I have T-Mobile and I want to buy the International Samsung Galaxy S II. I understand that the International version does not support T-Mobile's 3g frequency band, and I would be limited to 2g speeds. However, I was wondering if it would be possible to buy an external antenna to be able to use 3g speeds. Or even better, is it possible to replace the internal antenna?
No and No.
DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU WANT TO KILL YOUR GS2.
Sorry for the bold, but despite there being no rhyme or reason for it, I came across a thread which illustrated this fact from multiple people who tried external antennas, and here's what happened. The antenna worked, they thought all was good, then they disconnected the antenna, no signal. EVER again. I guess what happens is when you plug in an external antenna it pushes some contacts apart which breaks contact with the internal antenna permanently (supposedly a few that were very handy with a VERY tiny needle were able to fix it). Don't ask me why Samsung would design it this way while leaving the plugs exposed but that's what I read. Just wanted to make sure you didn't find out the hard way
In other words, the jack is there, and you can find adapters for those jack(s), but you really don't want to, unless you want to ONLY use external antennas for the rest of time (not most people).
EDIT: Whoops, forgot to add the most important part. Antenna has NOTHING to do with the fact that the radio doesn't support t-mo's frequencies. It's like having an antenna designed for HDTVs, and hoping to get hdtv on your standard def tv. Antennas don't "translate", they're all just fancy coathangers.
mwknowles92 said:
I have T-Mobile and I want to buy the International Samsung Galaxy S II. I understand that the International version does not support T-Mobile's 3g frequency band, and I would be limited to 2g speeds. However, I was wondering if it would be possible to buy an external antenna to be able to use 3g speeds. Or even better, is it possible to replace the internal antenna?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"antenna has nothing to do with GSM OR CDMA bands." its the radio chip that does the work.
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A
Understood, thanks for your help guys. Is there a way to mark this as [Solved] or something?
mwknowles92 said:
Understood, thanks for your help guys. Is there a way to mark this as [Solved] or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Edit your first post to an eye-popping "SOLVED"
Related
Hello all, i have a Vibrant. but unfortunately in my area at&t only operates their 3g on the 850band, which the vibrant doesn't support. so ive been stuck on Edge for months now, and getting sick of it.
I was wondering if the internal cellular antenna could be swapped with lets say a samsung captivate. so that it could operate on my local 3g band? (without any horrible software issues).
thanks for replies.
I don't know if this is actually possible, but I wish it was. That way, I would my antenna with the one in the Galaxy S 4G. I guess you'd have to find someone with that type of experience.
As of now im guessing it isn't, been searching everywhere on the net and i dont think its even been attempted on any android phones, I have learned that the cellular antenna housing is in the hump on the bottom of the phone. may disassemble it and take a look.
EDIT::: this is completely possible, however, i cannot find a supplier or place to buy a compatible chip that works on all bands....
ANYONE lemme know where i can. please and thankyou
That little thingy to the left of the SIM and MicroSD slot; is that an external gsm antenna?
I guess for attaching to a signal booster of some sort..?
Sorry for the potentially dumb question.
No it was also on the SGS1 .
jje
Seen these on a lot of phones going back 10 years or more, so you are most likely correct.
I was thinking possible satellite extension antenna, but the old phones didn't have this.
Found this
http://www.cell-phones-store.info/drivetime-cell-phone-antenna-booster-kit-for-samsung-a500
I have been around the forum for many years now, but am new to Android. I purchased a GT-i9100 in India for work travel between US and there. I have rooted and upgraded to 2.3.4, and applied a new kernel to remove the exclamation point. So, with that said, here is my question:
I am in the US right now, and in an area supported by T Mobile HSPA, but the phone will only connect to Edge. I am PRETTY sure it was only connecting to Edge before I did the work, but I cannot be sure. Would there be anything I did to the phone that would prevent it from getting onto the "4G" network? Is there anything I need to do now to change so it can connect?
I am not sure if this is related either, but I have a Verizon LTE data card, and if I place that SIM in the GT-i9100, it won't recognize it at all. It seems to only see T Mobile and ATT in the US.
I have spoken to T Mobile and they confirmed the 4g availability where I am, and they also reset my network connection, so the issue does not appear to be on my account or with TMobile.
Sorry for the long post, but I have been searching around and can't seem to get my small mind around resolution.
The SGS2 does not work with T-Mobile's 4G bands here in the US. If you want 4G you'll need AT&T.
dvinnola said:
Sorry for the long post, but I have been searching around and can't seem to get my small mind around resolution.
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Click to collapse
That's because there is no resolution. As stated in several other threads on these forums (learn to do a search, and there's even one on the main page of Q/A right now) THERE IS NO WAY to get 3G on T-Mobile. The hardware in the phone does not support their 1700MHZ band.
Your 2 options:
1. Buy a T-Mobile phone
2. Switch to AT&T
Ok, just a disclaimer (I am well-aware of my n00b status here)... I spent quite a few hours already on this site and on the Android forums, and on Google searching for answers to this... Not to mention time at the AT&T store and chatting w/some other phone reps (including Samsung tech support and AT&T tech support)... And while I've made some progress, I still can't get any definitive answers here.
So... that being said, first (and big 'sigh' I'm sure to many) is that I'm using a South Korea Note - the SHV-E160S. I know this is the I717 forums, but before I get flamed and booted, let me explain...
Well, I am on AT&T. No problems with calls or texting (minus the annoying 80-character limit, but anyways)... However, I have a BIG problem with the LTE. I'm on the LTE data plan, however, I cannot access any data network other than GPRS. Yes, my pings take about 533ms. My download speeds are about 53kb/s. This sucks, quite a lot. Esp when compared to my fiance's Note, which side-by-side gets about 13mb/s on the LTE network.
So... Did some research, and got the run-around... Less all the crap I heard from AT&T reps... It seems that the antenna for my Note is set to LTE850/LTE1800, and the actual AT&T SGH-I717's antenna is set to LTE700/LTE1700/2100. My sources for this come from PDAdb.net (I'd hyperlink, but my post count is not high enough to do that, yet).
So... Here come the questions. First... Is the antenna frequency tuning something built-into the hardware, or is it something that can be tuned via software?
-If it's in the hardware, would it be possible to buy an AT&T-spec LTE antenna? Which antenna gets replaced (from what I understand, there are two, and I can't find a legit source that tells me which is which), and where could I buy such a thing?
-If it's in the software, what would I have to do to re-tune the antenna? My phone is rooted with the latest Gingerbread Tegrak kernel.
Lastly... Though there is a difference between the LTE antennas... I still cannot access any network other than GPRS. I should at least be able to access EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA and HSPA+ as well, but I can't.
If ALL else fails, I guess I could get a portable tethering device with a contract... But that'd be oh-so-annoying to have to carry around all the time, and I'd like to avoid that option as much as possible. I'm paying $30/mo for LTE service on my phone already!
Anyways... Any thoughts or advice would be very appreciated, and my apologies if anything here is out-of-place. Thanks in advance!
U have the international note. Doesn't have late chip in it. But ur note has better CPU then the att note. The international note CPU is not comparable with att lte chipset that's y Samsung use 2different CPU. Yes u should be able to get 3g. Reset your apn. And search around. To find the code to reset your apn. I forgot. Its something like *2260*
I had an international first, had to rest everything to get data. But after few days. I return it cos I prefer to have lte speed more then CPU speed. And I found out the u can just over clock att note to 1.85 instead of stock 1.5. So now I am very happy with my att note.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2
Hmm I'm not sure if this method works with the International Note but it's worth a try. You need to get into ServiceMode. On your phone dialer keypad type *#2263# and choose 2 WCDMA Band Preference and select (6) WCDMA all.
Reply with your findings.
babymatteo said:
Hmm I'm not sure if this method works with the International Note but it's worth a try. You need to get into ServiceMode. On your phone dialer keypad type *#2263# and choose 2 WCDMA Band Preference and select (6) WCDMA all.
Reply with your findings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip, but all I get is an error: "Connection problem or invalid MMI code."
:\
Maybe the issue is your kernal and/or radio? Isn't the Tegrak kernal Korean? Most likely your radio is also. That is probably your issue. The way I see it you have 3 choices: Live with it, Sell it and buy an I717 variant, Take the risk and at least flash the ATT Gingerbread radio.
home screen/ menu/ system settings/ more/ mobile networks/ access point names/ AT&T
Do all your entries match these? Write down your current ones before changing or take screen shots. You must use the menu key and save changes. Also make sure that is the APN checked after rebooting.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7226/7298567918_306aaab920.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7236/7298567982_82c3b41861.jpg
chak29 said:
U have the international note. Doesn't have late chip in it. But ur note has better CPU then the att note. The international note CPU is not comparable with att lte chipset that's y Samsung use 2different CPU. Yes u should be able to get 3g. Reset your apn. And search around. To find the code to reset your apn. I forgot. Its something like *2260*
I had an international first, had to rest everything to get data. But after few days. I return it cos I prefer to have lte speed more then CPU speed. And I found out the u can just over clock att note to 1.85 instead of stock 1.5. So now I am very happy with my att note.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
he doesn't have the international note(n7000) he has the South Korea Note - the SHV-E160S (he says it in OP), which it has the same processor as ours but some minor diferences in other things.
To the OP, why do you have a korean Note when from your avatar you're in the US?, I'm sure there's your problem, that note is set to use bands in korea and not in US, so the data is going to be crap, and for you to attempt to swap out the antenna is risking braking the phone because you run a chance after swapping it, not working and not having a working phone anymore.
aj_vogtman said:
home screen/ menu/ more/ mobile networks/ access point names/ AT&T
Do all your entries match these? Write down your current ones before changing or take screen shots. You must use the menu key and save changes. Also make sure that is the APN checked after rebooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I matched the APN settings of my fiancee's LTE Note first, and that did not work... It's pretty much exactly what you have posted. However, there are a couple things of note (bad pun, sorry). I do not have a 'APN enable/disable' or 'Bearer' field... However, everything else is set the same.
roloracer said:
To the OP, why do you have a korean Note when from your avatar you're in the US?, I'm sure there's your problem, that note is set to use bands in korea and not in US, so the data is going to be crap, and for you to attempt to swap out the antenna is risking braking the phone because you run a chance after swapping it, not working and not having a working phone anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Korean Note because I was living in Korea for a while, and I just got back to the US last week.
As in my OP, I found that the LTE bands are different; however, I can't even get on any other data networks other than GPRS. I've tried some APNs for HSPA+, and the results are the same.
Swapping the antennas shouldn't be THAT big of a deal if I had to... I'm pretty mechanically inclined. Obviously, I need to know if it would provide the intended results or not first.
Pscheoverdrive said:
I have a Korean Note because I was living in Korea for a while, and I just got back to the US last week.
As in my OP, I found that the LTE bands are different; however, I can't even get on any other data networks other than GPRS. I've tried some APNs for HSPA+, and the results are the same.
Swapping the antennas shouldn't be THAT big of a deal if I had to... I'm pretty mechanically inclined. Obviously, I need to know if it would provide the intended results or not first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, was just wondering where you got a Korean note. hope you can figure it out and good luck.
Sent from my CM9 Note.
Hi All,
I'm new here. Hoping someone can give me some advice/direction on my issue.
Just received two Elephone P3000S phones (one for me, one for gift). I'm in Canada on Koodo network, but don't get 4G because we are pretty rural (west of Ottawa), so we are using WCDMA/HSPA+ 850/1900 MHz.
The P3000S supports the following:
GSM:850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA:850/900/1900/2100(HSDPA), FDD-LTE:800/1800/2100/2600
At home, on our old phones (Samsung Galaxy SIIX), we would get cell signals of -93 dBm or better (not great, but usable). With the P3000S phones in the same location (both of them), the signal is -110 dBm or worse (not usable - not able to make calls or send texts). There are no protective cases on the phones to interfere with signal.
I've tried the the following:
- choosing 3G only and WCDMA only networks and editng APN settings specifically for Koodo
- changing/adding build.prop entries for ro.ril
- posting in Elephone forums - no help
- contacting Elephone - no response
The P3000S is new - just came available mid-December. Elephone has issued one update since then. It did not help my signal problem.
I know this could be a hardware/antenna issue, but since the phone is new, opening it up to tweak/boost the antenna is not really an option - a last resort if I can't sell the phones to someone who is located where they will work.
So, my next step (I think), is to try flashing a new modem, but I have no idea where to start with that to find one that might be compatible with Koodo and the P3000S. I'm willing to try several, but it's very new to me.
Relevant info:
Octacore MTK6592 + MTK6290
Android version: 4.4.2
Baseband: MOLY.LR9.W1423.MD.LWTG.MP.V3.P3
I'd really appreciate any advice.
Thanks in advance.
Anyone have any ideas where I might start?
heath3000 said:
Hi All,
I'm new here. Hoping someone can give me some advice/direction on my issue.
Just received two Elephone P3000S phones (one for me, one for gift). I'm in Canada on Koodo network, but don't get 4G because we are pretty rural (west of Ottawa), so we are using WCDMA/HSPA+ 850/1900 MHz.
The P3000S supports the following:
GSM:850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA:850/900/1900/2100(HSDPA), FDD-LTE:800/1800/2100/2600
At home, on our old phones (Samsung Galaxy SIIX), we would get cell signals of -93 dBm or better (not great, but usable). With the P3000S phones in the same location (both of them), the signal is -110 dBm or worse (not usable - not able to make calls or send texts). There are no protective cases on the phones to interfere with signal.
I've tried the the following:
- choosing 3G only and WCDMA only networks and editng APN settings specifically for Koodo
- changing/adding build.prop entries for ro.ril
- posting in Elephone forums - no help
- contacting Elephone - no response
The P3000S is new - just came available mid-December. Elephone has issued one update since then. It did not help my signal problem.
I know this could be a hardware/antenna issue, but since the phone is new, opening it up to tweak/boost the antenna is not really an option - a last resort if I can't sell the phones to someone who is located where they will work.
So, my next step (I think), is to try flashing a new modem, but I have no idea where to start with that to find one that might be compatible with Koodo and the P3000S. I'm willing to try several, but it's very new to me.
Relevant info:
Octacore MTK6592 + MTK6290
Android version: 4.4.2
Baseband: MOLY.LR9.W1423.MD.LWTG.MP.V3.P3
I'd really appreciate any advice.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, i bought same phone and seems signal is ok. But i am probably not so far from BTS.
It seems your phones has worse antena then phone before, you can not solve this by software (ril mod, baseband etc.). You have to try to solve it by hardware mod, probably extend antena to get higher gain. Under and around NFC antena on back cover is enought space tu use copper foil strips, you can try make unclosed frame with connection on main antena.
Hi MioCZ,
Thanks for your thoughts. So you don't think a different region (i.e. North America) baseband/modem would help at all? The hardware tweak is my last resort - I'm not particularly fond of opening up a new device. And I don't exactly know what to look for as far as NFC antenna or main antenna. Any idea where these are located on this phone?
Again - thanks for your insight.
EDIT: Oh, I see you reference the antenna on the back cover as the NFC antenna. I can try to work with something there without opening up the phone? Or do I need to make a mod to connect the new copper to the main antenna from there? So I guess I need to know where the main antenna is. Is the 4G/LTE antenna the same one used for 3G/WCDMA/UMTS/HSPA? I'm not sure if there are separate ones. If so, the 4G/LTE antenna location is pretty clearly marked.
EDIT AGAIN: I answered my own question by reading up on cell phone antennas. Gotta love Google. So, I'm going to try to rig something up to the main antenna, which I assume is under the section marked "LTE 4G" in the upper right hand corner (when looking at the back of the phone). I'll post my results when I finish.
Engineering mode
You can call *#*#3646633#*# to enter to Engineering mode. It should have antenna test somewhere in menus.
Hi
heath3000 said:
Anyone have any ideas where I might start?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, have you solved the issues on your phone?
I believe this is the same problem that I am facing with coloros. In fact he does not write the correct base band and when he writes, does not connect to the network 3G / 4G or make calls. is a mistake that just found this unit ... which makes the port of ROMs for this device and portability including future versions of android. It is not compatible with any other MTK6592 I know.
lena cui said:
Hi, have you solved the issues on your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, nothing I have tried helped.