[Q] 3G phones on a 2 yr contract in UK - Windows Phone 8 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Ive just picked up an Samsung Ativ S which is 3.5G (H+) here in the UK (4G Ativ S didnt come to UK only US) and my contract runs for another 22 months, but with all the major carriers talking about 4G LTE and that 3G will be switched off soon.
is that correct or are these sales people trying to scare monger people into spending more money on a 4GLTE contract, which in the UK.. 4G phones are about £50-£100 more than their 3G H+ versions.
Will we see H+ in the UK for a few years yet.
Thanks

First of all, the USA didn't get any ATIV S models at all. I had to import my SGH-T899M from Canada. It sounds like you got the other model.
Second, wether any given mobile operator is turning off a certain radio mode or not is - surprise, shock, mind-blowing revelation - up to that operator! If you want to know what networks will still support HSPA+ in the coming months, why don't you ask *them*? We don't even know what operator you're on now!
Third, the odds of them turning off HSPA/HSPA+ are very slim. There are still an awful lot of phones out there that don't support LTE. I'd more likely believe them turning off 2G/EDGE and re-farming that to LTE.

Related

[Q] HSPA+ on T-Mobile

Hi, if I were to get an unlocked Galaxy Note GSM, would I have to do anything fancy to get HSPA+ (4G) to work on it?
Would it be as easy as to pop in my SIM card and go to work like on any T-Mobile device?
Please respond back soon because I am trying to buy one tonight off a guy on craigslist, I don't want to get ripped off!
.ili.music.ili. said:
Hi, if I were to get an unlocked Galaxy Note GSM, would I have to do anything fancy to get HSPA+ (4G) to work on it?
Would it be as easy as to pop in my SIM card and go to work like on any T-Mobile device?
Please respond back soon because I am trying to buy one tonight off a guy on craigslist, I don't want to get ripped off!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
International Version Galaxy Note N7000 doesn't support 4G [LTE] Network.
ranjan.alva said:
International Version Galaxy Note N7000 doesn't support 4G [LTE] Network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want LTE. I want T-Mobile HSPA+. Will it work by putting a sim card in it?
then you'll need to wait until T-Mobile repurposes their 1900MHz band for HSPA+. I don't know if they're doing it for the whole country, but it has started to happen in some areas already
But it is as simply as popping in my sim card?
.ili.music.ili. said:
But it is as simply as popping in my sim card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're lucky enough to be in the right area, yes
Well it's just to make phone calls. It's okay if I don't have internet connectivity everywhere. I am going to be buying it off a guy on craigslist in a place where I normally get service... he's selling it to me for only $450. Kind of nervous that it's a fake/scam.
leppo said:
then you'll need to wait until T-Mobile repurposes their 1900MHz band for HSPA+. I don't know if they're doing it for the whole country, but it has started to happen in some areas already
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any idea what areas? Mine arrives tomorrow, live in PHX.
Sorry but don't count on anything more the edge on TMobile, unless you are really lucky and you are in a 1900 Mhz area. If you want TMobile buy an AT&T Note and you will have to do some hacking to get the radio working on TMobile.
gedster314 said:
Sorry but don't count on anything more the edge on TMobile, unless you are really lucky and you are in a 1900 Mhz area. If you want TMobile buy an AT&T Note and you will have to do some hacking to get the radio working on TMobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This.
Don't expect the entire US to get 1900Mhz 3G on tmobile, since the radio spectrum is subdivided differently depending on the cities.
Mostly the west coast and pennsylvania so far
guitarplayerone said:
This.
Don't expect the entire US to get 1900Mhz 3G on tmobile, since the radio spectrum is subdivided differently depending on the cities.
Mostly the west coast and pennsylvania so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So there's no such hack for the international note? I don't understand how an internationally unlocked phone doesn't support USA GSM highspeed. My T-Mobile G1 supports HSPA+.
Does AT&T 4G work with the international Note? I have it now and I'm only getting 2G. It's god awfully slow.
If you want to buy Note N7000 you will get EDGE on Tmobile.
No 3G
No 4G
avetny said:
If you want to buy Note N7000 you will get EDGE on Tmobile.
No 3G
No 4G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On AT&T does it get 4G? There will never be a hack like there was on the AT&T model?
guitarplayerone said:
Mostly the west coast and pennsylvania so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on the Left Coast, maybe should l see if 1900Mhz is in my area.
To be honest, I'm actually happy with me my broadband sim on AT&T. I just had the LTE code added to my account and I got a little boost in speed on HSPA+. I'm seeing 8Mbps down and the speed seems more stable then before. It does seem to be ramping up to max speed a little slower and I have a firm upload cap at about 1Mbps, before I occasionally would hit 1.5 Mbps. HSPA+ does seem to do Skype and Google Voice pretty well, I've been managing to use a a data sim as a phone quite successfully.
.ili.music.ili. said:
On AT&T does it get 4G? There will never be a hack like there was on the AT&T model?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The international Note gets HSPA+ on the AT&T no problem. I'm currently enjoying my H+ icon with my Red Pocket sim card.
The International and American Notes have entirely different hardware inside. The American Note has a pentaband radio that can be reflashed for either AT&T or T-Mobile frequencies. The International note does not.
ChicoKiri said:
The international Note gets HSPA+ on the AT&T no problem. I'm currently enjoying my H+ icon with my Red Pocket sim card.
The International and American Notes have entirely different hardware inside. The American Note has a pentaband radio that can be reflashed for either AT&T or T-Mobile frequencies. The International note does not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong. The International Note has a pentaband radio. It's the same modem as the Galaxy Nexus GSM.
It just so happens that the AT&T Note shares the almost the same hardware with the T-Mobile S2 which makes it easier in terms of getting the modem from the T-Mobile S2 to work on the AT&T Note. This is why how they got the hack working on the AT&T Note.
This DOES NOT WORK on the Int Galaxy Note as we are running an Exynos/Infineon chip/baseband.
Okay. Instead of arguing with each other about who can spout-off the N7000's and i717's specs most accurately, why don't we just give the OP a simple, comprehensive answer?
Okay. To answer your question, the N7000 (International Note) will work perfectly fine on T-Mobile US. Phone calls, SMS messages, and data will all work perfectly. The issue, however, is not with the services you can get, but the quality of the services you can get. Even though the N7000 is an "international" GSM device, T-Mobile uses irregular frequencies for it's HSPA+ network. Specifically, instead of supporting HSPA+ on a single frequency, T-Mobile's HSPA+ service is divided between 1700MHz and 2100MHz in what is referred to as 1700/2100 AWS (Advanced Wireless Spectrum). Because AWS is a rare and unusual implementation of HSPA+, almost no "international" phone models support it. In most cases, only phones meant specifically for North America support it. What this means, simply, is that the N7000 will never be capable of using T-Mobile's HSPA+ network (unless you have the rare privelege of being in a 1900MHz HSPA+ area).
Now, just because the N7000 won't let you use T-Mobile's AWS HSPA+, it doesn't mean you can't have your cake and eat it too. Granted, it is a small concession, but the i717 is a "more than adequate" smartphone and will (with some minor modification) make neat work of connecting to T-Mobile's AWS HSPA+ network. Preliminary speed tests even suggest that the i717 is faster on T-Mobile's HSPA+ network than the N7000 is on AT&T's HSPA+ network. So, if you're willing to sacrifice the added speed and power the Exynos SoC offers, you could gain T-Mobile 3G compatibility and NFC to boot just by opting for the i717; which, I might add, is only $649.99 off-contract at AT&T.
If I can help clarify any confusion or answer any questions, please feel free to ask. I know there are a lot of people out there who feel very strongly about which version of the Note is superior. However, it's my opinion that when you come across someone who's undecided, you should simply give them the facts and allow them to make their own decision. Passionately mixing facts with opinion only serves to further confuse things.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk
That is a really nice post. Too bad I already got the GSM Note. Trying to sell it so badly...
BTW unlocked at AT&T is $650
.ili.music.ili. said:
That is a really nice post. Too bad I already got the GSM Note. Trying to sell it so badly...
BTW unlocked at AT&T is $650
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right. Sorry. I fat-fingered it. It's corrected now.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk
i live in boston and decided to call tmobile about the 3/4g coverage. supposedly the 1900 band is now in use for tmobile 3g. so i cant get 4g but i could get 3g...now i have to hunt down a non att branded note. the map the lady referred to was dated june 6th 2012 so im hoping her stuff is right.
hate to buy a not and still be stuck on edge.

[Q] T mobile 3G/4G after unlock/debrand?

Hi All,
Is there *any* way I can get 3G/4G speeds on Samsung Focus S? I saw the unlock/debrand thread. Will it also enable 3G speeds on t-mobile network or is it hardware related and there is nothing we can do about it?
~ai2160
hardware...
My Focus S did 4G right out of the box.
The main reason you might not be able to get higher speed data lines is because of the frequencies your carrier uses to support those data feeds. Not all carriers are using the same bands. Rogers (here in Canada) uses the same bands as AT&T, so you pretty well have to wait until you can find an AT&T phone to buy to make it work.
T-Mobile in the US uses different bands, so their phones will only do E here in Canada. Likewise, and unlocked AT&T phone will only do E on T-Mobile in the US.
HOW THE F$%& do we get MMS to work if on Tmobile????
that is good
That is good? What are you talking about... @waswaser quit posting random **** to get enough posts to spam the threads! Anyways I finally got data for Tmobile and now I have MMS Woohoo! AT&T is refarming some towers so people with unlocked AT&T phones will get 3g/4g on Tmobile, that will start 2013 i believe...
"T-Mobile reiterates their wish to launch 4G HSPA+ in the 1900 band in a
large number of markets by the end of the year. Current testing shows a
33% increase in HSPA+ data speeds and improved in-building coverage.
“Rolling out 4G HSPA+ services in the 1900 MHz band will also offer
customers with the ability to use a broader range of devices"
in other words... Focus S should work @ HSPA+ by the end of the year (if you are in the right market. Which, selfishly, should include NYC)
You lucky son.... Anyways I get great reception where I life, but it's more of a rural town Northwest of SEATTLE. I've tried AT&T phones here and I get HSDPA+ so would I get it when Tmobile is done refarming? I'd be happy with 3g though as EDGE blows...
that is good

[Q] Way to know if 4G is working

Hi all, since a couple of weeks I am the happy owner of an HTC One. Where I live (Belgium), there is currently only one carrier which provides 4G and it is limited to a few cities. However, I live in one of those cities and according to a map on their site I should have 4G reception.
Unfortunately, I tried on several locations in the city and was never able to connect to LTE. My reception is otherwise without problems and I do have 3G connectivity. Now the question is if my phone is the problem or the carrier and a spotty coverage. So I have some questions:
1) Is it possible that the modem is not functioning correctly?
2) Is there any way of telling if the phone is capable of LTE without having an actual network to test it?
3) Do you need a seperate APN for LTE aside from the one used to connect via 3G?
Info for readers that are also living in Belgium. I have Proximus with Generation Connect and live in Ghent. I tested 4G connectivity on "het zuid" and "St. Pietersplein" without any luck.
Not sure if this helps but you could also check with your service provider if the mobile plan you're on allows for LTE access.
Here in Singapore, although there is nationwide LTE coverage, not every customer can automatically access it even though the phone supports LTE. I had to sign a new mobile plan to enable LTE access.
Thx for the reply The situation is very similar in Belgium, not every mobile plan gives you acces to 4G. My plan does, so that cannot be the problem. I suspect it is just spotty coverage by the provider but there is no way of knowing for sure I fear. This afternoon I was standing next to a cell phone tower with network quality -59dBm (which is good I think) and still no LTE. I was getting 24Mbps down on 3G though.
Hmm I would like to know if there are alternative tests too
My area doesn't have lte until beginning next year, but I would absolutely love to see a confirmation that my phone is capable of it
sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 (VIP)
4g and lte are two different things and 24mbs download is 4g or hspa+
I know that 4g and lte are not always the same. 24 down was on hspa+ as you suggested However in Belgium, hspa+ is known as 3g or 3g+ and lte is known as 4g. So in my case, 4g always means lte but I understand your confusion, sorry about that.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
You may also need to change your simcard. Here in Malaysia, lots of people buy the phone from retailers, and their older simcard does not support LTE.
skinsfanbdh said:
4g and lte are two different things and 24mbs download is 4g or hspa+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not strictly true. When the ITU created the ITU-Advanced spec (4G), current implementations of "4G" would probably not pass as it was between 100-1000Mbps. WiMax might. Very few countries went the WiMax route and some have given up sine and switched, most went for LTE as itbwas cheaper to convert existing technology. After the fact, the ITU decided that the 4G term could encompass LTE. So, for over 2 years now, LTE is 4G.

? about US T-Mobile Reception

I would like to know what people are getting for T-mobile reception!
I have a friend with an Iphone, and I recently owned a Lumia 521 both get very poor T-mobile Reception.
I ordered a Nokia Lumia 720 which works on At&T & T-mobile and a H2o sim card.
My T-mobile reception on the Lumia 720 is great, it rarely Does NOT get a signal as opposed to my friends iPhone and the lumia 521. I have no clue why this is because the 521/720 do not state much difference in the DATA info on the Nokia page I guess it just has a more powerful cellular radio.
I find it kind of awkward that peopel who have phones from the US do not get good service but my phone which is Malaysian in origin gets a great signal, I wish I had known it would before I ordered my H20 sim but a typo on the number porting page ended me up with a very simple phone number I decided I would go with instead, I prefer the unlimited talk & text for $30!
So can anyone tell me what phone they have on T-mobile USA and how their signal is?
Note: Although I get a Signal it's mostly always EDGE but I can still use the web & talk&txt which is far better than no signal at all !!!!!!
It depends where you are, of course.
Seattle.
Samsung ATIV S (SGH-T899M)
Almost always at least 3 bars of HSPA+ ("4G"), often 1-5 bars (out of 5) of LTE.
AT&T has traditionally used different frequencies (for 3G and up) from T-Mobile. T-Mobile is "re-farming" some of their bandwidth to AT&T frequencies so that phones which have radios tuned for AT&T but not for T-Mobile will be able to get better than 2G (EDGE being a 2G variant). However, this is an ongoing project and right now coverage is far from complete.

[Q] AT&T nokia 920 on T-mobile

So without thinking I bought a Nokia Lumia 920 for AT&T off of Ebay.
Now after doing some research I see I may not be able to get 3G/4G.
So I have two things to ask, would flashing another rom on my device help? (I really don't think it will but i'm going to ask to be safe)
Or is there anyway to get 3G/4G working without having to buy a new phone -_-
T-Mobile obtained a bunch of bandwidth that AT&T was going to use, after the failed acquisition attempt. They've used that to roll out network coverage for AT&T's phones, as part of their plan to encourage people to switch. It's not as *extensive* of coverage as T-Mobile's native bands, but it's not terrible. You probably can't get LTE, but you can get 3G and HSPA+ (what TMoUS often calls 4G, especially before they had their own LTE).
I know I get 4G and LTE on T-Mobile using an AT&T 920, but I think LTE only works in certain refarmed areas that use the right frequency. HSPA+ (4G) and 3G appear every once in while and work as well.
Sent from my RM-821_eu_france_267 using Tapatalk
GoodDayToDie said:
T-Mobile obtained a bunch of bandwidth that AT&T was going to use, after the failed acquisition attempt. They've used that to roll out network coverage for AT&T's phones, as part of their plan to encourage people to switch. It's not as *extensive* of coverage as T-Mobile's native bands, but it's not terrible. You probably can't get LTE, but you can get 3G and HSPA+ (what TMoUS often calls 4G, especially before they had their own LTE).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can deal with that, I know back in the day when i unlocked my wife's Iphone 4 it could only get edge. but I was not sure if that problem was just because well it was an Iphone.
HyperChrisX said:
I know I get 4G and LTE on T-Mobile using an AT&T 920, but I think LTE only works in certain refarmed areas that use the right frequency. HSPA+ (4G) and 3G appear every once in while and work as well.
Sent from my RM-821_eu_france_267 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sweet thanks for the info.
Yeah, old iPhones used AT&T's frequencies for 3G and T-Mobile uses different frequencies, so you couldn't use 3G. That's not much of a problem anymore, though; even phones that don't support T-Mobile's main bands can use their re-farmed AT&T bandwidth.
aundeadrockstar said:
So without thinking I bought a Nokia Lumia 920 for AT&T off of Ebay.
Now after doing some research I see I may not be able to get 3G/4G.
So I have two things to ask, would flashing another rom on my device help? (I really don't think it will but i'm going to ask to be safe)
Or is there anyway to get 3G/4G working without having to buy a new phone -_-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
T-Mobile refers to it as refarming; that is assuming you have coverage and that's a big if for many of us who are rural and you live in a town big enough to have it then if you're using an AT&T device subsidy unlocked or locked then you will be able to access HSPA+ and I'm not kidding when I say it's fast, faster than both AT&T and Verizon Wireless in Auburn-Opelika, AL and Columbus, GA where I hail from. HSPA+ is not a LTE or 4G technology so it will run on both AT&T and T-Mobile's 1900 band...if AT&T it's HSPA+ everywhere and where T-Mobile has refarmed 1900; it's 3G or 3.5G there too. Otherwise, it's 2G and I can safely tell you it sucks once you've enjoyed HSPA+ and worse T-Mobile has next to no coverage in many places outside most big cities and that's the wrap with T-Mobile.

Categories

Resources