I live in Australia and I know there's carrier firmware for Samsung phones Optus, Telstra, Vodaphone, and just XSA for Australia I would like to know if Optus, Telstra, Vodaphone specifically tune there modem files they provide in there firmware, so using Optus firmware with Optus sim card provides a better reception, battery life network speeds, then say using XSA with a modem that's for all Australia and no specific network intended.
I've also read someone suggesting sometimes carriers don't update there modem files they just stick with one that they found to work throughout a phones lifetime, uncertain how true untrue this statement was.
Thanks.
Alister. said:
I live in Australia and I know there's carrier firmware for Samsung phones Optus, Telstra, Vodaphone, and just XSA for Australia I would like to know if Optus, Telstra, Vodaphone specifically tune there modem files they provide in there firmware, so using Optus firmware with Optus sim card provides a better reception, battery life network speeds, then say using XSA with a modem that's for all Australia and no specific network intended.
I've also read someone suggesting sometimes carriers don't update there modem files they just stick with one that they found to work throughout a phones lifetime, uncertain how true untrue this statement was.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Different carriers use different network/radio bands, the modem in their firmware is designed to work with the bands that their network supports. That is why a modem from one carrier's firmware won't work with another carrier's network if they support different radio bands. The XSA firmware uses bands that they all support, they just might not be the optimal bands supported by the various carriers, the "generic" bands instead of the "best" bands for "this" network or "that" network, it will work on those other networks, it just won't be as efficient as using the modem that comes in that carrier's firmware.
In other words, the modem in the XSA firmware might work on the Telstra network, it just won't work as well as the modem that comes in Telstra's firmware.
As for the question about whether a carrier updates their modem or not, depends on the network or the devices they offer. Usually, modems aren't updated unless improvements are made to the network itself that require the modem to be updated.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Droidriven said:
Different carriers use different network/radio bands, the modem in their firmware is designed to work with the bands that their network supports. That is why a modem from one carrier's firmware won't work with another carrier's network if they support different radio bands. The XSA firmware uses bands that they all support, they just might not be the optimal bands supported by the various carriers, the "generic" bands instead of the "best" bands for "this" network or "that" network, it will work on those other networks, it just won't be as efficient as using the modem that comes in that carrier's firmware.
In other words, the modem in the XSA firmware might work on the Telstra network, it just won't work as well as the modem that comes in Telstra's firmware.
As for the question about whether a carrier updates their modem or not, depends on the network or the devices they offer. Usually, modems aren't updated unless improvements are made to the network itself that require the modem to be updated.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes i have extracted the modem file and flashed it before say Telstra and then got reception while using a Optus sim card, so your definitely sure in this case of Telstra, Vodaphone, and Optus providing modems optimised for there networks which XSA doesn't have?
The reason i ask is if that's true then i want to download, multiple firmwares for Optus for example extract the modem file from each, work out which one out of probably several Optus has released provides the best, reception, battery life, 4G data speeds is most reliable, i just hope it's not we assume XSA and telsta, vodaphone and optus are all different when in fact they are all the same.
Of course when it's LG vs Xiaomi or Oppo ect then definitely either the manufacture provided the modem files, or a carrier did if they market sell that phone on there network since they modify the firmware, hard to be sure they change the modem themselfs instead of sticking with the manufactures provided modem.
Hopefully that makes more sense.
Related
Question for those who know more than I do... If someone gets a sprint S8+ unlocked (A SPRINT DEVICE THAT HAS BEEN UNLOCKED NOT A FACTORY UNLOCKED DEVICE) to use on GSM (T-mobile, AT&T, etc) will it get all the GSM/LTE freqencies and bands for usa gsm services like T-mobile, AT&T, etc... Or are the SPRINT S8+ crippled on the GSM frequencies?
Araltd said:
Question for those who know more than I do... If someone gets a sprint S8+ unlocked (A SPRINT DEVICE THAT HAS BEEN UNLOCKED NOT A FACTORY UNLOCKED DEVICE) to use on GSM (T-mobile, AT&T, etc) will it get all the GSM/LTE freqencies and bands for usa gsm services like T-mobile, AT&T, etc... Or are the SPRINT S8+ crippled on the GSM frequencies?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you flash the U1 firmware that comes from the unlocked US phones, you should be good if the phone's already network/SIM unlocked-that firmware doesn't have the carrier bloat, but it detects the SIM card inserted and will adjust the network stuff accordingly so that it operates on the right bands, etc. If you'd prefer to have all the carrier apps/ bloat as well, there are several threads on carrier switching. Flashing the U1 firmware is fairly straightforward and easy, and most carrier features work; Switching from Sprint firmware to another carrier's firmware is a bit more involved but still totally doable. You're going to have to do one of the two though.
Edit: All of the US models have the exact same hardware, with all of the same radios...the unlocked model is the exact same as a variant from T-Mobile/Sprint/etc. It's just the CP & CSC firmware files that dictate the network stuff.
À
Phone A (mine): G930FD, Superman Android 7
CSC: UK-BTU multi-csc
SIM: StraightTalk T-Mobile towers
APN: StraightTalk
Phone B (friends): G930V, Stock Android 7
CSC: Verizon multi-csc
APN: MetroPCS
My friend got phone B for her MetroPCS sim (which uses T-Mobile towers I think), it didn't work at all. I tested phone B with my StraightTalk T-Mobile sim, it worked, speed test: 42mbps.
Then I decided to try the speed test with my phone A in the same location (a few hours later) and my StraightTalk T-Mobile sim, 12mbps
There are so many varying factors. Which are the ones that matter? My G930F supports more bands and has my proper APN settings, I would think it would be equivalent if not better... I'm guessing it's primarily the BTU CSC? I'd tried T-Mobile CSC but that caused issues. And that other phone is a Verizon CSC anyway. Should I flash to Verizons CSC? Also I'm using Superman ROM.
Also, why wouldn't her MetroPCS sim work in phone B? It worked with mine and they both use T-Mobile towers...
The most important factor here is the phones are completely different SoC with different modems.
The G930FD is Exynos and the international model, the modem is built to the international standard of carrier networks.
The G930V is Snapdragon and the modem specifically designed to make use of the USA network standards which differ to the rest of the world.
So even with the required band support, it's different technology. Outside of the USA, I would expect the G930V to perform worse than the G930FD, and vice versa for inside the USA.
As for why the SIM doesn't work, the G930V is the verizon variant, which is default carrier locked. Since your SIM works it may have been carrier unlocked, but it might not be.
So I bought a T-Mobile unlocked Galaxy S7 (SM-G930T) after reading that there was no difference between unlocked phones except for bloatware. It seems now like that was not entirely correct. My H2o Wireless sim uses the AT&T network, but in my new phone it gets little or no reception almost everywhere I go. It works great in the unlocked Nexus 5 that I'm trying to replace. I have found some scary instructions on these forums and elsewhere that would enable more frequency bands or convert my phone to a SM-G930U. Is that the right way to go, or is there a simpler way to get my old sim card working?
The different variants of the S7 come with carrier specific firmware, so the T-Mobile firmware may not use the modem in the same way as AT&T expects.
Flashing the G930U firmware is probably a good idea, and it's not too difficult http://updato.com/how-to/how-to-install-an-official-samsung-stock-firmware-using-odin
I was also under the impression the G930T was SIM locked by default, unless you got them to unlock it.
Beanvee7 said:
I was also under the impression the G930T was SIM locked by default, unless you got them to unlock it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This G930T was labeled "T-Mobile unlocked" on Ebay. I doubt that it got any special treatment. My H2o sim card works, just not very well.
Digging a little deeper, the app Network Cell Info Light tells me I'm using bands 2, 4, and 12. It also tells me I'm using band 5 if I run a USSD code. Bands 2, 4, and 12 are used by both T-Mobile and AT&T, so those make sense. Band 5 is used by AT&T but not T-Mobile, so I don't know why they have that one enabled (or maybe the list of bands I found is wrong). Unfortunately, the same app doesn't display which bands are in use by my Nexus 5 so I can't compare. If I could use AT&T's other bands (17 and 30) maybe things would work better.
Flashing the G930U firmware or even the G930A firmware (although I think the G930A is now the G930U) could change the bands. All of the USA models use the same modem, so if some bands are enabled on one and not the other, it would entirely be firmware.
Beanvee7 said:
Flashing the G930U firmware or even the G930A firmware (although I think the G930A is now the G930U) could change the bands. All of the USA models use the same modem, so if some bands are enabled on one and not the other, it would entirely be firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. I'll probably follow your firmware how-to once I can find a chunk of time to work on it. Why do you suppose the G930A and G930U are the same while the G930T is different? Maybe I bought the wrong one. I went with the G930T because I read a few places that it had the least bloatware.
From memory AT&T used to have their own specific branded model like T-mobile, but they eventually discontinued the G930A and just started offering the unbranded version.
Then I believe from that point onwards G930A's just got the G930U firmware updates. So they were once different but aren't any more.
G930U would have the least bloatware because it's the non carrier unbranded version of the phone, most people will flash it over their own phone to remove bloat. G930T may be the least bloated of carrier branded phones, but G930U is least bloated overall.
From a technical level the phones are all identical, it's just how the carrier has customised their firmware. You having the G930T isn't really a problem because you can just flash any other USA model firmware and get the same experience as if you bought it from them branded as theirs.
I flashed a SM-G930U firmware (SM-G930U_2_20181023083753_yako40hi3m_fac.zip) using Odin3 v3.13. That got rid of the T-Mobile bloatware, which is nice, but I still have the same signal problems I had before. Any other ideas? I wonder if this model has an antenna or some other piece of hardware that limits the frequency bands. I very briefly saw Network Cell Info Lite pick up a signal on Band 30, which I had never seen before. Maybe I'll see more of that if I get a chance to take the phone farther from home.
I live in Australia and I know there's carrier firmware for Optus, Telstra, Vodaphone, and just XSA for Australia I would like to know if Optus, Telstra, Vodaphone specifically tune there modem files they provide in there firmware, so using Optus firmware with Optus sim card provides a better reception, battery life network speeds, then say using XSA with a modem that's for all Australia and no specific network intended.
I've also read someone suggesting sometimes carriers don't update there modem files they just stick with one that they found to work throughout a phones lifetime, uncertain how true untrue this statement was.
Thanks.
does anyone know if the 5g bands are limited by the hardware or software? do i need an in2015/in2025 to work on tmobile or could i get any version and flash it to the proper region?
It's is hardware based and software enabled. One thing doesn't work without the other.
its good but depending on area and if you have root 5gnr isn't enabled at first i had to switch 2g/3g/4g only to make network work stable after i rooted changed database file changed few others network 5g is 5x faster then stock im on global with T-Mobile modem flashed
Best to get that 2015 or the T-Mobile variant. The rest would probably work to some degree, but they'll be missing important bands.