[Q] Xperia Arc S work on Australian Next G Network? - Xperia Arc Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello
I purchased this SonyEricsson Arc S on eBay. The seller was in Hong Kong.
On the ebay listing it states that the phone uses the following frequencies:
• 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
• 3G Network HSDPA 2100
I can get service in Perth, Western Australia but I work up near Karratha in the NorthWest part of the state. I lose service as soon as I get off the plane in Karratha.
I went to the Sony forum and they suggested that it may be a hardware fault so I sent the phone back to the seller and he sent it back to China and then back to me but it has made no difference to the problem.
I found an article on the web that says that the Telstra Next G works on the UMTS 850 network. Is it possible to upgrade the firmware on the phone to make it use the UMTS 850 network (the eBay listing says it uses the 3G Network HSDPA 2100).
Can anyone provide any other advice that may help me to determine what the problem may be with the phone and why I can’t get reception up here? Thanks
Daniel
I found an article (see below).
Looks like Telstra Next G used on remote areas uses UMTS 850.
Mine has:
• 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
• 3G Network HSDPA 2100
That would explain why I have reception in Perth (Telstra also uses GSM900 and GSM1800 to cover 96% of the population), but to cover 99% of the population (up here around Karratha) I need UMTS 850.
"Global System for Mobile - GSM
GSM 850 = Will not work in Australia as there is no GSM 850 network
GSM 900 = Standard for Optus, vodafone and Telstra GSM handsets
GSM 1800 = Standard for Optus, vodafone and Telstra GSM handsets
GSM 1900 = Will not work in Australia as there is no GSM 1900 network
In terms of GSM 900 networks:
Telstra provides 96% population coverage
Optus provides 96.5% population coverage
Vodafone provides 94.5% population coverage (this is extended to 96% population coverage via Telstra GSM national Roaming Agreement in regional Tasmainia and regional Victoria)
Technically Three (3) also provide 96% population coverage via Telstra GSM national Roaming Agreement, how? several GSM 900/1800 handsets do accept the Three (3) SIM card for service provision, also if you have a 3G handset (UMTS2100/GSM900/1800) you can set the network settings to GSM only and thus get Telstra GSM coverage.
Wideband Code Division Multiple Access - WCDMA (a.k.a 3G UMTS and 3G HSDPA)
Due to Telstra irresponsibility in naming their own outright 3G network NextG they have indeed confused the entire market place (not to worry Optus are not far behind with yesG and i cant wait to see what Vodafone call their extended regional 3G network)
Ok lets take a look at 3G.
Telstra 3G = UMTS 2100 which provides 60% population coverage
Optus 3G = UMTS 2100 which provides 80% population coverage
Vodafone 3G = UMTS 2100 which provides 60% population coverage
Three (3) 3G = UMTS 2100 which provides 60% population coverage
now the hard part:
Telstra NextG = UMTS 850 which provides 99% population coverage
Optus yesG = UMTS 900 which extends the current Optus 3G UMTS 2100 population coverage from 80% to 96% population coverage (an increase of 16%) Optus will eventully drop the brand name Optus 3G and use the brand name Optus yesG once their entire population footprint reaches 98.2% (which will be around july 2010 at current rate)
Vodafone?
The new regional UMTS 900 network was supposed to be up and running this month (January 2009), however they announced in october 2008 that the network builder Ericsson was taking time to get it bug free so their new regional extension network will probaly come online sometime around June or July 2009, which will extend their current 3G population coverage (which is UMTS 2100) to 95%.
Ok now that all that BS is out of the way to answer the question:
In the USA only one major provider has UMTS 850, and that provider is AT&T (used to be known as Cingular).
In Canada the big UMTS 850 provider is Rodges Mobile.
So essentailly a 3G UMTS 850 handset from those two providers will work here (provided they are unlocked)
Or the other way round is when buying from the USA simply ask, what network band they use for 3G.
If its UMTS 1800, nope wont work here
if its GSM 850, again wont work here
If its GSM 1900 again wont work here
If its CDMA 800 or CDMA 1900, again wont work here
So what your looking for is UMTS 850.
Also you wont find any UMTS 900 handsets in USA and Canada as they dont use UMTS 900 there."

You had to get an American version of the device.. now you cant do anything about it i guess
Sent from my Xperia Pro using XDA

You can't add a particular band unless it was there to begin with. It's hardware, not a software issue.
Your best bet would be to see if any of the other providers use the same bands as the phone. (It's unlikely though; Telstra has the largest network and most other providers are leasing their lines).
Swyped from my SE Xperia arc (LT15i) using Tapatalk 2

If you really wanna do something to make it work.. then pull out the radio from your phone and replace it with the one which comes in the American edition.. then flash the baseband for american version for your device.. and then ka-boom.. everything works..
But i dont think you are going to do that..
Sent from my Xperia Pro using XDA

i also work in the north west (Karatha, Exmouth, ect ect...), i am on vodafone i have never had an issue with my phone. have you done a scan with the phone to detecct any networks up there? did you get anything?
Pvy.

Related

Nokia E75 no 3G access in Canada

Hi, i purchased a nokia E75-1 from asia and can not access 3G network here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Funny thing is that when i was in Windsor Ontario my phone showed 3G and I used 3.5G internet.
My service provider Fido says they support umts 850/1900 mhz . My phone supports umts 900/1900/2100mhz. So my phone should be able to access 3G on 1900mhz but for some reason it does not in Toronto and does in Windsor on the same Fido network. Windsor is also in the same province so i am very confused. Is it because Windsor is close to USA?
I also upgraded my SIM card to 3gSIM but still no luck.
Any ideas on how I can access 3G in Toronto? When i switch my phone to UMTS mode it loses Fido signal. On Manual operator search it shows 3GPlus and CAN221 which i can not access.
The North America e75-2 version works on 850/1900/2100. Is there a way i could unlock the umts 850mhz frequency on my e75-1
Thanks
if the provider use 850 for 3g everywhere or even just somewhere you can't
access 3g on the phone these places or all places
operators can change which frequencies they use in different places if they wish
if they depend on phones being able to use both 850 and 1900 users would never
notice

American T-Mobile Touch Pro 2 and travel

Will I be ok travelling with this phone to Europe and Canada and getting 3G? Will the bands work? If not, is there something that can be done to make it work? I'm abot to get one and would like to confirm.
Thanks.
tinpanalley said:
Will I be ok travelling with this phone to Europe and Canada and getting 3G? Will the bands work? If not, is there something that can be done to make it work? I'm abot to get one and would like to confirm.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the t-mobile rhodium supports UMTS 1700 and UMTS 2100 so if canada and/europe use those bands for UMTS (3G) then yes it will work. If not, the device is quad band GSM so no problem using voice and EDGE for data.
Also make sure the device is unlocked if you plan to put another carrier's SIMcard in the device.
tinpanalley said:
Will I be ok travelling with this phone to Europe and Canada and getting 3G? Will the bands work? If not, is there something that can be done to make it work? I'm abot to get one and would like to confirm.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure about Canada...but TmoUSA 3G bands are different than Euro-3G.
Unrelated, but worth mentioning: the T-Mobile USA international roaming charge for data is steep -- $15/megabyte.
If you got a Euro sim card that would fix the $, but not the radio (for 3G).
The T-Mobile version supports AWS and 2100 3G so works fine in Europe and most other locations. Had 3G T-Mobile and 3G Orange in the UK, but I would suggest a local SIM too. For the UK, both T-Mobile UK prepaid and Virgin UK prepaid work in a locked T-Mobile TP2 or get it unlocked for more choices.
jamssx said:
The T-Mobile version supports AWS and 2100 3G so works fine in Europe and most other locations. Had 3G T-Mobile and 3G Orange in the UK, but I would suggest a local SIM too. For the UK, both T-Mobile UK prepaid and Virgin UK prepaid work in a locked T-Mobile TP2 or get it unlocked for more choices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You used a T-Mobile USA version of the TP2 in Europe and had a usable 3G data connection?? Hmmm...that's the first I've read of this.
If this is well-known (and if so, maybe I'm just clueless ) can you provide a link to more discussion, that is...uhh...evidence...of it? Not about what bands the USA version supports -- I know that part -- but other reports/disucssion of it actually working.
On the other hand, are there any reports of a Euro-TP2 that can work on 3G bands in the USA?
USA TMO TP2 will work on TMO 3G in USA. It may also work on WIND Mobile for 3G data here in Canada, not sure about voice as they are using some strange network setup.
As the phone is UMTS 2100 capable, it will get 3G data and voice in most places in Europe and Asia.
quid246 said:
USA TMO TP2 will work on TMO 3G in USA. It may also work on WIND Mobile for 3G data here in Canada, not sure about voice as they are using some strange network setup.
As the phone is UMTS 2100 capable, it will get 3G data and voice in most places in Europe and Asia.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried a TmoUSA TP2 in Europe or Asia -- yourself -- and accessed 3G data?
I'm still doubtful, but I actually hope I'm wrong 'cause I'd love to be able to get 3G data on my TmoUSA TP2 while traveling in Europe...as long as I get a Euro sim card. Otherwise, faster data just means more roaming-$$.
MCbrian said:
Have you tried a TmoUSA TP2 in Europe or Asia -- yourself -- and accessed 3G data?
I'm still doubtful, but I actually hope I'm wrong 'cause I'd love to be able to get 3G data on my TmoUSA TP2 while traveling in Europe...as long as I get a Euro sim card. Otherwise, faster data just means more roaming-$$.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check the specifications. It supports both 1700 and 2100 UMTS. That means it will work in Europe. ALL Touch Pro 2's have 2100MHz UMTS and quadband GSM, every single one of them, including the CDMA ones. The carrier specific ones add certain bands.
European Touch Pro 2s have UMTS 900
CDMA Touch Pro 2s have CDMA bands
T-Mobile USA has 1700MHz AWS band
AT&T has 850/1900MHz UMTS
TP2 overseas vs versions
I believe, as I've use phones often in the US and overseas, that T-mobile uses 1700 UMTS in the US, but that their TP2 is also 2100 UMTS. Just as At&t Tilt uses 850 & 1900 UMTS (At&t requires both frequencies), but also has 2100 UMTS. As such, both should work in most European, African and Asian countries (verizon and sprint you,re mostly screwed).
I believe the older Tytn II (tilt) was sold world wide as a 850/1900/2100 phone, so you could basically buy it anywhere and use it here on At&t only for 3g or T-mobile Edge only. Unfortunately, the TP2 is sold mostly as a 900/2100 UMTS worldwide outside the US, so you are stuck buying the US versions that correspond to the US networks. The bonus of the At&t tilit 2 version is that it is 850/1900/2100, so it will work almost anywhere. The drawback of the T-mobile TP2 is that 1700 is used by almost no one and while you can use it in most of the aforementioned places, you can't use it in the Americas outside the US & Canada.
Check out this handy wiki UMTS page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Deployed_UMTS_networks
Just a note, I almost always pick up a pay as you go sim in other countries- much cheaper and very little hassle. Worth it for anything over a week stay. Maybe not as much so in some of Western Europe.
drjby4 said:
I believe, as I've use phones often in the US and overseas, that T-mobile uses 1700 UMTS in the US, but that their TP2 is also 2100 UMTS. Just as At&t Tilt uses 850 & 1900 UMTS (At&t requires both frequencies), but also has 2100 UMTS. As such, both should work in most European, African and Asian countries (verizon and sprint you,re mostly screwed).
I believe the older Tytn II (tilt) was sold world wide as a 850/1900/2100 phone, so you could basically buy it anywhere and use it here on At&t only for 3g or T-mobile Edge only. Unfortunately, the TP2 is sold mostly as a 900/2100 UMTS worldwide outside the US, so you are stuck buying the US versions that correspond to the US networks. The bonus of the At&t tilit 2 version is that it is 850/1900/2100, so it will work almost anywhere. The drawback of the T-mobile TP2 is that 1700 is used by almost no one and while you can use it in most of the aforementioned places, you can't use it in the Americas outside the US & Canada.
Check out this handy wiki UMTS page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Deployed_UMTS_networks
Just a note, I almost always pick up a pay as you go sim in other countries- much cheaper and very little hassle. Worth it for anything over a week stay. Maybe not as much so in some of Western Europe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is correct. Apparently they are only able to have 3 3G frequencies (though NTT DoCoMo is currently working on a chip that can handle 8 frequencies!)
At first Europe only used 2100MHz 3G and AT&T had set up on 850MHz/1900MHz. Since those were the only 3 bands, HTC would put all three of those bands in its phones up to the Tilt (Kaiser). Once they made the Raphael though, there was 900MHz 3G in Europe and T-Mobile had chosen the AWS band.
Since they can apparently only put 3 bands in, and Europe now needed two for 900MHz/2100MHz, they could no longer put but of AT&T's frequencies in. So they must have just dropped them.
The AT&T version (FUZE) has 850MHz/1900MHz and also has 2100MHz, which is the dominant band for 3G in Europe. I am not sure if they are using 900MHz there yet, but they decided that was more important to put in the European ones than AT&T's bands.
T-Mobile's 3G phones get AWS and 2100MHz. I think AWS might use 2 of the bands because it is split on 1700MHz and 2100MHz (but a different 2100MHz apparently, maybe low 2100MHz vs high, I'm not sure)
petard said:
Check the specifications. It supports both 1700 and 2100 UMTS. That means it will work in Europe. ALL Touch Pro 2's have 2100MHz UMTS and quadband GSM, every single one of them, including the CDMA ones. The carrier specific ones add certain bands.
European Touch Pro 2s have UMTS 900
CDMA Touch Pro 2s have CDMA bands
T-Mobile USA has 1700MHz AWS band
AT&T has 850/1900MHz UMTS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't just support 1700 and 2100, it uses both to work: 1700 for up/send and 2100 for down/receive. So, how does the Tmo USA radio cope without 1700 band for up/send when it's expecting it?
petard said:
T-Mobile's 3G phones get AWS and 2100MHz. I think AWS might use 2 of the bands because it is split on 1700MHz and 2100MHz (but a different 2100MHz apparently, maybe low 2100MHz vs high, I'm not sure)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, the full story (?) is that T-Mobile uses 1700+2100 (up/down) in the USA (which is what I already understood/knew) and in addition to that pair there's a separate slightly-different 2100 band that's used outside the USA? -- That, I didn't know.
If that's the explanation, that makes sense. But confusing that there's 2 different 2100 bands...
I may have to use some frequent-flyer miles and go check it out...
MCbrian said:
So, the full story (?) is that T-Mobile uses 1700+2100 (up/down) in the USA (which is what I already understood/knew) and in addition to that pair there's a separate slightly-different 2100 band that's used outside the USA? -- That, I didn't know.
If that's the explanation, that makes sense. But confusing that there's 2 different 2100 bands...
I may have to use some frequent-flyer miles and go check it out...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to Wikipedia, UMTS Band I (commonly known as 2100MHz) uses 1920 - 1980 for uplink and 2110 - 2170 for downlink while UMTS Band IV (AWS, 1700MHz) uses 1710 - 1755 for uplink and 2110 - 2155 for downlink.
Band II (1900MHz) uses 1850 - 1910 for uplink and 1930 - 1990 for downlink and band V (850MHz) uses 824 - 849 for uplink and 869 - 894 for downlink. The uplink and download for these are close, unlike bands I and IV.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands
I just assume they are only able to have 3 different frequencies since I have yet to see a UMTS phone with 4 frequencies. But as I wrote this, I'm not too sure because there were phones with Band I, Band II, and Band IV which would mean that there are chips capable for 4 different frequencies? Who knows, maybe someone with actual technical knowledge about this can say.
Also according to that page, there are five different UMTS bands deployed across the world. A bit of a pain. That is more then GSM ever had and who knows if it will grow to even more. LTE also will be coming in before GSM is phased out, so we are going to have to have phones that have GSM, UMTS, AND LTE. GSM will be no problem, quadband has been standard for a while, but having a phone that has both your carriers UMTS and LTE frequencies is going to be tough unless you buy it from your carrier.
What they should have done is just used the band names, and not their frequencies. It would be much easier to know that Europe runs on band I and T-Mobile USA runs on band IV and the T-Mobile Rhodium supports both Band I and Band IV.

HTC DESIRE 8181 V's 8183 NEXT G DESIRE:

i found this on another forum. thought it be good for the confused ones thinking of buying. hope this explains a little better
So your looking to pick up a HTC Desire of eBay reasonably soon.
Is there any difference between Aus (delivered/imported 8181 Desires on eBay) vs NextG 8183 branded HTC Desires sold on eBay ?
because The NextG 8183 ones on eBay are currently fetching approx $100 more than none NextG 8181 Branded ones.
Q:
Is there any difference between Aus delivered/imported Desires (on eBay) vs NextG branded HTC Desires sold on eBay. From what I can tell they should all support the same frequency space, so there shouldnt be any difference.
A:
There are two different models of Desire....
Telstra sells one that supports UMTS 850/2100 The actual Telstra Next G branded ones have got some Telstra "Apps" loaded into the ROM which cannot be easily removed, however they are simply links to Telstra services. They are unlocked.
Models sourced overseas usually support UMTS 900/2100, which won't work on NextG.
Pick wisely.
Q:
The NextG Versions will still operate on Optus/Voda/etc right? The frequency ranges all seems to match up. Some online stores are selling NextG and none NextG versions, just dont want to shoot myself in the foot.
A:
Yes, the Next G version will work on Optus 3G, but only in metro areas. It does not support the 900 MHz frequency used by Optus or Voda in regional areas, meaning outside city, you'll only get 2G.
It does not support the 900 MHz frequency used by Optus or Voda in regional areas
Hmmm ok, thats weird because according to the HTC Site (and this is where im getting confused) with all the "Exclusive to Telstra NextG" Branding, it supports the following
HSPA/WCDMA:
* Australia: 850/2100 MHz
GSM:
* Australia: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Q:
Do they cripple the NextG version and rip out the 900mhz ?
A:
Australia: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Those are GSM frequencies, not UMTS.
To make it abundantly clear:
Telstra specs:
HSPA/WCDMA:
•Australia: 850/2100 MHz
GSM:
•Australia: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Optus specs:
HSPA/WCDMA:
•Australia: 900/2100 MHz
GSM:
•Australia: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G is around the world but Yes the US carrier At&T use it..
To help you, AT&T use the 850MHZ band while the other mobiles providers (ie T-Mobile) all use the 900 etc if you are grey importing a US phone the rule of thumb is if the phone works on AT&T then it will work on Telstra 3G network..
Telstra have two different 3G networks and they are 'branded' differently, yet they are both technically 3G at the end of the day.
1. Telstra 3G = 2100mhz, is only implemented in metropolian areas.
2. Telstra NextG = 850mhz, is implemented Australia wide and superceeds their 2100mhz implementation.
As you can see they are both 3G. The NextG branded product has more bandwith available to it, (not that 2100 doesn't have enough, just the way Telstra's implementation is).
Speed wise, telstra do have the fastest network, but in time, others will catch up. NextG is not some magical creative, even if Telstra subtly make you think that.
The issue with handsets is that they either come in 850/2100 variants (i.e compable on Telstra 850 3G) or 900/2100 variants (compatible with other networks in australia including the Telstra 3g branded service on the 2100 network).
Futher, this is not to be confused with similar GSM frequencies (then you get 2G coverage)
Q:
So is NextG just better coverage, or is it faster too? I was lead to believe there was a speed increase.
A:
Both.
The downside to having more coverage and web speed, is being stuck with Telstra..
If you have voda or Optus, you need the desire A8181.. if you're with Telstra you need the A8183
I have Optus meaning my phone model is A8181 & it's $100+ cheaper
CHEERS:
This is well written explanation, I'm sure it/has helped many ;-)
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Rural coverage for HTC Desire with 3 Mobile
I just want to clarify if the same is applicable with 3 Mobile as Voda have meraged. I'm a 3 customer and I'm moving to Trentham, Victoria. 3 and Voda have said there would be call and text coverage only in the area. 3 is bringing out the Desire later this month but I don't know which one. I've been told there's more Telstra towers in the area but will not swap suppliers as I have a good plan from when they were Orange. Thanx for the help.
If you get an 81 and use telstra, it will be slower.
if you get an 83 and use a Non-telstra network, it will be slower.
If you get an 83 on telstra, Root and grab T-Mod.
Simple! XD
</shamelessplug>
Hi there.
I am confused. I am thinking of getting A8183 and am a vodafone user. Will 3g work for me?
I'm pretty sure it says above only in metro areas mate
Sent from my CM7.1 Desire using XDA App
www.vodafone.com.au/personal/aboutvodafone/network/network-850/index.htm
vodafone going 850mHz
I have the 8183, rooted and running on LiveConnected (Optus). I have very little drama with mobile internet, regardless where I use my phone around Cairns.
I find I get drop outs if I venture too far west, but north to Pt Douglas/Mossman, inland to Atherton Tablelands/Millaa Millaa/Malanda and all the way south to Townsville (including Hinchinbrook region), signal is strong and on song.
I have never understood people that gripe about their 8183s not working properly on other networks...unless they happen to live in Oodnadatta, there should not be an issue.

[Q] HTC Desire Z A7275 (Bell Edition)

Hello, I have a HTC Desire Z A7275 (Bell Edition) phone, unlocked. The specifications are:
Network:
HSPA/WCDMA (850/1900 MHz)
GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
Here is my question:
I am planning to travel to UK & Europe next month. 1 Will this phone work on in UK & Europe? 2 Will this phone support 3G or 4G network in UK & Europe? 3 What are my options with phone in UK & Europe? What network will this phone support?
Thanks
My understanding is UK and Europe are on GSM 900/1800 MHz (voice, EDGE) and WCDMA 2100 MHz (3G). So you will have voice and EDGE service, but no 3G. But I have not personally been to Europe with this phone yet, so can't verify personally.
http://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm.html
nlp1090 said:
Hello, I have a HTC Desire Z A7275 (Bell Edition) phone, unlocked. The specifications are:
Network:
HSPA/WCDMA (850/1900 MHz)
GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
Here is my question:
I am planning to travel to UK & Europe next month. 1 Will this phone work on in UK & Europe? 2 Will this phone support 3G or 4G network in UK & Europe? 3 What are my options with phone in UK & Europe? What network will this phone support?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will be able to use voice and 2G/EDGE data with any of the GSM carriers in Europe (just buy a local SIM and you should be good to go). Unfortunately, little or no 3G or 4G support (pretty sure that almost all countries in Europe support 2100 or 900 with the newer towers---850/1900 is limited to mainly the Americas and some parts of Australia, with a few other small regions here and there).
nlp1090 said:
Hello, I have a HTC Desire Z A7275 (Bell Edition) phone, unlocked. The specifications are:
Network:
HSPA/WCDMA (850/1900 MHz)
GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
Here is my question:
I am planning to travel to UK & Europe next month. 1 Will this phone work on in UK & Europe? 2 Will this phone support 3G or 4G network in UK & Europe? 3 What are my options with phone in UK & Europe? What network will this phone support?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
redpoint73 said:
My understanding is UK and Europe are on GSM 900/1800 MHz (voice, EDGE) and WCDMA 2100 MHz (3G). So you will have voice and EDGE service, but no 3G. But I have not personally been to Europe with this phone yet, so can't verify personally.
http://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what about this option: Sony Ericsson Xperia X10i
Specification: GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850-900-1800-1900
UMTS/HSPA BAND 1/4/8
will this work on 3G or 4G? All of this is so confusing to understand..Thank you
ianmcquinn said:
You will be able to use voice and 2G/EDGE data with any of the GSM carriers in Europe (just buy a local SIM and you should be good to go). Unfortunately, little or no 3G or 4G support (pretty sure that almost all countries in Europe support 2100 or 900 with the newer towers---850/1900 is limited to mainly the Americas and some parts of Australia, with a few other small regions here and there).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what about this option: Sony Ericsson Xperia X10i
Specification: GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850-900-1800-1900
UMTS/HSPA BAND 1/4/8
will this work on 3G or 4G? All of this is so confusing to understand..Thank you
nlp1090 said:
So what about this option: Sony Ericsson Xperia X10i
Specification: GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850-900-1800-1900
UMTS/HSPA BAND 1/4/8
will this work on 3G or 4G? All of this is so confusing to understand..Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Every phone has two sets of bands.
GSM/GPRS (EDGE, 2G Bands)
UMTS/HSPA (3G Bands)
As posted earlier in the thread, most European countries use 2100mhz for 3G. So if you want a phone with 3G access, look for the 2100mhz band under the UMTS/HSPA portion of the specifications.
*Edit*: Not sure how reliant you will be on 3G but when I was in Europe last summer, data rates were not cheap. Also, Wifi hotspots were readily available in every major city that we traveled to and most times they were free to access. We purchased a cheap 'dumbphone' for emergency phone calls and used an Ipod Touch and my old Touch Pro to access the web over wifi.
gbarayah said:
Based on the Specs you have listed, no it will not work on 3G.
Every phone has two sets of bands.
GSM/GPRS (EDGE, 2G Bands)
UMTS/HSPA (3G Bands)
As posted earlier in the thread, most European countries use 2100mhz for 3G. So if you want a phone with 3G access, look for the 2100mhz band under the UMTS/HSPA portion of the specifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, 2100 MHz is Band 1 when talking about UMTS. 900 MHz is Band 8. So this phone will support 3G data in pretty much all of Europe.
ianmcquinn said:
Actually, 2100 MHz is Band 1 when talking about UMTS. 900 MHz is Band 8. So this phone will support 3G data in pretty much all of Europe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the correction. Removed the bad info from my post!

Was it a mistake bringing this phone to Israel?

I live in Israel. I used to live in the US. Last time I was in the US I bought this phone and brought it over. I did my research beforehand and knowingly purchased the phone assuming I would have full compatible with Israeli service providers...
Now, I'm not so sure anymore. I just tried the phone today.. maybe 5 hours of use. Still have the default OS installed. No root or anything. The signal seems to fluctuate going between Edge and higher speed networks.
Here's what it says about Cellcom on wikipedia:
Cellcom eventually sought to replace the 850 MHz TDMA frequencies it owns with standard 900 MHz GSM frequencies but Pelephone and Partner (Orange) petitioned the Ministry of Communications to deny this for technical reasons. This put Cellcom at a disadvantage since though most of its users had converted to GSM, they were not able to make use of the lower frequency's better in-building penetration and greater cell reach.
With its entry into 3G wireless services Cellcom demoed the first mobile video call in Israel. Since the beginning of 2006, Cellcom began deploying a 3G UMTS-2100 network nationwide which by the end of 2007 covered than 87% of the population. Cellcom was the first in Israel to launch an HSDPA network (also called "Generation 3.5") nationwide. In 2011, Cellcom began to deploy UMTS services in the 850 MHz band, employing unused capacity in that frequency range since it had very few TDMA customers remaining. The Israeli Ministry of Communications has approved Cellcom's plan to shut down the TDMA-850 network on 31 December 2011.
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It supports the following networks:
GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, SMS, MMS, iMode
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I just put the SIM card back in my old international Galaxy 2 i9100T and it'll fluctuate between HSDPA: 8 and HSPA+:15. Also it displays an H icon in the status bar (I don't think Resurrection rom is capable of displaying an H+).
Anyway, I'm going to put the SIM back in the Galaxy 3 t999. It now fluctuates between EDGE: 2, HSPAP: 15, HSPA: 11, and UMTS: 3. The signal is shifty and only displays a 3G at the top, no H like the international Galaxy 2.
Here's what wikipedia lists as the differences between the two models of the Galaxy 3 (standard international i9300 and my t-mobile t999):
Model GT-I9300;
2G networks: 850, 900, 1,800, 1,900 MHz GSM / GPRS / EDGE
3G networks: 850, 900, 1,900, 2,100 MHz UMTS / HSPA+
no 4G of course
max speed: 21 Mbit/s HSPA+
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and
Model SGH-T999;
2G networks: 850, 900, 1,800, 1,900 MHz GSM / GPRS / EDGE
3G networks: 850, 1,700 (AWS/Band IV), 1,900, 2,100 MHz UMTS / HSPA+ / DC-HSPA+
no 4G either
max speed: 42 Mbit/s DC-HSPA+
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and this is what gsmarena.com says about the cellular capabilities of Israel:
2G capabilities: Required GSM 900 Recommended GSM 900 and GSM 1800
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3G capabilities: Required UMTS 2100 Recommended UMTS 850 and UMTS 2100
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So what do you think is going on??? Doesn't the t-mobile Galaxy 3 t999 support all the networks that Israel currently has operating???
I took my T999 to Israel about a week after buying it in the States.
While vacationing there, I got an Orange SIM with a local number and a 5GB plan.
Everything was working fine. My phone was on 3G almost everywhere in the country, and it rarely dropped below three bars.
Is your phone unlocked? Could it be a Cellcom problem? Try borrowing a friend's Orange SIM and see if it works any better.
Yea it's unlocked. Even despite the speed issue I'm starting to think maybe I should have gotten the international version, there's nowhere near as much development for this version. Maybe I can trade?
PhrostB said:
Yea it's unlocked. Even despite the speed issue I'm starting to think maybe I should have gotten the international version, there's nowhere near as much development for this version. Maybe I can trade?
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But we have a more functioning Jellybean.

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