Hey guys I just wanted to get some info on what phone will be possible for importing.
I live in Australia and am contemplating to a smartphone from US and A (why do they get the best phones the earliest?). But the issue is that I am still in my contract (Optus/Virgin). I have little idea about the different GSM radios, but still unsure.
(I was planning on importing the EPIC 4G but, like the rest of the world, we don't use CDMA). Now I am contemplating to import the Motorola Atrix 4G (I am pretty certain this wont be made available here).
Would AT&T's services work in Optus (with voice and data/voice only/no support)?
How could I unlock the device if I were to purchase it? (carrier only/manufacturer only?)
I hope this thread can be useful for other members.
AT&T devices work in 850 frequencies for 3G networks, check with your local provider, as for unlock you can find them all around the WWW from 8 to 30USD depending device.
Thanks orb.
Here's the situation, I'm in metro-area on Optus connection.
1. Telstra (this company is equivalent to AT&T in USA)
3G UMTS850 (Australia wide 3G network, aka NextG)
3G UMTS2100 (3GIS Network shared with 3)
2G GSM900
2G GSM1800
2. Optus (this company is equivalent to Verizon in USA)
3G UMTS2100
3G UMTS900 (rural network)
2G GSM900
2G GSM1800
3. Vodafone Hutchison Australia (This company is equivalent to T-mobile in USA)
3G UMTS2100
3G UMTS900 (rural network)
3G UMTS850 (limited metro network)
2G GSM900
2G GSM1800
Would the Motorola Atrix 4G be compatible with my plan?
If not, what would it be compatible on?
You may chack the device bands, from what I found:
2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G Network HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100
Reference
If you ask me what would I choose my answer is an HTC branded device, just check what model you want and get the band specs.
This is a great data base site.
Let us know what you got!
Here is a bit of a reference for you. It has phones for your frequencies, 4 inch screen or bigger, Android and a 5MP or more camera.
You can look at any phone with the "Phone Finder" button.
Ian
Related
phones that are from htc that are in europe and asia..for example, the htc hd2 and hd.. do they work with cell phone providers like at&t? here are the specs for the htc hd2:
Network -
HSPA/WCDMA:
Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
850/900/1800/1900 MHz
I highly suggest you read the specs and find out what band it supports and cross reference it with the bands they use in the US (wikipedia has the answer to that)
totally wrong place for this, but I'm not a mod so...
Any GSM phone supporting quad-band or tri-band with 850 (you need 850MHz at least, 1900 helps in some places) will work on the network. Many phones support this for gsm/EDGE. Very few phones support this with 3g.
If you want to use att 3g, look for a phone with 850/1900MHz support on "UMTS", "WCDMA", "3G", "HS(D/U/blanks)PA", etc. Basically, if it is marketed for AT&T, Rogers (in canada), or some south american providers (claro?), you'll be good.
Most phones will support 2g, though.
EDIT: As an example, based on those specs you list, the phone WILL work with EDGE, but not 3G/HSDPA.
All correct from poly_poly-man + Telstra in Australia uses the same 3G band as AT&T so there you may go shopping
Hi
I was told this would be a better forum for this question.
I have a huawei ideos (older non X6 version) and supposedly it is unlocked. It works with 2g/edge. It does not work with t-mobile 3g. I have looked for APN information and the info downloaded to the phone when I connected to t-mobile network is identical to what is listed on the net.
ie. I added
MMSC: http<colon><twoslash>mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc
xxx added because I can not post urls.
Things which are odd. When choosing access network, it does not say T-mobile 3G. It only says T-mobile 2g, Att 2g and Att 3g. According to the net this phone supports the frequencies for tmobile.
gsm link for u8150 not allowed.
shows HSDPA 900 / 2100 / AWS
HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 / 1700
And the wikipedia entry for tmobile
shows
1700 MHz/2100 MHz UMTS (W-CDMA)/HSPA 4G (formerly 3G[31]) 2006 2008 (3G), 2010 (Marketed as 4G) First carrier in the U.S. to deploy services on AWS frequencies. Markets HSPA+ as "4G". UMTS band IV
Not sure if HSPDA spec is same as HSPA though.
I did the trick where you enter #*#*4636*#*#* and checked phone settings. I changed the setting from CDMA to GSM auto (PRL). I also tried to hit menu and select radio band, but it pulls up an empty "Set GSM/UMTS Band" dialog. There is nothing to select.
I guess my question is, does this phone support 3G for t-mobile and if so, what setting am I missing?
thanks in advance.
John
I got an email from Huawei support
Hi,
Just as another data point. I got an email regarding this issue from Huawei support. They said an unlocked phone from one provider may not fully support 3g on T-Mobile. I asked them what he meant by not fully support.
Here is an excerpt from the Huawei email:
This phone is capable to be used in 3G that is correct, however if the phone is unlocked from the original provider it may not be fully compatible on 3G on the different providers network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A
three more datapoints
Hi
I got another note from Huawei. They said they don't support unlocked phones.
I talked to t-mobile support. They said the u8150 uses PPP and not RMNET. I have never heard of RMNET, and that the phone would only support 3G if it was rooted.
This seem like BS all around to me. T-mobile and Huawei.
I did test my phone with a friends tmobile sim and the phone behaved the same. ie. edge only.
Some more datapoints
Hi
This phone is available in two different frequency capabilities. Considering mine can see the ATT 3G network, it must be using the second set of frequencies. This second set is listed as usable by T-Mobile as well. Here is the info:
From the huawei spec sheet.
At the top it shows
UMTS 900/AWS/2100MHz or
UMTS 850/1700/1900/2100MHz;
EDGE/GSM/GPRS: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
According to Wikipedia
ATT
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
850 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
1700 MHz/2100 MHz UMTS (W-CDMA)/HSPA 4G (formerly 3G[31])
When I connect to wireless networks, I see three choices:
T-Mobile 2G
AT&T 2G
AT&T 3G
So I am guessing my u8150 is using the second UMTS set of frequencies:
1. 850 (since it sees two edge networks and that is only available in the second set.)
2. 850 and 1900 (since it see's AT&T 3G and it is also in the second set)
This second set of frequencies is also used by T-Mobile so I don't understand why this phone can not connect to T-Mobile 3G using my simcard or my pals.
It's all about the supported 3/4g bands. Most carrier Androids only support their networks spectrum's. Check gsmarena to ensure compatibility.
Hi,
Thanks for the info. Maybe I don't understand, but I thought gsmarena showed this phone as using both the Att and Tmobile bands. I remember when I had nexus ones was that one version was for ATT 3G and one was for TMobile 3G. I'm guessing that the 8150 is similar with the exception that huawei has not published accurate docs. ie. their docs say both frequences for all phones when in reality its two different model phones with only one label.
netskink said:
Hi
I got another note from Huawei. They said they don't support unlocked phones.
I talked to t-mobile support. They said the u8150 uses PPP and not RMNET. I have never heard of RMNET, and that the phone would only support 3G if it was rooted.
This seem like BS all around to me. T-mobile and Huawei.
I did test my phone with a friends tmobile sim and the phone behaved the same. ie. edge only.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I apologize for not reading all of your posts
This isn't BS. It's the same issue facing Cricket phones attempting to connect on Verizon. I'm not fully up to speed but it looks like RMNET needs to be added via the kernel (edit sources and compile).
The below thread isn't specific to Tmo but it should give you some insight.
[04JAN][TMOUS]CMYLXGO's Stripped & Squashed Stock Desire HD[KERNEL:gauner1986][RMNET]
This is what Huawei meant by "may not be supported". However, if the phone connected to Tmo with SIM then it's already carrier unlocked. You now face the above issue plus prl, etc.
You face a long road ahead. My suggestion, sell the Huawei and buy a used Tmo Android.
Hi,
I am a telstra customer from Australia. Telstra is rolling out its first handset on their new LTE network next week, the HTC Velocity (aka HTC Holiday or Vivid, i think).
The Telstra LTE network currently only runs on the 1800mhz frequency. Telstras 3G network runs on 850mhz australia wide and 2100 i think in built-up areas.
Short of ending my contract early or buying a Velocity outright (which you cant for another few months, according to telstra), I began a search for a mobile device that supports both 3G 850mhz UMTS and 4G 1800mhz LTE. This is a very hard combo to find.
Has anyone else had any luck finding a decent/flagship android phone from HTC or Samsung that supports both these frequencies? I do not care about 2G quadband compatability.
So far all I have come up with is the Samsung Galaxy S 2 LTE, but i cannot confirm this in fact has 850mhz UMTS.
Hi guys,
I'm looking to buy a Galaxy SIII from the States to use here in Australia, and am having a hard time understanding the intricacies of the cellular bands. I get that CDMA stuff is a no go (Verizon, Sprint) and that it seems only TMobile and AT&T are possibilities. Here is a chart with the variants and their banding listed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S_III
The variants support all 2g frequencies, but I don't understand how the 3g part works. The t-mobile one in the 3g band is
850, AWS (Band IV), 1,900, 2,100 MHz UMTS / HSPA+ / DC-HSPA+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
, which doesn't include the 900 that some networks use here. Will the phone use only 2G if this is the case? Will that make any difference to me? Will the AT&T one work as well?
Can someone please give me some clarification? :victory:
Below is the info for Aus carriers...
2G
2G, other wise known as GSM, is standard on almost all phones (except CDMA phones in the USA). Most new phones come with quad band GSM support. A quad band GSM phone supports 850, 900, 1800, and 1900MHz.
2G is old technology and provides a fall back position when 3G coverage is unavailable.
Australian 2G bands:
900Mhz (Telstra, Optus & Vodafone)
1800Mhz (Telstra, Optus & Vodafone)
3G
There are several 3G networks operating in Australia. 3G frequencies are usually specified as UMTS/HSDPA or WCDMA frequencies on the mobile phone specifications.
Australian 3G bands:
850MHz (Telstra, Vodafone) – Exclusive 3G band
900MHz (Optus, Vodafone) – available in most metro areas on Optus, with both Optus and Vodafone re-farming the 2G 900 spectrum in regional and rural areas
2100MHz (Telstra, Optus, Vodafone) – Exclusive 3G band
I have a phone that supports 3G 850/2100Mhz. (GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz)
I am using it in Europe right now and i'm travelling to the USA soon. (long time)
I have done some research and the providers over there use:
- AT&T/Sprint/Verizon uses 3G 850/1900
- T-Mobile uses 3G 1700/2100.
Do I need both frequency's for 3G OR is 850 (for at&t) etc. / 2100 (t-mobile) enough to use 3G.
I will stay in L.A and both frequency's are covered in LA. (?)