Database Info

Changing the CDMA Radio

I just got off the phone with Telus and what they told me is that they are releasing ANOTHER TP2 on the GSM network and that I would have to buy another phone TP2 just to get onto the GSM network.
This being said, is there any way to modify the radio signal in my CDMA phone to read both CDMA and GSM, or atleast get more speed out of my phone for connectivity to the net?
*update
I just got off the phone with HTC and the lady I spoke with told me, that to change the radio frequency I just had to change the ROM. That being said IF, I put a Telus HSPA ROM on there the phone should be capable of working on the network. Now that being said. If this is possible would it not be possible to run on both networks, CDMA and HSPA, making the signal control software dependent, meaning I have CDMA controls for standard phone calls and HSPA for running the highspeed network?

Update in previous post.

Eazy, just HardSPL and security unlock your radio bro...Only then you can use the GSM networks in your country (I'm guessing it's US)
But you can only activate one at a time. Either GSM only or CDMA only..CMIIW..
Just my 2 cents

Actually it's Canada
Right but if I unlock the phone, and switch it back and forth on and off the networks, how would that affect my account, could I hide the fact i was doing this?

slight22 said:
Actually it's Canada
Right but if I unlock the phone, and switch it back and forth on and off the networks, how would that affect my account, could I hide the fact i was doing this?
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I have this phone on Telus...I got it unlocked and I put my work sim card in this phone and it's on rogers. I switch networks when necessary....If you get a Telus sim card you would be able to use it GSM.

You should be able to pick which network you use. I saw it in phone settings, I think.

bundybp said:
I have this phone on Telus...I got it unlocked and I put my work sim card in this phone and it's on rogers. I switch networks when necessary....If you get a Telus sim card you would be able to use it GSM.
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TELUS does not provide GSM at all. They are CDMA and UMTS.

So does this mean its possible. If i have a CDMA Sprint HTC Touch pro 2. That i have the potential of using it on At&t in the US?? All i have to do is unlock it?? Any information would be greatly appreciated.. Thanks!!

And if one does unlock a radio on said Telus phone, can one use both radio frequencies, thus enabling both CDMA and HSPA frequencies?

Spike15 said:
TELUS does not provide GSM at all. They are CDMA and UMTS.
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So Telus new 3G network is not GSM? It does have drop down menu showing "Send SMS over" GMS and CDMA. GSM is selected by default.

Telus TP2 Radio Question

Hello,
I am a noob at this so please bear with me.
I have a Telus TP2 and I have unlocked it using the software provided by Olipro.
My objective is to switch my network over to Telus' new UMTS network, using one of their sim cards. Right now it is functioning on Telus' CDMA network.
My question is: Do I need to flash a new Radio to accomplish this? My phone still has the 2.05.00 WV radio on it now. I just need to know if I need to go get a WU radio in order to use Telus' new network.
Thanks in advance.

Hedake said:
Hello,
I am a noob at this so please bear with me.
I have a Telus TP2 and I have unlocked it using the software provided by Olipro.
My objective is to switch my network over to Telus' new UMTS network, using one of their sim cards. Right now it is functioning on Telus' CDMA network.
My question is: Do I need to flash a new Radio to accomplish this? My phone still has the 2.05.00 WV radio on it now. I just need to know if I need to go get a WU radio in order to use Telus' new network.
Thanks in advance.
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Click to collapse
The Telus TP2 supports UMTS 2100.
Telus uses UMTS 850/1900 for its 3G network.
In order to get the TP2 running on the UMTS network you'll want to grab a ATT GSM variant from the states and unlock that.
IIRC, Telus is jumping straight to WCDMA/UMTS so it won't be supporting the standard GSM bands. If that's the case, then your Telus TP2 variant won't have anything to lock onto when it is in "GSM Mode."

Ah dang, I guess I didn't really need to unlock the sim on my phone then because it won't work on Telus' UMTS network...
Oh well, if I decide to go back to Rogers I believe that the Telus TP2 will operate on their GSM network.
Follow up question:
Do I need to get an unlocked Radio to use the Telus TP2 on Rogers' GSM network or will the 2.05.00WV one that I have on now work?

yes, you'll need a WU unlocked radio in order to access GSM radios in the states, and canada as well, i believe.
You can find the link here:
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=578659

Hedake said:
Ah dang, I guess I didn't really need to unlock the sim on my phone then because it won't work on Telus' UMTS network...
Oh well, if I decide to go back to Rogers I believe that the Telus TP2 will operate on their GSM network.
Follow up question:
Do I need to get an unlocked Radio to use the Telus TP2 on Rogers' GSM network or will the 2.05.00WV one that I have on now work?
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It depends on the specific radio firmware in the device.
If it is like the Sprint TP2, then yes, you would need a separate radio. Sprint does not SIM lock its TP2, however it ships them with crippled radio software which has the 850/1900 GSM bands disabled so that it won't work with US GSM carriers (it simply doesn't see the network).
If it is like the Verizon TP2, then no, you would not need a separate radio, though you would need a SIM unlock. Verizon doesn't cripple the radio software in its TP2. It simply uses a traditional SIM lock.
I've heard that the Telus TP2 is like the Sprint model, but I've not seen one to verify.
If you're not sure, then you can always flash the unlocked radio (assuming you're using the unlock software from Oli) and it'll work.

Hey thanks for the information gamescan. I scoured the Telus Mobility website and tried to find information about their new netowork but they just call it HSPA+. No where does it mention that it is UMTS or GSM. Oh well, now I know a little bit more about cell phone tech.
I don't even know if theres any real benefit to being on Telus' UMTS network compared to their CDMA. Im sure there has to be something....

Hedake said:
Hey thanks for the information gamescan. I scoured the Telus Mobility website and tried to find information about their new netowork but they just call it HSPA+. No where does it mention that it is UMTS or GSM. Oh well, now I know a little bit more about cell phone tech.
I don't even know if theres any real benefit to being on Telus' UMTS network compared to their CDMA. Im sure there has to be something....
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Click to collapse
Quick 3G primer:
W-CDMA and UMTS are the name of the tech. It's also referred to as FOMA in Japan. Phones generally standardize on the UMTS name, so when you're poking around in your phone and see UMTS followed by a number, that indicates the frequency band that the phone will run on in 3G.
HSDPA, HSUPA and HSPA+ are all further revisions to UMTS. They allow for greater speeds on existing infrastructure so long as both the handset and tower support it.
A rough CDMA equivalent would be EVDO and EVDO Rev A. Older UMTS handsets will still work on a HSPA+ network, they just won't run on HSPA+ speeds the same as a EVDO handset will work on a Rev A network, just not at Rev A speeds.
UMTS is often referred to as "GSM" though that is a misnomer. GSM and UMTS are two separate (but concurrent) technologies. While they often exist together on networks that have been GSM and upgraded, they do not have to exist together. You can have a situation where a UMTS network exists but an underlying GSM "2G" network does not.
The most well known example of this is in Japan where GSM never rolled out, but in your case, where Telus is adding UMTS to an existing CDMA2000 network, is similar.
From a user perspective, there is no real reason for you to want to run UMTS over EVDO on Telus. Telus should have greater EVDO coverage so that's what you'll be wanting.
If you really want to run on the Telus UMTS network, look for an ATT branded Touch Pro 2 and get that. Of course that will not run on the Telus EVDO network.

Thank you again sir! I appreciate the replies.
Just curious about one thing, if Telus' new UMTS network isn't really any better than their CDMA right now, then why do they promote it as such a big deal?
I think I read that in order to evolve into the next big cellphone phase (forget the name) that this UTMS network was necessary but why would anyone care what network they are on as of today?
Also, do you know why CDMA is not the "way of the future" so to speak? I know Telus spent millions upgrading and putting in new towers all over...maybe I should go google this stuff lol.

The future is LTE (which is neither CDMA or GSM).
As for why Telus made a hop to UMTS before going to LTE, I couldn't tell you.
All I can envision is that Telus is looking to be more compatible globally with Europe and Japanese business travellers. It may also be a strategic decision to open up compatibility with more possible phone manufacturers.
Putting 1XRTT CDMA + EVDO + UMTS into a phone is an engineering pain. Adding in multiple frequency support (and properly tuning the antenna) is also a pain. HTC aside, many manufacturers are supporting GSM/UMTS because that's what carriers have. The biggest CDMA markets are the US, Canda and South Korea. While it is a lot of people, it also requires another phone variant.
By overlaying a UMTS network, Telus can suddenly work with any handset that supports UMTS 850/1900. That's what's used by ATT in the US. UMTS 850 is also popular in Australia while Europe and Japan use UMTS 2100. T-Mobile US uses UMTS 1700. Many UMTS phones offer tri-band UMTS 850/1900/2100 support. With one of those phones you can run on just about any current UMTS network in the world (excepting T-Mobile US).
Again, this is just conjecture on my part, but they are possible reasons.

Force telus to bell

Ok, I have tried the registry editor for sprint to force to roaming....the reason I want to do that, is because I'm in southern Ontario, and the Bell network is using HSPA (which is a lot faster), its under my understanding that I would not get billed for roaming if I am using a bell tower.......Thank you

the HSPA network is gsm and you are running cdma. So unless you get a bell sim card I don't see this happening.

drewcam888 said:
the HSPA network is gsm and you are running cdma. So unless you get a bell sim card I don't see this happening.
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and i dont think you get 3g on gsm?

correct i doubt the phone supports the bell 3g gsm band

[Q] Verizon TP2 on Bell Mobility

I've read many post and can't get an exact answer. I would like to buy a Verizon Touch Pro 2 Phone and get it Unlocked and then use it on my Bell Mobility network. If I use My Bell SIM card will I get full 3G connection or Will I get block by any incompatible BAND due Bell Settings?
Thank You to help me with my question.

No. The only US carrier to share the same 3G WCDMA bands as Canada is ATT.
An unlocked VZW TP2 will only work in 2G/EDGE mode on Canada's GSM carriers.

Thank You.
Yes I finaly find the Information (more technical)
Bell use 3G HSPA 850/1900MHz so any other phone that not have these frequency in HSPA doesn't work.

[Q] Does Nexus S work in Canada on Fido network?

I was using my nexus s on Rogers network, and I thought, that since Fido is basically the same company as Rogers and Nexus S is an unlocked phone, my nexus s should have no problem working on Fido's network, and all I have to do is changing the SIM card.
The truth turned out to be, my nexus s, with a Fido SIM card inside, is ROAMing on Rogers network! I cannot see any carrier but Rogers if I go into the "network search" menu! Even if I checked the "only use 2g network" option!
I live in Montreal and I should have perfect Fido reception. My guess is that my nexus s may be secretly locked to Rogers network, and no matter what SIM card I put in it always, and only, finds Rogers network and connects to it, making the service become roaming if i use SIM card from other local carrier.
Is there any nexus s using Fido's network properly in Canada? or specifically in Montreal area?
Has anyone found a problem like this when doing a network switch?

it will work only as Voice
data will be EDGE only

Its currently asw 1700 / "t-mobile" only' therefore wind or mobilicity will get 3G.
Rogers Fido Bell & Telus use HSPA 850 1900 will not.

Is your phone *really* roaming on Rogers?
Fido is owned by Rogers, and as far as I know, they share the same network.
It could be that your Nexus S is just not displaying the network name "FIDO" and is displaying Rogers instead.
Wind Mobile, for instance, displays their network number on the Nexus S, but if you put the same chip on a Blackberry it will either show "Wind Home" or "Wind Away".

fishfuse said:
Is your phone *really* roaming on Rogers?
Fido is owned by Rogers, and as far as I know, they share the same network.
It could be that your Nexus S is just not displaying the network name "FIDO" and is displaying Rogers instead.
Wind Mobile, for instance, displays their network number on the Nexus S, but if you put the same chip on a Blackberry it will either show "Wind Home" or "Wind Away".
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Yes. My Nexus S works fine with rogers. If I switch to a Fiso SIM card, it literally ROAMs on rogers network with a little "R" on top of the signal bar and ONLY finds rogers network in the "wireless" menu.
This is so weird.
Boszman said:
Its currently asw 1700 / "t-mobile" only' therefore wind or mobilicity will get 3G.
Rogers Fido Bell & Telus use HSPA 850 1900 will not.
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It finds Rogers network and connects to it in EDGE. Even Fido and rogers use the same network/frequency/towers, it just can't see any network but Rogers.
Are your phones working well with Fido?

thllxb said:
If I switch to a Fiso SIM card, it literally ROAMs on rogers network with a little "R" on top of the signal bar and ONLY finds rogers network in the "wireless" menu.
This is so weird.
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it doesn't matter, it still is on FIDO
i had an old Treo phones that did the exact same thing, because FIDO is not considered a real network in Canada as it's owned by ROGERS, so most of the time they get grouped together
but if you see their tower ID, you'll see they are on the correct tower
but it is a very tedious process to do that
regardless you will not get billed roaming as fido=rogers=fido=rogers=one company with 2 faces

My friend and I are both on Fido. We have older basic phones. I am on a basic plan. He is on older CityFido plan. Neither of us have data plan, voice only. His phone shows Rogers. Mine shows Fido (perhaps due to my SIM).
When I look at available networks in my phone, I only see Rogers. Fido no longer exists as a network. It is merely a cosmetic sub-brand of Rogers.
Fido and Rogers merged networks years ago; there is only one network: Rogers.
I hope this helps.