Hi all, I'm a long time user on XDA but I think this is my first new thread, so be nice
I'm keen to build up a list of LTE bands supported by the various variants of the S4. Current specs online seem to be fairly sketchy on what LTE bands are going to be supported by our pre-order phones. The general consensus from most sites is that the overall network frequencies supported will be:
GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz
HSPA+ 850/900/1900/2100MHz
LTE Cat3 Up to 6 different band sets (dependent on market)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty much set on getting myself an S4 however unsure on what I'm actually buying into at the moment. I'm UK based (on o2 currently) but travel to the US several times a year. I've had the HTC Sensation XE which supports 1700MHz and therefore allows me HSPA connection on T-Mobile USA, and their $3/day prepaid tariff is brilliant. Going forward AT&T is also a possibility but their tariffs are a bit steeper (seem to need to pay for a month at a time).
So... what I'd like to do is pull together a list of supported bands for phones sold in various markets/regions/countries, as we get more detail on LTE bands supported. If folks are happy to post links to detail/evidence then I will compile this into a list. Would prefer to stick to the E-UTRA Operating Band numbers as opposed to frequencies.
For my own situation specifically, I'd also be keen to understand:
- Bandings of those phones sold by Carphone Warehouse UK, o2 UK, EE, AT&T, T-Mobile US
- There's a list of LTE bands on the S4 page on Wikipedia (so a big pinch of salt required): 700, 800, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2600 MHz. Is this likely to be the base European offering? If so, what band numbers would these correspond to, since a lot of the frequencies are used by several bands?
- AT&T apparently uses 700MHz for LTE - is that nationwide or just certain states picked up through acquisition of smaller carriers?
- Is T-Mobile US likely to get a special variant to support HSPA at 1700MHz?
- How widely has T-Mobile US reapportioned HSPA at 1900MHz (from the old MPC)
- If a new handset is bought outright at AT&T or T-Mobile USA, will they provide an unlock code free of charge?
List
(reserved to set out a master list as information comes in)
kkrsrkrocks said:
From what i know, there are three market variants of the Galaxy S4.
GT-I9505 – Snapdragon 600 1.9 GHz with LTE - US and Most Western Markets
GT-I9500 – Exynos 5 Octa 1.6 GHz without LTE - Asia and Reast of the World Markets
SHV-E300S – Exynos 5 Octa 1.8 GHz with LTE - Korean Markets
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the list - I think there's a semantic issue here though which reflects much more widely than this particular forum. For me this is about markets (e.g. countries, retailers and carriers) and in each these markets, what LTE bands will be accessible if I buy a i9505 handset. Will all of Europe and North America get the same LTE access? My impression was no. We could go quite granular with this...
UK:
Carphone Warehouse - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
EE - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
o2 - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
Three - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
Vodafone - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
USA:
AT&T - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
T-Mobile - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
Verizon - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
Sprint - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
etc etc...
In a country like the UK it could be the case that all of the retailers and networks all support the same bands... but I just don't know for now. For the US that probably won't be the case.
Potentially we could build up a picture for all countries?
kkrsrkrocks said:
From what i know, there are three market variants of the Galaxy S4.
GT-I9505 – Snapdragon 600 1.9 GHz with LTE - US and Most Western Markets
GT-I9500 – Exynos 5 Octa 1.6 GHz without LTE - Asia and Reast of the World Markets
SHV-E300S – Exynos 5 Octa 1.8 GHz with LTE - Korean Markets
Source and Details
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude how many accounts do you have? And how much would you spam your blog here?
sent fromXperia sT21i
Everything stock
NZStevenC said:
Thanks for the list - I think there's a semantic issue here though which reflects much more widely than this particular forum. For me this is about markets (e.g. countries, retailers and carriers) and in each these markets, what LTE bands will be accessible if I buy a i9505 handset. Will all of Europe and North America get the same LTE access? My impression was no. We could go quite granular with this...
UK:
Carphone Warehouse - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
EE - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
o2 - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
Three - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
Vodafone - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
USA:
AT&T - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
T-Mobile - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
Verizon - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
Sprint - i9505 with LTE band a, b, c, d, e, f
etc etc...
In a country like the UK it could be the case that all of the retailers and networks all support the same bands... but I just don't know for now. For the US that probably won't be the case.
Potentially we could build up a picture for all countries?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been waiting to find out more information about this as well.
I'm in Canada on the Roger's network, and when I visit the US, I too use the T-Mobile $3 a day plan.
Unlike the S3, does this mean that all North American S4 variants will be the same phone (Telus, Rogers, Wind, T-Mobile, Verizon, etc)? If so, does that mean that if I purchase any S4 in North America that it will work on all North American cell networks?
Thanks!
kkrsrkrocks said:
Dude.. Its not a blog.. Its a full website. Also this was no spam. It was just giving information. If I have some information on my site then why should I give source of some other site?? Also if you give source of some site say xyz, can i accuse you of promoting the site..!! Finally I give complete information that I want to, in the post itself. Its up to the reader to visit the source
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have seen 3 accounts getting banned,for promoting the same website. Even when there are true sources like sammobile, etc, you source them to your website.
Already reported your post.
knowthenazz said:
I've been waiting to find out more information about this as well.
I'm in Canada on the Roger's network, and when I visit the US, I too use the T-Mobile $3 a day plan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pleased to hear I'm not the only one looking for this detail. It seems to odd to me that something's going on sale in just over a week but we aren't informed of exactly what it is. If Carphone Warehouse would confirm their model includes LTE on bands 3, 4, 7 and 20, I'd pre-order a sim-free phone right now
I'm hoping to find out what are the frequencies 9500 support, not 9505.
Because 9505 has already been revealed.
If, within US, the bandwidths are carrier-dependent, what about international 9500?
I live in the US and I'm also very interested in LTE band info amongst the different variants. I have the Verizon GS4 [SCH-I545] on preorder and currently using the AT&T Galaxy Note [SGH-I717]. I know absolutely nothing about UK carriers or their LTE bands etc, but know a pretty good bit about the US so I'll layout some of the info I have so far. Also I travel to Japan a lot so I would be interested in their LTE info as well.
Firstly, the GT-I9505 is not a variant that is intended for the North American market. (We are special and Samsung always makes us special ones ) It can probably be bought online in the US, but no carrier is selling that model and I wouldn't expect it to be compatible with any LTE in the US (though it could work).
LTE Bands US carriers use that I know of:
AT&T (Evidence)
Currently Used Bands: 4, 17
(Band 17 is the only one I've actually seen when I look at my phone and I believe is used in all their LTE markets nationwide so far)
Future Use: WCS Band [EUTRA unnumbered ~2300Mhz]
(Evidence)
Potential Future Use: 2, 5
(See SGH-I337 supported bands for evidence)
Verizon (Evidence)
Currently Used Bands: 13
Future Use: 4
(Verizon to begin rolling out band 4 Summer 2013)
T-Mobile (Evidence)
Currently Used Bands: 4
LTE Bands of North American GS4 Varients:
AT&T SGH-I337
Bands: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 17
(Samsung Website Shows Bands 1,4,7,17 and FCC License Testing shows Bands 2,4,5,17 [Bands 1, 7 are not used in the US, therefore FCC doesn't care to test them.])
I think Samsung made a typo on their site listing all the bands because FCC documents proves that this phone can operate LTE on band 2 and 5.
Verizon SCH-I545
Bands: 4, 13
(Evidence and Evidence)
T-Mobile SGH-M919
Bands: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 17
(Evidence and Evidence)
Sprint SPH-L720
Bands: 25
(Evidence and Evidence)
LTE Bands on International Variant:
GT-I9505
Bands: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20
(This is my best guess based on the this info. However, 800 and 850 could be any combination of bands 5,6,18,19,20,26,27. Also 1800 could be either band 3 or 9. Some of these are subsets of others.)
(Also, this proves that it at least has LTE band 5.)
I can post more info as I come across it, but hopefully this will get you started.
do you know if the s4 is the same everywhere for frequencies and then limited via software or it actually has different hardware? I'm referring to the s4's in the USA vs the international version.
camaroz28 said:
I live in the US and I'm also very interested in LTE band info amongst the different variants. I have the Verizon GS4 [SCH-I545] on preorder and currently using the AT&T Galaxy Note [SGH-I717]. I know absolutely nothing about UK carriers or their LTE bands etc, but know a pretty good bit about the US so I'll layout some of the info I have so far. Also I travel to Japan a lot so I would be interested in their LTE info as well.
Firstly, the GT-I9505 is not a variant that is intended for the North American market. (We are special and Samsung always makes us special ones ) It can probably be bought online in the US, but no carrier is selling that model and I wouldn't expect it to be compatible with any LTE in the US (though it could work).
LTE Bands US carriers use that I know of:
AT&T (Evidence)
Currently Used Bands: 4, 17
(Band 17 is the only one I've actually seen when I look at my phone and I believe is used in all their LTE markets nationwide so far)
Future Use: WCS Band [EUTRA unnumbered ~2300Mhz]
(Evidence)
Potential Future Use: 2, 5
(See SGH-I337 supported bands for evidence)
Verizon (Evidence)
Currently Used Bands: 13
Future Use: 4
(Verizon to begin rolling out band 4 Summer 2013)
T-Mobile (Evidence)
Currently Used Bands: 4
LTE Bands of North American GS4 Varients:
AT&T SGH-I337
Bands: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 17
(Samsung Website Shows Bands 1,4,7,17 and FCC License Testing shows Bands 2,4,5,17 [Bands 1, 7 are not used in the US, therefore FCC doesn't care to test them.])
I think Samsung made a typo on their site listing all the bands because FCC documents proves that this phone can operate LTE on band 2 and 5.
Verizon SCH-I545
Bands: 4, 13
(Evidence and Evidence)
T-Mobile SGH-M919
Bands: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 17
(Evidence and Evidence)
Sprint SPH-L720
Bands: 25
(Evidence and Evidence)
LTE Bands on International Variant:
GT-I9505
Bands: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20
(This is my best guess based on the this info. However, 800 and 850 could be any combination of bands 5,6,18,19,20,26,27. Also 1800 could be either band 3 or 9. Some of these are subsets of others.)
(Also, this proves that it at least has LTE band 5.)
I can post more info as I come across it, but hopefully this will get you started.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would this international version with Bands: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20. work on Rogers highest speed LTE Band 7?? EVEN though this phone is unable to connect to rogers LTE band 4???
Answers to this question will be thanked!
All of the major japanese LTE carriers (not counting emobile who is a minor player) operate their primary network on band 1.
Softbank bands 1/18 (and band 41 TD-LTE)
Docomo bands 1/19/21 (band 3 to come)
au bands 1/11/18
Emobile band 3
Docomo is the only carrier with the S4 (phones are bought locked, subsided via a carrier shop 99.9% of the time in Japan). The japanese variant (SC-04E) only interoperates on band 1. The radio claims band 4 support but I was never able to make it operate with T-mobile LTE.
-sandro- said:
do you know if the s4 is the same everywhere for frequencies and then limited via software or it actually has different hardware? I'm referring to the s4's in the USA vs the international version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many of the versions of the S4 have different hardware, but for the ones that do have the same hardware (all the US versions), it's hard to tell whether the frequencies are set through software or hardware. I imagine the only way to verify would be to, for example, try an AT&T modem on a Verizon phone and see if it can connect to AT&T LTE band 17. If not, then either there are deeper incompatibilities between the two phones, or the hardware is not able to receive that band.
THE_KINGDOM said:
Would this international version with Bands: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20. work on Rogers highest speed LTE Band 7?? EVEN though this phone is unable to connect to rogers LTE band 4???
Answers to this question will be thanked!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am inclined to say yes, except that via Samsung's website it has a disclaimer stating that the bands it supports depends on the market. Which I interpret as meaning that the supported bands depend on where you buy the phone. So perhaps if you bought the phone in a market where band 7 is utilized, it would likely work. (Assuming it's unlocked.)
evildave_666 said:
All of the major japanese LTE carriers (not counting emobile who is a minor player) operate their primary network on band 1.
Softbank bands 1/18 (and band 41 TD-LTE)
Docomo bands 1/19/21 (band 3 to come)
au bands 1/11/18
Emobile band 3
Docomo is the only carrier with the S4 (phones are bought locked, subsided via a carrier shop 99.9% of the time in Japan). The japanese variant (SC-04E) only interoperates on band 1. The radio claims band 4 support but I was never able to make it operate with T-mobile LTE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to Samsung's spec page on the SC-04E The phone only supports "800,1500,2100MHz" which I assume are bands 1, 19, 21 as the phone was intended for operation on Docomo which uses all 3 of those bands on their network.
If you are referring to the service mode menu when you say "the radio claims band 4 support" I have found that to be an incorrect for all of samsung's phones lately. For example, my Verizon Galaxy S4 service mode menu claims it supports bands 2,3,4,5,7,8,17,20 which is completely false as Verizon operates only on band 13 at this moment and this phone absolutely doesn't support AT&T's band 17.
camaroz28 said:
According to Samsung's spec page on the SC-04E The phone only supports "800,1500,2100MHz" which I assume are bands 1, 19, 21 as the phone was intended for operation on Docomo which uses all 3 of those bands on their network.
If you are referring to the service mode menu when you say "the radio claims band 4 support" I have found that to be an incorrect for all of samsung's phones lately. For example, my Verizon Galaxy S4 service mode menu claims it supports bands 2,3,4,5,7,8,17,20 which is completely false as Verizon operates only on band 13 at this moment and this phone absolutely doesn't support AT&T's band 17.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not gotten anything but a band 1 connection on my SC-04E, in areas with only platinum-band service (i.e. anything in the mountains) only UMTS..
evildave_666 said:
I have not gotten anything but a band 1 connection on my SC-04E, in areas with only platinum-band service (i.e. anything in the mountains) only UMTS..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not entirely sure I understand this post, but I'll try to respond anyways. From what I can tell, the platinum-band in Japan refers to any bands in the 700-900Mhz range? So for Docomo, that would be their 800MHz band 19 allocation, which according to this map, they have almost no coverage with that band (the orange parts of the map) unless you live in the Chūgoku region. Their map does not distinguish between band 1 and band 21 but, based on an article I read here, it is safe to say that there won't be significant deployments of band 21 until after March 2014, and that even then they will only be in "key metropolitan areas" according to the article.
All that is to say, that I think it's clear that the vast majority of Docomo's LTE network is deployed with band 1, so therefore it makes sense that you have only seen that band being utilized on your phone. As for the mountains, again refer to the map, they don't have much of any LTE coverage in the mountains so it makes sense that you are limited to UMTS there.
Thanks guys for this detailed info, it does bring some hope for me to use my S4 bought in the UK in the USA while I travel for a week.
So just to confirm, a Vodafone UK phone would work in T-Mobile USA network on 4G speeds?
Also, I want to know more on the Three-UK's "Feel at Home" offer - did anyone use their S4 in the USA and how was your experience with this?
you UK version will only work with T-Mobile 1900Mhz 21Mbit 3g where they use it (very few places) It won't work on 4g lte.
Bear pricing in mind. I was in the US for 5 days a few weeks back but on three. I used their new free USA roaming. Between 1 and 2 GB hspa+ and all included. Worked great on s4 i9505
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
in which cities did you get hspa network?
planetf1 said:
Bear pricing in mind. I was in the US for 5 days a few weeks back but on three. I used their new free USA roaming. Between 1 and 2 GB hspa+ and all included. Worked great on s4 i9505
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks very much for confirming! happy days :angel:
Dear All,
I recently got this device in Hong Kong and is hapi with its performance!
But I am still wondering if this device could actually use the LTE available in HK?
I knw the msm8960 claimed to be capable of utilizing all frequency of radio,
so is it possible that there is some soft lock in the baseband?
Could i flash the baseband or replace the modem driver from other device to access other frequency?
any idea is appreciated!
Thanks!
Vasco
I think it has to modifiy the ROm and the hardware
I tried to figure out, if our Photon Q is supporting more LTE bands than 1900 MHz (#2 or/and #25).
-> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-UTRA#Frequency_bands_and_channel_bandwidths
On some sites there are reports for having another band. (Have to search again, I think it was 850 MHz, #26 or 700 MHz, #12/#17/#29.)
I have also searched for supported frequencies for MSM8960.
I found some BlackBerry devices based on that SoC and 2 different versions of supported LTE bands.
One version (UK) supported 4 in europe used bands und the other version (US) supported 4 in US/Canada used bands.
I think that the Photon Q is like the BlackBerry US version and supports 4 LTE bands in US/Canada.
If you need a few sites, I will search again and show it to you.
The strange thing is, if I set to LTE only (via 4636) I can see all 4 carrier (germany).
We have 3 bands with LTE on it, but I can only get signal to max 2 of them.
Band 3, 7 and 20 (1800, 2600, 800 MHz).
The weird thing is, that on band #20 (800 MHz) only 3 carrier are active, so it has to be band #3 or #7.
Maybe I'm missinterpreting things and thats just a sideeffect of crossing bands of LTE US and UMTS Germany.
On stock ROM there was another "secret phone code" to see what the phone-part is doing. (From qualcomm I believe.)
I think I will test it some other day, to see which band is active.
At last, I was never been able to "login" or "register" into my carriers network within LTE.
Please discuss about that possibility, I really want to find out, which frequencies are supported by our phone on LTE.
Loader009 said:
I tried to figure out, if our Photon Q is supporting more LTE bands than 1900 MHz (#2 or/and #25).
-> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-UTRA#Frequency_bands_and_channel_bandwidths
On some sites there are reports for having another band. (Have to search again, I think it was 850 MHz, #26 or 700 MHz, #12/#17/#29.)
I have also searched for supported frequencies for MSM8960.
I found some BlackBerry devices based on that SoC and 2 different versions of supported LTE bands.
One version (UK) supported 4 in europe used bands und the other version (US) supported 4 in US/Canada used bands.
I think that the Photon Q is like the BlackBerry US version and supports 4 LTE bands in US/Canada.
If you need a few sites, I will search again and show it to you.
The strange thing is, if I set to LTE only (via 4636) I can see all 4 carrier (germany).
We have 3 bands with LTE on it, but I can only get signal to max 2 of them.
Band 3, 7 and 20 (1800, 2600, 800 MHz).
The weird thing is, that on band #20 (800 MHz) only 3 carrier are active, so it has to be band #3 or #7.
Maybe I'm missinterpreting things and thats just a sideeffect of crossing bands of LTE US and UMTS Germany.
On stock ROM there was another "secret phone code" to see what the phone-part is doing. (From qualcomm I believe.)
I think I will test it some other day, to see which band is active.
At last, I was never been able to "login" or "register" into my carriers network within LTE.
Please discuss about that possibility, I really want to find out, which frequencies are supported by our phone on LTE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear Loader009,
Thanks for your information! I'm really impressed that you could actually search the carrier in 'LTE only from Germany!
Could you please share the version of ROM you are using?
And if possible, any screenshot? I really want it can be used in HK with LTE(1800, 2100 & 2600Mhz)
Also do you have more information about the secret phone code? I think it would be interesting
Actually, I noted that xt925 and xt905 are using the same chip MSM8960 with LTE usable in HK.
Is there anyone can locate the radio/baseband of their rom and port it for XT897?
I am willing to try it with my machine.
If this work, I think we could use this photon q all over the world!
Any idea?
Regards,
Vasco
disablewong said:
Dear Loader009,
Thanks for your information! I'm really impressed that you could actually search the carrier in 'LTE only from Germany!
Could you please share the version of ROM you are using?
And if possible, any screenshot? I really want it can be used in HK with LTE(1800, 2100 & 2600Mhz)
Also do you have more information about the secret phone code? I think it would be interesting
Actually, I noted that xt925 and xt905 are using the same chip MSM8960 with LTE usable in HK.
Is there anyone can locate the radio/baseband of their rom and port it for XT897?
I am willing to try it with my machine.
If this work, I think we could use this photon q all over the world!
Any idea?
Regards,
Vasco
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course, I was just blind guessing the hardware for xt926 and xt907 are using the same hardware.
If not, there should be one chip controlling the modem channel of the device to be replaced.
But WHICH ONE???
Any expert in this area can solve this question? I am a dummy for radio stuffs
This seems like it's getting pretty interesting.
Sent from my XT897 using Tapatalk 2
Dear all,
I'm also very interested in this topic since I imported a Photon Q to Germany and was wondering if it's possible to use the local LTE 800/1800/2600 bands.
I think the first thing we have to find out is whether the hardware is capable of using other bands than the 1900 band listed on the Motorola website. As Loader009 states he could see LTE carriers which are known to use different bands I assume the hardware can do it. Otherwise the carriers wouldn't have been listed, right? Maybe someone from another country with different frequency bands can check and confirm that he can see those carriers as well?
Thus, the limitation to the 1900 band should be software-made and could be modified by a developer. I hope someone can participate at that point as I don't know much about coding...
I'm using CM10.1.
I can't remember the secret phone code, I have to do research again.
This secret phone code only works on Stock ROM. (I stupidly deleted it, when it wasn't working on CM10 anymore.)
The one secret phone code I used to force "LTE only" was *#*#4636#*#*.
Please DON'T change the baseband (don't even tap on it).
This can do problems to you. (I had to use QPST to recover the supported frequencies.)
Also, developers (afaik) can't modify the modem firmware.
We also don't even know, which LTE bands the Photon Q is capable of. (Except 1900 MHz)
I've got my 32GB SDCard back and will test it in the next few days out.
I hope I'll find that secret phone code, I'll also make a few screenshots.
Got the code!
##33284# <- ##DEBUG#
It only works on stock afair!
I'll test tomorrow, it's about 3am now >.<
disablewong said:
Dear All,
I recently got this device in Hong Kong and is hapi with its performance!
But I am still wondering if this device could actually use the LTE available in HK?
I knw the msm8960 claimed to be capable of utilizing all frequency of radio,
so is it possible that there is some soft lock in the baseband?
Could i flash the baseband or replace the modem driver from other device to access other frequency?
any idea is appreciated!
Thanks!
Vasco
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have read the "QU_SnapdragonS4_White_Paper_FNL_Rev6.pdf" and found there following entry:
-----------------------------------------------------------
• Industry’s first fully integrated 3G/4G world/multimode LTE Modem: <<<Supports all of the world’s leading 2G, 3G and 4G LTE standards>>>.
It also includes integrated support for multiple satellite position networks (GPS and GLONASS) as well as short range radios via Bluetooth,
WiFi, FM and NFC.
• Designed for speed, compatibility and power savings:
Snapdragon S4 Processor MSM8960 chipset includes the industry’s only complete platform that integrates all of the world’s leading 2G, 3G and 4G mobile broadband modem technologies on a single chip. This new integrated multimode modem is based on an advanced, programmable architecture that is performance, size and power optimized for the fastest combination of modems available for:
- LTE FDD/TDD (Cat3)
- 3G (DC-HSPA+ Cat 24)
- EV-DO Rev. B
- 1x Advanced
- TD-SCDMA
- GSM/GPRS/EDGE NFC.
Multimode/Multiband Means Worldwide Coverage.
• Support for multiple radio frequencies: Mobile broadband technologies are growing increasingly complex in their implementation. LTE is currently being implemented in over 40 diff erent radio frequency bands throughout the world. To complement its wide range of modem standards supported, Qualcomm has designed the Snapdragon S4 Processor MSM8960 CHIPSET platform to <<< address all commonly-used frequencies (from 700–2600 MHz) and bandwidths up to 20 MHz>>>, allowing its customers to address any mobile network opportunity whether the simplest single frequency implementation to the most extensive multi-frequency global mode, whether 4G, 3G or 2G.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Based on the document the chip can handle all LTE Standards, but it depends on his "advanced, programmable architecture"....as written there and how Motorola / Sprint implemented this, maybe they reduced LTE only to one Standard.
I don't have LTE in my area and so I cannot test this.
That's possibly right.
Something else:
If I remember correctly, somewhere in this forum have been said that for CDMA the internal Sprint "ID"(?) is used.
Maybe that's also the reason why I cannot connect to LTE in my area.
The phone is trying to "login" with the Sprint ID and this of course won't work.
The ##DEBUG# menu wasn't helpfull. It shows frequencies for american standards and not for GSM/WCDMA.
Also the LTE menu is also not very helpfull, it doesn't show frequencies at all.
Any News on this topic?
Maybe one of the developers can give a statement?
Yesterday I tested a LTE compatible SIM card.
My Bro has a Samsung Galaxy S4 with 4G/LTE in my area.
So I've put his SIM-Card into my Photon Q and set LTE only.
I had no luck, the Phone couldn't register into the network for this SIM.
I guess either it has the wrong frequencies or LTE is for inbuilt "SIM" (Sprint SIM?) only.
The latter. LTE is configured only for 1900 MHz which Sprint uses.
LTE is configured only for Sprint's frequencies, however, it supports the United States frequencies of PCS blocks A-G. The G Block is Sprint's current LTE channel, and they may deploy it later on Blocks A through F, depending on if they own the spectrum in a given market. The reason you see EU networks when the phone is in LTE Only Mode is most likely because the Phone still sees GSM signals, but will only connect to LTE ones from those GSM signals. Likewise, in the US, if you force LTE Only and then search for networks, AT&T and T-Mobile US will come up as the GSM carriers the Photon Q sees, rather than the LTE signals it sees.
Setting the Photon to LTE Only will not do anything for LTE in the EU. I suspect that if another carrier in the EU uses the 1900 MHz for LTE, the Photon Q will have no issues connecting to LTE in Europe. But until that time, be happy with HSPA.
Skrilax_CZ said:
LTE is configured only for 1900 MHz which Sprint uses.
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Can this configuration theoretically be changed / other frequencies be added?
Only if you break BP security.
Skrilax_CZ said:
Only if you break BP security.
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Sorry, what's that?
IIRC The only place with 850mhz LTE available is the Chicago market and currently no phones at all support it. :crying:
Not only does your phone need to support it, your PRL and cell-site does too...
As the title suggests, if a phone is listed as FDD-LTE 700MHz compatible, would that imply it'll work on T-Mobile's 700MHz Band 12? I am often confused with this band as it seems there's various other bands within the 700MHz frequency. So there's no positive way of knowing if it supports the band 12. For instance, I've been looking to find a cheap alternative phone (from China mainly) that might have support of LTE 700MHz so I can take advantage of T-Mobile's latest band, but I'm not sure on if it'd work. Couple examples of some phones are here:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-Foxconn-Infocus-M2-Phone-4G-LTE-FDD-Qualcomn-MSM8926-Quad-Core-Android-4-4-4/32323996202.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-Iocean-M6752-4G-FDD-LTE-Mobile-Phone-MTK6752-Octa-Core-5-5-Inch-1920X1080FHD-3GB/32297288429.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-Huawei-Ascend-Mate-2-Unlocked-4G-FDD-LTE-Android-Mobile-phone-Quad-Core-IPS-HD/2043526871.html
That's just 3 out of a list of them found on Aliexpress. They all say FDD-LTE 700MHz. My gut is telling me the 700MHz it lists is for some frequency that China uses and wouldn't make a difference if used in the US. Just needed some helpful clarification. Thanks.
brian117 said:
As the title suggests, if a phone is listed as FDD-LTE 700MHz compatible, would that imply it'll work on T-Mobile's 700MHz Band 12? I am often confused with this band as it seems there's various other bands within the 700MHz frequency.
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It won't. Most probably not, anyway.
When a frequency is listed as "700MHz", it's actually an approximation. For example, T-Mobile's band 12 is 700MHz Block A, which is 728–734MHz, whereas Verizon's band 13 is 700MHz Block C, which is 740–746MHz. This might vary from region to region too.
Most likely the phones you're looking at are compatible with 700MHz band 28, since this is commonly used in SE Asia and Oceana, along with the other bands they're listed to support. The Ascend Mate 2 you linked to however appears to support band 17 700MHz, which is an AT&T band, which would make sense as it also supports band 4, common in North America.
If you want a cheaper phone that has band 12 support, the newer ones from T-Mobile support it (or will, with a software update). Galaxy Avant, ZTE ZMax, the upcoming LG Leon LTE, for example.
Planterz said:
It won't. Most probably not, anyway.
When a frequency is listed as "700MHz", it's actually an approximation. For example, T-Mobile's band 12 is 700MHz Block A, which is 728–734MHz, whereas Verizon's band 13 is 700MHz Block C, which is 740–746MHz. This might vary from region to region too.
Most likely the phones you're looking at are compatible with 700MHz band 28, since this is commonly used in SE Asia and Oceana, along with the other bands they're listed to support. The Ascend Mate 2 you linked to however appears to support band 17 700MHz, which is an AT&T band, which would make sense as it also supports band 4, common in North America.
If you want a cheaper phone that has band 12 support, the newer ones from T-Mobile support it (or will, with a software update). Galaxy Avant, ZTE ZMax, the upcoming LG Leon LTE, for example.
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Thanks, that is exactly what I thought. I understand the phones from T-Mobile will support the new band but I was looking for maybe possible cheaper alternatives than brand name phones to take advantage of it. I haven't heard of the LG Leon though, I will check that out. Thanks for the kind reply. I was expecting some "lol no dumbass it won't work" reply as this in General discussion.
brian117 said:
Thanks, that is exactly what I thought. I understand the phones from T-Mobile will support the new band but I was looking for maybe possible cheaper alternatives than brand name phones to take advantage of it. I haven't heard of the LG Leon though, I will check that out. Thanks for the kind reply. I was expecting some "lol no dumbass it won't work" reply as this in General discussion.
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The Leon isn't out yet, and only vague specs are available. No specifics on what the processor is, but I'd guess SD400 or 410. I'd expect it to be around $200-250, but that's just a guess. If it's more than $250, I'd say it's not worth it considering the low-res FWVGA screen.
It also occurs to me that the new 2015 Moto E LTE has band 12 support. 64bit Snapdragon 410, 1gb RAM, 8gb storage, microSD slot, qHD screen, and a relatively large battery. Honestly, I'd rather have this than either of those cheapo Chinese ones (yes, I know Motorola is Chinese now...). For $150 from Amazon, it's a pretty damn good deal.