Does Mi4 have LTE now? - Xiaomi Mi 4

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

Related

[bounty][1BTC + 60USD] Add 700 1700 LTE Bands on n9005

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

[Q] How can the 4G frequency be changed from 1700mhz to 1800 mhz

I've searched for 3 days now, trying to get some info on this, there are various discussions on xda and on other sites that come along the same line, most of the answers are:
No it can't be done - it's hardware related - there are different variants for each region (seems this is not the case with the ONE)
You need someone with QPST but it probably can not be done.
But there is none that actually clears it up, it's mostly "I think it is...................."
What I found out is that the chip regulating 4G LTE connectivity on all HTC one variants is the same (600 MHz Hexagon QDSP6V5A part of the MSM8974 chip and it can sport the ALL LTE frequencies), so it is not a hardware difference between the EMEA and the Verizon, now the question is do I need someone with this QPST or will it only be a case of changing the baseband - all this, is my own conclusion, feel free to give me feedback on this
now on the Verizon site LTE spec says:
Network: LTE Band 13/4 (700/1700 MHz)
CDMA/1xEVDO Rev. A (800/1900 MHz)
the HTC site for Verizon says 4G LTE:
EMEA: 800/900/1800/2600 MHz
Verizon: 700/AWS/1800/2600 MHz
Yet I still don't get any 4G
Sadly there is so much info and it's hard to follow it all. So please can someone explain what and how things actually work?
Why do I need to know all this? Cause I have a Verizon m8 and I'm using it in Europe and I can't get 4G - atm I'm using Insertcoin with ElementalX 8.0.5 kernel and everything is working on the phone aside 4G - I flashed various roms on it, never had ANY problem, aside small things that a Google search solved.
Anyone that can enlighten me? Any help would be appreciated.
Bump
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using xda app-developers app
So are you not getting any 4G LTE? If so I'm not sure why. I get 4G LTE almost everywhere I go.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using xda app-developers app
Nope not getting it at all
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using xda app-developers app
masucu said:
I've searched for 3 days now, trying to get some info on this, there are various discussions on xda and on other sites that come along the same line, most of the answers are:
No it can't be done - it's hardware related - there are different variants for each region (seems this is not the case with the ONE)
You need someone with QPST but it probably can not be done.
But there is none that actually clears it up, it's mostly "I think it is...................."
What I found out is that the chip regulating 4G LTE connectivity on all HTC one variants is the same (600 MHz Hexagon QDSP6V5A part of the MSM8974 chip and it can sport the ALL LTE frequencies), so it is not a hardware difference between the EMEA and the Verizon, now the question is do I need someone with this QPST or will it only be a case of changing the baseband - all this, is my own conclusion, feel free to give me feedback on this
now on the Verizon site LTE spec says:
Network: LTE Band 13/4 (700/1700 MHz)
CDMA/1xEVDO Rev. A (800/1900 MHz)
the HTC site for Verizon says 4G LTE:
EMEA: 800/900/1800/2600 MHz
Verizon: 700/AWS/1800/2600 MHz
Yet I still don't get any 4G
Sadly there is so much info and it's hard to follow it all. So please can someone explain what and how things actually work?
Why do I need to know all this? Cause I have a Verizon m8 and I'm using it in Europe and I can't get 4G - atm I'm using Insertcoin with ElementalX 8.0.5 kernel and everything is working on the phone aside 4G - I flashed various roms on it, never had ANY problem, aside small things that a Google search solved.
Anyone that can enlighten me? Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Each model must have a different *antenna* configuration so that they are optimized to their respective regions. The *antenna* is separate from the actual radio you mentioned above. This is why there are so many models, which I thought I had explained in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2710720&page=5
Even if you could override what band the phone connected to, the performance would be abysmal. The fix for this would be to physically change the antenna. If you could do this on your own, you deserve an honorary degree in electrical engineering since antenna design isn’t the easiest thing in the world. Here’s where to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell's_equations
Since there is a discrepancy between the Verizon and HTC spec sheets, I would do the following:
1.) Focus your research on seeing which one is correct by contacting HTC and Verizon.
2.) If Verizon’s is correct, you’re done. Romania’s carriers only transmit LTE on 1800 Mhz (band 3). Otherwise…
3.) If HTC’s sheet is correct, focus on why you can’t detect 1800 MHz. It must be something in your unlock method or Verizon really locked the hell out of the radios for some reason.
subhumanderelict said:
Each model must have a different *antenna* configuration so that they are optimized to their respective regions. The *antenna* is separate from the actual radio you mentioned above. This is why there are so many models, which I thought I had explained in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2710720&page=5
Even if you could override what band the phone connected to, the performance would be abysmal. The fix for this would be to physically change the antenna. If you could do this on your own, you deserve an honorary degree in electrical engineering since antenna design isn’t the easiest thing in the world. Here’s where to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell's_equations
Since there is a discrepancy between the Verizon and HTC spec sheets, I would do the following:
1.) Focus your research on seeing which one is correct by contacting HTC and Verizon.
2.) If Verizon’s is correct, you’re done. Romania’s carriers only transmit LTE on 1800 Mhz (band 3). Otherwise…
3.) If HTC’s sheet is correct, focus on why you can’t detect 1800 MHz. It must be something in your unlock method or Verizon really locked the hell out of the radios for some reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers mate, went to an actual engineer that handles repairs here in Romania for various brands and we both decided to make it our own personal project to make this happen a Verizon M8 turned into a Euro version one, ill report back with the results in about 2 weeks. Seems technically it can be done, just needs a some work. Thanks again for the reply though.
masucu said:
Cheers mate, went to an actual engineer that handles repairs here in Romania for various brands and we both decided to make it our own personal project to make this happen a Verizon M8 turned into a Euro version one, ill report back with the results in about 2 weeks. Seems technically it can be done, just needs a some work. Thanks again for the reply though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's actually kind of admirable! Seriously, I wish you luck; it would be really awesome if you succeeded. If you begin making progress, I would love to hear about it!
Just in case you didn't know about it, here is the teardown guide with a link to the tools you'd need to open up the M8:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/HTC+One+(M8)+Teardown/23615
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
masucu said:
Cheers mate, went to an actual engineer that handles repairs here in Romania for various brands and we both decided to make it our own personal project to make this happen a Verizon M8 turned into a Euro version one, ill report back with the results in about 2 weeks. Seems technically it can be done, just needs a some work. Thanks again for the reply though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Macusu,
Just to remember, I believe the problem is not only related to the antenna itself, maybe there are other kind of locks since, as discussed in the other topic, Here in Brazil and I`m not being able to attach it to 4G 2600MHz (Even if the phone supports this frequency).
UntouchableS said:
Hi Macusu,
Just to remember, I believe the problem is not only related to the antenna itself, maybe there are other kind of locks since, as discussed in the other topic, Here in Brazil and I`m not being able to attach it to 4G 2600MHz (Even if the phone supports this frequency).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thing is they are waiting for all the tools atm, I mean they don't yet have all the new kits for it, it should be arriving, and the engineer is actually a certified person being one that works in a certified HTC service, so once we get the entire .... kit, he will start working on it toghther with the software engineer and so on, hope that it will all sort out, i did get another phone in the mean time as well, but as i said i will be reporting back.
Thank
subhumanderelict said:
That's actually kind of admirable! Seriously, I wish you luck; it would be really awesome if you succeeded. If you begin making progress, I would love to hear about it!
Just in case you didn't know about it, here is the teardown guide with a link to the tools you'd need to open up the M8:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/HTC+One+(M8)+Teardown/23615
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the guide, hopefully we wont need it but I will let you know how it goes.
masucu said:
Thanks for the guide, hopefully we wont need it but I will let you know how it goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you succeed?
MikkelJakobsen said:
Did you succeed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would like to know also...
sandm4n said:
I would like to know also...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So would I...I'm also from Brazil and brought the Verizon model because it is said to support the 2600 frequency. So frustrating

[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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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..
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...
wdkingery said:
Is there a place I can sit and study this information? Perhaps a website with all of this data?
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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. .
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it attach to band 17 on AT&T or t-mobile?

LTE Band 12, VoLTE, and T-Mobile

I am starting this thread, since there seems to be a lot of confusion around "newer" LTE bands, like Band 12 on T-Mobile, which apparently require a fully functioning and "approved" VoLTE phone to get reception.
There are various threads in device-specific forums, but they are not getting a lot of attention, and this is a significant enough problem that it should be more visible.
T-Mobile at this point has pretty fantastic coverage via the 700MHz Band 12 LTE network.
The only problem is that Band 12 requires the phone to be VoLTE "certified". The rumor was that phones could still connect to this band/LTE-network and send/receive data, but that they would fall back to alternative bands, even 3G or 2G, for phone calls. For a lot of people that would be "good enough" if not ideal.
Based on some recent testing, this is NOT CORRECT:
While phones may "sometimes" connect to Band 12 for data, the much more common scenario is apparently that the phone will disconnect from Band 12 almost immediately, or will refuse to connect to Band 12, and will instead default to an alternative LTE, 4G, 3G, or 2G connection.
In other words: even if you have perfect LTE Band 12 coverage (5/5 bars, or 100%), your "Band 12 capable" phone may instead try to connect to a really ****ty GPRS or EDGE tower that has barely any reception for the phone.
I recently encountered this with my Xperia X Compact while travelling: My phone would barely be able to connect to a T-Mobile tower with a GPRS data connection, while my wife's Moto G4 would get 5/5 or 100% LTE reception. Swapping SIM cards had the same result, so we know the problem rests with the phone.
Searching for "Available Mobile Networks" on my "band 12 capable" phone would show various T-Mobile 4G networks, but the phone would be unable to connect to them.
Talking to other Xperia X Compact owners, they have the same problem: the phone will sporadically connect to Band 12, but it is not a reliable connection (if the phone even connects) and it will (more likely) prefer other networks/bands/frequencies.
Based on the phone having the proper frequencies, I would assume that T-Mobile has some mechanism on some (or the majority of) towers where they disconnect non-VoLTE certified devices.
Anecdotally, I also had a similar issue with my previous phone - a Nexus 5x. The phone is even VoLTE certified, but when using Cyanogenmod/LineageOS, it would have really terrible reception, despite the location having almost perfect Band 12 coverage - LineageOS/CM does not (or had no) VoLTE support.
I have also tried "hacking" the X Compact to enable VoLTE support by adding the relevant lines to the build.prop and enabling the option under Settings and (*#*#4636#*#*) but this does not appear to make any difference.
A list of T-Mobile "VoLTE certified" phones can be found here:
http://www.spectrumgateway.com/compatible-phones
Would be great if anyone has any suggestions how to resolve this, or force the phone to prioritize Band 12, but it would otherwise appear that the only solution is to get the phone certified by T-Mobile (so much for net neutrality and open access).
I'm using an Xperia X Compact and my home market only has band 12 lte and I can't connect to it. Which means I'm always in 3g or roaming and rarely have data in buildings. It's maddening because I will only buy Sony. I think they are the only manufacturer making attractive handsets and the build quality is light years beyond well marketed, poorly constructed brands like Samsung and LG. But regardless of anyone's choice of manufacturer, a device with a functioning 700 mhz lte radio should function just fine on the corresponding network regardless of where it was purchased.
Would certifying this device and enabling VOLTE be particularly costly to Sony? Correct me if I'm wrong but based on internal components this device should be capable of this ja?
I think it wouldn't hurt to send petitions to both the manufacturer and T-mobile USA. This certainly doesn't help Sony in a market they are seriously struggling in. It also isn't very uncarrier to favor certain devices over others.
The only reason I switched from Verizon was the ability to choose my device. That and the things John Legere was doing to change the industry. I believed in what he was saying. But right now it isn't working for me and likely many others. He should know. I can say firsthand that the guy answers his emails. I think we need to show both parties that this is worth their attention.
---------- Post added at 01:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:14 AM ----------
I should mention that after multiple calls to T-mobile tech support I received a cryptic call very late at night from someone high up in tech support.
Long story short he at least admitted that even though it wasn't a t mobile device and even though it didn't support VoLTE, it should still connect to band 12 just fine. He also said that they were having problems with this sort of thing in my area and that it should be resolved in a month. He also said my IMEI was logged and I would be given priority in the matter. Whatever that means.
I should also mention that was a month ago and he didn't have an email to give me. He did however give me a phone number (probably just the department) that I need to dig up.
Could just be a bunch of fluff because they are afraid to lose customers. Then again he was from tech support not customer retention. And as I said t mobile does listen to its customers.
POMF2K said:
I'm using an Xperia X Compact and my home market only has band 12 lte and I can't connect to it. Which means I'm always in 3g or roaming and rarely have data in buildings. It's maddening because I will only buy Sony. I think they are the only manufacturer making attractive handsets and the build quality is light years beyond well marketed, poorly constructed brands like Samsung and LG. But regardless of anyone's choice of manufacturer, a device with a functioning 700 mhz lte radio should function just fine on the corresponding network regardless of where it was purchased.
Would certifying this device and enabling VOLTE be particularly costly to Sony? Correct me if I'm wrong but based on internal components this device should be capable of this ja?
I think it wouldn't hurt to send petitions to both the manufacturer and T-mobile USA. This certainly doesn't help Sony in a market they are seriously struggling in. It also isn't very uncarrier to favor certain devices over others.
The only reason I switched from Verizon was the ability to choose my device. That and the things John Legere was doing to change the industry. I believed in what he was saying. But right now it isn't working for me and likely many others. He should know. I can say firsthand that the guy answers his emails. I think we need to show both parties that this is worth their attention.
---------- Post added at 01:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:14 AM ----------
I should mention that after multiple calls to T-mobile tech support I received a cryptic call very late at night from someone high up in tech support.
Long story short he at least admitted that even though it wasn't a t mobile device and even though it didn't support VoLTE, it should still connect to band 12 just fine. He also said that they were having problems with this sort of thing in my area and that it should be resolved in a month. He also said my IMEI was logged and I would be given priority in the matter. Whatever that means.
I should also mention that was a month ago and he didn't have an email to give me. He did however give me a phone number (probably just the department) that I need to dig up.
Could just be a bunch of fluff because they are afraid to lose customers. Then again he was from tech support not customer retention. And as I said t mobile does listen to its customers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since I did encounter this also on my Nexus 5x with LineageOS, I doubt that what T-Mobile told you is true. They must be actively blocking these non-certified handsets, since the phone should just attempt connecting.
So who do we need to appeal to? T mobile or Sony.?
POMF2K said:
So who do we need to appeal to? T mobile or Sony.?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both. Maybe also complain to the FCC - I thought that carriers needed to provide open access to their network. Verizon got into hot water for not doing so ...
Does your compact ever connect to lte for a few seconds after a reboot?
I might try to force LTE and restart and see if that has any effect.
I just flashed the UK. T mobile networks work just fine. Well except lte/4g but that was expected.
POMF2K said:
Does your compact ever connect to lte for a few seconds after a reboot?
I might try to force LTE and restart and see if that has any effect.
I just flashed the UK. T mobile networks work just fine. Well except lte/4g but that was expected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does connect sometimes but it then usually kicks down to Band 4 or a GSM band (HSDPA, UMTS, EDGE, or even GPRS).
I cannot find any info how to prioritize LTE bands, so I assume this is T-Mobile's band 12 cell tower's kicking the phone off when they notice that it is not VoLTE approved.
Interesting discussion on Howard forums....
http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...rtphones-with-band-12-LTE-w-o-VoLTE-now/page2
POMF2K said:
Interesting discussion on Howard forums....
http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...rtphones-with-band-12-LTE-w-o-VoLTE-now/page2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting discussion though nothing new.
Yes, we know that Band 12 phones should be able to get a data connection, yet T-Mobile apparently actively disconnects them (or bars them from connecting), especially in areas where Band 12 would give you great coverage but there is no other coverage.
F Sony and F T-Mobile for this!
BTW: here is an article about the follow up model: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/08/sony-xperia-xz1-compact/
Please leave comments about Sony not getting their phones approved for VoLTE with T-Mobile and the phone therefore NOT REALLY WORKING with the carrier.
It would seem to me that the only solution to this problem would be either T-Mobile accepting a standard spec for VoLTE, they open source their code for VoLTE, or someone figures out how to implement VoLTE and trick T-Mobile to think it is an approved "whitelisted" phone.
Given that the T-Mobile network is getting worse and worse every day without Band 12 coverage, I find it really surprising that most people just don't seem to care. Does nobody use their phone outside of WiFi?
andTab said:
It would seem to me that the only solution to this problem would be either T-Mobile accepting a standard spec for VoLTE, they open source their code for VoLTE, or someone figures out how to implement VoLTE and trick T-Mobile to think it is an approved "whitelisted" phone.
Given that the T-Mobile network is getting worse and worse every day without Band 12 coverage, I find it really surprising that most people just don't seem to care. Does nobody use their phone outside of WiFi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a standard spec, the problem is the certification. It requires a certificate from T-mobile to be used by the phone, which is gained through certification. And if SONY is detecting T-mobile at the modem level then there isn't anything a ROM can do with or without a ROM. I had a Z5, but this drove me crazy so I switched to a Pixel.
I wouldn't expect this to change based on SONY de-prioritizing the US phone market, so either upgrade to a new supported sony phone or move on (shrug)
sovanyio said:
There is a standard spec, the problem is the certification. It requires a certificate from T-mobile to be used by the phone, which is gained through certification. And if SONY is detecting T-mobile at the modem level then there isn't anything a ROM can do with or without a ROM. I had a Z5, but this drove me crazy so I switched to a Pixel.
I wouldn't expect this to change based on SONY de-prioritizing the US phone market, so either upgrade to a new supported sony phone or move on (shrug)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That can't be true.
I accept that T-Mobile may issue a certificate but that must be processed on the rom/OS/phone.apk level. Otherwise, every custom ROM on any certified phone would work. We all know that is not the case.
If it's the rom/OS/phone.apk though, why can't we hack a phone to work with TMUS / VoLTE?
I have an x compact and while it is the best device I have ever owned it is essentially unusable on T-Mobile or att.
andTab said:
That can't be true.
I accept that T-Mobile may issue a certificate but that must be processed on the rom/OS/phone.apk level. Otherwise, every custom ROM on any certified phone would work. We all know that is not the case.
If it's the rom/OS/phone.apk though, why can't we hack a phone to work with TMUS / VoLTE?
I have an x compact and while it is the best device I have ever owned it is essentially unusable on T-Mobile or att.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because the SONY modem firmware doesn't even attempt to negotiate VoLTE, which does *not* happen in user space. It is likely possible to hack the qualcomm modem with QPST to enable this, but without documentation and correct values one will not get very far.
sovanyio said:
Because the SONY modem firmware doesn't even attempt to negotiate VoLTE, which does *not* happen in user space. It is likely possible to hack the qualcomm modem with QPST to enable this, but without documentation and correct values one will not get very far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it was the modem, then flashing a new system (eg custom ROM) should not make any difference.
I also have a Nexus 5x. With stock it is fantastic and uses VoLTE on T-Mobile. With LineageOS, it is useless on Band 12. SAME MODEM!
Experience therefore shows that it is the OS/System that somehow prevents this from working.
andTab said:
If it was the modem, then flashing a new system (eg custom ROM) should not make any difference.
I also have a Nexus 5x. With stock it is fantastic and uses VoLTE on T-Mobile. With LineageOS, it is useless on Band 12. SAME MODEM!
Experience therefore shows that it is the OS/System that somehow prevents this from working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Nexus 5x is a different phone made by a different manufacturer with a different firmware scheme. You cannot compare them directly.
I noticed that the XZ1 Compact says right on the website compatible with t mobile band 12 and wifi calling... this is infuriating. It should be easy for them to patch the Xperia x compact.
I would have never purchased this if I had known. Especially since they apparently flashed an update to my old t mobile z3 that allows voice over lte and band 12.
Sony X Compact
sovanyio said:
There is a standard spec, the problem is the certification. It requires a certificate from T-mobile to be used by the phone, which is gained through certification. And if SONY is detecting T-mobile at the modem level then there isn't anything a ROM can do with or without a ROM. I had a Z5, but this drove me crazy so I switched to a Pixel.
I wouldn't expect this to change based on SONY de-prioritizing the US phone market, so either upgrade to a new supported sony phone or move on (shrug)
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It has to be on Sony, use the t-mobile BYOD app to check, I have a Huawei mate 9 that I just purchased, connects perfectly on band 12, VoLTE works just like it's supposed to. On a side note I went through three Sony phones before I bought this Huawei, had to return all three due to quality control issues, one had worst touches that made the phone unusable, one wouldn't pick up the SIM card, and the third wouldn't power on at all, thank good Amazon refunded my money on all three. They may have the Sony name on the phone, but they are still build by the lowest bidder in China and makes with Sony's name.
revjamescarver said:
It has to be on Sony, use the t-mobile BYOD app to check, I have a Huawei mate 9 that I just purchased, connects perfectly on band 12, VoLTE works just like it's supposed to. On a side note I went through three Sony phones before I bought this Huawei, had to return all three due to quality control issues, one had worst touches that made the phone unusable, one wouldn't pick up the SIM card, and the third wouldn't power on at all, thank good Amazon refunded my money on all three. They may have the Sony name on the phone, but they are still build by the lowest bidder in China and makes with Sony's name.
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See this: http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/0...cked-smartphones-and-yep-its-still-confusing/ It is up to an OEM to decide to go through this process per-phone. Since no US carrier carried the phone they didn't not bother spending the money or time to certify it. I loved the SONY design, but since they weren't supporting the market I had to abandon them for other phones.

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