[Q] Which S3 Models are Compatible with Fido Network - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I've researched the S3 models and Fido frequencies to the best of my abilities. I would sure appreciate some help. LTE will apparently be available in my area soon. A Fido rep claims it already is but their network map says differently. Could someone please advise my options with respect to the models of S3 which will work on the Fido network. Is it worth purchasing an LTE capable S3 now or waiting? Fido advises they operate on 2600 mhz on LTE and 850/1900 on the other networks . I apologize if the question is silly but would sure appreciate some guidance.

hi there
you should get the gt-i9305(not to be confused with the gt-i9300!) :
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9305_galaxy_s_iii-5001.php
enjoy

Clarification
Thanks so much for the help. I had looked at this model and it seems to fit with most of the parameters required by Fido except that doesn't run on the 1900 mhz band on 3g, only at 850 mhz. What does this mean exactly? Will it still work properly or will it kick down to 2G speeds if not connected to a true LTE network?
Thanks in advance for the clarification.

Related

[Q] hey guys looking for a straight answer

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
---------- 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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Chinese phones and US phone companies

Quick question, im looking into buying a cheap chinese phone because 1, im not picky about being top of the line, and 2, because its inexpensive. But ive been looking into and around the internet for supporting information stating if these chinese phones work on Tmobil, AT&T, Net 10 or Striaght talk. Here is the general break down fo these phones
Operation System: Android 4.0
·4.3 inch Capacitive Multi-touch screen, QHD (540*960)
·CPU:MTK6575 CPU 1GHZ Dual core
·Quadband: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz 3G WCDMA 900/2100MHz
Id like to know if this type phone would work with the above companies with both talk/txt/mms but also with 3g full US coverage. Thanks in advance
-Nick
Compare the GSM and 3G bands with a well known model at USA
But I cant get a straight answer out of anybody...
I know that the talking/txting/mms will work on the GSM bands provided but its the 3g that im thinking about
I see different things all over the place; some phones are 800/2100, 850/2100, 900/2100, and 1700/2100. The 2100 is prob the only consistent band, but i dont know if, say, 900 correlates to western US and 2100 correlates to eastern half. OR the 900 and 2100 cover ALL of US and you need just one of them. Besides that, several phones on I think tmobile such as the HD7, here's a link to what I mean,
http://www.gsmnation.com/htc-hd7-tmo.html
The top says 1700/2100 but the description states 900/2100 for 3g?!?
Heres a link to one of the phones I was talking about that I was looking into
http://www.fastcardtech.com/goods-7...ouch+Screen+WIFI+G-sensor+3G+smart+phone.html
Thanks,
Rico
Any thoughts on if this phone covers AT&T or Tmobile? Id appreciate any help, thanks guys
Rico
For AT&T, the band is 850/1900 MHz for both GSM and WCDMA 3G. For T-Mobile 850/1900 MHz GSM and 1700 MHz for WCDMA 3G. If your phone is WCDMA 900/2100, 3G will not work for both AT&T and T-mobile. You must have at least one band that matches with your network. For best 3G coverage, both bands must be supported by the phone.
Have a look at this phone with WCDMA 2100MHz (800/850/1900 optional) here: www.chinaphonereview.com/samhave-aone-shanghe-a1
Also look at these phones that have 850/2100 WCDMA bands: www.chinaphonereview.com/zopo-zp100 and www.chinaphonereview.com/zopo-zp200.
Cool, thanks for the link man, I like the ShangHe Aone 3G Android 4.0 you recommended. Do you know of any others? Im just looking for android 4.0 and a nice (not super nice) 4.3'' screen. I was also looking into an Ezio H7 but its android 2.3 and im not sure of the screen quality. Any thoughts? thanks in advance.
I also found these phones with 850/2100 MHz WCDMA bands: Star Xperia S LT26 and THL V9.
The THL V9 has a 4.3 inch screen with qHD resolution (960 x 540 pixels) and Android 2.3 but I think it has already an Android 4.0 update. You might want to check it out.
I was looking into those as well as IHTC 310x or something like that, but the 3g bands are 850/2100 but i need 850/1900. Any other phone references you know of?
Thanks y'all
nick
Hell, ill take a phone with 1700/2100 bands too... if they exist... which i doubt in china.
Most Chinese phones I know are 850/2100 or 900/2100. The ShangHe Aone may be the only dual SIM phone with optional 850/900/1900 bands.
The Meizu MX has a WCDMA/HSDPA band of 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz. This phone is high-end, with dual core 1.4 GHz CPU. It also has a quad core version named Meizu MX Quad-Core. Both are very affordable for their specs.
Anyone make any progress in getting this figured out? I've been looking into buying a chinese phone to use on t mobile and it looks like most of them operate WCDMA for 3G speeds, which won't work on t-mobile. Does anyone actually have one now that they're using?
Seany D said:
Anyone make any progress in getting this figured out? I've been looking into buying a chinese phone to use on t mobile and it looks like most of them operate WCDMA for 3G speeds, which won't work on t-mobile. Does anyone actually have one now that they're using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need one with both 1700 and 2100 in order to get 3g hspa unless your in a coverage area where tmo already supports 1900. in some areas where im at people i know with crapple iphones get 3g where tmo has refarmed thier netwok they are working on getting this frequency to more areas so its wait and see
Seany D said:
Anyone make any progress in getting this figured out? I've been looking into buying a chinese phone to use on t mobile and it looks like most of them operate WCDMA for 3G speeds, which won't work on t-mobile. Does anyone actually have one now that they're using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simple answer....NO
I too was looking to buy a chinese phone with hope that I would be able to get 3G on Tmobile. Tmobile's 3G unfortunately runs on the 1700 MHz band. If you don't see that band in the phones description you will only get 2G aka EDGE network on TMobile.
So this phone wouldn't work with Tmobile?
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/DHL-...00-phone-for-n7100-smart-phone/737394584.html
PRODUCTION INFO
Model
for N7100
Network
GSM 900/1800 MHZ /GSM850/1900MHZ
WCDMA 2100MHZ /900 MHZ
Processor(CPU)
MTK 6577 1.2GHz Cortex A9 Dual Core
I don't know for America, and I am not a techie myself, but from what I understand, you have to look at the frequencies the phone proposes.
In Belgium, 3G works on 900 / 2100 MHz, if the phone doesn't support this, you will fall back to 2G.
for the example above
Tmobile's 3G unfortunately runs on the 1700 MHz band
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GSM 900/1800 MHZ /GSM850/1900MHZ
WCDMA 2100MHZ /900 MHZ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-> looks like you will be falling back to 2G :/
It will work
airnique23 said:
Simple answer....NO
I too was looking to buy a chinese phone with hope that I would be able to get 3G on Tmobile. Tmobile's 3G unfortunately runs on the 1700 MHz band. If you don't see that band in the phones description you will only get 2G aka EDGE network on TMobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In addition to 1700 MHz, T-Mobile also supports 2100 MHz so 3G will work where you get 2100 coverage in USA.
Source: .worldtimezone.com/gsm.html
iamrico00 said:
Quick question, im looking into buying a cheap chinese phone because 1, im not picky about being top of the line, and 2, because its inexpensive. But ive been looking into and around the internet for supporting information stating if these chinese phones work on Tmobil, AT&T, Net 10 or Striaght talk. Here is the general break down fo these phones
Operation System: Android 4.0
·4.3 inch Capacitive Multi-touch screen, QHD (540*960)
·CPU:MTK6575 CPU 1GHZ Dual core
·Quadband: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz 3G WCDMA 900/2100MHz
Id like to know if this type phone would work with the above companies with both talk/txt/mms but also with 3g full US coverage. Thanks in advance
-Nick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
also remember when buying chinese phone, their government doesn't allow google or ggogle play store to be installed stock so you will have to root it and manually install this also
Techminator said:
In addition to 1700 MHz, T-Mobile also supports 2100 MHz so 3G will work where you get 2100 coverage in USA.
Source: .worldtimezone.com/gsm.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not entirely correct. Part of T-Mobile's HSPA network operates on the hybrid AWS 1700/2100 Mhz frequency where one part is uplink and one downlink, which is not the same as operating solely on 2100 Mhz frequency like many of the Chinese phones work with and many other countries use. They are not compatible.
However, that being said, their HSPA network also works on the 1900 Mhz frequency in most major metro areas of the US now as well as many other parts and many of the world phones do support that.

[Q] How to check frequency band supported

Hi,
The story is here:
I owned a korean version i9100 (M250K) and flash it with the latest CM10 nightly version (20120908, band version I9100XXLPW). It works well with my current carrier, which operate at 2100mhz frequency.
I will travel to US next weeks and plan to purchase T-mobile pay by days data plan, but because T-mobile US operate in a confusing 1700/2100mhz frequency, I am curious to know whether my 9100 can run in 4G speed or only 2G(GPRS) supported.
So my questions are:
1. is there any code to check current supported frequency band in my 9100?
2. if my current band firmware not support T-mobile 4G, which version band firmware is recommended?
thanks in advance!
Jeff
ctos said:
Hi,
The story is here:
I owned a korean version i9100 (M250K) and flash it with the latest CM10 nightly version (20120908, band version I9100XXLPW). It works well with my current carrier, which operate at 2100mhz frequency.
I will travel to US next weeks and plan to purchase T-mobile pay by days data plan, but because T-mobile US operate in a confusing 1700/2100mhz frequency, I am curious to know whether my 9100 can run in 4G speed or only 2G(GPRS) supported.
So my questions are:
1. is there any code to check current supported frequency band in my 9100?
2. if my current band firmware not support T-mobile 4G, which version band firmware is recommended?
thanks in advance!
Jeff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You won't get "4G" on T-mobile in the US with this phone no matter what you do. It lacks the HARDWARE capabilities to receive 1700 mhz for data. So it will only get up to Edge data speeds.
T-mobile USA's 3G and "4G" operates on the AWS band, which REQUIRES BOTH 1700 and 2100 mhz, as it uses one for uplink and the other for downlink.
If you want high speed data on the carrier's network, you will need to use AT&T, or someone who operates on AT&T's network, like StraightTalk or H20.
ctomgee said:
You won't get "4G" on T-mobile in the US with this phone no matter what you do. It lacks the HARDWARE capabilities to receive 1700 mhz for data. So it will only get up to Edge data speeds.
T-mobile USA's 3G and "4G" operates on the AWS band, which REQUIRES BOTH 1700 and 2100 mhz, as it uses one for uplink and the other for downlink.
If you want high speed data on the carrier's network, you will need to use AT&T, or someone who operates on AT&T's network, like StraightTalk or H20.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks ctomgee, it seems I should look to ATT for their prepaid package. Thank you again!:good:

(Q) International S3 for NYC

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

[Q] 3G Band from L9 of T-Mobile

Hey guys...
Someone is offering me a LG L9 from T-Mobile. Just a quick question, this specific model has the 850 MHz band for 3G? I have been reading online and in some places states it does and some other states it doesn't, so I'm kind of confuse right now.
Appreciate your help. Thanks...
agafed said:
Hey guys...
Someone is offering me a LG L9 from T-Mobile. Just a quick question, this specific model has the 850 MHz band for 3G? I have been reading online and in some places states it does and some other states it doesn't, so I'm kind of confuse right now.
Appreciate your help. Thanks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Model P769
The device is a Quad-Band hspa device.
according to most sites with specs for this phone here are the bands it supports. Note that you will need to sim unlock it through T-Mobile/Ebay if you wish to put a non-T-Mobile/T-Mobile MVNO sim in the device.
GSM 850/900/1800/1900
UMTS/HSPA 850/1700/1900/2100
Thanks kevev. Regards...

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