[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
Related
Ok so i bought the vibrant, unlocked it, and inserted my att 3g sim. the issue is im only getting edge speed when my phone is 3g capable. any ideas to correct that? Like creating an apn of some sort?
Thanx!
im about 50 percent sure that at&t and t-mob use different frequencys or something for their 3g signals so they are not compatable, same thing happend with the nexus one and its 3g on at&t if my memory is correct
bweed83 said:
im about 50 percent sure that at&t and t-mob use different frequencys or something for their 3g signals so they are not compatable, same thing happend with the nexus one and its 3g on at&t if my memory is correct
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I second this.
Agree. U need to swap it for samsung captiva. The att galaxy s.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
my only working theory is that the 1900mhz freq isnt as widespread as the 850mhz freq, as the vibrant uses 1900. (i think). so that may be it. but i ask only because some commenter on a diff forum mentioned the need to create a 3g apn.
ps. the captivate is too boxy for me. idk why att changed it
Those are at&&&-t frequencys tmob is 1700 and 2100 I think so if our antenna only picks up those iy wont ever work on at-t's network
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
muncher879 said:
my only working theory is that the 1900mhz freq isnt as widespread as the 850mhz freq, as the vibrant uses 1900. (i think). so that may be it. but i ask only because some commenter on a diff forum mentioned the need to create a 3g apn.
ps. the captivate is too boxy for me. idk why att changed it
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It's not how widespread it is. They use different frequencies so your phone won't pick up the ATT 3G signals at all. Edge is 2G.
But I've seen one person on the forum claim that he did it. You can pm him/her on how to do it.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
The Vibrant is capable of AT&T's 3G over the 1900mhz spectrum... if you live in a area where AT&T is only using the 850mhz spec... you will not get 3G.
muncher879 said:
Ok so i bought the vibrant, unlocked it, and inserted my att 3g sim. the issue is im only getting edge speed when my phone is 3g capable. any ideas to correct that? Like creating an apn of some sort?
Thanx!
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HEY, don't listen to these guys. You can get both wcdma 1900 and wcdma 850 on the vibrant, don't worry, you will be able to get at&t 3G on your phone!
I'll show you how when I have time, maybe this weekend.
eortizr said:
The Vibrant is capable of AT&T's 3G over the 1900mhz spectrum... if you live in a area where AT&T is only using the 850mhz spec... you will not get 3G.
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you gave the poor guy wrong information, the vibrant is capable of at&t 3g over 1900 AND 850
Having the same issue
I also am only getting Edge signal on my unlocked vibrant. When I run a 1MB speed test at mobilespeedtest.com it says I am downloading at 2581 kbps which, according to their chart, is a little more than the average 4g speed. Very weird. I also can't download any apps but I am searching for a thread on that.
bmwdoc2002 said:
I also am only getting Edge signal on my unlocked vibrant. When I run a 1MB speed test at mobilespeedtest.com it says I am downloading at 2581 kbps which, according to their chart, is a little more than the average 4g speed. Very weird. I also can't download any apps but I am searching for a thread on that.
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i'm confused, you said you are getting edge signal, but your speed test shows 2.581mbps? thats 3g speeds.
by the way, you can make the vibrant pick up both att 1900 and 850 signals.
you own a bmw and you are a doctor?
SamsungVibrant said:
i'm confused, you said you are getting edge signal, but your speed test shows 2.581mbps? thats 3g speeds.
by the way, you can make the vibrant pick up both att 1900 and 850 signals.
you own a bmw and you are a doctor?
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I am on an unlocked Vibrant right now. I live in the baltimore area and I am getting full 3g on a friends borrowed att sim. I get faster speeds on his att than I get on my own tmobile.
When I unlocked my phone, I used the wife's SIM card on my Vibrant and was able to get 3G as well. It registered without any issues.
New york city is also all 1900mhz. I am chugging along at a healthy 4300kbps according to mobilespeedtest. I think that is faster than the 3g spec allows so I am starting to doubt that website a bit.
snowdogging said:
New york city is also all 1900mhz. I am chugging along at a healthy 4300kbps according to mobilespeedtest. I think that is faster than the 3g spec allows so I am starting to doubt that website a bit.
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what website? you can also set the vibrant to pick up at&t's wcdma 850mhz
SamsungVibrant said:
HEY, don't listen to these guys. You can get both wcdma 1900 and wcdma 850 on the vibrant, don't worry, you will be able to get at&t 3G on your phone!
I'll show you how when I have time, maybe this weekend.
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HI,
Can you explain how you get UTMS / HSDPA 850 on the Vinrant? According to the specs at xda
It doesnt officially support that, but over at howard forums (sorry cant post lins as a new user):
1666323-USING-SAMSUNG-T-MOBILE-VIBRANT-T959-on-WIND-MOBILE.....IN-CANADA
it seems it is an option in the service menu. Have you tried UTMS850 (as opposed to GSM850) and can confirm it works. Its relevant in Australia as the best coverage NextG network (Telstra) operates on UTMS850
Cheers Chris.
Derp.....
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
i'm not getting 3g either,
is there a link to a map to see if i have 1900 in my area?
what apn setting should be used, im pretty shocked that it did the edge APN settings on its own
Try dialing
*#2263#
choose option [4]Combi Bands
Choose option [8] WCDMA 850 bla bla
Choose Add WCDMA 850 bla bla
If the chip is capable to work in that frequency it will work. There are mixed reports but it is the way to fix it
I'm thinking about buying an unlocked Vibrant to use on AT&T, will the 3G work on AT&T network? Thanks.
Yes utilizing UMTS Band II 1900 MHz
lqaddict said:
Yes utilizing UMTS Band II 1900 MHz
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Actually, the rumor going around the internet that you can only use At&t 1900mhz on the Vibrant is false.
The vibrant can also utilize wcdma 850mhz. So you should have no problems picking up both 3G signals from At&t.
I will work on making a how to video that shows how to make the vibrant pick up the wcdma 850, takes litterly 2 minutes to do.
Remember, you might run into other annoying problems such as setting up visual voicemail to work with At&t.
SamsungVibrant said:
Actually, the rumor going around the internet that you can only use At&t 1900mhz on the Vibrant is false.
The vibrant can also utilize wcdma 850mhz. So you should have no problems picking up both 3G signals from At&t.
I will work on making a how to video that shows how to make the vibrant pick up the wcdma 850, takes litterly 2 minutes to do.
Remember, you might run into other annoying problems such as setting up visual voicemail to work with At&t.
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I saw Band V in the service menu, but I had no luck enabling it, so it seems; here in NYC ATT is using UMTS Band II and the Vibrant has no issues picking it up, I am getting upward to 3Mb/s down speeds
Here's an entire thread dedicated to it http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=735461 I was one of the non-believers until I tried an ATT SIM in my unlocked Vibrant.
lqaddict said:
I saw Band V in the service menu, but I had no luck enabling it, so it seems; here in NYC ATT is using UMTS Band II and the Vibrant has no issues picking it up, I am getting upward to 3Mb/s down speeds
Here's an entire thread dedicated to it http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=735461 I was one of the non-believers until I tried an ATT SIM in my unlocked Vibrant.
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Umm interesting thread, similar to what we are doing.
So are you saying you are not able to pick up the wcdma 850 (FDD V) band? We set this up on a friends phone, with his At&t sim, it works.
Can you try setting your phone to wcdma 850 only, and drive to a location that has 850 signal, then check under basic information, you should be getting at&t 850 3g.
vietphunguyen said:
I'm thinking about buying an unlocked Vibrant to use on AT&T, will the 3G work on AT&T network? Thanks.
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Dear Vietphunguyen, there seems to be controversy. We know for certain the vibrant can pick up att 3g signal using 1900 band, but the question is, what about 850. Me and a friend believe the vibrant can also get 850, but that link the other poster provided is something to note also.
Be safe, don't purchase the vibrant yet, until we test this more. 2 make sure you can pick up both 1900 and 850 bands.
I dont know much about the Vibrant just yet, but if its anything like the iPhone on TMO's towers, it might not work. The problem was with ATT using a single band for 3g (1900mhz) to send the recieve but TMO uses 2 bands, 1 to send and 1 to recieve... If this helps at all I dunno! lol
Apexsilverevo said:
I dont know much about the Vibrant just yet, but if its anything like the iPhone on TMO's towers, it might not work. The problem was with ATT using a single band for 3g (1900mhz) to send the recieve but TMO uses 2 bands, 1 to send and 1 to recieve... If this helps at all I dunno! lol
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Thank you, just to clarify, for people visiting this thread.
At&t uses 2 differend 3G bands, one is 1900mhz and the other is 850 mhz. At&t is starting to implement 850 towers. Naturally, you would want a phone that picks up both bands.
Now, we know for CERTAIN, the VIbrant will 100 percent pick up At&t 3G 1900mhz signals. The question is, which we are uncertain of, will the Vibrant also pick up 850mhz band 3G signal, incase you hapen to drive to an at&t area that only has this band.
clearer?
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
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---------- 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
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Hi there, IDK if this is just me or not. I live in Rochester NY which is covered by HSPA+. I purchased lumia800 unlocked on amazon and it works fine for both data and MSG without setting APN. The problem is whenever there is a bad reception and the data dropped to Edge, it won't reconnect back HSPA+ automatically when reception comes back. I have to go to cellular settings and switch to edge then switch back manually.....So, any suggestion?
It's quite likely that the better HSPA reception is on the 850 band, which our Lumia's do not have. So... your HSPA 1900 signal drops and your phone connects to GSM. It takes a while for it to reconnect to HSPA, or you have to manually force it. I have this problem inside my apartment. So, I use an app called Toggle, which allows me to quickly switch off 3g and not have to worry about anything dropping.
Were you to acquire the US variant due out very soon, you likely would not experience this issue.
anseio said:
It's quite likely that the better HSPA reception is on the 850 band, which our Lumia's do not have. So... your HSPA 1900 signal drops and your phone connects to GSM. It takes a while for it to reconnect to HSPA, or you have to manually force it. I have this problem inside my apartment. So, I use an app called Toggle, which allows me to quickly switch off 3g and not have to worry about anything dropping.
Were you to acquire the US variant due out very soon, you likely would not experience this issue.
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Thanks. So what you mean is that it will eventually connect back up to hspa+ but just takes a while?
Plus, is the US variant firmware going to enable more bands like 850?
biocean said:
Thanks. So what you mean is that it will eventually connect back up to hspa+ but just takes a while?
Plus, is the US variant firmware going to enable more bands like 850?
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Yes, that is what I mean.
No, flashing US variant firmware RM-819 does not enable the 850 band. We tried that yesterday. Look in the development thread and see our disapointment.
thanks. Your post explained well. but since at&t's 3g operate at both 850 and 1900, if I were to have a phone that supports both, which one would it pick up? (that is probably the situation when US variant enters our market)
biocean said:
thanks. Your post explained well. but since at&t's 3g operate at both 850 and 1900, if I were to have a phone that supports both, which one would it pick up? (that is probably the situation when US variant enters our market)
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Your phone would switch (seamlessly?) between 850 and 1900. It's problematic when it has to switch technologies (HSPA to GSM).
We're getting screwed on the US variant. Rumor has it that it's force-bundled with some other nice, but unnecessary, pieces of hardware... bringing the cost up to $900. Sorry, but I just don't need the speakers, the over the head headphones and the bluetooth headset to justify an additional $400.
I don't think they're even TRYING to sell the 800 in the US. And it's probably the right decision, considering the rumored March launch of the 900.
Itaintrite said:
I don't think they're even TRYING to sell the 800 in the US. And it's probably the right decision, considering the rumored March launch of the 900.
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From some standpoints it seems simply wasteful to produce and package a product that's not intended to sell. I think they're just really trying to push accessories that would better fit the N9 in that WP7 cannot make use of the NFC benefits.
No rumors about either. The 800 is coming up in a week, the 900 not too long after that, since it's preselling already.
I live in the Chicago Suburbs, and I got my brand-spanking new International Galaxy S3 [GT I-9300] delivered by Expansys today ($778.97 plus taxes). Color is "marble white", and it's a thing of beauty; I just love the phone!
However, when I added the "Straight Talk" (AT&T) SIM card and completed the setup process as described, I wasn't even able to download Apps from the Play store... because my connection is too slow!
I verified twice that all my APN settings are correct, but all the speed I seem to get is "Edge" (phone is displaying a tiny 'E' in the status bar) with max speeds of 212 kbps UP, and 140 kbps DOWN... - WHAT A JOKE!!!
My question: what am I doing wrong?
I did my due diligence before buying the phone; making sure that AT&T delivers decent speeds on the frequencies that the I-9300 can pick up.
Just for comparison's sake, the GT I-9300 covers the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz bands for 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE, and 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz for 3G UMTS/HSPA+.
According to AT&T's website, they primarily use the 850 and 1900 MHz bands here in the US - which means, I should be able to get HSPA/HSPA+ speeds around here.
No such thing, I'm afraid.
Any idea what the problem may be?? I have searched for answers in this Forum already, but came up empty...
Sounds like you could be in a 3G black area like where a few metres either way could give a 3G signal, so just try your network in another phone and you'll know.
Maybe you got the T-Mobile version of the sin card by mistake
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Thanks for the input!
I'm pretty sure it's an AT&T card, as all the APN setup instructions that came with it are for Cingular/AT&T..
Looks like I have to give Straight Talk a call tomorrow; hoping that this can be figured out...
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
The APN setting were correct, but -apparently- I wasn't familiar enough with the "Mobile Network" setting... since there was no indication of it in Straight Talk's setup instructions and I never had to mess with it before on my previous phones...
Anyways...
Go to SETTINGS > MORE SETTINGS > MOBILE NETWORKS > NETWORK MODE:
Select select "GSM/WCDMA (Auto mode)"
In "Network Operators" (right below) press "Select Automatically"
I also made another change that I read about when searching for a solution. And even though it is believed that it does not solve the problem, it helps to "speed up" things... by whatever margin that may be:
In "ACCESS POINT NAMES" (part of "MOBILE NETWORK" menu):
Change the "PROXY" from proxy.mvno.tracfone.com to 66.209.11.33
As a matter of fact, 66.209.11.33 is the same address as proxy.mvno.tracfone.com, but the phone/service does not have to resolve it anymore - as it already is 'translated'. This is believed to make things a bit snappier and get you better/faster service.
No idea if it really does anything at all... but since my phone is working just fine - and finally at HSPA and HSPA+ speeds(!!!) - I am not going to change it back anymore....
I have to say, the $45/month all-unlimited Straight Talk & Data SIM (AT&T service) really works well on my GT I-9300! It is not giving me LTE speeds, but it's just 35% of the price I used to pay Verizon before (month-to-month service w/ 450 talk minutes + 5 [upped to 10GB as part of their promo] Data plan) for LTE, which was sucking my REZOUND's battery dry in no time flat. And HSPA+ is certainly fast enough for what I need my phone for...
What's not to like??!
As for me, I like it much better now!!!
Glad you got it fixed quick.
androidarmin said:
I did my due diligence before buying the phone; making sure that AT&T delivers decent speeds on the frequencies that the I-9300 can pick up.
Just for comparison's sake, the GT I-9300 covers the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz bands for 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE, and 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz for 3G UMTS/HSPA+.
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Just for clarification though, I see you mentioned the I9300 using 1700 and 2100Mhz. Where'd you get that info? Those are Tmobile HSPA+ bands. I'd love for the phone to support that, but don't think that's correct
farfromovin said:
Glad you got it fixed quick.
Just for clarification though, I see you mentioned the I9300 using 1700 and 2100Mhz. Where'd you get that info? Those are Tmobile HSPA+ bands. I'd love for the phone to support that, but don't think that's correct
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Thanks, farfromovin!
You may have a point there, buddy... Those are supposedly the bands that the International Galaxy S3 can pick up in general, according to Wikipedia. Here in the US, however, you're out of luck if picking T-mobile as your carrier for the I-9300, because they broadcast 3G on a different band, which the S3/I-9300 does not pick up by default... so I had verified by a bunch of folks in the Forums.
I was looking into exactly the same thing before I made the decision to go with a prepaid "Straight Talk" (AT&T) SIM card. ST also offers an T-mo version, but with that - as I had stated before - you'll only get 2G in the US; at least for now (note: this may change by end of the year/early in 2013, so I've read, as Tmo is making adjustments/improvements to their network and 3G/4G frequencies..).
Hope this helps.
If you happen to live in the US and haven't heard yet, all major carriers here will come out with the S3 in just a few weeks. Carrier-branded only, and "just" with the 2-core Snapdragon S4 CPU inside (due to LTE).
But, this phone is so awesome, I wouldn't even mind having only 2 cores if I were not able to run the International/Unlocked version on HSPA+ here in the US... But, 4 cores kick some serious butt, dude!!
Cheers,
Armin
androidarmin said:
Thanks, farfromovin!
You may have a point there, buddy... Those are supposedly the bands that the International Galaxy S3 can pick up in general, according to Wikipedia. Here in the US, however, you're out of luck if picking T-mobile as your carrier for the I-9300, because they broadcast 3G on a different band, which the S3/I-9300 does not pick up by default... so I had verified by a bunch of folks in the Forums.
I was looking into exactly the same thing before I made the decision to go with a prepaid "Straight Talk" (AT&T) SIM card. ST also offers an T-mo version, but with that - as I had stated before - you'll only get 2G in the US; at least for now (note: this may change by end of the year/early in 2013, so I've read, as Tmo is making adjustments/improvements to their network and 3G/4G frequencies..).
Hope this helps.
If you happen to live in the US and haven't heard yet, all major carriers here will come out with the S3 in just a few weeks. Carrier-branded only, and "just" with the 2-core Snapdragon S4 CPU inside (due to LTE).
But, this phone is so awesome, I wouldn't even mind having only 2 cores if I were not able to run the International/Unlocked version on HSPA+ here in the US... But, 4 cores kick some serious butt, dude!!
Cheers,
Armin
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That is wrong info..anyone can put info on wikipedia. It matters what's on the box and on the box it's the standard quad band for umts. There is no 1700 band on the box and so no hspa speed for tmobile.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Try leaving the Straight Talk Proxy setting blank. I think you will see much better data speeds.
I'm having the same problem, but your solution didn't work for me. I cant seem to shake edge connection. I had hspda last night
S_Dot said:
I'm having the same problem, but your solution didn't work for me. I cant seem to shake edge connection. I had hspda last night
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Yeah same prob. GS2 GT-I9100T Only Edge network :/
SGS3 i9300
kirdroid said:
That is wrong info..anyone can put info on wikipedia. It matters what's on the box and on the box it's the standard quad band for umts. There is no 1700 band on the box and so no hspa speed for tmobile.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
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I agree kirdroid, you can't trust Wikipedia to be 100% truth. However, in this case the Wiki page is correct.
/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S_III
The page is for all models of the Galaxy SIII. There is a graphic on the right side with specs under it for ALL models. Then there is a table in the middle of the page that shows the specs for each model. If you look at the all models specs it looks like one hell of a phone. You have to look at the table with specs for each model to see that I9300 supports:
2G: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz GSM / GPRS / EDGE
3G: 850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz UMTS / HSPA+
T-Mobile H+ (2.75G) not working for me in Salt Lake City, UT. Customer support said 1900 MHz is supported for H+, but I'm guessing she didn't check for Utah. As of December 20, 2012 it is not available in Utah. You can search Google to see what markets it's available in: "t-mobile-closes-the-year-by-enhancing-coverage-in-14-new-metro-areas"
I'd post links, but I'm not allowed.