Unable to get 5g broadband.

[RAnderson143]

Hi there!

I've recently moved, and I'm a bit confused about something. My new place doesn't currently have fibre brodband (and seems to be capped at 40mbps over the copper connection), and I was looking at mobile brodband as an alternative.

The issue I'm having is my postcode isn't eligible for the 5g plan, even though my phone has a 5g connection and pulls between 240-570mbps depending on the time of day. I'm not sure if theirs an error on the coverage checker with the specific address as my neighbour (who stays directly above) seems to be able to get it, and yet I'm unable to. (I should have noted theirs a 5g tower outside the building about 300m up the street, with direct line view to one side of flat, the speeds above are from the non facing side).

Any advise would be appreciated, I know the 4g would be more than fast enough, just curios why I'm unable to get the 5g one.

[JonathanB · Accepted solution]

Hi @RAnderson143,

I'm sorry to hear that the checker isn't allowing you to sign up to 5G at the moment in your area. I appreciate you're likely looking for this in the short term, but you can register interest in 5G here. There's an option on the form to get updates about Home Broadband.

As @MZone said it's likely to either be a question of capacity, or benchmarking if it's a site that has only recently went live. You may also be prompted for 4G Broadband if 5G isn't currently available.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[MZone]

Think it’s down to capacity. Three doesn’t want the mast oversubscribed as it would slow it down for everyone.

We do some additional checks on the Home Broadband shop pages. As well as coverage, the system checks out additional network traffic factors, such as the number of existing customers in the area, any ongoing mast upgrades, and if we're seeing any signs of congestion or the network being at capacity.

If you're seeing this message in an area that has live 5G signal, it likely means we currently have as many broadband users as we can confidently support in the area, or we may still be benchmarking the 5G masts to ensure they can support the expected demand. The best advice we can give is to check back periodically, we're investing heavily in expanding 5G coverage and capacity so hopefully we'll be able to offer Home Broadband to you locally soon.