Related
So I finally called ATT and got the subsidy unlock code for my Tilt2.
I popped in a Tmobile sim and it instantly works fine in every function except the connections speed. I am getting Edge only.
My question is, Can this be improved by the addition of a more recent radio? Or am I stuck with Edge due to the hardware in the ATT version of the phone?
I haven't played with this phone for almost a year except for a week in December or so when I reflashed to FireStorm 7.4 while my Captivate had crapped out. So I am kinda out of the loop on this. I was told the Captivate can't run Tmobile 3G no matter what radio I run. But I was hoping since the Tilt2 has been out so long someone might have figure out something. I see the FM radio was worked out after we thought it was impossible.
My rom and radio for the Tilt2 are in my signature. Any hope of updating it for 3G speeds?
It's by hardware. I have both phones as well due to that scenario.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
FireRaider said:
So I finally called ATT and got the subsidy unlock code for my Tilt2.
I popped in a Tmobile sim and it instantly works fine in every function except the connections speed. I am getting Edge only.
My question is, Can this be improved by the addition of a more recent radio? Or am I stuck with Edge due to the hardware in the ATT version of the phone?
I haven't played with this phone for almost a year except for a week in December or so when I reflashed to FireStorm 7.4 while my Captivate had crapped out. So I am kinda out of the loop on this. I was told the Captivate can't run Tmobile 3G no matter what radio I run. But I was hoping since the Tilt2 has been out so long someone might have figure out something. I see the FM radio was worked out after we thought it was impossible.
My rom and radio for the Tilt2 are in my signature. Any hope of updating it for 3G speeds?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tmobile offers 3G on 1700 MGHZ and ATT is on 850 or 1900. The ATT phone does not have 1700, so there is no hope of your device working on TMO 3G in the Americas.
Edge is all you will get, as TMO still has the quad band GSM capability.
Thanks guys. I guess the extra sim with data is not all that handy then.
It still seems odd that even by flashing a new radio it wont work. I have digital radio equipment (scanners, Ham Radio) that has huge bandwidth and I would think that modern cell phones would have the same capability. But obviously it doesnt work.
Do the international versiopns of the phone have the extended frequency range capability or is it still the same problem?
The manufacturers are too cheap to enable all the frequency bands.
Actually I suspect there is a setting hidden somewhere in the radio's NVRAM that can change the available frequencies, but nobody has found it. The chipset is the same across most of these models, and obviously the radio's antennas work across all the frequencies (since they already do for 2G). And as one obvious example, the Samsung Vibrant (which was T-Mobile only) can have its radio software-unlocked to work with other 3G frequencies.
highlandsun said:
The manufacturers are too cheap to enable all the frequency bands.
Actually I suspect there is a setting hidden somewhere in the radio's NVRAM that can change the available frequencies, but nobody has found it. The chipset is the same across most of these models, and obviously the radio's antennas work across all the frequencies (since they already do for 2G). And as one obvious example, the Samsung Vibrant (which was T-Mobile only) can have its radio software-unlocked to work with other 3G frequencies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. My other phone is a Captivate, which is pretty much the same as the Vibrant. I have been looking into a dual Sim adapter to run both my ATT and TMO sims in the same phone. I was told the Captivate cannot run on the TMO 3G frequencies. I will have to look into this further. That is very good information. Thanks.
FireRaider said:
Interesting. My other phone is a Captivate, which is pretty much the same as the Vibrant. I have been looking into a dual Sim adapter to run both my ATT and TMO sims in the same phone. I was told the Captivate cannot run on the TMO 3G frequencies. I will have to look into this further. That is very good information. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Galaxy-S Unlock http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=761045
Debug menu http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...850mhz-and-1900mhz-bands-too.-Works-on-ATT-3g.
highlandsun said:
The manufacturers are too cheap to enable all the frequency bands.
Actually I suspect there is a setting hidden somewhere in the radio's NVRAM that can change the available frequencies, but nobody has found it. The chipset is the same across most of these models, and obviously the radio's antennas work across all the frequencies (since they already do for 2G). And as one obvious example, the Samsung Vibrant (which was T-Mobile only) can have its radio software-unlocked to work with other 3G frequencies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know where that setting is but the limitation seems to be in hardware.
either that, or there is a lot more hacking required than just changing the NV setting.
Hey, care to share? Can this setting be toggled using e.g. AT+HTC_DM? Is it a no-op or is there any visible effect from changing it?
Sent from my MSM using Tapatalk
I'm asking if this is possible as I was able to use my T-Mobile Galaxy Tab 7 on AT&T by doing the same. Thanks
I don't think you have to flash kernel to use this phone in Att network. The phone does support Att 3G bands(in most areas) in hardware. Flashing att kernel may brick.
JoJo2211 said:
I'm asking if this is possible as I was able to use my T-Mobile Galaxy Tab 7 on AT&T by doing the same. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At most you would want to flash an AT&T Radio not a Kernel, your phone will not work right with a AT&T kernel ...
Search around there have been some discussions on the Radios, I think , I may be wrong, but people were having success with the Rogers radio ...
But as the other poster said, it will work on the AT&T 3G bands anyway, after you sim unlock it ...
just flash an att radio. Oh ps: skyrocket Kernel will not brick your phone.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
JoJo2211 said:
I'm asking if this is possible as I was able to use my T-Mobile Galaxy Tab 7 on AT&T by doing the same. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think all you need to do is get an unlock code and you'll be good to go.
As mentioned before, the phone supports AT&T 3G bands from the get go. I'm using my Skyrocket on AWS HSPA+ as well, both the Hercules and Skyrocket support each others networks (at least 3g in the case of Hercules)
Why not just get the AT&T model? It IS better...
Flashing att kernel will absolutely not brick your phone. It will be completely functional after turning off auto rotation.
Sent from my Skyrocket using XDA App
Thanks guys, is there a way to Unlock the phone using a free method? If not do you suggest I flash a rogers or skyrocket radio and get the t989 working on at&t?
BTW, i'm using this phone because I got it for really cheap off of craigslist(200)
JoJo2211 said:
Thanks guys, is there a way to Unlock the phone using a free method? If not do you suggest I flash a rogers or skyrocket radio and get the t989 working on at&t?
BTW, i'm using this phone because I got it for really cheap off of craigslist(200)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need to flash any of the radios, it'll work out of the box once you unlock it
Is there a free unlock available anywhere? I tried Galaxy S unlock on the market but I get an error every time i run step 1. I'm rooted with busybox installed. Thanks
The Galaxy S unlock app doesn't work for this phone at the moment. Some Devs are working on finding the unlock key location though.
JoJo2211 said:
...really cheap off of craigslist...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Possibly related: I've no idea if At&T and T-mob share banned IMEI lists. Anybody know?
2hvy4grvty said:
Why not just get the AT&T model? It IS better...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The two phones are identical genius.
PJcastaldo said:
The two phones are identical genius.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to be pedantic, but... you might want to be a bit careful about calling people 'genius' - unless it's possible for two phones that have different external dimensions, different sized screens, different processors, and a few other things... to still be identical.
SGS2 T-mobile specs
SGS2 AT&T specs
both links are from the Samsung US site.
For that matter, flip the two phones over and look at them. The T-Mob back cover covers the entire back and the flash is below the camera, The AT&T (and international?) version's back cover doesn't cover the whole back and the flash is to the side of the camera.
I'm also pretty sure our version should be just a hair faster (1.5 GHz, Dual Core (Qualcomm Snapdragon S3) vs 1.2 GHz, Dual Core (Samsung Exnyos C210) ).
To be fair, I'm not 100% sure I can compare Snapdragon 1.5GHz to Exnyos 1.2GHz, but I think that's legit as both run the same instruction set, probably have similar pipelining, etc.
BTW, PJC: how is the at&t model better? From the spec, I get that it's a bit lighter (13g), and probably has better battery life as it's driving a bit smaller screen. Anything else?
bobkoure said:
Not to be pedantic, but... you might want to be a bit careful about calling people 'genius' - unless it's possible for two phones that have different external dimensions, different sized screens, different processors, and a few other things... to still be identical.
SGS2 T-mobile specs
SGS2 AT&T specs
both links are from the Samsung US site.
For that matter, flip the two phones over and look at them. The T-Mob back cover covers the entire back and the flash is below the camera, The AT&T (and international?) version's back cover doesn't cover the whole back and the flash is to the side of the camera.
I'm also pretty sure our version should be just a hair faster (1.5 GHz, Dual Core (Qualcomm Snapdragon S3) vs 1.2 GHz, Dual Core (Samsung Exnyos C210) ).
To be fair, I'm not 100% sure I can compare Snapdragon 1.5GHz to Exnyos 1.2GHz, but I think that's legit as both run the same instruction set, probably have similar pipelining, etc.
BTW, PJC: how is the at&t model better? From the spec, I get that it's a bit lighter (13g), and probably has better battery life as it's driving a bit smaller screen. Anything else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, Im really LOLing atm. You are comparing the other ATT GS2, not the skyrocket. You better research and know what hes talking about first and not just posting random stuff.
Maybe my new thread can help
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1495920
or
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1417095
bobkoure said:
Possibly related: I've no idea if At&T and T-mob share banned IMEI lists. Anybody know?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't have banned IMEI. I got a great deal. I actually bought two phones, HTC Amaze and GSII, , both clean IMEI, for 400 altogether. I sold off the Amaze for 435. LOL
bobkoure said:
Possibly related: I've no idea if At&T and T-mob share banned IMEI lists. Anybody know?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no they do not, banned t-mobile phones are banned for their carrier only so you can use it on att and vice versa
bobkoure said:
Not to be pedantic, but... you might want to be a bit careful about calling people 'genius' - unless it's possible for two phones that have different external dimensions, different sized screens, different processors, and a few other things... to still be identical.
SGS2 T-mobile specs
SGS2 AT&T specs
both links are from the Samsung US site.
For that matter, flip the two phones over and look at them. The T-Mob back cover covers the entire back and the flash is below the camera, The AT&T (and international?) version's back cover doesn't cover the whole back and the flash is to the side of the camera.
I'm also pretty sure our version should be just a hair faster (1.5 GHz, Dual Core (Qualcomm Snapdragon S3) vs 1.2 GHz, Dual Core (Samsung Exnyos C210) ).
To be fair, I'm not 100% sure I can compare Snapdragon 1.5GHz to Exnyos 1.2GHz, but I think that's legit as both run the same instruction set, probably have similar pipelining, etc.
BTW, PJC: how is the at&t model better? From the spec, I get that it's a bit lighter (13g), and probably has better battery life as it's driving a bit smaller screen. Anything else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol wut? genius
---------- Post added at 02:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:46 PM ----------
JoJo2211 said:
It doesn't have banned IMEI. I got a great deal. I actually bought two phones, HTC Amaze and GSII, , both clean IMEI, for 400 altogether. I sold off the Amaze for 435. LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you got a really good deal off of it but you don't have to keep posting it over and over.
The two phones are virtually identical , but I will qualify that ..
T-Mobile t989 has a slightly larger screen .02" to be exact and a little different form factor , and a slightly larger battery ..
Both have the same CPU, but different chipsets, if what my research shows is correct, the AT&T i727 has the radio included in the CPU chipset, where the TMO t989 has a separate radio chip ...
The t989 has no LTE specific hardware, although theoretically can achieve the same speeds ...
So they are almost , the same phone ...
The one difference that I can neither confirm or deny, is everywhere I look Gorilla Glass is always talked about on the t989 , but is not mentioned in the i727 , and least from the sources I trust, but personally I would not think it would not have it ...
Some people have reported better AT&T usage using the Rogers radio, but the stock radio will work on the AT&T 3g network ...
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_ii_t989-4129.php
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_ii_skyrocket_i727-4303.php
EDIT: a Skyrocket kernel will not brick your phone just as others say, but autorotation will be flipped, and there have been "other" things reported, but certainly will not brick, unless you do it wrong ...
Hi,
I just received an unlocked International Galaxy Note II in the US. Ordered from Handtec in the UK, and the phone appears to be the French model. I have observed what I think is a problem when trying to use the phone on T-Mobile USA.
I put my T-Mobile USA SIM card in the phone, and the phone thinks I am roaming. Uhhhh no. It's a T-Mobile USA SIM card on the T-Mobile USA network. It is NOT roaming. Now, it probably doesn't have any impact beyond the "R" notifier, and a "Roaming" page which shows up on TouchWiz, but it DOES make me feel very uneasy. I have to enable "Data use while roaming" to be able to use data while on my home network!! It's crazy!
To those who will point out, yes, I know that T-Mobile USA has their 3G currently on the AWS 1700/2100 band, which the Note II does not support. I am therefore using EDGE with this phone. (Yes the data speeds suck, but T-Mobile's refarming will make this problem go away in the next few months). Even though I am on EDGE, I am not "roaming" unless the Note II's definition of roaming is different from mine. I am still on the home network, regardless of whether I am on 2G or 3G.
Has anyone else seen a problem like this?
If I can't figure this out in the next day or two, I may return the Note II and just wait another month or so for the T-Mobile US version. (Probably that's what I should do anyway, but I figured the GT-N7100 would get more developer support).
Hope someone can help!
Thanks!
Edit: I forgot to add - I also have and unlocked international Note 1 GT-N7000 and an unlocked iPhone 4. Neither possess the T-Mobile USA 3G band, and neither of which show roaming when I'm using T-Mobile USA. So, either T-Mobile did some funky network work today which changed something, or there is something different (and possibly a bug) about how the Galaxy Note II determines if it's roaming.
Unfortunately I cannot be of any assistance to your issue, just wanted to comment however. I find it very odd that ALL Note II's don't work on every frequency. Bear with me, I'm under the impression that they are identical hardware wise, every version. So, maybe it's a simple matter of flashing a different radio.img? Not that there are any available currently, but there will be shortly. I hope (think) it will be similar to the ATT Note on Tmo. Hopefully it works out better though. We still don't know if the Tmo Note II will be HSPA+42 or not, but it will support next years Tmo LTE.
So, as of now, this is a little bit of a disappointment for Tmo customers looking for the N7100. Hope you can find a workaround for at least HSPA+21 soon :good:
ccampbell1 said:
Hi,
I just received an unlocked International Galaxy Note II in the US. Ordered from Handtec in the UK, and the phone appears to be the French model. I have observed what I think is a problem when trying to use the phone on T-Mobile USA.
I put my T-Mobile USA SIM card in the phone, and the phone thinks I am roaming. Uhhhh no. It's a T-Mobile USA SIM card on the T-Mobile USA network. It is NOT roaming. Now, it probably doesn't have any impact beyond the "R" notifier, and a "Roaming" page which shows up on TouchWiz, but it DOES make me feel very uneasy. I have to enable "Data use while roaming" to be able to use data while on my home network!! It's crazy!
To those who will point out, yes, I know that T-Mobile USA has their 3G currently on the AWS 1700/2100 band, which the Note II does not support. I am therefore using EDGE with this phone. (Yes the data speeds suck, but T-Mobile's refarming will make this problem go away in the next few months). Even though I am on EDGE, I am not "roaming" unless the Note II's definition of roaming is different from mine. I am still on the home network, regardless of whether I am on 2G or 3G.
Has anyone else seen a problem like this?
If I can't figure this out in the next day or two, I may return the Note II and just wait another month or so for the T-Mobile US version. (Probably that's what I should do anyway, but I figured the GT-N7100 would get more developer support).
Hope someone can help!
Thanks!
Edit: I forgot to add - I also have and unlocked international Note 1 GT-N7000 and an unlocked iPhone 4. Neither possess the T-Mobile USA 3G band, and neither of which show roaming when I'm using T-Mobile USA. So, either T-Mobile did some funky network work today which changed something, or there is something different (and possibly a bug) about how the Galaxy Note II determines if it's roaming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That happened to me as well using my International Galaxy S3, I dug into it for about a month and trust me, it's something with the phone detecting that it can't connect to the HSPA+ bands it supports, and when it "defaults" down to EDGE it considers it "Roaming". Stop digging for answers, I was at it for weeks, this is the reason.
You wont get charged for roaming or anything though, so use EDGE until T-Mobile's refarming finally happens; I waited for 2 months and nothing, so I jumped ship and got Straight Talk. I use over 15 GB of data a month, no throttling, $45 bucks. :good:
Hope this helps, because NO ONE gave me a straight answer, Dont even bother calling T-Mobile, they're of absolutely no help. I flashed all sorts of custom ROMs, Kernels, Network Tools, Diagnostics, etc. trying to figure it out. It's just the way these Samsung phones (GT-I9300 and N7100 by the looks of it) work when their 3G/HSPA+ bands are not supported.
Cheers!
farfromovin said:
Unfortunately I cannot be of any assistance to your issue, just wanted to comment however. I find it very odd that ALL Note II's don't work on every frequency. Bear with me, I'm under the impression that they are identical hardware wise, every version. So, maybe it's a simple matter of flashing a different radio.img? Not that there are any available currently, but there will be shortly. I hope (think) it will be similar to the ATT Note on Tmo. Hopefully it works out better though. We still don't know if the Tmo Note II will be HSPA+42 or not, but it will support next years Tmo LTE.
So, as of now, this is a little bit of a disappointment for Tmo customers looking for the N7100. Hope you can find a workaround for at least HSPA+21 soon :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
farfromovin,
I agree it's a complete pain why one model can't work worldwide - or even between carriers in one country, the US!! I'm not sure that all the revisions are the exact same hardware though. Certainly the different revisions will support different LTE bands from one another, different 3G bands (ie T-Mobile USA) and even different technologies (VZW, Sprint, US Cellular CDMA). Whether there is one uber radio chip that's the same in all versions, with different bits enabled here and there, I don't know. I would doubt that a chip currently exists to support all GSM, UMTS, LTE and CDMA bands in the one, but you never know.
I really cannot wait (getting super sick of it) until T-Mobile's 1900MHz refarming, and finally all UMTS/HSPA phones will work on pretty much any UMTS/HSPA network worldwide. But just as we finally get 3G harmony, LTE comes along with a zillion different bands, and we're back to where we were at the start of GSM, and the start of UMTS - all over again.
As far as getting the GT-N7100 to work on T-Mobile AWS bands - unless the radio supports that band somewhere, and can be enabled by some hacky flashing, I don't think there's much chance. I followed a thread for a while which was trying to do that for the original GT-N7000 and it ended up nowhere unfortunately.
I'd be very, very surprised if the T-Mobile US official Note II did not support DC-HSPA +42. Given how TMO pushes that, I don't think they'd sell a phone without it these days. I'm kind of surprised the GT-N7100 doesn't have it, to be honest, but I guess it's not yet that widespread, and most carriers will bypass it to go to LTE.
Cheers!
Ars-Hexis said:
That happened to me as well using my International Galaxy S3, I dug into it for about a month and trust me, it's something with the phone detecting that it can't connect to the HSPA+ bands it supports, and when it "defaults" down to EDGE it considers it "Roaming". Stop digging for answers, I was at it for weeks, this is the reason.
You wont get charged for roaming or anything though, so use EDGE until T-Mobile's refarming finally happens; I waited for 2 months and nothing, so I jumped ship and got Straight Talk. I use over 15 GB of data a month, no throttling, $45 bucks. :good:
Hope this helps, because NO ONE gave me a straight answer, Dont even bother calling T-Mobile, they're of absolutely no help. I flashed all sorts of custom ROMs, Kernels, Network Tools, Diagnostics, etc. trying to figure it out. It's just the way these Samsung phones (GT-I9300 and N7100 by the looks of it) work when their 3G/HSPA+ bands are not supported.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Ars-Hexis,
Thanks so much for the reply. I googled about the same issue on the i9300 as you mentioned - and sure enough a couple of threads on androidcentral, and tmobile support - and all with pretty much a bunch of people going "what?" I think you're right, and this is either some crazy change which Samsung has made to the "S3" generation of phones, or it's an unintended bug which was introduced. I contacted Samsung support on twitter but I'm sure they'll tell me to go away since this is an international model and not sold or supported in the US.
I would love to have this properly reported to Samsung though because it is NOT correct behaviour, and I'm sure it does not meet the 3GPP standard behaviour. These phones' definition of "roaming" is frankly wrong. It's possible they know about the bug but don't care about it too much, because it only affects the minority of importers or travelers, and then only on the very few networks which use AWS band for 3G.
The phone and data works fine of course, so it's really a cosmetic annoyance. However, if I was actually outside TMO's network without knowing it (maybe camping on to some network on the Canadian border or something) then I'd never know if I was actually roaming or not. So the phone's roaming indicator, by being permanently false, is useless in the times when I'm actually roaming. Since this is not a likely scenario for me to be on the Canadian border and roaming onto an AWS-only network any time soon, I'll not worry too much about it.
Yes, I'm really sick waiting on this refarming. It's a huge undertaking of course, so I understand why. I do have a Straight Talk AT&T SIM which I got for my Galaxy Note 1, however I don't use it often for several reasons: haven't ported my number to it, am wary about data throttling or cut-off, and I find the data hit or miss on Straight Talk anyway. I heard stories about people being warned or cut off after 100MB in any day, but if you're saying 15GB and no throttling, it may be something I want to put to the test!
Thanks a lot for your reply! It's nice to know I'm not crazy!
Cheers!
ccampbell1 said:
Hey Ars-Hexis,
Thanks so much for the reply. I googled about the same issue on the i9300 as you mentioned - and sure enough a couple of threads on androidcentral, and tmobile support - and all with pretty much a bunch of people going "what?" I think you're right, and this is either some crazy change which Samsung has made to the "S3" generation of phones, or it's an unintended bug which was introduced. I contacted Samsung support on twitter but I'm sure they'll tell me to go away since this is an international model and not sold or supported in the US.
I would love to have this properly reported to Samsung though because it is NOT correct behaviour, and I'm sure it does not meet the 3GPP standard behaviour. These phones' definition of "roaming" is frankly wrong. It's possible they know about the bug but don't care about it too much, because it only affects the minority of importers or travelers, and then only on the very few networks which use AWS band for 3G.
The phone and data works fine of course, so it's really a cosmetic annoyance. However, if I was actually outside TMO's network without knowing it (maybe camping on to some network on the Canadian border or something) then I'd never know if I was actually roaming or not. So the phone's roaming indicator, by being permanently false, is useless in the times when I'm actually roaming. Since this is not a likely scenario for me to be on the Canadian border and roaming onto an AWS-only network any time soon, I'll not worry too much about it.
Yes, I'm really sick waiting on this refarming. It's a huge undertaking of course, so I understand why. I do have a Straight Talk AT&T SIM which I got for my Galaxy Note 1, however I don't use it often for several reasons: haven't ported my number to it, am wary about data throttling or cut-off, and I find the data hit or miss on Straight Talk anyway. I heard stories about people being warned or cut off after 100MB in any day, but if you're saying 15GB and no throttling, it may be something I want to put to the test!
Thanks a lot for your reply! It's nice to know I'm not crazy!
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey there! Sorry I hadn't answered in such a long time. We'll actually I've found that the S3 (sold it) and the Note 2 (own it) some how cannot be tracked for data usage correctly by straight talk. It's quite interesting... I ported my number over from T-Mobile, so if you have an S3 with a T-mobile prepaid sim... I think you have nothing to lose! I'm in Dallas and regularly get around 3-4Mbits/S during high usage hours and 6-7Mbits/S after 7 pm when network usage goes down.
There have been 2 occasions over the past 2 months where I'm throttled for like an hour and suddenly it gets uncapped on its own (?!?!?) lol. Last month I used about 25 GB... It's insane. Btw, if you if get throttled for real (happened to me once), you can just call them and say your "Internets is slow" (act technologically challenged) and they'll reset it.
Ah 1 last thing: I got the at&T ST sim card when I switched.
Cheers!
Sent from my GT-N7100 using XDA Premium HD app
I just got my International Note 2 today, and I am using it on the T-Mobile network also. I am seeing that I am roaming but my data is off and I am just using wifi. I have turned off my phone and back on again and its still showing. But after reading this whole thread I am getting that is a bug or something along those lines is that correct? Thanks.
I really need to know
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
roaming
I am on prepaid tmobile and I have Roaming sign only in areas where I used to loose signal with my old phone . Basically when I go in Garage underground my signal starts getting weaker and weaker and then roaming kiks in and signal is up all the way . T-mobile does not charges for local roaming . If you use USA tmobile and you are in usa you are fine . My texts and voice are still the same rate for me . When I had Chinese rom it was showing all the time , now I flashed German t-mobile and R shows only sometime , but it does not bother me .
Hope this helps .
I too have a Note II (GT-N7100) I purchased in Thailand in December. I use it on the T-Mobile network and have the same issues with the "R" symbol. I am located in Tampa Bay area, Florida.
T-Mobile was indicating to me in January that this was an issue in weaker signal areas for their data network as they prepare to refarm it. Don't know if this explanation is entirely accurate, but I find in my local area that the R symbol goes away in certain areas and it behaves "normally". This includes the area where my T-Mobile office is located. It seems to be somewhat of a patchwork network, and for some reasons certain areas cause it to go into the Roaming mode.
I was just on a trip with stops in Los Amgeles, San Francisco, and Philadelphia and noted the same behavior in some of those cities: Getting normal signal indications in some places, and Roaming in others.
Hi guys!
Okay so more rather to cater to my burning curiosity of how the T-Mobile Varient would do with HSPA+ 42 and the 1700/2100 I went down this morning grabbed a white version and came home and did some test. And here's what I've found.
#1) The T-Mobile Variant of the Note 2 is Made in CHINA! While the N7100 is made in Korea
#2) The T-Mobile Variant had worse download speeds where I live and testing the HSPA+ speeds in my house resulted in the unlocked N7100 beating it on the 1900mhz band. (Keep in mind I only get HSPA+ On t-Mobile near my house all other are's that were tested I have edge on the N7100 they are still refarming.
#3) So I took it upon myself to see is the T-Mobile branded version actually faster? I drove around for about 10-20 miles stopping in different area's and testing, The highest I've Gotten with it was 15mbps down. However I was not able to compare it to the N7100 in the same exact location because that area is not yet refarmed. However Comparing it side by side the N7100 at home the N7100 had the edge in download speeds which was funny to me.
Besides that fact, the N7100 is fully unlocked and no bs from T-mobile on it and the instant I used the T-Mobile version I wanted the N7100 back. So Moral of the story for me was that is it worth getting the T-Mobile version? If your on the Re farmed network I'd say no get the N7100 instead no bloatware faster updates, Speeds won't vary much, and You can tether devices without rooting!
Good to hear others thinking along these same lines. Guess it really depends on whether tour city is being refarmed.
I live in Memphis, and I've heard rumors that we're getting / already have the 1900 band. Guess I might need to find a good way to test before hand.
km
Nyxagamemnon said:
Hi guys!
Okay so more rather to cater to my burning curiosity of how the T-Mobile Varient would do with HSPA+ 42 and the 1700/2100 I went down this morning grabbed a white version and came home and did some test. And here's what I've found.
#1) The T-Mobile Variant of the Note 2 is Made in CHINA! While the N7100 is made in Korea
#2) The T-Mobile Variant had worse download speeds where I live and testing the HSPA+ speeds in my house resulted in the unlocked N7100 beating it on the 1900mhz band. (Keep in mind I only get HSPA+ On t-Mobile near my house all other are's that were tested I have edge on the N7100 they are still refarming.
#3) So I took it upon myself to see is the T-Mobile branded version actually faster? I drove around for about 10-20 miles stopping in different area's and testing, The highest I've Gotten with it was 15mbps down. However I was not able to compare it to the N7100 in the same exact location because that area is not yet refarmed. However Comparing it side by side the N7100 at home the N7100 had the edge in download speeds which was funny to me.
Besides that fact, the N7100 is fully unlocked and no bs from T-mobile on it and the instant I used the T-Mobile version I wanted the N7100 back. So Moral of the story for me was that is it worth getting the T-Mobile version? If your on the Re farmed network I'd say no get the N7100 instead no bloatware faster updates, Speeds won't vary much, and You can tether devices without rooting!
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Click to collapse
So would you be able to tell me if the T-mo Note and the N7100 are exact the same dimensions/shape. I want to buy a case for the T-mo version but I think all the ones on ebay are for the N7100. Maybe you can switch out battery covers to see if they fit. Thanks!
I too was sitting on the fence on whether to pick the the N7100 or T-mobile's handset. I eventually chose the latter for the following reasons. It may not necessarily apply to everyone. I'm not an engineer so I don't know much about technical details but I am very logical in understanding how things work:
1) Tmo has done a fairly good job on refarming the 1900 band for hspa+ and true enough you will get speeds >10mbps. I previously tested this service on an international SGS2 and international GN1. And that was using a prepaid sim. So clearly international versions of samsung will have hspa+ service IF there is coverage. However as to date, we still have to see consistent and widespread coverage of hspa+ on the 1900 band. Who's to say that by year's end the refarming would have been completed to a satisfactory level as promised by T-mobile? What if coverage would still be practically the same in YOUR area? What if completion simply means additional cities/towns but your area basically has already been refarmed to completion. I feel that will be the case with MY area. It's still really "wait and see" for the refarming project. While with the t-mo variant you get consistent hspa+ ALREADY, NOW and greater coverage simply because they have been designed to work with the existing hspa+ AWS bands of Tmo. 1900 hspa+ is just additional for the Tmo variant.
In my case, I use my home wifi. So that situation negates the 4G coverage comparison between the 2 .
I'm curious as to what your home speed differences were? Was it that significant to outweigh the benefit of more consistent hspa+ coverage outside your home? I understand your mobile tests showed Tmo's variant to be the winner by "default". Meaning N7100 didn't have a chance to even compete. That alone is enough for me to chose Tmo's.
2) N7100 has a 21mbps hspa+ radio. Tmo's variant has a 42mbps radio. Although I am not seeing speeds proportionate to the advertised 42mbps radio in my area. I believe some folks around the US have demonstrated 20-30mbps on Tmo's network. Just scourge the net for those blogs and anecdotes. Obviously the 42mbps radio is required for those speeds. I guess it will all depend on the location and if 42mbps hspa+ is enforced on the surrounding towers.
3) re: bloatware - They don't bother me much. However for the tinkerers out there, this may be a deal breaker. But I am certain there is always a way around this for the advanced users.
4) N7100 doesn't have an LTE radio. Tmo's variant potential has this feature. That adds a little future proofing value to it. Check engadget's latest review of Tmo's variant. To quote:
"Also, according to the T889's FCC application, the device includes support for LTE bands 4 (AWS) and 17, though this particular set of radios is currently locked on T-Mobile. We're hoping the AWS LTE band will be enabled for us as soon as the network is ready to push ahead with its next-gen technology, but we haven't heard any official word from Magenta about this. Regardless of what happens, we wouldn't put it past hackers Android programming aficionados to come up with a way of taking advantage of this."
Regardless, by the time LTE would be fully and satisfactorily enforced, we all would have probably moved on to another device.
trojanlawyer said:
So would you be able to tell me if the T-mo Note and the N7100 are exact the same dimensions/shape. I want to buy a case for the T-mo version but I think all the ones on ebay are for the N7100. Maybe you can switch out battery covers to see if they fit. Thanks!
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Click to collapse
They are the same damn phone except for the International version is made in Korean (says on label) and the U.S. variants are made in China (again, on the label) but the specs are the same as far as the meat and bones and the accessories will all work together just like the Galaxy S 3.... I have both a T-mobile (which I picked up today) Titanium color and An International Note in white and my T-mobile is performing a tad quicker as far as benchmarks but that really does not mean much... As far as where it's made.... I, personally, don't care cause they are both the same phone and qc for Samsung (in general) is the same across the board. I almost want to keep the T-mobile AND the International but I don't know if my budget will like that although I did get the International N7100 for $589.99 plus $12.00 back in ebay bucks so I can't complain on the price! The T-mobile was $688.00 OTD when I purchased it today but the HUGE difference is that the T-mobile will work on HSPA+ networks with both T-mobile and AT&T (if unlocked) and the International is edge on T-mobile(nothin you can do)... So I have more options as far as Pre-paid services and I can obtain insurance or a warranty without a problem in the US with the T-mobile version also... Another big plus! The International version is nice because it has hardly any bloat and it gets updates quickly! Who knows when we will see multitasking on the T-mobile version although they aren't as bad as some networks for updates... My opinions on the two versions....
EDIT: What he said above.... LOL He beat me to it! **I also notice on the T-mobile version that when you go to the dialer and press *#0*# there are more test options....??**
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http://www.airportal.de/
Quick comment - checked back of my phone and it says made in Korea . My model jumber is SGH-T889v. Thanks!
Aren't the white ones made in Korea?
Kawaisa - I have the titanium grey - the SGH-T889v I have is the Canadian variant.
That's one way to look at it I guess. If you get 1900 Mhz at your house and don't want to use your wifi, ok. I would take the Tmo version with wifi calling app and HSPA+42 radio with next years LTE bands built in and just run a debloated stock rom when they start popping up here (or pull your own bloat out using TB). I got one today at Tmo, rooted it, uninstalled a bunch of garbage, and am really happy with the device. The only thing I "want" is the TV animation when shutting the screen off lol. Oh, and I don't like the boot audio either of the SGH-T889, but that will change in a week or so when ROM's start getting released To each there own, although I'd bet the N7100 will get superior dev support...
Kawaisa said:
Aren't the white ones made in Korea?
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I would like to know too. Does anyone have the White US version and where it was made?
I have the white where i can check that
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
AndroidNoober said:
I have the white where i can check that
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
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Behind the phone, under the battery in the back. Thanks.
Tmo white note 2 is Made in china
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
I'm going to receive my T-Mobile Note2 in a few days and I chose it pretty much for the same reasons as what had already been stated.
I am not based in the US..but I'm based in the Philippines and will just unlock my Note2. I got it through Wirefly so the price difference really did sway me to get it over the international variant. I also like that it is LTE capable so at least it's future proof somehow.
I am very capable of tinkering with phones so I can easily get rid of bloat and such.
My main concern is the amount of dev support this would be getting. I would imagine that due to the similar hardware, porting ROMs meant for international version would be relatively easy.
I'm wondering though if I could just flash an international based ROM straight away since I don't intend to use this with TMO anyway so I can live without sms/call/data of TMO as long as it can still somehow work with my international SIM and the phone still fully function.. I don't want to wait for updates via carrier.
I've read several of you are talking about uninstalling bloatware, wouldn't this hinder in the OTA update process (we should get one soon for the multi-window feature) whenever it gets pushed out. I thought it was best to disable or freeze the apps through TB rather than uninstalling it, could someone clarify that for me?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
GN2 TMo on ATT with 3G speeds?
shojus said:
They are the same damn phone except for the International version is made in Korean (says on label) and the U.S. variants are made in China (again, on the label) but the specs are the same as far as the meat and bones and the accessories will all work together just like the Galaxy S 3.... I have both a T-mobile (which I picked up today) Titanium color and An International Note in white and my T-mobile is performing a tad quicker as far as benchmarks but that really does not mean much... As far as where it's made.... I, personally, don't care cause they are both the same phone and qc for Samsung (in general) is the same across the board. I almost want to keep the T-mobile AND the International but I don't know if my budget will like that although I did get the International N7100 for $589.99 plus $12.00 back in ebay bucks so I can't complain on the price! The T-mobile was $688.00 OTD when I purchased it today but the HUGE difference is that the T-mobile will work on HSPA+ networks with both T-mobile and AT&T (if unlocked) and the International is edge on T-mobile(nothin you can do)... So I have more options as far as Pre-paid services and I can obtain insurance or a warranty without a problem in the US with the T-mobile version also... Another big plus! The International version is nice because it has hardly any bloat and it gets updates quickly! Who knows when we will see multitasking on the T-mobile version although they aren't as bad as some networks for updates... My opinions on the two versions....
EDIT: What he said above.... LOL He beat me to it! **I also notice on the T-mobile version that when you go to the dialer and press *#0*# there are more test options....??**
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Besides unlocking a TMo note 2, did you have to do anything else to make it work on 3G on ATT? Did you actually test that it would work on ATT 3G or this is just a guess based on specs?
dont be mad now that the cat is out of the bag that tmobile galaxy note 2 has LTE
RE: Bloatware
its called root and titanium backup if you want the Tmo version and no bloatware. root is achievable on the Tmo Note 2, along w/CWM. i am sticking w/the stock rom since i plan to use S-Pen quite a bit. we'll see as the weeks go by and roms start to appear.
i went the tmo vs international due to that 1900 isn't in my area yet and won't be until end of year and our version as prev noted does have the LTE hardware and cheaper than importing an unlocked phone. has anyone noticed VERY slow A-GPS lockons when in doors? my gnex was freakin instant indoors.
Can anyone else post what color they have and where it was Made?
I was reading that the international ones have Made in Korea, Made in China, and Made by Samsung.
Thanks.
As with just about every AT&T phone now a days it seems stuff is missing or gimped from the international models.
Already it seems like the Note II has only Tri-Band 3G and possibly no FM Radio, I've also heard something in the forums of it only supporting 21mpbs 3G rather than 42?mbps 3G like on the international models... can anyone confirm these things or know of anything else the AT&T Note II is missing? I'm really disappointed with this kind of stuff.
KosanRio said:
As with just about every AT&T phone now a days it seems stuff is missing or gimped from the international models.
Already it seems like the Note II has only Tri-Band 3G and possibly no FM Radio, I've also heard something in the forums of it only supporting 21mpbs 3G rather than 42?mbps 3G like on the international models... can anyone confirm these things or know of anything else the AT&T Note II is missing? I'm really disappointed with this kind of stuff.
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Iirc att doesn't even support 42mbps, that's Tmobiles area. We have LTE, which is better. No FM radio is on all US versions. Blame the FCC
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
if it was the FCC why would the FCC approve the int note for use in USA?
Mrglass86 said:
if it was the FCC why would the FCC approve the int note for use in USA?
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or the FM radios on other US branded phones? ATT wants people to use data
tbong777 said:
or the FM radios on other US branded phones? ATT wants people to use data
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but.... it's not just ATT.
Some people just have weird personal vendettas against some cell companies saying they're "gimping" their phones. There is usually a pretty good reason. Like everyone was freaking over the s3 only getting a dual core in the US but it was because the chipsets didn't support LTE yet. Is that the carriers fault? Nope. Sure ATT wants you to use more data (they aren't a NPO lol) but they aren't the only ones to blame for stuff.
AT&T negatives:
LTE will use more battery power (even if you don't have LTE towers in your area or mess with the APNs - there's currently no known way to disable the LTE chip so it will draw power at least searching for a LTE signal.) For some, the positives of LTE outweigh this concern.
Carrier locked device - can't toss in a tmobile SIM and expect it to work. On the other hand, it's usually possible to SIM unlock the phones if you can talk AT&T into it and/or pay someone for a code.
Carrier controlled firmware updates - AT&T devices are typically 3-6 months (and more in many cases) behind international phones on firmware updates including bug fixes. The only carrier slower than AT&T for firmware updates is Verizon (and they might actually get the SGS3 to JB before AT&T does.) It's quite possible that a serious bug is found on the gnote2 and gets fixed for N7100 users, but AT&T (and other US carrier) users are left having to deal with the bug.
Carrier bloat. (Most of this can be frozen, but there might be parts coupled tightly enough with the rest of the firmware that it's difficult/impossible to properly disable it.) In some cases, a user actually might want some of the carrier bloat, however.
Missing firmware items - This goes further than just the FM Radio. I noticed that on my i9300 (international SGS3) there were many more programs than on my wife's AT&T branded SGS3. For example, dropbox, samsung apps, etc. Some of these are just bloat (so don't matter) and some are significant depending on the user.
Possibly a locked bootloader - this is unlikely, but until the phone is released, it's always possible.
Lack of (or less) support in the developer community. The AT&T phone likely won't get near the level of developer support that the international one gets. Put another way, for every 1 developer with a 317m, there are a dozen with n7100's.
This is only a partial list and is likely missing items that we won't realize until the phone is released. On the other hand, I've purposely included at least one item I doubt will be an issue (bootloader) to make the point that we don't yet have complete info.
Gary
Seeing as it's already been successfully rooted, I don't think the bootloader is an issue.
gtalum said:
Seeing as it's already been successfully rooted, I don't think the bootloader is an issue.
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I don't think it'll be an issue either, but the AT&T model hasn't been rooted - the Canadian variant has. Being that the devices will have different pre-loaded bloat, it's also possible they'll have different bootloaders.
garyd9 said:
I don't think it'll be an issue either, but the AT&T model hasn't been rooted - the Canadian variant has. Being that the devices will have different pre-loaded bloat, it's also possible they'll have different bootloaders.
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Good point. I'm assuming they'll be the same.
garyd9 said:
I don't think it'll be an issue either, but the AT&T model hasn't been rooted - the Canadian variant has. Being that the devices will have different pre-loaded bloat, it's also possible they'll have different bootloaders.
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This was back in Sept, posted by Briefmobile.. they've been pretty good with their sources.. and per article, the source has been spot on with the info it's been giving out... and it's said to have been rooted and comes with an unlock bootloader..
http://briefmobile.com/exclusive-att-galaxy-note-2-already-rooted-before-release
I have the ATT early, and I can assure you it is cwm-able and rootable.
garyd9 said:
AT&T negatives:
Lack of (or less) support in the developer community. The AT&T phone likely won't get near the level of developer support that the international one gets. Put another way, for every 1 developer with a 317m, there are a dozen with n7100's.
Gary
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Serious question, but why would this be the case? Other than the radios, aren't the hardware on all of the US variants and the international Note II pretty much identical? Couldn't we just flash the rom, but keep the modem corresponding to our carrier?
Not a developer or anything, but I'm just a curious consumer that might buy the Note II when it gets released on AT&T
crazililazn said:
Serious question, but why would this be the case? Other than the radios, aren't the hardware on all of the US variants and the international Note II pretty much identical? Couldn't we just flash the rom, but keep the modem corresponding to our carrier?
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That would be ideal, but it's doubtful. N7100 firmware doesn't work on the N7105 (international LTE), and there have already been kernel-level differences noticed between the 7105 and the tmobile variant. Chances are high that the tmobile variant is closer to the 317 than the 7105.
Of course, it's all guesswork until we start actually messing with the phone.
2 more (slight) cons. Native tethering on ATT is not free. And no FM radio app. Hopefully both can be fixed later by devs.
Lack of FM radio - pretty trivial I think.
Lack of a 32/64gb version of the phone (16gb only). Also trivial considering 64gb cards.
ATT tethering not being free isn't only an ATT issue and it's also not a phone hardware limitation....so I don't see this as a con of the phone itself, rather a carrier con. You can get this via rom
I read where someone mentioned that the AT&T model was missing the multi-window feature. Is it still not on the device? The international Note 2 has it. That's a pretty big omission if it's not there. I've been thinking really hard about which one to get but I'd rather have no bloat, fast(er) updates, and full manufacturer software instead of a carrier crippled device with LTE.
SkizzMcNizz said:
I read where someone mentioned that the AT&T model was missing the multi-window feature. Is it still not on the device? The international Note 2 has it. That's a pretty big omission if it's not there. I've been thinking really hard about which one to get but I'd rather have no bloat, fast(er) updates, and full manufacturer software instead of a carrier crippled device with LTE.
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I kind of agree with this (especially since LTE is over a year away here) No FM radio ( I do use it and it saves battery as well as a lot Data)
Deal breaker is ROM development though. I learned my lesson with the Captivate insofar as development I was really hoping the ATT version would be equivalent to the International. Have to wait and see.
I realize that people really want custom ROMs, as I would, but considering how much better the hardware and OS is getting (note 2 cpu + project butter + 2gb ram) is bloat really so much of an issue?
Seems to me that we can always remove some of the apps we don't need.
Now as for customizations, like the "phablet" stuff that Jamie did with the paranoidandroid rom, those I'll miss.
But overall I'm excited to see how well this phone works, I should have mine on the 7th. I'm looking forward to the new S-Pen integration features, which should be really cool I hope. I am also anticipating a very smooth running device even with the bloated ATT rom As to custom rom's we'll have to see how it goes and keep our hopes up.
SkizzMcNizz said:
I read where someone mentioned that the AT&T model was missing the multi-window feature. Is it still not on the device? The international Note 2 has it. That's a pretty big omission if it's not there. I've been thinking really hard about which one to get but I'd rather have no bloat, fast(er) updates, and full manufacturer software instead of a carrier crippled device with LTE.
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Pretty sure the i.international models did not have the multi window function on release either (except maybe the Korean version). They got it in an update.
from a galaxy far far away....
tbong777 said:
I kind of agree with this (especially since LTE is over a year away here) No FM radio ( I do use it and it saves battery as well as a lot Data)
Deal breaker is ROM development though. I learned my lesson with the Captivate insofar as development I was really hoping the ATT version would be equivalent to the International. Have to wait and see.
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Click to collapse
Same with the original Note vs. the international Note. The development was totally different. The development for the AT&T Note didn't even compare to the international. I almost traded my att Note for an international model but I decided to sell it and buy the One X. I forgot to mention in my previous post but that is also a huge consideration. It looks like, as of now, I'll be going with the International Note 2. I use Straight Talk on my One X and plan to with any of my future phones so it's not like I'd be able to use LTE if even my area did have it, which still won't be for at least another year or so.
I wonder tho if the development will be roughly the same since they have the same chipset this time around. Such as roms for the international being portable to the carrier versions and vice versa. Still, even with that, it looks like international versions usually have more development. Plus they get a head start.