Related
My understanding is that there are people who have the TP2 activated here in the US...
but 3g doesn't work since it uses a different band in EU
so...the million dollar question...
is this hardware or software issue and eventually fixable with a rom upgrade in the future?
thanks for your input
eigerzoom said:
My understanding is that there are people who have the TP2 activated here in the US...
but 3g doesn't work since it uses a different band in EU
so...the million dollar question...
is this hardware or software issue and eventually fixable with a rom upgrade in the future?
thanks for your input
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since the hardware is very much like the Raphael hardware I would guess that the correct hardware needs to be in place for US 3G. I hope I am wrong since I have a euro version TP2 here in the states.
yeah...its looking like hardware...
It is a hardware thing. They are on different bands (Quad band and tri-band).
dgourd said:
It is a hardware thing. They are on different bands (Quad band and tri-band).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont think it is even bands...my TP2 is quad band I believe and can not get 3G with AT&T.
Bands for my phone Quad Band 850/900/1800/1900
yah plenty of US ppl have them but the euro models only have 3g on 2100mhz (basically wifi???)
usa 3g is on different band...
the quad bands are for phone use (i think...but i'm a noob)
att 3g is 850.1900 tibble is 1700 and telstra is 850/1900
so if i understand it right...to gain 3g on different band besides 2100 (wifi/eu) you are looking at hardware
eigerzoom said:
but the euro models only have 3g on 2100mhz (basically wifi???)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what does wifi have anything to do with this?
cmonex said:
what does wifi have anything to do with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uh...lol...dont mind me
im just a nub
i should have said wcdma
astain hellbinger (im sure i mispelled that) has been home schooling me...
and he represents any knowlede i have tried to represent here...
forgive my crude interpretation
some of it is sticking though...lol
If you purchased a quadband unlocked TP2, you will never be able to get US 3G on it unless you can get the hardware modified (which in all likelihood, you can't).
If you have a TP2 with triband then it will either support AT&T (850/1900/2100) or T-mobile USA (850/1700/2100). A phone model will probably not come out that supports both T-mobile and AT&T 3G frequencies. This would require a quadband phone with (850/1700/1900/2100). A phone with all four of those frequencies has never been made.
EDGE will work on almost all carriers, world-wide, on a quadband phone EDGE will work on most carriers world-wide on a triband phone.
850 is mostly used for EDGE (both up and downlink). 1700/1900 are commonly used for uplink 3G. 2100 is commonly used for downlink 3G.
I hope that this clears things up.
As mentioned above, internal hardware is almost identical as the Raphael.
This thread gathered the most information for 3G Raphael in the US.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=420865&page=40
So probably hardware and no go although LTxda mentioned bricking his Raphael trying to get 3G working with Elite's team and cmonex, so maybe she as something to add !? =Þ
skyler17 said:
If you purchased a quadband unlocked TP2, you will never be able to get US 3G on it unless you can get the hardware modified (which in all likelihood, you can't).
If you have a TP2 with triband then it will either support AT&T (850/1900/2100) or T-mobile USA (850/1700/2100). A phone model will probably not come out that supports both T-mobile and AT&T 3G frequencies. This would require a quadband phone with (850/1700/1900/2100). A phone with all four of those frequencies has never been made.
EDGE will work on almost all carriers, world-wide, on a quadband phone EDGE will work on most carriers world-wide on a triband phone.
850 is mostly used for EDGE (both up and downlink). 1700/1900 are commonly used for uplink 3G. 2100 is commonly used for downlink 3G.
I hope that this clears things up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands
Now that there's an official TmoUS device out with the new 3G radio, is it now possible to swipe, modify, and apply to HD? I remember a thread about someone being told by an htc rep that the special bandwidth used by the new 3G that Tmobile uses in the US was strictly software and not hardware. If so, can that radio can possibly be ported to the HD and allow for 3G reception in the US. Everyone chime in with your thoughts.
from what I have read, its hardware related.
the ROMs I'm using do not have the 850MHz band for 3G, yet when I select Auto, it will roam onto the 850 band automatically.
nerd1 said:
from what I have read, its hardware related.
the ROMs I'm using do not have the 850MHz band for 3G, yet when I select Auto, it will roam onto the 850 band automatically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is hardware the t8282 doesn't have the 850mhz amplifiers, the t8285 does, which is why nerd1 can pick up the 850 band.
Query answered, thread closed
Just a question from a newer Motorola Milestone XT720 user. Now to my knowledge, my Canadian provider Rogers runs on 850/1900 bands and 850 for 3G. Now my problem is unlike my iPhone (I currently use the sim card from my iPhone 3G), my XT720 I assume is asian and it runs on 1700/2100 as most of you already know. So before I which to WINDmobile, which like T-Mobile runs on 1700/2100 and is the only Canadian provider that offer this, is there any way of flashing a rom to trick the device to change frequencies or any other techniques, or will I just simply have to switch over to WINDmobile services (unpreferable since it's a newer company, still not alot of coverage without roming fees)?
they're using different hardware, so no.
Ok thanks, that's all I needed.
What is required for band unlocking? I understand that the chipset/radio in this phone has a large compatibility with wcdma/utms bands and as it supports a large number of gsm bands, the antenna should be able to rx/tx on the same frequencies for the 3g protocols.
When you flash a radio.img, is this flashing the phones radio/chipset with an updated configuration (eg, radios nvram/bios), or is this just part of the android config which contains the driver for the chipset?
Depending on the answers to the above questions, band unlocking could be achieved by either editing the radios nvram (using a motorola service tool or the like), or flashing a radio.img from a phone with the same chipset but the appropriate bands configured, OR a combination of the two...orthe hard road, hardmodding.
It would be greatly appreciated if someone in the know would be able to contribute to this. Thanks.
I really hope the radio baseband will be flashable soon, so I can turn my XT862s baseband into XT860.
Im not sure i understand what you gain from that? Outside the US aren't they both the same, just that the XT862 has CDMA enabled additionally?
They both feature WCDMA(UTMS) 850/1900/2100, GSM 850/900/1800/1900, just the Droid 3(XT862) also has CDMA 800 / 1900, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, and can't be used on other US carriers?
Please correct me if I am wrong.
The reason I wish to band unlock is to gain WCDMA(UTMS) 900, as my carriers network uses both the 2100(metro) and 900(rural), offering patchy reception in regions without GSM coverage and poor speed in areas with GSM 900 + WCDMA(UTMS) 900.
bgdwiepp said:
Im not sure i understand what you gain from that? Outside the US aren't they both the same, just that the XT862 has CDMA enabled additionally?
They both feature WCDMA(UTMS) 850/1900/2100, GSM 850/900/1800/1900, just the Droid 3(XT862) also has CDMA 800 / 1900, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, and can't be used on other US carriers?
Please correct me if I am wrong.
The reason I wish to band unlock is to gain WCDMA(UTMS) 900, as my carriers network uses both the 2100(metro) and 900(rural), offering patchy reception in regions without GSM coverage and poor speed in areas with GSM 900 + WCDMA(UTMS) 900.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, however some people here and on droidforums have said that the XT860s baseband radio has better GSM performance.
Also, for example, the XT860 has callforwarding while the XT862 has not
So, I eventually changed to the XT883 Chinese rom, of course reception didn't improve (signal in dbm did not change) however it appears to have a better interpretation of the reception (eg, i could make perfectly fine calls on 0 bars on the 862 because the signal was strong, it just showed as being weak), options like call forwarding are useful too, however, all in all, this did not fix my lack of 900MHz W-CDMA, so, I flashed a radio from the Droid 2 Global, and it seems fine so far, currently I am not in a 900Mhz band region, but tomorrow I am, and will hopefully be able to see how it goes.
bgdwiepp said:
Im not sure i understand what you gain from that? Outside the US aren't they both the same
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely not.
I did a few days of thorough testing, and they are incredibly similar - as far as performance goes, it is almost identical, the only difference is the XT883 will hold the connection better because it has more tolerance for error and lower signal, so provided the connection is up, they are almost identical.
The XT883 also has a lower signal threshold for switching between GSM and UMTS, it will hold for longer before switching, and also negotiate a data connection at a lower signal level too.
The XT883 offers more features (like call forwarding and so on) and a more "friendly" representation of your signal status, but no more actual signal, or performance.
Note, this testing was on the 850 and 2100MHz UMTS bands and the 900Mhz GSM band.
bgdwiepp said:
I did a few days of thorough testing, and they are incredibly similar - as far as performance goes, it is almost identical, the only difference is the XT883 will hold the connection better because it has more tolerance for error and lower signal, so provided the connection is up, they are almost identical.
The XT883 also has a lower signal threshold for switching between GSM and UMTS, it will hold for longer before switching, and also negotiate a data connection at a lower signal level too.
The XT883 offers more features (like call forwarding and so on) and a more "friendly" representation of your signal status, but no more actual signal, or performance.
Note, this testing was on the 850 and 2100MHz UMTS bands and the 900Mhz GSM band.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, shouldn't it be relatively easy to find/edit a file that holds this threshold?
bgdwiepp said:
The XT883 also has a lower signal threshold for switching between GSM and UMTS, it will hold for longer before switching, and also negotiate a data connection at a lower signal level too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The threshold is the same, it's the measurement that is incorrect (purposely incorrect).
The XT883 offers more features (like call forwarding and so on) and a more "friendly" representation of your signal status, but no more actual signal, or performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Given the above in the same place where an XT883 hold the 3g connection an xt862 switches in 2g, which practically means better performance, even if the radios have more or less the same sensitivity.
BTW usually the true GSM phones like the Milestones 1 and 2 have usually a better radio than the global phones, likely this will apply even to the Milestone 3, indeed the sensitivity of D3 (the true one I mean) is way below the average, while the MS1 was well above the average.
Speaking of band unlock, will flashing XT862 with the Chinese ROM allow use on AT&T/T-Mobile in the US? Or the Chinese Roman doesn't have radio image in it?
Btw, I am not sure how can you enable feature like 900 WCDMA when phone doesn't have this. With MS1/2 it wasn't possible to switch between the 900/2100 (EMEA) and the 850/1900/2100 (NA) bands because hardware isn't there. Has this changed with Droid 3?
Sent from my XT860 using Tapatalk
As far as I know the D2 used the qualcomm MDM6600, and was actually capable of band unlocking on certain variants like this, the droid 3 also uses the MDM6600 which does support the 900Mhz band, and should work well.
leobg said:
Speaking of band unlock, will flashing XT862 with the Chinese ROM allow use on AT&T/T-Mobile in the US? Or the Chinese Roman doesn't have radio image in it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The XT883 rom includes the radio but this doesn't allow the use of GSM in the US. (AFAIK)
Btw, I am not sure how can you enable feature like 900 WCDMA when phone doesn't have this. With MS1/2 it wasn't possible to switch between the 900/2100 (EMEA) and the 850/1900/2100 (NA) bands because hardware isn't there. Has this changed with Droid 3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm almost sure that flashing a standard MS1 with an American FW was enough to use it in Canada or Argentina, and viceversa
The Solutor said:
The XT883 rom includes the radio but this doesn't allow the use of GSM in the US. (AFAIK)
I'm almost sure that flashing a standard MS1 with an American FW was enough to use it in Canada or Argentina, and viceversa
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it wasn't working. I have MS1 and have experimented with it a lot. When you flash non-matching firmware, you lose 3G.
Sent from my XT860 using Tapatalk
Droid 3 finally band-unlocked?
Hi. Is what I saw true? Look at the bottom of the "[Q] Droid 3 and AT&T" thread for details.
Hi all,
I was wondering whether there would be any way to flash a custom modem or a ROM that would unlock the LTE bands so that the Vivid can access HSPA on Tmobile's network?
From what Ive read, the AT&T GS2 Skyrocket and the AT&T Galaxy Note have been unlocked through this method and Im not sure why the Vivid cant be since it shares much of the same specs between it and the Skyrocket & G-Note
Thanks
dante58 said:
Hi all,
I was wondering whether there would be any way to flash a custom modem or a ROM that would unlock the LTE bands so that the Vivid can access HSPA on Tmobile's network?
From what Ive read, the AT&T GS2 Skyrocket and the AT&T Galaxy Note have been unlocked through this method and Im not sure why the Vivid cant be since it shares much of the same specs between it and the Skyrocket & G-Note
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No that isn't possible, tmobile and att have different bands. I know that you could use a sim card on the vivid, but you wouldn't get the same speed.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
IIRC you can use a T-Mobile phone on ATT and get 2G but can't use ATT on TMO.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA
doktor buknasty said:
No that isn't possible, tmobile and att have different bands. I know that you could use a sim card on the vivid, but you wouldn't get the same speed.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The LTE band can be used on Tmobile to get 4G download speeds. As visible here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1507825
OP is asking if this is possible for the Vivid, need a Tmobile radio to flash. Would be great if someone could work on it.
twolves14 said:
The LTE band can be used on Tmobile to get 4G download speeds. As visible here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1507825
OP is asking if this is possible for the Vivid, need a Tmobile radio to flash. Would be great if someone could work on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. The LTE Band will never work on T-Mobile's GSM. What allows the Note and Skyrocket to work is that they have the pentaband hardware GSM modem and flashing a different software modem enables access to those frequencies on GSM.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
dante58 said:
I was wondering whether there would be any way to flash a custom modem or a ROM that would unlock the LTE bands so that the Vivid can access HSPA on Tmobile's network?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
twolves14 said:
The LTE band can be used on Tmobile to get 4G download speeds. As visible here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1507825
OP is asking if this is possible for the Vivid, need a Tmobile radio to flash. Would be great if someone could work on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uh yeah, it's going to be hard to get the LTE bands on the LTE radio on the phone to pick up UMTS/HSPA signal.
There's a reason why phones are usually advertised like:
GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz
UMTS/HSPA 850/1900/2100MHz
LTE AWS700MHz
They kiiiinda aren't interoperable. Note how you can't connect to UMTS 900MHz or use a Telstra LTE phone and get 1800MHz 2G service if the phone doesn't have that band in its 2G spectrum.
I remember reading about the pentaband radios having UMTS/HSPA 850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz. That's still pretty different than your standard quad-band GSM radio.
It is absolutely possible...given that the specs on GSM Arena and Phonescoop are right...
700 MHz Class 17, 1700/2100 MHz
It has the correct pair for Tmobile.
The only thing is whether or not you can flash the radio with a Tmobile equivalent (Amaze?) radio.
What happened to all the hardware hackers on this forum? It seems as if no one knows ANYthing about the interworkings of a network anymore.
Anyhow, the phone having the bands and knowing what to do with them are 2 different things. For example. Stereo FM 101.9 Mhz vs. HD(Digital)-FM 101.9...they're both on the same band/frequency but are utilized differently...
The signals are still transmitted on the same frequency, however the radio itself doesn't know how to decode/interpret the HD (Digital) signal...unless it is told how to do so.
The only place that this analogy differs is when it comes to actual comparison of FM receivers and Cellular phones. With FM receivers it actually requires a decoder to understand the digital signal being broadcasted...Cellular however just needs to be flashed and voila, you've got HSPA...
So. Yes. It is %100 possible.
NO NO NO NO.
LTE bands do NOT equal GSM. Not going to happen. They are physically different receivers for lack of a better phrase. There is no way to do this without physically changing hardware. Also, you realize T-Mobile's "1700" frequency does not actually mean 1700 on the dot. They use a different subset of actual radio bands than AT&T's 1700 LTE. As in 1721-1727 or some such vs 1781-1793 or something. I don't know the actual frequencies, but you get the drift.
Sent from my Lumia 900 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
It is absolutely possible. No question about it.
Then do it. For one, there is no compatible modem to flash. Two, it isn't possible.
Sent from my Lumia 900 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Hand is hitting my face so hard right now.
RavenII, if it's so possible, then why don't you do it? If you can't, give a large donation to one of our developers and tell them to do it.
I, and many others here are blatantly telling you it's not possible for clear reasons.
The Galaxy Nexus has a PENTABAND UMTS/HSPA "3G" radio. 850/900/1700/1900/2100. That's why it can access TMobile's 3G and faux-G. We here, on the HTC Holiday, have a tri-band 3G radio.
DIRECTLY from your sources at GSM ARENA and PHONESCOOP. I've added HTC.com for good measure:
2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100
4G Network LTE 700 MHz Class 17 / 1700 / 2100
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
LTE 700 / 1700
WCDMA 850 / 1900 / 2100
LTE (AWS/700), HSPA+/UMTS Tri-band (850/1900/2100MHz), and tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900MHz)
What? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over the fact that "3G network/WCDMA/HSPA+/UMTS" doesn't have 1700MHz. Oh wait, I couldn't hear you over the fact that TMobile's faux-G is not based on LTE, nor is it 4G (big hint: it's 3G HSPA-based service ).
GSM Arena and Phonescoop also do not account for the of LTE bands supported by the Vivid. Each region of the Holiday pretty much only supports the LTE band in that region. Rogers and ATT only supports AWS700, Telstra only supports 1800, etc.
I'm glad I'm not the only one to retain my senses about this. Leave it to a fellow Saab fan to explain it correctly.
Sent from my Lumia 900 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Ok...I really didn't want to do this since I HATE spoon feeding people on forums...but here goes. And try to keep up because I'm only going to dumb it down so much.
What you guys are mistaking for "Bands"...really ARE NOT BANDS....there is NO SUCH THING as an LTE band...or HSPA+ band...
There are Network types ...LTE, HSPA+, -Insert other modulation/channeling scheme here-, etc.
There are Frequencies (which are actually specific ranges but for the sake of confusion, they're referred to as the following 700, 800, 850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100...etc.) By the way...all those frequencies fall under the UHF band...
So far we've established that there are Network types...and different frequencies...are you still with me? Any questions?
Ok, onward.
There exists something called an SDR or Software Defined Rado...it has the ability to receive and transmit on certain frequencies...It's the software that defines how much of that frequency to use per channel (1Mhz, 25khz, etc.), what range of frequencies to use, how to use them, how much power to use while transmitting, among MANY other things (what frequency to send on, which to receive on, etc.)...That's how they came up with "Software defined radio"
If you look at the Product Brief for the MSM8X60/APQ8060 you should notice all of the frequencies that these specific chips support...
I really don't want to lose you guys, still following?
You might notice that the APQ8060 doesn't have a WWAN modem...but what does THAT mean? It means that it needs something like ohhhhh let's say the MDM9200...FINE! Here's one more spoon full
Reader to me: But RavenII...you're being a condescending ****, and we still don't know what the hell your point is...you're spewing all this **** like you're some know it all...
Me to Reader: There there grasshopper. I will get straight to it...
With all of the information I've given you...you should be able to see that when you see something like "LTE (AWS/700), HSPA+/UMTS Tri-band (850/1900/2100MHz), and tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900MHz)"...it means the radio is...
Being told to use LTE Standards (modulation, channeling, frequency steps, etc.) on AWS/700 (which if they're using AWS to signify Band IV...it would in turn mean 1700/2100), HSPA+/UMTS Standards on 850/1900/2100MHz...etc.
Still reading?
When I say that it is %100 possible...I'm saying that with software or "flashing the radio"...you can effectively change/tell what the chip should do (in this case either an MSM or MDM) with the frequencies it's capable of transmitting/receiving on. That's it.
Aus_Azn: I really hope you didn't leave a hand print on your face...
Thank you, good night.
One last thought: I never said that I would do it, I said that it's possible...
Here's the real simple way to explain it: it is theoretically possible to do but no one outside of HTC has the skill or proprietary code to do it.
So for all intents and purposes, impossible. It will not now nor ever happen.
Also, while the chip may support all bands from the factory that initially fabricated the chip, it may be locked at a firmware level (not a software radio, but actual ROM on the physical chip) that a software based radio cannot affect. This is why you can't just flash a T-Mobile software radio on another AT&T s-off device and have it work. The physical chip itself DOES NOT SUPPORT THE FREQUENCY NEEDED due to changed firmware configuration.
Is that condescending enough for you?
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Let's see, how can I put this...You're still wrong. It's still possible.
I don't even own a Vivid so I'm no longer going to post to this thread...but I will tell you this...everyone once told me that blackberrys could not have data without having the BIS (Blackberry specific plan)...and guess what. I'M the reason that people are hacking them away. I was the first one to figure it out and prove everyone wrong. While I don't have a phone that I need to convert for T-Mobile, you can bet, that once there's a phone that I want to use on T-Mobile's network...I'll more than likely find a way.
Farewell.
@totally off topic
RavenII I think you're going on the right track here. I'm already convinced by what your saying.
peaceout
What RavenII is saying does have a good base logically because it has been done before for a very similar set of hardware to the raider. The ATT Galaxy S2 Skyrocket and the ATT Note LTE are both phones featuring very similar processor and modem as the Raider. The APQ8060 and MDM9200 (i think).
Samsung released devices with this modem running on all sorts of bands 1700, 850, 1900, 2100 and even LTE on 1700 and 700.
The ATT Versions of the devices do not feature UMTS in AWS range however people have simply flashed the modem from the T-Mobile version of the device which doesn't have LTE and the ATT LTE devices actually started working on UMTS AWS bands. Various modems give various degrees of success but it is possible and has been confirmed many many times over.
Here is the thread for the ATT Skyrocket. You will find people doing the same thing on ATT Galaxy Note LTE.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1507825
You guys are funny, now I can't wait to get my Vivid which I just received today running on T-Mobiles "4g". The funny thing about this is when i very first started reading this thread and saw Mr. buknastys' reply, I was thinking "That is absolutely not true". Now I'm not going to go into detail or try and prove any points, as Raven has done a perfectly fine job proving his point and answering the OPs question. Bottom line; the two readers are absolutely wrong and Raven is absolutely right. Also one last thing, I love how suddenly a firmware "lock" is something of an obstacle, yet we have gained S-Off on nearly every HTC bootloader out there. Just sayin..
motoxxx138 said:
You guys are funny, now I can't wait to get my Vivid which I just received today running on T-Mobiles "4g". The funny thing about this is when i very first started reading this thread and saw Mr. buknastys' reply, I was thinking "That is absolutely not true". Now I'm not going to go into detail or try and prove any points, as Raven has done a perfectly fine job proving his point and answering the OPs question. Bottom line; the two readers are absolutely wrong and Raven is absolutely right. Also one last thing, I love how suddenly a firmware "lock" is something of an obstacle, yet we have gained S-Off on nearly every HTC bootloader out there. Just sayin..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really didn't mean to come off as a **** in this thread, but it seems as if though people have forgotten about actual hacking and everything has moved to "Supercharging" and theming...it's saddening, I come from a time where there was no such thing as impossible.
...I encourage you to try, but do so with a lot of caution...because the fact of the matter is...you can brick your device...
Happy hacking.
THANK YOU!!!
RavenII said:
I really didn't mean to come off as a **** in this thread, but it seems as if though people have forgotten about actual hacking and everything has moved to "Supercharging" and theming...it's saddening, I come from a time where there was no such thing as impossible.
...I encourage you to try, but do so with a lot of caution...because the fact of the matter is...you can brick your device...
Happy hacking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would just like to say thank you to Raven as I now have a AT&T Vivid and have successfully placed it on the T-mobile 3G network working 100% of the time. I will be putting together a full tutorial on how to do this shortly as it was indeed a challenge. I have been reading these forums for awhile and Raven your post has by far been one of the most beneficial and inspiring ones...thanks for sticking it out on these forums...few do these days. I actually just joined this forum after months of reading because of this post. I figure i too will provide feedback. I am actually a Tech Manager w/ Sprint. I work on these things everyday in other words....hints why I actually have a T-mobile phone lol. Not saying T-mobile is the best but you at least get exactly what you pay for and they are honest about coverage haha. Anyways..back on topic...the HTC Vivid is an interesting phone to root even and get the S-off. It is needed in order to get the sim unlocked. You have to do a combo of the rooting kit "Vivid_All_in_One_kit_v2.2" posted on another section and the "ControlBearRelease_holiday_ICS_WIN" (if your running Win 7). After you do what they call the "wire trick" (basically short the sim reader temporarily to allow temp access to flash) you can get the sim lock off. After that it is simple trial and error with modem flashes from various tmobile devices onto the HTC Vivid to get the 3G up and going. Mine actually kicked on with the AT&T radio flashed at first but I only had coverage in certain areas. Basicly it will depend alot on your local towers. Believe it or not...ALL CELL TOWERS ARE LEASED FROM VARIOUS COMPANIES LIKE SONY ERICSON WHICH MAINTAIN THEM ALL ALMOST!!...therefore it is very dependent on the towers in your area which radios are likely to work if not the stock modem on the device. It depends on what lease and roaming agreements are in place in your region....again...I WORK ON PHONES EVERYDAY FOR SPRINT...know a little about all that stuff...trust me...i have people yelling everyday about not having this or that when most of it is the carrier hasnt signed an agreement with Kyocera or whom ever to support that device or the lease contract has expired and will be resigned in a few days....bottom line is ....if the phone has a radio chipset that supports multibands and frequencies it is almost always possible to do what ever you would like with it. As far as firmware lock....too funny...those do not work on Android devices as the chipsets were intentionally designed to be unviersal to all carriers to cut manufacturing costs...much like in automotives where Mazdas and Fords use the same parts...just a reference. Anywho....It really is possible...it just takes research and a TON of time sometimes but that is the point of hacking....most would have said the Xbox Kinect wouldnt have been able to been hacked or the Wii remote seeing as both those use internal chips that range in the thousands if sold for other purposes. Long story short....happy hacking and Thanks to all of you for a great discussion forum.