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[SPRINT] Enable Tri-Band LTE on your N5!

[deleted]

Great work. Should be useful to Sprint users.

You can skip the computer part if you install logcat and begin at step 5 after launching.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Wouldn't battery use increase from enabling this? Because it would be constantly scanning for the other 2 frequencies?

This thread was already done by me a week ago. Use the search function to avoid repost clutter.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

sweet!! thanks been wanting to get my MSL since i got the phone.. just hate talking to sprint reps to get it.. worked great thanks!!:good:

i live in fort worth and set 41 to 1 and the others to zero and i have lte , so does mean i have tri band in my area? and will the other bands set to zero still be used when needed . thanks

randalldeflagg said:
You can skip the computer part if you install logcat and begin at step 5 after launching.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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True enough, but you need to get the right logcat app, some don't work as well as others. I initially tried aLogCat, but didn't seem to work. CatLog app worked great, however.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using XDA Premium HD app

Just saying. No one has been able to get a B41 (TDD-LTE 2496-2690) connection with a Nexus 5 and that's with actual maps of Clearwire sites that's been upgraded and knowing where each site is located at. I've personally visited over 24 sites to no avail and know of others that visited many sites as well. Looks to be a much bigger issue than just changing up the LTE Engineering settings and may be network related.

Just got the phone but I'm pretty disappointed with the LTE speeds 1/2mb down, outside it's a bit better. Went downstairs and it disconnects from LTE altogether. Anyone know if it's a radio (hardware) issue with the phone or firmware radio? Some spots of my house won't even catch LTE, whereas my s2 would get wimax.
I've tried spark but it makes my connection more unreliable more pocket loss, but indeed it does seem to make it faster, placebo? I'm in Los Angeles don't know if it's been rolled out. I tried updating prl/profile to no avail. My next choice would be to try the LG 2 in hope of it having a better radio.
GPS is spot on, and wow this thing is fast!

Just a question, but wouldn't prioritizing band 26 make more sense since that is the 800MHz frequency band?

jxr94 said:
Just a question, but wouldn't prioritizing band 26 make more sense since that is the 800MHz frequency band?
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No, band 41 has the most capacity so you would want to connect to that if you are actually in range of it. It will automatically drop you down to the lower frequency bands as you move out of range of the higher frequency bands.

uh60james said:
No, band 41 has the most capacity so you would want to connect to that if you are actually in range of it. It will automatically drop you down to the lower frequency bands as you move out of range of the higher frequency bands.
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Sweet, thanks for the explanation!

Hello, I tried this on my N% for Sprint today. btw. I live in N. OC, near Los Angeles. If I happen to be in and out of spotty LTE coverage areas. Will these adjustments cause more battery use or or worse performance?
When viewing HD youtube videos, it seems to play smoothly for a while, and then pauses as it the speed is going and up and down or being throttled.

About Band 41
So you means the Band 41 is unopen under default setting?
we need to open it by manual?
You know, the biggest mobile carrier China Mobile's 4G is TDD-LTE, and also use the band 41
But if I use the 4G sim card, it still work in 2G.

ggoomani said:
Hello, I tried this on my N% for Sprint today. btw. I live in N. OC, near Los Angeles. If I happen to be in and out of spotty LTE coverage areas. Will these adjustments cause more battery use or or worse performance?
When viewing HD youtube videos, it seems to play smoothly for a while, and then pauses as it the speed is going and up and down or being throttled.
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I am with uh60james spark seems to offer more throughput and less disconnects.
I drove to Corona from Carson the other day and i was shocked how much coverage sprint has improved on. I wasn't able to stay connected to LTE on my the entirety of my drive but it is impressive how Sprint has extended lte coverage around corona at least on the freeway.
Spark works better for me, less drop offs.

I am in Naperville. Will check this out and see if tri band goes this far out west from chicago.

parmend said:
i live in fort worth and set 41 to 1 and the others to zero and i have lte , so does mean i have tri band in my area? and will the other bands set to zero still be used when needed . thanks
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I haven't heard anything about DFW having Spark anytime soon, so more than likely not. I live in Arlington myself, and would love to see this area Spark-enabled sooner than later.

Enabled this on my n5 a couple weeks ago .... dismal speeds on lte in downtown Los Angeles as usual around 4 down and 2 up.... Yesterday for the first time spark kicked in and I got 44down and 14 up. BUUUUT today its back and slower than ever. around 2 down/1up on LTE

guoting2409 said:
So you means the Band 41 is unopen under default setting?
we need to open it by manual?
You know, the biggest mobile carrier China Mobile's 4G is TDD-LTE, and also use the band 41
But if I use the 4G sim card, it still work in 2G.
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Seems that due to Nexus 5 lacks TD-SCDMA for China Mobile 3G, it is very hard for Nexus 5 auto connect to LTE.
You need *#*#4636#*#*, change mode to "LTE Only" and wait connect to band 41/38 cell and then change it back to "LTE/GSM Auto (PRL)".
After it, you will on LTE until one of following happens: no LTE cell signal; incoming call; make a outgoing call. If fallback to GSM, you will need another round of "LTE Only" settings. Please check some chinese forums, there are plenty of guides.
It seems N5's baseband firmware did not implement some directly GSM to LTE function and do not support China Mobile 3G, so ...

[Q] Verizon Bands 4 & 13

Has anyone had issues with their Nexus 6 not wanting to stay on the stronger band? Using LTE Discovery I'll reset the radio, it will connect to band 13 usually between -90 and -94dBm, then after a couple of minutes it will jump to band 4 and sit at -105 to -108dBm. Is the phone making the decision to jump to band 4, or does the tower make that decision? I currently have the phone set to the LTE only mode, would I be better off in the Global mode?

You can leave the phone in global mode, and LTE discovery shows I am connected to band 13, and stay connected.

From what I have read band 4 is AWS aka XLTE . AWS is capable of higher speeds so I'm curious why would you want to switch to the slower band?

Because the slower band has poor reception.

I leave mine in global as when I am at home I cannot get band 4 and signal at my house is not good however when I am at work i'm on band 4 all day.

Omen87 said:
Because the slower band has poor reception.
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Do you mean better reception?

zetsumeikuro said:
Do you mean better reception?
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Haha, yes I did. Sorry about that.

Omen87 said:
Haha, yes I did. Sorry about that.
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Lol, I figured. Hope it works out for you!

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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!
Click to expand...
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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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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?

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...
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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...
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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.
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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 ?
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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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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.
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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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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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Yes ehrpd is 3g, and 1x is voice.

E6553 T-Mobile Band 12 support

According to the whitesheets the E6553 is supposed to support band 12. However mine never seems to use it. It's always on band 4. I'm in the Houston area, and its supposed to have rolled out here already. Does anyone else have a E6553 and actually have used band 12?
Oh and I'm using LTE Discovery to check.

Kabbage said:
According to the whitesheets the E6553 is supposed to support band 12. However mine never seems to use it. It's always on band 4. I'm in the Houston area, and its supposed to have rolled out here already. Does anyone else have a E6553 and actually have used band 12?
Oh and I'm using LTE Discovery to check.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mine says band 12. I'm on t-mobile in the north Philadelphia area

pikeylfc said:
mine says band 12. I'm on t-mobile in the north Philadelphia area
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Thanks, I was driving around and noticed it use band 12 finally. I guess only a fraction of the towers have band 12, and at my house and work there's only band 4. I wish they had it at work though, our lunchroom has really bad signal penetration...

Kabbage said:
Thanks, I was driving around and noticed it use band 12 finally. I guess only a fraction of the towers have band 12, and at my house and work there's only band 4. I wish they had it at work though, our lunchroom has really bad signal penetration...
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Ya sadly where I've moved to in NJ has horrible LTE coverage

It only switches to Band 12 if you are inside a building where it can't pick up a Band 4 signal or if you are in an area where there is only a Band 12 LTE signal.