[bounty][1BTC + 60USD] Add 700 1700 LTE Bands on n9005 - Galaxy Note 3 General

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

Related

[Q] 3G and 4G modems

I'm one of those guys that's interested in tinkering with things, including messing with the hardware of a phone, so logically what I found interesting about the latest rumors about the next hottest phone on the planet was that the Exynos version of the S4 will support LTE but won't have an LTE modem in it, while the Snapdragon version will have an LTE modem.
I'd like to assume that if you had two identical phones (any make/model), and one had a burned out modem for example, while the other had a burned out CPU, you could swap the modem chip to the working phone. I'm assuming the pinout on the CPUs would be completely different, thus preventing a CPU swap, yes this would void ANY and ALL warranties...
I have two questions based on this:
1) This one is a two-part question.
a) Will the 3G phone with the Exynos be unlocked?
b) If it is, is there any reason why it wouldn't be able to register with a US carrier?
2) If the above is possible, I can't help but wonder how difficult it would be for a professional to swap the modem chips between the two phones...
Admittedly, I don't know much about the boards on phones other than that I've seen JTAG ports added to some and RS232 ports added to others, but if those can be done, what's to stop someone (with the right experience) from doing a modem chip swap to get their Exynos to have 4G?
If this is one of those noob questions I'm sorry -- I'm more of a power user than anything, so I just don't know about the hardware aspect, but thats just something that would make sense to me.
Speeddymon said:
I'm one of those guys that's interested in tinkering with things, including messing with the hardware of a phone, so logically what I found interesting about the latest rumors about the next hottest phone on the planet was that the Exynos version of the S4 will support LTE but won't have an LTE modem in it, while the Snapdragon version will have an LTE modem.
I'd like to assume that if you had two identical phones (any make/model), and one had a burned out modem for example, while the other had a burned out CPU, you could swap the modem chip to the working phone. I'm assuming the pinout on the CPUs would be completely different, thus preventing a CPU swap, yes this would void ANY and ALL warranties...
I have two questions based on this:
1) This one is a two-part question.
a) Will the 3G phone with the Exynos be unlocked?
b) If it is, is there any reason why it wouldn't be able to register with a US carrier?
2) If the above is possible, I can't help but wonder how difficult it would be for a professional to swap the modem chips between the two phones...
Admittedly, I don't know much about the boards on phones other than that I've seen JTAG ports added to some and RS232 ports added to others, but if those can be done, what's to stop someone (with the right experience) from doing a modem chip swap to get their Exynos to have 4G?
If this is one of those noob questions I'm sorry -- I'm more of a power user than anything, so I just don't know about the hardware aspect, but thats just something that would make sense to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Carrier branded phones will be locked but you can find unlocked versions in cell phone stores.
If it is unlocked it will work with us carriers but not on LTE but HSPA +.
2. It not only hardware issues involved, there is also software issues involved as different chips are interconnected both on soft and hard levels so the phone does not have any conflicts on the motherbaord.

Buying a phone in the USA for use in Europe

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

Does Mi4 have LTE now?

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

[Completed] Noob in need of radio/modem flashing information

Hello,
I recently purchased a note 5 duos SM-N9208 from Taiwan. I was led to believe that the device was unlocked GSM, but had EV-DO capabilities. My understanding was that this would work on Verizon's network, because it had both radio chips inside. I was told by Verizon that "there is no approved way" for them to get me up and running on their network. The tech made a point of saying there is a difference between approved, and no way. This leads me to believe that something can be done. I'm wondering if someone would be kind enough to help me out. Phone is running original Rom, unrooted, and is basically useless to me right now, as I'm desperately clinging on to my unlimited data with Verizon. Is it possible to root the device, and flash the modem with Verizon note 5 baseband info? Any help anyone can offer would be very much appreciated.
XDA Visitor said:
Hello,
I recently purchased a note 5 duos SM-N9208 from Taiwan. I was led to believe that the device was unlocked GSM, but had EV-DO capabilities. My understanding was that this would work on Verizon's network, because it had both radio chips inside. I was told by Verizon that "there is no approved way" for them to get me up and running on their network. The tech made a point of saying there is a difference between approved, and no way. This leads me to believe that something can be done. I'm wondering if someone would be kind enough to help me out. Phone is running original Rom, unrooted, and is basically useless to me right now, as I'm desperately clinging on to my unlimited data with Verizon. Is it possible to root the device, and flash the modem with Verizon note 5 baseband info? Any help anyone can offer would be very much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, and welcome to XDA!
When I looked up the specs on the Note 5 Duos, unfortunately it says nothing about CDMA. Having both "radio chips inside" can be taken two ways, in this case, this phone has the capability to handle two GSM carriers (and in this case, like most dual-sim phones, only the first SIM can do 3G/4G/LTE speeds).
Network Technology GSM / HSPA / LTE
2G bands GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2
3G bands HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100
4G bands LTE
Speed HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE
GPRS Yes
EDGE Yes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems the only option (if you want to use this phone), is to join a GSM carrier like AT&T, T-Mobile, or one of their MVNO's (like MetroPCS).
Hope this helps.
joel.maxuel said:
Hi, and welcome to XDA!
It seems the only option (if you want to use this phone), is to join a GSM carrier like AT&T, T-Mobile, or one of their MVNO's (like MetroPCS).
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, Joel! I'm excited to learn as much as possible from tgis forum. I actually changed over to T-Mobile, and have been good for the most part. The problem i'm having now is related to finding a way to flash the radio to all of their Rf's. I rooted, and attempted to flash the modem and bootloader from N920T, but it failed. I am still having a hard timr understanding why the identical hardware will not accept firmware from different model numbers. Again, very inexperienced, so it may be something very obvious i dont know about. If could offer any assistance, or provide and thread links that may be useful, i wpuld very grateful. Ive been searching nonstop, reading, and still cant seem to find a way.
Rockstah said:
Thank you, Joel! I'm excited to learn as much as possible from tgis forum. I actually changed over to T-Mobile, and have been good for the most part. The problem i'm having now is related to finding a way to flash the radio to all of their Rf's. I rooted, and attempted to flash the modem and bootloader from N920T, but it failed. I am still having a hard timr understanding why the identical hardware will not accept firmware from different model numbers. Again, very inexperienced, so it may be something very obvious i dont know about. If could offer any assistance, or provide and thread links that may be useful, i wpuld very grateful. Ive been searching nonstop, reading, and still cant seem to find a way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the hardware (particularly the modem) is not compatible, hance the failed install. You are lucky it cancelled out as you could have had worse problems on your hands.
The way i see it, you will have to wait for other regions for the Note 5 Duos to open up before you get flashing options. I would even question the need for that, if you get a decent range of bands with T-Mo (I am assuming you can get 4G).
If you want to explore further anyway, please check out this thread:
> Samsung Galaxy Note5 > Galaxy Note5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting > [Help Thread][Galaxy Note5] Ask Any Question, Noob Friendly
Hope this helps.
joel.maxuel said:
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It did, thank you! I get decent service (including LTE) almost everywhere. Problem is, once I get to my.house, I go completely out of service. No call.I no text. It wouldn't be a big deal, but the Taiwanese phone doesn't have a way to turn WiFi calling.
Rockstah said:
It did, thank you! I get decent service (including LTE) almost everywhere. Problem is, once I get to my.house, I go completely out of service. No call.I no text. It wouldn't be a big deal, but the Taiwanese phone doesn't have a way to turn WiFi calling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aha. That and no sign of the 700mHz band (which may not be part of your phone anyway, not just hidden by the current firmware).
Since the firmware would need deep support of Wifi Calling (or VoLTE), as in more than just an App, I am afraid you will have to wait until the Duos releases into an area with that support in their firmware (and hope that, that area's firmware doesn't disable a frequency you use).
Makes scraping all the lead paint[*] off the house the more manageable task, doesn't it?
[*] I really don't know if your house does indeed have lead paint. I am assuming it's coated in something metal, or concrete, which avoids typically high frequency radio waves from entering. I never had that problem with my house (which may be strange, since it was built in the 40's), but maybe creating ways to boost the existing signal may be in order instead.

Which band is missing on the N920T from the N920A?

I'm having a hard time finding a definitive answer about which LTE band I'll lose using the tmobile variant on att.
I don't think any, I think both are identical. I am using the N920T with AT&t. I would suggest you consider using DarthStalkers ROM, he was able to pull the AT&T carrier files.
The N920T & A are the same. If you had bought the N920I you might lose bands.
Does anyone know where I can get a band 12 coverage map? I can only find the LTE coverage map which doesn't specify if band 12 is used there
wdkingery said:
I'm having a hard time finding a definitive answer about which LTE band I'll lose using the tmobile variant on att.
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17 and 30 (I don't think the 920t's band 12 will work with AT&T's B17 - even though 12 is a subset of 17 (or do I have that backwards?) Possibly 29 (downlink only for AT&T) - but there's very little documentation on B29, so I'm not sure if the N920A supports it or not.
garyd9 said:
17 and 30 (I don't think the 920t's band 12 will work with AT&T's B17 - even though 12 is a subset of 17 (or do I have that backwards?) Possibly 29 (downlink only for AT&T) - but there's very little documentation on B29, so I'm not sure if the N920A supports it or not.
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Could you be so kind as to translate what that will mean to me? I have a t-mobile note 4 here on att and it seems to do fine.. Do you think I'll be so lucky with the note 5?
wdkingery said:
Could you be so kind as to translate what that will mean to me? I have a t-mobile note 4 here on att and it seems to do fine.. Do you think I'll be so lucky with the note 5?
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Band 29 is rarely used by AT&T (only as a downlink in heavily congested areas.) This shouldn't be a problem.
Band 30 (WCS band) is something AT&T _just_ started deploying, but I've never seen it in actual use. In fact, until very recently, none of AT&T's own phones supported it. B30 is really of limited value for general use due to it's propagation (or lack thereof.) Like 29, its probably only used as a supplement to other bands. I wouldn't worry about B30.
B17, however, is a Big Deal for AT&T. That's AT&T's primary "lower frequency" LTE band. Because of the low frequency, it has excellent propagation (meaning it moves farther and through trees, buildings, etc.) They use this band to cover large geographical areas with minimal towers. If you will be using your phone in a non-urban area, B17 is almost essential for AT&T. (My phone spends the majority of the time at my home on B17.)
I haven't heard of anyone with a TMO Note 5 device (without explicit B17 support) attaching to AT&T's B17, but that doesn't mean it won't work. However, Unless someone confirms B17 functionality on the n290T from actual use (and not just what they think), I'd suggest assuming that it won't work.
garyd9 said:
Band 29 is rarely used by AT&T (only as a downlink in heavily congested areas.) This shouldn't be a problem.
Band 30 (WCS band) is something AT&T _just_ started deploying, but I've never seen it in actual use. In fact, until very recently, none of AT&T's own phones supported it. B30 is really of limited value for general use due to it's propagation (or lack thereof.) Like 29, its probably only used as a supplement to other bands. I wouldn't worry about B30.
B17, however, is a Big Deal for AT&T. That's AT&T's primary "lower frequency" LTE band. Because of the low frequency, it has excellent propagation (meaning it moves farther and through trees, buildings, etc.) They use this band to cover large geographical areas with minimal towers. If you will be using your phone in a non-urban area, B17 is almost essential for AT&T. (My phone spends the majority of the time at my home on B17.)
I haven't heard of anyone with a TMO Note 5 device (without explicit B17 support) attaching to AT&T's B17, but that doesn't mean it won't work. However, Unless someone confirms B17 functionality on the n290T from actual use (and not just what they think), I'd suggest assuming that it won't work.
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An informative post if ever there was one indeed.
What app do you use to determine which hand your phone is connected thru? I have found this app "LTE discovery", and it seems my att note 3 stays connected to 5 mostly, or 4 for lte. But then for GSM is doesn't list a band, but appears connected. On her t-mobile note 4 connected to att, she stays on 5, but the GSM doesn't appear to be connected to anything..
We will be almost exclusively in the middle of a city, but as with anything that could change or in the event of a road trip..
Is there a place I can sit and study this information? Perhaps a website with all of this data? Or do you happen to work in the field?
In a sea of noobs, an informed person is a real diamond in the rough - I appreciate your time.
wdkingery said:
What app do you use to determine which hand your phone is connected thru? I have found this app "LTE discovery", and it seems my att note 3 stays connected to 5 mostly, or 4 for lte.
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Click to collapse
That's a good app to use. I also use my phone's diagnostic menu's, but I doubt AT&T left those enabled on the 'a' variant.[/QUOTE]
wdkingery said:
But then for GSM is doesn't list a band, but appears connected. On her t-mobile note 4 connected to att, she stays on 5, but the GSM doesn't appear to be connected to anything..
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Click to collapse
Is that with "lte discovery" that she doesn't appear to have any GSM side connection? She most likely does, as that's where voice calls will take place...
wdkingery said:
Is there a place I can sit and study this information? Perhaps a website with all of this data?
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Click to collapse
Google. Then google some more. If you run out of pages from google, use another search engine. All the information is readily available - it just takes time to find it all.
garyd9 said:
That's a good app to use. I also use my phone's diagnostic menu's, but I doubt AT&T left those enabled on the 'a' variant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that with "lte discovery" that she doesn't appear to have any GSM side connection? She most likely does, as that's where voice calls will take place...
Google. Then google some more. If you run out of pages from google, use another search engine. All the information is readily available - it just takes time to find it all.[/QUOTE]
so i got through all the hoops.. don't have LTE ;-(
it connects to band 4 or 5 when i first come out of airplane mode, but it jumps right back off. stuck on 4g. called at&t for an hour, they said initially it wasn't provisioned on my sim card, but then afterwards they determined it was a problem on my end, walked my thru APN settings and then ended the call.. still no LTE.
do you have an opinion of what i could do?
wdkingery said:
do you have an opinion of what i could do?
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Quoting me in a thread was enough... didn't have to also PM me...
@TEKHD has a firmware that might work for you. Check it out over here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/tmo...h6-tekxodus-n5-urv1-00-00-lollipop-5-t3201869
He has apparently provided a mechanism that is working for other AT&T users... (probably via loading the AT&T RIL libs.)
I haven't tried this (and I don't even have a 't' variant myself.) On the other hand, a quick search of that thread seems to show that other people are having successes with AT&T sim's on 't' variant devices.
Good luck!
Gary
sorry about the double.
after a precursory examination, idon't see exactly what you are talking about in his thread..
is it a download?
garyd9 said:
Quoting me in a thread was enough... didn't have to also PM me...
He has apparently provided a mechanism that is working for other AT&T users... (probably via loading the AT&T RIL libs.)
Good luck!
Gary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the search feature doesn't appear to work for me; shows 0 results on att or at&t.. i'm having to sift thru all 114 pages by hand.
garyd9 said:
He has apparently provided a mechanism that is working for other AT&T users... (probably via loading the AT&T RIL libs.)
Gary
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i searched all 114 pages and didn't find reference to any of that.. now i know why search provided no results; there weren't any!
so i need to find the att ril libraries. how will i ever find that.
wdkingery said:
i searched all 114 pages and didn't find reference to any of that.. now i know why search provided no results; there weren't any!
so i need to find the att ril libraries. how will i ever find that.
Click to expand...
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Maybe that was the wrong firmware... it's something in the TMO dev section. Please search.
garyd9 said:
Maybe that was the wrong firmware... it's something in the TMO dev section. Please search.
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Click to collapse
i've searched the entire tmo dev section for term "at&t" and there are sparse hits; there is some conversation about CSC for a guy in canada getting his VoLTE working, but nothing on att.
wdkingery said:
i've searched the entire tmo dev section for term "at&t" and there are sparse hits; there is some conversation about CSC for a guy in canada getting his VoLTE working, but nothing on att.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently, you already found it: http://forum.xda-developers.com/tmo...on-1-aroma-t3212091/post63516726#post63516726
This has AT&T RIL's in the update.zip, and from a quick look at the first post in that thread, they are installed based on an aroma installer. Others in that thread claim it works for them. You're using a TMO device on ATT, so you have to expect some level of incompatibility. There are AT&T LTE bands that the TMO device simply doesn't support. It doesn't matter what happens with your Note 4. Different device and different modem.
So, if you want to use a TMO device on ATT, you'll have to make some sacrifices. Most people will find the sacrifices are less drastic using an international version of the phone. For some reason, US carriers go out of their way to ensure their devices are incompatible with each other.
garyd9 said:
Apparently, you already found it: http://forum.xda-developers.com/tmo...on-1-aroma-t3212091/post63516726#post63516726
This has AT&T RIL's in the update.zip, and from a quick look at the first post in that thread, they are installed based on an aroma installer. Others in that thread claim it works for them. .
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Click to collapse
ok this is where i started, by flashing the ATT option for this rom. but that doesn't solve the problem. i'm in the process of clean flashing the tmobile choice like he suggested.
thanks for all your help.
i'm afraid this isn't going to work either. i realize the wife's note 4 may have different hardware, and isn't a good reference.
i can see the thing connect to band 5, then band 4, lte .. but it's in "emergency calls only" mode, then it gives up on that, connects to HSUPA or HSPA+ and that's the last of an LTE connection.
i feel like it would connect if it could, and that i'm having a software issue.
problem solved guys sorry for the large headache..
Solution:
AT&T did not recognize my IMEI as being LTE capable. Because of that, they decline to allow my phone to connect to LTE. My phone would connect to an LTE tower (as in the screen shots a few pages back), but wouldn't receive anything back from AT&T, so it would say "emergency calls only" and then give up after about 10 seconds, and then never go back. Crap data all around at this time.
What you'll need to do is walk into an AT&T store, take a picture of the IMEI off an LTE phone, and then call in and change your IMEI to the phone you found. This will cause the system to recognize your phone as LTE capable, and like magic, you'll have LTE.
I can confirm that I have a tmobile branded unit that attaches to band 17. It isn't as frequently as on my note 4, I'm generally on band 2. With that said I've had virtually no trouble with service. I was initially worried about the b17 issue, but it hasn't seemed to make any difference.
intifadamericana said:
I can confirm that I have a tmobile branded unit that attaches to band 17. It isn't as frequently as on my note 4, I'm generally on band 2. With that said I've had virtually no trouble with service. I was initially worried about the b17 issue, but it hasn't seemed to make any difference.
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Click to collapse
Does it attach to band 17 on AT&T or t-mobile?

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