Develop Bugs

[Q] Help Galaxy Note 2 on Tmobile USA

Okay, so I have my Galaxy Note 2 and here is the problem. I'm ONLY getting edge data. Now according to Wikipedia TMo's HSPA/HSAP+ runs on the 1900MHz band (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile_USA#Radio_frequency_spectrum_chart) which the phone is suppose to support. I assume I got the international version, though I got it from Newegg.com and it came with a US Charger and everything.
Can anyone help with this, is there a way to fix it, via any rooting means, etc? I'm ungoddly disappointed as I use my phone a LOT...i can't even use maps because I'm getting like 20K/s on Edge and that's just disgusting.

Unfortunately for you my friend the phone needs to support the 1700/2100 aws band. The international version that you have does not support it.
The best you can hope for is for tmobile to get there 1900 spectrum refarmed in your area to hspa+.
If I were you I would try sending the phone back and just get the Tmobile version when it's released tomorrow.
The only other option would be to sign up with at&T. You will get hspa speeds with them. Or buy the straight talk at&t SIM.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

busab said:
Unfortunately for you my friend the phone needs to support the 1700/2100 aws band. The international version that you have does not support it.
The best you can hope for is for tmobile to get there 1900 spectrum refarmed in your area to hspa+.
If I were you I would try sending the phone back and just get the Tmobile version when it's released tomorrow.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well.......damn...I can't afford to buy the phone straight out, I bought this one from Newegg using my bill me later credit card. So I didn't have to pay anything down either....this actually blows.
Is the wiki completely wrong? It says the 1700/2100 band is for LTE starting 2013. But the 1900MHz band began service in 2011. So are some areas of the US on 1900 and others on 1700/2100 still? Is there some where you can find out what band your area is on if that's the case?
Thanks for the update, btw.

Kaanha said:
Well.......damn...I can't afford to buy the phone straight out, I bought this one from Newegg using my bill me later credit card. So I didn't have to pay anything down either....this actually blows.
Is the wiki completely wrong? It says the 1700/2100 band is for LTE starting 2013. But the 1900MHz band began service in 2011. So are some areas of the US on 1900 and others on 1700/2100 still? Is there some where you can find out what band your area is on if that's the case?
Thanks for the update, btw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are only like 3 cities where the 1900 band will get HSPA+ on T-mobile.

Right tmobile is currently updating the 1900 band to hspa+. It is live in some areas like Las Vegas and parts of new york, while it is still in testing in many other areas across the country.
If you are not getting hspa+ speeds in your area I think it's safe to say it's not available in your area just yet.
This website shows areas where hspa+ has been spotted. But not officially live so they may not be available 100% of the time.
http://www.airportal.de/
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

Well this makes me kind of sick to my stomach. I'll have to decide what I want to do. They are planning on rolling out LTE in 2013...so...maybe HSPA+ will be moved to 1900MHz soon. Because I'm really loving this phone and don't really want to give it back and not be able to afford the official TMo version.
Choices Choices....
I'll have to see what Tmobile will let me do as well. Guess this is the price you pay for trying to keep up >.>

T-mobile claims the 1900 mhz refarming would be completed by the end of 2012. Check airportal.de (sorry noobs can't post outside links) to see if you are near any refarmed areas then test just to see if the hspa+ radio is working on your Note 2. I get 7-11mbps DL and 2-3 mbps UL on my Note 1 when there is hspa+ coverage.
I'm waiting to for the T-mo version to launch which is what I'll probably get. I believe it will have a faster hspa+ radio at 42mbps compared to the the international version's 21mbps. And possibly future proofed with LTE.

Baratheonist said:
T-mobile claims the 1900 mhz refarming would be completed by the end of 2012. Check airportal.de (sorry noobs can't post outside links) to see if you are near any refarmed areas then test just to see if the hspa+ radio is working on your Note 2. I get 7-11mbps DL and 2-3 mbps UL on my Note 1 when there is hspa+ coverage.
I'm waiting to for the T-mo version to launch which is what I'll probably get. I believe it will have a faster hspa+ radio at 42mbps compared to the the international version's 21mbps. And possibly future proofed with LTE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Baratheonist - Are you referring to the version that's launching tomorrow? I can't get H+ to work consistently on my Note 1 (int'l unlocked) so I am looking at the T-Mo version as well.

doubledragon said:
Baratheonist - Are you referring to the version that's launching tomorrow? I can't get H+ to work consistently on my Note 1 (int'l unlocked) so I am looking at the T-Mo version as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For my international GNote 1 , I get Edge speeds in my place. Doesn't matter because I use the home wifi. The nearest H+ coverage is a mile away, which I drove to, just to test H+ and it worked and was consistent. It was in a mall with a T-mobile store in it. So I guess that factors in.
Even if the GN2 launches tomorrow, I will wait and see how it turns out with other users. No reason for Tmo not to support GN2 on its 42mbps H+..
Some claim 20-27mbps DL speeds on units that support 42mbpsH+. With that speed - it's even faster than my home wifi, I don't need to look for LTE now although future proofing is very much welcome.

Baratheonist said:
For my international GNote 1 , I get Edge speeds in my place. Doesn't matter because I use the home wifi. The nearest H+ coverage is a mile away, which I drove to, just to test H+ and it worked and was consistent. It was in a mall with a T-mobile store in it. So I guess that factors in.
Even if the GN2 launches tomorrow, I will wait and see how it turns out with other users. No reason for Tmo not to support GN2 on its 42mbps H+..
Some claim 20-27mbps DL speeds on units that support 42mbpsH+. With that speed - it's even faster than my home wifi, I don't need to look for LTE now although future proofing is very much welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. The Tmo store next to my office confirmed it's in stock for tomorrow. Based on those speeds I would have no hesitation switching over from VZ since I'm off contract. I'm going to attempt to stick to my plan of waiting for Nexus 4 announcement.

Dont feel bad, im stuck with GT7000 5month from now which only got 2g onTmo but good news are Tmo keep update their 1900 spectrum like the other said.All we do now is patient ..

I did contact TMo today to find out about the GNote 2 being released tomorrow. The lady told me, at my local store, the projected price point is $699, which means I'd have to put down 299 to finance it for the 24 months >.> Not exactly looking forward to that. Then I will have to call another location to request the RMA for this international unlocked one.
I've used the Note 2 today on wi-fi all day and I have to say, I truly love this phone...hence the reason I'm willing to drop the cash on it at my local store. Though this is my first Phablet, I didn't get the Note 1, simply because I wanted to see where they went with it....I see and I'm impressed, now.

Sell your N7100. You should get at least $650 and go buy the T-Mobile version.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

Not gloating or nothing but i seen the note on even wirefly.com on the 23rd and still wouldnt buy it. After all the problems i have with tmobile customer service alone, i couldnt even imagine trying to get any help i wouldnt already know from their less than even sad customer service for a phone not bought directly from them. But lucky me knew that note 2 was going to be released online an hr after midnight pacific time in the u.s, and as of today i the happiest phone owner around,lol. the reason for my response, i stopped buying cell phones from anywhere but the company whom i will have service with due to the fact it's purposely not mentioned about compatibility so you have trouble returning it, cause they give you their old, " well it was in our 1000 page agreement you need a damn lawyer to go over. I also have a phone like yours but from verizon, a droid incredible 2 with many different bands, that i use once and a while for something different on my t-mo account, but once i step out the city, i cant even open something as simple as googles homepage cause i lose the 3g signal and drop to like -2g,lol. But the closer i get to the Illinois/Wisconsin border the 3g signal damn near runs on 4g speeds, and i even swear one time while driving the h symbol popped up but changed back to 3 really quick. But when im in Milwaukee, Wisconsin i get great 3g signal. Screw 2013 and waiting, just have whatever fun you can with it now via wifi seeing there will be no world after it ends on Dec 21st, 2012, lol. Edit: had to add it kind of sucked the phone was supposed to be 299.99 on tmobile which was supposed to be the highest selling price with the others projected to sell it for 199.00. But they sure as hell where happy to use us wanting this phone against us and charging 443.00 after tax just for the phone. And thats at the lowest price they possibly had on a 2yr contract.

Ive heard with root there's a mod or setting change to access Hspa+.
Anyone heard anything.
To OP...I still have my Sprint MiFi at $35/mo w/unlimited data,then
spend $30 on TMobiles prepaid plan. Doing that for now.
Consistant 5-6 Mps

Baratheonist said:
For my international GNote 1 , I get Edge speeds in my place. Doesn't matter because I use the home wifi. The nearest H+ coverage is a mile away, which I drove to, just to test H+ and it worked and was consistent. It was in a mall with a T-mobile store in it. So I guess that factors in.
Even if the GN2 launches tomorrow, I will wait and see how it turns out with other users. No reason for Tmo not to support GN2 on its 42mbps H+..
Some claim 20-27mbps DL speeds on units that support 42mbpsH+. With that speed - it's even faster than my home wifi, I don't need to look for LTE now although future proofing is very much welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are only getting those speeds as its fairly empty at the moment
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

I'm having the same issue
Anybody wanna buy a intl note :/

T- Mobile Branded Galaxy Note II Compared to N7100 (I bought both Returning T-Mobile)

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!
Click to expand...
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!
Click to expand...
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....??**

Hi all, here's a map you should all have bookmarked and contributed to:
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

t-mobile frequencies

Did t-mobile finally switched their 3g/4g frequencies to use any compatible ATT device? if,so, can I use my unlocked i747 with tmo 4g prepaid plan?

As I understand it, an AT&T phone won't be able to take advantage of T-Mobile's HSPA+ 42Mbps even if they have switched. T-Mobile's network is a work in progress, there's not telling if they have or have not. Try finding a coverage map?

Medlock87 said:
As I understand it, an AT&T phone won't be able to take advantage of T-Mobile's HSPA+ 42Mbps even if they have switched. T-Mobile's network is a work in progress, there's not telling if they have or have not. Try finding a coverage map?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, it's a little more complicated than that. What T-Mo is going through is a two step process: first, 'refarming' (which will reallocate AWS (EDGE) channels to LTE Band 4, and also turn on the AT&T access), and then next year rolling out their LTE. AT&T phones use the same channels/bands, so the refarming is all that's necessary to access HSPA+; unfortunately, the refarming is going on now and isn't complete in more than about 12-15 markets. However, my home market (Chicago) is listed as "promised" but changing by the day, and I am now routinely getting the magic 4G light on my status bar (however, not in farther out suburbs and the like). This is in contrast to just a month ago, where it only seemed to work in the Loop. So, in other words, check with (ahem) sources around the Web that are doing a good job of tracking what markets are being worked on and which ones are live. If you're not in a major metropolitan area, you'll probably have a wait. I just got the phone November 9th, and for this market, it's been pretty much perfect timing.

[Q] Canadian visiting LA with an unlocked Rogers S3 - t-mobile plan?

I'm a canadian visiting LA next week for work, I'm looking for a pre-paid plan that I can use on my Rogers i747m unlocked S3 with stock firmware. I end up in LA about twice a year, and New York State a few times as well.
I will be staying in this area http://goo.gl/maps/rSBil and not venturing too far away from it.
I was looking at this $3 plan from t-mobile http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-by-the-day-cell-phone-plans but read that I will only get Edge speeds in certain areas. These posts were from last year so does the same hold true?
Thanks

junkedBrian said:
I'm a canadian visiting LA next week for work, I'm looking for a pre-paid plan that I can use on my Rogers i747m unlocked S3 with stock firmware. I end up in LA about twice a year, and New York State a few times as well.
I will be staying in this area http://goo.gl/maps/rSBil and not venturing too far away from it.
I was looking at this $3 plan from t-mobile http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-by-the-day-cell-phone-plans but read that I will only get Edge speeds in certain areas. These posts were from last year so does the same hold true?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
T-mobile doesn't have great LTE coverage but they've been upgrading their towers so it could be better now (area dependant).
Also, a little APN update and it should get you at least 3G, if not LTE.

BWolf56 said:
T-mobile doesn't have great LTE coverage but they've been upgrading their towers so it could be better now (area dependant).
Also, a little APN update and it should get you at least 3G, if not LTE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for the record, T-mobile doesn't have LTE
and like he said, tmo is re-framing their 4G so that it would work with other unlock phones(mainly iPhones) and it is area dependance
you can check the coverage area here http://www.airportal.de/
if the area you'll be living in isn't covered, you'll most likely will end up with edge

BWolf56 said:
T-mobile doesn't have great LTE coverage but they've been upgrading their towers so it could be better now (area dependant).
Also, a little APN update and it should get you at least 3G, if not LTE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. 3G is more than enough, just wanted enough to use trip advisor, maps not offline and check my email. I'm going to bring my old nexus S with my t-mobile sim just incase I can't get the new one working. Bit of a n00b question but I should just use the default T-MOBILE apn settings for a galaxy S3?

junkedBrian said:
Thanks. 3G is more than enough, just wanted enough to use trip advisor, maps not offline and check my email. I'm going to bring my old nexus S with my t-mobile sim just incase I can't get the new one working. Bit of a n00b question but I should just use the default T-MOBILE apn settings for a galaxy S3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
default should works fine

pcshano said:
you can check the coverage area here http://www.airportal.de/
if the area you'll be living in isn't covered, you'll most likely will end up with edge
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the link, i checked it out and it looks like there are 3 towers surrounding my work (across from the kodak theatre on hollywood blvd) so I should be all set up.
cheers

LG G4 VS986 on T-Mobile LTE problem

Issue:
Phone will not stay locked on LTE in Global or LTE/UMTS/GSM mode. When in Global or LTE/UMTS/GSM mode and LTE does connect, it's momentarily and when trying to run a speed test or open a webpage, it quickly disconnects and connects to HSDPA. If switched to LTE/CDMA signal locks in great and data speeds are great however voice services are not available. Any thoughts or advice is welcomed. Thanks ahead of time!
Facts:
Phone: VS986
Android Version: 5.1
Build: LMY47D
Soft Version: VS98611A
APN: T-Mobile Fast apn (fast.t-mobile.com)
Strong LTE area
*#*#4636#*#* Not available on LG G4
Radio Swither Not available on LG G4
Rooted
Xposed installed
Gravity Box installed (no change when using smart radio features)
G3 Tweakbox installed but module will not register with Xposed Framework (I know it was along shot)

What band LTE are you connecting to? I found that here on band 2, I will connect at first, but then it switches back to edge. Seems fine in a band 4 LTE area though.

geoff5093 said:
What band LTE are you connecting to? I found that here on band 2, I will connect at first, but then it switches back to edge. Seems fine in a band 4 LTE area though.
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I'm in the Raleigh NC area. According to LTE Discovery i'm using Band 4. and I also experience the same. A brief connection while in global or LTE/UMTS/GSM mode then it falls back to HSPA.

taifuller said:
I'm in the Raleigh NC area. According to LTE Discovery i'm using Band 4. and I also experience the same. A brief connection while in global or LTE/UMTS/GSM mode then it falls back to HSPA.
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I haven't found LTE Discovery to report the band correctly, at least in my case. It would say I'm on band 4 on my Moto X, but when using a band 4 only device I would only get Edge, but when I go in a confirmed band 4 area it works fine. From what I've found, most 2G > LTE sites were converted to band 2 LTE. Although since you get HSPA the chances of it actually being on band 4 are higher.

I'm fairly certain this is a Band 4 area. The latest T-Mobile maps are pretty good about pointing out Band 2 areas. I've since sold the phone and acquired a iPhone 6 Plus which I'm looking to sell to replace it with an international G4 or T-Mobile G4. I was pretty impressed with that phone. If I had to rank my favorites, it's number 2. Nexus 5 is still king of the hill for me. There wasn't a better phone out when it was release for a better price.

did you ever figure this out? samething is happening to me

Unfortunately I didn't. I sold it and bought one for T-Mobile...... Which I just sold about 3 hours ago.

So I tested it out again, and in a band 2 area when I boot up my phone with a T-Mobile SIM, I get LTE for several seconds then it cuts back over to 2G.
Now that there is a new software update for the G4, I wonder if this is anymore reliable. Anyone who took the OTA update in the past few days, can you let us know if it's any better?
Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

Been there, done that...wanted to switch over to T-Mobile, but unfortunately, the VS986 only works with two of their three LTE bands, as you know, and it seems everywhere I went, they were using the one the phone doesn't receive (I'm in southern California, for what it's worth, but tested it on a freeway run up the I-5 to the central part of the state - only got 4G-LTE in a few places). Wound up going back to Verizon

I'm getting the exact same results in Burlington, VT (T-Mobile band 2 market). I first have to manually select T-Mobile (defaults to roaming on AT&T HSPA+) then LTE works for less than a minute (LTE Discovery says band 4) and then I lose signal when I get signal again, I only have edge. It does this constantly and is really annoying.

Aww, bummer. I was thinking about switching to T-Mobile, but looks like that is not a viable option? So no one has been able to successfully use the phone on T-Mobile, even after enabling bands 2 and 4 only?
This whole plethora of LTE bands, where each provider does its own crap is such a mess, is just serves to lock in customers, since switching phones is expensive. Government should mandate that all phones can work on all US LTE bands, the technology exists.

I am on the same boat. Everything works on my VS986 on t-mobile network. but I cannot get the LTE to work properly. LTE discovery shows band 4 (not sure if correct though)

konradsa said:
Aww, bummer. I was thinking about switching to T-Mobile, but looks like that is not a viable option? So no one has been able to successfully use the phone on T-Mobile, even after enabling bands 2 and 4 only?
This whole plethora of LTE bands, where each provider does its own crap is such a mess, is just serves to lock in customers, since switching phones is expensive. Government should mandate that all phones can work on all US LTE bands, the technology exists.
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My VRZ LG G4 shows that it has Band 2, 4, 5, and 13. I tried enabling 2 & 4 only, 4 only, 2 only, 2&4&13 only but with no success.
What is interesting is I am coming from VRZ LG G3 and LTE was just fine and never had an issue.
I looked at the VRZ LG G3 LTE bands and I see Band 3,4, and 13 enabled. It did not even have band 2.

More testing:
When I switched the Network Mode to LTE/CDMA I get constant 4G-LTE & internet is working but my phone cannot place and receive phone calls.
with LTE/CDMA I see 4G at 100dBm and 1X at 120dBm

ruijay said:
More testing:
When I switched the Network Mode to LTE/CDMA I get constant 4G-LTE & internet is working but my phone cannot place and receive phone calls.
with LTE/CDMA I see 4G at 100dBm and 1X at 120dBm
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Interesting, almost sounds like a bug in the LTE/GSM mode.
I assume when you switch to global mode, voice works but only HSPA, right?

konradsa said:
Interesting, almost sounds like a bug in the LTE/GSM mode.
I assume when you switch to global mode, voice works but only HSPA, right?
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That is right.
The best internet speed was with LTE/CDMA but no voice or text

ruijay said:
That is right.
The best internet speed was with LTE/CDMA but no voice or text
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Out of curiosity, what speeds do you get on HSPA in global mode?

konradsa said:
Out of curiosity, what speeds do you get on HSPA in global mode?
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With HSPA/3G I get around 7 mbps download and 1.88 mbps upload

ruijay said:
More testing:
When I switched the Network Mode to LTE/CDMA I get constant 4G-LTE & internet is working but my phone cannot place and receive phone calls.
with LTE/CDMA I see 4G at 100dBm and 1X at 120dBm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ruijay said:
That is right.
The best internet speed was with LTE/CDMA but no voice or text
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think since someone reported before that this used to work the G3, it sounds like a bug to me. I guess we can hope and pray that this will work in future releases, but there is no guarantee of course. Not sure what complaining to Verizon will do, since they are probably not very interested in you using T-Mobile. Of course, you can always wrap the complaint into something like you are using the phone in a different country on vacation and it doesn't work. Maybe a complaint to the FTC could work too, since it sounds like Verizon is required to have their phones unlocked for use on other networks based on some settlement.

konradsa said:
I think since someone reported before that this used to work the G3, it sounds like a bug to me. I guess we can hope and pray that this will work in future releases, but there is no guarantee of course. Not sure what complaining to Verizon will do, since they are probably not very interested in you using T-Mobile. Of course, you can always wrap the complaint into something like you are using the phone in a different country on vacation and it doesn't work. Maybe a complaint to the FTC could work too, since it sounds like Verizon is required to have their phones unlocked for use on other networks based on some settlement.
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I am tempted to try the guide in here to add more LTE bands:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/g4/general/guide-enabling-lte-bands-t3137818
While some testers said the LTE bands are limited by hardware others reported some success modifying the software. Any thoughts?