5G Standalone question with Unlimited All Rounder for iPhone

[Fatboy71]

Hello guys.

I'm planning on going onto one of the Unlimited All Rounder for iPhone in the next month or so. I noticed that these plans off a feature called 5G Standalone in certain areas.

I noticed that to access 5G Standalone you need:

A compatible smartphone (which according to the list my 16 Pro Max is compatible). 
SIM cards activated after September 2021 are compatible, or any eSIM.

I've had my sim card since around 2017, and I was wondering when I move onto the Unlimited All Rounder for iPhone plan, will I get sent a new sim card, or is this information incorrect (about needing a sim card activated after September 2021) and in that case would I be able to continue using my current sim card?

Just wondering if someone could answer this for me please.

[bristolian · Accepted solution]

Your existing SIM will certainly allow you to access both 4G & 5G networks, but 5G may only be in NSA mode.

Standard CS troubleshooting can be followed if your phone has any service issues, checks can be made on your SIM as part of this. If necessary, a replacement SIM can be offered.

[Fatboy71]

Thanks for the help. 

So when I move onto the new plan and while using my old sim card. If I can enable the 5G Standalone switch in Settings/Mobile Service/Mobile Data Options, then that would mean no new sim card would be needed?

If on the other hand the 5G Standalone switch cannot be enabled, I would then need to contact customer service to get them to send me out a newer sim card?

[bristolian]

That's a reasonable summary.

[JBean0812]

Convert the sim to an eSIM using the settings app after you switch your plan. 5GSA worked for me this way. 

[Fatboy71]

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@JBean0812 wrote:

Convert the sim to an eSIM using the settings app after you switch your plan. 5GSA worked for me this way. 

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Thanks for the help. Yeah that's always an option. Call me old school but I prefer to have an physical sim card, mostly for when I change phones as I can just take the sim card out, pop it into my new phone and off it goes, without having to go through any process to set the eSIM up in the new phone. 

[Fatboy71]

Just to update:

I moved onto the Unlimited All Rounder For iPhone sim only plan a few days ago. My old sim card was too old and the 5G Stand Alone switch was greyed out so I contacted customer service and they sent me out a new sim card. I am now able to switch on the 5G Stand Alone switch. 

At this present time 5G Stand Alone isn't available in my area according to the 5G Stand Alone postcode checker, even thought NSA, SA show up in the capabilities section in the Field Test. 

I've also ran a test with the nPerf app, and that shows NSA in the technology section. So I'm assuming that 5G Stand is perhaps on the cell site but isn't up and running, perhaps testing ?