Walk into any crowded place and you will notice — half the people around you already have 5G on their phones. Meanwhile yours is stuck showing LTE or H+. The weird part is that a lot of those phones were bought around the same time yours was. So what is going on?
Turns out, having 5G capability and actually using 5G are two different things. Plenty of phones ship with 5G switched off by default. Some need a carrier tweak. A few need nothing more than a settings change that takes under a minute. This guide goes through all of it — straight to the point, no technical overload.
First — Does Your Phone Support 5G?
Before changing any settings, you need to know whether your phone actually has a 5G modem inside. Not every phone does — and no setting in the world will add 5G hardware that was never there to begin with.
Here is how to check:
Method 1 — Enable 5G from Network Settings
Most people never check this setting. Manufacturers often ship phones with 5G set to Auto or even disabled — partly to extend battery life, partly because the network was not ready in all areas when the phone launched. Flipping it on yourself takes about thirty seconds and costs nothing.
For Samsung Phones:
For Xiaomi / Redmi Phones:
For iPhone (iOS):
Method 2 — Use the Secret Dialer Code
Deep inside Android is a testing panel that most users never see. It gives direct access to modem settings — including the ability to manually set which network generation your phone connects to. Getting in is easier than it sounds.
Method 3 — Update Your APN Settings
Your phone talks to cell towers through something called an APN — Access Point Name. Think of it as a gateway configuration. When this is set up wrong or left on an old template, your phone may stay locked on 4G even when a 5G tower is right nearby. Updating it takes two minutes.
Jio 5G APN Settings:
- Name: Jio 5G
- APN: jionet
- Protocol: IPv4/IPv6
- Bearer: NR, LTE
Airtel 5G APN Settings:
- Name: Airtel 5G
- APN: airtelgprs.com
- Protocol: IPv4/IPv6
- Bearer: NR, LTE
Method 4 — Update Your Phone Software
Network operators push 5G activation patches through regular software updates — and a lot of people skip these or delay them for months. If your phone is sitting on an outdated build, there is a real chance a pending update is sitting there with 5G support already baked in.
Method 5 — Contact Your Carrier
Not all 5G activation happens on the device. Sometimes the switch needs to be flipped on the carrier's end — and your SIM plan may simply not have 5G toggled on yet. Jio and Airtel have rolled out 5G across dozens of Indian cities, but the account level settings do not always update automatically.
- Call your carrier's helpline and ask them to activate 5G on your number
- Make sure your SIM is not too old — SIMs older than 5 years may not support 5G bands
- Consider getting a SIM replacement at your carrier's store — it is usually free
What If My Phone Does Not Have 5G Hardware?
If your phone genuinely does not have a 5G modem — which is the case for most phones launched before 2021 — no setting change will add that capability. The modem is a physical chip inside the phone.
In that case, the honest answer is that an upgrade is the only real path to 5G. Budget 5G phones in India and Pakistan now start under Rs. 12,000 — and the speed difference in 5G coverage areas is genuinely noticeable.
That said, a well-optimised 4G connection can still hit 50-80 Mbps in good coverage areas — which is more than enough for video streaming, gaming, and everything else most people use their phones for daily.
Quick Tips to Maximise Your Current Speed
- ✅ Toggle Airplane mode on and off — forces your phone to reconnect to the nearest tower
- ✅ Clear background apps — they consume bandwidth silently
- ✅ Keep your phone updated — software updates improve modem performance
- ✅ Move to an open area — walls and buildings block signals significantly
- ✅ Check if your carrier has VoLTE enabled — it improves both call and data quality
