Standalone 5g on Samsung Galaxy S25

[Johnof]

Hi

I've just put my full works sim (it's a new sim, plan started a month ago) in my new Galaxy s25 and tried to activate 5g standalone. However there is no option to select this in settings, the only options are 5g Preferred or 4g Preferred. Coverage checker says I'm in a 5g standalone area.

I messaged with an advisor at EE who reset some network settings and asked me to restart the phone but that didn't work. He asked me to call 150 and the advisors there would help, but they said I had to call Samsung, that can't be right surely? It has to be a network settings issue doesn't it? A quick search of the Samsung forums shows Samsung saying it's a network/ carrier issue.

Can anyone help or suggest a way forward? 

Thanks

[bristolian]

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@Johnof wrote:

I messaged with an advisor at EE who reset some network settings and asked me to restart the phone but that didn't work. He asked me to call 150 and the advisors there would help, but they said I had to call Samsung, that can't be right surely? It has to be a network settings issue doesn't it?

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There's 2 parts to this.

5GSA & VoNR are inextricably linked, and do require a SIM issued since approx 2021, which is indeed an account-setting

Was your device sourced via EE-direct, or via the SIM-free route? And if the SIM-free route, is it running EE (EVR) firmware or generic (BTU/EUX) firmware. The latter would be a good basis for referring you to Samsung.

[Northerner]

Hi @Johnof 

There is no option as it is automatically activated under 5G, however when connected to EE  mobile network (turn WiFi off) 

Settings - about phone - status information - SIM card status it will say NR SA under mobile voice and mobile data if the service is available.

Thanks 

[Johnof]

Thanks for the reply

I bought it sim free from Samsung so I assume it would be the generic firmware, although I don't know how to check that.

I'll try to get an answer from Samsung directly, would you know what I'd be asking them to do exactly? Update the firmware so that it's 5g SA enabled or something similar?

[Johnof]

Hi, thanks

Yes, I can see those settings both say NR SA, so does that means the phone is ready to use 5g SA then?

[bristolian]

FYI you have a short time after posting to edit, negating the need for multiple responses.

NR-SA is 5G-SA which EE market as 5G+, which supports VoNR

The software version is shown under Settings > About phone > software information > Service provider software, or similar. The BTU/EUX/EVR string will be in there somewhere.

Some operator-specific config does perform better on the specific builds, meaning EVR for EE-UK

[Matt_124]

If you pull down your Notification Shade from the top of the screen, or your Quick Panel from the top right corner, you will usually see Vo5G (aka 5G Calling) in the top corner when connected to 5G-SA as opposed to the usual VoLTE (aka 4G Calling) you would see on a 4G or 5G-NSA connection.

This is a simpler and faster method than the Status Information.