Why don't I see 5G in my phone's status bar?

Updated April 7, 2025

You won't always have access to 5G networks during your trip. To connect to 5G, your phone must support 5G and the country you're in must have coverage. Not every region has rolled out 5G yet, so in some destinations you may only get 4G or LTE.

If your device and the country support it, you can turn on 5G manually with these steps:

On iPhone:

  1. 01Open the Settings app.
  2. 02Tap Cellular.
  3. 03Select the Simlimites line.
  4. 04Tap Voice & Data.
  5. 05Choose 5G On.
  6. 06Wait a few seconds while your phone connects.

On Android:

  1. 01Go to Settings.
  2. 02Tap Connections.
  3. 03Go to Mobile networks.
  4. 04Tap Network mode (or Signal mode, depending on your model).
  5. 05Select the option that starts with 5G, such as 5G/LTE/3G/2G (auto connect).