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[Q] Has anyone tried the 3g in China?

I just bought a Xoom with 3g (Verizon). I live in Canada and don't really need the 3g here at home (Wifi at home and work). However, if I travel to China or somewhere else, is is possible to unlock it so I can use the 3g network there?
Does root the dervice help? Please enlighten me ot point to to the right direction. By the way, I don't really care about the lte upgrade, so I don't worry about voiding the warranty.
Thanks in advance.

It depends I think. From a very quick search it looks like China may have one or more CDMA networks available. That said, it depends which band they use and probably what are you are going to... I believe that like Canada, China is rather large.
If you're talking about world travel in general, you would have been better getting a European GSM version as most of the networks in the world use GSM rather than CDMA.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

burden010 said:
It depends I think. From a very quick search it looks like China may have one or more CDMA networks available. That said, it depends which band they use and probably what are you are going to... I believe that like Canada, China is rather large.
If you're talking about world travel in general, you would have been better getting a European GSM version as most of the networks in the world use GSM rather than CDMA.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually the US Xoom 3G has a Qualcomm MDM6600 chip and if you do a search on Google then you will find that it's actually a "world mode" baseband capable of supporting both CDMA/EVDO and GSM/UMTS networks. Xoom also has a sim card slot, so i'm wondering if the European version will come with the same hardware and they will just enable the GSM/UMTS part...

poisike said:
Actually the US Xoom 3G has a Qualcomm MDM6600 chip and if you do a search on Google then you will find that it's actually a "world mode" baseband capable of supporting both CDMA/EVDO and GSM/UMTS networks. Xoom also has a sim card slot, so i'm wondering if the European version will come with the same hardware and they will just enable the GSM/UMTS part...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still doesn't take away from my point that the chip, whether it be GSM capable or not, isn't enabled for it.

burden010 said:
Still doesn't take away from my point that the chip, whether it be GSM capable or not, isn't enabled for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you are correct and i didn't say you aren't.
I'm just very interested in seeing if the hardware will be different or not.

HTC Thunderbolt Unlock to work with GSM?

I have an HTC Thunderbolt from Verizon. I reckon somehow it is compatible to work on GSM networks, I have done a search on this but I kind of got lost, please read the following and tell me your opinion and if you think HTC Thunderbolt is capable of working on GSM. By the way i am no expert just the contrary I have very limited knowledge with these stuff...
First of all before everybody jumps into a conclusion; I know Thunderbolt is listed as a CDMA/LTE phone thus, it will not work on GSM networks. According to my understanding, what makes a phone compatible to work on CDMA, GSM etc is;
1. The Hardware: ie Chipset, GSM Antenna etc
2. The Software: The version of the software, Android™ 2.2 etc.
Here is the deal, HTC Thunderbolt has "Qualcomm® MSM8655, 1GHz, Qualcomm MDM9600" chipset, MSM8655 is basically for voice and MDM9600 is for LTE which is data. According to Qualcomm; msm 8655 chipset is GSM capable. Also according to Verizon; Droid 2 by HTC is also global ready meaning it is GSM and CDMA capable. Now here is the trick; BOTH HTC THUNDERBOLT and DROID 2 by HTC have same chipsets yes "Qualcomm msm 8655". So I would say on paper, Thunderbolts chipset is GSM capable. But what about the GSM antenna, I think Thunderbolt also has a GSM antenna; thus when I enter *#*#4636#*#* and go into testing and phone information. You see GSM service: Emergency call only not to mention there is an option in the setting where you can turn on and off the GSM radio. When GSM radio turned off you see GSM service: Radio off. I have also figured when you insert a GSM sim card into the Thunderbolts sim slot, you can update SMSC numbers from the GSM sim card; you can also import contacts you have in the sim card. SO Thunderbolt definitely reads the GSM sim card and has GSM radio integrated.
So overall Thunderbolt hardware wise has everything needed to operate on GSM networks. Let’s see the software. According to HTC; Thunderbolt has Android™ 2.2 + HTC Sense™
Current software number: 2.11.605.5. and Global Ready HTC Droid 2 by HTC has Android™ 2.3.4 (Gingerbread) with HTC Sense™ Current software number: 4.08.605.3. So 2 different software.
Let’s go into more tech android stuff, according to some forums, if you add a new radio and rom that enables GSM option, some cdma phones actually will work as gsm phone. One sample is Miui rom...
I will go ahead and try this Miui thing, Please give me your thoughts....

this thread hould listed on htc thunderbolt section.
however i think GSM still need hardware support..not only using software...but who knows..i'm just ordinary people too..not an technician hehe

HTC Thunderbolt (ADR6400L) is GSM or not?
Does anyone know about this?
I want to know if this phone could work on GSM networks, I have entered the service info *#*#4636#*#* and I found GSM service and GPRS Service which are from GSM. but in set preferred network type GSM in not listed.
any light on this?

From what I understand, the radio chipset may indeed support GSM, but not in the way that you think. LTE is a GSM-type network (it is based on GSM, hence the LTE SIM cards), however, until we have VOLTE (Voice Over LTE) sometime late this year or next, it won't work. Perhaps there is a radio software that could theoretically talk on GSM, but I don't think this particular chipset supports it, as it talks on a different frequency. I may be proven wrong, but I think that's how it goes...

how did miui worked out for you???
larchitect said:
I have an HTC Thunderbolt from Verizon. I reckon somehow it is compatible to work on GSM networks, I have done a search on this but I kind of got lost, please read the following and tell me your opinion and if you think HTC Thunderbolt is capable of working on GSM. By the way i am no expert just the contrary I have very limited knowledge with these stuff...
First of all before everybody jumps into a conclusion; I know Thunderbolt is listed as a CDMA/LTE phone thus, it will not work on GSM networks. According to my understanding, what makes a phone compatible to work on CDMA, GSM etc is;
1. The Hardware: ie Chipset, GSM Antenna etc
2. The Software: The version of the software, Android™ 2.2 etc.
Here is the deal, HTC Thunderbolt has "Qualcomm® MSM8655, 1GHz, Qualcomm MDM9600" chipset, MSM8655 is basically for voice and MDM9600 is for LTE which is data. According to Qualcomm; msm 8655 chipset is GSM capable. Also according to Verizon; Droid 2 by HTC is also global ready meaning it is GSM and CDMA capable. Now here is the trick; BOTH HTC THUNDERBOLT and DROID 2 by HTC have same chipsets yes "Qualcomm msm 8655". So I would say on paper, Thunderbolts chipset is GSM capable. But what about the GSM antenna, I think Thunderbolt also has a GSM antenna; thus when I enter *#*#4636#*#* and go into testing and phone information. You see GSM service: Emergency call only not to mention there is an option in the setting where you can turn on and off the GSM radio. When GSM radio turned off you see GSM service: Radio off. I have also figured when you insert a GSM sim card into the Thunderbolts sim slot, you can update SMSC numbers from the GSM sim card; you can also import contacts you have in the sim card. SO Thunderbolt definitely reads the GSM sim card and has GSM radio integrated.
So overall Thunderbolt hardware wise has everything needed to operate on GSM networks. Let’s see the software. According to HTC; Thunderbolt has Android™ 2.2 + HTC Sense™
Current software number: 2.11.605.5. and Global Ready HTC Droid 2 by HTC has Android™ 2.3.4 (Gingerbread) with HTC Sense™ Current software number: 4.08.605.3. So 2 different software.
Let’s go into more tech android stuff, according to some forums, if you add a new radio and rom that enables GSM option, some cdma phones actually will work as gsm phone. One sample is Miui rom...
I will go ahead and try this Miui thing, Please give me your thoughts....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So did you manage to get your thunderbolt to work in UK??? I'm in the same boat really and so far all i could come up with is internet calling but again need to pay for that internet access and outgoing calls on top of it...

Its possible
Hello everyone,
this is my very first post here, and I came across this thread as I'm looking for a similar but yet different solution
Just wanted to add in that I have a TB currently with voice, text and 3G data in Mexico with Iusacell...
Im not quite sure how it was done but I'll try to contact the person who pulled it off...
but just wanted to say it was possible to get the TB working on another CDMA company...

H1. said:
Hello everyone,
this is my very first post here, and I came across this thread as I'm looking for a similar but yet different solution
Just wanted to add in that I have a TB currently with voice, text and 3G data in Mexico with Iusacell...
Im not quite sure how it was done but I'll try to contact the person who pulled it off...
but just wanted to say it was possible to get the TB working on another CDMA company...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use iusacell to but where i live, the cdma network doesn't have much coverage.
So i want to know if i can call over the gsm network and use the cdma to navigate on the internet.
P.S.
What do you mean by TB?

According to my understanding, what makes a phone compatible to work on CDMA, GSM etc is;
1. The Hardware: ie Chipset, GSM Antenna etc
2. The Software: The version of the software, Android™ 2.2 etc.
Here is the deal, HTC Thunderbolt has "Qualcomm® MSM8655, 1GHz, Qualcomm MDM9600" chipset
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
,
I think this is a Verizon only phone and would SPECIFICALLY, even with the chipset, WORK WITH ONLY VERIZON. So I don't think it matters with the hardware, Verizon probably somehow locked the chipset to Verizon even thought it's GSM-compatible. There are also no accounts of anyone who had unlocked the phone and get the phone working with GSM carriers. It's very unfortunate, as the phone looks awesome and performs solid.

[Q] Is there a way to enable 900/2100 3G bands?

Hi all
I just got this phone for use in Italy, and am now waiting for my unlock code to come through.
Meanwhile, and as the main question, I wonder if it ever will be a way to turn on the WCDMA 900 band that we use here (along with WCDMA 2100), since it's not supported out of the box, being an American phone.
I would like it to be a 900/2100 phone, instead of 850/1900/2100.
I'm sure the phone supports it (being much newer than my current Motorola Defy that's able to do it), it just has to be unlocked somewhere.
Any info is appreciated!
Thank you

thenext1 said:
Hi all
I just got this phone for use in Italy, and am now waiting for my unlock code to come through.
Meanwhile, and as the main question, I wonder if it ever will be a way to turn on the WCDMA 900 band that we use here (along with WCDMA 2100), since it's not supported out of the box, being an American phone.
I would like it to be a 900/2100 phone, instead of 850/1900/2100.
I'm sure the phone supports it (being much newer than my current Motorola Defy that's able to do it), it just has to be unlocked somewhere.
Any info is appreciated!
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, but that is not possible as the hardware does not have those radio antennas in the phone. This is ONLY a GSM/HSDPA+ phone not a WCDMA phone. There is not a way to change that since it is a hardware antenna change.

jimbridgman said:
Sorry, but that is not possible as the hardware does not have those radio antennas in the phone. This is ONLY a GSM/HSDPA+ phone not a WCDMA phone. There is not a way to change that since it is a hardware antenna change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as i know (pretty sure on this), all 3/3.5G is WCDMA. HSDPA(+) is WCDMA. WCDMA is just the name of a RF modulation, and 850, 900, 1900, 2100 are just the bands the protocol can run on.
In fact my question could just be translated to: as these settings are stored in the baseband rom, we need to flash an alternative baseband to enable those, or discover where they are set.
I guess a motorola phone similar enough to the A2 (i.e. same.hardware) should suffice as a "donor" phone for the baseband rom. May be an ipothetic european A2 of the future.
Has a phone like this been found yet?

thenext1 said:
As far as i know (pretty sure on this), all 3/3.5G is WCDMA. HSDPA(+) is WCDMA. WCDMA is just the name of a RF modulation, and 850, 900, 1900, 2100 are just the bands the protocol can run on.
In fact my question could just be translated to: as these settings are stored in the baseband rom, we need to flash an alternative baseband to enable those, or discover where they are set.
I guess a motorola phone similar enough to the A2 (i.e. same.hardware) should suffice as a "donor" phone for the baseband rom. May be an ipothetic european A2 of the future.
Has a phone like this been found yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The hardware on A2 does not support this, the antenna is not setup to capture these frequencies. Just because the baseband is in the rom does not mean that you can change the hardware.... Yes technically all 3G boils down to WCDMA or CDMA technology, but there are major operating differences between even the different spectrum in them. The issue you have is that the phone is not going to be able to capture those on the hardware layer. It is similar to trying to get am radio signals on an FM radio, with an FM antenna.

Well I hope you are wrong
I think (hope) motorola has put an universal antenna on the atrix 2, it'd be anti economic to do otherwise.
BTW, 850, 900 the antenna differences surely are minimal.
It sounds more like as a RF chipset limitation on the simultaneous bands used... like three of em. "Tri-band umts".
As with the good old gsm phones marketed as tri- or quad-band, like my v525, the actual bands used were depending on where you lived.
All of this, i hope...

Did you buy an MB865, or an ME865, as they have two totally different antennas. mostly we discuss the MB865 in here.... and I can tell you that there is no way to change the MB865, because it setup that way on purpose, and locked to AT&T's signals via the antenna and wireless chipset, by Motorola. The ME865 might be a better choice I think there are two versions of that one, one is the Chinese version and the other is more international.

ME865 it's for asia only. Motorola phones found over here follow the MB nomenclature. I have got an at&t MB865.
Anyway if a €300 phone (defy) can do that, I don't see why motorola would have chosen to spare on a $ .5 part on a €550 phone (euro price tag estimation), and have to redo a whole new pcb layout if the MB865 ever comes to the old world. Even taking into account the at&t exclusivity. It's anti economic for them.
Btw I don't want to be right at all cost, please don't misunderstand my words. ;-)

Also if you look at pdadb you will find two.models, mb865 and mb865a.
I don't know if they're both real or not, but they are identical specs-wise the only exception being the lack of wcdma900 band on the "a" version.
If such version actually comes to market, i guess a baseband transplantation could be done...

How to make a GSM Radio for Thunderbolt

Hello
It sucks being an european and to have a 4g/cdma phone because in my country (Romania) you dont have a cdma network
So as we all know the Thunderbolt has the same chipset as the Rezound so in theory it should be able to transform into a Global Phone.
My question is why didn't anyone do that and how i can make one myself if a dev dosent bother.
I feel it in my guts that this will work but i need some guidelines, or someone with actual knowledge to help me.

charris said:
Hello
It sucks being an european and to have a 4g/cdma phone because in my country (Romania) you dont have a cdma network
So as we all know the Thunderbolt has the same chipset as the Rezound so in theory it should be able to transform into a Global Phone.
My question is why didn't anyone do that and how i can make one myself if a dev dosent bother.
I feel it in my guts that this will work but i need some guidelines, or someone with actual knowledge to help me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thunderbolt doesn't have the hardware. Not possible.

and what hardware are you talking about?

Thunderbolt has a CDMA radio and an LTE radio. Global phones need a separate GSM radio to work in Europe. If it has an unlocked SIM, the Thunderbolt should work on any 700mhz band LTE network, but is incompatible with GSM on all levels.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

MDM 9600
Actually, the Thunderbolt has an MDM 9600 baseband chipset that supports Hspa and Hspa+ which is a technology that At&t and T-mobile uses for their data connections. So, I believe that if the LTE radio is backwards compatible with those frequencies of At&t or T-mobile that it might work. The thunderbolt has two antennas: one for strictly CDMA and the other for lte and backwards compatibility to gsm/hspa(+) from what I understand. From what I have read Verizon has just opted to not install the drivers to support the GSM/HSPA(+) side of things. That, and the MSM 8650 processor or other hardware in the Thunderbolt may not support it. Just because the modem supports GSM/HSPA(+) doesn't mean the phone will, but I do think that if someone really wanted to they could modify the thunderbolt to work on GSM. The may need more hardware, but I do not know.
I would post the link about the chipset I have, but sadly as a noob it will not let me.
P.S. Verizon allows you to log-in to your account and view the unlock code for the thunderbolts SIM yourself. You do not have to call them. I have not used another Carriers SIM in my Thunderbolt, but HAVE read about people who have in other threads. Verizon from what I understand and have read on other forums does not allow you to use USA SIM cards other than VERIZON'S own SIM. From what I have read, it only unlocks the phone to use foreign country SIMs only. From what I had read, once you use VERIZON'S SIM unlock procedures a NEW menu pops up in your network settings giving you the option to select to use GSM only. The same thread was speaking about the iphone 4s and the Thunderbolt and said that Verizon allows for both to be unlocked and used as World Phones. I will not know for sure until I see proof, but I do know that Verizon allows you to unlock the Thunderbolt's SIM to use on Foreign Networks.

The MDM9600 baseband definitely supports quad-band GSM. However, the RF transceiver in the Thunderbolt may or may not, and the power amplifiers definitely do not. You need all three in order for a mode & band to actually work on a device.

Not possible from a hardware point of view.

[Q] Droid Charge GSM Hack?

Is there a hack similar to the Razr/Bionic/Droid 4 that will enable GSM use? Is it possible?
Sent from my Droid 3 on AT&T with Unlimited Data

I'm going to make this short.
NO.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium

There is no gsm radio in this phone.
Sent from my handheld computer using electromagnetic radiation.

JihadSquad said:
There is no gsm radio in this phone.
Sent from my handheld computer using electromagnetic radiation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LTE is GSM...
But, you can't "unlock" the radio to use on other GSM bands, it is not supported by the radio chipset in the phone.

Snap...you just got schooled ...
SENT FROM THE DOG POUND

Now is this true for all verizon phones? For example my bro has a Galaxy Nexus...
Idle curiosity on my part.
-Dan

dashbash9787 said:
Now is this true for all verizon phones? For example my bro has a Galaxy Nexus...
Idle curiosity on my part.
-Dan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LTE is GSM, regardless of the phone or carrier. However, the ability to use it on more than just the 700MHz LTE band will vary based on the device and radio chipset in the phone. AFAIK, there isn't a Samsung phone on VZW yet that has global roaming capabilities with LTE as well.

imnuts said:
LTE is GSM, regardless of the phone or carrier. However, the ability to use it on more than just the 700MHz LTE band will vary based on the device and radio chipset in the phone. AFAIK, there isn't a Samsung phone on VZW yet that has global roaming capabilities with LTE as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Suppose OP's claim on a hack to the Razr/Bionic/Droid 4 allowing them to run on AT&T or abroad IS true. Does that mean those phones have the additional chipset to do it?
My all means, please, please school me...

Ted A said:
Suppose OP's claim on a hack to the Razr/Bionic/Droid 4 allowing them to run on AT&T or abroad IS true. Does that mean those phones have the additional chipset to do it?
My all means, please, please school me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, some phones have full GSM and CDMA chips in them. In fact, some are advertised with the ability. The Droid 2 Global is an example of a Verizon phone that was advertised with world phone capabilities.

shrike1978 said:
Yes, some phones have full GSM and CDMA chips in them. In fact, some are advertised with the ability. The Droid 2 Global is an example of a Verizon phone that was advertised with world phone capabilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Love this forum.
Since I've been interested in Razr Maxx lately (due to the upcoming ICS upgrade and my upcoming trip to Asia), that was my key question. And I just found this topic on Razr sub-forum, too. I'll miss you guys when I do decide to jump ship some day (don't know when exactly). You've been a huge help to make it a pleasant experience owning a custom DC!

imnuts said:
LTE is GSM...
But, you can't "unlock" the radio to use on other GSM bands, it is not supported by the radio chipset in the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah I forgot about that... Just the gsm carriers using h+ instead of lte and the gsm nexus having h+ made me forget what lte actually is.
Sent from my handheld computer using electromagnetic radiation.