Database Develop

WiMax > LTE?

Will most areas with Wimax get LTE? I didn't care too much about this until I read that AT&T Ones get both Wimax and LTE. How exactly does this work? Has it to do with the GSM/CDMA thing?
I was with T-mobile before and you could say I was spoiled by their HSPA speeds. Now its normal for me to get anywhere from 80 to 100 kbps with Sprint. Occasionally I get an LTE signal and speeds upto 1.5 mbps. Would I get faster speeds if I had an older, Wimax phone?
Also, I was told by the Sprint rep that the Nextel towers will be converted to LTE. Is this true?

Where'd you read that att models support wimax?
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It's magic, considering ATT never deployed wimax whatsoever. Sprint is the only major cellular provider who went with Wimax, everyone else went lte or HSPA+
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sauprankul said:
Will most areas with Wimax get LTE? I didn't care too much about this until I read that AT&T Ones get both Wimax and LTE. How exactly does this work? Has it to do with the GSM/CDMA thing?
I was with T-mobile before and you could say I was spoiled by their HSPA speeds. Now its normal for me to get anywhere from 80 to 100 kbps with Sprint. Occasionally I get an LTE signal and speeds upto 1.5 mbps. Would I get faster speeds if I had an older, Wimax phone?
Also, I was told by the Sprint rep that the Nextel towers will be converted to LTE. Is this true?
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All of this is true except AT&T ONE getting WiMax. As was said, AT&T has never had WiMax and the ONE is not capable of it. Whoever told you that is either mistaken or lying.
Depending on where you are WiMax could be more available then LTE as of right now. As they shut down the 800mhz Nextel towers, Sprint will be rolling out LTE 800 on those is the story most have heard.

I'm in Chicago and we have a lot of wimax. But also a lot of lte too. I did get faster speeds on wimax, but I could only get wimax if I were outside. So... I kept it off and only used wimax if I really needed it. It was a major battery hog.
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I had og Evo and Evo 3d which were both wimax phones. The signal was much more consistent than I get on my Evo lte and HTC one. As far as speed, I HAVE spiked to 22mbps once or twice on lte but I have to be right there in that sweet spot which is on the side of a major hwy. I can pull 5-8 mbps on an average lte signal but I am constantly loosing it and switching back to 3g and going back and forth. My wimax signal was a goo 7-8 inside my house. Lte is very inconsistent and my area is suppose to be over 80% complete I think last time I checked.
And like gk said wimax was a battery hog. I could never get half a day if I left my wimax radio on and off the charger. My lte devices last a lot longer. This one I take it off the charger in the morning and still have half battery at night most times
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sauprankul said:
Will most areas with Wimax get LTE? I didn't care too much about this until I read that AT&T Ones get both Wimax and LTE. How exactly does this work? Has it to do with the GSM/CDMA thing?
I was with T-mobile before and you could say I was spoiled by their HSPA speeds. Now its normal for me to get anywhere from 80 to 100 kbps with Sprint. Occasionally I get an LTE signal and speeds upto 1.5 mbps. Would I get faster speeds if I had an older, Wimax phone?
Also, I was told by the Sprint rep that the Nextel towers will be converted to LTE. Is this true?
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Click to collapse
I would be surprised if it were directly true. The Nextel towers were all IDEN-based and are in the process of being torn down. I have no doubt they will be eventually switched to CDMA/3G and then LTE (or maybe built with LTE from the get-go), but probably not until after Sprint rolls out LTE to its existing tower infrastructure.

Not to go off topic too much but when I lived in Columbus Ohio we had pretty good wimax coverage. And in complete honesty the battery hit was hardly any worse than 3g so I would leave wimax on all of the time. I could go a full 12 hour day at work on my 3d with moderate usage and get home with 30 percent left. Similar comparisons in battery life on my 4g, shift, and et4g as well. Apparently its similar to any other signal issue.... But if its a good area wimax doesn't hurt the battery too bad at all really.

I used to get really inconsistent lte a month ago. I'm not sure if they improved the network to correct it or what but when I unlocked the bootloader, I saw a very consistent experience. Not sure if wiping everything did something to correct it, placebo, or new towers were flipped on the same day.
But I only get 2-3 mbps on lte
Wimax I was getting about 8-10
In any case... Sprint is the only major wimax carrier in the USA and att doesn't use it - as mentioned earlier, OP was lied to about this.
Also, I hear the Nextel iden network will be configured to lte on 800 mhz which our phones don't support. None do at this point actually.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app

wimax is awful & I live in a "good" wimax area. Besides Sprint quit building on the network once they realized it sucked.

All right thanks for the clarification guys. I was suspicious when I read it (no idea where, some random forums). Since Sprint is letting go of Wimax and replacing their Wimax devices with LTE, would it be safe to assume that places with "Best" Wimax coverage and/or Nextel coverage will get LTE at some point (6 mos-1 year)? It's really sad when it takes 30-45 minutes do download Cut the Rope at the local mall (in silicon Valley).

Sprint lte (any carried for that matter) is very signal dependent. Stronger signal = faster connection. If u connect to lte and its a slow connection, chances are you are connected to a site farther away then u think, or have a site (one that serves your voice coverage) between the lte site and your phone. All sprint sites are being converted to lte. Most Nextel sites are not. During the conversion, sprint is putting up panels has house both voice and lte on 1900mhz, voice on smr800 and lte on 800smr. No 800smr lte devices are out yet, will will be starting this fall. When Nextel is turned off (last day of this month), sprint will start turning on the 800smr on voice and lte but may take some time (especially lte side). 800smr voice is already being broadcasted in parts of the county, such as in Chicago. Most if not all native sprint coverage will have lte by this time next year. For much more info, go to s4gru.com
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I had Wimax on my evo3d as well as for my home internet through clear. Wimax signal is much weaker than LTE it is easily affected by weather and even wind.it has poor building penetration, hence Sprint dumped the Wimax program and began with lte!!!
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Paleryder said:
I had Wimax on my evo3d as well as for my home internet through clear. Wimax signal is much weaker than LTE it is easily affected by weather and even wind.it has poor building penetration, hence Sprint dumped the Wimax program and began with lte!!!
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2
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It wasn't so much wimax sucked based on the symptoms you described, it's the frequency Clearwire was using. They used 2500 mhz for wimax and if it were lte on that same band, we'd still have poor building penetration and weak signal.
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jcwxguy said:
No 800smr lte devices are out yet, will will be starting this fall.
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the htc one should actually be capable of 800smr lte with some changes to the radio config (and possibly radio software too, but i'm pretty sure that won't be necessary)... once 800smr lte is up and running somewhere near where i live i'll be able to test and figure out what exactly needs to be done to make it work.

hotaru2k3 said:
the htc one should actually be capable of 800smr lte with some changes to the radio config (and possibly radio software too, but i'm pretty sure that won't be necessary)... once 800smr lte is up and running somewhere near where i live i'll be able to test and figure out what exactly needs to be done to make it work.
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it is not capable of 800smr lte....its a hardware thing (no 800smr antenna within the phone) with the HTC ONE, check out the FCC docs...
https://apps.fcc.gov/eas/GetApplicationAttachment.html?id=1898233 (note page 5, only LTE BAND 25 (g block, 1900 mhz, sprints current lte network)
http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-342-updated-all-for-htc-one-htc-one-for-all/

jcwxguy said:
it is not capable of 800smr....its a hardware thing (no 800smr antenna within the phone) with the HTC ONE, check out the FCC docs...
https://apps.fcc.gov/eas/GetApplicationAttachment.html?id=1898233 (note page 5, only LTE BAND 25 (g block, 1900 mhz, sprints current lte network)
http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-342-updated-all-for-htc-one-htc-one-for-all/
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first link just says "You are not authorized to access this page.", but i have already seen the fcc filings for the sprint htc one.
from the second link:
CDMA1X + EV-DO band classes 0, 1, 10 (i.e. CDMA1X + EV-DO 850/1900/800)
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Antenna 0 max RF ERP/EIRP: 20.10 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 850), 23.80 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 1900), 19.23 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 800), 12.30 dBm (LTE 1900)
Antenna 1 max RF ERP/EIRP: 13.78 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 850), 13.58 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 1900), 14.27 dBm (CDMA1X/EV-DO 800), 23.63 dBm (LTE 1900)
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cdma band class 10 is 800smr. both antennas work for 800smr. the radio can transmit and receive on 800smr frequencies.
it's very likely that a simple configuration change will enable lte on 800smr. if that turns out to not be the case, it's definitely possible to do it by modifying the baseband software.

I asked Sprint support about a month or 2 ago if the One would be compatible with 800 when they launch it and they said none of the currently released phones are capable and none will be released until Q3 or Q4
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Note that by the time Sprint actually deploys in large-scale any non-1900mhz LTE, you'll be up for a new phone (that is, 2 years). It's going to take a long, long time. They haven't even started yet.

hotaru2k3 said:
first link just says "You are not authorized to access this page.", but i have already seen the fcc filings for the sprint htc one.
from the second link:
cdma band class 10 is 800smr. both antennas work for 800smr. the radio can transmit and receive on 800smr frequencies.
it's very likely that a simple configuration change will enable lte on 800smr. if that turns out to not be the case, it's definitely possible to do it by modifying the baseband software.
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Click to collapse
that radio (antenna) will not work on 800smr LTE. Voice 800smr yes, lte, no
The Sprint version of the HTC One is limited to band 25 LTE 1900. It does not support either of Sprint's upcoming LTE bands -- band 26 LTE 800 and band 41 TD-LTE 2600.
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---------- Post added at 12:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:03 PM ----------
Vincent Law said:
Note that by the time Sprint actually deploys in large-scale any non-1900mhz LTE, you'll be up for a new phone (that is, 2 years). It's going to take a long, long time. They haven't even started yet.
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Click to collapse
Sprint has started an 800smr LTE fit in Montana.
---------- Post added at 12:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:05 PM ----------
gk1984 said:
I asked Sprint support about a month or 2 ago if the One would be compatible with 800 when they launch it and they said none of the currently released phones are capable and none will be released until Q3 or Q4
Sent from my HTCONE
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This is correct :good:
***THIS IS LIKE THE OLD "WILL MY WIMAX DEVICE WORK ON LTE" DEBATE " lol ....we all know how that ended up

[Q] Sony Xperia C6903, LTE on AT&T

I emailed GSM Nation to see when they would received the C6906 because I want to use LTE on AT&T. They sent me a reply saying that many of their customers use AT&T, and have been reporting LTE working.. Are they just blowing smoke up my ass? If not, is there a way to see what bands are active in each cities?

svfusion said:
I emailed GSM Nation to see when they would received the C6906 because I want to use LTE on AT&T. They sent me a reply saying that many of their customers use AT&T, and have been reporting LTE working.. Are they just blowing smoke up my ass? If not, is there a way to see what bands are active in each cities?
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i'd be cautious about buying the C6903 and using it on AT&T in the U.S. I had the international version of the Z earlier in march C6603 and i never got LTE on that phone, only HSPA+. I used this phone in Minneapolis and never saw LTE. I also did a road trip from Pittsburg to Orlando and never saw LTE on the way anywhere. Also used in Miami without LTE.
I believe its important to have the 700 band if you want to see LTE on the AT&T network on a device.

sunny051488 said:
i'd be cautious about buying the C6903 and using it on AT&T in the U.S. I had the international version of the Z earlier in march C6603 and i never got LTE on that phone, only HSPA+. I used this phone in Minneapolis and never saw LTE. I also did a road trip from Pittsburg to Orlando and never saw LTE on the way anywhere. Also used in Miami without LTE.
I believe its important to have the 700 band if you want to see LTE on the AT&T network on a device.
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You can use the 6903 model on AT&T, I'm using the Z1 on it right now. But to get LTE support you are correct, you need the 700Mhz band which is in the 6906 model.

Bleh, I had the same concern and called ATT and asked. The guy told me this.
ATT uses 700-1400mhz spectrum. meaning 700 though, not and. So any device that supports bands "in that range" will work fine. Was he misinformed, or is that right? When is the damn xxx6 model coming out anyway?

I'm using the xperia on ATT right now no LTE but I do get hspa+ which is fine (is a 50mbps connection REALLY needed for a phone?) Anyways there is a chance that LTE may work in the US because ATT is rolling out and already has the 1700mhz band in a bunch of cities: Phoenix, Raleigh, San Juan, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Chicago, Charlotte, Athens, GA and College Station, TX. The Nexus 4 people were reporting that it works but not sure about Z1. I'm not from any of these cities so i can't confirm if its working. Maybe someone can?

n4v1n said:
is a 50mbps connection REALLY needed for a phone?
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When it's been shown to give better battery life thanks to race to idle advantages? Absolutely.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6330/the-iphone-5-review/13
>The non-LTE phones see a sharp drop in battery life. At least at 28nm the slower air interfaces simply have to remain active (and drawing power) for longer, which results in measurably worse battery life.
This doesn't work on slower LTE networks like verizon, but for us on ATT we can get better battery life while enjoying faster speeds. Note that in that graph anandtech measures HSPA+ as "3g", as it is 3g, despite ATT and verizon's marketing. I make this distinction to prevent people from thinking they are testing the older 1.4mbit or whatever network they used to use.
I'm probably going to get the Z1 without LTE functionality in my area anyway, because at the end of the day I'm without a smartphone right now (my HTC one got washed with my clothes and doesn't do much other than vibrate when it's plugged in now) and don't want to wait for Sony to stop being lazy and put out the model with 700mhz LTE.

youwonder said:
Bleh, I had the same concern and called ATT and asked. The guy told me this.
ATT uses 700-1400mhz spectrum. meaning 700 though, not and. So any device that supports bands "in that range" will work fine. Was he misinformed, or is that right? When is the damn xxx6 model coming out anyway?
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youwonder said:
When it's been shown to give better battery life thanks to race to idle advantages? Absolutely.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6330/the-iphone-5-review/13
>The non-LTE phones see a sharp drop in battery life. At least at 28nm the slower air interfaces simply have to remain active (and drawing power) for longer, which results in measurably worse battery life.
This doesn't work on slower LTE networks like verizon, but for us on ATT we can get better battery life while enjoying faster speeds. Note that in that graph anandtech measures HSPA+ as "3g", as it is 3g, despite ATT and verizon's marketing. I make this distinction to prevent people from thinking they are testing the older 1.4mbit or whatever network they used to use.
I'm probably going to get the Z1 without LTE functionality in my area anyway, because at the end of the day I'm without a smartphone right now (my HTC one got washed with my clothes and doesn't do much other than vibrate when it's plugged in now) and don't want to wait for Sony to stop being lazy and put out the model with 700mhz LTE.
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The only reason it improves battery life is because its take you less time to download things which is a given. If you're constantly downloading extremely large files then maybe you need it, but for me not so much.

svfusion said:
I emailed GSM Nation to see when they would received the C6906 because I want to use LTE on AT&T. They sent me a reply saying that many of their customers use AT&T, and have been reporting LTE working.. Are they just blowing smoke up my ass? If not, is there a way to see what bands are active in each cities?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The answer is yes, they are blowing smoke up your ass. In order for a phone to get AT&T LTE, you need Band 17. That is their primary LTE band. They also supplementarily use Band 2, 4, and 5 in select cities where they don't have Band 17. Similar thread in the Z Ultra forums, which have similar models which might clarify this more if you need more details.

n4v1n said:
The only reason it improves battery life is because its take you less time to download things which is a given. If you're constantly downloading extremely large files then maybe you need it, but for me not so much.
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You did not read the source I linked I think. It shows web browsing, not downloading massive files. LTEs speed and therefore race to idle advantage applies to more than just downloading large files, it shows battery savings in normal day to day use, from things that drain quite a bit of battery like browsing to smaller things like syncing gmail accounts.

n4v1n said:
I'm using the xperia on ATT right now no LTE but I do get hspa+ which is fine (is a 50mbps connection REALLY needed for a phone?) Anyways there is a chance that LTE may work in the US because ATT is rolling out and already has the 1700mhz band in a bunch of cities: Phoenix, Raleigh, San Juan, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Chicago, Charlotte, Athens, GA and College Station, TX. The Nexus 4 people were reporting that it works but not sure about Z1. I'm not from any of these cities so i can't confirm if its working. Maybe someone can?
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uly609 said:
You can use the 6903 model on AT&T, I'm using the Z1 on it right now. But to get LTE support you are correct, you need the 700Mhz band which is in the 6906 model.
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What speeds are you guys getting on ATT with the C6903? If the C6906 isn't shipping anywhere by midnext week I'm going to order the C6903, I've been android less for 2 weeks now, I'm going crazy. I don't use my phone as a hot spot or for file downloads, so I don't need crazy speeds which I don't even get anyway LTE wise in my area, usually 22mbps max and on average upper teens.

QwaarJet said:
What speeds are you guys getting on ATT with the C6903? If the C6906 isn't shipping anywhere by midnext week I'm going to order the C6903, I've been android less for 2 weeks now, I'm going crazy. I don't use my phone as a hot spot or for file downloads, so I don't need crazy speeds which I don't even get anyway LTE wise in my area, usually 22mbps max and on average upper teens.
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I'm getting 8.22 Mbps down and 1.13 Mbps up with full bars on AT&T right now. I'll do a few more tests to check for consistency.
EDIT: Just ran another test and I got 9.21 Mbps down and 1.13 Mbps up.

I'm full bars on my Lumia 920 here at work, only getting 5/0.6 on LTE so I guess C6903 would do just fine. I only ever get good LTE speeds at home, but I use my phone on my wifi connection there so it's not very useful. Thanks!

I received my Sony Xperia Z1 from GSM Nation yesterday and can vouch for the fact that the 6903 model will in fact NOT work with AT&T's 4G LTE network. I live in New York City too, if that means anything. I spent the entire afternoon trying to connect to the LTE network. Instead, I was able to connect to the 3G (HSPA+) network and that's it.
I am very unhappy about this and will be returning the phone to GSM Nation immediately. I love LTE speed and did not know that battery life was affected by it too (thanks for that youwonder!) so I'll patiently wait for the 6906 model to be released. Does anyone know when that might happen? I can live with my old Galaxy Note II for now I suppose. Agh!

QwaarJet said:
What speeds are you guys getting on ATT with the C6903? If the C6906 isn't shipping anywhere by midnext week I'm going to order the C6903, I've been android less for 2 weeks now, I'm going crazy. I don't use my phone as a hot spot or for file downloads, so I don't need crazy speeds which I don't even get anyway LTE wise in my area, usually 22mbps max and on average upper teens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually am in an area where I get LTE on AT&T with the 6903 interesting, it does get the normal speeds so highest so far 20 down which is pretty good.

AhsanU said:
I received my Sony Xperia Z1 from GSM Nation yesterday and can vouch for the fact that the 6903 model will in fact NOT work with AT&T's 4G LTE network. I live in New York City too, if that means anything. I spent the entire afternoon trying to connect to the LTE network. Instead, I was able to connect to the 3G (HSPA+) network and that's it.
I am very unhappy about this and will be returning the phone to GSM Nation immediately. I love LTE speed and did not know that battery life was affected by it too (thanks for that youwonder!) so I'll patiently wait for the 6906 model to be released. Does anyone know when that might happen? I can live with my old Galaxy Note II for now I suppose. Agh!
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Heres the message I got to the query, about at&t lte from GSM Nation, also asked them about 6906. Edited out private stuff.
"at&t's main frequency for LTE is 700 mhz so the 6903 working is really upto where in the US you live and that is unfortunately not information we would have. It is certainly limited markets for 1700's but these are just reports from customers from our followups.
Regardless we do not advertise it as compatible with at&t due to it being limited markets. And would advise that customers purchase it for use with at&t LTE at their own risk. The c6906 model traditionally comes to carriers first so that would be the safest bet at this time if your looking for at&t LTE. It should be available soon in the US."
seems pretty clear cut.

Sony Xperia ZL C6503 also no LTE
Rebsters said:
Heres the message I got to the query, about at&t lte from GSM Nation, also asked them about 6906. Edited out private stuff.
"at&t's main frequency for LTE is 700 mhz so the 6903 working is really upto where in the US you live and that is unfortunately not information we would have. It is certainly limited markets for 1700's but these are just reports from customers from our followups.
Regardless we do not advertise it as compatible with at&t due to it being limited markets. And would advise that customers purchase it for use with at&t LTE at their own risk. The c6906 model traditionally comes to carriers first so that would be the safest bet at this time if your looking for at&t LTE. It should be available soon in the US."
seems pretty clear cut.
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Click to collapse
PMFJI. I own the C6506 (Sony branded, carrier unlocked) which support a wide range of bands including LTE IV and LTE XVII, both of which are used by AT&T. In addition, I get PCS 1900 which AT&T is rolling out.
I get NO LTE service and I was told this is by design. If you do not own an AT&T branded phone, the network will not permit you on the LTE network. I am provisioned for LTE but I cannot get even 4G.
This was not explained by anyone and it took me a number of support calls and escalations to learn this. I believe the only way to effect change on this rregressive policy is for people to complain. There is no reason to penalize BYOD customers who choose not to own an AT&T branded device.
My device specs for LTE: 4G Network LTE 700 / 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 - C6506

T-Mobile LTE signal

I just got the phone on Monday. With the original ROM and after taking several OTA updates, my LTE signal strength at home and at work was horrible. I'd get around -120 dBm and it would frequently change to HSPA and even EVDO.
One thing that I noticed is that on LTE, it was using band 4, which is 2100 MHz. On my Note 2, it always used band 14, which is 700 MHz. The lower frequency penetrates buildings better and gave me a better signal at work and home (not great, but useable).
I just updated to the latest T-Mobile ROM from the developer site. The LTE signal strength is a bit better at -116 dBm and so far, it isn't changing to HSPA or worse. However, it is still using band 4.
Does anyone know why my old phone used band 14 and this new phone uses band 4? I would think that the phone would use whichever band gave it the best signal, which would certainly be band 14. Is there any way to force this?
Thanks.

I didn't look up the Note 2's specs but I'd guess it didn't have band 4. What are you using to see your band? OpenSignal?

Powell730 said:
I didn't look up the Note 2's specs but I'd guess it didn't have band 4. What are you using to see your band? OpenSignal?
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I just looked up the specs on Wikipedia. It says that the T-Mobile version uses band 17, but I know that the phone said band 14 before I swapped SIMs.
Wikipedia says the Nexus 6 uses bands 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 25 / 26 / 29 / 41.
This is from the T-Mobile Support site: "TMO uses bands 2 and 4 on LTE/4G & 3G". Also from Support: "LTE band 4(1700/2100), 17(700)". I'm not sure what to believe, or what is in use around here. Like I said above, I know that the Note 2 said it was using band 14.
On the Nexus 6, I'm using an app called LTE Discovery.

T mobile only uses band 2,4,12 for LTE. The note 2 doesn't support band 12. I never heard of band 14.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

mojoehand said:
I just looked up the specs on Wikipedia. It says that the T-Mobile version uses band 17, but I know that the phone said band 14 before I swapped SIMs.
Wikipedia says the Nexus 6 uses bands 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 25 / 26 / 29 / 41.
This is from the T-Mobile Support site: "TMO uses bands 2 and 4 on LTE/4G & 3G". Also from Support: "LTE band 4(1700/2100), 17(700)". I'm not sure what to believe, or what is in use around here. Like I said above, I know that the Note 2 said it was using band 14.
On the Nexus 6, I'm using an app called LTE Discovery.
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I'm by no means an expert when it comes to bands/frequencies, however, if the app told you the Note 2 was on band 14, I think it was lying to you. I'm pretty sure there isn't even a band 14 in the U.S., and almost positive T-Mobile does not run LTE on that band.

When (if) band 12 reaches your neighborhood receiption indoors should improve drastically. On band 4 I usually get -109 to -101 dBm. On band 12 I get around -89 to -94 dBm.

I have tried different ROMs and different radio modems. Nothing I do gets me a decent signal. Very occasionally I have had a moderately strong LTE signal, but even then, the download speed is only usable and the upload speed sucks.
The phone doesn't stay on LTE for long. It switched to HSPA and even EVDO most of the time. On HSPA, my old Note 2 got at least 2 Mb downloads. This N6 can't even get a kilobyte down on HSPA.
I don't know if it really affects things, but I read some comments that a bad SIM could possibly cause this. Is this true? If so, I'll drop by the T-Mobile store again and ask them to try another SIM.
I love the phone for the big screen and other features, but I really can't live with this lousy data connection. If I can't get this resolved, I'll have to return the N6 and buy another phone.
I might consider a Note 5 if I have to. It only has a 5.7 inch screen, but my Note 2 had a 5.5 incher. I don't really use the pen and the price premium is high, but I don't know what other phones have a 5.7-6 inch display, except for some Chinese phones. I don't know if they are any good, or if I could use them on T-Mobile.
Call me frustrated.

have you verified apn settings? mine needed a few changes. band 12 should be rolling out soon. i saw it for a day here in portland and service was amazing. can't wait!

nigelorion said:
have you verified apn settings? mine needed a few changes. band 12 should be rolling out soon. i saw it for a day here in portland and service was amazing. can't wait!
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Anyway to see where band 12 is going live?
Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

Powell730 said:
Anyway to see where band 12 is going live?
Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk
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not sure. saw a few people on reddit mentioning they had seen it in my area. i have been using an app called lte discovery to check what band i am on. 12 only popped up once and haven't seen it since.

mojoehand said:
I have tried different ROMs and different radio modems. Nothing I do gets me a decent signal. Very occasionally I have had a moderately strong LTE signal, but even then, the download speed is only usable and the upload speed sucks.
The phone doesn't stay on LTE for long. It switched to HSPA and even EVDO most of the time. On HSPA, my old Note 2 got at least 2 Mb downloads. This N6 can't even get a kilobyte down on HSPA.
I don't know if it really affects things, but I read some comments that a bad SIM could possibly cause this. Is this true? If so, I'll drop by the T-Mobile store again and ask them to try another SIM.
I love the phone for the big screen and other features, but I really can't live with this lousy data connection. If I can't get this resolved, I'll have to return the N6 and buy another phone.
I might consider a Note 5 if I have to. It only has a 5.7 inch screen, but my Note 2 had a 5.5 incher. I don't really use the pen and the price premium is high, but I don't know what other phones have a 5.7-6 inch display, except for some Chinese phones. I don't know if they are any good, or if I could use them on T-Mobile.
Call me frustrated.
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Are you sure that you're on T-Mobile? EVDO is CDMA network and T-Mobile is GSM...
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

BigDig said:
Are you sure that you're on T-Mobile? EVDO is CDMA network and T-Mobile is GSM...
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
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Yes, I am on T-Mobile. I meant Edge, not EVDO. Too many acronyms.
I just got home and even though the phone is currently showing three bars on LTE, the signal level is only -118 dBm, which isn't good. Speed test won't even do 1/2 Mb/s on download. This is pathetic.
As much as I otherwise like this phone, I can't live with this lousy signal issue. Unless someone knows of a fix, I will have to return the phone to Amazon. As I said, I have tried different ROMS and modems. I have also tried changing various settings that others have suggested (clearing cache, APN settings, etc.). I don't know what else to do.

mojoehand said:
Yes, I am on T-Mobile. I meant Edge, not EVDO. Too many acronyms.
I just got home and even though the phone is currently showing three bars on LTE, the signal level is only -118 dBm, which isn't good. Speed test won't even do 1/2 Mb/s on download. This is pathetic.
As much as I otherwise like this phone, I can't live with this lousy signal issue. Unless someone knows of a fix, I will have to return the phone to Amazon. As I said, I have tried different ROMS and modems. I have also tried changing various settings that others have suggested (clearing cache, APN settings, etc.). I don't know what else to do.
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Have you tried calling tmobile and trouble shooting with them?

Andromendous said:
Have you tried calling tmobile and trouble shooting with them?
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Yes, I've been to the store.

mojoehand said:
Yes, I've been to the store.
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Call and speak to tech support. Most people in the store don't know what there doing.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

mojoehand said:
Yes, I've been to the store.
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Click to collapse
Or chat with t force on twitter. I have had great success with them. They're awesome.
Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

Because of the choppy voice calls, as well as the lousy data connection, I am returning this phone and getting a Note 5. Although it is my personal phone, I also need a reliable phone for when I am on call at work.
I have spent all week on this and can't waste any more time. I need something that works. My Note 2 was reliable. I hope the Note 5 will be also.
Thanks to all for suggestions.

I too am having LTE data connection issues on LYZ28K. Anyone on LMY48M having data issues? I tried setting phone info to "LTE only", but that didn't help. I don't need wifi calling, so I'm wondering if I should switch to LMY48M?

Android M LTE bands check?

Hi Guys,
I had hard times finding how to get the MRA58X T-Mobile version of Android M, and by the time I got it, I'm not sure I'm getting Band 12.
I tried checking it using *#*#33284## but it doesn't seems to work. Do you have any idea how can I check it?
Thanks

fabiansc said:
Do you have any idea how can I check it? Thanks
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There is an app for that.

and youll only get it if tmobile has it in your area. i always get band 4, as im right outside band 12 coverage.

fabiansc said:
Hi Guys,
I had hard times finding how to get the MRA58X T-Mobile version of Android M, and by the time I got it, I'm not sure I'm getting Band 12.
I tried checking it using *#*#33284## but it doesn't seems to work. Do you have any idea how can I check it?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unlike what less informed posters may say there IS an app for that... https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blueline.signalchecklite I'm able to check what band I'm on with this app by looking next to the "sprint" carrier name it will say what band it's on (B41/B25) except while on band 26 since it's the default band they had before doing the multiple band thing, tmo should work the same, alternatively in the same app the frequency of the LTE will appear next to the "LTE" network descriptor no matter what band it's on (mine says LTE 2500 since it's on band 41 which uses 2500MHZ)

fabiansc said:
Hi Guys,
I had hard times finding how to get the MRA58X T-Mobile version of Android M, and by the time I got it, I'm not sure I'm getting Band 12.
I tried checking it using *#*#33284## but it doesn't seems to work. Do you have any idea how can I check it?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always use the SignalCheck app. There is a free version and a paid version.

Thank you guys for your responses.
I actually live in the Bay Area at Stanford so I guess I should have B12 according to the coverage map.
I don't see it though, on both apps I just see the B4. Could it be that the Band4 signal is stronger and that's why I don't see the band 12 as well?
I remember that when I received the phone it had like a T-Mobile app and I had it until I upgraded to Android M on my own, now when I downgraded and upgraded to MRA58X I couldn't see that app again. Could there be anything connection between the two or should it be enough if I just have that firmware installed?

you'll get the bands if they're in the area, apps don't mess with connection on that level... b4 is faster and has more room for tons of subscribers (1700 mhz), so if your phone can see it it still prefer it to b12 which is slower and narrower (700mhz) however it does penetrate buildings better and go further in the country so it's more reliable. they also have b2 (1900mhz) is faster than b4 and b12 but goes less far from the tower and can barely go through a wall... if your phone can see b2 it will prefer it to bands 4 and 12

Sprint Spark network

Ok, so another question. I live in a Sprint Spark network coverage area. Since I have a Nexus 6, it does not have that little spinning sun icon which shows Sprint Spark. I know these phones are "tri-band" which is 25/26/41.
Is LTE 25 and Spark 41 ? What is 26 band ? Or does Sprint Spark tie in all these data bands (and shut off voice) ?
It's ambiguous as to how Sprint Spark network works. I assume once you hit data, it toggles between 25/26/41 rather than 25+26+41. I called Sprint and talk to many different reps about this issue and they are totally clueless. LOL.

mikeprius said:
Ok, so another question. I live in a Sprint Spark network coverage area. Since I have a Nexus 6, it does not have that little spinning sun icon which shows Sprint Spark. I know these phones are "tri-band" which is 25/26/41.
Is LTE 25 and Spark 41 ? What is 26 band ? Or does Sprint Spark tie in all these data bands (and shut off voice) ?
It's ambiguous as to how Sprint Spark network works. I assume once you hit data, it toggles between 25/26/41 rather than 25+26+41. I called Sprint and talk to many different reps about this issue and they are totally clueless. LOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Band 26 is 800mhz and is for building penetration
Band 25 is 1900mhz and is for general LTE ( in some areas there are actually 2x Band 25 carriers)
Band 41 is 2500mhz and is where the speed of sprint network comes into play ( in most areas there are 2x Band 41 carriers)
On sprint the Nexus 6 will only connect to one of these 3 bands or CDMA for voice. Cannot do simultanious voice and data.
Generally the network will put you on the band that is least congested and you are able to actually connect to.
I suggest you visit s4gru.com if you really want to learn about and understand the sprint network.

lubberlick said:
Band 26 is 800mhz and is for building penetration
Band 25 is 1900mhz and is for general LTE ( in some areas there are actually 2x Band 25 carriers)
Band 41 is 2500mhz and is where the speed of sprint network comes into play ( in most areas there are 2x Band 41 carriers)
On sprint the Nexus 6 will only connect to one of these 3 bands or CDMA for voice. Cannot do simultanious voice and data.
Generally the network will put you on the band that is least congested and you are able to actually connect to.
I suggest you visit s4gru.com if you really want to learn about and understand the sprint network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. That is helpful. Why can the phone not connect to CDMA for voice, then using one of the 3 bands simultaneously for data ? How does this differ from the old set up where you could use LTE and voice simultaneously ?

I don't remember the name of the chip that enables this, but it was removed from Sprint phones years ago. The last phone (that I know of) that was capable of doing it was the Samsung GS3 and the HTC Evo 4G LTE. Not sure if the HTC One M7 could do it, too....
Anyway...Sprint has to deploy Voice over LTE (VoLTE) for us to use phone and Data simultaneously again. There are workarounds (Hangouts caller, for example), but it drops if you get a phone call. Also, I haven't found a way to direct phone calls to Hangouts, versus the default phone route.

AarSyl said:
I don't remember the name of the chip that enables this, but it was removed from Sprint phones years ago. The last phone (that I know of) that was capable of doing it was the Samsung GS3 and the HTC Evo 4G LTE. Not sure if the HTC One M7 could do it, too....
Anyway...Sprint has to deploy Voice over LTE (VoLTE) for us to use phone and Data simultaneously again. There are workarounds (Hangouts caller, for example), but it drops if you get a phone call. Also, I haven't found a way to direct phone calls to Hangouts, versus the default phone route.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you could do the sprint/google voice integration and always use the hangouts dialer. it messes with SMS a little, but other than that it works fine.

lubberlick said:
you could do the sprint/google voice integration and always use the hangouts dialer. it messes with SMS a little, but other than that it works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you never connect to 26 ? It's just 25 or 41 ?

mikeprius said:
So you never connect to 26 ? It's just 25 or 41 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blueline.signalcheck&hl=en
If you want to keep track of what band your connected to then snag this app. Typically I am on Band 25 or 41 indoors and band 41 consistently outdoors. That is the Indianapolis area though, your results will vary depending on where you are.
edit: to remove erroneous quote

lubberlick said:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blueline.signalcheck&hl=en
If you want to keep track of what band your connected to then snag this app. Typically I am on Band 25 or 41 indoors and band 41 consistently outdoors. That is the Indianapolis area though, your results will vary depending on where you are.
edit: to remove erroneous quote
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Click to collapse
Thanks. Its funny that you mentioned Indianapolis. I actually used to live in Indianapolis until early 2014. I worked downtown near the Indian's stadium off Washington St and lived near Castleton Square Mall. I've noticed 41 connects in LA County, however; in Orange County it seems to be spotty despite the Sprint Spark map showing total coverage. Is all of Indianapolis full integrated into 41 now and the surrounding areas (Avon, Carmel, Greenwood), or just within the 465 loop ?

Pretty much all of it is Band 41 carrier aggregation. For us nexus 6 users that just means we get two band 41 carriers to use. Newer phones can actually combine them together for faster speeds. I have to go pretty far out of the city to lose 41. I'm in my bedroom on my phone typing this and B41 is connected. I live in Noblesville.

lubberlick said:
you could do the sprint/google voice integration and always use the hangouts dialer. it messes with SMS a little, but other than that it works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and it works perfectly...to make calls. You can't receive calls through Hangouts Dialer.

lubberlick said:
Pretty much all of it is Band 41 carrier aggregation. For us nexus 6 users that just means we get two band 41 carriers to use. Newer phones can actually combine them together for faster speeds. I have to go pretty far out of the city to lose 41. I'm in my bedroom on my phone typing this and B41 is connected. I live in Noblesville.
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Click to collapse
So you don't connect to 26? That band is just there to help building penetration? My connection right now says 1xRTT and eHRPD? Is this 3G?

mikeprius said:
So you don't connect to 26? That band is just there to help building penetration? My connection right now says 1xRTT and eHRPD? Is this 3G?
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Click to collapse
Yes ehrpd is 3g, and 1x is voice.