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was wondering if the epic 4g could be used in canada on the bell or rogers(or actually any carrier for that matter)? does sprint sell the cellphone unlocked?
better yet, has an international version(that will work in canada) been released/announced?
from what I know, bell has a CDMA network, but i've never used a phone without a sim card before and i'm honestly not sure how it works.
as a last note, i honestly don't care about the 4g capabilities, 3g is enough for my needs.
I thought all of canada was gsm. I may be mistaken. I know rodgers is. If I an right the answer is no
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I have one on virgin (CDMA in manitoba), but am having a heck of a time getting data working...
anyone have any thoughts on this?
I won't discuss how I got it working (Against board rules) but I just wanted to know if anyone know of a fix for my data. I flashed the PRL to a bell PRL, set the APN via an APN app (since the option is blocked out normally).
I also tried the Epic 4g on boost tutorial, but it didn't give me any hex info (presumably because I was taking info from a blackberry)
Thanks if anyone can help
I'm 99.9 percent sure 1xRTT (~153kbit/sec) is the best you'll get in Canada -- if that -- with an American CDMA-only phone. AFAIK, all of Canada's CDMA carriers deployed UMTS instead of EV-DO.
Canada's mobile phones are slightly exotic, because Telus & Bell have legacy CDMA voice, but 3G-GSM for data. I think 2-3 years ago, you could use an imported European 3G gsm phone, but ONLY in 3G UMTS mode -- they couldn't "fall back" to classic TDMA-based GSM, because the network *itself* didn't support it (yet). Official Telus phones literally used CDMA for voice, but UMTS for data. However, I'm pretty sure you can NOW fall back to legacy
GSM, even on Telus (I guess they had to wait until enough customers had GSM phones to repurpose a chunk of 1900 spectrum that was formerly used exclusively for CDMA, or maybe they just roam on Rogers or Bell for GSM voice).
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
bitbang3r said:
I'm 99.9 percent sure 1xRTT (~153kbit/sec) is the best you'll get in Canada -- if that -- with an American CDMA-only phone. AFAIK, all of Canada's CDMA carriers deployed UMTS instead of EV-DO.
Canada's mobile phones are slightly exotic, because Telus & Bell have legacy CDMA voice, but 3G-GSM for data. I think 2-3 years ago, you could use an imported European 3G gsm phone, but ONLY in 3G UMTS mode -- they couldn't "fall back" to classic TDMA-based GSM, because the network *itself* didn't support it (yet). Official Telus phones literally used CDMA for voice, but UMTS for data. However, I'm pretty sure you can NOW fall back to legacy
GSM, even on Telus (I guess they had to wait until enough customers had GSM phones to repurpose a chunk of 1900 spectrum that was formerly used exclusively for CDMA, or maybe they just roam on Rogers or Bell for GSM voice).
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I'm on virgin mobile which has EVDO coverage on bell's network here in manitoba. I know this because I ported this phone from an EVDO blackberry (it was a pain in the ass). Also MTS still uses EVDO here as well, but that's going to be short lived as they are in a partnership with Rogers to cover the province with HSPA+. That said there will still be support for legacy devices on their existing towers.
But either way I have no data connection at all. I only show the bars for signal (no other symbols), but I flashed the PRL so it's at least not showing up as roaming anymore lol. I'm also getting the stupid sprint activation message every time I boot, and Error 67 authentication error pops up every once in a while.
Does anyone know what I can do to fix this?
Try reading the Epic on boost threads.
I tried it, but it didn't work, but perhaps I will post my issue and someone will have a solution
did you ever getting working?
djencode said:
I tried it, but it didn't work, but perhaps I will post my issue and someone will have a solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you ever get it? i just did the epic 4g to boost..... but onto mts and i have a 3g icon and the phonr thinks its connected but it doesnt get any bandwidth
Questions and Help issues go in Q&A and Help section
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currently using epic 4g mts mobility
hi i am currently using an epic 4g on mts mobility in canada.... except i cant get 3g working i get an icon and a up arrow lights up but i get no bandwidth..... the phone has an evdo ip cdmaws on the monitor page shows connected... an-aaa shows a pass but i get no data has anyone ever experienced this ? i have been combing the forum for months..... i ve tried everything.... different prls different combos of simple ip and mobile ip
hello,
can you guys pick up different signal carrier in your hd7?
i am using T-mobile HD7 and the signal is not stable in my place (i have few drop calls). the Verizon signal is much better and i can pick it up from this menu >start>setting>cellular>network selection>
I can force the phone using Verizon, but the problem is after the choosing, the cellphone did not show any signal bars. <most likely phone can not register in the network>. it is wired. any ideas?
tmobile phones cannot use cdma networks, different radios, different technologies.
can a AT&T or cellular network be used in this phone? t-mobile signal is so terrible in my place.
maopost said:
can a AT&T or cellular network be used in this phone? t-mobile signal is so terrible in my place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you can use at&t if you sim unlock your phone. T-mobile might do it for you or you can pay one of the web based companies that do it.
You won't have 3g though.
Why did you get a t-mobile phone if you don't have t-mobile reception???
nope. AT&T work off different network signal than the others do so you won't have much luck. and i'm not sure if the HD7 from t-mobile supports the band (network signal) that AT&T uses. so you could try but i highly doubt it.
t-mobile signal is not good in my place.
to be honest with you, I hate AT&T and verizon.
I want to know if this is possible at all, does anyone know of any ways to put a verizon phone on sprints network? I think it has been done before, I will buy this phone if I can get 3g to work on sprint
Nope, VZW and Sprint operate at 2 different frequencies AND if you could somehow do it I don't think Sprint allows Third Party/Unlocked Phones.
actually they are teh same frequencies. how else would our roaming on verizon's network work?
shakuyi said:
actually they are teh same frequencies. how else would our roaming on verizon's network work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I actually think you are right because verizon and sprint share a tower here in Virginia. But sprint would never allow it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
I've been told different things by different reps at different Sprint locations. One guy in-store told me that it's "very possible" but that the customer has to do all the unlocking, etc. Another rep at one of their call centers reiterated the same. "If you unlock it, we can do it. Otherwise, there's nothing we can do."
So the question remains, how can we unlock it? I'd LOVE to stay with Sprint. Does anyone have expertise in this area? I've seen a few threads on this and they all seem to go unanswered...wondering if it's not a popular topic or if it's something we shouldn't be discussing?
Thanks!
Run around clockwise half naked below freezing while chanting "goosfrabah"...
Seriously no need to be posting such a thread. It's been posted and debated and talked about. Google and such should be your friend.
Either make googley eyes (and maybe much "more") at someone deep inside Sprint to add a VZW ESN to their database, NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, or murk in the underworlds of ESN cloning and modification, NOT HAPPENING HERE on XDA...
Posting from another thread.
No, the ESNs are in a computer database. If the rep enters an incorrect ESN or, in this case from their point of view invalid, the system will not move forward.
Even if that wasn't the case, I don't believe Verizon and Sprint operate on the same CDMA frequencies. Not to mention LTE. EVEN if that wasn't the case, the Galaxy Nexus pulls its subscriber information(like the phone number, data plan, etc) from its SIM card(just like GSM phones).
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
http://phandroid.com/2011/12/20/spr...e-given-the-green-light-for-activation-rumor/
Possible, YES. Depends only on if sprint want to activate it or not. Phones generally support the entire spectrum and not just the subset that carrier uses.
For example on GSM, phones either support ALL of the 900 spectrum or none of it. The fact that the spectrum is split in two and used by different operators doesn't make a difference - thats just handled by the simlock/Activation of ESN.
It wouldn't make much sense for a hardware manufacturer to cripple a radio baseband to part of the spectrum if it can handle all of it, otherwise they would need to make new mainboards for each operator.
LTE is a different situation. As the spectrum is not split, and each operator use an entirely different spectrum. It would be more costly to add other spectrums on a Verizon device with no real benefit, if they have no plans to offer it on any other operator. Also it may be more cost or design effective to make two different boards if for example they can't fit an antenna that can handle both frequencies.
unremarked said:
Posting from another thread.
No, the ESNs are in a computer database. If the rep enters an incorrect ESN or, in this case from their point of view invalid, the system will not move forward.
Even if that wasn't the case, I don't believe Verizon and Sprint operate on the same CDMA frequencies. Not to mention LTE. EVEN if that wasn't the case, the Galaxy Nexus pulls its subscriber information(like the phone number, data plan, etc) from its SIM card(just like GSM phones).
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VZW and Sprint operate on the same CDMA frequencies, 1x CDMA 2000 and 3G. How else do Sprint and VZW roam off each other for voice and data? When it comes to 4G, that's where they differ, LTE vs WiMax (for now). Even when Sprint goes LTE, they'll be running on a different LTE frequency than VZW and AT&T, so LTE roaming shouldn't be on anyone's radar for the foreseeable future.
And NO, the VZW GNex does not pull "its subscriber information (like the phone number, data plan, etc) from its SIM card(just like GSM phones)." Subscriber info is pulled from the ESN/MEID unique to any CDMA phone (VZW and Sprint included) to authenticate on the network. The SIM in VZW LTE phones is for LTE purposes ONLY, 4G data only and nothing else.
Why dont you get the galaxy s II? Wish I could get it for Verizon
LordLugard said:
VZW and Sprint operate on the same CDMA frequencies, 1x CDMA 2000 and 3G. How else do Sprint and VZW roam off each other for voice and data? When it comes to 4G, that's where they differ, LTE vs WiMax (for now). Even when Sprint goes LTE, they'll be running on a different LTE frequency than VZW and AT&T, so LTE roaming shouldn't be on anyone's radar for the foreseeable future.
And NO, the VZW GNex does not pull "its subscriber information (like the phone number, data plan, etc) from its SIM card(just like GSM phones)." Subscriber info is pulled from the ESN/MEID unique to any CDMA phone (VZW and Sprint included) to authenticate on the network. The SIM in VZW LTE phones is for LTE purposes ONLY, 4G data only and nothing else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the clarification on the frequencies thing. I wasnt 100% sure what Sprint operated on.
As for the SIM, I am 100% sure. Trade SIM cards with a friend, even to another microSIM device like a Samsung Stratosphere Restart your phone and then call eachother. The numbers will be swapped. Heck, even easier. Yank your SIM out and make a test call or check under the About Phone options.
EDIT: I know that Sprint uses CDMA(1x) and EVDO(3G). But what bands do they operate on? Just like AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM(aka edge) and HSPA(3G) but on different bands so not all their phones are entirely cross compatible.
EDIT2: Found my own answer. VZW operates on 850mhz, and 1900mhz. Sprint is 800mhz and 1900mhz. So you may in theory use a 3G Verizon phone on Sprints network with limited capability. I'd imagine it would be just like if you put an ATT iPhone on T-Mobile and be able to make calls but only get 2G.
Regardless of the frequencies you still have the ESN lockout as well as the SIM card issue.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Sprint not going to activate the phone no matter what you do.
CDMA carriers have the last say so of what goes on their network and what does not. They chose what you use not you. They base the their phones off of the ESN/MEIDs if those do not match up to a "clean" one in their system then no go. Its their way of forcing contracts, "if you have to get a sprint phone may as well get the contract with it." they thing. GSM on the other hand you can do it because the identification of the carrier is on the SIM card rather then the phone. However, some carriers will "flash" a phone over like Criket or metro pcs (however they can brick the phone and then you can't even do anything with it.)
MetroPCS lets you bring in any CDMA phone and activate it on their network. I'm sure sprint could do the same if they wanted to.
tommyz2kool said:
MetroPCS lets you bring in any CDMA phone and activate it on their network. I'm sure sprint could do the same if they wanted to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Emphasis on "IF THEY WANTED TO." If past behavior is indicative of the future then reason says they don't.
Lets assume Sprint suddenly changes its mind after years of hemorrhaging customers and move beyond that, as I've previously said the Galaxy Nexus(and all 4G LTE phones) behave more like GSM phones than CDMA and pull their subscriber information from the SIM card. Don't believe me? Try to use your VZW Galaxy Nexus without your SIM. Mine didn't work. Further my theortical point about the supported bands still stand. Who wants a Galaxy Nexus on 1X data?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
I thought that Sprint was going to offer the Gnex at some point. Was I just dreaming that? Does anyone know if Sprint is going to get the GN?
I could have sworn I heard that Sprint was getting it somewhere....
unremarked said:
Emphasis on "IF THEY WANTED TO." If past behavior is indicative of the future then reason says they don't.
Lets assume Sprint suddenly changes its mind after years of hemorrhaging customers and move beyond that, as I've previously said the Galaxy Nexus(and all 4G LTE phones) behave more like GSM phones than CDMA and pull their subscriber information from the SIM card. Don't believe me? Try to use your VZW Galaxy Nexus without your SIM. Mine didn't work. Further my theortical point about the supported bands still stand. Who wants a Galaxy Nexus on 1X data?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason your LTE VZW phone will not work without the SIM has nothing to do with pulling subscriber info but more to do with just authenticating with the LTE network, period.
Once again, your subscriber info is more hard coded to your ESN/MEID.
The LTE network could go down (like it has done now several times) and your phone will work fine with CDMA voice and 2G/3G. If the CDMA network goes down then you're screwed because all authentication starts there.
Sent from my SPH-D710
bradm23 said:
Why dont you get the galaxy s II? Wish I could get it for Verizon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That.
+1 char
LordLugard said:
The reason your LTE VZW phone will not work without the SIM has nothing to do with pulling subscriber info but more to do with just authenticating with the LTE network, period.
Once again, your subscriber info is more hard coded to your ESN/MEID.
The LTE network could go down (like it has done now several times) and your phone will work fine with CDMA voice and 2G/3G. If the CDMA network goes down then you're screwed because all authentication starts there.
Sent from my SPH-D710
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd love to hear your explaination for the following behaviors. The only thing I changed was I took out my SIM card. You'll notice now even the time is wrong since the phones sync their time with the carrier.
EDIT: removed pictures because I'm paranoid/OCD about personal info.
You can post as many pics as you want. Your "subscriber info" is tied to your esn/meid in the system. Without those, whether you have an LTE sim or not on a CDMA network like VZW, your phone will not function. The LTE sim doesn't handle voice or any calling functions, just data.
When your phone connects to a cell tower (or the network), certain parameters are sent for a sort of handshake, which are your esn/meid.
I think you need to better familiarize yourself with the fact that VZW is a CDMA network first and foremost (and with all that entails, esn/meid/msid etc) with an LTE based data-only network (for now) built alongside it.
Sent from my SPH-D710
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.
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.