Related
Has anyone tried using one of the white unlocked Lumia 920 from Clove (I guess the ones from Expansys are the same) on an LTE network?
Specifically, do you have the "4G" option in the "highest connection speed" settings?
In my case, although I am using an LTE SIM with an LTE network on a supported band, I only have "2G" and "3G" options in the Highest Connection Speed settings. So normally it is only connecting over HSPA. Through playing around a lot with scanning LTE bands with the Field Test tool (##3282#), I can sometimes get the device to connect to LTE, after which it works perfectly on LTE until reboot. But it's not really a long-term solution.
The default firmware on my device is country variant "CV GB SW Variant ID 276 v03" which (apart from the version number) seems to be the same firmware as that sold by Orange / T-Mobile in the UK (i.e. for 3G networks).
I was thinking about trying to flash the EE firmware, but concerned this could create other issues (such as end up locking the phone to EE, or to certain LTE bands, or something...). Any thoughts appreciated.
You don't mention where you are, but that might help respondents.
As you may know, the LTE bands are different between the NA and Europe. The LTE Bands listed on the international version are 800/900/1800/2100/2600 while the NA(Rogers & AT&T) version has 700/850/1700/1900/2100.
Are you sure you are connecting to the LTE bands? Do you have an LTE SIM installed?
tomdjp said:
Has anyone tried using one of the white unlocked Lumia 920 from Clove (I guess the ones from Expansys are the same) on an LTE network?
Specifically, do you have the "4G" option in the "highest connection speed" settings?
In my case, although I am using an LTE SIM with an LTE network on a supported band, I only have "2G" and "3G" options in the Highest Connection Speed settings. So normally it is only connecting over HSPA. Through playing around a lot with scanning LTE bands with the Field Test tool (##3282#), I can sometimes get the device to connect to LTE, after which it works perfectly on LTE until reboot. But it's not really a long-term solution.
The default firmware on my device is country variant "CV GB SW Variant ID 276 v03" which (apart from the version number) seems to be the same firmware as that sold by Orange / T-Mobile in the UK (i.e. for 3G networks).
I was thinking about trying to flash the EE firmware, but concerned this could create other issues (such as end up locking the phone to EE, or to certain LTE bands, or something...). Any thoughts appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have a look at this offivial Blog post from Nokia.
http://goo.gl/L2eiy
They basically saying that even-thought the new Lumias are LTE ready they will required a software update to turn LTE ON.
The information on that is very limited as Nokia didn't specify ANY details on how they will push this OTA.
What happens if you have an unlock device and use it in a different country of its origins? How they will push the update under what criteria?
Is the update is driven by the SIM ID? They will update the OS and turn ON LTE depending the SIM region or the device IMEI region?? Nobody knows...
Even worst there is a rumor that the latest Snapdragon S4 is supporting all 9 LTE bands at ONCE and the software just enable the appropriate ones, its programmable from the firmware. If this is true, then Nokia is committing a suicide here, they can simply program WP8 to recognize the SIM ID and turn ON/OFF LTE Bands depending the Network. Going with OTAs across different devices and regions will be a mess.
nMIK-3 said:
Have a look at this offivial Blog post from Nokia.
http://goo.gl/L2eiy
They basically saying that even-thought the new Lumias are LTE ready they will required a software update to turn LTE ON.
The information on that is very limited as Nokia didn't specify ANY details on how they will push this OTA.
What happens if you have an unlock device and use it in a different country of its origins? How they will push the update under what criteria?
Is the update is driven by the SIM ID? They will update the OS and turn ON LTE depending the SIM region or the device IMEI region?? Nobody knows...
Even worst there is a rumor that the latest Snapdragon S4 is supporting all 9 LTE bands at ONCE and the software just enable the appropriate ones, its programmable from the firmware. If this is true, then Nokia is committing a suicide here, they can simply program WP8 to recognize the SIM ID and turn ON/OFF LTE Bands depending the Network. Going with OTAs across different devices and regions will be a mess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are international versions that HAVE ALL 9 LTE bands enabled and also petaband 3G.
For example in Germany:
http://www.nokia.com/de-de/produkte/smartphones-und-handys/lumia920/technische-daten/ (expand where it says "Basisdaten")
or in Singapore:
http://www.nokia.com/sg-en/products/phone/lumia920/specifications/ (expand where it says "Hardware")
or also in Switzerland:
http://www.nokia.com/ch-de/produkte/smartphones-und-handys/lumia920/technische-daten/ (expand where it says "Basisdaten")
I think there might be a good chance that you can unlock those extra bands on international versions (RM-821) that have them disabled by flashing a different firmware version. However this is just me thinking out loud so please don't blame me if it doesn't work or if it breaks your phone!
However I would strong discourage you from flashing an RM-821 firmware to an RM-820 (North American version) as I know that sb around here almost broke his phone by doing so.
Hi all
Thanks for your replies so far.
Right now I am using the phone in Japan, where there are three carriers with Band 1 (2100 MHz) LTE networks. I only tried one carrier so far, and yes it is an LTE SIM. As mentioned, I can actually connect to LTE and have used it for several hours, it's just necessary to use an unreliable trick (with ##3282#) to get the phone to see the LTE network. This seems related to the fact there is no 4G option in my highest connection settings.
Thanks for the heads-up on the OTA updates, agreed it's not clear how this will work at all...
Regarding the LTE band support, personally (although it's just my intuition) I think the lists of 9 LTE supported bands on those regional Nokia websites are probably in error (it wouldn't be the first time). Normally the most reliable source in Nokia's website is Nokia Developers, which clearly shows five bands for global RM-821 (1, 3, 7, 8, 20) and four bands for AT&T RM-820 (2, 4, 5, 17).
While the Snapdragon baseband may be able to support all 9 bands, the most difficult part of the design is the RF - filters, amplifiers, etc. So I imagine different RF chains are used in the two variants to support these specific bands.
Again, if anyone has the unlocked RM-821 and tried with an LTE SIM, if you could confirm if the 4G setting is available in highest connection settings, it would be much appreciated.
karlmueller said:
There are international versions that HAVE ALL 9 LTE bands enabled and also petaband 3G.
For example in Germany:
http://www.nokia.com/de-de/produkte/smartphones-und-handys/lumia920/technische-daten/ (expand where it says "Basisdaten")
or in Singapore:
http://www.nokia.com/sg-en/products/phone/lumia920/specifications/ (expand where it says "Hardware")
or also in Switzerland:
http://www.nokia.com/ch-de/produkte/smartphones-und-handys/lumia920/technische-daten/ (expand where it says "Basisdaten")
I think there might be a good chance that you can unlock those extra bands on international versions (RM-821) that have them disabled by flashing a different firmware version. However this is just me thinking out loud so please don't blame me if it doesn't work or if it breaks your phone!
However I would strong discourage you from flashing an RM-821 firmware to an RM-820 (North American version) as I know that sb around here almost broke his phone by doing so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought the same thing on PentaBand 3G and 9 Bands LTE, however in another discussion we verified (at least for the German model) that even thought the Nokia German website states PentaBand 3G and 9 Bands LTE, in the retail Box it only mentions QuadBand 3G (AWS missing) and PentaBand LTE.
With the Canadian model being PentaBand and Snapdragon's S4 Specs claiming that is fully supporting it, along with the programmable LTE, we really have no clue of whats really going on until Nokia, or anyone else clarify it...
I have a very bad feeling that the all 920s are PentaBand 3G and support all bands of LTE with programmable software but Nokia for some reason is locking specific bands on specific models/regions.
Hopefully in time we will clarify everything and hopefully its sooner rather than later..
nMIK-3 said:
I thought the same thing on PentaBand 3G and 9 Bands LTE, however in another discussion we verified (at least for the German model) that even thought the Nokia German website states PentaBand 3G and 9 Bands LTE, in the retail Box it only mentions QuadBand 3G (AWS missing) and PentaBand LTE.
With the Canadian model being PentaBand and Snapdragon's S4 Specs claiming that is fully supporting it, along with the programmable LTE, we really have no clue of whats really going on until Nokia, or anyone else clarify it...
I have a very bad feeling that the all 920s are PentaBand 3G and support all bands of LTE with programmable software but Nokia for some reason is locking specific bands on specific models/regions.
Hopefully in time we will clarify everything and hopefully its sooner rather than later..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Different frequency bands require different antenna design. It is probably very difficult to design an antenna that can satisfy all LTE bands even though the chipset can support it. So, instead, Nokia is probably going to selectively make different hardware with different antenna design to fit a specific region. Apple iPhone 5 uses the similar Qualcomm chipset and it only supports very limited LTE bands for international version.
foxbat121 said:
Different frequency bands require different antenna design. It is probably very difficult to design an antenna that can satisfy all LTE bands even though the chipset can support it. So, instead, Nokia is probably going to selectively make different hardware with different antenna design to fit a specific region. Apple iPhone 5 uses the similar Qualcomm chipset and it only supports very limited LTE bands for international version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For 3G PentaBand is now standard in almost all chips and since the Canadian variant comes with PentaBand on board and the fact that is standard on the S4 I really see no reason of why Nokia will order a custom version of the S4 to just physically take off the AWS. It doesn't make any sense, so if its missing, most likely is turn off in firmware.
For the LTE. Qualcomm introduced a revolutionary technology called Software Defined Radio or simply SDR and the Snapdragon S4 Plus MSM8960 chip which is inside the Lumia 920, supports that technology. With SDR the chipset support all LTE bands from a low to high frequency, it can work in everything between, of course not at the same time, the software programs what frequency the antenna should be set.
If the Lumia 920 and its S4 really have SDR technology, they it will make sense for Nokia to have the firmware deride what LTE to make available to the user, by reading the SIM region and not providing individual updated per region, or based on device product number.
This finally solves a major issue for the manufactures because they do not have to build customs chips for specific countries, the software simply programs it. If you Google it you can find a lot of info regarding SDR. Of course we are not in the engineering team of the Lumia 920 line and its obvious whatever we say here is based on theory and specs that are available to us.
nMIK-3 said:
For 3G PentaBand is now standard in almost all chips and since the Canadian variant comes with PentaBand on board and the fact that is standard on the S4 I really see no reason of why Nokia will order a custom version of the S4 to just physically take off the AWS. It doesn't make any sense, so if its missing, most likely is turn off in firmware.
For the LTE. Qualcomm introduced a revolutionary technology called Software Defined Radio or simply SDR and the Snapdragon S4 Plus MSM8960 chip which is inside the Lumia 920, supports that technology. With SDR the chipset support all LTE bands from a low to high frequency, it can work in everything between, of course not at the same time, the software programs what frequency the antenna should be set.
If the Lumia 920 and its S4 really have SDR technology, they it will make sense for Nokia to have the firmware deride what LTE to make available to the user, by reading the SIM region and not providing individual updated per region, or based on device product number.
This finally solves a major issue for the manufactures because they do not have to build customs chips for specific countries, the software simply programs it. If you Google it you can find a lot of info regarding SDR. Of course we are not in the engineering team of the Lumia 920 line and its obvious whatever we say here is based on theory and specs that are available to us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you understand radio technology at all, you should know the most important part that make all things work is the radio antenna, not the chipset. The chipset itself can't receive or transmit radio signal without a proper antenna. Try to disconnect your car radio antenna and see how many stations you can receive
foxbat121 said:
If you understand radio technology at all, you should know the most important part that make all things work is the radio antenna, not the chipset. The chipset itself can't receive or transmit radio signal without a proper antenna. Try to disconnect your car radio antenna and see how many stations you can receive
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We're going a bit off-topic from the thread here, but you're right - SDR defines the baseband, not the RF components.
If you look at Nokia's FCC filing for the RM-821, you can see it has two cellular antennas ("main" and "MIMO") for each of two bands ("HB" high-band and "LB" low-band). Presumably LB is used for bands below 1 GHz or so, while HB is used for bands above. So you can see it's not necessary to have different antennas for every band - bands 1 to 4 (including AWS) could also use the same antennas, for example.
However, each band needs its own RF filters to prevent interference from neighbouring channels, and also needs amplifiers that have flat gain over those bands. These RF components are usually band specific, relatively bulky and expensive, and there are some challenges to use several RF chains in parallel. To my understanding these are the limiting factors that explain why a given device tends to support maximum 4 or 5 LTE channels.
tomdjp said:
We're going a bit off-topic from the thread here, but you're right - SDR defines the baseband, not the RF components.
If you look at Nokia's FCC filing for the RM-821, you can see it has two cellular antennas ("main" and "MIMO") for each of two bands ("HB" high-band and "LB" low-band). Presumably LB is used for bands below 1 GHz or so, while HB is used for bands above. So you can see it's not necessary to have different antennas for every band - bands 1 to 4 (including AWS) could also use the same antennas, for example.
However, each band needs its own RF filters to prevent interference from neighbouring channels, and also needs amplifiers that have flat gain over those bands. These RF components are usually band specific, relatively bulky and expensive, and there are some challenges to use several RF chains in parallel. To my understanding these are the limiting factors that explain why a given device tends to support maximum 4 or 5 LTE channels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You nail it.
foxbat121 said:
If you understand radio technology at all, you should know the most important part that make all things work is the radio antenna, not the chipset. The chipset itself can't receive or transmit radio signal without a proper antenna. Try to disconnect your car radio antenna and see how many stations you can receive
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that a joke?? I am spending my time explaining what SDR is and I am getting that respond??
I am assuming that I am talking with a person that knows at least a modern chipset like the S4 package contains all the antennas for GSM/WCDMA/LTE a separate antenna for Bluetooth and Wifi, GPS (S4 also includes GLONASS), the CPU and the Adreno GPU.
All the above come in the same tinny chip that in the size of your nail. And all this is called the "chipset". Qualcomm does not use a separate antenna anymore its integrated to the chipset.
nMIK-3 said:
Is that a joke?? I am spending my time explaining what SDR is and I am getting that respond??
I am assuming that I am talking with a person that knows at least a modern chipset like the S4 package contains all the antennas for GSM/WCDMA/LTE a separate antenna for Bluetooth and Wifi, GPS (S4 also includes GLONASS), the CPU and the Adreno GPU.
All the above come in the same tinny chip that in the size of your nail. And all this is called the "chipset". Qualcomm does not use a separate antenna anymore its integrated to the chipset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With respect, that's not right - the antennas and RF components are external to the chipset.
Go and get the SAR compliance test report for Nokia 920 from the FCC's website, and you can see diagrams showing the external antennas for cellular, WLAN/BT and GPS which are positioned in various places inside the phone's chassis (btw, the LB MIMO antenna is about 7 cm long!)
Or go and check out the iFixit teardown for iPhone 5 and you can see the same kind of thing...
tomdjp said:
With respect, that's not right - the antennas and RF components are external to the chipset.
Go and get the SAR compliance test report for Nokia 920 from the FCC's website, and you can see diagrams showing the external antennas for cellular, WLAN/BT and GPS which are positioned in various places inside the phone's chassis (btw, the LB MIMO antenna is about 7 cm long!)
Or go and check out the iFixit teardown for iPhone 5 and you can see the same kind of thing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is correct. Many manufactures are placing antenna extensions and putting additional GPS censor in more practical areas.
The actual GSM/WCDMA/LTE modem WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS for Qualacom solutions are placed inside the chipset.
Please see http://www.qualcomm.com/chipsets/snapdragon for more information.
4g / LTE
tomdjp said:
Has anyone tried using one of the white unlocked Lumia 920 from Clove (I guess the ones from Expansys are the same) on an LTE network?
Specifically, do you have the "4G" option in the "highest connection speed" settings?
In my case, although I am using an LTE SIM with an LTE network on a supported band, I only have "2G" and "3G" options in the Highest Connection Speed settings. So normally it is only connecting over HSPA. Through playing around a lot with scanning LTE bands with the Field Test tool (##3282#), I can sometimes get the device to connect to LTE, after which it works perfectly on LTE until reboot. But it's not really a long-term solution.
The default firmware on my device is country variant "CV GB SW Variant ID 276 v03" which (apart from the version number) seems to be the same firmware as that sold by Orange / T-Mobile in the UK (i.e. for 3G networks).
I was thinking about trying to flash the EE firmware, but concerned this could create other issues (such as end up locking the phone to EE, or to certain LTE bands, or something...). Any thoughts appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I go into into field test mode and it says 4g then asks what LTE Band. My phone shows 4G not LTE in top left... is it LTE or 3G+?
Does anyone know what the different bands stand for? (band 5 etc) under the field service menu?
zok-star said:
Does anyone know what the different bands stand for? (band 5 etc) under the field service menu?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Likely they are LTE bands (e.g. band 5 = 850 MHz), but as you probably noticed they don't completely match with the LTE band support of the device. Keep in mind this field test program was probably thrown together by Nokia's R&D guys for internal testing only (not for consumers), so could be a legacy of earlier testing, another device variant, or some other reason...
Anyway, it seems fine to keep this setting on Automatic.
dougwallace said:
I go into into field test mode and it says 4g then asks what LTE Band. My phone shows 4G not LTE in top left... is it LTE or 3G+?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Doug, could you share what version of the Lumia 920 you have, and which firmware?
As mentioned in my mail above, there seems no problem to leave the 4G band on automatic, and the bands available to be selected don't seem relevant. (My device picks up Band 1 LTE networks even though band 1 is not in the list).
Regarding 4G vs LTE, my device (unlocked UK CV) shows 4G in the top left when it is connected to LTE. I assume this can be changed by Nokia depending on the operator's requirement (esp in the US where 4G means HSPA...). You can be sure you're on LTE by going back to the field test menu, selecting GSM option, then looking at "Radio Access Technology". If you're on LTE, it should say LTE there.
tomdjp said:
Likely they are LTE bands (e.g. band 5 = 850 MHz), but as you probably noticed they don't completely match with the LTE band support of the device. Keep in mind this field test program was probably thrown together by Nokia's R&D guys for internal testing only (not for consumers), so could be a legacy of earlier testing, another device variant, or some other reason...
Anyway, it seems fine to keep this setting on Automatic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've kept mine on all automatic and i have noticed it switch to 4G at times, but then when i go to use it, it'll flick back to 3G... I'll need to test this in CBD sometime this week.
I got my device from clove, but im in Australia on Telstra 4G network. They use 1800mhz.
zok-star said:
I've kept mine on all automatic and i have noticed it switch to 4G at times, but then when i go to use it, it'll flick back to 3G... I'll need to test this in CBD sometime this week.
I got my device from clove, but im in Australia on Telstra 4G network. They use 1800mhz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, yes better to test in CBD where there's strong LTE signal.
In your Settings => Mobile Network, do you have a "4G" option under "Highest connection speed", or is it 2G and 3G only?
My brand new GT-i9100 is barely usable. I've spent the last week wrestling with it (bought it new from ebay) to get it to work, but I'm at my wit's end. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here's the problem:
My Galaxy S 2 (now rooted and currently running SlimRom) partially or completely loses cellular signal about 60% of the time, often in places where I know there is reception. I'm using Telus' network in Canada. It will lose data, lose ability to make or receive calls, and fail to send text messages. The indication of signal loss is not clear, IE it will say "emergency calls only", "no service available", or even say I have service but I really don't. However the cutting out seems to occur consistently depending on where I am located. For example I seem to get OK signal at my house, but zero at my friend's house. I know it's not the network in this case, since my friend is also on Telus and they get fine reception. I've done some testing and here are some possible causes that I can think of:
network cold spot - No, see example above. It also cuts out in urban populated areas where the signal is strong
phone compatibility - unlikely, since Bell offered the i9100M, which I'm led to believe is physically identical to the normal i9100, and Bell and Telus operate over the same frequencies. Also when it does get signal it can transmit data fine
SIM card - No. The first thing I did when I discovered this problem was get a new SIM card. Nothing changed
SlimRom - No. The phone was acting like this out of the box with the stock image.
Radio firmware - Unlikely. I've flashed at least 6 different firmwares, including KG6, KH3, LQ6, LP6, KI4, and even LD3, which I believe is the firmware the Canadian i9100-M ships with, so would logically work fine. The carrier for that was Bell, and I believe Bell and Telus operate on the same frequencies
a hardware defect in the design of the phone or the antenna itself - the last possible option I can think of. I hope it's not this, because then I would have to undo all the modifications I've done in an attempt to fix my phone, and pray the seller accepts the return
Please, if anyone could offer any assistance that would be great.
Telus frequencies:
2G
CDMA 850/1900
EVDO 850/1900
3G (and fake 4G)
HSDPA 850/1900
HSPA+ 850/1900
UMTS 850/1900
WCDMA 850/1900
1x EV-DO CDMA2000
4G (called 4G+)
LTE 1700/2100
Indoril said:
My brand new GT-i9100 is barely usable. I've spent the last week wrestling with it (bought it new from ebay) to get it to work, but I'm at my wit's end. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here's the problem:
My Galaxy S 2 (now rooted and currently running SlimRom) partially or completely loses cellular signal about 60% of the time, often in places where I know there is reception. I'm using Telus' network in Canada. It will lose data, lose ability to make or receive calls, and fail to send text messages. The indication of signal loss is not clear, IE it will say "emergency calls only", "no service available", or even say I have service but I really don't. However the cutting out seems to occur consistently depending on where I am located. For example I seem to get OK signal at my house, but zero at my friend's house. I know it's not the network in this case, since my friend is also on Telus and they get fine reception. I've done some testing and here are some possible causes that I can think of:
network cold spot - No, see example above. It also cuts out in urban populated areas where the signal is strong
phone compatibility - unlikely, since Bell offered the i9100M, which I'm led to believe is physically identical to the normal i9100, and Bell and Telus operate over the same frequencies. Also when it does get signal it can transmit data fine
SIM card - No. The first thing I did when I discovered this problem was get a new SIM card. Nothing changed
SlimRom - No. The phone was acting like this out of the box with the stock image.
Radio firmware - Unlikely. I've flashed at least 6 different firmwares, including KG6, KH3, LQ6, LP6, KI4, and even LD3, which I believe is the firmware the Canadian i9100-M ships with, so would logically work fine. The carrier for that was Bell, and I believe Bell and Telus operate on the same frequencies
a hardware defect in the design of the phone or the antenna itself - the last possible option I can think of. I hope it's not this, because then I would have to undo all the modifications I've done in an attempt to fix my phone, and pray the seller accepts the return
Please, if anyone could offer any assistance that would be great.
Telus frequencies:
2G
CDMA 850/1900
EVDO 850/1900
3G (and fake 4G)
HSDPA 850/1900
HSPA+ 850/1900
UMTS 850/1900
WCDMA 850/1900
1x EV-DO CDMA2000
4G (called 4G+)
LTE 1700/2100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well.. I think you got one of the Korean ones.. There is someone in China or Korea, or who knows maybe Samsung who is taking the SHW-M250S, a horrid Korean version of the S2 and changing the housing and software to make them look as the GT-I9100. Even the back labels say GT-I9100 and the software itself.. however, you can tell them apart because they are way lighter and very flimsy and also because the SIM Card tray is different from the one on the original GT-I9100.
So, I know it's very late but the problem is not you, is the phone. It might look brand new, but it is not compatible with networks in the US and many countries as Korea seems to use a different network standard. I was not able to get any data working on this model when I was in the Dominican Republic. I recently got a few of them in a lot of devices I bought for resale after I moved to the US and I couldn't get any of the 14 phones I got to connect to cellular. I decided to strip them off for parts.
I am not a Developer but am a Power User of Android for work and play using for Proposals,
Invoices, and business and casual browsing.
No computer needed.
Let me confirm that this Model Alpha 850M an octacore made for North, South, Central America and the Caribbean Factory Unlocked LTE phone works great on the Metro/Tmobile
Network on LTE and drops to 3G on Voice Calls and a little H+ when signal weak in large buildings.
Excellent voice quality, strong radio transceiver which locks well to even low signal in buildings or near transmitting towers .
Only my second Android and my first Samsung-I have not found the horrible bloatware I have read about but do have the phone customized with many features toggled off etc.
I come from an Audio background and Phones are the only Devices which do not often sound better ( earpiece, microphones, speakerphones) on a $600 Device versus a $150 DeviceTHIS Alpha surprised me- it sounds much fuller and a little louder than 3 or 4 AT&T
Alpha 801 quad cores I auditioned before.
Either a bigger speaker, better cone material, or more power or all three- the AT&T850A is
tinny and thin sounding compared to this 850M- not sure if they are all like this but an excellent speakerphone !
So often even with Experts you can NOT get a DEFINITIVE ANSWER on whether a specific Model performs FULLY on a certain Carrier as well as branded Devices this one does on TMobile also has the 700band which TMo will be using more and more for LTE which penetrates buildings better.
LTE Bands are AWS/ 700/850/1800/1900/2100/2600
To use a highly technical Term even for Developers this little Phone "Kicks Ass".
As I have said before If this phone was about 8.5 millimeters thick with a 3000Mah Battery
a higher res screen, 3 Gigs of RAM, SD Storage and the Camera from the Note 4 and a second speaker it would have been a great hit Worldwide.
This phone has less lag than S5 and excellent as is but SHOULD have been great.
Samsung tried to COPY the Iphone rather than surpass it, underestimating the Tech Savvy of
Android Users who purchase $600 plus phones.
One BIG PROBLEM is I cannot be on Internet and a Call Simultaneously on this phone.
It DROPS TO 3 G on Calls which temporarily kills Data-not sure if this is Alpha or Network BUT I always have Internet on calls with Metro PCS.
So this Alpha may not have this feature ?
If you are on a compatible GSM network (like T-Mobile you listed), it should maintain network connection even on 3G mode unless the phone drops to 2G mode. Until VoLTE is enabled (Alpha does support it but not yet enabled), all LTE phones on AT&T or T-Mobile will have to drop to HSPA mode (H+ or 3G or 2G depending on the availability) for voice calls. But as long as you are not on 2G (E or G), you should still have simultaneous voice and network connection.
However, I did encounter similar problems on my AT&T version but a reboot of the phone solved my problem.
robertkoa said:
One BIG PROBLEM is I cannot be on Internet and a Call Simultaneously on this phone.
It DROPS TO 3 G on Calls which temporarily kills Data-not sure if this is Alpha or Network BUT I always have Internet on calls with Metro PCS.
So this Alpha may not have this feature ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Something interesting here: my G850A indicates "4G" during voice calls at the top of the screen, but bringing up the status indicates that it is indeed fluctuating between HSPA+ and UMTS. AT&T being misleading? The G850M fluctuates between saying 3G and H+. (And also, when the G850M is on LTE, the indicator only says "4G," but status check shows it's LTE.)
The other strange thing is that with both phones, I have them set up to make a sound when I press keys. During voice calls, the keys make no sounds. Go figure.
foxbat121 said:
Until VoLTE is enabled (Alpha does support it but not yet enabled), all LTE phones on AT&T or T-Mobile will have to drop to HSPA mode (H+ or 3G or 2G depending on the availability) for voice calls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not finding that the Alpha supports VoLTE. I have VoLTE on my T-Mobile Galaxy Avant in my area, but not on the Alpha.
Corvussimo said:
Something interesting here: my G850A indicates "4G" during voice calls at the top of the screen, but bringing up the status indicates that it is indeed fluctuating between HSPA+ and UMTS. AT&T being misleading? The G850M fluctuates between saying 3G and H+. (And also, when the G850M is on LTE, the indicator only says "4G," but status check shows it's LTE.)
The other strange thing is that with both phones, I have them set up to make a sound when I press keys. During voice calls, the keys make no sounds. Go figure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T labels HSPA/HSPA+ as 4G and LTE as 4G LTE. T-Mobile does the similar thing. In other places, HSPA+ is called 3G and LTE is called 4G. Semantics. HSPA+ is based on UMTS.
Corvussimo said:
I'm not finding that the Alpha supports VoLTE. I have VoLTE on my T-Mobile Galaxy Avant in my area, but not on the Alpha.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VoLTE has to be enabled in the phone's firmware. When the time comes, AT&T will release a firmware update to enable it as it did with short list of other phones that supports VoLTE.
I see this is on Ebay right now for a good price, I assume this will work 100% on cricket wireless with LTE? Are there various model #s? On Ebay it just unlocked. I wanted to get this to use for work.
Interesting .
I am not a dev but as I recall Metro PCS was
one of the first to have VoLTE and also simultaneous Voice and Data back on 2011 or 2012 so I was used to talking on calls and always seeing 4G LTE on the phone. LG Motion 4G.
So this Alpha is my first Samsung- and my first factory unlocked phone still on Metro Tmo.
Now I see the LTE drop to 3G when I make a call but thanks to better APN Settings I almost always have voice and Internet simultaneously because the phone jumps to H or H+ and gives fast Internet on a call on H+.
I even had Youtube and a Speakerphone call a few times as silly experiment.
I also with inferior APN setting got "unable
to access Internet while on a call message"
previously so APN Settings make a big difference sometimes.
Very few problems, fast phone, good audio and sharp Camera...
Hope that Samsung has a Note 5 with removable battery and does a Compact Note kind of like super Alpha..
Not sure if Lollipop will give VoLTE to a Factory Unlocked Phone but if any Devs can achieve it for me ...good Donation .
CashmereEsquire said:
I see this is on Ebay right now for a good price, I assume this will work 100% on cricket wireless with LTE? Are there various model #s? On Ebay it just unlocked. I wanted to get this to use for work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a G850M and a G850F which both are international unlocked phones but cover different LTE bands. I would recommend that you check your carriers available bands (this is also depended on area), then cross check this with http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_alpha-6573.php
There are a few variants specifically for the asian market, but unless you live there you will have a difficult time in the US to get them.
When your G850M boots up, does it display any carrier branding?
robertkoa said:
I am not a Developer but am a Power User of Android for work and play using for Proposals,
Invoices, and business and casual browsing.
No computer needed.
Let me confirm that this Model Alpha 850M an octacore made for North, South, Central America and the Caribbean Factory Unlocked LTE phone works great on the Metro/Tmobile
Network on LTE and drops to 3G on Voice Calls and a little H+ when signal weak in large buildings.
Excellent voice quality, strong radio transceiver which locks well to even low signal in buildings or near transmitting towers .
Only my second Android and my first Samsung-I have not found the horrible bloatware I have read about but do have the phone customized with many features toggled off etc.
I come from an Audio background and Phones are the only Devices which do not often sound better ( earpiece, microphones, speakerphones) on a $600 Device versus a $150 DeviceTHIS Alpha surprised me- it sounds much fuller and a little louder than 3 or 4 AT&T
Alpha 801 quad cores I auditioned before.
Either a bigger speaker, better cone material, or more power or all three- the AT&T850A is
tinny and thin sounding compared to this 850M- not sure if they are all like this but an excellent speakerphone !
So often even with Experts you can NOT get a DEFINITIVE ANSWER on whether a specific Model performs FULLY on a certain Carrier as well as branded Devices this one does on TMobile also has the 700band which TMo will be using more and more for LTE which penetrates buildings better.
LTE Bands are AWS/ 700/850/1800/1900/2100/2600
To use a highly technical Term even for Developers this little Phone "Kicks Ass".
As I have said before If this phone was about 8.5 millimeters thick with a 3000Mah Battery
a higher res screen, 3 Gigs of RAM, SD Storage and the Camera from the Note 4 and a second speaker it would have been a great hit Worldwide.
This phone has less lag than S5 and excellent as is but SHOULD have been great.
Samsung tried to COPY the Iphone rather than surpass it, underestimating the Tech Savvy of
Android Users who purchase $600 plus phones.
One BIG PROBLEM is I cannot be on Internet and a Call Simultaneously on this phone.
It DROPS TO 3 G on Calls which temporarily kills Data-not sure if this is Alpha or Network BUT I always have Internet on calls with Metro PCS.
So this Alpha may not have this feature ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All sources that i could find on net say that SM-G850M doesn't support the band 4 on WCDMA/UMTS. They may be wrong. Since you own the device you would be the best source whether band 4 is unlocked on the device or not. I mention band 4 because that is the band t-mobile uses in most markets on 3G (fake 4G) and LTE. Go into settings\more networks\mobile networks and change the preferred network connection into 3G (or it may say 4G on your phone, just stay away from LTE), verify that it is now operating on 3G (fake 4G), then go to dialer and dial *#197328640#, choose "BASIC INFORMATION' and report what you see. I own the ATT version and when i force it (using *#*#INFO#*#*) into fake 4G it reports "RRC:IDLE, BAND:5" which is WCDMA BAND 850, that is what ATT uses here (ATT uses BAND 2 here also which is WCDMA 1900) where i live for 3G (fake 4G). When i switch back to LTE and go into this hidden menu, it reports that it is connected on "LTE RRC:IDLE BAND: 17", which is what ATT uses in my area. So you may be in market that t-mobiles uses PCS band for 3G (BAND 2) and that would explain why you do not drop on EDGE. It would be a lot clearer when you report properly on which BAND you are connected. What is concerning is that you say you loose data when making calls, which makes me think that you indeed drop to EDGE while on calls, which is painfully slow and makes you think you lost data. As i said, it would be easier to understand what is going on when you provide the whole picture ...
This is what i know that t-mobile uses on 3G:
-- BAND2 and BAND4
and LTE:
-- BAND4 and BAND17 (they might be using BAND2 too in some markets)
If your phone drops to EDGE, you won't be able to do voice and data simultaneously. You need to be on 3G (UMTS minimum) to have simultaneous voice and data.
Since Alpha only has AT&T version released in US, I'd suspect you can't buy any model of Alpha that fully supports all T-Mobile's bands because of the unique mix of bands used by T-Mobile.
The models sold on ebay varies a lot but the one I purchased says Factory unlocked by also states AT&T compatible. For all intents and purposes, the one I received is actually AT&T version, indeed factory unlocked, running AT&T branded firmware. That fits me just fine because I'm on AT&T. But if you are not on AT&T, YMMV. Cricket wireless, IIRC, is now a subsidiary of AT&T.
bormasina said:
All sources that i could find on net say that SM-G850M doesn't support the band 4 on WCDMA/UMTS. They may be wrong. Since you own the device you would be the best source whether band 4 is unlocked on the device or not. I mention band 4 because that is the band t-mobile uses in most markets on 3G (fake 4G) and LTE. Go into settings\more networks\mobile networks and change the preferred network connection into 3G (or it may say 4G on your phone, just stay away from LTE), verify that it is now operating on 3G (fake 4G), then go to dialer and dial *#197328640#, choose "BASIC INFORMATION' and report what you see. I own the ATT version and when i force it (using *#*#INFO#*#*) into fake 4G it reports "RRC:IDLE, BAND:5" which is WCDMA BAND 850, that is what ATT uses here (ATT uses BAND 2 here also which is WCDMA 1900) where i live for 3G (fake 4G). When i switch back to LTE and go into this hidden menu, it reports that it is connected on "LTE RRC:IDLE BAND: 17", which is what ATT uses in my area. So you may be in market that t-mobiles uses PCS band for 3G (BAND 2) and that would explain why you do not drop on EDGE. It would be a lot clearer when you report properly on which BAND you are connected. What is concerning is that you say you loose data when making calls, which makes me think that you indeed drop to EDGE while on calls, which is painfully slow and makes you think you lost data. As i said, it would be easier to understand what is going on when you provide the whole picture ...
This is what i know that t-mobile uses on 3G:
-- BAND2 and BAND4
and LTE:
-- BAND4 and BAND17 (they might be using BAND2 too in some markets)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I did this: I changed the settings on my G850M to force 3G. The code(s) you said to put in didn't work for me, so I used *#0011# instead. It said two different things, depending on when I did the test. Once it said 1900 Band 2, and once it said 1700 Band 4. Then, I put it back to LTE and it said Band 4. I've attached screenshots of all three. This is T-Mobile in Portland, OR.
Also, I found one reasonably reliable Internet source that indicated the G850M does support 3G Band 4. Here's the link:
Samsung Peru's Specs on the G850M
I was also hesitant to buy the G850M for the same Band 4 reason, until I found the specs on the Samsung Peru Website. The screenshot below shows that the M indeed does have 3G Band 4.
Corvussimo said:
OK, I did this: I changed the settings on my G850M to force 3G. The code(s) you said to put in didn't work for me, so I used *#0011# instead. It said two different things, depending on when I did the test. Once it said 1900 Band 2, and once it said 1700 Band 4. Then, I put it back to LTE and it said Band 4. I've attached screenshots of all three. This is T-Mobile in Portland, OR.
Also, I found one reasonably reliable Internet source that indicated the G850M does support 3G Band 4. Here's the link:
Samsung Peru's Specs on the G850M
I was also hesitant to buy the G850M for the same Band 4 reason, until I found the specs on the Samsung Peru Website. The screenshot below shows that the M indeed does have 3G Band 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for doing this. It is always good when things get confirmed like this. Now I can safely purchase one for wife. Where did you purchase it, if I may ask?
bormasina said:
Thanks for doing this. It is always good when things get confirmed like this. Now I can safely purchase one for wife. Where did you purchase it, if I may ask?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to help. I was a still a little concerned myself until I ran this test.
I bought it on eBay from The Pwrsellers
They currently have black, white, and gold for $450. Mine was a Brand New Open Box black model, so it was another $50 less than that. So far, so good! There is no cell company boot-up screen, and the bloatware is at a refreshing minimum.
AT&T now sells brand new for $319.99 retail.
I was at att last weekend and they wanted like $600 to buy it the 850a.
I got the 850m from target online via Amazon. It does work on t mobile.
jjsaustin said:
I got the 850m from target online via Amazon. It does work on t mobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I almost bought one from Target, too, but this less expensive one came up just at the right time. FWIW, the one I bought from The Pwrsellers came drop-shipped from Amazon as well, so that makes me think most (if not all) the companies selling the G850M in the US right now are drop-shipping through Amazon.
Corvussimo said:
Yeah, I almost bought one from Target, too, but this less expensive one came up just at the right time. FWIW, the one I bought from The Pwrsellers came drop-shipped from Amazon as well, so that makes me think most (if not all) the companies selling the G850M in the US right now are drop-shipping through Amazon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought from target for the return policy, especially since I was not sure if it was going to work on tmobile .
I just bought another one to see if the reception is any better and I will return the one with the worse reception.
Thanks for 1700 Band Test on 3G
I have found APN Settings for Metro/Tmo important for best performance on my Factory Unlocked 850M.
MetroPCS frequently uses Tmo APNs even on Metro PCS Phones.
With Factory Unlocked Phones I assume trial and error may be best for an advanced Phone like Alpha.
I tried the Settings used for Note 4 on Tmobile which worked but not as well as what I use now but open for suggestions lol.
Here are current best I have found which are fast Data and allow
Internet while on calls about 90% of the time.
I always have good voice and audio on calls.
Here's current APN Settings :
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
I have found that IPv4/IPv6 seems to perform a bit better than IPv4 .
But I have NO IDEA what these do in Tmobile Protocol.
Also I leave BEARER unspecified but have tried LTE also.
The only problem I sometimes have is no data on 3G and Phone does not bounce back to LTE AFTER a call- often turning data off and on with Quick Toggle restores LTE quickly.
Oddly this is an intermittent problem.
Often I have quick Internet while on a call but sometimes no Internet on a Call.
Here are the screenshots from my Alpha 850M which has no Carrier Branding when I forced 3G also some H showed and I got
1900 band in 3G but have not seen 1700 3G but in LTE in second screen.
I am in Miami area which is reframed so Metro/Tmo uses 1900 more here for 3G - Corvussimo - how did you get 1700 to show on 3G - is yours a Factory Unlocked unbranded Alpha ?
Thanks for both your help very interesting stuff.
Hi all,
I'm in the UK and on the EE network using their 4G, and the Speed 7 downloads stuff really fast when I'm out and about. 4G when it works is really amazing... sitting on a train watching read time HD video streaming without caching is definitely miles better than 3G and to me is a strong selling point of this phone.
However, EE in the UK do charge a lot for data so I have been experimenting with other providers. I now have Three, O2, and Vodaphone PAYG SIMs. None of them have any credit on them but that should be enough to check signal... and where I am at the moment, it is not too impressive, I'm not getting 4G reception from any of them except EE - the rest are giving me 3G. I do realise that with this phone, only your chosen data SIM will get 4G, and the one in the other SIM slot will only do GSM, so I did make sure that data was turned on in the right SIM if I was using two and turned on mobile data etc.
In theory, the speed seven should be perfect for the UK, it has Band 20, Band 7 and Band 3 which should cover all of these providers. Although there are radio utilities out there that are good on signal strength, I haven't found one that tells me what Band I am actually using on 4G. (so if you know...)
So, no matter where you are in the world, I'm interested to know what you're connecting to... what 4G provider do you use, and more importantly, what bands are they on? This would be for the 'International' version of this phone which has the B20/B7/B3 radio. My phone actually reports it is enabled for 4G B1, B2, B3, B4, B7, B17 and B20 but I think that may reflect the different radio modules that can be installed, not the real hardware situation.
thanks in advance!!
Hello,
I am waiting my speed 7, it will be deliver in the next days. But if you want to know what frequency you use, try to disable 2 of 3 bands in engineer setting.
I am from France, we have also the 3 bands Band 20, Band 7 and Band 3 used by french operator, with the 2600 mhz.
I hope, I will give you a feedback at the end of the week.
Kind regards.
Salut! The problem is half the providers in the UK sell 4G as a 'premium' service, so it appears unless I activate some of the SIMs (for a pile of money) then I won't be able to validate the specific 4G service they communicate in 3G first and then switch only for selected customers... who have paid.
I recently loaded up the 'Three' SIM with some credit(Hutchinson telecom - maybe it would be under that brand in France) and their 4G service seems to be fine as well. Maybe not as good as EE for coverage or speed, but certainly not too bad. 'Three' use Band 20 and Band 3 and EE use Band 7 as well, so that's not very conclusive... yet! I have also been running the phone in dual SIM mode, using both at once, and it works perfectly. You have to choose which SIM to use for each service, and it will (as any Chinese phone) be unable to run 4G at once on both, so you have to choose one of them for calls, one for data, and one for texts. That does not stop you getting incoming calls,texts etc on both lines etc (just sets the default for outgoing) It is a real novelty having that... and two signal strength meters!
I like your idea of turning off the bands in engineer mode, it is not obvious to me where to do that, so if you can point me in the right direction that would be great... I'm using the engineering mode tool...
PS I hope you like the phone! Now that the software is mostly fixed, I like it a lot, you need the latest OTA update to make it usable, so do run the wireless update wizard! Maybe not top quality hardware, but much cheaper, and has a good screen, good speed, big battery and 3Gb memory ... and of course the dual SIM! (Camera, GPS are a bit suspect)...
This might help:
http://www.att.com/travelguide/coverage/coverage_details.jsp?CIDL=1308&MNC=CING
http://www.sensorly.com/map/4G/GB/Great_Britain/O2/lte_23410#|coverage
Thanks... Bit out of date. The thing I am interested in knowing is how much truth is there in what the phone claims to do versus what it actually does
Sent from my ZP952 using XDA Free mobile app
Hello,
just a late feedback, but i have reached with speed test 65mb dl, 25 ul, in 4G , at frequency 2600 mhz , very well indeed.
Hi,
I bought original HTC One M8 from China (made from HT - Hsinchu, Taiwan), and I found out when phone came that is USA version - 0P6B120 (AT&T [US]).
And problem is, I live in Europe and I have trouble with receiving the signal 2G/3G.
Signal is oscillates, and when everybody have the signal, I am out of it.
LTE doesn´t work.
I did factory reset, set up all possible settings on phone, but it did not help.
Do you have any experience with this problem?
(for example: install other ROM, change the frequency, change hardware, atc.)
Thank you for your helpfull answers.
Prema
Prefix: M8#UL_ATT-T13
Not having good 2G signal is unusual. Unlike 3G and LTE, 2G is pretty standardized worldwide. Most phones (SIM unlocked) will work in most regions, as long as its quad band (and most are).
Does this mean you have problems with voice calls? And when "out of signal" you mean data or calls drop? Or just looking at the bars on the screen?
If you know how, do fastboot getvar all, and post the results (delete IMEI and serial number before posting).