3G USA capable Hero - Hero, G2 Touch Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So the Hero's from England won't work on USA 3G bands correct? Does anyone know when a Hero will come out that is capable?

yes that is correct, 3g in the usa will not work on the hero. the hero will come out on october 11th for United States, many indications are hinting that the carrier will be sprint

does this lie in the hardware?

Sorry to bump this thread, but as I asked earlier. Does the 3G settings lie in the hardware, or is it customizable/changeable somehow?

No, there is nothing to "unlock" a non 1700 frequency phone to make it capable of accepting 3G speeds on T-mobile

I've no idea whether the radio in the Hero is capable of supporting T-Mobiles 3G 1700Mhz band, but I do personally find it hard to believe that HTC would manufacture 2 different GSM Heros (as opposed to a GSM and CDMA one) which differ only by the bands they support since the additional cost involved in having 2 separate production lines is probably far greater than the incremental cost of using a more capable radio in all GSM Heros.
My G1 is a US T-Mobile G1, and it works fine with the 3G bands here in Europe. In addition, if you look up the specs of the Magic on HTCs website, it does not mention the 1700MHz band, but the MyTouch 3G does support and it is essentially a Magic.
This would lead me to believe that it is likely to be a firmware rather than hardware restriction - only time will tell!
Regards,
Dave

Hero coming to T-Mobile USA
By the looks of things at http://www.tmonews.com and with a bit of url manipulation I was able to navigate to this pretty convicing and helpful page.
Anyone have any better resources?

foxmeister said:
...My G1 is a US T-Mobile G1, and it works fine with the 3G bands here in Europe. ...
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yeah, but the G1 was designed specifically for t-mobile and so the G1 itself was built to support the bands for all t-mobile networks in one device.
And as the european ones nearly all use 2100mhz, that is a slightly different case.
and as for the URL manipulation, that doesn;t always mean anything.. with the right manipulation, you can get it to show updates for one device on a page titled for a totally different model. however, it would be good if you are right!!

G1 = 1700 and 2100 MHz
Hero = 900 and 2100 MHz
So both work fine in europe (2100) but only the G1 will work with T-mo US (1700). Considering that there is no reasonable prepaid 3g data in the US anywhere, not many European travellers will miss the 1700MHz capability of their cell phone.
The choice of the 900MHz band is a bit odd, seems like the only reasonably-sized market for that would be Australia. At least it'll work when you are down-under ;-)

at the moment yeah, but many European networks are pushing to get access to the 900mhz frequency and use it for 3G once 2G gets turned off.
apparently it has better penetration into buildings or something...don't quite understand the reasons why it should be better for that, but the UK networks certainly want a bit of that action....

rhedgehog said:
at the moment yeah, but many European networks are pushing to get access to the 900mhz frequency and use it for 3G once 2G gets turned off. apparently it has better penetration into buildings or something...
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As a rule of thumb, the lower the frequency (longer wavelength) the deeper it is going to penetrate. Thats why you can listen to the radio inside whereas you can't see the sun (visible light=much higher frequency).

cool.
I understand now. i suppose it kinda makes sense as well, lower wavelengths tend to have more power anyway,so i shoulda figured that out....

Related

[Q] Do we know the extent of the AT&T-friendly UMTS hardware in the T-Mobile Vibrant?

[Q] Do we know the extent of the AT&T-friendly UMTS hardware in the T-Mobile Vibrant?
So as a lot of you know, the T-Mobile U.S. version of the Samsung Vibrant turned out to have hardware support for AT&T's 3G. But from reading user comments, it sounds like the T-Mobile Vibrant only has UMTS 1900, and not UMTS 850 as well. Obviously this isn't a problem if you've only got 1900 in your area, but I'm pretty sure we do have UMTS on 850 in my city.
I'm wondering if anyone with the T-Mobile Vibrant has tried using the extra 3G band(s?) and can confirm which are present. Is it 1900 and 850, or just 1900? Further, does anyone know how can I check to see which frequency AT&T provides 3G on in my city (short of relying on the clueless CSRs at my local retail store)? I've got a buddy with a Nexus One on AT&T, is there a quick way for him to see what frequency the UMTS tower he's connected to is using?
In the interest of completeness, I'll cover the questions that I'm sure will get asked so that folks don't **** up the thread with them.
Why not just get an AT&T Captivate?
Handful of reasons. I prefer the Vibrant's aesthetic, but more importantly because AT&T doesn't have T-Mobile Vibrant IMEIs on file. This means you can add and drop data at your own discretion instead of being required to use it, and it also means that their system will treat it as a dumbphone. Definitely a perk.
Why not just get a Galaxy S Vibrant from Bell in Canada? It definitely has 850 and 1900.
This is what I'll end up doing if the T-Mobile one doesn't work out, but it's a pretty big pain in the ass to get Canadian phones shipped down here whereas the T-Mobile version is readily available. Also, no warranty!
Thanks guys.
From what Ive read, the Vibrant works on 850/1700/1900/2100. --See edits below--
~T.J.
EDIT: See this post: http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...too.-Works-on-ATT-3g.?p=13923098#post13923098
Picture
http://www.howardforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=67212&d=1280324484
EDIT AGAIN: Here was another list of frequencies, and a picture of the side of the box which lists them from a review site.
Band (frequency): 850 MHz;900 MHz;1800 MHz;1900 MHz;UMTS: Band I (2100);UMTS: Band IV (AWS);UMTS: Band IV (1700/2100)
Picture
http://rounduprussy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/IMG_7228.jpg
It doesn't work on WCDMA 850. Doesn't support it. Try selecting it only and put a AT&T sim in and see if you get 3G. Yea you won't, then try selecting 1900 only and what happens? Yea exactly.
Well, I dont have one in front of me to experiment with my AT&T and T-Mobile SIMs, Im just going off the side of the box and whats listed in the menu (both say 850). I currently have a Captivate and a Fascinate, but Im looking into getting the Vibrant instead for a number of reasons so I was just poking around. Sorry if I was passing on bad info.
~T.J.
EDIT: I thought I read of some people getting it to work on 850, but that could be wrong. Im looking again... Could it be there just isn't 850 coverage where you tried it and instead was 1900 coverage? These are OLD maps though...
http://www.cellularmaps.com/att_850_1900.shtml
Because the T-Mobile 3G network in the U.S. is listening for 3G data in the 1700MHz and 2100MHz bands, it’s the only U.S. network with which the Nexus One phone can communicate. AT&T’s 3G network listens for phones transmitting 3G traffic in the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz bands, which the Nexus One cannot do. All it can do is send 2G traffic in those bands, so it does, making a slower data experience for those using the Nexus One in Ma Bell’s mobile network.
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Just because the it's listed in software doesn't mean it can work. The Fascinate is a CDMA phone and your gonna tell me because you see the bands listed in software that it will work on a gsm network? Really? Either way I'm not trying to get you down. Just saying if that were possible, it would have been mention already. To conclude though, it all comes down to hardware support, the software is just mirrored on all galaxy s phones. The Vibrant only does 1700/1900/2100 for 3G. The 850 band would have benefit you better for in building support, but it's not supported.
ram130 said:
Just because the it's listed in software doesn't mean it can work. The Fascinate is a CDMA phone and your gonna tell me because you see the bands listed in software that it will work on a gsm network? Really? Either way I'm not trying to get you down. Just saying if that were possible, it would have been mention already. To conclude though, it all comes down to hardware support, the software is just mirrored on all galaxy s phones. The Vibrant only does 1700/1900/2100 for 3G. The 850 band would have benefit you better for in building support, but it's not supported.
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That picture is from the screen of a Vibrant. Notice the T-Mobile branding at the ear speaker? But, I do understand about the listing in the software not necessarily having the hardware. Also, I edited my post above.
~T.J.
Dug this all up from the FCC fairly easily just to see for myself.
External photos:
http://www.nwallwheeldrive.com/misc/External.pdf
Internal photos:
http://www.nwallwheeldrive.com/misc/Internal.pdf
FCC ID label location:
http://www.nwallwheeldrive.com/misc/Label.pdf
Heres the test report from the FCC (showing 850 Mhz GSM):
http://www.nwallwheeldrive.com/misc/Measurement Report.pdf
Heres the rest results for the Specific Absorption Rate (showing 850 Mhz GSM around page 25):
http://www.nwallwheeldrive.com/misc/SAR Compliance.pdf
My conclusion? Id say its capable because it has all the hardware (since they were able to test it), but depends on the network around you. That, or they literally software blocked it for some reason.
~T.J.
EDIT: Ok, had to DL the PDF files and I temporarily uploaded them on my web site server for now. Dont know how long I will leave them there however.
850 gsm != 850 umts
D'oh! Talk about needing to sleep! As I said I'm just here to learn too as I want to pick up a vibrant, but apparently I need to sleep before thinking and posting. Sorry about that!
~T. J.
Thanks for all the responses, guys, I really appreciate the thorough feedback.
Sounds like 850 is a bust, which is really disheartening. There's loads of T-Mobile Vibrants on eBay in the $340-380 ballpark, but it's going to cost closer to $500 to get a Bell Vibrant down here.
yeah the phone supports 850GSM but not 850WCDMA/UMTS/3G
k
ty
lqaddict said:
850 gsm != 850 umts
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They are two different type of bands as outlined here: http://www.nwallwheeldrive.com/misc/Measurement Report.pdf
ram130 said:
They are two different type of bands as outlined here: http://www.nwallwheeldrive.com/misc/Measurement Report.pdf
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"!=" == "not equal"
lqaddict said:
"!=" == "not equal"
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oh! teaches me to multitask while in class

HSDPA+ on the Galaxy S2 in the UK?

According to the Carphone Warehouse website, one of the features for the GalaxyS2 is quoted as HSDPA+. Is this an oversite on carphone warehouses part or will HSDPA+ actually be available to us in the uk?
http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/news/coming-soon/samsung_galaxy_s_2
The Samsung Galaxy S 2 is coming soon to The Carphone Warehouse! Just 8.49mm at its thinnest point, Galaxy S 2 is officially the World's slimmest smartphone. It comes with the latest version of Android and a brilliant NEW Super Amoled + display.
Dual core processor, for superb performance
Super fast web browsing with NEW HSDPA+ technology
Full 1080p HD video recording and onscreen playback
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Optimised for entertainment:
Internet
NEW HSDPA+ technology makes your 3G mobile network connection faster, so you can download more content, load online videos more easily and enjoy the web more.
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Click to collapse
the phone has HSPDA+ (4G)
the question is if your phone company supports 4G or not
even if 4G is not an option for your cell company, you can still get 3G with the phone
yeh the question is whether uk phone companies will support hspa+ as it is an extension of 3g really?
because if not they shouldnt be advertising a feature that is disabled.
or due to the recently announced 4g spectrum auction, they are just meaning it will be compatible once the 4g network is set up.
its just hsdpa+ enabled and thats that... what carrier the consumer will be using and if the carrier supports it, is none of their business. they sell internationally just because uk carriers dont support this yet doesnt mean that they arent supposed to describe exactly what they are selling...
no, you guys aren't understanding me. it is a uk website, not an international website of samsung, it is a uk seller selling to the uk, we have tranding standards laws so products arent missold.
do any uk people know if this is possible in this country?
I'm not quite sure you actually know what HSPA+ is - the phone does support this wireless standard, but for it to be useful to you your cell provider needs to have HSPA+ capable stations in your area. They are selling you a capable phone, not cell phone service - and the maximum speed this phone can attain is higher than other phones maximum speed.
And, of course, UK providers do support this standard. You are most likely to get a HSPA+ signal in metropolitan regions. If you absolutely have to know if your area is covered, you need to research further - but this will change over time, as more and more regions are upgraded.
But even if no cell phone provider in your area had capable stations it wouldn't be mislabeling as the seller is only describing the capabilities of the phone - you could be buying it for use outside the UK.
You really need to research before asking pointless questions.
walk.away said:
no, you guys aren't understanding me. it is a uk website, not an international website of samsung, it is a uk seller selling to the uk, we have tranding standards laws so products arent missold.
do any uk people know if this is possible in this country?
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carphone warehouse ships INTERNATIONALLY this means its shipping to countries that do have hsdpa+ carriers...
why make a big deal out of this? even if the uk doesnt have it right now they will in a few months. if they have it already, great...
Carphone Warehouse is an international company, does not mean Carphone warehouse UK ships internationally.
http://selfhelp.carphonewarehouse.com/SelfHelp/request.do?view()=c{a37ba1a0-bc8e-11de-e56d-000000000000}
I am sorry if I wasn't clear with the question, I was wanting an answer/debate as to whether the UK will or already has HSPA+. I was unaware it does as we haven't sold off the old analogue wireless spectrum yet. When this is sold off (sometime mid next year at the earliest) then the networks have to implement it, so more delay.
Having worked previously for many years in electrical retail, if I told someone that their new HD tv made everything HD, that would be misselling, and breaking the law. Same logic applies to the website
NEW HSDPA+ technology makes your 3G mobile network connection faster, so you can download more content, load online videos more easily and enjoy the web more.
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Is this then true that HSPA+ is compatible with the existing 3G networks? There is no need for upgrading the wireless transmitters? I know that Vodafone has done trials but I do not know how these would be done.
Also I don't really think this is a pointless question as for UK users the SGS2 seems to be the first HSPA+ phone available. Again I know that Vodafone has done trials but no phones that have HSPA+ that are available internationally have been sold in the UK with this technology.
Also PartyMango, they are selling you a "cell phone" service as they are a 3rd party seller of Orange/T-Mobile/3/Vodafone services, CW take responsibility for the contract. CW do not sell phones this expensive unlocked or payg.
But thankyou for telling me that there is HSPA+ service already in the UK, as my phone doesn't support it I would never know and having tried to research it I couldn't find anything so asked here, and tried to let potential UK buyers know that a "4G" phone is coming soon fully capable.
Edit: Btw, I don't think locked phones on UK contracts would have cheap rates for being able to use HSPA+ data abroad.
walk.away said:
Is this then true that HSPA+ is compatible with the existing 3G networks? There is no need for upgrading the wireless transmitters? I know that Vodafone has done trials but I do not know how these would be done
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HSPA+ is the next revision of current 3g technology. Providers do need to upgrade their transmitters, but that doesn't necessarily mean replacing the hardware. Almost all recent transmitter hardware sold by equipment manufacturers to cell providers is firmware-upgradeable. Most equipment installed now is even prepared to carry LTE signals at a later time.
walk.away said:
Is this then true that HSPA+ is compatible with the existing 3G networks? There is no need for upgrading the wireless transmitters? I know that Vodafone has done trials but I do not know how these would be done.
Also I don't really think this is a pointless question as for UK users the SGS2 seems to be the first HSPA+ phone available. Again I know that Vodafone has done trials but no phones that have HSPA+ that are available internationally have been sold in the UK with this technology.
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I'm not sure about HSDPA+ but I've had HSDPA on my HTC Hero for the past 18 months with T-Mobile UK, and I know Three UK have HSDPA capability too.
According to GSMArena:
The Hero has HSDPA 900 / 2100
The original SGS has HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100 (And when I played with a SGS in a Three store it had a H, so it definitely worked with Three's HSDPA network)
SGSII has HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
So I think it's just similar but with more frequencies? Not sure, but hope it helps somewhat!
EDIT: I looked it up on Wikipedia and HSPA+ is a much faster connection, I'm sure we don't have that in the UK yet, perhaps it's just a misprint on the website?
Ayrlupine said:
EDIT: I looked it up on Wikipedia and HSPA+ is a much faster connection, I'm sure we don't have that in the UK yet, perhaps it's just a misprint on the website?
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HSPA+ does feature different speed levels, on the phone side as well as on the network side - many cell providers all around the world do have it, UK providers too. It would be very odd for the UK networks not to feature this technology, as opposed to most domestic european cell networks. But rural areas most often won't have HSPA+ coverage.
And it is no misprint as the website is advertising the phones capabilities, not a specific cell providers network features.
4G like 3G they are all shared bandwidth
so don't expect to see full speed in heavily populated area
if 200 people happened to be connected to the same cell phone tower pumping out 4G, then all 200 people are sharing the same 21 Mbps bandwidth
that means each one will probably be getting in reality 2.1 Mbps at best
of course that's like a worse case scenario, and only if all 200 people are actually downloading heavy content off the network
Sorry about the double post T.T
Three UK are supposedly rolling out HSPA+ this year, they've just announced a HSPA+ capable mobile broadband dongle. (I have no source, I'm lazy, just google HSPA+ UK or HSPA+ Three.)
So that's pretty neat, I'm thinking of getting SGSII with Three, hopefully I'll be able to hop on the HSPA+ when it rolls out!
AllGamer said:
if 200 people happened to be connected to the same cell phone tower pumping out 4G, then all 200 people are sharing the same 21 Mbps bandwidth
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Number of frequencies that can be used simultaneously on a cell tower has gradually increased from 1 upto 4 today and maybe more later.
So upto 4 frequencies can be used in the same area and each frequency can handle 21 Mbps.
Later there will be phones that can handle several frequencies simultaneously
to get higher speed.
so with this being a hsdpa+ device is it safe to assume that if I were to buy a British sim free version that I can pop in my tmobile sim card would only have 3G speeds?
the fact that is says hsdpa+ and not hspa+ kinda makes me worried that the s2 cant achieve "4G" speeds. (at least the british version)
someone correct me if im wrong but hsdpa+ is the technical term for what tmobile calls 3g and hspa+ is supposed 4G.
Your phone will be able to achieve the highest speed its standards and the implemented network standard allow - the Galaxy S II supports 21 Mbps down (HSPA+) and 5,76 Mbps up (HSUPA). These are the maximum supported speeds/standard, of course the phone can utilize older standards like HSDPA, UMTS, EDGE or even GPRS as well if the local network won't support anything better. If this were a HSDPA+ phone, the maximum achievable speed would be 14,4 Mbps.
4G is nothing more than a marketing term, used by different cell providers for different standards. At this point, it has lost its meaning. (But, yes, by your definition, the Galaxy S2 is going to be a "4g device")
PartyMango said:
Your phone will be able to achieve the highest speed its standards and the implemented network standard allow - the Galaxy S II supports 21 Mbps down (HSPA+) and 5,76 Mbps up (HSUPA). These are the maximum supported speeds/standard, of course the phone can utilize older standards like HSDPA, UMTS, EDGE or even GPRS as well if the local network won't support anything better. If this were a HSDPA+ phone, the maximum achievable speed would be 14,4 Mbps.
4G is nothing more than a marketing term, used by different cell providers for different standards. At this point, it has lost its meaning. (But, yes, by your definition, the Galaxy S2 is going to be a "4g device")
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Right I could care less about the 4g wars because none of these network technologies are true 4g. BUT with that being said there is a big difference is real world speed levels between the 2. The GS4G is advertised as a hspa+ and hsdpa+ capable device that is capable of 21mbps. Of course I've never seen anything over 10 but the SGS2 is only being advertised as hsdpa+. So with that being said I guess its safe to say that the SGS2 does not have a hspa+ radio in it. Only an hsdpa+ radio. Correct? None of the docs I've seen show that it is a hspa+ capable device
Sent from my DAMN Galaxy 4G¡!
walk.away said:
no, you guys aren't understanding me. it is a uk website, not an international website of samsung, it is a uk seller selling to the uk, we have tranding standards laws so products arent missold.
do any uk people know if this is possible in this country?
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I am from the UK and can't see how this breaks any trading standard laws. Listing what features the phone actually has does not break TS if the carrier you use it with does not support it. It's no different to listing the phone has quad band even though some of those frequencies are not used in UK. It is fine for Carphone warehouse to list features they know are not supported in UK because:
1. They may be supported in UK in future.
2. Some customers may go overseas and roam to other carriers that do support those features.
But, to answer your direct question. I have not heard about any UK carriers who support HSPA+. This wiki lists worldwide carriers that do support it but UK is not listed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSPA%2B.

[Q] hey guys looking for a straight answer

Ok guys I have an atrix 4g running on t-mobile. My question is why cant I get 4g/3g on this phone ? T-mobile runs on the 2100 band and the phone does support that band so why no 4g or 3g? common sense would tell me that if t-mo runs 4g on 2100 and the phone is capable of running on 2100 that it would work. have searched for a total of about 4 hours or so over the past couple days and cant find a straight answer only thing i can find is that att doesnt run on 2100 band yet the phone does. thanks in advance to anybody that can answer and taking the time to read.
are you getting H+ or H? (This is "3.5g") The Atrix 4g is not a true 4g phone.
Because the 2100 spectrum that you're using the phone on now is part of the quad-band gsm which is edge/2g. The difference lies in the bands used for 3g/4g, in which case AT&T only uses 850/1900 and tmobile only uses 1700/2100.
There is also a bunch of things that include HSPA, AWS, WCDMA, and so on and so on but I don't know enough about that to comment.
EDIT: Also, the only phones I know that can be used on both AT&T and Tmobile 3g/4g are "penta-band" phones like some European Nokia phones and the unlocked Galaxy Nexus that needs to be imported as well.
shattar01 said:
Ok guys I have an atrix 4g running on t-mobile. My question is why cant I get 4g/3g on this phone ? T-mobile runs on the 2100 band and the phone does support that band so why no 4g or 3g? common sense would tell me that if t-mo runs 4g on 2100 and the phone is capable of running on 2100 that it would work. have searched for a total of about 4 hours or so over the past couple days and cant find a straight answer only thing i can find is that att doesnt run on 2100 band yet the phone does. thanks in advance to anybody that can answer and taking the time to read.
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Wcdma=utms=3g
Yes, WCDMA and AWS(1700), as far as I know, are both from UMTS and the differences in regards to 3G between AT&T and Tmobile lie in the spectrum use (850&1900 vs 1700&2100). And both AT&T and Tmobile use HSPA(+) based off their respected UMTS frequencies.
I just don't understand the "leap" in GSM technology that breaks the quad-band compatibility, that's all.
matthew5025 said:
Wcdma=utms=3g
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Also I've read 850 is att's main spectrum for large areas and 900 for T-Mobile. All higher spectrums are for smaller, rural areas.
If your looking for 3g maybe find a town or, buy a dual band amplifier? That's IF they have 2100 MHz band working where you are located.
Lower bands ie 850/900 are the download streams. 1700/1900/2100 are upload streams. If I'm not mistaken
Also a T-Mobile vibrant supports att, it also has our main band, 850mhz. Again which is the main large areas, like T-Mobile 900mhz. 1700-2100mhz for att/T-Mobile range is only as good as the towns that still has that band currently operating for hspa/3g data. I've seen alot of T-Mobile phones that have 850/1900/2100, and work on att. If they were 1600/1900/2100 did not for me.
You need that lower frequencies to ensure it to work. Then....
Also for regional based frequencies...
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Mobile_Telecommunications_System
That link will let you know what that all really means.
I think you are mixing up gsm and umts.
GSM = 2G/Edge
UMTS (HSPA, HSPA+, HSDPA/HSUPA, WCDMA, AWS) = 3G
Have a look here. You will see they label "3G" as "UMTS" which is HSPA/WCDMA. A little more down you can see they label their data as "HSDPA", which is download, and "HSUPA" which is upload. Further delineating the speeds they label either one as UMTS for down and Edge as up, which to me tells me they use gsm for the upload and only use UMTS for download. Either way, there is not a T-mobile phone available that can be unlocked and used on AT&T's 3G, just 2G and vice versa. As I have previously mentioned, you will need a penta-band phone for that.
Ciloteille said:
Also I've read 850 is att's main spectrum for large areas and 900 for T-Mobile. All higher spectrums are for smaller, rural areas.
If your looking for 3g maybe find a town or, buy a dual band amplifier? That's IF they have 2100 MHz band working where you are located.
Lower bands ie 850/900 are the download streams. 1700/1900/2100 are upload streams. If I'm not mistaken
Also a T-Mobile vibrant supports att, it also has our main band, 850mhz. Again which is the main large areas, like T-Mobile 900mhz. 1700-2100mhz for att/T-Mobile range is only as good as the towns that still has that band currently operating for hspa/3g data. I've seen alot of T-Mobile phones that have 850/1900/2100, and work on att. If they were 1600/1900/2100 did not for me.
You need that lower frequencies to ensure it to work. Then....
Also for regional based frequencies...
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Mobile_Telecommunications_System
That link will let you know what that all really means.
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And don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to give anyone a hard time but it's misinformation to tell anyone that a T-mobile phone can work on AT&T 3G.
And I'll say it again, I'm not an expert so if anyone can better explain then I'm all ears (eyes).
live4nyy said:
I think you are mixing up gsm and umts.
GSM = 2G/Edge
UMTS (HSPA, HSPA+, HSDPA/HSUPA, WCDMA, AWS) = 3G
Have a look here. You will see they label "3G" as "UMTS" which is HSPA/WCDMA. A little more down you can see they label their data as "HSDPA", which is download, and "HSUPA" which is upload. Further delineating the speeds they label either one as UMTS for down and Edge as up, which to me tells me they use gsm for the upload and only use UMTS for download. Either way, there is not a T-mobile phone available that can be unlocked and used on AT&T's 3G, just 2G and vice versa. As I have previously mentioned, you will need a penta-band phone for that.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to give anyone a hard time but it's misinformation to tell anyone that a T-mobile phone can work on AT&T 3G.
And I'll say it again, I'm not an expert so if anyone can better explain then I'm all ears (eyes).
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I am just merely stating that I have a motorola defy on ATT, and it worked great for a long time with great speeds before I got a motorola atrix and infuse.
Im not saying that every tmobile phone will have working talk/text, or data for that matter. I have just posted an idea, or atleast what to look for when you are cruising for phones not labeled for your carrier.
I was getting my motorola defy with the att "grand fathered internet" for 10 dollars a month and it was about 160-420KB/s down, and 80-190KB/s up. but some phones are capable of this, others arent. I have a general idea, and have played with several different carrier cellphones and used them with att and att's 3g data.
Rogers HTC Dream (x2 of them)
Telus Milestone
Tmobile Defy
Rogers Atrix
ATT Atrix (x2 of them)
ATT Infuse
Rogers and Telus actually use the same 3G bands as AT&T so as long as those are unlocked they will work. And I'm not saying an unlocked T-mobile can't work on AT&T, because they can (they both use quad-band gsm) but you can not use an unlocked T-mobile phone an AT&T 3G. That's all I'm saying.
Now, they did make an European version of the Defy that uses the 850 3G band but not the T-mobile "branded" one.
I'm going to stick to my guns on this one because I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea about interchanging AT&T and T-mobile phones and expecting 3G service. I'm fairly certain about this and unless someone can prove otherwise that's how I will think.
Ciloteille said:
I am just merely stating that I have a motorola defy on ATT, and it worked great for a long time with great speeds before I got a motorola atrix and infuse.
Im not saying that every tmobile phone will have working talk/text, or data for that matter. I have just posted an idea, or atleast what to look for when you are cruising for phones not labeled for your carrier.
I was getting my motorola defy with the att "grand fathered internet" for 10 dollars a month and it was about 160-420KB/s down, and 80-190KB/s up. but some phones are capable of this, others arent. I have a general idea, and have played with several different carrier cellphones and used them with att and att's 3g data.
Rogers HTC Dream (x2 of them)
Telus Milestone
Tmobile Defy
Rogers Atrix
ATT Atrix (x2 of them)
ATT Infuse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
---------- Post added at 08:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:36 AM ----------
Upon further research, I have found this article, where under certain circumstances, you can use an unlocked AT&T iPhone with T-mobile 3G:
http://www.gsmarena.com/tmobile_usa_running_1900mhz_3g_in_some_areas_iphones_invited-news-3537.php
Now, this shows that an AT&T phone can maybe use T-mobile 3G but not the other way around. Again, I'm always up for learning something new but I need references/proof.
Well I do get att 3g on the defy and vibrant. I am currently getting about 300ish KB/s on them and 600+KB/s on my attic, I'm just going with the facts. Those facts are that certain T-Mobile phones will work with Att, provided they have 850mhz band. That allows you in most towns (near me) to get 3g
False.
300KB/s is Edge speed, which is only 2G.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2G
http://www.phonescoop.com/glossary/term.php?gid=107
That's why you get faster speeds on the Atrix because it actually uses 3G.
Again, both AT&T and T-mobile use quad-band GSM. Which is why you can unlock a T-mobile phone and use it on AT&T, and vice versa, but it is only 2G/Edge and NOT 3G.
http://www.phonescoop.com/glossary/term.php?gid=139
http://www.phonescoop.com/glossary/term.php?gid=3
Furthermore, here are the wiki pages for AT&T and T-mobile which both inlcude frequency charts outlining the technology (2G or 3G) each one uses:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT&T_Wireless
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile_USA
Here are the charts:
AT&T:
Frequency Protocol Class
Frequencies used on the AT&T Network
850 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
850 MHz UMTS/HSPA 3G
1900 MHz UMTS/HSPA 3G
700 MHz LTE 4G
T-mobile:
Frequency Band Protocol
850 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
1700 MHz UMTS (W-CDMA)/HSPA/HSPA+ 4G (formerly 3G[34])
1900 MHz UMTS (W-CDMA)/HSPA/HSPA+ 4G
I check for facts and references, I'm only saying what I find in research.
Again, when unlocked, a T-mobile phone can use AT&T 2G/Edge, not 3G
Ciloteille said:
Well I do get att 3g on the defy and vibrant. I am currently getting about 300ish KB/s on them and 600+KB/s on my attic, I'm just going with the facts. Those facts are that certain T-Mobile phones will work with Att, provided they have 850mhz band. That allows you in most towns (near me) to get 3g
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

How is the reception on the Lumia 800

The reason is I ask is because when the 900 comes to the US im debating on getting an unlocked version on Tmobile or switching to AT&T for the Lumia 900. The reason for the switch to AT&T is because of the iphone 4S users at my job can pull 3G in areas where I dont get reception at all. What gives? A guy that I work with gave up his Titan that he loved for a 4S just because he can pull 3G in areas his Titan cant where I work. I feel thats fair enough. So im wondering why the iphone can pull 3G in areas the Titan cant on the same service and wondering will the Lumia 900 give me the same reception service as the iphone S? Not sure if anybody is in the position to test this out.
I found the reception to be great my wife has a Mozart on same network as my lumia and I still have a couple of bars of 3g when she has lost all signal, is in underground shops.
Sent from my Lumia 800 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
that sounds good. hopefully when i get the lumia it works everywhere my co workers 4s works. I wonder why it varies between devices on the same network? KI hear that the 4s has a dual antenna and it depends on what material the phone is made out of. Is this true?
937dytboi said:
that sounds good. hopefully when i get the lumia it works everywhere my co workers 4s works. I wonder why it varies between devices on the same network? KI hear that the 4s has a dual antenna and it depends on what material the phone is made out of. Is this true?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it's not true.
The fact is, Lumia 800 in theory supports 3g quad band (850,900,1900,2100 mhz) BUT only 900/1900/2100 are supported in current firmware releases.
You are getting signal from 1900 towers, an iphone 4s is getting signal also from 850 towers.
Titan, depending on version, may be in the same situation.
Lumia 900 will be, as HD7S, in an opposite situation: 850/900/1900, so it will work well in North and latin america and will not get good 3g signal in europe\asia\africa
You can get a good picture of the situation here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UMTS_networks
and here
http://www.cellularmaps.com/att_850_1900.shtml
Does the frequency determine if u can get reception in hard to get places such as all concrete/block building or in heavily insulated basements. At my job its hard for anybody to get a good reception but it's rare for anyone to get 3g besides these guys that have high end smartphones
Sent from my Venue Pro using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
937dytboi said:
Does the frequency determine if u can get reception in hard to get places such as all concrete/block building or in heavily insulated basements. At my job its hard for anybody to get a good reception but it's rare for anyone to get 3g besides these guys that have high end smartphones
Sent from my Venue Pro using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quality of reception is determined by several factors:
1) Build quality of phone antenna and radio software
2) Distance from signaling tower. Different frequencies usually have different towers. Different hardware\software on the phone support different frequencies.
Of course good phones have good antennas (and lumia for example has a very good one), but if you read my links you will discover that in US you have a real mess in 3g umts phone frequencies comparing to the rest of the world and even between companies.
For example:
- T-mobile: 1700+2100
- At&t: 850+1900
- Verizon: totally different technology until they migrate to lte, however 1700 (that's the reason of manufacturers releasing few phones on this network and usually long after initial availability).
Mexico: 850 only
Latin america: like at&t, 850+1900
Australia: 850+2100
Rest of the world (europe, asia, oceania, africa, brazil): mainly 2100
So, antenna is important, frequency (and distance from tower) is even more important.
fshqbizfs said:
Quality of reception is determined by several factors:
1) Build quality of phone antenna and radio software
2) Distance from signaling tower. Different frequencies usually have different towers. Different hardware\software on the phone support different frequencies.
Of course good phones have good antennas (and lumia for example has a very good one), but if you read my links you will discover that in US you have a real mess in 3g umts phone frequencies comparing to the rest of the world and even between companies.
For example:
- T-mobile: 1700+2100
- At&t: 850+1900
- Verizon: totally different technology until they migrate to lte, however 1700 (that's the reason of manufacturers releasing few phones on this network and usually long after initial availability).
Mexico: 850 only
Latin america: like at&t, 850+1900
Australia: 850+2100
Rest of the world (europe, asia, oceania, africa, brazil): mainly 2100
So, antenna is important, frequency (and distance from tower) is even more important.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool thanks for the help, you really broke it down for me. As long as I hyave a good antenna in my phone, something better than this DVP on Tmobile in the Us, im good. Tmobile sucks in my area and im regretting getting their service. When I had ATT a few years back I didnt have much of a problem.
I just want something that can give me reception quality as close to the 4S in my area.

[Q] Unlocked UK Lumia 920 (Clove/Expansys) on LTE network

Has anyone tried using one of the white unlocked Lumia 920 from Clove (I guess the ones from Expansys are the same) on an LTE network?
Specifically, do you have the "4G" option in the "highest connection speed" settings?
In my case, although I am using an LTE SIM with an LTE network on a supported band, I only have "2G" and "3G" options in the Highest Connection Speed settings. So normally it is only connecting over HSPA. Through playing around a lot with scanning LTE bands with the Field Test tool (##3282#), I can sometimes get the device to connect to LTE, after which it works perfectly on LTE until reboot. But it's not really a long-term solution.
The default firmware on my device is country variant "CV GB SW Variant ID 276 v03" which (apart from the version number) seems to be the same firmware as that sold by Orange / T-Mobile in the UK (i.e. for 3G networks).
I was thinking about trying to flash the EE firmware, but concerned this could create other issues (such as end up locking the phone to EE, or to certain LTE bands, or something...). Any thoughts appreciated.
You don't mention where you are, but that might help respondents.
As you may know, the LTE bands are different between the NA and Europe. The LTE Bands listed on the international version are 800/900/1800/2100/2600 while the NA(Rogers & AT&T) version has 700/850/1700/1900/2100.
Are you sure you are connecting to the LTE bands? Do you have an LTE SIM installed?
tomdjp said:
Has anyone tried using one of the white unlocked Lumia 920 from Clove (I guess the ones from Expansys are the same) on an LTE network?
Specifically, do you have the "4G" option in the "highest connection speed" settings?
In my case, although I am using an LTE SIM with an LTE network on a supported band, I only have "2G" and "3G" options in the Highest Connection Speed settings. So normally it is only connecting over HSPA. Through playing around a lot with scanning LTE bands with the Field Test tool (##3282#), I can sometimes get the device to connect to LTE, after which it works perfectly on LTE until reboot. But it's not really a long-term solution.
The default firmware on my device is country variant "CV GB SW Variant ID 276 v03" which (apart from the version number) seems to be the same firmware as that sold by Orange / T-Mobile in the UK (i.e. for 3G networks).
I was thinking about trying to flash the EE firmware, but concerned this could create other issues (such as end up locking the phone to EE, or to certain LTE bands, or something...). Any thoughts appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have a look at this offivial Blog post from Nokia.
http://goo.gl/L2eiy
They basically saying that even-thought the new Lumias are LTE ready they will required a software update to turn LTE ON.
The information on that is very limited as Nokia didn't specify ANY details on how they will push this OTA.
What happens if you have an unlock device and use it in a different country of its origins? How they will push the update under what criteria?
Is the update is driven by the SIM ID? They will update the OS and turn ON LTE depending the SIM region or the device IMEI region?? Nobody knows...
Even worst there is a rumor that the latest Snapdragon S4 is supporting all 9 LTE bands at ONCE and the software just enable the appropriate ones, its programmable from the firmware. If this is true, then Nokia is committing a suicide here, they can simply program WP8 to recognize the SIM ID and turn ON/OFF LTE Bands depending the Network. Going with OTAs across different devices and regions will be a mess.
nMIK-3 said:
Have a look at this offivial Blog post from Nokia.
http://goo.gl/L2eiy
They basically saying that even-thought the new Lumias are LTE ready they will required a software update to turn LTE ON.
The information on that is very limited as Nokia didn't specify ANY details on how they will push this OTA.
What happens if you have an unlock device and use it in a different country of its origins? How they will push the update under what criteria?
Is the update is driven by the SIM ID? They will update the OS and turn ON LTE depending the SIM region or the device IMEI region?? Nobody knows...
Even worst there is a rumor that the latest Snapdragon S4 is supporting all 9 LTE bands at ONCE and the software just enable the appropriate ones, its programmable from the firmware. If this is true, then Nokia is committing a suicide here, they can simply program WP8 to recognize the SIM ID and turn ON/OFF LTE Bands depending the Network. Going with OTAs across different devices and regions will be a mess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are international versions that HAVE ALL 9 LTE bands enabled and also petaband 3G.
For example in Germany:
http://www.nokia.com/de-de/produkte/smartphones-und-handys/lumia920/technische-daten/ (expand where it says "Basisdaten")
or in Singapore:
http://www.nokia.com/sg-en/products/phone/lumia920/specifications/ (expand where it says "Hardware")
or also in Switzerland:
http://www.nokia.com/ch-de/produkte/smartphones-und-handys/lumia920/technische-daten/ (expand where it says "Basisdaten")
I think there might be a good chance that you can unlock those extra bands on international versions (RM-821) that have them disabled by flashing a different firmware version. However this is just me thinking out loud so please don't blame me if it doesn't work or if it breaks your phone!
However I would strong discourage you from flashing an RM-821 firmware to an RM-820 (North American version) as I know that sb around here almost broke his phone by doing so.
Hi all
Thanks for your replies so far.
Right now I am using the phone in Japan, where there are three carriers with Band 1 (2100 MHz) LTE networks. I only tried one carrier so far, and yes it is an LTE SIM. As mentioned, I can actually connect to LTE and have used it for several hours, it's just necessary to use an unreliable trick (with ##3282#) to get the phone to see the LTE network. This seems related to the fact there is no 4G option in my highest connection settings.
Thanks for the heads-up on the OTA updates, agreed it's not clear how this will work at all...
Regarding the LTE band support, personally (although it's just my intuition) I think the lists of 9 LTE supported bands on those regional Nokia websites are probably in error (it wouldn't be the first time). Normally the most reliable source in Nokia's website is Nokia Developers, which clearly shows five bands for global RM-821 (1, 3, 7, 8, 20) and four bands for AT&T RM-820 (2, 4, 5, 17).
While the Snapdragon baseband may be able to support all 9 bands, the most difficult part of the design is the RF - filters, amplifiers, etc. So I imagine different RF chains are used in the two variants to support these specific bands.
Again, if anyone has the unlocked RM-821 and tried with an LTE SIM, if you could confirm if the 4G setting is available in highest connection settings, it would be much appreciated.
karlmueller said:
There are international versions that HAVE ALL 9 LTE bands enabled and also petaband 3G.
For example in Germany:
http://www.nokia.com/de-de/produkte/smartphones-und-handys/lumia920/technische-daten/ (expand where it says "Basisdaten")
or in Singapore:
http://www.nokia.com/sg-en/products/phone/lumia920/specifications/ (expand where it says "Hardware")
or also in Switzerland:
http://www.nokia.com/ch-de/produkte/smartphones-und-handys/lumia920/technische-daten/ (expand where it says "Basisdaten")
I think there might be a good chance that you can unlock those extra bands on international versions (RM-821) that have them disabled by flashing a different firmware version. However this is just me thinking out loud so please don't blame me if it doesn't work or if it breaks your phone!
However I would strong discourage you from flashing an RM-821 firmware to an RM-820 (North American version) as I know that sb around here almost broke his phone by doing so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought the same thing on PentaBand 3G and 9 Bands LTE, however in another discussion we verified (at least for the German model) that even thought the Nokia German website states PentaBand 3G and 9 Bands LTE, in the retail Box it only mentions QuadBand 3G (AWS missing) and PentaBand LTE.
With the Canadian model being PentaBand and Snapdragon's S4 Specs claiming that is fully supporting it, along with the programmable LTE, we really have no clue of whats really going on until Nokia, or anyone else clarify it...
I have a very bad feeling that the all 920s are PentaBand 3G and support all bands of LTE with programmable software but Nokia for some reason is locking specific bands on specific models/regions.
Hopefully in time we will clarify everything and hopefully its sooner rather than later..
nMIK-3 said:
I thought the same thing on PentaBand 3G and 9 Bands LTE, however in another discussion we verified (at least for the German model) that even thought the Nokia German website states PentaBand 3G and 9 Bands LTE, in the retail Box it only mentions QuadBand 3G (AWS missing) and PentaBand LTE.
With the Canadian model being PentaBand and Snapdragon's S4 Specs claiming that is fully supporting it, along with the programmable LTE, we really have no clue of whats really going on until Nokia, or anyone else clarify it...
I have a very bad feeling that the all 920s are PentaBand 3G and support all bands of LTE with programmable software but Nokia for some reason is locking specific bands on specific models/regions.
Hopefully in time we will clarify everything and hopefully its sooner rather than later..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Different frequency bands require different antenna design. It is probably very difficult to design an antenna that can satisfy all LTE bands even though the chipset can support it. So, instead, Nokia is probably going to selectively make different hardware with different antenna design to fit a specific region. Apple iPhone 5 uses the similar Qualcomm chipset and it only supports very limited LTE bands for international version.
foxbat121 said:
Different frequency bands require different antenna design. It is probably very difficult to design an antenna that can satisfy all LTE bands even though the chipset can support it. So, instead, Nokia is probably going to selectively make different hardware with different antenna design to fit a specific region. Apple iPhone 5 uses the similar Qualcomm chipset and it only supports very limited LTE bands for international version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For 3G PentaBand is now standard in almost all chips and since the Canadian variant comes with PentaBand on board and the fact that is standard on the S4 I really see no reason of why Nokia will order a custom version of the S4 to just physically take off the AWS. It doesn't make any sense, so if its missing, most likely is turn off in firmware.
For the LTE. Qualcomm introduced a revolutionary technology called Software Defined Radio or simply SDR and the Snapdragon S4 Plus MSM8960 chip which is inside the Lumia 920, supports that technology. With SDR the chipset support all LTE bands from a low to high frequency, it can work in everything between, of course not at the same time, the software programs what frequency the antenna should be set.
If the Lumia 920 and its S4 really have SDR technology, they it will make sense for Nokia to have the firmware deride what LTE to make available to the user, by reading the SIM region and not providing individual updated per region, or based on device product number.
This finally solves a major issue for the manufactures because they do not have to build customs chips for specific countries, the software simply programs it. If you Google it you can find a lot of info regarding SDR. Of course we are not in the engineering team of the Lumia 920 line and its obvious whatever we say here is based on theory and specs that are available to us.
nMIK-3 said:
For 3G PentaBand is now standard in almost all chips and since the Canadian variant comes with PentaBand on board and the fact that is standard on the S4 I really see no reason of why Nokia will order a custom version of the S4 to just physically take off the AWS. It doesn't make any sense, so if its missing, most likely is turn off in firmware.
For the LTE. Qualcomm introduced a revolutionary technology called Software Defined Radio or simply SDR and the Snapdragon S4 Plus MSM8960 chip which is inside the Lumia 920, supports that technology. With SDR the chipset support all LTE bands from a low to high frequency, it can work in everything between, of course not at the same time, the software programs what frequency the antenna should be set.
If the Lumia 920 and its S4 really have SDR technology, they it will make sense for Nokia to have the firmware deride what LTE to make available to the user, by reading the SIM region and not providing individual updated per region, or based on device product number.
This finally solves a major issue for the manufactures because they do not have to build customs chips for specific countries, the software simply programs it. If you Google it you can find a lot of info regarding SDR. Of course we are not in the engineering team of the Lumia 920 line and its obvious whatever we say here is based on theory and specs that are available to us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you understand radio technology at all, you should know the most important part that make all things work is the radio antenna, not the chipset. The chipset itself can't receive or transmit radio signal without a proper antenna. Try to disconnect your car radio antenna and see how many stations you can receive
foxbat121 said:
If you understand radio technology at all, you should know the most important part that make all things work is the radio antenna, not the chipset. The chipset itself can't receive or transmit radio signal without a proper antenna. Try to disconnect your car radio antenna and see how many stations you can receive
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We're going a bit off-topic from the thread here, but you're right - SDR defines the baseband, not the RF components.
If you look at Nokia's FCC filing for the RM-821, you can see it has two cellular antennas ("main" and "MIMO") for each of two bands ("HB" high-band and "LB" low-band). Presumably LB is used for bands below 1 GHz or so, while HB is used for bands above. So you can see it's not necessary to have different antennas for every band - bands 1 to 4 (including AWS) could also use the same antennas, for example.
However, each band needs its own RF filters to prevent interference from neighbouring channels, and also needs amplifiers that have flat gain over those bands. These RF components are usually band specific, relatively bulky and expensive, and there are some challenges to use several RF chains in parallel. To my understanding these are the limiting factors that explain why a given device tends to support maximum 4 or 5 LTE channels.
tomdjp said:
We're going a bit off-topic from the thread here, but you're right - SDR defines the baseband, not the RF components.
If you look at Nokia's FCC filing for the RM-821, you can see it has two cellular antennas ("main" and "MIMO") for each of two bands ("HB" high-band and "LB" low-band). Presumably LB is used for bands below 1 GHz or so, while HB is used for bands above. So you can see it's not necessary to have different antennas for every band - bands 1 to 4 (including AWS) could also use the same antennas, for example.
However, each band needs its own RF filters to prevent interference from neighbouring channels, and also needs amplifiers that have flat gain over those bands. These RF components are usually band specific, relatively bulky and expensive, and there are some challenges to use several RF chains in parallel. To my understanding these are the limiting factors that explain why a given device tends to support maximum 4 or 5 LTE channels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You nail it.
foxbat121 said:
If you understand radio technology at all, you should know the most important part that make all things work is the radio antenna, not the chipset. The chipset itself can't receive or transmit radio signal without a proper antenna. Try to disconnect your car radio antenna and see how many stations you can receive
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that a joke?? I am spending my time explaining what SDR is and I am getting that respond??
I am assuming that I am talking with a person that knows at least a modern chipset like the S4 package contains all the antennas for GSM/WCDMA/LTE a separate antenna for Bluetooth and Wifi, GPS (S4 also includes GLONASS), the CPU and the Adreno GPU.
All the above come in the same tinny chip that in the size of your nail. And all this is called the "chipset". Qualcomm does not use a separate antenna anymore its integrated to the chipset.
nMIK-3 said:
Is that a joke?? I am spending my time explaining what SDR is and I am getting that respond??
I am assuming that I am talking with a person that knows at least a modern chipset like the S4 package contains all the antennas for GSM/WCDMA/LTE a separate antenna for Bluetooth and Wifi, GPS (S4 also includes GLONASS), the CPU and the Adreno GPU.
All the above come in the same tinny chip that in the size of your nail. And all this is called the "chipset". Qualcomm does not use a separate antenna anymore its integrated to the chipset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With respect, that's not right - the antennas and RF components are external to the chipset.
Go and get the SAR compliance test report for Nokia 920 from the FCC's website, and you can see diagrams showing the external antennas for cellular, WLAN/BT and GPS which are positioned in various places inside the phone's chassis (btw, the LB MIMO antenna is about 7 cm long!)
Or go and check out the iFixit teardown for iPhone 5 and you can see the same kind of thing...
tomdjp said:
With respect, that's not right - the antennas and RF components are external to the chipset.
Go and get the SAR compliance test report for Nokia 920 from the FCC's website, and you can see diagrams showing the external antennas for cellular, WLAN/BT and GPS which are positioned in various places inside the phone's chassis (btw, the LB MIMO antenna is about 7 cm long!)
Or go and check out the iFixit teardown for iPhone 5 and you can see the same kind of thing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is correct. Many manufactures are placing antenna extensions and putting additional GPS censor in more practical areas.
The actual GSM/WCDMA/LTE modem WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS for Qualacom solutions are placed inside the chipset.
Please see http://www.qualcomm.com/chipsets/snapdragon for more information.
4g / LTE
tomdjp said:
Has anyone tried using one of the white unlocked Lumia 920 from Clove (I guess the ones from Expansys are the same) on an LTE network?
Specifically, do you have the "4G" option in the "highest connection speed" settings?
In my case, although I am using an LTE SIM with an LTE network on a supported band, I only have "2G" and "3G" options in the Highest Connection Speed settings. So normally it is only connecting over HSPA. Through playing around a lot with scanning LTE bands with the Field Test tool (##3282#), I can sometimes get the device to connect to LTE, after which it works perfectly on LTE until reboot. But it's not really a long-term solution.
The default firmware on my device is country variant "CV GB SW Variant ID 276 v03" which (apart from the version number) seems to be the same firmware as that sold by Orange / T-Mobile in the UK (i.e. for 3G networks).
I was thinking about trying to flash the EE firmware, but concerned this could create other issues (such as end up locking the phone to EE, or to certain LTE bands, or something...). Any thoughts appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I go into into field test mode and it says 4g then asks what LTE Band. My phone shows 4G not LTE in top left... is it LTE or 3G+?
Does anyone know what the different bands stand for? (band 5 etc) under the field service menu?
zok-star said:
Does anyone know what the different bands stand for? (band 5 etc) under the field service menu?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Likely they are LTE bands (e.g. band 5 = 850 MHz), but as you probably noticed they don't completely match with the LTE band support of the device. Keep in mind this field test program was probably thrown together by Nokia's R&D guys for internal testing only (not for consumers), so could be a legacy of earlier testing, another device variant, or some other reason...
Anyway, it seems fine to keep this setting on Automatic.
dougwallace said:
I go into into field test mode and it says 4g then asks what LTE Band. My phone shows 4G not LTE in top left... is it LTE or 3G+?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Doug, could you share what version of the Lumia 920 you have, and which firmware?
As mentioned in my mail above, there seems no problem to leave the 4G band on automatic, and the bands available to be selected don't seem relevant. (My device picks up Band 1 LTE networks even though band 1 is not in the list).
Regarding 4G vs LTE, my device (unlocked UK CV) shows 4G in the top left when it is connected to LTE. I assume this can be changed by Nokia depending on the operator's requirement (esp in the US where 4G means HSPA...). You can be sure you're on LTE by going back to the field test menu, selecting GSM option, then looking at "Radio Access Technology". If you're on LTE, it should say LTE there.
tomdjp said:
Likely they are LTE bands (e.g. band 5 = 850 MHz), but as you probably noticed they don't completely match with the LTE band support of the device. Keep in mind this field test program was probably thrown together by Nokia's R&D guys for internal testing only (not for consumers), so could be a legacy of earlier testing, another device variant, or some other reason...
Anyway, it seems fine to keep this setting on Automatic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've kept mine on all automatic and i have noticed it switch to 4G at times, but then when i go to use it, it'll flick back to 3G... I'll need to test this in CBD sometime this week.
I got my device from clove, but im in Australia on Telstra 4G network. They use 1800mhz.
zok-star said:
I've kept mine on all automatic and i have noticed it switch to 4G at times, but then when i go to use it, it'll flick back to 3G... I'll need to test this in CBD sometime this week.
I got my device from clove, but im in Australia on Telstra 4G network. They use 1800mhz.
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Hi, yes better to test in CBD where there's strong LTE signal.
In your Settings => Mobile Network, do you have a "4G" option under "Highest connection speed", or is it 2G and 3G only?

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