7.

It's worth getting LTED if your searching for the elusive 5G Ultra