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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Related
T-Mobile to get Samsung Galaxy S 2 says official Twitter account
ANDROID CENTRAL | FEBRUARY 17, 2011
http://pulsene.ws/11Khk
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Nvm didnt read the bottom part mode delete this please.
Sorry I got too happy and didnt read the full article and just copy and pasted the link.
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yup false alarm...........
I don't think the retraction of the tweet is any indication T-Mob wont be getting the S2. With the Galaxy 4G coming out in a few days, if mainstream customers new there was a phone twice as good on the horizon it would obliterate S4G sales. Plus from my understanding there's nothing in the specs that eliminates T-Mob as a possibility. 90% chance T-Mob gets this phone, which I'm of course stoked about.
This phone is said to be shipping with AT&T's 3G, but that it will work with any carrier. So, for you T-Mobile users, it will probably work, but only for 2G speeds. Sorry.
There is absolutely no way Samsung will make this super phone and limit its data potential to Att's ****ty 3G.
sirdowski said:
There is absolutely no way Samsung will make this super phone and limit its data potential to Att's ****ty 3G.
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http://galaxys2.samsungmobile.com/html/specification.html
dont forget tmobile has a 5gb limit its NOT unlimited
Per the link you supplied:
HSPA+ 21Mbps/ HSUPA 5.76Mbps
EDGE/ GPRS Class 12
Quad band GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Quad band UMTS 850/900/1900/2100
Seems to me T-mobile's HSPA+ will be compatible, unless I'm completely missing something.
And to the above comment, 5G is plenty, even for most heavy users.
Won't this device support both 3G company's? From the specs of the link
false alarm
sirdowski said:
Per the link you supplied:
HSPA+ 21Mbps/ HSUPA 5.76Mbps
EDGE/ GPRS Class 12
Quad band GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Quad band UMTS 850/900/1900/2100
Seems to me T-mobile's HSPA+ will be compatible, unless I'm completely missing something.
And to the above comment, 5G is plenty, even for most heavy users.
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Click to collapse
Sure, T-Mobile UK is compatible
T-Mobile US's HSPA+ uses 1700/2100 or AWS.
Funk2641 said:
Sure, T-Mobile UK is compatible
T-Mobile US's HSPA+ uses 1700/2100 or AWS.
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Click to collapse
Gotcha. I don't see why T-mobile wouldn't get this phone, as i said before, suppressing of information seems to be just a marketing strategy to not crush S4G sales coming up.
they wont get this phone immediatley as it will complete with the sgs 4g which they are getting.. eventually they may get it.
If the device is coming out in march outside the states, I'd think the new one will come out in some form in June or July like the last one did. That will give tmo a few months to sell their vibrant 4g and then allow it to be a decent midrange model thereafter. Considering that the 4g is going to be 149 with contract, its already the price of of a non flagship T-Mobile device. That could mean we have a small chance of getting this phone in April or may. They still need to make an aws version in order for us to have the phone on tmo. Given how much market share they made with the last galaxy I really think Samsung will want to not lose their lead in android market share. We will get at least some version of this phone. I hope now that US carriers all have ffc and the other features left out of the previous galaxy s for the states, that they won't need to give us a stripped gs2. Just my 2 cents.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
i'm waiting for the AWS version of the SGS2.... it's gonna be a long loooooooong wait, with the SGS4G stuck in between
I'm almost certain it is.
At least I'm hoping
MartinB6927 said:
I'm almost certain it is.
At least I'm hoping
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that's one thing you do not need to worry about
look at the line of Galaxy S (Generation 1) phones, they have practically 1 variant for each single cell phone carrier on the planet.
some carriers even have 3 models of the same Galaxy S family
for example Tmobile USA have:
Galaxy S Vibrant
Nexus S
Galaxy S 4G
so we'll see our own flavor of SGS2 in due time
knowing their crazy naming scheme
i'll not be surprised to hear Galaxy S Vibrant II LOL
and probably comes with something chopped off like missing FFC or who knows what.
Hopefully they'll get some version of it... ATT blows..
So... any idea on how we're going to know which is the original phone model?
I guess we would just go off of the one coming out in March, and then try to buy that model off of whichever carrier carries it?
Because I wasn't very fond of the different versions of the Galaxy S - the Vibrant, the I9000 (which might be the same), the Captivate, the... who knows what else? Each carrier here (Rogers, Telus and Bell) had different versions. I don't even know what other ones like Virgin or WIND may have had for it (if they carried it).
i ordered this phone yesterday with next day air, just waiting on UPS to show up. I am wondering if it's 4G. No spec page that i seen says 4G anywhere, however the phone seems to have the right bands?
It is however, At&t is not known for having the fastest download speeds so take it as it is...
Yes, it supports HSPA+ on AT&T which, in theory, can provide up to 21MBs down. Typical ranges for those of us using the SGS2 in the U.S. are from 3-7MBs down. It works the same on dumb-phone and smartphone data plans. Do a search, there's a lot of discussion on how to use the SGS2 on a dumb-phone unlimited data plan for $20 a month.
4G as used by the american carriers is just market bull****. What T-Mobile and AT&T markets as 4G is just what the rest of the world calls 3G.
The only current technology that is fast enough that I could agree to call 4G is LTE, which only Verizon has rolled out in the US afaik and I think AT&T is starting the LTE rollout this summer.
There is a _vast_ difference between HSPA+ and LTE.
To answer your question... SGS2 has HSPA+ with a max download speed of 21Mbps which is what AT&T has been marketing as 4G.
awesome, Thanks for info.
In France (maybe in all of Europe) we call that 3G+, which is still marketing but makes much more sense in my opinion. So yeah if you ask me SGS2 is not "4G" since it doesn't support LTE.
UMB and WiMAX is also part of 4G technologies, and then UMTS revision 8 which is LTE.
3.5g sometimes
I didn't find the $20/mo unlimited us plans tho
still not clear to me
Sorry but I am still not 100 percent clear on this one. I live in a developing country an use wimax for internet.
Is my samsung galaxy sii wimax capable? Is it a hardware or a software limitation if the answer on the first question is no.
Thanks
Can someone shine some light onto this situation for me. I have a bell Gs2 and i heard they are releasing a lte (4g) network in toronto and that they are rereleasing the gs2. Does that mean i bought my gs2 and wont be able to take advantage of the lte capabilities?
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Yep, our phone has HSPA+ which Bell considers 4G along with their LTE network. Your phone doesn't have the LTE hardware, so yes, you are right. You will not be able to utilize LTE on your new phone....
Poor show by Bell there TBH man. At least here in the UK we know we are all being soiled on by the complete lack of 4G at the moment, over in Canada it must just be confusing as to which 4G platform your phone can...and can't, accept.
Thanks for your insight on this situation guys
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I don't think it matters TBH, Bell is charging a whole lot more for the LTE network so unless you are willing to pay you are not getting on it. Besides do you really need that fast of a connection (in a very limited geographical area) other than bragging rights?
The Galaxy S II is still a great phone. The LTE network will have only a small coverage area and a small number of devices supported at first. In 2 to 3 years LTE phones will be widely available and coverage will be up, that's when I'll jump on the LTE bandwagon.
Until then, HSPA+ @ up to 21Mbps is fine by me.
LTE at the moment is a huge battery drain, and real world speeds are not much better than hsdpa with enhanced backhall aka h+
It's a shame they are using 4G to describe h+, it's a huge marketing mess.
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So im ready to upgrade my phones on Tmobile and I read that the SGS 3 does not support LTE on Tmobiles network. Is this a deal breaker? Ive read that LTE is a battery vampire. Tmobile LTE network isnt due till next year. I plan on keeping the SGS 3 for 2 years, hoping it would be a bit of future proofing for me since its the hottest phone right now.
Is no LTE support a deal breaker?
androidmonkey said:
So im ready to upgrade my phones on Tmobile and I read that the SGS 3 does not support LTE on Tmobiles network. Is this a deal breaker? Ive read that LTE is a battery vampire. Tmobile LTE network isnt due till next year. I plan on keeping the SGS 3 for 2 years, hoping it would be a bit of future proofing for me since its the hottest phone right now.
Is no LTE support a deal breaker?
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Click to collapse
It's up to you, if LTE speed (constant 15Mbps+) is necessary for you then get an LTE S3 like ATT. If 3-7Mbps speed is enough, then get an HSPA+ only S3 like T-Mo.
However, the T-Mo S3 has 42Mbps+ radio, so if you a near a T-Mo tower, you can potentially get 10-20Mbps download speed.
You might better off ask this at the T-Mobile S3 section.
eksasol said:
It's up to you, if LTE speed (constant 15Mbps+) is necessary for you then get an LTE S3 like ATT. If 3-7Mbps speed is enough, then get an HSPA+ only S3 like T-Mo.
However, the T-Mo S3 has 42Mbps+ radio, so if you a near a T-Mo tower, you can potentially get 10-20Mbps download speed.
You might better off ask this at the T-Mobile S3 section.
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Thanks for the reply. I didnt know there was a section for Tmo on XDA. I did a search awhile back for it and didnt find it. Now I see one.
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?
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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.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
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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.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Click to expand...
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.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.