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)
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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
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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
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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?
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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..
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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
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thanks very much for confirming! happy days :angel: