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When I have been browsing other forums I notice they always have a thread about signal levels which users are experiencing.
So I thought I would start one, it might come in useful for people who are undecided on whether to swap radios and its just generally looking at what different people are getting.
Radio: 20.2808.30.085AU_3805.06.03.03
Signal (typically): -91dBm, 3asu
I believe, the lower the dBm the better and the higher the asu the better.
shields360 said:
When I have been browsing other forums I notice they always have a thread about signal levels which users are experiencing.
So I thought I would start one, it might come in useful for people who are undecided on whether to swap radios and its just generally looking at what different people are getting.
Radio: 20.2808.30.085AU_3805.06.03.03
Signal (typically): -91dBm, 3asu
I believe, the lower the dBm the better and the higher the asu the better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IncS S710A on AT&T (USA)
Signal: -71 dBm, 20asu
Radio: 20.4802.30.0822P_3822.10.08.28_M
Incredible S, Virgin Mobile Canada (Bell Mobility)
Signal: -99dBm, 7 asu
Radio: 20.2805.30.085AU_3805.04.03.27_M
S710e on Optus (TPG)
Signal -97 dBm 8 asu
Radio 20.2811.30.085AU_3805.09.03.27_M
I have the GT-I9305N, which apart from the standard 1800 and 2600 MHz bands available on all 3 phones has the 900 MHz band activated in place of the 800 MHz band available on the GT-I9305, whereas the GT-I9305T seemingly has only the 1800 and 2600 MHz bands.
So is the LTE chip in our 3 phones the same chip or are there different variants? And what is the point of the GT-I9305T if the only difference is it has one band fewer than the other two, I mean why not just sell the GT-I9305 in that case? Wouldn't that make more sense out of a manufacturing aspect? (fewer variances means fewer configurations and less work for a manufacturer, I hope this is obvious to people)
I mean unless the point is that the GT-I9305T should only be usable on carriers which have networks with the correct frequency bands supported, making re-sale less likely. That is literally the only possibility I consider likely. What are your thoughts?
Nobody knows anything about this?
Rekoil said:
Nobody knows anything about this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably there is some legislation about low frequency bands in Australia, I don't know... But AFAIK i9305T was made for Telstra Australia, as i9305N was made for Sweden where Tele2 (COV) and Telenor (Voda) are working at the 900 and 2600 spectrum.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=39798979
Source about the networks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_network_operators_of_Europe
I haven't looked into it but don't really think there is much difference. I have the 9305T which from what I have seen appears to be a Telstra only model as I think both Optus and Vodafone in Australia sell the 9305 (I may be wrong but remember seeing Optus with 9305 not 9305T). I have not tried a 9305N rom but both 9305T and 9305 roms work fine on the 9305 only difference lately is signal strength. Status bar reads one bar less if using a 9305 modem. I am pretty sure the 9305T would have the 900 range active as Telstra use both the 850 and 900 range.
I do remember reading some time ago that Telstra are a bit more picky with testing the phone on making sure the software is more suited to their network and being Australia's largest telco provider I think may have sway over some manufacturers who are willing to make multiple varients to get what they want. Just my thoughts could be wrong
Sent from Ripper ROM 5110
I'm not from Australia, so i cannot say much about your telco providers. But here in Brazil i only saw the GT-I9305T been selling by Claro (wich includes mine). As i could search, Claro works with the 850Mhz (3G) , 1800Mhz (GSM/GPRS/EDGE) and 2600 MHz (4G).
On Brazil - as the site from Claro says - 4G only works yet with the range 2,5GHz - 2,69GHz.
== Sorry the bad english ==
For those that buy a GT-I9305T with Telstra firmware and try and use it on another telco's network, calls and SMS will work but MMS and Data will not due to the CSC.
The solution is to download the stock Australian Firmware and use Odin to flash
For example
PDA: I9305TDVBMB1
CSC: I9305TTXSABMB2
The symptom is the missing H+ etc in the status bar next to the signal strength bars.
My phone is GT-I9305T, will it work the same if I flash the GT-I9305 rom along with RIL + modem from GT-I9305T?
I have a gt-i9305N
I think the N stands for Nordic, I live in Sweden and have Tele2
And I have only flashed the rom. No need to flash your radio if it already works fine.
Flashing CM rom won't touch your radio and rightfully so.
southoz said:
For those that buy a GT-I9305T with Telstra firmware and try and use it on another telco's network, calls and SMS will work but MMS and Data will not due to the CSC.
The solution is to download the stock Australian Firmware and use Odin to flash
For example
PDA: I9305TDVBMB1
CSC: I9305TTXSABMB2
The symptom is the missing H+ etc in the status bar next to the signal strength bars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used a i9305t with stock Telstra firmware on the Optus network for a little while before I rooted it and changed roms. Data worked fine...
Sent from my GT-I9305T using xda app-developers app
I know this thread is old but incase anyone else is wondering. Its the modem thats different, the 9305T runs on Australian frequencies and adds the 850 band which is Telstra NextG network.
Hope this helps.
312 24892996
tw15tr said:
My phone is GT-I9305T, will it work the same if I flash the GT-I9305 rom along with RIL + modem from GT-I9305T?
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Click to collapse
Yes. just flashed the german 4.3 ROM on my I9305T - even the 4G data worked, but data speeds improved greatly when I flashed my carrier's current baseband/modem.
The hardware in the variants are the same, it is just a carrier/manufacturer agreement to limit non-carrier provided firmware.
mc_riddle said:
Yes. just flashed the german 4.3 ROM on my I9305T - even the 4G data worked, but data speeds improved greatly when I flashed my carrier's current baseband/modem.
The hardware in the variants are the same, it is just a carrier/manufacturer agreement to limit non-carrier provided firmware.
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Click to collapse
I agree fully. I too have a GT-I9305T LTE from Telstra. I had the 4.1.2 firmware running. I too downloaded the latest Jelly Bean 4.3 for GT-I9305 from Germany (I9305XXUEMKC_I9305DBTEMJ4_DBT). I honestly had my concerns. Compatibility for the network being one of them. I did alot of research and decided to take the plunge. All done and I am more than happy with it. The dowload speed jumped from about 6mbps to 60 mbps. Not sure why but I dont really care its faster than broadband that I'm stck with at the mo. Anyway. GT-I9305 firm works fine in a GT-I9305T.
Sydney, Australia
Brucetheshark said:
I agree fully. I too have a GT-I9305T LTE from Telstra. I had the 4.1.2 firmware running. I too downloaded the latest Jelly Bean 4.3 for GT-I9305 from Germany (I9305XXUEMKC_I9305DBTEMJ4_DBT). I honestly had my concerns. Compatibility for the network being one of them. I did alot of research and decided to take the plunge. All done and I am more than happy with it. The dowload speed jumped from about 6mbps to 60 mbps. Not sure why but I dont really care its faster than broadband that I'm stck with at the mo. Anyway. GT-I9305 firm works fine in a GT-I9305T.
Sydney, Australia
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I did a crap load of research on this earlier in the week because I'm in the process of buying a few I930x phones for the family via eBay.
My understanding is that the hardware is identical but the ROMs in use on each version may affect network operability.
The issue gets clouded because data you find here and there on the interwebs tends to have conflicting information about the phone's specs.
Regardless of what specs you read on GSMArena or elsewhere, the ROMS for phones that Telstra and Optus provide are customised for their requirements.
The hardware may be identical to the that described elsewhere on the web, but the software isn't necessarily so. ROMs for the i9305 and the i9305T are also customised by other network providers around the planet, and thus may differ from the vanilla "International" versions.
I'll restrict my reply to LTE (4G) here, as all variants of the i9300 and i9300T appear to be compatible with 850/900/2100 3G UMTS spectrums used by the three Australian networks.
Both Telstra and Optus currently operate 4G on the 1800 spectrum.
However, Optus operates additional 4G on the 2300 spectrum for its "4G Plus" customers - see Optus's notes at optus[dot]com[dot]au/network/mobile/4g
Telstra does not operate on the 2300 spectrum and has no requirement that its handsets operate there. Hence, I would be surprised if Telstra feels any desperate need to incorporate access to the 2300 spectrum in its ROM.
On the other hand, Telstra has "... also been using some 2100MHz spectrum to provide extra capacity on [their] 3G 850MHz network using the latest generation of network radio equipment known as Software Defined Radio. As the number of LTE devices that are capable of LTE2100 increases, [they] can simply change these cells from 3G to 4G-LTE via software. This will help [Telstra] manage 4G capacity until [they] get...new spectrum. See Telstra's notes at exchange[dot]telstra[dot]com[dot]au/2013/05/07/mobile-spectrum-auction-result/.
So, both the i9305 and the i9305T will work on the 1800 spectrum, but the i9305T may or may not work on the 2300 spectrum and the i9305 may or may not work (for 4G) on the 2100 spectrum.
Theoretically, the i9305T is also optimised for the specific band within the 1800 spectrum that it needs to operate on. However, in practice, the handsets are tolerant enough such that this is not an issue.
Handsets provided by Telstra and Optus will definitely work on the relevant spectrums their respective networks utilize. i9305 devices provided by third party providers require investigation on a case by case basis.
However, the situation is about to become more complex.
At last year's ACMA auction both Telstra and Optus bought additional bandwidth in the 700 and 2500 spectrums for expansion of their LTE networks. See Telstra's info here exchange[dot]telstra[dot]com[dot]au/2013/05/07/mobile-spectrum-auction-result/ (again) and ACMA's info here www [dot]acma[dot]gov[dot]au/Industry/Spectrum/Digital-Dividend-700MHz-and-25Gz-Auction/Reallocation/digital-dividend-auction-results.
In the Telstra link provided above, Telstra also says "Firstly we’re seeing new devices that support the LTE900 MHz band (another low frequency band) so we’ll use this in areas where coverage and capacity makes sense. We’ll also deliver Australia’s first LTE-Advanced network and devices using LTE900+1800" and "We’ve also been using some 2100MHz spectrum to provide extra capacity on our 3G 850MHz network using the latest generation of network radio equipment known as Software Defined Radio. As the number of LTE devices that are capable of LTE2100 increases, we can simply change these cells from 3G to 4G-LTE via software. This will help us manage 4G capacity until we get the new spectrum."
So, in the not-too-distant-future, Telstra 4G devices will operate on bands in the 700, 900, 1800, 2500, and possibly 2100 spectrums, whereas Optus 4G devices will operate on bands in the 700, 1800, 2300 and 2500 spectrums,
A summary is here mobilenetworkguide[dot]com[dot]au/australian_mobile_phone_frequencies.html"]here[/URL].
The big question then is how are customers going to get firmware upgrades so that there devices can take advantage of the spectrum changes.
It would be reasonable to assume that Telstra and Optus will provide updates for newer devices they have provided. However, neither will provide firmware updates for devices acquired from elsewhere. Optus ROMs won't take full advantage of Telstra's network, and Telstra ROMs won't take full advantage of Optus's network. Other ROMS may or may not provide access to all the relevant bands,
So, Telstra may provide updates for i9305T units it has provided, and Optus may provide updates for i9300 devices it has provided. In order to receive these updates you will need to be running the appropriate Telstra/Optus Australian ROM on your device.
Devices acquired from 3rd party providers, whether they are i9305T, i9305, or anything else, will probably be left out in the cold.
You could, of course, root your device and load a suitable ROM that way. I could do it, you may be able to do it, but 99.5% of people out there would not be able to do it. And I really couldn't be bothered to do it on multiple handsets.
So for peace of mind, given these imminent changes I'm sticking with Telstra branded i9305Ts. It just seems to be easier that way.
PS to mods. I saw the message "To prevent spam on the XDA forums, ALL new users prevented from posting outside links in their messages, yada yada yada" However, I'm not spamming and the information I have linked to is on-topic, but it is obviously too voluminous to incorporate into the post. Hence I have taken the liberty of modifying the URLs of the links as a compromise, so that they are not hotlinks but people can still find the sources. I don't mean any disrespect. It's just that I went through this exact same process earlier this week, and found the source information to be really helpful
Brucetheshark said:
I agree fully. I too have a GT-I9305T LTE from Telstra. I had the 4.1.2 firmware running. I too downloaded the latest Jelly Bean 4.3 for GT-I9305 from Germany (I9305XXUEMKC_I9305DBTEMJ4_DBT). I honestly had my concerns. Compatibility for the network being one of them. I did alot of research and decided to take the plunge. All done and I am more than happy with it. The dowload speed jumped from about 6mbps to 60 mbps. Not sure why but I dont really care its faster than broadband that I'm stck with at the mo. Anyway. GT-I9305 firm works fine in a GT-I9305T.
Sydney, Australia
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Question, I'm trying to install the 4.3 ROM also, but so far haven't been able to find it available for download. Can you link to where you found it by any chance?
Edit: I was looking for this specific ROM, as others had tried and tested it. I have found other 4.3 ROM's for the I9305, but if anyone has a link to I9305XXUEMKC_I9305DBTEMJ4_DBT that would be nice
Hi All,
I have both the Dev edition and AT&T version. The problem is the radio on the Dev unit does not perform as well as the AT&T version. The dev unit does not hold LTE signal levels equal to the AT&T version. Who else can tell be they are having the same problem? Or is this an isloated issue with only my phone.
I didn't think the Developer Edition had LTE support for AT&T.
Maybe I'm wrong.
Mine actually gets faster AT&T LTE speeds than the AT&T version. Are you just talking about the number of bars it shows? Because AT&T messes with that to make you think you're getting a better signal than you actually are. Would be more scientific to compare the dBm in Settings > About > Network. dBm will be negative, and for example, -75 is a better signal than -85.
This came up in another thread and I answered it yesterday but in short your dev edition is probably accurate as at&t monkey's with the OS as part of what they call network optimization.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=40592989
MG
Currently I have the Note 2 with AT&T. I will be upgrading to the Note 3 when it comes out. However, I am not sure which version of the Note 3 to get. Should I get the International version or the AT&T version. I think the international version has the Samsung CPU and the AT&T version has the Snapdragon 800. Would the international version work with AT&T LTE cellular? Would the international version work with T-Mobile LTE cellular (just in case I want to switch)?
Which one would give better battery and faster speed/graphics?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the international version will only run on AT&T 3G. I am in the camp that prefers the Snapdragon 800 to the revised Exynos 5, too. I'd opt for the AT&T version (Although personally I'm giving T-Mobile a shot this time around)
The N3 will be my first "carrier" phone on AT&T in two years. I'm not thrilled and depending on what it's like using it I may sell it on eBay and get a HSPA Octa. Here's my thinking:
Pros
I've been fine with HSPA+ on my previous phones and use to pay $10 a month for unlimited data through the "non-smartphone" loophole that applied to phone's AT&T didn't recognize. That party's over. So now I'm paying for LTE and not able to use it. So with AT&T's N3 I'll finally get what I'm paying for and even get LTE-A when they start to roll it out; supposedly this year.
The international N3's are insanely expensive. Negri and NewEgg have the Octa's at $779 and up. On Next it's $35 a month, I have no contract commitment beyond the phone's payoff, and I can sell it on eBay if I want something new.
Service and repair. Whether through Asurion or SquareTrade getting a carrier phone repaired/replaced is easy compared to jumping through hoops to get an international version (non-warranted and non-supported by Samsung in the U.S.) repaired.
Cons
God knows what AT&T's done with the s/w. We know there will be tons of their specific bloatware. That doesn't concern me because it can be disabled and with 32GB of NAND the space it takes up isn't a big deal. My big concern is their modifying, neutering, or completely removing some of Samsung's stock apps and features. I can't root my phones because I connect to secure networks so I'm pretty much stuck with what comes out of the box. I'm scared at what's coming out of AT&T's box.
I loved being able to use any multi-CSC ROM on Samfirmware or Samsung-Updates to keep my unrooted phone always current. I've probably had a dozen updates on my N7100. Now I'll be dependent on AT&T. That alone could end up pushing me to an international Octa N3. Also, to support the new features of Knox, Samsung's seriously altered and locked down the bootloader. So who knows what impact that'll have even on international N3's when it comes to updates via Odin. I used to root my phone when I wanted to do someting to it (EG: Google Wallet) and then unroot afterward and run Triangle Away. That ship sailed mid-year and with the Knox enhancements isn't coming back.
AT&T's modified radio may be crappy and I travel a lot internationally. Also I'm guessing on Next the device can't be unlocked until it's paid off. The only reason this is acceptable in my case is I'm getting a 3G (Octa) Note 10.1 2014 which has a dialer and I can use it in situations I need to pop in another carrier's SIM and/or the AT&T radio isn't working well.
Dev support is going to be limited on the AT&T N3's compared to the international versions. It'll probably still be strong but not as simple, timely, and robust. It doesn't apply to my un-rooted situation but something for people to consider.
The moment I find a S-800 international device that's quad-band GSM/UMTS and supports AT&T's LTE bands I'll buy it and sell my AT&T version. So far the EU and Latin American versions of the N3 don't support AT&T's LTE bands. The UK N3's LTE bands haven't been announced yet but I don't have high hopes. There's a chance a Canadian carrier will leave their version of the N3 unmolested and with the same model number as the international version and that it would support AT&T's LTE bands. That would allow it to be flashed like a non-carrier Samsung phone via Odin (with the possible exception mentioned above) and still get LTE on AT&T. Same thing for Claro in Puerto Rico. I'm not sure about the flash part but even an unmolested Canadian or Pueto Rican N3 with AT&T's LTE bands might end up being better than whatever AT&T does to their version.
All just my opinion of course.
I'm leaning towards either international or T.mobile or Canadian version. The att s4 can't be bootloader unlocked and new update patched the root. I'd hate to not have options on such a power device that I could potentially last for a couple years.
I had the note 1,note2,and now using the galaxy mega until the note 3 hits the shelf.I'm up in the air as well in deciding whether to keep my at&t note 3 or sell it and go international.I'd rather keep the at&t note 3,but who knows if were going to be up ****s creek with no root,are how long or ever going to get root method.I guess I can deal with no roms,but no root forget it
I thought that the international N3 (9005) with the SnapDragon 800 would be compatible with AT&T's LTE bands, no? Wasn't this mentioned during the presentation last week about the N3 supporting global LTE bands? Couldn't one just buy/import an international 9005 which was released in a country whose LTE bands match that of AT&T? Would this work?
I guess we'll know soon, but my own need would be for a variant which supports my home UK 4G network (EE most likely) plus USA AT&T LTE for when I'm in the states. Preferably bought in the UK for my UK carrier because of the discounts.
I thought the release event said they were going to support all bands in one device, but I've no idea if that's actually going to be true of the version you get at your local phone shop.
Andre
hockeyfan said:
I thought that the international N3 (9005) with the SnapDragon 800 would be compatible with AT&T's LTE bands, no? Wasn't this mentioned during the presentation last week about the N3 supporting global LTE bands? Couldn't one just buy/import an international 9005 which was released in a country whose LTE bands match that of AT&T? Would this work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I heard the same thing too.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
I've beeing researching for hours, and accordung to multiple sites, like this one the international N9005 version will support LTE 2100/1800/850/1600/800MHz (Bands 1,3,5,7,20). This does not include AT&T, whose LTE network operates on bands 4 (1700Mhz) and 17 (700Mhz). I hope these frequencies vary by region, like many sites mention, but I have my doubts we'll get lucky to see international N9005 with LTE bands 4 or 17.
Here is a list of countries, which has partial LTE band overlapping with AT&T. None of these support both, bands 4 and 17, which is what AT&T uses:
Argentina - 4
Colombia - 4
Ecuador - 4
Paraguay - 4
Peru - 4
Uruguay - 4
Canada - 4
Puerto Rico - 17
Since Note 3 has LTE radio, capable of supporting up to 6 bands, the only hope is that one of these carriers will pick up a version, where the other missing band is tossed in without any real purpose behind it, just to keep things interesting. For example, AT&T branded GN3 needs only these 2 LTE bands, and yet the device is LTE penta band.
Also, keep in mind we dont even know what band will AT&T use next year, when LTE-A goes live. I believe AT&T owns spectrum in 1900Mhz and 2100Mhz areas, and in the process of acquiring more.
EDIT: I'd like to clarify my statement about GN3 radio supporting 6 LTE bands. What I meant is some carriers will offer a version, which has up to 6 LTE bands enabled simultaneously. The actual hardware capability of Qualcomm's RF360 Front End solution is universal 2G/3G/4G support - the radio is capable of operating on *all* LTE frequencies.
Hello all,
My question, in a nutshell, is: Has anybody successfully added additional LTE or UTMS bands to their i9295?
There's quite a bit of detail online in the following threads about doing this for the S5 and other variants of the S4 Active:
- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2441211
- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2721726
- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2291589
- http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5/general/how-to-add-rf-lte-frequency-bands-to-t2886059/
My own proposition is, I'm travelling from the UK to Southern California at the end of the month, with my S4 Active LTE (i9295). In the past, I've used my old HTC Sensation XE, which had the peculiarity of being an international model which supported 1700MHz for 3G on T-Mobile USA, so getting a T-Mobile SIM on their $3/day tariff was always perfect.
I'm currently running the stock (but rooted) 5.0.1 firmware. I'm aware if I do approach this in the same way as the threads above I may need to install at least a new kernel, if not a custom ROM, to circumvent Qualcomm's protections.
Another question I have is about T-Mobile US's 3G/4G coverage in San Diego, Palm Springs and Los Angeles. I will find another forum to ask this in, but in case anyone can point me to any intel on this, I'm keen to understand whether there's coverage of UTMS/HSPA on band 1 or 2 (2100 or 1900MHz) and/or LTE on band 1 (2100MHz), and whether UTMS/HSPA/LTE band 1 will work without band 4. If SoCal has this coverage, then I may be able to use my phone as-is, having compared band information here:
- http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9295_galaxy_s4_active-5446.php
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile_US#Radio_frequency_spectrum_chart