Im thinking of buying an unlocked GSM phone (nokia e55) soon, but im confused by GSM and UMTS because ive never had a GSM phone before. heres what (i think) i know:
Dual band 3g: 900/2100 mhz, will work with tmobile US, but only on the 2100 mhz spectrum, means no roaming.
tri band 3g: 850/1900/2100 mhz, supports tmobile and at&t, the ideal type of GSM for US.
Quad band: not sure.
fortunately ive been able to find quite a few triband e55's, but i just want to make sure i dont buy a phone with no 3g (i would NOT be happy).
btw, tmobile is the carrier im looking to change to soon, so triband is what i think will suit me best. corrections welcome.
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I want a 3g enabled smartphone/PDA for t-mobile, not the G1 dont like it. T-mobile 3G uses bands 1700 Mhz and 2100 Mhz right? So if i buy a phone that supports HSDPA 2100 Mhz will it work on the t-mobile 3G data network?
t-mobile is a gsm network though, so i don't know that an hsdpa phone would work with them (first of all no sim slot)
tmobile's 3g is new and not fully released so it would be difficult to find a phone that supports their 3g (you won't find anything but the g1, and you couldn't unlock a phone from att to support there 3g because the bands are different)
This is my understanding, but if i am wrong you guys can correct me
Is there a way to change the 3G Frequencies on the G1 to support AT&T 3G network?
Nope, thats a hardware issue.
I thought it was possibly a software issue. If not, is there a way to change out the chip or the incompatable part to make it compatible?
card13 said:
I thought it was possibly a software issue. If not, is there a way to change out the chip or the incompatable part to make it compatible?
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Nope...not going to work for many reasons.
been answered plenty plenty of times.
From what I can figure a hardware change may not be required with the correct radio but we dont know the right radio without the right hardware. lol I know that makes no sense but it makes as much sense as anyone can make of it thus far. When its possible I assure you I will be among the first to do it. Although Im not ready to try installing a new radio without first acquiring a backup phone but if I do Im gonna give it a try and maybe have better luck than the last guy to try.
What about a mini-usb attachment that can receive atnt signals?
I am sure with that and the right software manipulation it could work.
sjbayer3 said:
What about a mini-usb attachment that can receive atnt signals?
I am sure with that and the right software manipulation it could work.
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While it sounds great in theory I doubt anyone would put forth the resources for such a limited market.
You would be best off getting android to work on existing AT&T hardware.
in order to do it we would need hardware which would plug in the bottom and software to tell the phone to use the signal from the attachment.
while there wouldnt be millions in the market i guarantee there are hundreds.
if anyone wants to think about it i dont mind making 50 of em and selling for cost. i have some hook ups in the engineering field i work in
ok, my question is... Europe 3g is diff than tmob usa 3g, but is tmob europe the same 3g setup as US? and if europe 3g is same as tmob europe 3g, is att US 3g same as europe 3g. so if tmob europe is same as europe 3g then a europe g1 should work on att US 3g. am i coming thru clear or am i jumping all over?
Shaggy
Shagman68 said:
ok, my question is... Europe 3g is diff than tmob usa 3g, but is tmob europe the same 3g setup as US? and if europe 3g is same as tmob europe 3g, is att US 3g same as europe 3g. so if tmob europe is same as europe 3g then a europe g1 should work on att US 3g. am i coming thru clear or am i jumping all over?
Shaggy
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The American G1 has 3G support for HSDPA 1700 MHz & 2100 MHz, both bands I believe are used by T-Mobile. In Europe I believe they use only 2100 MHz band for 3G.
AT&T on the other hand uses 850 and 1900 MHz HSDPA
The phone has the capability for 2G at 850 and 1900 MHz, so technically it can be used on their network, just not at 3G speeds.
Although technically it's possible to design a Phase-Locked Loop to operate at a variable frequency and to be tuned with jumpers or something, it's probably cheaper for them or they might be subsidized to make phones so that they are exclusive for one network in the US.
To me the ideal is more about standardizing the protocols and the frequencies used for all companies, and having all bands available for traffic. But at least in the short-term that's not really good for business and so probably won't happen for a while.
This is all based entirely on a limited amount of research and my opinion, take it for what it's worth.
Europe uses 1900/2100 in a pair (1900 is the uplink, 2100 is the downlink). (source)
Most phones produced these days are tri or quad band and can work (almost) anywhere.. I'm surprised the G1 isn't.
Shagman68 said:
ok, my question is... Europe 3g is diff than tmob usa 3g, but is tmob europe the same 3g setup as US? and if europe 3g is same as tmob europe 3g, is att US 3g same as europe 3g. so if tmob europe is same as europe 3g then a europe g1 should work on att US 3g. am i coming thru clear or am i jumping all over?
Shaggy
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TonyHoyle said:
Europe uses 1900/2100 in a pair (1900 is the uplink, 2100 is the downlink). (source)
Most phones produced these days are tri or quad band and can work (almost) anywhere.. I'm surprised the G1 isn't.
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*sigh*.
Folks, you need to learn about UMTS bands before complaining about that the G1 or any other phone can't do this or that when it certainly can.
The G1 is a 3g worldphone. It works on the US 1700 AWS network (UMTS Band IV) and works on the world's 2100 network (UMTS Band I). ATT uses the 1900 Band (UMTS Band II).
Apparently the common names for these networks is being confused with the actual operating frequencies because they don't upload and download on the same frequencies. The 1900 band is not the same as the 2100 band, even though the 2100 band (UMTS Band I) uploads in the 1900mhz frequency and downloads at the 2100mhz frequency range. The 1900 Band (UMTS Band II) uploads on the upper half of the 1800mhz and downloads on the 1900mhz frequency range. UMTS Band II uploads on the frequencies that UMTS Band I downloads.
These bands separate.
TMO 3g band is different from ATT 3g band which is also different from EU 3g band.
The 1700 band (UMTS band IV) is actually made up of 2 frequency ranges like the other bands I and II are: 1700mhz and 2100mhz. In fact, the 2100mhz download range for UMTS Band IV is within the same frequencies used for the Band I download range, theoretically making it cheaper/easier for manufacturers who make Band I phones to "support" UMTS Band IV phone production.
Most phones produced today are NOT "tri or quad-band" 3g phones. In fact, I have yet to find a quad-band 3g phone. If quad-band 3g phones were made, they would be very likely to support the T-Mobile 3g network, because it's the 4th largest UMTS band type (behind Band I, II, and V). I would be very shocked to find a phone which was 2100/1900/900/850 instead of 2100/1900/1700/850.
And the G1 is a worldphone. It works just fine on UMTS in Europe. It is a band I and band IV device.
read these 2 links:
http://www.htc.com/www/product/g1/specification.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands#UMTS-FDD
So to clarify, when you see a list of support bands, this is what you should interpret from those advertised bands:
2100 Band = UMTS Band I (The entire world outside of North America)
1900 Band = UMTS Band II (The Americas, ATT)
1700 Band = UMTS Band IV (The Americas, TMO)
900 Band = UMTS Band VIII (Australia)
850 Band = UMTS Band V (The Americas, ATT)
Outside of North America, the 2100 band is almost universally deployed, even where the 850,900,1700 or 1900 band is deployed.
Hi All,
I recently bought a HTC-Sensation 4G from T-Mobile Store in US.
I also purchased an unlock code in the internet.
Getting to Mexico I started the phone and the voice portion worked great...
BUt Data only hooks up at 2G speed, I have a 3G with unlimited data plan...
I have a friend who has an HTC-INSPIRE and his does hookup at HSPA/HSPA+ (3G).
I was told buy a compnay in Mexico that sell a version of the sensation 3G, which they say does have 850 MHZ radio, that T-Mobile Sensations does not have the 850MHZ Band required...
But in various sights I have seen the spec and it says I qoute "Bands 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100, 1700"
I have checd the settings menu etc.. and have not found anywhere to change the setting... can someone help?
Thanks,
Peter Fraga
PeterFraga said:
Hi All,
I recently bought a HTC-Sensation 4G from T-Mobile Store in US.
I also purchased an unlock code in the internet.
Getting to Mexico I started the phone and the voice portion worked great...
BUt Data only hooks up at 2G speed, I have a 3G with unlimited data plan...
I have a friend who has an HTC-INSPIRE and his does hookup at HSPA/HSPA+ (3G).
I was told buy a compnay in Mexico that sell a version of the sensation 3G, which they say does have 850 MHZ radio, that T-Mobile Sensations does not have the 850MHZ Band required...
But in various sights I have seen the spec and it says I qoute "Bands 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100, 1700"
I have checd the settings menu etc.. and have not found anywhere to change the setting... can someone help?
Thanks,
Peter Fraga
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Click to collapse
Sorry, but the US T-Mobile Sensation does not have the 3G 850 frequency. You can't change it. It does support 2G 850, which may be part of the confusion in the frequency listings you've seen. About your only option is to sell it and get the Mexico compatible model.
Your only way arround it is to sell it and get the sensation from bell canada.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
PeterFraga said:
I was told buy a compnay in Mexico that sell a version of the sensation 3G, which they say does have 850 MHZ radio, that T-Mobile Sensations does not have the 850MHZ Band required...
But in various sights I have seen the spec and it says I qoute "Bands 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100, 1700"
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Click to collapse
Buyer beware.
Lesson one: Every modern phone out there now has quad-band GSM, and will list "850, 900, 1800, 1900" in its frequency list. You know they're talking about GSM (2G) when you see that string of four numbers, because 1800 is a 2G-only band which has never been used for 3G.
Lesson two: If a phone has 850 MHz 3G, you will see the number 850 repeated twice in its band list.
For example:
GSM 850/900/1800/1900 UMTS 850/1900 <--- Yes, buy this phone, because you can see 850 repeated twice.
GSM 850/900/1800/1900 UMTS 900/2100 <--- No, do not buy this phone, because 850 is listed only once and it's under GSM.
Lesson three: If the only band info you can find is 850/900/1800/1900, then the seller is a lazy douchebag who can't even bother to give you the 3G information you need to know.
I work for Tmous retail sales and we have never really been taught anything about bands. Ive been pretty curious myself since some customers come into the store with AT&t phones asking about tmo service. I have been instructed (by a fellow retail associate) to tell them that no At&t phone will ever have 3G on tmo ( I assume thats just the safe answer though).
real question!
in terms of 3G/4G (hspa+) what bands does tmous use?
same question for AT&t.
To tie that together. ex: If a phone from At&t hypothetically has capabilities to use the same bands as tmous and is unlocked, can it get 3G/4G service on tmous?
i did search around and didnt find a very clear answer so i figured i'd start a thread, im sure other noobs have the same question.
T-Mobile uses 1700 2100 MHz bands for 3G/"4G"
AT&T uses 850 and 1900 MHz bands for 3G/"4G"
Yes if a phone has all those bands for 3G, and it's SIM unlocked you can get 3G on other cell company.
The T-Mobile Vibrant actually has those AT&T bands too, if you SIM unlock the Vibrant, you can get 3G on AT&T.
http://www.androidguys.com/2010/08/22/samsung-galaxy-unlockable-tmobile-vibrant-supports-att-3g/
It's very rare to see a phone that supports both T-Mobile and AT&T 3G bands.
nxt said:
T-Mobile uses 1700 2100 MHz bands for 3G/"4G"
AT&T uses 850 and 1900 MHz bands for 3G/"4G"
Yes if a phone has all those bands for 3G, and it's SIM unlocked you can get 3G on other cell company.
It's very rare to see a phone that supports both T-Mobile and AT&T 3G bands.
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Thanks for the clarification. In hopes that im not being a further nuisance, I was wondering, what about a phone that has 1 of the matching bands?
T-Mobile USA is using the 1700/2100 Mhz bands for 3G (UMTS)
T-Mobile Germany uses 1900/2100 Mhz for 3G (UMTS)
If you couldnt tell, im considering buying an iPhone (to develop on for fun). Will a phone that uses 2100 Mhz only be usable on USA towers (for 3G service)?
DrewMullen said:
Will a phone that uses 2100 Mhz only be usable on USA towers (for 3G service)?
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No it will not get 3G
Ive been getting really confused. I use straighttalk. So no LTE. That's fine. I'm looking at a phone on ebay. Specs say
2G : GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G : HSDPA 1900/2100 MHz
4G LTE : 850/900/1800/2100 MHz
Will 3g work with straighttalk/AT&T/T-mobile sim?
I would buy this if I knew for sure, it's an LG G2 Korean version with micro-sd card slot and removable battery.
I read back and fourth and Iv'e been really confused.
If this doesn't work, I may get the Note 3, though it might be too big I fear.