Cell Radio Disabling - Nexus One Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi There,
Yes I'm a total Noob first time poster, Currently using a Nexus one rooted with BCM RC4.0 Update 1
I did a pretty thorough search on this topic and didn't turn up anything that seemed relavant so here goes.
I'm looking to get a new mobile and have found the Atrix HD in the US with specs I like and a price i can live with. BUT I'm in Australia and use a UMTS 900/2100MHz network whilst the Atrix HD is UMTS 850/1700/1900/2100MHz. I am wondering if there is some way that I can disable the 900MHz UMTS Radio in my Nexus to see how my 3G coverage speed and signal strength is affected in the areas where I use it most. If I can live with the coverage then I'll look at purchasing it.
So anybody have any idea if it is possible to disable a single radio?
Cheers
Frosty

Related

Anyone using Touch Diamond on AT&T in US? With 3G working?

In the past HTC disabled 3G support on the S710 and S730 for use in the US because no US carrier 'supported' this phone. So although both were decent phones we couldn't use them at EDGE speeds.
Does anyone know if the Touch Diamond quad-band model works at 3G speeds with the US AT&T network?
Thanks!
Bill
Oh yes, beautifully.. Better yet, the Diamond is able to use HSDPA with AT&T, which is faster than 3G, as alleged as 3.5G
Mine is working too!
Didn't work at first but I woke up this morning and the E turned into an H.
Thanks for the feedback!!
I bought the unlocked US version from Best Buy, they matched web price, and I had the phone up and running on AT&T very quickly. There is an auto setup for AT&T users. Solid performance, H in my area, auto changes elsewhere.
It can beat my home dsl speeds while tethering when I am on the road. That rocks pretty hard imo. Just be aware that the euro version of the diamond which can be found on the internet and in the used market cannot be flashed to light up the US 3G freqs, it really is a hardware issue.
Does anyone know if this will also work with T-Mobiles 3G network or is the frequency on this phone not capable? I want to check before I bite the bullet on picking one up. Thanks!
Unfortunatly, it won't due to different bandwidth. AT&T uses UMTS 850/1900, whereas T-Mobile uses 1700. More details can be found in "US 3G First Look" in this thread.

Do these devices have 1700MHz WCDMA power amplifiers?

Mods before you move this please understand that I am talking about Radio ROMS and not just rambling. If you still feel the need to move it then by all means do what you must. - Dan.
I have been talking with a friend of mine that works for HTC and one of the topics of our discussion was the HD. As most of you may know, I'm T-Mobile in the US. Well T-Mobile is launching their own 3G network very soon and I hope to have this device soon as well.
Here's the argument. Can the HD support the US T-Mobile 1700Mhz 3G network? Do these devices even have the 1700MHz WCDMA power amplifiers?
I do know it is possible to flash a radio to the HD from several other devices such as the Touch Pro, Diamond, Etc... T-Mobile is also releasing their own Version of the TyTN II. It will be ready to run the 1700Mhz US T-Mobile 3G network.
T-Mobile US also recently released the G1. It runs a MSM7201A Processor just like the HD and it DOES support the 1700Mhz band. Could it be possible to port that radio to the HD?
My question is this: Will it be possible to take that radio and make it work on the HD successfully enabling the 1700Mhz Network on the HD?
If not then sadly I will deal with T-Mobile's slow EDGE Network but I'm really hopeful that this may be possible.
Any super geniuses out there that would like to get in on this?
Bump
Nobody has any idea? I mean I've always been told where there's a will there's a way but there seems to be no will...
This discussion (US 3G in general, not just T-mobile) has been going on for a while: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=450670

the kaiser, t-mobile, and 3G

Hi everyone--
I have an unmodded, "unlocked" at&t tilt that has a t-mobile gsm sim chip in it. I'm still running the WM6 that came in it, and can't seem to get access to the 3G speeds I know this thing is capable of. I've tried numerous software apps to "force" the phone to go 3G, to no avail. T-Mobile customer "support"--HAA! tells me I need a t-mobile phone to be able to take advantage of the 3G speeds. Needles to say, I feel this is a bunch of malarkey. T-Mobile put out this phone, did they not, and called it the "MDA Vario III"? Is there a rom for the mda that I could flash this thing with so I could get the 3G speeds? Or another rom perhaps? Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks!
tripp
mods: if this post is in the wrong place, please move it where it should be (sorry!)
trippster said:
Hi everyone--
I have an unmodded, "unlocked" at&t tilt that has a t-mobile gsm sim chip in it. I'm still running the WM6 that came in it, and can't seem to get access to the 3G speeds I know this thing is capable of. I've tried numerous software apps to "force" the phone to go 3G, to no avail. T-Mobile customer "support"--HAA! tells me I need a t-mobile phone to be able to take advantage of the 3G speeds. Needles to say, I feel this is a bunch of malarkey. T-Mobile put out this phone, did they not, and called it the "MDA Vario III"? Is there a rom for the mda that I could flash this thing with so I could get the 3G speeds? Or another rom perhaps? Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks!
tripp
mods: if this post is in the wrong place, please move it where it should be (sorry!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, the malarkey is the truth! Because T-Mobile runs its 3G network on a different band than the Tilt is capable of! Sorry, this also effects me as I am a T-Mobile customer using a Tilt as well! My advice is to use Opera mini 4.2 for your internet browsing it is very fast on the Edge network!
The T-Mobile you refer to is European
It does not run on the same 3G as the US T-Mobile. The US T-Mobile uses 1700 Mhz and 2100 Mhz, I believe. The Tilt does not use the 1700 Mhz band. There was a rumor going around that there would be a new version of the Kaiser (KAIS140) that would use the US T-Mobile 3G bands but it was never released for sale. I don't think it will since it is pretty much at the end of the life cycle of the phone. They (HTC) have moved on to newer models with more features. If you would like to use the US 3G and live in an area with 3G, The T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream) uses T-Mo 3G and has its own section on this forum.
bleh. newer models should still freaking tilt. that is the coolest thing about this phone. and it's pretty solid construction. my friend has had his over a year and its still going strong.
dashmaster1000 said:
Unfortunately, the malarkey is the truth! Because T-Mobile runs its 3G network on a different band than the Tilt is capable of! Sorry, this also effects me as I am a T-Mobile customer using a Tilt as well! My advice is to use Opera mini 4.2 for your internet browsing it is very fast on the Edge network!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought the Tilt accessed 3G through it's tri band frequencies 850/1900/2100Mhz so that it could connect to most 3G networks worldwide, making it a world business tool for users?
denco7 said:
I thought the Tilt accessed 3G through it's tri band frequencies 850/1900/2100Mhz so that it could connect to most 3G networks worldwide, making it a world business tool for users?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True but T-Mobile uses the 1700 for upload and 2100 for download. ATT uses 1900 for both.

Galaxy S HSPA+ Radio Question

I've searched google many times and still cannot find a clear answer on how T-mobile's HSPA+(aka 4g) works. If anyone could help me understand how this works I think many people including myself would appreciate it, and also is there anyway these Android phones can be hacked to upgrade as the networks upgrades. For example the G2 and Mytouch 4g have been branded as 4g yet they are not as fast as the Galaxy S running the 21MBps capability. I dont understand the technology let alone marketing on this. Is it UMTS, LTE, or HSPA+? I have found no good articles that really know what they are talking about. Im just curious so I as the consumer know what I'm paying for. Anyone can say 3g or 4g but it seems mysterious that these phones just happen to only be able to use only 14.4mbps vs the galaxy s uses 21mpbs. Along these lines is the new Voip technology. Some say you can do it and I here other places that the phone needs specific hardware to use. Is it just me or does there seem to be a hugeee breakdown in information be released that is relevant from the carrier to the consumer encompassing plans, network, and phones. Sorry if this seems to be off topic or all over, but my main question is on the "Galaxy S". I am just trying to figure out how we are supposed to figure out if a phone says HSPA+ and the frequency says 1700/2100, how fast it actually is.
1. wrong section
2. att's/tmobiles 4g is simply a faster version of 3g aka hspa+, real 4g is lte advanced which nobody has.

[Q] HTC Vivid on Tmobile 3G/4G?

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.

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