I know it's been posted a few times before regarding whether or not the international version of the Galaxy S III will be compatible on Canadian Carriers (In my case, TELUS) but I am just wondering if it can in fact work. Here's why I ask:
I live in Kelowna, British Columbia, and my current phone is a Galaxy S II from Bell Mobility. I unlocked it back in August of last year to use it on the TELUS network. It ran on the 850/900/1900/2100 MHz bands and I had no issue with using it on TELUS at HSPA+ speeds. With the Galaxy S III it runs on the same bands, so shouldn't it work? Now I've seen people saying that it still requires the 1700 MHz frequency (same idea with T-Mobile), however in my location there is no cellular tower that supports the 1700 MHz frequency (according to Canadian Cellular Towers Map). The only frequencies in Kelowna are 850 and 1900 actually.
This being said, shouldn't the Galaxy S III work in my area if I were to continue with my pre-order for the International variant?
[EDIT]
Also, just to point out, the HTC One S, which is also just released on TELUS, also opperates on the same frequencies as the Galaxy S III International.
I think you'll be fine.
And if the international version doesn't work from wherever you buy it from, I'm sure you can return it.
That's the premise I'm going on with SaskTel.
@MaesterB: Yeah I think so too. I spoke with a TELUS rep now and he claims that the 850/1900 MHz frequencies are enough to handle up to 42Mbps download speeds, and the 1700 MHz is primarily for the LTE coverage areas (Vancouver, Toronto, etc). Of course, in my area my Galaxy S II can only hit up to 6-8 Mbps anyways so I'm not overly concerned.
Exactly.
In Regina, we have "4G" but the fastest I can get is like up to 5MB anywhere in the city.
So, the International SGS3, running on 3g/4g...should be just fine.
Related
I've seen this blog.
http://blog.clove.co.uk/2011/04/12/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-umts-frequencies/
However, with our experience in the industry we have seen that almost every device launched in recent years within Europe has been ‘optimised’, with the American 850/1900 range locked down, leaving only 900/2100 for the rest of the world. As we are based in the UK it is for this reason we have taken the tentative step of advertising only these frequencies.
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yeah, UK clove store said EU galaxy S2 doesn't support US 850/1900
network. (They said that may be US 850/1900 UMTS frequencies are locked.)
But, I find google news.
http://www.mydaily-gadget.com/news/5718-att-getting-samsung-galaxy-s2-gt-i9100-fcc-says-i-do
Speaking about release dates we do not have a specific one for the GT-i9100 in the USA but we can confirm the FFC has authorized the use of this particular smart phone on the 850MHz and 1900MHz GSM frequencies which means the first carrier to offer the Samsung Galaxy S II might be AT&T. These two frequencies account for the AT&T 3G network but they also match some Canada operator’s frequencies so there is a big chance the Galaxy S II will land there too in the near future.
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Follow this news, EU galaxy S2 using US GSM 850/1900 networks.
Who is say that TRUE?
i'm very confused.
Quad band GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Source: http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxys2/html/specification.html
It should work.
apwhitelaw said:
Quad band GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Source: http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxys2/html/specification.html
It should work.
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So, only using ATT GSM network?
ATT UMTS network can't use?
Pulverizer said:
I've seen this blog.
http://blog.clove.co.uk/2011/04/12/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-umts-frequencies/
yeah, UK clove store said EU galaxy S2 doesn't support US 850/1900
network. (They said that may be US 850/1900 UMTS frequencies are locked.)
But, I find google news.
http://www.mydaily-gadget.com/news/5718-att-getting-samsung-galaxy-s2-gt-i9100-fcc-says-i-do
Follow this news, EU galaxy S2 using US GSM 850/1900 networks.
Who is say that TRUE?
i'm very confused.
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Click to collapse
That first link (that I provided earlier tonight I think) - read it to the end please, Clove has all the info on that page, just finish reading it. sorry for the tone , but I think you did not pay enough attention - there are comments to that blog post that say clove confirmed with the manufacturer and local distributor that all 4 bands are present.
I'm confused here
I have SGSII ordered from Clove. I plan to use it with ATT sim card. Have I made a mistake? Will I be able to use it? Do I need to cancel?
I hope it works well with AT&T since I intend to get this phone.
My current (imported) GT-i9000 did not properly support AT&T and has very poor call quality and call drop issues.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
Although Clove originally said they doubted it would support 850/1900 3G+, they did later confirm their stock would be quad-band 3G. So no need to worry about support for NAM 3G.
Once someone get's the GS2 in USA on ATT, can you confirm that it indeed works on Edge AND 3G?
kurtkbee said:
I hope it works well with AT&T since I intend to get this phone.
My current (imported) GT-i9000 did not properly support AT&T and has very poor call quality and call drop issues.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
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That's because the i9000 is only tri-band UMTS and only supports AT&T's 1900 frequency. When it gets to an area where the 1900 H/3G signal is weak, it can't switch over to the 850 UMTS simply because its hardware doesn't support it. So, then the phone call drops. You'll notice if you switch the i9000 to 2G/Edge, you'll never get a dropped call... because it's quad band GSM.
Also, ever notice you never get dropped calls when stationary and on H/3G? That's because with a solid 1900 UMTS signal, the i9000 will never search for the unsupported 850 band.
(And yes, I have confirmed all of this as I also own an i9000.)
i9100 supports quad-band UMTS with 850/1900 H/3G, so you will not have the frequent dropped calls anymore.
Here are the frequencies for AT&T: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT&T_Mobility#Radio_Frequency_Summary
Frequencies used on the AT&T Network
850 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
850 MHz UMTS/HSPA 3G
1900 MHz UMTS/HSPA 3G
700 MHz LTE 4G
So, the i9100 International will do almost all. Except LTE.
pepemosca said:
Here are the frequencies for AT&T: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT&T_Mobility#Radio_Frequency_Summary
Frequencies used on the AT&T Network
850 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
850 MHz UMTS/HSPA 3G
1900 MHz UMTS/HSPA 3G
700 MHz LTE 4G
So, the i9100 International will do almost all. Except LTE.
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Thanks for your information.
Ok guys I have an atrix 4g running on t-mobile. My question is why cant I get 4g/3g on this phone ? T-mobile runs on the 2100 band and the phone does support that band so why no 4g or 3g? common sense would tell me that if t-mo runs 4g on 2100 and the phone is capable of running on 2100 that it would work. have searched for a total of about 4 hours or so over the past couple days and cant find a straight answer only thing i can find is that att doesnt run on 2100 band yet the phone does. thanks in advance to anybody that can answer and taking the time to read.
are you getting H+ or H? (This is "3.5g") The Atrix 4g is not a true 4g phone.
Because the 2100 spectrum that you're using the phone on now is part of the quad-band gsm which is edge/2g. The difference lies in the bands used for 3g/4g, in which case AT&T only uses 850/1900 and tmobile only uses 1700/2100.
There is also a bunch of things that include HSPA, AWS, WCDMA, and so on and so on but I don't know enough about that to comment.
EDIT: Also, the only phones I know that can be used on both AT&T and Tmobile 3g/4g are "penta-band" phones like some European Nokia phones and the unlocked Galaxy Nexus that needs to be imported as well.
shattar01 said:
Ok guys I have an atrix 4g running on t-mobile. My question is why cant I get 4g/3g on this phone ? T-mobile runs on the 2100 band and the phone does support that band so why no 4g or 3g? common sense would tell me that if t-mo runs 4g on 2100 and the phone is capable of running on 2100 that it would work. have searched for a total of about 4 hours or so over the past couple days and cant find a straight answer only thing i can find is that att doesnt run on 2100 band yet the phone does. thanks in advance to anybody that can answer and taking the time to read.
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Wcdma=utms=3g
Yes, WCDMA and AWS(1700), as far as I know, are both from UMTS and the differences in regards to 3G between AT&T and Tmobile lie in the spectrum use (850&1900 vs 1700&2100). And both AT&T and Tmobile use HSPA(+) based off their respected UMTS frequencies.
I just don't understand the "leap" in GSM technology that breaks the quad-band compatibility, that's all.
matthew5025 said:
Wcdma=utms=3g
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Also I've read 850 is att's main spectrum for large areas and 900 for T-Mobile. All higher spectrums are for smaller, rural areas.
If your looking for 3g maybe find a town or, buy a dual band amplifier? That's IF they have 2100 MHz band working where you are located.
Lower bands ie 850/900 are the download streams. 1700/1900/2100 are upload streams. If I'm not mistaken
Also a T-Mobile vibrant supports att, it also has our main band, 850mhz. Again which is the main large areas, like T-Mobile 900mhz. 1700-2100mhz for att/T-Mobile range is only as good as the towns that still has that band currently operating for hspa/3g data. I've seen alot of T-Mobile phones that have 850/1900/2100, and work on att. If they were 1600/1900/2100 did not for me.
You need that lower frequencies to ensure it to work. Then....
Also for regional based frequencies...
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Mobile_Telecommunications_System
That link will let you know what that all really means.
I think you are mixing up gsm and umts.
GSM = 2G/Edge
UMTS (HSPA, HSPA+, HSDPA/HSUPA, WCDMA, AWS) = 3G
Have a look here. You will see they label "3G" as "UMTS" which is HSPA/WCDMA. A little more down you can see they label their data as "HSDPA", which is download, and "HSUPA" which is upload. Further delineating the speeds they label either one as UMTS for down and Edge as up, which to me tells me they use gsm for the upload and only use UMTS for download. Either way, there is not a T-mobile phone available that can be unlocked and used on AT&T's 3G, just 2G and vice versa. As I have previously mentioned, you will need a penta-band phone for that.
Ciloteille said:
Also I've read 850 is att's main spectrum for large areas and 900 for T-Mobile. All higher spectrums are for smaller, rural areas.
If your looking for 3g maybe find a town or, buy a dual band amplifier? That's IF they have 2100 MHz band working where you are located.
Lower bands ie 850/900 are the download streams. 1700/1900/2100 are upload streams. If I'm not mistaken
Also a T-Mobile vibrant supports att, it also has our main band, 850mhz. Again which is the main large areas, like T-Mobile 900mhz. 1700-2100mhz for att/T-Mobile range is only as good as the towns that still has that band currently operating for hspa/3g data. I've seen alot of T-Mobile phones that have 850/1900/2100, and work on att. If they were 1600/1900/2100 did not for me.
You need that lower frequencies to ensure it to work. Then....
Also for regional based frequencies...
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Mobile_Telecommunications_System
That link will let you know what that all really means.
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And don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to give anyone a hard time but it's misinformation to tell anyone that a T-mobile phone can work on AT&T 3G.
And I'll say it again, I'm not an expert so if anyone can better explain then I'm all ears (eyes).
live4nyy said:
I think you are mixing up gsm and umts.
GSM = 2G/Edge
UMTS (HSPA, HSPA+, HSDPA/HSUPA, WCDMA, AWS) = 3G
Have a look here. You will see they label "3G" as "UMTS" which is HSPA/WCDMA. A little more down you can see they label their data as "HSDPA", which is download, and "HSUPA" which is upload. Further delineating the speeds they label either one as UMTS for down and Edge as up, which to me tells me they use gsm for the upload and only use UMTS for download. Either way, there is not a T-mobile phone available that can be unlocked and used on AT&T's 3G, just 2G and vice versa. As I have previously mentioned, you will need a penta-band phone for that.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to give anyone a hard time but it's misinformation to tell anyone that a T-mobile phone can work on AT&T 3G.
And I'll say it again, I'm not an expert so if anyone can better explain then I'm all ears (eyes).
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I am just merely stating that I have a motorola defy on ATT, and it worked great for a long time with great speeds before I got a motorola atrix and infuse.
Im not saying that every tmobile phone will have working talk/text, or data for that matter. I have just posted an idea, or atleast what to look for when you are cruising for phones not labeled for your carrier.
I was getting my motorola defy with the att "grand fathered internet" for 10 dollars a month and it was about 160-420KB/s down, and 80-190KB/s up. but some phones are capable of this, others arent. I have a general idea, and have played with several different carrier cellphones and used them with att and att's 3g data.
Rogers HTC Dream (x2 of them)
Telus Milestone
Tmobile Defy
Rogers Atrix
ATT Atrix (x2 of them)
ATT Infuse
Rogers and Telus actually use the same 3G bands as AT&T so as long as those are unlocked they will work. And I'm not saying an unlocked T-mobile can't work on AT&T, because they can (they both use quad-band gsm) but you can not use an unlocked T-mobile phone an AT&T 3G. That's all I'm saying.
Now, they did make an European version of the Defy that uses the 850 3G band but not the T-mobile "branded" one.
I'm going to stick to my guns on this one because I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea about interchanging AT&T and T-mobile phones and expecting 3G service. I'm fairly certain about this and unless someone can prove otherwise that's how I will think.
Ciloteille said:
I am just merely stating that I have a motorola defy on ATT, and it worked great for a long time with great speeds before I got a motorola atrix and infuse.
Im not saying that every tmobile phone will have working talk/text, or data for that matter. I have just posted an idea, or atleast what to look for when you are cruising for phones not labeled for your carrier.
I was getting my motorola defy with the att "grand fathered internet" for 10 dollars a month and it was about 160-420KB/s down, and 80-190KB/s up. but some phones are capable of this, others arent. I have a general idea, and have played with several different carrier cellphones and used them with att and att's 3g data.
Rogers HTC Dream (x2 of them)
Telus Milestone
Tmobile Defy
Rogers Atrix
ATT Atrix (x2 of them)
ATT Infuse
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---------- Post added at 08:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:36 AM ----------
Upon further research, I have found this article, where under certain circumstances, you can use an unlocked AT&T iPhone with T-mobile 3G:
http://www.gsmarena.com/tmobile_usa_running_1900mhz_3g_in_some_areas_iphones_invited-news-3537.php
Now, this shows that an AT&T phone can maybe use T-mobile 3G but not the other way around. Again, I'm always up for learning something new but I need references/proof.
Well I do get att 3g on the defy and vibrant. I am currently getting about 300ish KB/s on them and 600+KB/s on my attic, I'm just going with the facts. Those facts are that certain T-Mobile phones will work with Att, provided they have 850mhz band. That allows you in most towns (near me) to get 3g
False.
300KB/s is Edge speed, which is only 2G.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2G
http://www.phonescoop.com/glossary/term.php?gid=107
That's why you get faster speeds on the Atrix because it actually uses 3G.
Again, both AT&T and T-mobile use quad-band GSM. Which is why you can unlock a T-mobile phone and use it on AT&T, and vice versa, but it is only 2G/Edge and NOT 3G.
http://www.phonescoop.com/glossary/term.php?gid=139
http://www.phonescoop.com/glossary/term.php?gid=3
Furthermore, here are the wiki pages for AT&T and T-mobile which both inlcude frequency charts outlining the technology (2G or 3G) each one uses:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT&T_Wireless
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile_USA
Here are the charts:
AT&T:
Frequency Protocol Class
Frequencies used on the AT&T Network
850 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
850 MHz UMTS/HSPA 3G
1900 MHz UMTS/HSPA 3G
700 MHz LTE 4G
T-mobile:
Frequency Band Protocol
850 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
1700 MHz UMTS (W-CDMA)/HSPA/HSPA+ 4G (formerly 3G[34])
1900 MHz UMTS (W-CDMA)/HSPA/HSPA+ 4G
I check for facts and references, I'm only saying what I find in research.
Again, when unlocked, a T-mobile phone can use AT&T 2G/Edge, not 3G
Ciloteille said:
Well I do get att 3g on the defy and vibrant. I am currently getting about 300ish KB/s on them and 600+KB/s on my attic, I'm just going with the facts. Those facts are that certain T-Mobile phones will work with Att, provided they have 850mhz band. That allows you in most towns (near me) to get 3g
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I've read that the AT&T version of the SGSII (Skyrocket) and Galaxy Note can be flashed with the Tmo SGSII modem and work. Does anyone know if this can be done on the international SGSII (GT-I9100)?
I have this, and was on AT&T, but now on T-Mobile. I still love this phone and want to use it on Tmo on their HSPA+ network.
I've searched, and nothing has come up. I wonder how much hardware parts these variants share with the "original".
Probably a Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 vs Exynos thing....
naddie said:
I've read that the AT&T version of the SGSII (Skyrocket) and Galaxy Note can be flashed with the Tmo SGSII modem and work. Does anyone know if this can be done on the international SGSII (GT-I9100)?
I have this, and was on AT&T, but now on T-Mobile. I still love this phone and want to use it on Tmo on their HSPA+ network.
I've searched, and nothing has come up. I wonder how much hardware parts these variants share with the "original".
Probably a Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 vs Exynos thing....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. The GT-I9100 physically lacks the capability to receive one of the two necessary bands for AWS to receive high speed data on T-mobile USA's network.
The reason it works with the Skyrocket and the Note is because those two phones DO have the capability to receive both bands for AWS. (1700 and 2100 mhz UMTS)
I am thinking about trying to get an sgs iii and wondering if it is possible to get it on the $30.00 mo 100min unl data plan through walmart?
I have the exhibit ii on this plan, had it for a couple months, anybody know how I would do this?
If it will work with Tmobile band why not, best to ask the source. I don't think we have a Wal Mart rep guru here.
Sure you can, if you don't want 3G.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
You have prepaid plan, you can put your sim into just about any unlocked GSM phone (and T-Mobile phones) and use it. If you want a good phone right now, get the Galaxy Nexus (GSM), it supports T-Mobile 3G (1700/2100 band). T-Mobile version of SIII will be coming later.
thanks for the responses, a Galaxy Nexus is probably a more realistic option than the sgs3 price wise, going to take a good look at it on the play store.
cheers.
T-Mobile and AT&T both support compatible band.
the SGS3 uses HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
T-Mobile uses HSDPA 900 / 1700 / 2100
AT&T uses HSDPA 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100
now we play match the bands. we see at&t shares 3 bands with the international SGS3, thats great. T-Mobile shares 1, not as awesome, but 1 band is enough.
its true what theyre saying up there about "only having 2G", well i should correct myself, it WAS true. however recently T-Mobile has upgraded their 2100 band to 3G, as theyve been expanding. so it will work fine on Walmart's plan, as they use T-Mobile's network.
T-Mobile will come out with an SGS3 later in the year, for SGS2 it was 6 months behind the international version. the T-Mobile version will use HSDPA 900 / 1700 / 2100. what do more compatible bands mean? well it means if youre in an area you normally wouldnt get good 2100 band signal, you may get 1700 signal. if you live in the city, youll see no difference at all, its only when youre in rural areas.
so in short; you can totally use the i9300 SGS3 on tmobiles network, and yes, you will have HSDPA 3G
soraxd said:
T-Mobile uses HSDPA 900 / 1700 / 2100
now we play match the bands. we see at&t shares 3 bands with the international SGS3, thats great. T-Mobile shares 1, not as awesome, but 1 band is enough.
its true what theyre saying up there about "only having 2G", well i should correct myself, it WAS true. however recently T-Mobile has upgraded their 2100 band to 3G, as theyve been expanding. so it will work fine on Walmart's plan, as they use T-Mobile's network.
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Could really use a source for this, please. Everything i've looked up has suggested that their HSPA+ is only 1700 and 2100, and that phones with only 2100 would not work.
thebobp said:
Could really use a source for this, please. Everything i've looked up has suggested that their HSPA+ is only 1700 and 2100, and that phones with only 2100 would not work.
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you know what, i made a mistake, i was using this
http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-4261
looking at the bands the T-Mobile One S (along with all other tmobile phones) support, but the 900 band is just added to the phone so it can be used if taken abroad. so my mistake.
to reiterate the sgs3 will only work on 2g on tmobile, it will only work on at&t for 3g.
im glad you questioned it, i would have gone along giving bad information
Hi guys,
I have an international S3 i9300 unlocked. Ill be moving to NYC for training for 4 months, would this be okay on AT&T network (will use AT&T sim and not my local simcard then roaming)?
im guessing this phone is quad band as well... LTE is not that important for me as i just download files sent to me thru email and im sure there will be WIFI in the office. My concern would generally be mobile signal and if it would be easy for me to get it
search for the frequencies AT&T uses, and compare to the supported frequencies of the i9300
Should be fine up to 3G:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT&T_Mobility#Radio_frequency_summary
Although, they have 2 freq's for 3G so it depends how they split that....
Because see our bands for 3G:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9300_galaxy_s_iii-4238.php
We only support 1900 MHz where as AT&T does 850MHz and 1900MHz. You may need advise from an AT&T user as to what that split actually means.
If it's geographical for example, you may be in an 850 area, meaning teh best you every get is EDGE