In 5guw area, only get LTE

[SomeOregonDude]

My 2x Google pixel 9 pro XL and 15 pro max are stuck on LTE. 

According to the Verizon coverage map, I am in the 5G UW coverage area (97140). All of our phones only show LTE. 

I talked with a tech and he told me to get closer to the tower.  What I'm failing to understand is that if I'm in an area that Verizon's coverage map says I get 5G UW in and the tech is telling me to move to a different area..  Is my aforementioned area actually a coverage area?

What's even worse is I'm sitting here on two bars on LTE. So why am I being charged for 5G UW and in a UW coverage area but can only seem to get two bars of LTE? 

[SynthpopAddict · Accepted solution]

If you haven't gotten a new SIM or eSIM, would try that.  Also, your account may need to be reprovisioned so you are able to use all the available spectrum, because if you were on a legacy plan, the system could still be "stuck in the past" somehow.

I don't know how long your area has had 5G UW service, but if you were someplace which didn't have it before or used to live somewhere which didn't have it, your account might have only been set up for 4G access.  I've heard of this happening before where someone's devices barely worked because they had a plan which includes 5G UW, but their area didn't use to have it, and then when the network got upgraded, their devices would just "quit" until someone with tech support upgraded the customer's account accordingly.

[SynthpopAddict]

5G has a much more limited distance the radio waves can travel as compared to the older LTE technology.  If there are potential sources of interference (hills, lots of buildings, thick forests, lakes) or you happen to be at the wrong angle to the nearest tower, are all potential causes for you not getting 5G.  With you saying you've only got 2 bars currently and it's all of your devices, makes me think you're in a weak signal strength area for whatever reason.

What service plan do you have?

[SomeOregonDude]

The Plus plan. However, if you look up 97140, I'm in the red. The UW.

It's pretty flat where we are. No tall buildings, no forests,  suburbs basically, 6 pack townhomes. I can go outside and still not get a 5g signal.  

My issue is the coverage map. I reside in the UW area per Verizon, I'm miles away from the border of what Verizon claims is a UW coverage area... And I cannot accept that I exist in a coverage area if I have to move to another area to get coverage. That just does not make sense. Especially for LTE. 

If the UW tower has a 1500 range, and a 5g tower has a 1-3 mile range, the coverage map should reflect that since Verizon knows where their towers are. Simple lat long math prior to sending the data to the chart, any data eng can do it. 

Feel like this is false advertising, like I'm being lied to, and all the techs say.. you must be too far from the tower.. like.. wooooow. Change your map then. If the mapp was accurate, i wouldn't have switched my plan.

[vzw_customer_support]

We strive to provide reliable service, and we are concerned to learn that you are experiencing issues. To better assist, tell us a little more. What model is your device and is the software up to date? Do you have Home Internet service?

~Maria

[SynthpopAddict · Accepted solution]

If you haven't gotten a new SIM or eSIM, would try that.  Also, your account may need to be reprovisioned so you are able to use all the available spectrum, because if you were on a legacy plan, the system could still be "stuck in the past" somehow.

I don't know how long your area has had 5G UW service, but if you were someplace which didn't have it before or used to live somewhere which didn't have it, your account might have only been set up for 4G access.  I've heard of this happening before where someone's devices barely worked because they had a plan which includes 5G UW, but their area didn't use to have it, and then when the network got upgraded, their devices would just "quit" until someone with tech support upgraded the customer's account accordingly.

[Ann154 · Accepted solution]

The coverage map doesn't provide a nuanced level of signal strength. If you don't have a direct line of sight to a known antenna that is broadcasting the 5G network, multiple items can reduce the signal to unusable levels. Just like the fallback for the LTE network was the 3G CDMA network, the fallback for the 5G network is the LTE network.

I know personally I have seen my phone switch from 5G to LTE in the middle of a downtown city. Granted I was also located near the center of a glass and steel building several floors above the ground. That building was also surrounded by several other tall buildings of various heights and completion. I suspect even the building itself likely had internal repeaters to amplify the signal. Still, the signal will still fluctuate between the two network types.