AT&T LTE bands vs. Developer Edition LTE bands - AT&T HTC One (M7)

So since AT&T uses bands 4 & 17 for LTE (700/1700/2100MHz) and according to the Developers edition has 700/850/1900MHz then to me that looks like the Developers edition can only access AT&Ts 700 LTE bands.
Is this correct?

Seems to be correct.. but im not a expert when it comes to network bands

Red5 said:
So since AT&T uses bands 4 & 17 for LTE (700/1700/2100MHz) and according to the Developers edition has 700/850/1900MHz then to me that looks like the Developers edition can only access AT&Ts 700 LTE bands.
Is this correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Developers Edition page shows the following: LTE: 700/850/AWS/1900 MHz (US)
This would mean it supports 700, 850, 1700, 1900 and 2100. AWS refers to Band 4, which is 1700 for uplink and 2100 for downlink. Unless something in AT&T's white sheet is missing, the Developer's edition supports two extra bands that are used in some European and Asian countries.

TRF-Inferno said:
The Developers Edition page shows the following: LTE: 700/850/AWS/1900 MHz (US)
This would mean it supports 700, 850, 1700, 1900 and 2100. AWS refers to Band 4, which is 1700 for uplink and 2100 for downlink. Unless something in AT&T's white sheet is missing, the Developer's edition supports two extra bands that are used in some European and Asian countries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, that clears it up for me. Thanks.

TRF-Inferno said:
The Developers Edition page shows the following: LTE: 700/850/AWS/1900 MHz (US)
This would mean it supports 700, 850, 1700, 1900 and 2100. AWS refers to Band 4, which is 1700 for uplink and 2100 for downlink. Unless something in AT&T's white sheet is missing, the Developer's edition supports two extra bands that are used in some European and Asian countries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finally someone can give me a sensible answer! :thumbup:I read from another thread that T-mobile LTE works on AWS 1700/2100 but the unlocked new one does not have the two frequencies in LTE. Apparently, that was a wrong info. I am going to move to DC and hopefully my dev. new one will work on T-mobile LTE in DC.
Be Vegan, Make Peace \(^o^)/

Because it's radio supports these extra bands, will there be any software incompatibility between the Dev edition and the AT&T one? I'm trying to find the proper forum for Dev edition development!
Is the Developer edition basically an AT&T One with extra bands enabled? Are the AT&T and Dev editions different model numbers? I have so many questions, but so much excitement...

peachlai said:
Finally someone can give me a sensible answer! :thumbup:I read from another thread that T-mobile LTE works on AWS 1700/2100 but the unlocked new one does not have the two frequencies in LTE. Apparently, that was a wrong info. I am going to move to DC and hopefully my dev. new one will work on T-mobile LTE in DC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
T-Mobile's LTE frequency is on Band 4, so as far as using the Developers Edition on T-Mobile USA, you will certainly get LTE as long as T-Mobile has it running in the area, and default to 3G/HSPA+ since it does support PCS band (1900 MHz), albeit this coverage may suffer as the phone is missing the AWS band for UMTS.
gridlock489 said:
Because it's radio supports these extra bands, will there be any software incompatibility between the Dev edition and the AT&T one? I'm trying to find the proper forum for Dev edition development!
Is the Developer edition basically an AT&T One with extra bands enabled? Are the AT&T and Dev editions different model numbers? I have so many questions, but so much excitement...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Their device identifier code will certainly be different, so HTC will make sure you can't run the Developer Edition's RUU for the AT&T phone. As far as custom ROM is concerned, I don't see why you can't use the same ROM as long as it's not touching any other partition other than the /system.

TRF-Inferno said:
T-Mobile's LTE frequency is on Band 4, so as far as using the Developers Edition on T-Mobile USA, you will certainly get LTE as long as T-Mobile has it running in the area, and default to 3G/HSPA+ since it does support PCS band (1900 MHz), albeit this coverage may suffer as the phone is missing the AWS band for UMTS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes... I hope I won't travel around next year and will stay in DC most of the time. I am currently using Straight Talk with my Droid DNA, and it has good coverage, hspa+ most of the time. But Straight Talk does not have LTE. I am so ready to feel the speed of LTE! But it seems like if I would be outside of DC, my LTE experience will drop to 2G.... Anyway, at least I have the freedom to change back to Straight Talk if I have to.
Be Vegan, Make Peace \(^o^)/

peachlai said:
Yes... I hope I won't travel around next year and will stay in DC most of the time. I am currently using Straight Talk with my Droid DNA, and it has good coverage, hspa+ most of the time. But Straight Talk does not have LTE. I am so ready to feel the speed of LTE! But it seems like if I would be outside of DC, my LTE experience will drop to 2G.... Anyway, at least I have the freedom to change back to Straight Talk if I have to.
Be Vegan, Make Peace \(^o^)/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had straight talk before I went to att. The difference is mind blowing. Even on just h+ it blows straight talk out of the water 3 fold. I don't regret leaving straight talk one bit
Sent from my HTC One VX using xda premium

Related

[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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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

[Q] Can I replace my Exhibit ii with SGSIII on tmobile walmart 100m/unl data plan?

I am thinking about trying to get an sgs iii and wondering if it is possible to get it on the $30.00 mo 100min unl data plan through walmart?
I have the exhibit ii on this plan, had it for a couple months, anybody know how I would do this?
If it will work with Tmobile band why not, best to ask the source. I don't think we have a Wal Mart rep guru here.
Sure you can, if you don't want 3G.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
You have prepaid plan, you can put your sim into just about any unlocked GSM phone (and T-Mobile phones) and use it. If you want a good phone right now, get the Galaxy Nexus (GSM), it supports T-Mobile 3G (1700/2100 band). T-Mobile version of SIII will be coming later.
thanks for the responses, a Galaxy Nexus is probably a more realistic option than the sgs3 price wise, going to take a good look at it on the play store.
cheers.
T-Mobile and AT&T both support compatible band.
the SGS3 uses HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
T-Mobile uses HSDPA 900 / 1700 / 2100
AT&T uses HSDPA 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100
now we play match the bands. we see at&t shares 3 bands with the international SGS3, thats great. T-Mobile shares 1, not as awesome, but 1 band is enough.
its true what theyre saying up there about "only having 2G", well i should correct myself, it WAS true. however recently T-Mobile has upgraded their 2100 band to 3G, as theyve been expanding. so it will work fine on Walmart's plan, as they use T-Mobile's network.
T-Mobile will come out with an SGS3 later in the year, for SGS2 it was 6 months behind the international version. the T-Mobile version will use HSDPA 900 / 1700 / 2100. what do more compatible bands mean? well it means if youre in an area you normally wouldnt get good 2100 band signal, you may get 1700 signal. if you live in the city, youll see no difference at all, its only when youre in rural areas.
so in short; you can totally use the i9300 SGS3 on tmobiles network, and yes, you will have HSDPA 3G
soraxd said:
T-Mobile uses HSDPA 900 / 1700 / 2100
now we play match the bands. we see at&t shares 3 bands with the international SGS3, thats great. T-Mobile shares 1, not as awesome, but 1 band is enough.
its true what theyre saying up there about "only having 2G", well i should correct myself, it WAS true. however recently T-Mobile has upgraded their 2100 band to 3G, as theyve been expanding. so it will work fine on Walmart's plan, as they use T-Mobile's network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could really use a source for this, please. Everything i've looked up has suggested that their HSPA+ is only 1700 and 2100, and that phones with only 2100 would not work.
thebobp said:
Could really use a source for this, please. Everything i've looked up has suggested that their HSPA+ is only 1700 and 2100, and that phones with only 2100 would not work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you know what, i made a mistake, i was using this
http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-4261
looking at the bands the T-Mobile One S (along with all other tmobile phones) support, but the 900 band is just added to the phone so it can be used if taken abroad. so my mistake.
to reiterate the sgs3 will only work on 2g on tmobile, it will only work on at&t for 3g.
im glad you questioned it, i would have gone along giving bad information

[Q] Will HTC One Developer Edition work perfectly on the T-Mobile network?

I'm trying to do my research, and the phone seems to support the right frequencies.
http://shopamerica.htc.com/cell-phones/productdetail.htm?prId=41599
https://www.t-mobile.com/shop/Phones/cell-phone-detail.aspx?cell-phone=HTC-One-Glacial-Silver
But then I saw this article (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2416536,00.asp) saying that the DE won't really support T-Mobile LTE. Is that true?
I'm also concerned that I won't get Wifi calling with the DE on T-mobile.
Please help me figure this out.
Edit: looks like wifi calling is possible (not out of the box) while HSPA+ and LTE won't work that well.
I think it dosent support's 1700 band which t-mobile uses in some places.
I wont get it
why take a risk?
The Developer Edition supports these frequencies:
HSPA/WCDMA: 850/1900/2100 MHz
GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
LTE: 700/850/AWS/1900 MHz (US)
That means it only suppers 3G (HSPA) on 1900 Mhz, but not on AWS (1700/2100 Mhz). So you will only get 3G if you are in a "refarmed" area, where T-Mobile has refarmed some of its 1900 Mhz spectrum away from 2G to 3G. People's experiences vary.
I don't see any reason why the Dev Edition won't work with T-Mobile LTE, since it supports AWS for LTE, which is the frequency set that T-Mobile and AT&T both use. I'm not sure why PC magazine feels unsure about this. If you search around, I'm pretty sure there are already people in this forum reporting getting T-Mobile LTE on both the AT&T version and the Developer Edition (which are basically the same phone). There also appear to already be other threads on this topic, so you can find more people's experiences if you search around.
As for the WiFi Calling, you will definitely not have access to that. Someone may be able to port it at a future time, but I wouldn't count on it.
You will be able to flash a T-Mobile Rom on the developer edition.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Tmobile with fine with my dev edition in NYC with stock rom and radio. But the speed seems to be slower than what people have been posting here, 6~10mb download and 1~2mb upload. I am not sure if it's a regional issue.
SmiLey497 said:
You will be able to flash a T-Mobile Rom on the developer edition.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but that does not mean that you will gain AWS HSPA+. You would get wifi calling however. People have already tried this...
stevedebi said:
Yes, but that does not mean that you will gain AWS HSPA+. You would get wifi calling however. People have already tried this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WiFi calling is what I was referring to.

[Q] S4 Google Play Edition can roam on Verizon LTE?

Well, being a T-Mobile customer (and preferring to stay one) I was interested in the fact that the new S4 Google Play edition seems to support the Verizon 700mhz LTE frequencies but is sold as an AT&T and T-Mobile device only.
NETWORK
Unlocked GSM/UMTS/HSPA+/LTE
GSM/EDGE/GPRS (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
3G (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
4G LTE (700, 850, AWS, 1900 MHz)
So does this purport that the device is able to roam on Verizion's 4G LTE data network when there is no AT&T or T-Mobile network present?
Interesting. I'll be doing some research.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2
It'd only be viable if there is a CDMA radio hidden somewhere in there as well. Otherwise you would have no voice service.
Omen87 said:
It'd only be viable if there is a CDMA radio hidden somewhere in there as well. Otherwise you would have no voice service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verizon announced today that in 2014 there will be available LTE-only phones... phones sold with LTE and no CDMA radios as they have finished their LTE rollout nationwide. They also said they will flip on a switch to enable VoLTE ... Voice over LTE around the same time.
However, I really don't care about voice service, I just want Verizon LTE data roaming in all areas of the country where T-Mobile customers are seemingly in a blackhole datawise with 0G connections
Could you imagine the money to be made if a phone covered every network and frequency band? Somebody needs to do this lol
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2
You cannot in anyway use Verizon 3g or 4g unless your devices imei is in their database regardless if it supports the frequencies . also there are sub divisions of the 700mhz band. Both att and Verizon have divisions in the 700mhz band
It does not support Verizon LTE. There are multiple blocks within the 700mhz spectrum, and they are NOT compatible. Verizon uses the 700mhz C-block, which is closer to 750mhz. It's actually 746-756 and 777-787.
AT&T uses the 700mhz B-block. This is 704-716, and 734-746. They are NOT compatible with each other. Phones have to be designed to either support B-block or C-block. There are no devices out currently that can support both as the carriers have a block between them. Qualcomm is lobbying congress to end that block, though this lobby may be pointless. Verizon is currently looking to sell their 700mhz block to AT&T. This would allow AT&T more room in the 700mhz band with the block removed, while Verizon would get more AWS spectrum support (dual down/uplingh for faster speeds). It would also allow Verizon to shed the provision that requires them to allow an unlocked device on their network (something that they hate).
Bottom line is that no, this phone is not compatible with Verizon LTE.
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Verizon uses Band 13 and Band 4 for LTE while ATT uses Band 17 and Tmo uses Band 4 and Sprint uses Band 25 so All of the Carriers uses different bands. Eventually most of them will use Band 4 AWS.
The Nexus 4 can use LTE on hacked ROMs on Band 4 AWS

[Q] Tmobile US LTE APN for 920 from Singapore

Hi guys,
I am on T-Mobile prepaid plan. I bought a Lumia 920 from Singapore few months ago in anticipation of the 1900 refarm from T-Mobile. But while the default APN profile has been updated to "T-Mobile LTE" from the carrier from months ago, the max speed I see now is 3G in Chicago. I've done some research and tried a couple of the following:
1 Added new APN under epc.tmobile.com
2 Enable ENS
3 Limit the connection speed to 3G instead of 4G
But none seems to bring me to the LTE speed. I thought maybe because LTE has not arrived in Chicago yet, but few days ago I went to one of the T-Mobile store and found that their demo Lumia 925 showed LTE. The stuff from the store said because I am using an unlocked 920, LTE is not supported. I don't think this is the right answer.
Does anyone has the same issue with your international 920 under T-Mobile in the US?
t_huankiat said:
Hi guys,
I am on T-Mobile prepaid plan. I bought a Lumia 920 from Singapore few months ago in anticipation of the 1900 refarm from T-Mobile. But while the default APN profile has been updated to "T-Mobile LTE" from the carrier from months ago, the max speed I see now is 3G in Chicago. I've done some research and tried a couple of the following:
1 Added new APN under epc.tmobile.com
2 Enable ENS
3 Limit the connection speed to 3G instead of 4G
But none seems to bring me to the LTE speed. I thought maybe because LTE has not arrived in Chicago yet, but few days ago I went to one of the T-Mobile store and found that their demo Lumia 925 showed LTE. The stuff from the store said because I am using an unlocked 920, LTE is not supported. I don't think this is the right answer.
Does anyone has the same issue with your international 920 under T-Mobile in the US?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version you bough RM-820, 821 or 822 from Singapore. I think you have not supported LTE bands, so probably you got 821 / 822
boril said:
What version you bough RM-820, 821 or 822 from Singapore. I think you have not supported LTE bands, so probably you got 821 / 822
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow I just checked, it's indeed a RM 821! I did a search and found the following info from WP Central forum:
RM820 is the North American variant. Has pentaband UMTS (850/900/1700/1900/2100) and North American LTE bands.
RM821 is rest-of-world (except China). Has quadband UMTS (850/900/1900/2100) and European LTE bands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My understanding is as long as it supports 1900 band it can access the LTE speed on T-Mobile. That's not the case then?
t_huankiat said:
Wow I just checked, it's indeed a RM 821! I did a search and found the following info from WP Central forum:
My understanding is as long as it supports 1900 band it can access the LTE speed on T-Mobile. That's not the case then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because it supports the 1900 band, does not mean that the ROM and hardware are setup to support LTE. The market the 821 was released for does not have LTE so the protocols where never implemented in that model. The 3G you see the phone operating at is the highest speed the market it came from supports. So that is the highest protocol that was installed into that model. You may want to sell it and get one of the other models.
Incompatible Bands
t_huankiat said:
Wow I just checked, it's indeed a RM 821! I did a search and found the following info from WP Central forum:
My understanding is as long as it supports 1900 band it can access the LTE speed on T-Mobile. That's not the case then?
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Hi t_huankiat,
To the extent of my knowledge, T-Mobile has only deployed LTE on the 1700/2100MHz frequency band (different from 2100MHz, that is IMT) commonly known as AWS spectrum or Band 4. The only variants of the 920 that contains these are RM-820 models. The good news is, an unlocked AT&T Nokia Lumia 920 can be used on T-Mobile's LTE network because they both use AWS spectrum to deliver LTE service. The downside is that in areas without LTE or refarmed HSPA+, your service will drop to 2G. In order to prevent these shortfalls, the only RM-820 variants that run on AWS HSPA+ are the Canadian and Developer Edition, given out at Microsoft BUILD 2012.
You may be thinking, what is with this confusion. Previously, T-Mobile USA rolled out their 3G HSPA network on AWS spectrum, because they hadn't won any PCS spectrum (1900MHz). In the Americas, AWS spectrum was not deployed as prevalent as PCS. The result, T-Mobile required special handsets to access 3G. When they transitioned over to HSPA+ and DC-HSPA+, they continued to use AWS widening the compatibility gap. After the AT&T/T-Mobile buyout fell through, T-Mobile gained PCS licenses as part of the deal. T-Mobile, shortly after, announced the jump to LTE and the refarm of HSPA+ (current 3G/4G service) to the PCS spectrum. As of now, the refarm isn't fully complete so some areas still broadcast 3G/4G on on the AWS spectrum. To add insult to injury, these areas do not have have LTE deployed either. Summing up what has been said, the best options for a seamless wireless experience is to use a Nokia Lumia 925 or find a non-AT&T RM-820. If you look on eBay, you will find a few for sale right now. I really hope this helps!
-Arekusandaa
Solarenemy68 said:
Just because it supports the 1900 band, does not mean that the ROM and hardware are setup to support LTE. The market the 821 was released for does not have LTE so the protocols where never implemented in that model. The 3G you see the phone operating at is the highest speed the market it came from supports. So that is the highest protocol that was installed into that model. You may want to sell it and get one of the other models.
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I should have done more research before I bought the phone! I did not realize 920 has so many variation even in Singapore! While I will miss the LTE, I can live with 3G speed since I don't use the phone for streaming or anything bandwidth intensive.
Arekusandaa said:
Hi t_huankiat,
To the extent of my knowledge, T-Mobile has only deployed LTE on the 1700/2100MHz frequency band (different from 2100MHz, that is IMT) commonly known as AWS spectrum or Band 4. The only variants of the 920 that contains these are RM-820 models. The good news is, an unlocked AT&T Nokia Lumia 920 can be used on T-Mobile's LTE network because they both use AWS spectrum to deliver LTE service. The downside is that in areas without LTE or refarmed HSPA+, your service will drop to 2G. In order to prevent these shortfalls, the only RM-820 variants that run on AWS HSPA+ are the Canadian and Developer Edition, given out at Microsoft BUILD 2012.
You may be thinking, what is with this confusion. Previously, T-Mobile USA rolled out their 3G HSPA network on AWS spectrum, because they hadn't won any PCS spectrum (1900MHz). In the Americas, AWS spectrum was not deployed as prevalent as PCS. The result, T-Mobile required special handsets to access 3G. When they transitioned over to HSPA+ and DC-HSPA+, they continued to use AWS widening the compatibility gap. After the AT&T/T-Mobile buyout fell through, T-Mobile gained PCS licenses as part of the deal. T-Mobile, shortly after, announced the jump to LTE and the refarm of HSPA+ (current 3G/4G service) to the PCS spectrum. As of now, the refarm isn't fully complete so some areas still broadcast 3G/4G on on the AWS spectrum. To add insult to injury, these areas do not have have LTE deployed either. Summing up what has been said, the best options for a seamless wireless experience is to use a Nokia Lumia 925 or find a non-AT&T RM-820. If you look on eBay, you will find a few for sale right now. I really hope this helps!
-Arekusandaa
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The main reason I got the phone from Singapore was because it supports 1900MHz and it's in Chicago now. But I overlooked the fact that the ROM matters too. So now I am pretty much stuck with 3G speed. It's a lesson learned, I will have to be extra careful next time when I get an unlocked phone. Thanks for your insight!
It's Not The End of the World
t_huankiat said:
The main reason I got the phone from Singapore was because it supports 1900MHz and it's in Chicago now. But I overlooked the fact that the ROM matters too. So now I am pretty much stuck with 3G speed. It's a lesson learned, I will have to be extra careful next time when I get an unlocked phone. Thanks for your insight!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry, you will still be able to use their DC-HSPA+ network, where available. This technology is capable of up to 42.1Mbps theoretically. Even before T-Mobile began deploying LTE, their DC-HSPA+ network was usually testing faster than Verizon's LTE network. While you may not see LTE until you upgrade to an AWS capable handset, their "fallback" 4G should suffice.
-arekusandaa

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