I'm getting antsy waiting for T Mobile to say when they are going to release the SG 2. Is it or is it not correct that if I were to buy an unlocked one that is not issued by T Mobile that I would not get 4G or even 3G data speeds? Are there any other downsides to buying one that is not sold by them? TIA...
Since Europe and Asia use different wave frequencies for data connections you will not be able to use the Samsung Galaxy S II GT-i9100 for 3G/4G connections in the U.S, but EDGE will work. I use T-Mobile in the States and own the Galaxy S II and can only use the EDGE network aka 2G. If you care for the 3G/4G then don't get this phone, yet.
I have heard that you can use AT&T's network for 3G though.
That's what I had heard somewhere. Thanks for the details as to why.
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Related
OK I have searched and can't find an answer to a couple of questions.
I am coming from a rooted Epic 4G on Sprint. I am not familiar with unlocked gsm phones. I am switching to att because i am moving to an area with bad sprint coverage.
I was going to buy an Infuse, but it seems the Galaxy S II is better. I understand i can use the SII on att's network but i am unsure about a couple things.
1) will i be able to utilize their semi 4G data network? When they get 4G LTE, will i be able to use that?
2) what downside is there to going the S II route vs an Infuse other than $$? Looks to me like the SII is way better.
Anything else I need to consider?
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The international SGS2 phones you can buy today don't have LTE, so they won't work on the AT&T LTE network. They will, however, work on AT&T's HSPA+ network -- I regularly get about 4 Mbps, and have gotten as high as 7. You can use a regular 3G plan on the HSPA+ network; I have the old $30/month 3G smartphone unlimited data plan, and I haven't had any problems connecting to HSPA+ in places where it's available.
There is some speculation that the AT&T version of the SGS2 (called Attain) may have LTE support. Unfortunately, this phone isn't available yet, and as far as I know, no release date has been announced.
Thanks for the info. As a practical matter i shouldnt worry too much about LTE. I live in a rural area which just got 4G, but is very ulikely to upgrade to LTE anytime soon. I will probably want another phone by the time we see LTE here. Now i have to decide if i want to spend $450 more to get the SII over the Infuse. The SII has more RAM, dual core processor and higher res second camera (bfd). Im not sure what other improvements.
Any other advice or insight would be appreciated. Im sure gonna mis the hardware keyboard on my epic!
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Hi, I have a white galaxy s2 i9100, but for some reason, when I put in my Tmobile sim card, it only runs on E network and not 4g. I contact Tmobile and they said there's nothing they can do about it since it's not a Tmobile phone. is there anything I can do to make my phone run on 4g? E network is very slow.
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The I9100 version don't support 4G
But it says on the website that it does
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Im looking at the specification and i don't see any 4G.
I order mine on newegg.com before I purchase it I checked the specifics and it said 4g.
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Tkdinh101 said:
Hi, I have a white galaxy s2 i9100, but for some reason, when I put in my Tmobile sim card, it only runs on E network and not 4g. I contact Tmobile and they said there's nothing they can do about it since it's not a Tmobile phone. is there anything I can do to make my phone run on 4g? E network is very slow.
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You're on T-Mobile? In the US? Then what you're seeing is normal. The GT-I9100 doesn't support one of the frequencies necessary for 4G on T-Mobile USA's network. (1700/2100) It will ONLY ever get Edge speeds.
It DOES support 4G (well, HSPA+, anyways) on AT&T's network, which runs on 850/1900.
See here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16875176292. Once you get to this page, click on the Details tab. Notice where it says "3G". (I know - 3G; but it uses the same frequencies for HSPA+) It says "AT&T 3G Only".
Sorry bud.
Tkdinh101 said:
Hi, I have a white galaxy s2 i9100, but for some reason, when I put in my Tmobile sim card, it only runs on E network and not 4g. I contact Tmobile and they said there's nothing they can do about it since it's not a Tmobile phone. is there anything I can do to make my phone run on 4g? E network is very slow.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
A lot of carriers wrongly named their network 4G for advertising reasons when it is in fact still only 3G.
The reason why it might be on EDGE is because it probably has a much stronger signal than 3G does so it will default to it. You can set the phone to use 3G only by going to settings -> wireless & networks -> mobile networks and then set network mode to WCDMA only.
Take note of the signal strength in settings -> about phone -> status.
gyco said:
A lot of carriers wrongly named their network 4G for advertising reasons when it is in fact still only 3G.
The reason why it might be on EDGE is because it probably has a much stronger signal than 3G does so it will default to it. You can set the phone to use 3G only by going to settings -> wireless & networks -> mobile networks and then set network mode to WCDMA only.
Take note of the signal strength in settings -> about phone -> status.
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Click to collapse
No. This will NEVER work. Trust me. the I9100 does not and will not EVER receive one of the frequencies necessary for T-Mobile USA's HSPA+ (what they market as 4G) network. You will ALWAYS only be able to get Edge on T-Mobile when using this phone.
ctomgee said:
No. This will NEVER work. Trust me. the I9100 does not and will not EVER receive one of the frequencies necessary for T-Mobile USA's HSPA+ (what they market as 4G) network. You will ALWAYS only be able to get Edge on T-Mobile when using this phone.
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Sorry, I'm use to the 850/900/2100mhz 3G frequencies we use here, all of which this phone covers so there's never a problem using any network... Except Vodafone, they suck on all frequencies
Question??? Is There ANY WAY Possible to get a unlocked and rooted samsung galaxy S2 on AT&T using simple mobile sim to pick up 3g or 4g? I know that you get edge speed because of the way the phone is set to AT&T, but there has to be some work around. I mean is it possible to hack it someway so that you can use AT&T towers for data service and have access to their towers while still having you r simple mobile sim in the phone. This edge is killing me. I tried flashing a t-mo modem only to be let down when I flashed it and loaded it and it said please insert sim. I heard something about dialing on the phone and switching bands wondering if that was maybe a method?
Edit:forgive me for being a newbie found my answer. Thanks xda members
:banghead:
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This was just asked yesterday!
And no, there is no simple workaround, its a hardware limitation. The phone is not equipped to see T-Mo's frequencies.
I was thinking about buying the International unlocked Galaxy SIII GT I9300 and saw how it would be cheaper in the long run, but my main motivation was being able to move from carrier to carrier if I wanted to and not having a contract. I seem to be reading though that the international version is only compatible with AT&T and T-mobile at 3G and is not capable of 4G speeds at all. Also, that even American versions are not always compatible with eachother. So am I correct in thinking that if I get an international version I'll be stuck between T-Mobile and Sprint at 3Gs. And that nothing can be done to the phone to allow an International phone to work with Sprint or even an American Sprint to work on a T-Mobile network? I'm starting to think it might be easier to just get an American phone and jailbreak it.
The international one will never work with sprint or Verizon, the AT&T and t-mobile versions will never work with sprint or Verizon.
The difference is hardware, Verizon and sprint are cdma, the rest are gsm.
The international one will work with AT&T with 3g and 4g(actually its hspa+ which is technically 3.5g) and will work on T-Mobile only in 2g for now, in a few months it will work on 3g and 4g when they refarm their 1900 or 1700mhz (can't remember which) band to 3g.
No matter what you do to either the international or US gsm versions they will NEVER EVER WORK ON SPRINT OR VERIZON.
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I see, that's what I was afraid of. The AT&T and T-Mobile option still seem attractive, but in your opinion will the Verizon/Sprint with a jailbreak route be better in the long term since the LTE is by far the superior option(from what I've read)? I've seen AT&T has LTE but the International version wouldn't be able to work on a LTE network anyway, would it??? I plan to download most things on my laptop and move them to the phone anyway, the only important thing to me internet speed would affect and my main concern would be live video chat, would the 3G or HSPA+ be sufficient for that? Other than talk and text the phone will be mainly used for games, movies, music and the superior GPU in the International version I think would be better for that? Are there any other phones comparative to the Galaxy III you know of that might have both the CDMA and the GSM, the "world phones" as I've seen them called?
Matt45045 said:
I see, that's what I was afraid of. The AT&T and T-Mobile option still seem attractive, but in your opinion will the Verizon/Sprint with a jailbreak route be better in the long term since the LTE is by far the superior option(from what I've read)? I've seen AT&T has LTE but the International version wouldn't be able to work on a LTE network anyway, would it??? I plan to download most things on my laptop and move them to the phone anyway, the only important thing to me internet speed would affect and my main concern would be live video chat, would the 3G or HSPA+ be sufficient for that? Other than talk and text the phone will be mainly used for games, movies, music and the superior GPU in the International version I think would be better for that? Are there any other phones comparative to the Galaxy III you know of that might have both the CDMA and the GSM, the "world phones" as I've seen them called?
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Click to collapse
You can't/don't jailbreak Android phones. Hard to even know what you are talking bout trying to accomplish? It's very simple.
1. Buy a phone from a carrier and use it on that carrier. That's the easiest option.
2. Buy an International GS3 and use it on AT&T 3G or 2G.
3. Buy an International GS3 and use it on T-Mobile 2G.
If you try any other options you are just going to confuse yourself.
Definitely don't get the sprint or Verizon ones, you are stuck on cdma then. The at&t one has LTE and the T-Mobile one has dc hspa+ (theoretically up to 42mbps) the international one has standard hspa+ (up to 21mbps) and I regularly get between 5-8mbps down and 2-3mbps up and I live in the country.
The gpu and cpu on the international one are better too.
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I have a bad habit of using the words root and jailbreak interchangeably, I meant root the phone. I guess I have to decide how important LTE is to me. It'll either be AT&T or the International version. The superior GPU and CPU are attractive, but so are the LTE speeds. But I guess with the limited data maybe not. But thanks for your help, this clarified a lot for me.
Frequency Concern
I have the exact same problem!
I am planning to buy a Galaxy Nexus, which works for UMTS (850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz) and GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz). I read from wikipedia that the 3G and 4G networks from Tmobile are carried on the frequency of both 1700MHz and 2100 MHz. Does that mean Galaxy Nexus can use 3G and 4G on Tmobile network?
playmaker1 said:
I have the exact same problem!
I am planning to buy a Galaxy Nexus, which works for UMTS (850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz) and GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz). I read from wikipedia that the 3G and 4G networks from Tmobile are carried on the frequency of both 1700MHz and 2100 MHz. Does that mean Galaxy Nexus can use 3G and 4G on Tmobile network?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the galaxy nexus will work fine on tmo, its pentaband.
I brought my Irish one to america and used it on tmo no problem.
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nodstuff said:
Yes, the galaxy nexus will work fine on tmo, its pentaband.
I brought my Irish one to america and used it on tmo no problem.
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Oh really?! Then I should sell my international version of Galaxy S II for a Galaxy Nexus. S II doesnt receive 1700MHz. I read from Wikipeida: This band (Tmobile 3G and 4G) was an area of wireless spectrum, half in the 1700 MHz (1.7 GHz) and half in the 2100 MHz (2.1 GHz) frequencies. SO I was thinking: Hey, how about getting a phone with both 1700 and 2100MHz to work on Tmobile 3G and 4G.
So you can actually use 3G? or even 4G on Tmobile? Is it so slow or weak that makes you want to change carrier?
I9300
nodstuff said:
The international one will never work with sprint or Verizon, the AT&T and t-mobile versions will never work with sprint or Verizon.
The difference is hardware, Verizon and sprint are cdma, the rest are gsm.
The international one will work with AT&T with 3g and 4g(actually its hspa+ which is technically 3.5g) and will work on T-Mobile only in 2g for now, in a few months it will work on 3g and 4g when they refarm their 1900 or 1700mhz (can't remember which) band to 3g.
No matter what you do to either the international or US gsm versions they will NEVER EVER WORK ON SPRINT OR VERIZON.
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Click to collapse
Help, I have an I9300 and I can't configure it to recieve data I am on the AT&T GO $60 data plan and AT&T says it is my phones problem. I've tried a lot of different settings and it still shows up as disconnected under the mobile network state. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
---------- Post added at 01:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:56 PM ----------
nodstuff said:
Definitely don't get the sprint or Verizon ones, you are stuck on cdma then. The at&t one has LTE and the T-Mobile one has dc hspa+ (theoretically up to 42mbps) the international one has standard hspa+ (up to 21mbps) and I regularly get between 5-8mbps down and 2-3mbps up and I live in the country.
The gpu and cpu on the international one are better too.
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Help, I have an I9300 and I have tried for a week to get AT&T GO set up for data. I can talk and text fine, but no luck with data AT&T says it is my phone. Under mobile network state it says disconnected. any help would be greatly appreciated. It is an unlocked international GSM phone.
I have a Samsung GT-I9300 unlocked Gsm phone. I have started AT&T GO $60 data plan. I have tried for a week now to get data with no luck. I can talk & text fine, and it works great off of WI-FI. AT&T has tried everything they can do and says it is a problem with my phone. I was previously on Straight Talk but was stuck with EDGE speeds and not good coverage. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hey. Are there any Tutorials of how to GSM Unlock a Galaxy Tab S3 LTE to be able to use a T Mobile SIM Card with a Mobile Internet Data Plan?
EpiphanyofMusic said:
Hey. Are there any Tutorials of how to GSM Unlock a Galaxy Tab S3 LTE to be able to use a T Mobile SIM Card with a Mobile Internet Data Plan?
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Why wouldn't you just buy an international LTE Tab S3? The VZW version is going to have their crap and modifications on it and most likely will be updated 6 months behind an international version if at all. Do you know if the VZW version supports T-Mobile's band 12? The international version doesn't and folks on T-Mobile get 8MB down in those markets that rely on band 12 heavily.
While all of the above is true, VZW devices should be SIM unlocked out of the box due to their block C agreement. The primary band for TMO is band 4 so you should be fine but yes, it is missing band 12 so if you live in a band 12 area, you're possibly giving up some coverage, particularly indoors. I'm in Chicago and since we don't have band 12... Doesn't matter to me.
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Does anyone know if they come out of the box unlocked through Verizon? As I also want to use it on my T-Mobile unlimited plane to replace another tablet but buy the tablet through Verizon as it is not offered at T-Mobile.
Postpay Device Unlocking Policy
We do not lock most phones or tablets that are activated with our postpay service, either during or after the term of your service contract or Device Payment Plan installment sales agreement.
We do not lock our 4G LTE devices, and no code is needed to program them for use with another carrier.
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In case anyone else was wondering. Found this on Verizons website.
Not to bring up an old post, but the US Cellular S3 is also fully unlocked. I have it running on ATT with just apn modifications
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