Ridiculous data speeds while on a call - AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note II

Ok... I have gone round and round and round and round with AT&T on this issue. My data is nearly unusable while on a call. Most of the time it times out, and when it does work, it is ridiculously slow.
I have gone through the stores, technical support, wrote their corporate headquarters (which got no response whatsoever), Twitter, and finally I filed a complaint with the FCC.
The FCC complaint is where I am now, and they want to work with me on this issue. They keep focusing on the towers in my area (although it happens EVERYWHERE), and my phone (even though this is my second phone). Basically I am tired of wasting my time with this issue, and I want to point them to this thread to tell them this this is NOT just me. Maybe it is the Note 2, but I think it is their network. Hopefully this thread will tell me AND THEM.
So with that said, I would love for everyone to post their City/State, and 2 speed tests (one while on a call and one while not on a call). Not moving would be preferable.
I will post mine shortly.

Tampa Bay North
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 4

Not sure why you so frustrated. But signal's are suppose to drop while on a call!! Your using data, and yes we can be on the web and be on a call at the same time. I've been doing it since I was first on AT&T. :thumbup:
But I'm thinking it's your area or the modem. Here's my results after reading your post. I decided to go out for breakfast and perform this test to see if it was that BAD! :what:
Here's my results:
NO CALL HERE
ON CALL NOW
Still above 10 mb down. BUT IT DID DROP DRASTICALLY BECAUSE I'M NO LONGER ON LTE CONNECTION.
Just my 2¢®
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 4

To answer your question, I am upset because they advertise themselves as being able to use voice and data simultaneously and I can barely use my data while on a call. Most of the time it times out and I constantly have to redo my request. I think my problem is the ability to send data (which include acknowledgements and the request). I don't so much mind that it slows down, but being nearly unusable is a whole other story.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 4

Milkman00 said:
To answer your question, I am upset because they advertise themselves as being able to use voice and data simultaneously and I can barely use my data while on a call. Most of the time it times out and I constantly have to redo my request. I think my problem is the ability to send data (which include acknowledgements and the request). I don't so much mind that it slows down, but being nearly unusable is a whole other story.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And that I have been able to do always. Be on a call and the web. But I understand your frustration on it not writing when you want. And it being so slow.
Not sure what Rom, modem your using? But I don't really see that much of a problem. Unless I'm inside of a metal building!!
Lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 4

Yeah look at my on call upload speed compared to you. Definitely a problem.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 4

Milkman00 said:
Yeah look at my on call upload speed compared to you. Definitely a problem.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you completely. On that note! What modem are you using. Take a screen shot of your about phone. Just curious if that is what is causing your problem. Wondering if your on the latest modem release..
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 4

I am rooted stock.

4.1.2
i317ucamc3
3.0.31-578342

As an RBS Engineer I can explain why this happens to you.
Its due to a few reasons
1. What frequency is 1st carrier in your market 1900mhz or 850mhz
2. How many carriers are in your particular area (the most i have seen is 5 in the major metro areas)
3. How far away the next tower is to you
4. How saturated each carrier is
Whwn testing a new LTE site i will get 30-50mbps download and 20mbps up
Thats cuz im the ONLY one on the carrier at the time.
So a tower is made up of carriers, each carrier has sectors with a corresponding antenna that face a different direction (Alpha Beta Gamma)
You have multiple carriers in areas where theres heavy traffic.
now back to your phone its multi banded 1900, 850, 700/2100(lte)
If your market is 850 first carrier and 850 second carrier your data while on the phone will be almost non existent becuase that band on your phone is in use with your call. But if you have 850 1st carrier then 1900 second carrier or vice versa then your speeds will be decent. For whatever reason when you place a call your data automatically switches to HSPA most likely due to the VOIP on the LTE band leaving only the 3g band for data. Now I dont engineer the network itself becuase I dont understand why LTE isnt left open for data while were on calls.
I dont know if i confused you more or if that helped.
Hope it helped though
Its like a highway
A carrier is a single highway with multiple lanes 850mhz 1900mhz 700mhz(for lte 1st carrier) and 2100 (for lte 2nd)
If your area has only 2 carriers 850mhz and 850mhz its like 2 lanes on a highway going in the same direction and the other side of the highway is blocked
If its 850mhz and 1900mhz but there is heavy traffic and not enough carriers its like bieng stuck in 5 o clock traffic and trying to turn around. Its busy on both lanes so everything is slow
Each carrier adds lanes for traffic in a typical metro area you will see someting like
1st carrier 850mhz
2nd 850mhz
3rd 1900mhz
4th 850 mhz
5th 1900 mhz
LTE 1st carrier 700mhz
LTE 2nd Carrier 2100mhz
Thats a lot of lanes for traffic

tramane said:
As an RBS Engineer I can explain why this happens to you.
Its due to a few reasons
1. What frequency is 1st carrier in your market 1900mhz or 850mhz
2. How many carriers are in your particular area (the most i have seen is 5 in the major metro areas)
3. How far away the next tower is to you
4. How saturated each carrier is
Whwn testing a new LTE site i will get 30-50mbps download and 20mbps up
Thats cuz im the ONLY one on the carrier at the time.
So a tower is made up of carriers, each carrier has sectors with a corresponding antenna that face a different direction (Alpha Beta Gamma)
You have multiple carriers in areas where theres heavy traffic.
now back to your phone its multi banded 1900, 850, 700/2100(lte)
If your market is 850 first carrier and 850 second carrier your data while on the phone will be almost non existent becuase that band on your phone is in use with your call. But if you have 850 1st carrier then 1900 second carrier or vice versa then your speeds will be decent. For whatever reason when you place a call your data automatically switches to HSPA most likely due to the VOIP on the LTE band leaving only the 3g band for data. Now I dont engineer the network itself becuase I dont understand why LTE isnt left open for data while were on calls.
I dont know if i confused you more or if that helped.
Hope it helped though
Its like a highway
A carrier is a single highway with multiple lanes 850mhz 1900mhz 700mhz(for lte 1st carrier) and 2100 (for lte 2nd)
If your area has only 2 carriers 850mhz and 850mhz its like 2 lanes on a highway going in the same direction and the other side of the highway is blocked
If its 850mhz and 1900mhz but there is heavy traffic and not enough carriers its like bieng stuck in 5 o clock traffic and trying to turn around. Its busy on both lanes so everything is slow
Each carrier adds lanes for traffic in a typical metro area you will see someting like
1st carrier 850mhz
2nd 850mhz
3rd 1900mhz
4th 850 mhz
5th 1900 mhz
LTE 1st carrier 700mhz
LTE 2nd Carrier 2100mhz
Thats a lot of lanes for traffic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it seems to happen everywhere that I go which is as far as 70 miles in any direction. The big 3 are in my area (Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon) as well as T-Mobile and Metro (but I am not sure if Metro is their own or they use other carriers).
The major metro areas that I visit are Tampa and Orlando and they do the same thing. I live in a rural area (so the towers are not very saturated), and there is a tower about 1.5 miles (tops) in either direction of me.
I am not sure what frequency my area is. How can I tell?

This is expected. AT&T doesn't support voice over LTE yet, so when you place a phone call the modem needs to switch back to the 3G/Fake 4G HSPA+ network. I'm guessing you just have poor 4G reception. Can you disable LTE and then do a speedtest on the regular 4G network?

Prior to the LTE implementation I was getting far better speeds on the HSPA+ network..
How do I disable LTE to get a current HSPA+ test?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 4

Looks like this might be the easiest way: http://forums.androidcentral.com/t-...3-you-can-disable-hspa-too-2.html#post2551614
Edit: while on a call I get 1663Kbps down and just 93Kbps up, so this might not be unique to you.

saturnspike said:
This is expected. AT&T doesn't support voice over LTE yet, so when you place a phone call the modem needs to switch back to the 3G/Fake 4G HSPA+ network. I'm guessing you just have poor 4G reception. Can you disable LTE and then do a speedtest on the regular 4G network?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On HSPA+ I get 2.2 meg down and almost 1 meg up (910k).
FAR better than what I get while on a call in an LTE area.

OK after reading this thread. Do y'all think this problem will be fixed for the Note 3 because I read the note 3 will have the strongest LTE chip available? Or will it be determined on how heavy data traffic is on your frequency?

At&t hasn't supported voice+LTE data. Its the original voice+3G data. Its not the phone.

A given market can be very large it can encompass a whole state. I work in the south texas market which is basically EVERYTHING south of killeen texas. I have driven as far as 6hrs to south padre from austin and I remain in the same market. That was almost 400 miles south. Houston is part of the same market as well as all the way to east to the border of lousiana.

rangercaptain said:
At&t hasn't supported voice+LTE data. Its the original voice+3G data. Its not the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ranger - thanks but that doesn't explain the problems I experienced.

tramane said:
A given market can be very large it can encompass a whole state. I work in the south texas market which is basically EVERYTHING south of killeen texas. I have driven as far as 6hrs to south padre from austin and I remain in the same market. That was almost 400 miles south. Houston is part of the same market as well as all the way to east to the border of lousiana.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So how can I determine the frequency of my market to answer your original inquiry??

Related

Could Verizon switch from cdma?

Would it ever be possible for Verizon to become a cdma provider? I know nothing about how it works honestly but if its something they could chnagr and keep existing network they could if they'd have to start over obviously not. Just curious since where I live Verizon is the only choice but GSM just beats cdma on many levels. Sorry if this is in the wrong section or if it sounds as dumb as I fear it does.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
No. They're (effectively) never going to drop CDMA. For the foreseeable future they will be using CDMA as a legacy fallback network. Eventually they'll push to VoLTE (Voice over LTE) and start to phase out sales of new CDMA devices, but that's far into the future. They still have to support millions of legacy CDMA devices.
Verizon is too large with too big of a user base to pivot to GSM. Honestly at this point even if they wanted to (they don't), it wouldn't be worth the time and effort considering they're pushing LTE as their next network technology. It'd just be a complete waste of time.
Damn. Reading about all the new nexus devices being only cdma has me hating where I live as T-Mobile or att would have no service 90% of the time.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
Verizon is switching to GSM since they are moving to lte and the lte voice. They'll never go backwards to hspa though, and they likely will keep their cdma network for more than 5 years.
Notice new Verizon phones have sim cards?
RogerPodacter said:
Verizon is switching to GSM since they are moving to lte and the lte voice. They'll never go backwards to hspa though, and they likely will keep their cdma network for more than 5 years.
Notice new Verizon phones have sim cards?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya isn't lte the GSM type tech and umb or whatever its called was the cdma technology.
I was reading that vodafone (one of the biggest carriers in the world, GSM, has stock in verizon) and Verizon decided together that lte was the future instead of the cdma version.
Even with the switch to LTE, Verizon's LTE operates in the 700MHz band, which none of the GSM/LTE networks will be compatible with. The result will in all likelihood be two separate LTE networks.
With the investment that Verizon already has in their 700MHz equipment, it is highly unlikely for them to make a switch.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
cslester said:
Even with the switch to LTE, Verizon's LTE operates in the 700MHz band, which none of the GSM/LTE networks will be compatible with. The result will in all likelihood be two separate LTE networks.
With the investment that Verizon already has in their 700MHz equipment, it is highly unlikely for them to make a switch.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ATT is 700mhz as well.
Cdma keeps connection when traveling between towers much more reliably as well.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
adrynalyne said:
ATT is 700mhz as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But different "parts" of 700mhz.
I don't know whether or not cell phone providers actually do this, (I'm not terribly familiar with how they work) but you can fit multiple carrier signals into the same frequency by adjusting the phase and polarity.
I know satellite providers do this. The even transponders use linear polarity (modulating based on variable strength of the signal,) and the odd ones use circular polarity (modulating based on the directional vector at a given point in time.) In addition to that (and I don't think satellite providers do this yet) you can add a second linear modulation with a phase shift of 90 degrees to add yet another carrier signal.
adrynalyne said:
ATT is 700mhz as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, AT&T uses A & B blocks in lower 700MHz. VZW is C-Block Upper 700MHz. While you could probably make an LTE radio that combines the Lower A, B and C (lower C =! upper C), getting all four bands to play nice is going to be very difficult.
blackhand1001 said:
Cdma keeps connection when traveling between towers much more reliably as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So does GSM, as long as it's operating in UMTS mode (which it will, unless you're making a voice call on T-Mobile from an airboat 5 miles south of Alligator Alley (I-75) in the middle of the Florida Everglades & barely have a viable signal to begin with, in which case it will fall back to legacy TDMA-based 1G GSM).
I know satellite providers do this. The even transponders use linear polarity (modulating based on variable strength of the signal,) and the odd ones use circular polarity (modulating based on the directional vector at a given point in time.) In addition to that (and I don't think satellite providers do this yet) you can add a second linear modulation with a phase shift of 90 degrees to add yet another carrier signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They could... except then your phone would only work when uplinked & downlinked through a fixed, securely-mounted antenna. Doppler shift does terrible things to phase-based modulation. Just ask anybody who's ever tried to watch an 8VSB-modulated ATSC TV transmission during a hurricane (when the transmission antenna is wobbling) or from a moving vehicle. In theory, there are exotic antenna designs that can untangle polarized signals while moving by simultaneously receiving multiple phases & using a DSP to separate them out "after the fact", but they're *way* out of the current realm of viability for mass-market consumer electronics, and WAY more demanding than a 2" metal stub embedded inside your phone.
Truth be told, spectrum isn't the problem. Tower density is. The nice thing about CDMA is that you can literally fix almost any bandwidth problem just by throwing more tower sites at it & letting the network sort itself out like magic. CDMA has very few "hard" limits. Some, like 1.25MHz or 5MHz channel pairs, are carved in stone and can't be engineered around. Once you're in the club and own the spectrum, though, it's really just a question of "what kind of tower density are you willing to pay for. Crowded mall? Give it its own cell. More-crowded mall? Spread a dozen picocells around it, especially the food court.
Verizon is unlikely to ever support legacy GSM or UMTS directly, and can really only evolve into LTE going forward. Sprint could, in theory, buy T-Mobile, and instantly consolidate GSM/UMTS into any cell site where it has deployed Network Vision (~3% of the US, so far) as long as it had the use of T-Mobile's spectrum, with little more than a site visit, software upgrade, and some software reconfiguration. Verizon can't do that, because it ALREADY upgraded its network, and has too much in sunk costs to scrap everything and redo every cell site the way Sprint is (and MUST). Truth be told, Sprint won't do it either unless it merges with T-Mo, and the feds are unlikely to allow it (it's not 100% impossible, but VERY unlikely to happen unless there were simultaneously a merger between US Cellular, MetroPCS, Sprint's "rural" partner networks, and/or Cincinnati Bell (to preserve the status quo Quadropoly).
AT&T and Cingular switched to GSM because they had no meaningful upgrade path from TDMA. In fact, AT&T was actually planning to switch to CDMA until they bought Cingular, and altered their plans only because Cingular was already deploying GSM. In theory, Sprint+Tmo (with the spectrum of both) could semi-gracefully migrate towards GSM with backwards compatibility for CDMA2000 voice and 1xRTT (like Telus did in Canada), but NOBODY could really get away with "flipping a switch" and forcing a wholesale changeover anymore. Hell, Sprint doesn't even have enough Nextel customers left to pay the electric bill for their added tower costs, and the official iDEN sunset is STILL two years away.

when will we have LTE in NYC?

When will they roll out LTE in NYC? Will LTE have better service inside Manhattan buildings?
My old phone was a metro pcs esteem LTE and I had better reception inside buildings than the. NOte II
With hspa. Does anyone know what's up?
No idea though it would be one of, if not the launch market since it's easily the largest market. DC-HSPA+ has (and still does) serve me well here in NYC so I'm in no rush for LTE.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
billyrebo said:
When will they roll out LTE in NYC? Will LTE have better service inside Manhattan buildings?
My old phone was a metro pcs esteem LTE and I had better reception inside buildings than the. NOte II
With hspa. Does anyone know what's up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's possible the tower site from Metro is closer than from T-Mobile.
No idea, but I'd take a guess sometime around late summer barring them finding a way to use Metro's current LTE network. NYC is a big market so it's never one of the first networks to go live just because of it's sheer size and population density. Tmo will have to set up a lot of hardware for it if they can't use Metro's
Just my thoughts, should not be considered fact
noted for future reference on my Note 2
T-Mobile openly said that most MetroPCS DAS (distributed antenna systems) mostly installed indoor in major buildings are gonna stay and get repurposed for T-Mobile's LTE/HSPA+ network, so we should be getting great indoor coverage.
Definitely not first or second, that's kc and vegas
better indoor service thats great news
guys, don't get too excited over the metroPCS towers. the merger is not complete, and apparently delayed due to some suit filed by metroPCS customers. even without the suit, mergers take a long, long time.
Probably not for a while, tmo in the tristate could easily crash their system if they introduce it too early and not work out all the bugs
Sent from my SGH-T889 using XDA Premium HD app

can I have my sprint note 2 work on Verizon

I'm sick of slow 3g speeds, my area got wimax so we are going to be last for lte (not that I got any wimax with my gs2) so I've been thinking of switching to Verizon... I'm still not decided but if I do decide can I take the phone with me or is it a waste of 800 dollars if I do it?
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app
I believe it's possible, but I'm not familiar with the process. And it definitely looks like it has some challenges from what I've read on some of the posts for going to TMobile, Boost, and so forth. I would definitely look at some of those threads to see what it involved.
If you did pay $800, you can probably sell it and get most of your money back.
As for LTE, I think if you got WiMax in your area, you'll probably get LTE sooner or later. Maybe you should ask Sprint when they plan to bring it to you market. I lieve in araa that didn't have WiMax, but I could drive fifteen minutes and get to areas that did. But we got LTE in the areas where I live and work. And most of the WiMax near me got LTE as well.
As for 3G with LTE, although the speeds are increased, in my area, it's not that big of a bump. It's only about .50Mbps, especially compared to the LTE speeds. I find I'm averaging around 1.2Mpbs on 3G, whereas before it was around .8Mbps.
Plus, you'll definitely want to see what the Verizon are getting, and maybe specifically on the GN2. Then you'll need to consider how, if any, change to how you'll use the GN2. Are you going to use more data, say more media streaming? I'm not that familiar with Verizon, but I'm not sure if they offer unlimited data. I know they use to. It's possible they may throttle as well. If there isn't a unlimited, then you'll need to know how much you use and how much that usage will cost on them.
I understand your frustration about the speeds. When I had the BlackBerry Curve for Sprint, which was on the iDEN network, the data speeds were so slow, I literally couldn't stream audio without a lot buffering; It was like being back on the 54.4k modem days on the PC. Going to the Evo 4G from that, even without the WiMax available, was like lightening fast. Sprint will bring LTE. It's just a question of when.
It depends on the frequency that the sprint note 2 supports. It has to have the 700 mhz frequency for verizon lte. I havent looked at sprints note 2 frequencys on this phone or not. Look into and see what all frequencies the sprint variant supports.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
musclehead84 said:
It depends on the frequency that the sprint note 2 supports. It has to have the 700 mhz frequency for verizon lte. I havent looked at sprints note 2 frequencys on this phone or not. Look into and see what all frequencies the sprint variant supports.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lte will never work the sprint lte frequencies are 800, 1900 and 2500mhz and I'm not even certain current device's support 800 or 2500mhz yet as they won't be available until mid 2014 when iden is fully decommissioned for 800 and wimax is decommissioned for 2500
☆SoA: Son's of Android™☆
I like to break stuff!
The fact that your area got Wimax has no relation whatsoever to the order or timeframe that it will receive LTE.
For Sprint LTE info please refer to s4gru.com, specifically http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/212-network-visionlte-deployment-running-list/ in which they have basically ALL the LTE rollout information. Moreover, if you donate any amount (say $3) you become a sponsor and have access to maps with the towers that already have LTE etc.
luisrodg said:
The fact that your area got Wimax has no relation whatsoever to the order or timeframe that it will receive LTE.
For Sprint LTE info please refer to s4gru.com, specifically http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/212-network-visionlte-deployment-running-list/ in which they have basically ALL the LTE rollout information. Moreover, if you donate any amount (say $3) you become a sponsor and have access to maps with the towers that already have LTE etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My area isn't even mentioned on the site... I tried searching my state and the biggest city around and the wasn't any matches. I live in Utah, neither Utah nor salt Lake City are mentioned on any of the 4 rounds of rollouts... Yet I got Wimax
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

[Q] HSPA+ speed goes down after LTE launch

Dont know If anyone noticed this. I live in wash dc and 3 days ago LTE went live here. The thing is this though: I have a galaxy s3 with tmobile which supports hspa+ 42MB but not LTE and before the greatest LTE lauch here I was having like 21MB/s down and 3MB/s up on HSPA+ network. However after the LTE lauch my speeds on HSPA+ network went way down to constant 8MB/s down and 2.2MB/s up no matter what time u do the test no matter what server u use. I just hope this is not just another Tmobile trick to force me to update to an LTE ready device to be able to access higher speeds after I just got the not LTE ready galaxy s3. Can anyone in an LTE area confirm this?
My speeds are a little slower
And I'm getting more 3g and less HSPA
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
It all depends on spectrum licenses in your area. Where T-Mobile has to refarm their spectrum for LTE it will cut HSPA down to 21mbps.
Please read forum rules before posting
Questions and help issues go in Q&A
Thread moved
Thank you for your cooperation
Friendly Neighborhood Moderator
Well now that sucks. So my speeds go down when they turn on LTE? How lovely...
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
I think the problem is stemming from excess bandwidth consumption by those markets that have LTE and people with Note IIs ready to use it. The backhaul needs to be increased. Just like what happened when they launched UMTS... Give it some time. Or go get an LTE phone.
I live in KC and have not experienced any drop. My market and towers were confirmed by tmo to be running both.
The issue really is how good your PCS (1900) coverage is... The refarming will slide the AWS HSPA to 1900 to make room for LTE. This will cause problems in markets that don't have full PCS licenses or decent PCS coverage. And obviously indoor speeds will be slower when on PCS due to building penetration.
I also remember reading that part of the reason T-Mobile's HSPA+ was so fast was the fact that it uses one frequency for upload and the other for download, whereas PCS just uses one frequency for both. So I guess we will be as average as the rest now?
No data rate change here
jcbofkc said:
I live in KC and have not experienced any drop. My market and towers were confirmed by tmo to be running both.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for LV. I have not noticed any major drop in data speed.

Will the m919 get 3G in Brazil?

This is Brazil´s top four networks frequencies;
1-Vivo
GSM-900/1800 (GPRS, EDGE)
2100 MHz UMTS, HSDPA, HSPA+
2600 MHz LTE
2-TIM
GSM-900/1800 (GPRS, EDGE)
2100 MHz UMTS, HSDPA,
2600 MHz LTE
3-Claro
GSM-900/1800 (GPRS, EDGE)
2100 MHz UMTS, HSDPA, HSPA+
2600 MHz LTE
4-Oi
GSM-1800 (GPRS, EDGE)
2100 MHz UMTS, HSDPA
2600 MHz LTE
I know LTE won´t work, and from what I remember of Tmo´s 3G our S4 needs two bands to work (1700/2100 ?).
Can I make it work on a single 2100 band?
Or, am I really doomed and stuck with EDGE or worse?
Thanks
Is this a stupid question?
Its just a hard one to answer.. But you definitely won't get LTE, 3G/HSPA will probably be a hit or miss. Its not worth the gamble IMO
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
serio22 said:
Its just a hard one to answer.. But you definitely won't get LTE, 3G/HSPA will probably be a hit or miss. Its not worth the gamble IMO
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Unfortunately I already paid to get in. I´m in Brazil now for the world cup. I didn´t want to change my granfathered plan with tmo to get their "unlimited international data", and thinking about it, if I can get 3G with tmo over here then I can get with the local carriers. But what I´m afraid of is that tmo´s free data is only edge as they have a page saying "Standard speeds approx. 128 Kbps (for all countries)". So it wouldn´t do me much good to change the plans anyway.
What I was hoping was that the phone would be capable of using the 2100MHz both ways or that I could flash a radio that would allow the s4 to work that way.
I´ll test the first premise at the store on Wednesday. If anybody knows about the second one, please tell.
Thanks.
Oh I thought you lived in Brazil and was looking to get one.. And yup the standard is 2G unlimited but I think if you pay around $50 you get 5gb of high speed internet, which I guess would be 3g/hspa, don't know about LTE
Edit: there is a possibility 3g/h will work, all T-Mobile phones should support that band so hopefully it'll be able to pick it up
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
serio22 said:
Oh I thought you lived in Brazil and was looking to get one.. And yup the standard is 2G unlimited but I think if you pay around $50 you get 5gb of high speed internet, which I guess would be 3g/hspa, don't know about LTE
Edit: there is a possibility 3g/h will work, all T-Mobile phones should support that band so hopefully it'll be able to pick it up
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, well, well... unless my phone is reporting wrong or their hspa+ is real fast here, i think I'm getting LTE in Brasil with a US phone.
As soon as I put the SIM card in, a LTE 4G sign appeared on thr top right. I couldn't believe it so I did a test with that speedtest app (oogla?) and got around 15Mbps download and around 3Mbps upload. The bad part is that the app used 50MB for test, which cost me around a buck just for the test. But it made me so happy that I think it was worth it.
So what do you think of that? Is this a real fast 3g+, or does this phone have the LTE band (4?) they use here?
There are stories about it having all the bands, and maybe the limited bands story is just FUD.
Would their sim card be able to make changes to the phone? Cause I found a new app with the carrier name installed after I put the sim in, and my phone wasn't set to allow installation from 'unknown sources'.
pcmp said:
Well, well, well... unless my phone is reporting wrong or their hspa+ is real fast here, i think I'm getting LTE in Brasil with a US phone.
As soon as I put the SIM card in, a LTE 4G sign appeared on thr top right. I couldn't believe it so I did a test with that speedtest app (oogla?) and got around 15Mbps download and around 3Mbps upload. The bad part is that the app used 50MB for test, which cost me around a buck just for the test. But it made me so happy that I think it was worth it.
So what do you think of that? Is this a real fast 3g+, or does this phone have the LTE band (4?) they use here?
There are stories about it having all the bands, and maybe the limited bands story is just FUD.
Would their sim card be able to make changes to the phone? Cause I found a new app with the carrier name installed after I put the sim in, and my phone wasn't set to allow installation from 'unknown sources'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's surprising but yes it does have band 4 LTE, good to know it works!! didn't think 2600mhz would be band 4, or it may have larger support for LTE bands, couldn't say for sure since I never go out of the country to test on my own
Edit: and what do you mean making changes to the phone?
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
pcmp said:
Well, well, well... unless my phone is reporting wrong or their hspa+ is real fast here, i think I'm getting LTE in Brasil with a US phone.
As soon as I put the SIM card in, a LTE 4G sign appeared on thr top right. I couldn't believe it so I did a test with that speedtest app (oogla?) and got around 15Mbps download and around 3Mbps upload. The bad part is that the app used 50MB for test, which cost me around a buck just for the test. But it made me so happy that I think it was worth it.
So what do you think of that? Is this a real fast 3g+, or does this phone have the LTE band (4?) they use here?
There are stories about it having all the bands, and maybe the limited bands story is just FUD.
Would their sim card be able to make changes to the phone? Cause I found a new app with the carrier name installed after I put the sim in, and my phone wasn't set to allow installation from 'unknown sources'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you see the 4G LTE symbol in the notification bar, then you are using 4G LTE. Kewl.
Rob

Categories

Resources