Hi there,
I will be visiting the USA this summer and since the swedish crown is fairly high compared to the dollar, the prices are really good compared to the swedish ones. I am thus considering buying a new phone there, and would like to know if, and then what, problems might arise that I need to look out for.
I realize I need to make sure it isn't locked to a carrier for obvious reasons. Are phones today sold with bands unique to different regions or are all bands included to make sure the calling works no matter where I am? Furthermore, will there be any issues with other connectivity, like 3g, 4g or wifi?
any input is much appreciated!
Buy a QUADBAND phone
BloomTwig said:
Hi there,
I will be visiting the USA this summer and since the swedish crown is fairly high compared to the dollar, the prices are really good compared to the swedish ones. I am thus considering buying a new phone there, and would like to know if, and then what, problems might arise that I need to look out for.
I realize I need to make sure it isn't locked to a carrier for obvious reasons. Are phones today sold with bands unique to different regions or are all bands included to make sure the calling works no matter where I am? Furthermore, will there be any issues with other connectivity, like 3g, 4g or wifi?
any input is much appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quad band (also known as quad-band or quadband) literally means four bands. Having more than one frequency in one device is useful to enable roaming between different countries that peg the allowed transmission frequency at different values or to allow a better coverage in the same country.
If you are using your phone internationally and also do travel extensively in the USA, and you wish to be connected at all times with your work or your family, than you must buy a phone with this function. Otherwise, any phone will do just fine, even the really inexpensive ones...
jwoegerbauer said:
Quad band (also known as quad-band or quadband) literally means four bands. Having more than one frequency in one device is useful to enable roaming between different countries that peg the allowed transmission frequency at different values or to allow a better coverage in the same country.
If you are using your phone internationally and also do travel extensively in the USA, and you wish to be connected at all times with your work or your family, than you must buy a phone with this function. Otherwise, any phone will do just fine, even the really inexpensive ones...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your answer!
Other than the quad band, nowthing else is needed? I believe I read somewhere that even wifi-connection could be different in different regions, how about that?
Anything else I need to consider?
BloomTwig said:
Thank you for your answer!
Other than the quad band, nowthing else is needed? I believe I read somewhere that even wifi-connection could be different in different regions, how about that?
Anything else I need to consider?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If a phone has "Wi-Fi CERTIFIED" sticker it flawlessly works overall in the world. You must not have any concerns.
Ok, so as long as it's quad band, wifi certified and is not locked to a certain carrier nothing should be a problem? How hard would such a phone be to find in the USA?
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
So I'm sitting here seeing all these lovely people with CM10 on there tabs and feeling down and i remembered from awhile ago doing a gt-p5000 there were 3 variations of the tab one of them being a GSM model and I'm sitting here wondering as to why the gsm model(5100) wouldn't work for the (sgh-i497) I know I'm probably very crazy and having slightly wishful thinking but arn't they basically the same device
I would love to know this as well... or at least if anyone has thought to take a tmo rom and use that. Why is there no obvious dev work on the att version? Sure att sucks, but that is what im stuck with.
The GT-P5100 series is a totally different tablet than the I497. They have different CPU, GPU, Chipset, GPS structure, and a different network band support. I am sure there are more differences.
Bounty for the first person to post a solution to add the 1700 700 LTE bands to the n9005.
Seeing as its believed to be hardware supported many of us are trying to unlock those frequencies for true international LTE.
Possible solutions proposed:
Flashable AWS modem for n9005
NVRAM dump with AWS config.
Bids** so far:
IamNoone: 1BTC
Nakedtime: 20USD
xaviero17: 40USD
**Feel free to bid USD, I just happen to find BTC more appealing.
current BTC Trade value: http://bitcoinity.org/markets
Heres hoping we get some workable solutions. Even if they're easy.
If the hardware supports, you would simply need to import (and maybe modify slightly) the QCN file from an N900W8 variant and upload to your 9005 device.
QCN contains IMEI, must also be edited to remove imei.
Besides, has one been dumped from a W8?
Someone feel free to dump...
Would this mean we could use the 9005 on at&t LTE and 3g network?
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
dirtbikerr450 said:
Would this mean we could use the 9005 on at&t LTE and 3g network?
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
N9005 already operates on ATT HSDPA and UMTS.
This is for ATT LTE.
I would love to see lte band 18 and 19 supported. Those are the japanese 800Mhz bands, that practically no phone except the crippled japanese provider models support.
Anyway, modifying the radio to send on those (or any not certified) bands would very likely be illegal in nearly any jurisdiction, wouldn't it?
cgi said:
I would love to see lte band 18 and 19 supported. Those are the japanese 800Mhz bands, that practically no phone except the crippled japanese provider models support.
Anyway, modifying the radio to send on those (or any not certified) bands would very likely be illegal in nearly any jurisdiction, wouldn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In a case like this it would be much more likely for it to be a hardware issue stopping you. I don't think that a band like that, which is not supported on any Snapdragon note 3 (or am I wrong?) Would be possible to just change by software. I do know that if the antenna isn't designed for the frequency the signal would suck and you would likely also get signal reflections into the phones output amps, among other problems. And that is assuming you child even get the chip to try to transmit on those bands....which I also don't think you could do
asaqwert said:
In a case like this it would be much more likely for it to be a hardware issue stopping you. I don't think that a band like that, which is not supported on any Snapdragon note 3 (or am I wrong?) Would be possible to just change by software. I do know that if the antenna isn't designed for the frequency the signal would suck and you would likely also get signal reflections into the phones output amps, among other problems. And that is assuming you child even get the chip to try to transmit on those bands....which I also don't think you could do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not are not exactly wrong, but the bands 18 and 19 are very close to bands 5 and 6. Both are supported as far as I can tell, although 6 is only for UTMS. But that means that the power amps and antenna tuning should be there. Also, qualcomm advertises this "rf360 solution" which is supposed to support more or less all bands between 700 and 2700MHz. No idea, whether is is in the note3 though.
So you see, I did give this some thought.
cgi said:
I would love to see lte band 18 and 19 supported. Those are the japanese 800Mhz bands, that practically no phone except the crippled japanese provider models support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We might want to make a separate Bounty for this kind of thing. Such as unlocking ALL frequencies supported by the Snapdragon.
cgi said:
Anyway, modifying the radio to send on those (or any not certified) bands would very likely be illegal in nearly any jurisdiction, wouldn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I prefer to make the assumption that people have honorable intentions. For several people, they're just trying to get LTE on AT&T.
There's no good reason that anyone would want to use illegal frequencies, since such frequencies would likely not give them cell service anyway.
Sonorus said:
We might want to make a separate Bounty for this kind of thing. Such as unlocking ALL frequencies supported by the Snapdragon.
I prefer to make the assumption that people have honorable intentions. For several people, they're just trying to get LTE on AT&T.
There's no good reason that anyone would want to use illegal frequencies, since such frequencies would likely not give them cell service anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think what he means (judging from the knowledge he would seem to have on the topic) frequencies that are not certified for use in a given jurisdiction, not "illegal"frequencies in some other way. In the US fir example, if you use a device that transmits on any frequency that your device has not specifically been passed for by the fcc (and above a maximum power limit which is rather low, from what I recall) then you are breaking federal fcc regulation with respect to creating possible interference, transmitting radio signals on a band your device want created for etc. It can get you into big trouble. Having said that, unlocking your phone in the states is legal to, but no one is ever going to find out. Same thing with the frequency thing, they have those laws so that a) when someone creates interference they can stop/prosecute them and b) so they can stop people importing devices for sale that are not certified.
Having said that, if it is not a frequency that is explicitly supported by the hardware then but that is simply close to a supported one, it would require more than just a hack. It would require reverse engineering the Qualcomm code and then writing your own hardware interface software etc, that is assuming that the bands are close enough that the amps and antenna would work, then you would have to hack the rest of the firmware to actually utilize these new bands and actually talk to your other new software.
In short, it is highly unlikely that it would be possible, at least given the time and resources that most people would spend on dev work (which I understand is a lot but this is a much bigger deal than dev work on open source code) and also Qualcomm probably would not look to kindly on us reverse engineering their stuff. Also, it is quite possible that the hardware commands simply would not exist for the software to ask the hardware to do this. I am not familiar enough with the Qualcomm hardware nor mobile hardware in this way, as I've never programmed or dine dev work on android phones(single dad now with not enough time as it is) so I can't say for sure here but I have a hunch that the hardware simply was created to offer functionality on certain bands and that is all it would offer. If it was unsupported in software but supported in hardware, that's one thing, but unsupported in hardware pretty much means you're sol in my opinion
asaqwert said:
I think what he means (judging from the knowledge he would seem to have on the topic) frequencies that are not certified for use in a given jurisdiction, not "illegal"frequencies in some other way. In the US fir example, if you use a device that transmits on any frequency that your device has not specifically been passed for by the fcc (and above a maximum power limit which is rather low, from what I recall) then you are breaking federal fcc regulation with respect to creating possible interference, transmitting radio signals on a band your device want created for etc. It can get you into big trouble. Having said that, unlocking your phone in the states is legal to, but no one is ever going to find out. Same thing with the frequency thing, they have those laws so that a) when someone creates interference they can stop/prosecute them and b) so they can stop people importing devices for sale that are not certified.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly what I meant. If it was just a matter of editing a config file, it would be unlikely to cause any interference. I do assume, that the original radio firmware is well-behaved and doesn't start sending on a given frequency unless it picks up a cell tower there first. However, regulators have been known to look unkindly at uncertified devices, especially if you cause interference. And you most certainly void your certification if you modify the radio.
Anyway, I did unpack the radio firmware and looked around in it with a hex editor a bit, hoping for a lucky find of the needle in the haystack, so to say. What I found was not very encouraging. It's a batch of binary files. Some looking like bootloaders, others looking like L4 realtime kernels. There also seems to be a qurt kernel, whatever that is. Maybe some kind of Qualcomm realtime os implementation. Also dsp firmware or some such. Then I found some strings that might be part of digital signatures. I did some googling on suggestive strings I found, but if there is any documentation on that stuff, then Qualcomm keeps it secret (or I am too stupid to find it).
There was no such thing as "SupportLTEon700MHz=false" or something like that. Not that I expected anything like that.
So unless there is an insider somewhere willing to violate all kinds of NDAs and contracts, it is unlikely that this will happen, I think.
Both of you are making this more complicated than it probably needs to be.
For one, the phones that DO support 700 and 1700 use the same chipset. This is something that was done on the Note 2. A simple config change unlocked those frequencies. I believe we'd only need to repeat the concept for the Note 3. In other words, all we need is for someone familiar with the process to take on the job.
The Snapdragon 800 (N9005's chipset) does accept the LTE_B17 line of flags. (LTE band 17). It's already in the hardware, we just need to turn it on.
This bounty explicitly states for 700 and 1700 LTE bands, which the chipset DOES support at least 1 of those bands. This isn't about the Japanese bands, that was brought up by someone else and isn't what this topic is about. Please make a separate bounty for that feature so that people aren't confused about THIS topic.
So unless there is an insider somewhere willing to violate all kinds of NDAs and contracts, it is unlikely that this will happen, I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has already happened on other phones. It's a matter of incentive.
Sonorus said:
Both of you are making this more complicated than it probably needs to be.
For one, the phones that DO support 700 and 1700 use the same chipset. This is something that was done on the Note 2. A simple config change unlocked those frequencies. I believe we'd only need to repeat the concept for the Note 3. In other words, all we need is for someone familiar with the process to take on the job.
The Snapdragon 800 (N9005's chipset) does accept the LTE_B17 line of flags. (LTE band 17). It's already in the hardware, we just need to turn it on.
This bounty explicitly states for 700 and 1700 LTE bands, which the chipset DOES support at least 1 of those bands. This isn't about the Japanese bands, that was brought up by someone else and isn't what this topic is about. Please make a separate bounty for that feature so that people aren't confused about THIS topic.
This has already happened on other phones. It's a matter of incentive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://wccftech.com/enable-t-mobile-hspa-aws-bands-on-at-t-galaxy-s4-sgh-i337-sgh-i337m/ as reference
WorldIRC said:
http://wccftech.com/enable-t-mobile-hspa-aws-bands-on-at-t-galaxy-s4-sgh-i337-sgh-i337m/ as reference
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh I would love to see this come out for the Note 3 a nice simple way to pick up the extra bands our hardware is capable of.
Me and another member got relatively far with this but was not able to flash the N900W8 modem onto an N9005 because the boot loader is locked. We were going to try a few other things before I gave up and just bought an N900W8 for cheaper than what I paid for the N9005.
The QCN file was edited to match that of an N900W8 with respect to a few entries in the LTE BC CONFIG. Unfortunately just changing it resulted in no service. We then proceeded to change the WCDMA band configuration to match, but like members of the S3, this is apparently overwritten some how by the device on boot. You need to reboot the phone for the modified QCN to take effect, so basically it did nothing.
Whatever solution you guys come up with its probably a matter of a complete modem and QCN file then reboot to make it happen.
I tried to write a custom update.zip file that overwrote the two partitions containing the modem.bin and NON-HLOS.bin without success.
Rogers parameter 6828:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9KfOSKSSjgdSEE2Z043U09JTGc/edit?usp=sharing
LTE BC CONFIG MENTION:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=33234706&postcount=43
In regards to an update.zip. You must execute the flash after following the same sequence of steps as when flashing with odin. (eg remove battery, put battery in, hold vol down and home, plug in USB cable, then odin will come up) Except instead of vol down, use vol up. Something about this sequence unlocks the ability to flash modems (in odin, recovery and root). (if you don't do it, writes to the mmc will timeout)
While you /can/ flash modems for W8 and T on the N9005, they will fail to boot, apparently enforced by the PBL (the lowest level bootloader on the device).
Changing individual parameters in NVRAM may not take effect for a number of reasons;
1) There are two partitions (MODEM*1 and MODEM*2) that seem to contain NVRAM parameters, but are not directly part of EFS. They look like backups of critical parts of NVRAM, i suspect during the boot sequence, these BINs push NVRAM parameters into EFS, overwriting any changes. I was unable to trivially decipher the contents, but i didn't put a lot of effort into it.
2) Some kind of failsafe similar to the Modem flashing problem. (modem wont stick! maybe NVRAM wont either!)
3) Modem itself may set certain parameters in NVRAM. Only way to test this i think would be to try changing IMEI in NVRAM, and see if it reverts back on reboot. As the modem doesn't pertain to your IMEI, it would never correct it if it was incorrect.
Personally i think #2 is the case, and will try to enable change via cold boot method.
I have successfully changed the modem partition to contain arbitrary data, as long as the binaries are untouched. As soon as they are modified (even eg. changing the name of the baseband), they will not operate. So they are probably protected by signature or hash.
Got NV#06828 to stick as 5B0001. It was originally D50008.
It however, does not enable the necessary bands, it would appear. The value is persisting across reboots, so indeed it has been changed permanently.
I suspect NV#01877 needs modified as well. But i've been unsuccessful in getting it to stick.
I'm attempting to change 040002 to 060000 in item 1877.
The fact that i was able to write NV#06828 suggests that 01877 is likely changeable as well. Still haven't figure out what conditions are allowing writes to persist. Luck of the draw seems to be what makes it work.
Sonorus said:
Got NV#06828 to stick as 5B0001. It was originally D50008.
It however, does not enable the necessary bands, it would appear. The value is persisting across reboots, so indeed it has been changed permanently.
I suspect NV#01877 needs modified as well. But i've been unsuccessful in getting it to stick.
I'm attempting to change 040002 to 060000 in item 1877.
The fact that i was able to write NV#06828 suggests that 01877 is likely changeable as well. Still haven't figure out what conditions are allowing writes to persist. Luck of the draw seems to be what makes it work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Thanks for the information.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Bumping this
I'll pledge $20 for 700MHz AT&T band
Planning to buy a new Mi4 from kijiji. Wondering whether it supports LTE bands in Canada? I;'m with telus
Short answer. No, not yet.
veladem said:
Short answer. No, not yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK.Thanks
Is this a software issue or the LTE version is a different hardware in the future? In other words, if i buy the mi4 now, will i be able to get LTE when its available?
Sadly it seems to be a hardware limitation. Xiaomi was smart when they made the phone and only have it what it needed unlike some companies that overlook the small things and pay in the end.
yes it does not. as no opomart and other sites are selling FDD-LTE version which 1700/2100 works perfect with ATT / T-Mobile in US
4G:FDD-LTE 1800(B3)/2100(B1)MHz
This may seem far fetched but I'll ask anyway. Is there a way to change the hardware frequencies set within the phone to match the connectivity frequencies that's in your area?
shakim24 said:
This may seem far fetched but I'll ask anyway. Is there a way to change the hardware frequencies set within the phone to match the connectivity frequencies that's in your area?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In theory, the chip should support them. It would be a matter of writing the specific band values into your phones memory (NV). However, this pre-supposes that the phone could be modified on that level to begin with, which is doubtful.
You would need:
Unlock/root
Custom rom
Custom kernel
QPST (for editing)
QXDM (write enabling)
access to switch usb diagnostic mode
The majority of the work would be getting around MIUI and Qualcomm's restrictions they implement in their code. While not impossible, as you can see, the changes required aren't necessarily for the faint of heart. I suppose one upside would be the phone doesn't cost an arm and a leg, so if you wound up with a brick, you might have an easier time bouncing back from the loss.
kibmikey1 said:
In theory, the chip should support them. It would be a matter of writing the specific band values into your phones memory (NV). However, this pre-supposes that the phone could be modified on that level to begin with, which is doubtful.
You would need:
Unlock/root
Custom rom
Custom kernel
QPST (for editing)
QXDM (write enabling)
access to switch usb diagnostic mode
The majority of the work would be getting around MIUI and Qualcomm's restrictions they implement in their code. While not impossible, as you can see, the changes required aren't necessarily for the faint of heart. I suppose one upside would be the phone doesn't cost an arm and a leg, so if you wound up with a brick, you might have an easier time bouncing back from the loss.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the insight bro. You really broke down into detail what was needed to be done. Was scrolling around and found this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2871269. Would like your opinion on it. It's for unlocking LTE as well.
I think they released the LTE-FDD version , seach for it!
already got one with LTE...its out already
Hi, I don't know how helpful this is for you but I have bought two from China for myself and my wife. Although I have not tried on the MIUI OS, I have flashed AOSP on to both phones and they both work at least on O2 and EE. I am receive 4G on my EE Mi4, however my wife does not have a 4G sim so can not confirm hers but she does receive 3G signals.
O2s 4G sim did not receive 4G signals on my Mi4 though (reason for me switching)
Hope this helps you
Only bands 1, 3, 41
Hi all,
I recently bought and used a SM-G550T in the US&Canada and now am in europe where with the missing bands I only have 2G Edge network speed.
In another thread on qualcomm-based samsungs (this is an exynos btw.) I read that the chips usually support all frequencies. Therefore I'd like to have the frequency range of the G550F on my G550T (I assume identical hardware and differing firmware).
Before I try to put the firmware of the G550F onto my device, I'd like to ask if anyone tried to do this and what was the outcome and/or alternatively if there's another way to unlock the missing bands.
Many thanks,
Zyzz550
zyzz550 said:
Hi all,
I recently bought and used a SM-G550T in the US&Canada and now am in europe where with the missing bands I only have 2G Edge network speed.
In another thread on qualcomm-based samsungs (this is an exynos btw.) I read that the chips usually support all frequencies. Therefore I'd like to have the frequency range of the G550F on my G550T (I assume identical hardware and differing firmware).
Before I try to put the firmware of the G550F onto my device, I'd like to ask if anyone tried to do this and what was the outcome and/or alternatively if there's another way to unlock the missing bands.
Many thanks,
Zyzz550
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know the details of exactly what you need to do but you'd have to port port between the two, if one is qcom and the other is Exynos then it might not work.
Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 08:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:04 PM ----------
zyzz550 said:
Hi all,
I recently bought and used a SM-G550T in the US&Canada and now am in europe where with the missing bands I only have 2G Edge network speed.
In another thread on qualcomm-based samsungs (this is an exynos btw.) I read that the chips usually support all frequencies. Therefore I'd like to have the frequency range of the G550F on my G550T (I assume identical hardware and differing firmware).
Before I try to put the firmware of the G550F onto my device, I'd like to ask if anyone tried to do this and what was the outcome and/or alternatively if there's another way to unlock the missing bands.
Many thanks,
Zyzz550
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know the details of exactly what you need to do but you'd have to port port between the two, if one is qcom and the other is Exynos then it might not work.
In this thread it is stated that the firmware for the SM-G550FY shouldn't be used on the SM-G550T:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/stock-rom-samsung-galaxy-on5-on5-prosm-t3450732
OTOH all SM-G550(T/T1/F/FY) models have the same Exynos 3475 processor, so it may work. My question therefore would be if I'd be able to recover the phone if installing the (-F)-firmware provided here ( http://www.mobilesfirmware.com/samsung-galaxy-on5-sm-g550f-firmware-flash-file/ ) would brick the phone? [i.e. thats with OEM lock disabled & usb debugging on]
zyzz550 said:
In this thread it is stated that the firmware for the SM-G550FY shouldn't be used on the SM-G550T:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/stock-rom-samsung-galaxy-on5-on5-prosm-t3450732
OTOH all SM-G550(T/T1/F/FY) models have the same Exynos 3475 processor, so it may work. My question therefore would be if I'd be able to recover the phone if installing the (-F)-firmware provided here ( http://www.mobilesfirmware.com/samsung-galaxy-on5-sm-g550f-firmware-flash-file/ ) would brick the phone? [i.e. thats with OEM lock disabled & usb debugging on]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would have to do some porting to make the firmare work for you. Trying to flash as is will probably brick your device.
Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
Is there any info on what is generally necessary for porting the firmware for devices with (identical?) hardware?
This is also my main problem, the 550F and 550T seem to have identical hardware at least I haven't found a list of chips built into it. The 550FY with dual-sim clearly differs but I'm not trying to install that firmware.
In the other thread it is stated that the 550FY firmware works on the 550F (clearly differing hardware), so it might be working without modification on the 550T.? Before trying I simply don't know the risk of really permanently bricking the phone and the abilities of emergency recovery.
I still hope for a way to activate the band w/o changing the software, the samsung service mode calls only allow for switching between the existing preconfigured (limited) set of bands.