5G device not recognized as compatible

[tomatoman]

I have a 5g phone, that supports 5g bands 71 and 66, which Rogers also supports, but when i insert a Rogers 5G SIM card, there appears to be no 5G or VOLTE support. However, I have another non-Rogers SIM card and with it the phone supports 5G and VOLTE while it is roaming on the Rogers network.

This is clearly a false negative. In case this message makes it past moderation, I really would like the following IMEI recognized as compatible: 86xxxxxxxxxx27 (edited: keep personal info private)

Thanks,

Thomas

**Labels Updated**

[Datalink]

@tomatoman please delete the IMEI number ASAP, so that anyone reading your post can't use it for nefarious purposes.  If you can't delete the IMEI as the allowed editing time for posts has past, then the moderators (@CommunityHelps) should delete the IMEI.

For assistance with this, I suggest sending a message to the moderators to determine why your phone won't run 5G or Volte on Rogers network.  I suspect that it might be because the phone isn't a phone that was purchased from Rogers.  You can discuss that with the moderators.

@CommunityHelps is the group address for the moderators here on the Rogers Forum. When you're logged into the forum, follow this link to the @CommunityHelps page. On that page will be a link on the right hand side to Send a Message. Follow that link to the message composition page. The address will fill in automatically. Fill in the subject and details, including your account number and when the message is complete, hit Send Message at the bottom.

When you're logged into the forum, look for a number overlaying the envelope symbol at the upper right hand corner. That will indicate that there's an inbound message for you. Follow that envelope symbol as it serves as a link to the message inbox and outbox. From the response in the inbox you can then message back and forth as required. There will be an authentication procedure that you will have to complete in order to service any change requests for your account.

To send anyone else on the forum a message, including @CommunityHelps, hover your mouse over their user name and a popup will appear with a link to send a Private Message. Follow that Private Message link to the message composition page and as before the message addressee will fill in automatically. Fill in the subject and details and hit Send Message when you're ready to send the message.

[tomatoman]

No option to edit, so I cannot delete

[Datalink]

Ok, the moderators will have to delete it in the morning. 

Was the phone purchased from Rogers?

[LordDrakkon]

The issue is a lot more complicated than that. I have oersonally done lots of testing with devices from Canada, the US, UK, and Asia and SIM's from Canada. The US, and UK. Is Rogers not provisioning devices that are compatible with the Rogers network for VoLTE. Yes! However, their reason can somewhat be justified depending on the device and how compatible it actually is with the network.

That said. Pretty much all US devices are compatible with Rogers but some of them are not on the whitelist because Rogers does not want to support them. Are they VoLTE compatible? Yes! Do they support all of the necessary bands for a great experience? Yes! Is that their corporate right? I don't know. It's probably about as grey as an area as their term, "grey market device", is.

With your device specifically, you mention it supports n66 and n71. Those are just two of the 5G bands Rogers supports out of the handful that make up the network. These bands work on different frequencies that are usually chosen based on the area they are being deployed in. 71 is great for mountain areas and dense cities but not the fastest for data soeeds. 4/66 is a mid band combo frequency in North America that uses 1700/2100. In Europe and Asia. You get a decent amount of suburban coverage with decent speeds in ideal conditions with this combination. These bands are usually limited to one or the other, 1700 or 2100, making them not compatible on some devices.

What a lot of people don't realise, is that every band is not deployed everywhere. This means, because your device supports one or two 5G bands, there is a possibility that you might end up in an area with coverage that your device is not compatible with. There are alao what are known as anchor bands, like n78, which you didn't mention that your device supports. Ultimately, Rogers and any carrier wants you to have the best experience when using their service. When you go into an area where your device isn't compatible with the network and have no service, you will more than likely blame Rogers and not the device that doesn't support enough of the bands to work well on the network. In all fairness, this is the tough part when it comes to any carrier deciding what will and will not be provisioned. Personally and as a customer, I think any device that has all of the 4G and 5G bands that does support the Rogers implementation of VoLTE should be allowed to work on the network, regardless of what market the device is from. Where you draw the line though at devices that aren't fully compatible, is going to differ deoending on the person.

[tomatoman]

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation.
I made a small mistake in my original submission, namely that my phone supports bands 71, 66, and 41, amongst others; these are on the Rogers band list. Granted, Rogers also supports band 78.
The interesting comparison is with a phone Rogers wanted to sell me as compatible, but it supports only bands 66 and 71, VoLTE, and no 5G, so much less than my device.
Also, I activated two other devices, also not purchased from Rogers, so the BYOD rules are also a bit of a hit and miss.
It just feels wrong that a more compatible device is not supported, compared to the one sold by Rogers that is supported. Such a shame to throw away a device that doesn't match the rules.

[LordDrakkon · Accepted solution]

Don't throw them away. You could always sell them on Ebay so they go to someone in a market that doesn't have such ridiculous restrictions on the devices that are allowed to be provisioned. You could also hold on them to them in the hope that Rogers eventually changes their policies. If more customers leave for Videotron/Freedom that don't have these restrictions and they use Rogers for a lot of their coverage nationwide. I don't think I have ever encountered a band 41 site from Rogers. I know with Bell/Telus, those sites are in incredibly rural areas.