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Just got mine today, and unlike my Hermes & Kaiser it's unable to hold on to a T-Mobile signal in my lounge.
I wonder if it's faulty.
ROM version: 1.90.405.1 WWE
ROM date: 08/01/08
Radio version: 1.02.25.19
Protocol version: 52.33.25.17U
It's a possibility... I know I'm from the states, so different ballpark altogether, but mine has had much better reception (especially with holding 3G) than other phones I've used.
I would say after reading round the forums that the poor signal complaints all one one thing in common. T-Mobile UK.
I have the TYTN II as well on T-Mobile and it always has a good solid signal round my house with the 'H' showing all the time.
I got my Raphael today and reached the conclusion that T-Mobile must be having problems because the signal has been ropey to say the least plus it has been a struggle to get the 'G' to turn to a 'H'.
After reading the various discussions on here I can only put it down to the phone being a bit deaf. Lets hope HTC address this
Right two things.
a) I am on T-Mobile and have experienced the same thing. Slightly lower but not drastic reductions.
b) I spoke with T-Mobile yesterday and they said they were having some intermittent issues with their 3G network.
I've been having all sorts of trouble with web browsing on my Vario II over the last few months. The Touch Pro seems to be better but still not perfect, I'm probably going to change networks soon though.
I have a friend at work with an iphone 3G on O2 and he doesn't get very good 3G coverage in the office, but says it's fine at home. I think I'll move to Vodafone and see what they're like!
I aint too sure where we are at the moment with SPLs so not sure if it is wise to flash a different radio version yet, however it might be worth seeing if a radio update emerges to address these issues, gotta say where i am on vacation at the mo (Norfolk) has jack **** reception for TmobileUK.
Its full 5 Bars HSDPA back in York so when i get hold of my Raph i'll post some findings alongside my Hermes (TyTN) for comparison.
Is reception in Norfolk really that bad?
My brother can get a good enough reception to talk on his phone with Tmobile at our place there... While my phone on orange cant get anything at all...
I was told Tmobiles reception was better than oranges... :/
I was hoping i could get some sort for data connection working there.
Also has the Touch Pro got an Antenna plug inside it? So you could hook it up to a more powerful antenna?
Antenna location
Well I don't have Raph yet however I've seen a Manual.
It says that antenna o Raph is placed at the bottom of Raph's back. I think this is pretty idiotic because everytime you grab your phone you automatically cover the antenna.
I don't think that the poor reception is related to the T-Mobile network itself. I think the problem is the device.
If you read the other threads it's quite obvious that T-Mobile works better/fine with other devices (same SIM) as compared to the Touch Pro.
I'm quite sure we will get similar bad reception reports from other network users as well as soon as the devices gets available in other countries.
As the Diamond has similar problems I do not think it's a software issue, I think the problem is related to the slim housing (antenna setup) of the Diamond and as the Touch Pro is a takeover in lots of parts it might suffer the same problems.
Ok this doesnt sound good :/
Does the touch pro have an external antenna plug hidden inside the battery compartment?
Im not planning on carrying an antenna about with me all the time. But wouldnt mind one attached to my house in norfolk. Just so i can get some sort of data network.
So is there an antenna socket?
Most phones hide theres with a rubber plug.
foo said:
I'm quite sure we will get similar bad reception reports from other network users as well as soon as the devices gets available in other countries.
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Don't be so sure... With my Pantech Duo I would hardly ever touch a 3G signal down in my basement, with the Touch Pro I get HSDPA most of the time I'm down here. Best phone I've ever used when it comes to reception...
NutsyUK said:
Ok this doesnt sound good :/
Does the touch pro have an external antenna plug hidden inside the battery compartment?
Im not planning on carrying an antenna about with me all the time. But wouldnt mind one attached to my house in norfolk. Just so i can get some sort of data network.
So is there an antenna socket?
Most phones hide theres with a rubber plug.
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I BELIEVE I've heard of things you can get hooked up in a building where it receives signal at the top of the building (via an antenna) and amplifies it throughout (working similarly to a wireless router)... I think they use them in office buildings, to prevent loss of reception due to the sheer size of the structure. May be very expensive, but I haven't really looked into it. Anyone else heard of such things?
foo said:
I don't think that the poor reception is related to the T-Mobile network itself. I think the problem is the device.
If you read the other threads it's quite obvious that T-Mobile works better/fine with other devices (same SIM) as compared to the Touch Pro.
I'm quite sure we will get similar bad reception reports from other network users as well as soon as the devices gets available in other countries.
As the Diamond has similar problems I do not think it's a software issue, I think the problem is related to the slim housing (antenna setup) of the Diamond and as the Touch Pro is a takeover in lots of parts it might suffer the same problems.
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Id wait to see if a Radio update eliviates some of the issues, remember we are on a fledgling STOCK device at the moment, same thing happened with the Hermes and it was remedied quickly once a radio update was released (with the 0107 radio bootloader in it).
@NutsyUK
Well we stayed in Hickling last year and I got full HSDPA around there which was a surprise, where we are im in a fringe area methinks since all 4 networks are crap here (Horning)......depends where you are going?
krabicka3 said:
Well I don't have Raph yet however I've seen a Manual.
It says that antenna o Raph is placed at the bottom of Raph's back. I think this is pretty idiotic because everytime you grab your phone you automatically cover the antenna.
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I actually think this is quite a sensible location for it...
Yes, you would be covering the antenna if you are holding it "normally" i.e. browse web pages etc, but when you are on a call and you are holding it up to your ear you wouldn't be covering it at all because it's at the same end as the microphone! So at least having the antenna down there maximises your signal strength when you need it most!
After reading many posts saying that the Pro is weaker on TMobile I must ask which 3G band does TMobile operate on? Is it 2100?
I'm in Australia on Three's network and I must say the reception is very poor.
To the point I lose connection at times and have calls fade in/out.
This is coming from a P3600 which it replaced. That had better reception with one of the proven upgraded radio ROMs.
So I hope a future radio ROM upgrade addresses this, as I'm starting to really like this device.
My internet key for Three's mobile broadband which uses the same network can be right next to the Pro and have 4 bars (out of 4 or 5) while the Pro only shows 1 (P3600 generally has 1 bar less than internet key)
Mrjasjam said:
After reading many posts saying that the Pro is weaker on TMobile I must ask which 3G band does TMobile operate on? Is it 2100?
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Use this site to check your local cell information (UK).
http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/
THis is what i have found in my area
3G Network 2100MHz (umts)
TMob 1800MHz (GSM)
O2 900/1800MHz (GSM), 2100MHz (umts)
Voda 900/1800MHz (GSM), 2100MHz (umts)
Orange 1800MHz (GSM), 2100MHz (umts)
Tmobile must piggyback other networks umts as i am unable to find a Tmob cell with umts!!! If thats the case, its not the phone at fault. Maybe someone can check in their area that receives 3g on Tmobile.
Doing a quick search, it appears That Tmobile piggyback the 3G network in the uk, yet there are no reports of poor coverage on the 3G network.
The 3 an t-mobile HSDPA networks merged a while ago. So it would be interesting to know if the poor reception occurs with a 3 SIM. I would imagine that is shouldn't make any difference if they operate on the same band.
ardsar said:
Use this site to check your local cell information (UK).
http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/
THis is what i have found in my area
3G Network 2100MHz (umts)
TMob 1800MHz (GSM)
O2 900/1800MHz (GSM), 2100MHz (umts)
Voda 900/1800MHz (GSM), 2100MHz (umts)
Orange 1800MHz (GSM), 2100MHz (umts)
Tmobile must piggyback other networks umts as i am unable to find a Tmob cell with umts!!! If thats the case, its not the phone at fault. Maybe someone can check in their area that receives 3g on Tmobile.
Doing a quick search, it appears That Tmobile piggyback the 3G network in the uk, yet there are no reports of poor coverage on the 3G network.
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Its been the following for a fair while:
O2 and Vodaphone : GSM900
Orange and Tmobile: GSM1800
AFAIK all four use UMTS2100 for thier 3G services.
Virgin mobile uses the tmobile network also.
Three: UMTS2100
However Three works on the same network ID as the O2 3G service which seems to take priority, however that might be an old story now?? Al i can remember is that several colleagues were told this by Three when they complained about calls cutting off many times.
Never been aware of tMobile "piggybacking" the 3G network since they were the first to offer 3G with the other networks following suit? It wouldnt make sence by looking at the data rate tarriffs each network offers since Tmobile is the only one to offer unlimited HSDPA, which surely would suggest the intrastructure is thiers out of majority??
My info was from this article originally:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile#United_Kingdom
It would definitely be interesting to know if the same problems occur with O2 etc...
My speeds never go higher than 300 kbps on my Fuze, my Tilt, or BJ. Ive switched radios, ROMS, and sim cards but my speed continues to suck. The only other thing I can think of is that my speed is being limited. Does anyone know if they throttle speeds?
AT&T does not throttle download speeds. What you're experiencing is more than likely due to poor 3G reception in your area or an edge connection. Does your phone show a "3G" icon or an "E" icon?
If it is an E icon, you are connecting to EDGE, which means you probably won't get anything faster. If it says 3G, you've got a poor 3G connection and your area. Either way, there's not really anything you can do about it, unfortunately.
Sorry.
It doesnt matter what my location is. I live in NYC and have 3 - 5 bars of HSDPA everywhere I go. Turning off HSDPA and using 3g doesnt help either.
behrouz said:
It doesnt matter what my location is. I live in NYC and have 3 - 5 bars of HSDPA everywhere I go. Turning off HSDPA and using 3g doesnt help either.
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AT&T's 3G <i>is</i> HSDPA. By turning off HSDPA you're effectively disabling 3G. Keep HSDPA enabled and you should be all right.
Though you have a Touch Pro 2, which is a European model, and therefore not compatible with US 3G. The fix should work with a US Touch Pro, however.
Im using a Fuze. I plan on getting a TP2 when it (eventually) comes out. HSDPA and 3G are not the same. Enabling or disabling HSDPA disables HSDPA only and not 3G. Ive had the phone since November (and a tilt tweaked the ef out as well) and have done every tweak you could think of to it so Im not some dumb noob.
When youre used to getting pretty decent speeds (1000kbps-1500kbps) and all of a sudden cant even reach 350kbps regardless of device and location it makes you wonder wtf is going on.
i live in nyc myself and i think something is up with att network and they just not telling us cuz my speed do sometimes just decrease to crap randomly and sometimes it doesnt work at all period but thats very rare, sometimes annoying
Manhattan here. Can affirm the same. Used to be able to get over 2mbps on my Tilt. Now I'm impressed if I clear 800k at night. And during business hours the network is too slow to listen to a Sirius stream. Sometimes in edge territory and I too am no noob and have tried so many things I made a damn website about it.
I believe att is engaging in some kind of throttling or shaping or they are simply short on bandwidth, at least in our neighborhood, based on extensive testing, the biggest clues being better performance the further away from business hours. And the situation appears to be getting steadily worse. Put it this way, several months ago I wasn't experimenting with header compression and packet MTU sizes just to listen to Howard. Now I have to go with the low bandwidth stream.
Not cool, at&t, step your game up. We're noticing.
In addition to testing all the different radios and different devices I've used a variety of testing methods, reliable ones, and I even paid up for the isp.cingular wap which ain't better at the moment.
HSDPA is a type of 3G connection. It's the kind AT&T uses for their network.
To quote from AT&T's website:
"The AT&T 3G network uses HSDPA/UMTS technology (High Speed Downlink Packet Access/Universal Mobile Telephone System), which makes it possible to enjoy a variety of feature-rich wireless services. It also gives AT&T the advantage of offering simultaneous voice and data services. That means you can talk and use the Internet at the same time. How's that for multitasking?"
To use 3G on AT&T, you must have HSDPA enabled. As for your signal crapping out like that, what's probably happening is just a network bog down. In major metros, when a lot of people are connecting, it can cause speeds all around to drop. It's just the nature of cellular technology.
And I'm not out of my element, btw. I work for AT&T.
xxbadsushixx, I hope you are right. This would only go to prove the whole, post count shows how smart you are, theory that everyone seems to have.
but to not make a useless post: I also believe that it has to do with where you live, and whether you are in a metro or rural area. Here in Orlando, if I am downtown on a friday night, 700+k is rare. When I get to my house 1000+k is easy.
computer double-posted. please delete.
livehigh said:
xxbadsushixx, I hope you are right. This would only go to prove the whole, post count shows how smart you are, theory that everyone seems to have.
but to not make a useless post: I also believe that it has to do with where you live, and whether you are in a metro or rural area. Here in Orlando, if I am downtown on a friday night, 700+k is rare. When I get to my house 1000+k is easy.
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That's normal. I actually had the same issue, and customer complaints about it. I did some research, and it basically comes down to a single tower has a set bandwith. Lets pretend a tower has a max connection of 50mbps. if 50 people connect to it, they're pulling 1mbps each. if 100 people connect, they're pulling 500kbps each. It all comes down to what kind of load the tower can handle. If a tower gets too bogged down, it can hand off excess connections to another nearby tower, but if a single area has a significant number of connections, everyone suffers.
Think of it as going into a crowded coffee shop and everyone is using the wifi. Too many people connecting and using it at once, speed drops. That's almost exactly what's happening now to you guys.
For the record, my connection pulls about 500kbps at work, but at home almost 1.5mbps at home.
HSDPA and 3G ARE NOT the same..HSDPA is in essence 3.5 G..look it up and test it out..use the disable hsdpa regedit or use advanced config...and disable HSDPA..youl notice you wont (well in the past before speeeds went down the drain) get above 600kbps but enable HSDPA and you would hit iver 1mb..so they are different in every way...also this isnt att throttling..this all happened with the iphone 3g came out..i noticed the day it came out and the only time id get back full bandwidth (over 1mb) was at 4 am lol..sooo thank the iphone 3g users for stealing our bandwidth and soon att will push out 4g which will be wimax i think...but hsdpa is upto 7.5mbps even though att hasnt utilized the protocols speed capabilities because they need to upgrade all their towersbut they are only utilizing 3.5mb hspda right now
xxbadsushixx said:
That's normal. I actually had the same issue, and customer complaints about it. I did some research, and it basically comes down to a single tower has a set bandwith. Lets pretend a tower has a max connection of 50mbps. if 50 people connect to it, they're pulling 1mbps each. if 100 people connect, they're pulling 500kbps each. It all comes down to what kind of load the tower can handle. If a tower gets too bogged down, it can hand off excess connections to another nearby tower, but if a single area has a significant number of connections, everyone suffers.
Think of it as going into a crowded coffee shop and everyone is using the wifi. Too many people connecting and using it at once, speed drops. That's almost exactly what's happening now to you guys.
For the record, my connection pulls about 500kbps at work, but at home almost 1.5mbps at home.
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If that was the case I wouldn't be so upset but its not. For example I was in a part of the city I don't usually hang around last night and opened up google maps (in a very drunk stupor) I had to wait an unacceptably long time for it find a route and load up the images. Granted it was NYC but it was also 4AM(!). Just how many iPhone users are chewing through data at 4am?
I believe att throttles 3g. My fuze has never produced a d/l speed above 350-450. Placing same sim in n-95-3 shows 1400 in the same location. Just my observation. Can't prove it. But I believe it.
u guys are confusing hsupa with HSPDA with HSUPA they are different,
HSUPA is faster than HSPDA, wich is the same as 3g
Unlocking the HSUPA is makes the connection noticeablly faster.. It is disabled by default on the FUZE
wiki it up if u need to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Speed_Packet_Access
lol hsupa IS FOR uplink ONLY hence the U instead of a D..same as uoploading..so yes web pages may load faster but speed tests and downloads will show nop change in downlink speed
You are all crazy
3G is UMTS...max speed of 384 if I remeber correctly.
3G can also be HSDPA if enabled in your area. Currently I believe this to be capped on phones at 1.2 and on laptop cards at 1.6. This also might change is you use isp.cingular...the tower may think you are a laptop card.
Think of the two HSxPA protocols as tower based upload/download compression algorithms for UMTS and you'll pretty much have a grasp of it. While not strictly correct in the truest sense of the definition, using this analogy will help understand 3G and 3.5G.
If you have no HSxPA, but a 3G connection then your raphael displays 3G all the time. HSDPA only enabled is indicated by an "H" icon appearing when your device is actually downloading data. Both HSDPA and HSUPA will be shown by a constant "H" being displayed.
AT&T's network works just fine with these protocols turned off.
I've been testing out the data speed connections with my Moto G on Tesco Mobile. When it is showing a HSDPA connection (H+) or UMTS (H, I think) or 3g (3G) data connection speeds are what I would expect.
But as soon as it drops to Edge (E) or GPRS (G) I get speeds so slow that practically no data is being passed - even with a full 4 bars of signal.
And I am well aware that Edge and GPRS are significantly slower than 3G and its superior data connections, but I'm talking less than 0.03Mbps speeds as measured by the Speedtest app. The speed is so slow that useful "out and about" apps like google maps refuse to recognise that there is an internet connection present.
I've raised this with the network and they say that for all of the cells that I've accessed data speeds shouldn't slow that much, and suggested it might be a faulty SIM (perhaps). But today on a different sim in another Moto G on a different network I experienced the same - Edge connection was connected, but practically non-existent.
Is this anyone else is experiencing, or am I just being really unlucky in the cells I am located in?
Thanks!
Matt
larkim said:
I've been testing out the data speed connections with my Moto G on Tesco Mobile. When it is showing a HSDPA connection (H+) or UMTS (H, I think) or 3g (3G) data connection speeds are what I would expect.
But as soon as it drops to Edge (E) or GPRS (G) I get speeds so slow that practically no data is being passed - even with a full 4 bars of signal.
And I am well aware that Edge and GPRS are significantly slower than 3G and its superior data connections, but I'm talking less than 0.03Mbps speeds as measured by the Speedtest app. The speed is so slow that useful "out and about" apps like google maps refuse to recognise that there is an internet connection present.
I've raised this with the network and they say that for all of the cells that I've accessed data speeds shouldn't slow that much, and suggested it might be a faulty SIM (perhaps). But today on a different sim in another Moto G on a different network I experienced the same - Edge connection was connected, but practically non-existent.
Is this anyone else is experiencing, or am I just being really unlucky in the cells I am located in?
Thanks!
Matt
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Yes, slow edge nd gprs sppeds experienced by you is possibly due to ur location....coz i get a decent edge speed as well as my friends too who r also using moto g.....So nothing is wrong in the phone it just depends uoon location....
Akshay7273 said:
Yes, slow edge nd gprs sppeds experienced by you is possibly due to ur location....coz i get a decent edge speed as well as my friends too who r also using moto g.....So nothing is wrong in the phone it just depends uoon location....
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Thanks for taking the time to reply. I don't think it is location as the problem seems to be consistent in every cell I am in. I've obtained a fresh sim from the network to see if that was the problem. Will post back with any further info!
larkim said:
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I don't think it is location as the problem seems to be consistent in every cell I am in. I've obtained a fresh sim from the network to see if that was the problem. Will post back with any further info!
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Well....do u have any friend who is using Moto G and getting same problem at that place??And by the way, Here in india some operators give faster 3g speeds but 2g speed sucks...So just like that it could be the operator's prblm too....First confirm if any of ur friends are getting better edge or gprs speeds.....Thanx
Thread subscribed.
On my old phones I was used to only use 2G (Edge or GPRS) networks in order to get one day of battery life. On my Windows Phone 7 device with an Edge connection it would sync emails, send and receive them and I could even browse (slowly) the internet.
On this one Edge is slow as ****. Furtunately H+ isnt that heavy on its battery as in order devices but when I get to places without a 3G connection the phone gets pretty much unusable, its a shame...
rmrbpt said:
Thread subscribed.
On my old phones I was used to only use 2G (Edge or GPRS) networks in order to get one day of battery life. On my Windows Phone 7 device with an Edge connection it would sync emails, send and receive them and I could even browse (slowly) the internet.
On this one Edge is slow as ****. Furtunately H+ isnt that heavy on its battery as in order devices but when I get to places without a 3G connection the phone gets pretty much unusable, its a shame...
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Interesting. For the full story:-
I have a Moto G with Virgin (MVNO in the UK using the EE network), and have had for about 5 months. Love it. Never had an issue with data speed on any of the "flavours" (obviously GPRS and Edge are slower, but useable as you say). I've just persuaded my wife to take a Moto G too, but she is on the TescoMobile network (MVNO in the UK using the O2 network). I obviously don't expect our experience with data speed to be identical, but she has only had the phone for a week or so and she reported to me last week that it seemed that data was turned off so she couldn't use maps when she was driving to get some travel time updates. When I looked at the phone at home, it was all fine - and at home both of us get H+ signals throughout most of the house (when wifi turned off). On playing a little more, I noticed that in one room of the house the signal dropped consistently to Edge, and when testing data speed there I noticed the slow (unusable) speed. I swapped the sim into my phone (which was a sim free purchase, so unlocked) and got the same issue. I've then subsequently tested data speeds when we've been out and about in different cell locations, and consistently when she is on Edge or GPRS the data drops off a cliff. HSDPA is always fine.
Then yesterday I was out and about just with my own phone in an Edge area, and I also got the same experience - unusable Edge data speeds (bear in mind this is now on my network, Virgin). Now, I've only had this once, but I am wondering if the 4.4.4 update has slowed Edge / GPRS performance, as the common factor across both my phone and my wife's is that they have only just been updated to 4.4.4
If no-one else here is experiencing the same, then clearly it is just local signal issues, but it does seem peculiar that both phones, on different networks and in different physical locations (up to 30 miles away) appear to be experiencing something similar.
Both phones are on 210.12.40.falcon_umts / 4.4.4
I've just found something to try. Won't be for everyone, but using the "hidden" phone menu via *#*#4636#*#* > phone information and setting preferred network type to "WCDMA only" I can at least force the phone to ONLY use a 3G connection. Whether that will leave me with no signal in areas where I'd like to have a signal I'll wait and see, but I could at least switch manually back to 2G if I found myself down a dark country lane with no 3G signal. Perhaps an option only for the tech-enthusiast, wouldn't want my wife to be relying on this if her car broke down in the wrong end of town!!
It may be a work around, but I can't possibly rely on that since being unreachable isn't acceptable for me.
Let me add that I experience these "issue" since I can remember, so definitely 4.4.4 wasn't the culprit...
rmrbpt said:
It may be a work around, but I can't possibly rely on that since being unreachable isn't acceptable for me.
Let me add that I experience these "issue" since I can remember, so definitely 4.4.4 wasn't the culprit...
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There is an option "WCDMA preferred" which may (I know nothing about this!) set a preference for a stronger reliance on 3G services rather than 2G. It's very easy to set up and switch, worth a little experiment if you get into an area where you are suffering with a slow 2G service.
Changed it right now.
If I feel any difference I will leave the proper feedback.
Thanks
Thinking about importing Xperia Z5 to use on T-Mobile, however I'm not sure which model to use. Also does the Z5 support Band 12?
http://www.xperiablog.net/2015/10/07/usa-buyers-guide-sony-xperia-z5/
The Z5 supports Band 12 LTE. E6653 is the recommended model for US use.
Don't too sure. T-Mobile is asking OEMs to disable Band 12 on unbranded devices in the US because of the lack of VoLTE on non T-Mobile certified devices, because in some areas where band 12 is the only band available and you don't have VoLTE there is no fallback to 3G so you would have full signal but no calls and in emergencies in these rare cases/places it would be bad. Unless TMO certifies the device you will have issues.
I'm sure you can work around it but you won't have VoLTE, which is not too bad I guess.
abhinav.tella said:
Don't too sure. T-Mobile is asking OEMs to disable Band 12 on unbranded devices in the US because of the lack of VoLTE on non T-Mobile certified devices, because in some areas where band 12 is the only band available and you don't have VoLTE there is no fallback to 3G so you would have full signal but no calls and in emergencies in these rare cases/places it would be bad. Unless TMO certifies the device you will have issues.
I'm sure you can work around it but you won't have VoLTE, which is not too bad I guess.
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Not likely to happen because the device isn't sold in the US (and Sony hasn't announced any plans to do so).
Sony is not going to disable bands on international devices because a US carrier asks them to.
I was only speaking of local sales in the future as I did say in the US. Having Band 12 but not being able to make calls when on that band is an issue regardless, for international models on TMO.
I'm kinda confused on this issue as well. Xperia Z5 is supposed to support VoLTE (which is the main reason certain lte band 12 phones wouldn't work on T-mobile) but as the Z5 is unlikely to come to T-mobile US, it's not likely to have undergone T-Mobile's specific certification. We'd have to check with someone who has the phone and lives in an area serviced by T-mobile US band 12 (ideally with no 2g/3g backup) and see if they can A) access data and/or B) make voice calls. The technology is there for it to be able to work, I just don't know if the real world case would match the theoretical.
shizenyasuya said:
I'm kinda confused on this issue as well. Xperia Z5 is supposed to support VoLTE (which is the main reason certain lte band 12 phones wouldn't work on T-mobile) but as the Z5 is unlikely to come to T-mobile US, it's not likely to have undergone T-Mobile's specific certification. We'd have to check with someone who has the phone and lives in an area serviced by T-mobile US band 12 (ideally with no 2g/3g backup) and see if they can A) access data and/or B) make voice calls. The technology is there for it to be able to work, I just don't know if the real world case would match the theoretical.
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what areas are going to have no 2g AND no 3g...that seems a bit extreme. are 2g and 3g networks on the same tower?
crazeazn said:
what areas are going to have no 2g AND no 3g...that seems a bit extreme. are 2g and 3g networks on the same tower?
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Doesn't band 12 LTE take over for previous EDGE on band 12? There are many areas (well mostly rural) where this could occur
sovanyio said:
Doesn't band 12 LTE take over for previous EDGE on band 12? There are many areas (well mostly rural) where this could occur
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There are but there are still many many rural areas where a 2G/3G tower will have larger coverage than its LTE equivalent (I think). While I understand that the 2G is morphing over to Band 12 LTE, I don't think this includes all the 3G/HSPA/HSPA+. I'm still under the impression that you will have LTE/3G coverage somewhere....
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/t-mobile-upgrade-2g-edge-network-lte-coverage-push/2014-03-13
I have had the Xperia Z5 (E6653) for a week and I'd like to say a little about my experience in case it may help out anyone here.
1. The phone has all the T-Mobile bands except for one in the 3G/HSPA range.
2. It DOES connect to band 12 LTE. However, when a call is coming in, it will move down to a different band to allow you to pick up the call.
3. I've noticed that when I'm playing some games (PVZ2), if a call comes in, I press 'Answer' on the pop up notification but it does nothing. This also seems to freeze the phone app for a little while.
4. There is actually a mobile network setting for "Enable VoLTE" and you can enable/disable it. However, I guess this doesn't really do anything on the T-Mobile network and it will never pick up a call while on LTE.
Other than talking about bands and calling, the phone is basically a Z3 with a fingerprint scanner and a much better camera. However, the battery doesn't last as long as the one of the Z3 and if you are gaming, it will last MUCH less than the Z3 while getting much hotter. I love not having to take a flap out to access the USB port. One interesting thing I've noticed is that with the Z3 I used to get a lot of static when I connected an AUX cable to the headphone jack and was charging at the same time, and would hear a humming noise on every touch of the screen, probably because the two ports are next to each other on the Z3. I haven't experienced that on the Z5 and suspect it's because they are on opposite ends of the phone.
GersonT1000 said:
I have had the Xperia Z5 (E6653) for a week and I'd like to say a little about my experience in case it may help out anyone here.
1. The phone has all the T-Mobile bands except for one in the 3G/HSPA range.
2. It DOES connect to band 12 LTE. However, when a call is coming in, it will move down to a different band to allow you to pick up the call.
3. I've noticed that when I'm playing some games (PVZ2), if a call comes in, I press 'Answer' on the pop up notification but it does nothing. This also seems to freeze the phone app for a little while.
4. There is actually a mobile network setting for "Enable VoLTE" and you can enable/disable it. However, I guess this doesn't really do anything on the T-Mobile network and it will never pick up a call while on LTE.
Other than talking about bands and calling, the phone is basically a Z3 with a fingerprint scanner and a much better camera. However, the battery doesn't last as long as the one of the Z3 and if you are gaming, it will last MUCH less than the Z3 while getting much hotter. I love not having to take a flap out to access the USB port. One interesting thing I've noticed is that with the Z3 I used to get a lot of static when I connected an AUX cable to the headphone jack and was charging at the same time, and would hear a humming noise on every touch of the screen, probably because the two ports are next to each other on the Z3. I haven't experienced that on the Z5 and suspect it's because they are on opposite ends of the phone.
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Thanks for your feedback! If you don't mind sharing, what part of the US are you in covered by T-Mobile and Band 12 LTE? I'm in Chicago (no B12 for them here), but there's swaths of Michigan that T-Mo has B12 spectrum to provide coverage. If you're saying the Z5 somehow auto drops back down to non-LTE for calls, that's very interesting and encouraging since it didn't sound like other phones like Moto's were capable of that.
doclloyd said:
Thanks for your feedback! If you don't mind sharing, what part of the US are you in covered by T-Mobile and Band 12 LTE? I'm in Chicago (no B12 for them here), but there's swaths of Michigan that T-Mo has B12 spectrum to provide coverage. If you're saying the Z5 somehow auto drops back down to non-LTE for calls, that's very interesting and encouraging since it didn't sound like other phones like Moto's were capable of that.
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Click to collapse
I live in NYC and there's band 12 in most places now. My Z5 is usually connected to band 4 LTE and band 12 LTE now. I've noticed all kinds of bands connecting though (Edge, 3G, H, LTE). I don't know if the H is HSPA or HSPA+.
doclloyd said:
If you're saying the Z5 somehow auto drops back down to non-LTE for calls, that's very interesting and encouraging since it didn't sound like other phones like Moto's were capable of that.
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All phones do this, unless they have VoLTE enabled. The issue was with CDMA phones, they would only have 1 LTE/3G antenna path, so it would drop down to 1X instead for casks, making no Internet while on a call.
Only time they won't is if LTE signal is availible but 3G/2G isn't obviously. This is why T-Mobile was/is limiting band 12 in phones. Their band 12 network in some places extends outside the range of their 2G network, giving no phone service even though you had 'signal' unless you have VoLTE, and the phone has to be a T-Mobile phone to be approved for VoLTE (with a few exceptions like the nexus).
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
This was very helpful, thank you.
Sent from my SM-N920C using Tapatalk
I've got the Z5 Premium and I live in the US. Band 12 works just fine. I did some testing and I've seen 2g/3g/hspa/4g/4g lte. I have also traveled a bit for the holidays and the phone has been perfect.
GersonT1000 said:
I have had the Xperia Z5 (E6653) for a week and I'd like to say a little about my experience in case it may help out anyone here.
1. The phone has all the T-Mobile bands except for one in the 3G/HSPA range.
2. It DOES connect to band 12 LTE. However, when a call is coming in, it will move down to a different band to allow you to pick up the call.
3. I've noticed that when I'm playing some games (PVZ2), if a call comes in, I press 'Answer' on the pop up notification but it does nothing. This also seems to freeze the phone app for a little while.
4. There is actually a mobile network setting for "Enable VoLTE" and you can enable/disable it. However, I guess this doesn't really do anything on the T-Mobile network and it will never pick up a call while on LTE.
Other than talking about bands and calling, the phone is basically a Z3 with a fingerprint scanner and a much better camera. However, the battery doesn't last as long as the one of the Z3 and if you are gaming, it will last MUCH less than the Z3 while getting much hotter. I love not having to take a flap out to access the USB port. One interesting thing I've noticed is that with the Z3 I used to get a lot of static when I connected an AUX cable to the headphone jack and was charging at the same time, and would hear a humming noise on every touch of the screen, probably because the two ports are next to each other on the Z3. I haven't experienced that on the Z5 and suspect it's because they are on opposite ends of the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, your post is very informative. Thank you for sharing.
I have a question though.
I live in US (Seattle) and have just received the exact same phone (E6653).
My T-mobile connection keep dropping on my phone.
Watching youtube over mobile data has become so choppy even my crappy old LG Optimus F3Q wouldn't do that.
Is there any settings I need to deal with to get this phone to work well with T-Mobile?
Thanks.
misbehave said:
Hi, your post is very informative. Thank you for sharing.
I have a question though.
I live in US (Seattle) and have just received the exact same phone (E6653).
My T-mobile connection keep dropping on my phone.
Watching youtube over mobile data has become so choppy even my crappy old LG Optimus F3Q wouldn't do that.
Is there any settings I need to deal with to get this phone to work well with T-Mobile?
Thanks.
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Click to collapse
I'm not sure if there are any settings that will help you. Maybe if you go to network settings and set it to LTE preferred, or play around with the other options if you're in areas with spotty or no LTE. Besides that, maybe you could just turn on the BingeOn option on your T-Mobile account so that it streams faster (at 480 resolution).
I have Straight talk currently with Ascend Mate2, and I do enjoy LTE speeds as they are much faster and definitely more consistent than my old hspa+ phone. The allure of this screen size may make me want to change my mind though. Can anyone detail if this will worth with ATT HSPA+ network as (maybe what connections it can use on t-mobile as well)
Also a slight unrelated note, are there any phones this large or greater than 6.5/6.7 that work with US LTE or definitely going to be released in the US soon? I read somewhere the lenovo phab plus might be but only seen that in one article.
I have a DAV-703L variant of the p8max and can confirm HSPA+ working on at&t's network. No LTE but from my experience I have noticed any horrible slow downs since most people have upgraded to LTE phones so the network isnt as congested as it once was. Here is a speed test done inside my house during "peak" usage time in this area. Speed usually sits around 7-8mbps up but wanted to show a worse case scenario, but even with those speeds non hd youtube, web browsing, pandora have zero issues.
Can't configure hspa to work on T-Mobile maybe I should switch to at&t