Develop Bugs

Touch Pro2 in stock on expansys-us.com

I just saw this on expansys-usa with 17 Touch Pro2 in stock. The details sheet seems to be a world phone. Below is the link. Does anyone know if this unit would work on AT&T 3G network in the US?
http://www.expansys-usa.com/d.aspx?i=179174
Thanks, Nick

nicknhutho said:
I just saw this on expansys-usa with 17 Touch Pro2 in stock. The details sheet seems to be a world phone. Below is the link. Does anyone know if this unit would work on AT&T 3G network in the US?
http://www.expansys-usa.com/d.aspx?i=179174
Thanks, Nick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has already been answered before.
The Rhodium they are selling only supports 900 MHz and 2100 MHz for 3G/HSPA. AT&T requires either 850 MHz or 1900 MHz. So the clear answer is No, it will not work with AT&T 3G.
To answer the obvious question somebody else will ask next, the 2100 MHz band is used in T-Mobile's 3G network, however TMo's network requires that the phone support both 1700MHz AND 2100MHz for the up and down streams, so this phone will not function with the US T-Mobile 3G Network either.
The phone WILL function for making calls or data connections over the Edge bands (GSM/GPRS/EDGE) for both US providers...So the phone is certainly functional, but it won't make high speed data connections in the United States.
If anything I've written is incorrect, please mock me

Stupid Question - Tmobile TP2 radio on ATT 3G

I'm actually a little embarrassed to even have to ask this question, I'm also pretty sure I know the answer but better safe than sorry. Can anyone confirm that the Tmobile version of the TP2 is able to access the ATT 3G network? I'm 99% sure it will but that weird Tmob band makes me nervous, any input would be appreciated.

No, it will not. However the ATT version shouldn't be too far behind the Tmo launch so don't worry too much

no offense but what is the basis for your statement, the Tmob version will have
850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100 bands which are basically the ATT bands plus 1700, why would the Wing II not work on the ATT network?

aaronsmckee said:
no offense but what is the basis for your statement, the Tmob version will have
850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100 bands which are basically the ATT bands plus 1700, why would the Wing II not work on the ATT network?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please show me where you found this data? Tmobile USA 3g network doesn't use the 1900 band for 3g; they use the 1700 band which is why Tmobile has to have devices specifically made for their network and why the Tmobile USA version won't work on ATT USA.
Again to clarify:
Tmobile USA = 1700/2100 for upload/download for its 3G
ATT = 850/1900 for upload/download for its 3G
Now Tmobile USA does use the 1900mhz frequency but that its GSM frequency it is not related to the 3g frequency. Confusing i know, but you asked.

One of the images advertising it does state all those bands, but does not differentiate which are for gsm and which for 3G (which can be misleading and confusing, ergo the clarification by jim_0068 ^). Though if they share the 2100 I have no idea whether you can get limited functionality or if you HAVE to have both of them. *shrugs*

jim_0068 said:
Please show me where you found this data? Tmobile USA 3g network doesn't use the 1900 band for 3g; they use the 1700 band which is why Tmobile has to have devices specifically made for their network and why the Tmobile USA version won't work on ATT USA.
Again to clarify:
Tmobile USA = 1700/2100 for upload/download for its 3G
ATT = 1900/2100 for upload/download for its 3G
Now Tmobile USA does use the 1900mhz frequency but that its GSM frequency it is not related to the 3g frequency. Confusing i know, but you asked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually this is not entirely true either,
AT&T is using 850 and 1900 Mhz for their 3G network,
it was revealed recently that they are pushing the 3G network to the higher frequency (850) and plan to have the 3G completely on 850 by 2010.
if AT&T is using 2100, we would've been able to use the european HTC devices which has the 2100 band.

jim_0068 said:
Please show me where you found this data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=537517
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4144863&postcount=1

aaronsmckee said:
...
850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100 bands
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I'm aware:
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900
UMTS:1700/2100
And therein lies the problem... While it supports all the bands that would be required, only a small subset actually apply to a 3G connection/signal...
Minimally, that would be the specs for it to work on T-Mobile, and quad-band GSM is just standard on 99% of phones these days...

baymon said:
actually this is not entirely true either,
AT&T is using 850 and 1900 Mhz for their 3G network,
it was revealed recently that they are pushing the 3G network to the higher frequency (850) and plan to have the 3G completely on 850 by 2010.
if AT&T is using 2100, we would've been able to use the european HTC devices which has the 2100 band.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're correct and i edited my post it is 850/1900 for ATT US 3G

I gaurantee you that the T-Mobile Touch Pro2 will not work on ATT's 3G Network At All... the frequencies for ATT will only support the 2G Network and therefore only phone calls and text messaging will work.

let's not go that far, let's not forget gprs (same speed as dial-up) and more importantly EDGE (for some that's more than enough).

when I go into the phone settings -- band I have these options on the Tmobile TP2:
GSM (900+1800)+UMTS(900+2100)
GSM (1900+850)+UMTS(1900+850)
UMTS(2100+800)

hppyfnbll said:
when I go into the phone settings -- band I have these options on the Tmobile TP2:
GSM (900+1800)+UMTS(900+2100)
GSM (1900+850)+UMTS(1900+850)
UMTS(2100+800)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmm, now I think the T-Mobile Touch Pro2 works on ATT's 3G Network.
It should also work worldwide too.

oooh, European bands, "standard" North American bands (they're not really standardized, neither in the US nor Canada and Mexico is barely getting 3G into place), and no idea what the last one is for, sounds like cdma...

solsearch said:
oooh, European bands, "standard" North American bands (they're not really standardized, neither in the US nor Canada and Mexico is barely getting 3G into place), and no idea what the last one is for, sounds like cdma...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm why is there 800 MHz?
Obviously this is some bull**** because it supports all of the 3G frequencies of worldwide carriers and american carriers.
I wouldn't trust this guy, he has 4 posts and he's obviously posting rumors.

Sorry for the horrible pictures, using a g1 to take them. I love watching people jump to conclusions.

hppyfnbll said:
Sorry for the horrible pictures, using a g1 to take them. I love watching people jump to conclusions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think those numbers are for software only, in fact you probably don't have the hardware to support the frequencies of the wrong carrier.

seems that 800mhz is for Japan
and it doesn't allow for all of the North American bands (it's missing the 1700 one).
Could be just a software thing without hardware support, though that might be a tad odd, any way to check if it is?

solsearch said:
seems that 800mhz is for Japan
and it doesn't allow for all of the North American bands (it's missing the 1700 one).
Could be just a software thing without hardware support, though that might be a tad odd, any way to check if it is?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Xperia X1a shows UMTS (900) even when I check the settings... IN FACT only the X1i supports
It's very likely that the numbers you are seeing are actually all of the frequencies that are "summed up" and therefore the TP2 for T-mobile does not have the actual hardware.

poetryrocksalot said:
hmmm why is there 800 MHz?
Obviously this is some bull**** because it supports all of the 3G frequencies of worldwide carriers and american carriers.
I wouldn't trust this guy, he has 4 posts and he's obviously posting rumors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those options have been around with the custom ROMs, I have that too on my Fuze, if your hardware doesn't support it then it'll just be an eye candy.
Bottom line is this, if you want to utilize AT&T's 3G, then you'll need to wait for AT&T's Fortress because you need the 850 and 1900 band (UMTS band II). If you want to use T-mobile's 3G you still need a TP2 that has the 1700 and 2100 band (UMTS band IV), and no you cannot use european TP2 to access US T-mobile's 3G band because european's (and asia's) 3G utilizes UMTS band I, they are on a slightly different frequencies even though they are categorized both on 2100Mhz.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands

[Q] Is it possible to Flash G2's 3G Radio, an set it to work on 900/2100 mhz??

Well, it's just as the title of this thread says... I have a Tmobile's G2 (A.K.A. HTC Vision), which its 3g default bands are under 1700 / 2100. Here on my country, all the providers have their 3g services on 900 / 2100.... soo... Is it possible to Flash T-mobile G2's Radio, an set it to work on 3g 900/2100 mhz, so I can use the phone on 3G, instead of that annoying and extremely slow EDGE??
Or, is there a Custom ROM that has these settings on it? (I mean, a rom that automatically turns the 3g band to 900 instead of 1700)
Thanx.

No you can't, the radio bands are set in hardware (e.g. the physical antennae in the phone), not just in the radio software.

Why would you need to, the phone would use the 2100 band for it's 3G in your country? I took mine to Russia and it worked fine.

I don't think it's that simple. I only get edge on my T-mobile G2 using the Rogers network.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA app.

Rogers doesnt use 1700 or 2100 so that is to be expected. The original posters country has a 2100 3G, I would suspect he just isn't in a coverage area.

Circledog said:
Why would you need to, the phone would use the 2100 band for it's 3G in your country? I took mine to Russia and it worked fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it works like that, I think it needs both bands to work. If it was that simple then surely they wouldn't bother making different phones for different markets (e.g. T-Mobile US vs Europe/Asia)

That may be...I'm only speaking of my experience in Russia, they have 2100 only 3G and mine worked without the second band.

Just to add, T-Mobile US use the 1700 MHz band for the uplink, and 2100 MHz for the downlink. So presumably the phones (i.e. G2, as opposed to the Desire Z) are physically setup like that too.

Oh I thought Rogers uses 2100. Either way, no worky.... sad.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA app.

Ah, I think I'm following you, because Russia exclusively uses 2100 for up and down my phone worked, but since his county has a seperate uplink and a downlink band it won't?

Circledog said:
Ah, I think I'm following you, because Russia exclusively uses 2100 for up and down my phone worked, but since his county has a seperate uplink and a downlink band it won't?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I think that's it. I don't know *that* much about this myself, just picked up on a few discussions about the G2/DZ on here over time.
Have a look at this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands
I think the "problem" is that the G2 uses exclusively "Band IV" for 3G (i.e. 1700/2100 split), but somewhere like the OP's Dominican Republic uses Band VIII (900).
What the OP needs is a Desire Z, which operates on Band I (2100) and Band VIII (900).
Russia appears to use Band I (2100) as well. Maybe a G2 can partially work there then ?
Rogers uses something else, Band II (1900) and Band V (850).
As I say, I'm don't know that much about this myself, so if anyone else can help clarify/confirm/deny, then that'd be great.

Much appreciated.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA app.

Via Google, I dug up another interesting piece of info.
Although it's not on HTC's official spec list on their site, on T-Mobile's support pages it says that the G2 does Band I as well. Which would explain how it would have worked in Russia. That's not going to help the OP's problem though.
http://support.t-mobile.com/doc/tm24233.xml?&A2L.SERVICE=FeatureSummary

Wow mega confusing, but you helped clear it up, thanks!!
Mine worked very well in Moscow, I was pleasantly suprised, it was kind of a bonus to be able to get on the web, I wasn't expecting much.

I don't understand why the manufactures don't provide phones with penta-band 3G support like the Nokia N8. Maximize profit when producing 2-3 same phones with different frequencies maybe? I mean quad-band GSM has been supported for pretty much all of the current phones, why not 3G bands as well?

Has anyone tried this option?
bring up the dial pad and dial
*#*#info#*#* (aka *#*#4636#*#*)
press "Phone Info"
you'll get the screen with the imei, phone no, network and a button that says "Run Ping Test" at the top
press your "menu" button
when the menu pops up, it'll have 6 options, select radio band, view sim address book, view fixed dialling numbers, view service dialling numbers, get PDP list, and More.
Choose the first one "Select Radio Band" then select the appropriate band.
Not sure if it helps in this situation, but I found it in a thread about gaining 3G in Europe on the N1

hey bro.. I read from one topic in TMo's official G2 forum that the G2 will work on a country with only a UMTS band of 2100 both for up and down (the answer is from TMo employee, an engineer)... hope you'll be enlightened. I bought an unlocked G2 and I researched extensively before purchase. Im from the Philippines which only supports the 2100 band for 3G. I Know and Im 100% positive that the phone will support the 3G band here in my country. cant wait for my G2 (arriving tomorrow)
btw... coverage is vital. if the 3G signal is weak or non-existent in your area, you'll be switched to edge for data on your phone (naturally).. good luck
sorry.. cant post the link. would've loved to have posted it.

juanito05 said:
hey bro.. I read from one topic in TMo's official G2 forum that the G2 will work on a country with only a UMTS band of 2100 both for up and down (the answer is from TMo employee, an engineer)... hope you'll be enlightened. I bought an unlocked G2 and I researched extensively before purchase. Im from the Philippines which only supports the 2100 band for 3G. I Know and Im 100% positive that the phone will support the 3G band here in my country. cant wait for my G2 (arriving tomorrow)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the Band I thing that I was talking about, that T-Mo shows on their spec sheets (but HTC doesn't seem to list, for some reason).

I think the G2 will do 3G if any one of the two bands are supported by the country. Correct me if Im wrong

juanito05 said:
hey bro.. I read from one topic in TMo's official G2 forum that the G2 will work on a country with only a UMTS band of 2100 both for up and down (the answer is from TMo employee, an engineer)... hope you'll be enlightened. I bought an unlocked G2 and I researched extensively before purchase. Im from the Philippines which only supports the 2100 band for 3G. I Know and Im 100% positive that the phone will support the 3G band here in my country. cant wait for my G2 (arriving tomorrow)
btw... coverage is vital. if the 3G signal is weak or non-existent in your area, you'll be switched to edge for data on your phone (naturally).. good luck
sorry.. cant post the link. would've loved to have posted it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is nowhere in the world that uses 2100 in both directions. Band 1 is 1900 UP, 2100 DOWN.
In all cases, your phone must be able to upload on the frequencies that the towers listen on, and download on the frequencies that the towers transmit on.
I.e., north america vision transmits on 1700 or 1900, receives on 2100.

[Q] Which (global) WP7 phones work on TMobile US with 3G?

Right now "officially" there are only the HTC HD7 and Dell Venue Pro available on TMobile USA.
Does anyone know which other phones would work (after unlocking) with 3G on TMO US?

er...none?

I think so far only these two WP7 devices supports AWS bands.
On other platforms is different, as in the case of latest High-End Nokia devices (but Symbian OS):
http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=pdacomparer&id1=2823&id2=2599&id3=2601&id4=2574&id5=2475&id6=2379
However it is a fact that the multi-band support, increases the cost. Is better to invest in features that do will be use
Best regards

Many WCDMA devices support the 1900 band, if you don't care the 1700 band.

but he asked about 3g...the phones don't offer 3g. Sure 2g works
3g nope

And consider 1700 AWS band with no longer be T-mo 3G after merger (AT&T needs the AWS band for LTE), you will be insane to spend $$$ on your own handset.
Even on AT&T side, there have been a lot of markets switched over to 850 band for 3G. So, even with a phone that support 1900 band 3G is no longer safe even on AT&T.

foxbat121 said:
And consider 1700 AWS band with no longer be T-mo 3G after merger (AT&T needs the AWS band for LTE), you will be insane to spend $$$ on your own handset.
Even on AT&T side, there have been a lot of markets switched over to 850 band for 3G. So, even with a phone that support 1900 band 3G is no longer safe even on AT&T.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends where you live. I have Omnia 7 on AT&T so it only has 1900 band, and I don't even notice a difference in 3G from my last phone. I'm sure it's probably worse, but I get 3G almost everywhere.

DatDereX1 said:
Depends where you live. I have Omnia 7 on AT&T so it only has 1900 band, and I don't even notice a difference in 3G from my last phone. I'm sure it's probably worse, but I get 3G almost everywhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my area, all 3G towers were 1900. Then AT&T switched all of them to 850 last year. This year, they switched back to 1900 again. AT&T has indicated in the past that it intends to deploy more 850 band 3G to improve coverage.

I thought the 1900 towers would stay 1900, and new ones would be 850

Virtually all 3G-850 american handsets, also have 3G-1900 band. In other hand, the carriers such as Telstra (Australia) and Telcom New Zealand have also 3G-850, with 3G-2100 band (not 1900); but these last are a minority.
The AWS bands with WCDMA technology (3G), are only used by TMoUS (as we all know); and fatally these bands will be used by "new" Latin American carriers like Nextel Mexico and others like VTR and Nextel Chile.
No larger carrier exists than TMoUS, that use AWS bands, so that all developments in AWS bands, should be first implemented in TMoUS ...until now

DatDereX1 said:
I thought the 1900 towers would stay 1900, and new ones would be 850
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aparently not. Install new towers cost $$$.

iusauser said:
Virtually all 3G-850 american handsets, also have 3G-1900 band. In other hand, the carriers such as Telstra (Australia) and Telcom New Zealand have also 3G-850, with 3G-2100 band (not 1900); but these last are a minority.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true but most ppl who buy unlocked/unbranded handsets buy the European models which typically only come with 1900Mhz band 3G for NA. Those handsets rarely ever supports 850Mhz.

If I use unbranded ROMs on TMO I have gotten 4G on both my HD2 and 7.

thuddome said:
If I use unbranded ROMs on TMO I have gotten 4G on both my HD2 and 7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not the ROM but the actual hardware that has the limitation although sometimes ROMs can have band limits as well.

foxbat121 said:
It's not the ROM but the actual hardware that has the limitation although sometimes ROMs can have band limits as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On both my HD2 and HD7 I will get an "H" signal. I was talking to T-Mobile support and they told me that was 4G and I was getting it because of the ROM. I asked why they would restrict the 4G if the hardware would do it and they said it was to control the number of devices on each network. I can only get it with an unbranded ROM. I'm not arguing, just telling you what they said. HD7 according to T-Mobile is NOT a 4G capable phone but mine gets an "H" signal all the time.

thuddome said:
On both my HD2 and HD7 I will get an "H" signal. I was talking to T-Mobile support and they told me that was 4G and I was getting it because of the ROM. I asked why they would restrict the 4G if the hardware would do it and they said it was to control the number of devices on each network. I can only get it with an unbranded ROM. I'm not arguing, just telling you what they said. HD7 according to T-Mobile is NOT a 4G capable phone but mine gets an "H" signal all the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HSPA --> 'H' indicator on your handset (with custom ROM)
HSPA+ --> what T-Mobile advertises as "4G"
The H does not mean 4G. It means you have HSPA. In the carrier-specific ROMs they overwrite the H bitmap with one that shows 3G instead, to "help" their customers and avoid confusing them.

tai4de2 said:
HSPA --> 'H' indicator on your handset (with custom ROM)
HSPA+ --> what T-Mobile advertises as "4G"
The H does not mean 4G. It means you have HSPA. In the carrier-specific ROMs they overwrite the H bitmap with one that shows 3G instead, to "help" their customers and avoid confusing them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know...thx

T-Mobile 1900MHz HSPA+

According to www.airportal.de there is 1900MHz tower right next to me, but my GN does not want to connect to it, even when the overall signal is low. Is there a radio update that will allow me to use 1900MHz band?
I checked what tower my phone is connected to by entering *#*#4636#*#* and CID does not match to the one on the site.
My radio is UGLH1
Thank you.
EDIT: my sim card is one month old.

rome425 said:
According to www.airportal.de there is 1900MHz tower right next to me, but my GN does not want to connect to it, even when the overall signal is low. Is there a radio update that will allow me to use 1900MHz band?
I checked what tower my phone is connected to by entering *#*#4636#*#* and CID does not match to the one on the site.
My radio is UGLH1
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats part of tmobiles new iphone 5 rollout plan(for people using the att iphone 5). you need a special micro sim card for it to work. http://9to5mac.com/2012/05/07/t-mob...rk-in-large-number-of-markets-by-end-of-2012/

I was not aware that T-Mobile has different sim cards for iPhines (other than size)
My friend's iPhone 4S on T-Mobile has 7-8 Mbts speed standing right next to me, but I can only get 2-2.5 Mbts.

simms22 said:
thats part of tmobiles new iphone 5 rollout plan(for people using the att iphone 5). you need a special micro sim card for it to work. http://9to5mac.com/2012/05/07/t-mob...rk-in-large-number-of-markets-by-end-of-2012/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need a microsim for it to work afaik. It will work on any "AT&T" phone. And it should work on the GN since it is pentaband.

simms22 said:
thats part of tmobiles new iphone 5 rollout plan(for people using the att iphone 5). you need a special micro sim card for it to work. http://9to5mac.com/2012/05/07/t-mob...rk-in-large-number-of-markets-by-end-of-2012/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SIM card size does not dictate frequency.

Even if 1900mhz is available, I'm sure that T-Mobile would prefer you stay on the surely more stable 1700/2100mhz combo at this point in time... likely a SIM issue though.
---------- Post added at 11:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:21 AM ----------
patruns said:
SIM card size does not dictate frequency.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But his old SIM probably doesn't support 1900mhz HSPA. Yes, he doesn't need a Micro SIM just to get the frequency, but he likely does need one of T-Mobile's new SIM cards that's properly provisioned for the 1900mhz connection. I think people are just getting confused over the fact that T-Mobile is pushing the Micro (soon to be Nano also) SIMs w/ 1900mhz for unlocked iPhone customers. It doesn't mean they're only used for iPhones, it just means that it's the primary reason they're switching frequencies and offering these to those customers specifically.

martonikaj said:
Even if 1900mhz is available, I'm sure that T-Mobile would prefer you stay on the surely more stable 1700/2100mhz combo at this point in time...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what it looks like. I wish there was a way to force 1900MHz.

rome425 said:
According to www.airportal.de there is 1900MHz tower right next to me, but my GN does not want to connect to it, even when the overall signal is low. Is there a radio update that will allow me to use 1900MHz band?
I checked what tower my phone is connected to by entering *#*#4636#*#* and CID does not match to the one on the site.
My radio is UGLH1
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone else read that radio as "Ugly one"?
Swype'ed on my CM10 Galaxy Nexus

Isn't the 1700mhz band better anyway?
-----------
iphones are the creation of people with nowhere left to turn

donsh00tmesanta said:
Isn't the 1700mhz band better anyway?
-----------
iphones are the creation of people with nowhere left to turn
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Better" how? And T-Mobile uses 1700/2100mhz combo, not just 1700mhz.
Most people would prefer 850mhz and 1900mhz because its interoperable with AT&T's frequencies, allowing a wider range of devices to be used on T-Mobile.

Lower the frequency better Penetration right.
-----------
iphones are the creation of people with nowhere left to turn

donsh00tmesanta said:
Lower the frequency better Penetration right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But like I said, T-Mobile doesn't use just 1700mhz, it uses the combined 1700/2100mhz AWS frequencies.

To the OP: Do you have a phone without AWS that you can use to test and see if you are actually picking up that tower? Or a non-Nexus Samsung phone that can be restricted using the band select menu.
martonikaj said:
But his old SIM probably doesn't support 1900mhz HSPA. Yes, he doesn't need a Micro SIM just to get the frequency, but he likely does need one of T-Mobile's new SIM cards that's properly provisioned for the 1900mhz connection. I think people are just getting confused over the fact that T-Mobile is pushing the Micro (soon to be Nano also) SIMs w/ 1900mhz for unlocked iPhone customers. It doesn't mean they're only used for iPhones, it just means that it's the primary reason they're switching frequencies and offering these to those customers specifically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think a SIM card needs to be re-provisioned just because the carrier has a new frequency. All the folks who started seeing 3G on their unlocked iPhones were using SIMs they'd had for years.
martonikaj said:
"Better" how? And T-Mobile uses 1700/2100mhz combo, not just 1700mhz.
Most people would prefer 850mhz and 1900mhz because its interoperable with AT&T's frequencies, allowing a wider range of devices to be used on T-Mobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a combo. In Europe they don't refer to the IMT band as 1900/2100 combo, they just call it 2100. And they don't refer to the DCS band as 1700/1800, just as 1800. It's one band, and for the purpose of North America, "1700" as a band unambiguously means AWS. In Japan though there is a different 1700 band.

cmstlist said:
To the OP: Do you have a phone without AWS that you can use to test and see if you are actually picking up that tower? Or a non-Nexus Samsung phone that can be restricted using the band select menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like he said, he has a friend with an iPhone right there that gets HSPA service w/ T-Mobile. My assumption would be that he needs a new SIM, but again I'm not sure if that's the case, I'm not intimately knowledgeable of how T-Mobile is doing their provisioning.
It's not a combo. In Europe they don't refer to the IMT band as 1900/2100 combo, they just call it 2100. And they don't refer to the DCS band as 1700/1800, just as 1800. It's one band, and for the purpose of North America, "1700" as a band unambiguously means AWS. In Japan though there is a different 1700 band.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because its sometimes referred to as 1700 doesn't mean that it doesn't use both 1700 and 2100 as a combination.
"The AWS band uses microwave frequencies in two segments: from 1710 to 1755 MHz for uplink, and from 2110 to 2155 MHz for downlink." (Wikipedia)
This is why it's referred to as "1700/2100mhz", although often just "AWS"

martonikaj said:
Like he said, he has a friend with an iPhone right there that gets HSPA service w/ T-Mobile. My assumption would be that he needs a new SIM, but again I'm not sure if that's the case, I'm not intimately knowledgeable of how T-Mobile is doing their provisioning.
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I don't understand why a new sim is required. People using old sims in iPhone's have been reporting 3G being available as T-mobile has turned on new markets with the new band.

I just changed my sim card about one month ago.

martonikaj said:
This is why it's referred to as "1700/2100mhz", although often just "AWS"
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The problem is, even mentioning 2100 causes unnecessary confusion because for years before the band entered use, 2100 was already well established as referring to the 1900 up / 2100 down IMT band. It leads people - and you've seen them on the forums - to think that they can buy a device with IMT and use it on an AWS carrier.
So "1700" alone is actually less ambiguous.
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cmstlist said:
The problem is, even mentioning 2100 causes unnecessary confusion because for years before the band entered use, 2100 was already well established as referring to the 1900 up / 2100 down IMT band. It leads people - and you've seen them on the forums - to think that they can buy a device with IMT and use it on an AWS carrier.
So "1700" alone is actually less ambiguous.
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Just as ambiguous. Pretty sure calling it "1700/2100mhz AWS" is pretty clear. Not sure how dropping the 2100 part helps the ambiguity problem.
Calling it 1700mhz gives off the wrong impression, implying that it'd be better building-penetration wise, even though half of the traffic goes over 2100mhz which performs worse at penetrating buildings.

martonikaj said:
Just as ambiguous. Pretty sure calling it "1700/2100mhz AWS" is pretty clear. Not sure how dropping the 2100 part helps the ambiguity problem.
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Because you want to tell customers, when they are trying to figure out if a phone is compatible, to look for 1700. Not for 2100. If you even mention 2100 they will get led down the wrong path. 2100 already had a meaning in the mobile world way back when IMT was first used for 3G service overseas in the year 2002. And the established meaning of 2100 as a cellular band is something that is not operated anywhere in North America.

Or, you can just tell customers to look for both 1700 and 2100 (AWS), which is both unambiguous, and correct. Whereas calling it simply 1700 is misleading. Customers who are shopping in the US are not likely to have heard of the 2100 band used overseas anyway, so your point is moot.
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