[Update: Fix available] OnePlus 8T missing 5G network connectivity option issue troubling some users, company working to fix it

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on November 02, 2020) follows:

5G, the next generation of mobile connectivity is here with us. Several carriers across the globe have already started deploying these networks.

Not to be left behind, smartphone vendors are increasingly equipping their new devices with 5G antennae, effectively allowing them to reap the benefits that 5G has to offer.

The new iPhones and the new Google Pixel 5 both support this new mobile network standard and not to be left behind, OnePlus’ new OnePlus 8T also does.

Sadly, there seems to be an issue afflicting users of this OnePlus 8T surrounding 5G.

According to reports, despite owning the 5G device and being on a 5G supported carrier in a supported area, the option to toggle to 5G is unavailable.

A quick scroll through the forums and you will come across users reporting this issue to OnePlus. Here are some of the complaints we came across.

There is no 5G available on OnePlus 8T, even though there is >90% coverage and i have a 5G compatible subscription with my provider.
The Provider uses bands N1 and band 78, which are mentioned on your specifications page.
The Provider itself mentions that there are no restrictions for certain models.

Source

I’m in Australia and I’m with Telstra who has 5G in my area and I could connect with my Oppo but since changing to the OnePlus phone I can’t get 5G and the 4G isn’t the best either. The band’s being used by the towers around me are the ones said to work with my version of the phone.
Source

I am on saudi arabia, my service provider is STC , my sim support 5G , but doesn’t show on my phone 8t
Source

Luckily though, these users’ woes have been heard and a OnePlus staff member has confirmed that the developers are working on this issue.

We’ve made a note of it and our DEV team is currently working on this. We’ll keep you posted regarding any further updates.

Thanks & Regards,
Suhas.

It remains unclear why exactly this is happening and with no criteria to what devices are affected, there is no workaround, at least not yet.

We shall continue to monitor this situation and update as and when we get more info so you might want to stay tuned to updates at the bottom of this post.

We have more such issues listed in our OnePlus 8T bug tracker. You might also want to check out our OxygenOS 11 bugs and issues tracker.

Update 1 (November 24)

05:30 pm (IST): It seems that the missing 5G connectivity option is still affecting a number of OnePlus 8T users (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). This is even after users installed the latest software update for the device.

Update 2 (December 26)

01:05 pm (IST): Users of the OnePlus 8 series have also been facing 5G network connectivity issues and even the recently released OxygenOS Open Beta 5 update did not solve this problem.

Same as other comments. Still no 5G support on O2 Germany…
(Source 1, 2, 3)

Multiple users are still affected and the OEM has not been able to provide a solution for the same. However, an unofficial fix to enable 5G on OxygenOS 11 (Android 11) has been available which involves changing the carrier policy files on the affected device.

Thanks very much. Now 5G is working on my Oneplus 8 Pro (IN2020).
(Source 1, 2)

It seems that this workaround appears to have resolved the issue for several users of the OnePlus 8, 8 Pro, and 8T. Also, the same can be used to enable 5G on the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G and 7T Pro 5G models. The detailed workaround can be found here.

NOTE: We have these and many more OnePlus stories in our dedicated OnePlus section.

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