5G Bands supported

[ericahalfbee]

Aside from where 5G in general is indicated on the network coverage map, of the 5G bands, sub-six, mid-range, and millimetre-wave, which are Rogers supporting and where?

***Added Labels***

[RogersYasmine]

Hello @ericahalfbee,

Welcome to our Rogers Community Forums and thank you for your first post here. Hopefully, you've been keeping safe and doing well! 😃

We appreciate your interest in the Rogers 5G network! We’re starting to roll out Canada’s first 5G network in downtown Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal with plans to expand coverage in these cities, and to over 20 more cities, by the end of 2020. 

Feel free to check out this helpful 5G network page to learn more information on this enhancement and feel free to bookmark it for any future updates! 

RogersLaura

[expresspotato]

The page you linked to doesn't show which bands 5G is on. Anyone know?

[RogersMaude]

Good day @expresspotato,

Welcome to the Rogers Community and thanks for your post!

Last year, Rogers acquired a 20-year 600 MHz licenses to build national 5G network for Canadians. The company invested $1.71 per MHz/POP to acquire 52 of 64 of the 600 MHz spectrum licenses available to Rogers. This includes all available blocks in Southern and Northern Ontario, Northern Quebec, Atlantic Canada, Manitoba and all three territories. This spectrum will be combined with 3500 MHz and millimetre wave spectrum to create a global best-in-class 5G network across Canada.

The 600 MHz spectrum is a critical foundation to deploy 5G technology across Canada’s vast landscape. It carries wireless data across long distances and through dense urban buildings. This creates more consistent and higher quality coverage in both remote areas and smart cities. This coverage will benefit businesses across the country that rely on real-time data including farming, mining, manufacturing and transportation. 

Rogers is partnering with Ericsson and upgrading its infrastructure to 5G ready technology. The company’s national network is now ready to support 5G applications and through its partnership with the University of British Columbia, Rogers is building a real-world 5G hub that will be a testbed and blueprint for 5G innovation in Canada.

Hope this helps!

RogersMaude

[larman2002 · Accepted solution]

I was looking for this as well.

2,600 MHz IMT-E	n38	NR	5G	Active / Being Deployed[35]	NSA (non-standalone) mode
600 MHz DD	n71	NR	5G	Active / Being Deployed[41][35]	NSA (non-standalone) mode; in use with AWS-based frequencies (band n66) by means of Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS)[41]
1,700/2,100 MHz Extended AWS	n66	NR	5G	Active / Being Deployed[41]	NSA (non-standalone) mode; in use with DD-based frequencies (band n71) by means of Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS)[41]

[Wizard1]

Does anyone know whether or not your phone requires compatibility with One / All / 2 out of 3 bands (n38, n71, n66) inorder to utilize 5G? Im contemplating purchasing an Asian 5G phone. Thanks

[RogersYasmine]

Hello @Wizard1!

We appreciate you being a part of our community forums, great first post! 🙂

As with prior networks, you should only require one band to use the 5G network.

With regards to using a foreign device, we always recommend that you check with your device manufacturer to make sure your device is certified for use on our network.

Keep in mind, to access our 5G network you’ll need a Rogers Infinite plan . You’ll be able to access 5G at no extra charge. Also you’ll need to be in an area with 5G coverage.

Please feel free to click here to learn more about 5G on the Rogers network and don't forget to check out our FAQs! 

RogersLaura

[MichaelYYZ]

Here is an excerpt from an article in The Globe and Mail on 16 December 2020:

“Rogers Communications Inc. is launching standalone 5G wireless networks in Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and Toronto.

The rollout makes the company the first of the large Canadian telecoms to introduce the standalone service.

Initial deployments of fifth-generation wireless service have relied on installing 5G-capable radios on top of existing 4G network backbones. Canada’s large wireless carriers – Rogers, Telus Corp. and BCE Inc.’s Bell Canada – all used this approach to launch early iterations of 5G service this year.

To reap the full benefits of the new generation of wireless technology – including much faster upload and download speeds, a significant reduction in lag time and the ability to power smart cities and driverless cars – telecom providers will need to build new, standalone 5G core networks. (The core can be considered the brain of a telecom network.)

The standalone 5G networks Rogers launched on Wednesday were built with gear from Swedish supplier Ericsson. However, wireless customers won’t see improvements to their service until the next generation of 5G-capable devices arrives; the 5G smartphones currently available in Canada, including the latest version of Apple’s iPhone, are only compatible with non-standalone 5G service and 4G networks.”

Why are the current 5G smartphones not compatible? Are even the Apple iPhone 12 series of smartphones not compatible? What frequency bands does Rogers specifically use for the standalone 5G networks?

[RogersYasmine]

Hey @MichaelYYZ!

We appreciate the post and hope you are doing well! 🙂

You should be able to find all of your answers in this thread. You may also check out our helpful FAQs as per post #2 of this thread, for further info and updates!

Kind regards,

RogersLaura

[MichaelYYZ]

@RogersYasmine

Thanks, but sadly there is no mention about the standalone frequency bands above or in the FAQs and why the iPhone 12 series are not compatible with the standalone networks build by Rogers, according to the quote from the article in The Globe and Mail. 

Hopefully, someone could provide an explanation...

[ericahalfbee]

Thank you, all, for your help in rooting out this information.

So with your help, copious surfing, and Wikipedia:

5G NR frequency bands - Wikipedia

List of 5G NR networks - Wikipedia

The uber-fast 5G FR2 or mmWave is not available yet anywhere in Canada. Only in the US. As of today, Rogers is the only 5G player in Ottawa (where I am).

The Apple iPhone 12 that IS capable of the faster 5G FR2 is only sold in the US. You can physically tell by an extra door outline on the right side of the US iPhone 12 that isn't on any iPhone 12 sold in Canada. If you look at the opening animation at Apple.com vs the same on Apple.ca you can clearly see it.

The vendor makes the phone to the specs of the carrier for their networks, for their country.

For me, the Samsung Note 20 Ultra sold by Rogers, is hard wired for the sub6  5G FR1 bands n41,n66,n71 only.

[MichaelYYZ]

@ericahalfbee 

Thanks. This is very useful information. It still does not answer my question, though.

In a nutshell, the question is why is the current iPhone 12 series not compatible with the new Rogers standalone networks? This is not about FR2 or the 3500 Mhz band, for which Rogers does not have licenses yet. The government auction for 3500 MHz is to be held in 2021. So Rogers cannot install anything yet. Currently Rogers has n41 and n71, whereas Bell/Telus have n66.

My understanding is that a non-standalone network also uses 4G infrastructure jointly with 5G, whereas a standalone network uses solely 5G infrastructure. But I suppose they should use the same frequency bands, and only the backbone network may be configured differently.

For information, the Canada version for the iPhone 12 Pro Max (A2410) is compatible with 5G NR bands n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n25, n28, n38, n40, n41, n66, n71, n77, n78, and n79. It is not compatible with 5G NR mmWave bands n260 and n261. For the time being, the latter two bands are available in the US only.

[Wizard1]

Hello, I was about to purchase an One Plus Nord N10 5G phone which supports, N66/N71, however they mention that this phone will not work on the Rogers 5G network because it is not "approved".

Is there plans to allow/approve non Samsung / Apple phones to work on 5G? I'm not made of money and can't just drop $1K when there's cost effective phones like the N10 Nord which costs under $400

Why can't you allow phones that support the proper bands to work on the network? Like how it works with 4G Phones?

[Asus1]

Is Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Dual Sim Latin America Variant/US Compatible with Rogers 5G?:

Can anyone tell me if the Samsung galaxy s21 ultra dual sim Latin America Variant/US LTE + 5G (SM-G998BD) work on Rogers 5G Network.  Specs below.  Thanks. 

Performance
Operating System Android 11
Memory 12 GB
Chipset Samsung Exynos2100
CPU

2.9 GHz Cortex X1 Single-Core
2.8 GHz Cortex A78 Triple-Core
2.2 GHz Cortex A55 Quad-Core
GPU Mali-G78 MP14
Storage 256 GB
Display
Size 6.8"
Native Resolution 3200 x 1440
Refresh Rate 120 Hz (at QHD+ Resolution)
Aspect Ratio 20:9
Pixel Density 515 ppi
Panel Type OLED
Screen Coating Gorilla Glass Victus
Input/Output Connectors
Ports 1 x USB Type-C (USB 3.1 / USB 3.2 Gen 1)
Speaker 2
Media/Memory Card Slot None
SIM Card Slots 1 x Nano SIM 1 x Nano

Communication

GSM 2G GSM, GPRS, EDGE: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
GSM 3G/3.5G UMTS, HSPA+: 850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz
4G LTE LTE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 48, 66, 71 Bands 5G NR n2, n5, n25, n41, n66, n71 Bands
Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.2 + LE
NFC Yes
GPS Yes
ANT+ Support Yes
FM Radio Yes

[taghati]

Rogers doesn't provide N38 according to its own list of 5G bands: https://www.rogers.com/customer/support/article/unlocked-devices

I chatted with a Rogers tech rep about this and I asked why N38 is listed on all media sources (i.e. Rogers Wiki, Kimovil, etc.) except the Rogers website and which list of 5G bands is the true and latest list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Wireless lists N38
https://www.kimovil.com/en/frequency-checker/CA

Anyways, the Rogers tech rep was was pretty rude and only gave me one worded answers, like "no" and just linked me to the Rogers link that I initially sent her.

Not sure what to make of it and nobody has given me a straight answer yet so I'm stalled on buying a new 5G capable phone. Is it N41, N66, N71 along with N38 or is it really just the first three?

[bsnider001]

I cannot find anything on the first link you posted regarding 5G NR bands being used (they might have updated the page since to remove that info). That's unfortunate.

That said, I checked a Canadian cell tower map website (https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html) and a lot of Rogers cell tower sites I checked on said map were showing 2,600 MHz in use, which is 5G NR band n38 according to this website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5G_NR_frequency_bands

I also found an Canadian auction result that had 2,500 MHz spectrum blocks up for auction, but Rogers withdrew from that specific auction: https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf11390.html

[A-Raynr]

I suspect that Rogers has not completed it's rollout/setup of the n38 or n41 5G bands, as I recently bought the Global version of the Sony Xperia 1 III (512GB model XQ-BC72) - which only has the n38, n41, and n77 5G bands, and not the n66 or even n71 bands used by most of NA - and I cannot get 5G connectivity with my rogers 5G Infinite data plan on this new phone.

I even went to the Rogers store in the Skydome to test it out (I live in the area), but the tech couldn't get my phone to connect to the 5G network, even when testing with his SIM card in my phone, and his SIM card has 5G on the new iPhone.

I also noticed on the Canadian cell tower map website (https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html) , that both Bell and Rogers towers say they broadcast on 2600 MHz, despite Bell not having n38 either.
After checking Bell's coverage data on Wikipedia - Bell Mobility 5GNR MAP , the 2600MHz broadcast is for their 4G network band of B7, which Rogers also broadcasts on.

TLDR: I don't think Rogers has started broadcasting in the 5G frequency range of 2500-2600 MHz in Toronto yet, despite owning the spectrum blocks for it.

[vanguy604]

Does anybody know what is required to access 5G SA network?  My phone keeps getting rejected on SA with "N1 mode not allowed."  5G NSA works fine.  Phone supports n71 SA on T-Mobile USA just fine.  Is there some device IMEI whitelist or account/SIM requirements for 5G SA?

[A-Raynr]

If you're worried it's your SIM, you can goto a Rogers store, and the techs there have 5G SIM cards that they can test  your phone with.  If their SIM cards don't work, you'll know it's a problem with your Phone model or how it's setup, instead of your SIM at least.

That's what I did to find out that my phone model can only receive the 5G freqency on n38 and n77, not n71.

[dlouisseize]

For anyone who is wondering as of today (12/14), my Z Fold 3 (global version) can now connect to the following Rogers 5G NR bands below. I live right by the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto and depending on where I am inside my condo, I will get connected to the following:

• 5G NR Band N77 (3700)  (60mhz) when connected to LTE Band 2 (1900) (20mhz) - When I am in my living room
• 5G NR Band N66 (2100)  (5mhz) when connected to LTE Band 12 (700) (10mhz) - When I am in my office, away from windows.
• 5G NR Band N78 (3500) (60mhz) when connected to LTE Band 5 (850) (5mhz) - this one just appeared on 12/14 after I noticed crews working on some of the equipment this morning. However, when 5G goes in standby, it moves me back to LTE Band 2 until my phone needs to use data.

I have not seen any 5G on 600mhz as of yet (N71) in my area but a quick look at a cell tower map shows that I am not close to one of those towers that serves 600mhz yet, and there are stronger/closer bands available.

Hope this helps!

[dlouisseize]

Quick update: I noticed after taking a walk earlier today that my Z fold 3 can also connect to the following LTE+ NR combination, probably as a result of network upgrades.

5G NR Band N78 (3500) (60mhz) when connected to LTE Band 7 (2600) (20mhz) - although my phone used to connect more often to LTE band 7 before 5G I noticed the signal is quite lower now and the phone prefers 5G NR N78 with LTE band 5 (850) as reported earlier.

Also I noticed my phone can see N71 (600mhz) using a network detector app but it won't connect to it. It just recognizes it as a neighbouring cell.