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.
Related
Hi everyone,
I apologize in advance for the possibly n00b question. I am in Italy now with a T-Mobile USA G2 that I unlocked with GFree 0.5/adb/everything yesterday. I put in my TIM (Telecom Italia) SIM card and it finds the TIM network and connects me to normal phone service, but simply does not connect to 3G. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm assuming the G2 is capable of overseas data connectivity because T-Mobile advertised it as a "quad-band" phone -- am I wrong? Do I need to install a custom ROM to have international 3G?
Yeah, I think you are screwed. According to the t-mobile site here your quad band phone has the following freq specs:
850 MHz;900 MHz;1800 MHz;1900 MHz;UMTS: Band IV (1700/2100)
The band IV is the t-mobile 3G band in the states that uses 1700Mhz uplink and 2100 downlink (also known as AWS). Unfortunately for you Italy uses the typical European freqs of 1900Mhz uplink and 2100 downlink. And no you can't just use the downlink!
On the bright side, EDGE should work.
Thank you very much. I think you are correct: it's shameful and pathetic that T-Mobile advertises the G2 as an "international" phone and then provides a phone with support only for a single UMTS data band (unlike the iPhone 4, for example, which has support for 900 MHz UMTS/HSDPA).
As per the suggestion that EDGE should work, that does not appear either. All that appears is the "cellular" network icon -- a.k.a., the one immediately to the right of the battery. There is no "E" data connection either as there would be in the U.S. when I am out of 3G range. Is that normal? Is EDGE simply the normal cellular network?
I feel your pain, having traveled internationally a lot
No, when you are connected to GPRS you should get a "G" symbol near the signal bars and when you are connected to EDGE there should be an "E." If you are not getting that then a couple of suggestions:
1) You have switched on the data connectivity on your phone, right!!? (duhh)
2) Did you buy this SIM card new? There are older SIM cards where I had a problem getting the data connectivity, though that should not be a real problem.
3) Did your phone get the right APN settings from the SIM? In most cases for TIM I think you want ibox.tim.it and you *might* have to set in manually
4) Is this a prepaid SIM and do you have a balance? The network will probably reject the connection if you have 0 balance
5) If you don't have a plan (even prepaid), your balance will go down VERY quickly. In fact, your phone may have actually connected when you were not looking, and run your balance to 0 just by syncing.
The best deal for TIM data packages are listed here. I use them all the time, however if you are in the big cities WIND is pretty good and MUCH cheaper.
Hope that helps
I read how the alpha works with att but it doesn't support LTE.. Is that the same for TMobile?
just an update in case anyone is wondering. Yes it did work with tmobile but just like the other guy who got it for ATT, I won't get LTE. I get H+ or whatever it's called but not LTE. Also, Tmobile isn't all that great in my area so I'll be switching back to Verizon, hopefully this phone gets released for Verizon someday.
MO3iusONE said:
just an update in case anyone is wondering. Yes it did work with tmobile but just like the other guy who got it for ATT, I won't get LTE. I get H+ or whatever it's called but not LTE. Also, Tmobile isn't all that great in my area so I'll be switching back to Verizon, hopefully this phone gets released for Verizon someday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same goes for me. I just received a European version(SM-G850F) and it's data speeds are unusable on T-Mobile's network in Southern California.
I saw a post about a Canadian version (SM-G850W8) that has the 1700/2100 bands for T-Mobile on the CanadaGSM website. This model isn't listed anywhere else. Is this an error in listing or is it worth ordering?
stevebui85 said:
Same goes for me. I just received a European version(SM-G850F) and it's data speeds are unusable on T-Mobile's network in Southern California.
I saw a post about a Canadian version (SM-G850W8) that has the 1700/2100 bands for T-Mobile on the CanadaGSM website. This model isn't listed anywhere else. Is this an error in listing or is it worth ordering?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You want an honest opinion? I returned this phone and picked up the Sony xperia z3 compact. The deal breaker on the alpha wasn't the lack of a SD slot. It was the battery life. On normal use it beraly make it through an 8 hour shift. I was at about 5 percent battery life and I know I can swap out batteries but the battery life overall is just poor.
I used my xperia compact all day yesterday, and then some after work, I ran some errands, used Google maps for a bit, made a few calls, paired it to my car so I can play some music, I was out and about for almost 14 hours and I was at about 20 percent. Yeah the lack of no removable battery sucks but it had great battery life.
It's not all pretty though. I don't like the back glass. It scratches easily, the dual stereo speakers sound muffled, call quality is fine. Picture speed seems a bit slow and the front facing camera is pretty poor. Still I think the z3 compact is cheaper than the alpha. I miss the build quality on the alpha but I'm happy with my xperia Oh and it's wager proof which is great but the glass makes the phone slippery which makes you wonder why they even made the back glass in the first place
Oh and the screen seems a bit too sensitive.
Anyway just thought I'd throw that out there. The alpha is great, just wish it had a better battery life.
MO3iusONE said:
You want an honest opinion? I returned this phone and picked up the Sony xperia z3 compact. The deal breaker on the alpha wasn't the lack of a SD slot. It was the battery life. On normal use it beraly make it through an 8 hour shift. I was at about 5 percent battery life and I know I can swap out batteries but the battery life overall is just poor.
I used my xperia compact all day yesterday, and then some after work, I ran some errands, used Google maps for a bit, made a few calls, paired it to my car so I can play some music, I was out and about for almost 14 hours and I was at about 20 percent. Yeah the lack of no removable battery sucks but it had great battery life.
It's not all pretty though. I don't like the back glass. It scratches easily, the dual stereo speakers sound muffled, call quality is fine. Picture speed seems a bit slow and the front facing camera is pretty poor. Still I think the z3 compact is cheaper than the alpha. I miss the build quality on the alpha but I'm happy with my xperia Oh and it's wager proof which is great but the glass makes the phone slippery which makes you wonder why they even made the back glass in the first place
Oh and the screen seems a bit too sensitive.
Anyway just thought I'd throw that out there. The alpha is great, just wish it had a better battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The z3 compact would be my 2nd choice but I REALLY love the build quality. The battery life on the alpha is a big concern but it's a fair trade-off for me. I might just take the risk and order it from CanadaGSM.ca and see how that works out with T-Mobile's network.
***UPDATE***: DO NOT buy from CanadaGSM.ca website. They are fraudulent. I received a blank confirmation page upon order completion and the chat line said I needed to give them my CC's 3 digit security code even after they've charged my bank account. They also said my product will not be shipped. The number listed on their website is fake as well. Google... beware CanadaGSM.
stevebui85 said:
The z3 compact would be my 2nd choice but I REALLY love the build quality. The battery life on the alpha is a big concern but it's a fair trade-off for me. I might just take the risk and order it from CanadaGSM.ca and see how that works out with T-Mobile's network.
***UPDATE***: DO NOT buy from CanadaGSM.ca website. They are fraudulent. I received a blank confirmation page upon order completion and the chat line said I needed to give them my CC's 3 digit security code even after they've charged my bank account. They also said my product will not be shipped. The number listed on their website is fake as well. Google... beware CanadaGSM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get around 24 hours from mine with 4 hours on screen time, I have tweaked it a bit but no harder to do than it was with the nexus 4
The Galaxy Alpha in Canada used by Bell Canada and
related Companies called the 850 W8 has the exact
Bands for METRO PCS/ TMOBILE USA including
3 G , 4 G, LTE ETC.
I've posted elsewhere but you can log on to their Site and look at their Devices.
They use 1700, 1900, 2100 on both 3G
AND 4 G LTE ( AWS Band ).
Update on this thread if any one will be looking
I have both G850F and G850M.
I have only cracked open the G850M to play with.
My display says 4G in most areas besides my work area inside a metal box.
Germanese said:
Update on this thread if any one will be looking
I have both G850F and G850M.
I have only cracked open the G850M to play with.
My display says 4G in most areas besides my work area inside a metal box.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How does the G850F work on T-Mobile? Does it get 4G LTE?
I have the 850m on tmobile in Austin, Texas and I get LTE coverage.
No not an error if you want LTE on TMO this will do it and the 850M will definitely do it because I have the 850M which has the LTE Bands for Tmo BUT you probably won't get VoLTE like a branded Tmo phone.
My 850M says LTE but drops to 3g on calls sometimes it goes to H+ on calls and I have voice and fast internet but sometimes NO Internet on calls....
Great fast little phone Exynos has better audio than qualcomm .
Canada Bell phones have the 3G and 4G bands for Tmo 1700, 1900,2100 LTE and
1700, 1900, 2100 3G
EDIT : After using a different combination of APN settings on the Metro/Tmobile Network I am getting much improved LTE and H and H+ speeds and stability.
Data very rarely stops during calls.
As confirmed by User Corvissimo I have also seem CDMA band 1700 on 3G in addition to 1900 band on 3G.
The 850M also has all the LTE Bands for Tmo
and locks onto very low level signals for calls and data sometimes in elevators.
When you do not have LTE or on a voice call this unlocked factory Alpha drops to 3 G or H H + AND you have 1900 band there for Reframed areas AND the rarely listed 1700 band on 3G confirmed by Corvussimo and now myself via simple diagnostic.
Now I am getting better handoffs switching from 3G H+ and back to LTE when call is over.
I am not a Dev. but above is correct especially the diagnostic I have a screen shot lol.
robertkoa said:
No not an error if you want LTE on TMO this will do it and the 850M will definitely do it because I have the 850M which has the LTE Bands for Tmo BUT you probably won't get VoLTE like a branded Tmo phone.
My 850M says LTE but drops to 3g on calls sometimes it goes to H+ on calls and I have voice and fast internet but sometimes NO Internet on calls....
Great fast little phone Exynos has better audio than qualcomm .
Canada Bell phones have the 3G and 4G bands for Tmo 1700, 1900,2100 LTE and
1700, 1900, 2100 3G
EDIT : After using a different combination of APN settings on the Metro/Tmobile Network I am getting much improved LTE and H and H+ speeds and stability.
Data very rarely stops during calls.
As confirmed by User Corvissimo I have also seem CDMA band 1700 on 3G in addition to 1900 band on 3G.
The 850M also has all the LTE Bands for Tmo
and locks onto very low level signals for calls and data sometimes in elevators.
When you do not have LTE or on a voice call this unlocked factory Alpha drops to 3 G or H H + AND you have 1900 band there for Reframed areas AND the rarely listed 1700 band on 3G confirmed by Corvussimo and now myself via simple diagnostic.
Now I am getting better handoffs switching from 3G H+ and back to LTE when call is over.
I am not a Dev. but above is correct especially the diagnostic I have a screen shot lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent info, Thank You! Do you mind posting a Screen Shot (or a written list) of the new APN Settings that you are using for Tmo? I have a G850M on the way to me now and that would be very helpful. And my father is using an Unlocked SM-G850A.
I'm also interested in anyone's experience regarding LTE/HSPA+ connectivety & service using the SM-G850M specifically on AT&T in the Metro Los Angeles area.
Well my settings are tweaked for Metro PCS which uses the exact same Towers as Tmo AND the sims and most settings are interchangeable - BUT getting optimized settings on Metro is a little different.
For example you will use
Fast.t-mobile.com - I can use either that OR the fast.metropcs.com.
There are esoteric Metro settings GID which help but don't pertain to Tmo.
Yes 850m gets lte for att. Get it on Amazon. Their customer service is great. This phone is awesome. With the KitKat rom I was getting 20hours with 30-40% screen on time. Sometimes 50% . Best phone ever
Hi,
There's a thread going on on the Vodafone UK forums about the Nexus 9 LTE not connecting to Vodafone UK on anything higher than 3G. I don't think this is very well known as the LTE version isn't as popular as the Wifi version, and then there are multiple mobile operators to choose from, so this might not affect many people.
Basically, a known working Vodafone 4G SIM in a known 4G coverage area will only establish 3G, never H, H+ or LTE/4G - this has been tested with multiple devices (I've got two here now) and multiple SIM's. The devices are unlocked, Vodafone don't require IMEI registration or anything like that. It should just be a case of putting the SIM's in. I've done all the checks I can think of (SIM's in another device - they get 4G, other operators SIM's in the device get 4G) etc.
Vodafone use LTE band 20 (and band 7 in a very few locations for LTE-A). Band 20 is known to work on the radios in the device because the same devices can connect to EE, who also use LTE band 20.
HTC are not interested as they say its a network problem, the device can register on EE and advised me to contact Vodafone.
Vodafone are saying its an unsupported device, I didn't buy it from them and don't really care, their first line support said the SIM is registering on their GSM network but never registers on the 4G network hence no coverage. After a conversation with second line support I was told that the device is trying to register on band 8 (900MHz) rather than band 20 (800MHz) which means that its a software/hardware problem - I'm a little bit dubious about this as how would they know unless it was negotiated by the SIM or something as their equipment uses 800MHz... ? I think he was basically lying to me to fob me off.
Google don't even have a way of contacting them about the device.
So as a consumer I'm stuck! Is there anyway I can debug the device myself? Can I see what bands are being used at different points in he SIM registering process with any software? Basically - any help or advice at all guys. It sucks to spend a load of cash on a device that half works, but what REALLY sucks is having no way to escalate a clear cut problem because there are so many companies involved!
Thanks in advance!
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.
Does anyone get VoLTE working on O2 or Three in the UK? Does the phone show any VoLTE icon on the notification bar or switch in settings?
Hi,
I've just got a Mate 10 (standard) ALP-L29 8..0.0.128 (C363) running on Three UK
Sadly neither Volte nor VoWifi work with Three
I'm hoping a rebrand to an European version might make it work, but am at a loss to know which version is possible and if it will even work.
Any advice appreciated
thanks
Which region do you buy the device from?
Bought from Wonda in Hong Kong who rebranded it to the above
It does not work on mine either. I am using ALP-AL00 8.0.0.126(SP2C00).
I am using ALP-AL00 8.0.0.126(SP2C00) and not working either.
I'm in the UK. on the three network running BLA-L09 8.0.0.124 (c782)... sometimes it pops up in the top left corner "Wi-Fi calling" ..... is this the same thing ??
evantkh said:
Does anyone get VoLTE working on O2 or Three in the UK? Does the phone show any VoLTE icon on the notification bar or switch in settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you mean wifi calling, I think it may be working on my O2 branded Mate 10 pro. Had to enable in the O2 app first.
Sent from my BLA-L09 using Tapatalk
No, VoLTE means not dropping to 3G when making calls. Does the signal drop to 3G when making calls without WiFi?
Does the signal drop to 3G when making calls without WiFi?
When making a call with three it automatically drops to 3g , I do get WiFi calling when my network signal is weak
On Three UK on Mate 10 pro. Not bought from Three. However on Vodafone VoLTE works... 3 claims ThreeinTouch app supports Supervoice/VoLTE though no options appear for me. Send a like and/or comment here on this tweet to Three UK. https://twitter.com/AminYacarEvaday/status/953734315560579073
And on here
https://twitter.com/AminYacarEvaday/status/953735074264043521
Thanks
Just got a Dual SIM Mate 10 Pro, and I have VoLTE working on Three UK.
I did a fair bit of research in to VoLTE / Wifi Calling (lots of lurking on these forms) before I got it, as access to SuperVoice would have been a dealbreaker if I couldn't get it (and other networks' full 4g spectrum).
It's worth understanding how Three currently structure their spectrum in the UK. I did a lot of head scratching when I used to have an iPhone, as despite Three texting me to say I was in a SuperVoice 4g area, my calls mostly dropped down to 3g.
Three have lots of high frequency 3g and 4g spectrum. They also have some low frequency 4g spectrum (band 20, 800Mhz), but there's a bit less of that.
Three's SuperVoice (VoLTE) only runs on the low frequency 4g 800mhz. The high frequency 4g does not carry VoLTE.
So - if you're on the high frequency 4g band (which is set by Three to be the first choice for locking on to) and you make a call, you need to get bumped to another band. If you're in range of 3g, and get so much as a whiff of it, it'll put you on that. If you can't get any 3g, but you can get lower frequency 4g (it travels further / deeper), it'll allow you on to that band and then - and only then - will you be able to make a VoLTE call.
Maybe one day Three will open up their higher frequency 4g to VoLTE if they restructure their spectrum, but I speculate that for the moment with the spectrum structured as it is, there isn't the justification for taking up high frequency 4g bandwidth with VoLTE call traffic, if there's increasingly unused 3g capacity sat alongside it. If however a phone is out of range of the high frequency 3g signal, the phone can use the low frequency 4g VoLTE for calling and, as Three put it, 'banish the indoor blackspots'.
My Mate 10 Pro is working in exactly the same way as my old iPhone used to - in that if there's any 3g whatsoever, it uses that for calls, often dropping to 3g from the higher frequency 4g (that doesn't allow VoLTE). It's only if you're somewhere where there's no 3g but there is 800mhz 4g, that you can use VoLTE. That makes testing it really hard! I've only had the Mate 10 for 2 days, and managed 2 VoLTE calls in a rural location. Near home I don't see VoLTE at all as there's very decent high frequency 3g coverage.
I also get the Wifi calling option in settings, however I haven't tested that yet, as I haven't been anywhere in the 2 days of phone ownership where mobile reception has been poor and there's been accessible Wifi to fall back on. There is no VoLTE toggle in settings, nor an icon in the status bar - the phone just quietly made a call over 4g (checked by using the 4g icon next to the signal bars, and using the settings>system>about phone>status>network menu whilst on a call to see whether the mobile network type remained 4g).
I'm hoping to test VoLTE on other networks shortly using my 2nd sim slot, however as the networks only allow VoLTE on contract it's not just a case of trying it out with a free PAYG SIM, unfortunately.
In terms of my phone, I ordered a Mate 10 Pro Dual sim Asian/International version (C636), that didn't seem to work with VoLTE (although as above it's hard to test with Three). If I'd have known that I could have bought a single SIM UK version and flashed new firmware to get dual sim I would have done to get a warranty, but when buying it I incorrectly thought maybe the hardware was different and I need 2 sims... I rebranded it to the Euro version (C432) and flashed Euro firmware, and I've since managed two VoLTE calls on Three UK. I'm hoping that other networks work as well... In hope of it doing so is partly why I bought the phone, and there are lots of reviews (that smell a bit of being paid for) that state Huawei has worked with networks to pre-install the VoLTE / Wifi Calling settings in to the Euro firmware.
Any questions just ask
The Pro was a Three exclusive so even if you buy a unbranded one it downloads Three firmware which allows Volte, the standard Mate 10 isn't a Three handset so wont have Volte
I don't think the unbranded phone will download Three firmware if it is on different generic firmware such as the AL00 model. However, VoLTE does have GSMA standard and iPhone has made VoLTE work around the world no matter where you buy the device.
That means Huawei is not actually showing the VoLTE toggle on Three. Based on the configuration files on the firmware of the ALP-AL00 model, I think not showing the VoLTE toggle is happening on O2 UK as well but I never get it working.
@evantkh
Yes, it seems that way, I made a few more calls over Three's 800mhz VoLTE yesterday so it's definitely working in line with Three's priority settings, there's just no toggle or icon. I also monitored using the LTE Monitor app to check the band and in all cases I was on 800mhz before making the call, maybe as it was the only band it could receive. I'm quite impressed with how seamlessly it works.
I don't have the same region as you, have you tried a rebrand and firmware flash to Euro? Mine didn't seem to work on the non Euro version, with the limited amount of testing I did before I flashed Euro firmware.
---------- Post added at 09:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:19 AM ----------
Also, I can confirm WiFi calling works as well on Three. I saw that working yesterday, briefly.
I'm interested to know that you haven't seen VoLTE working on O2 - I was probably going to get my 2nd sim with them.
@Thasscas44
It's not worth re-branding and firmware flashing to Euro.
1. The hardware of AL00 model and L29 model are different at least the bands and possibly the security chip as well.
2. I will lose Huawei Pay functionality for NFC mobile payments in China.
3. I will only use O2 for a few months more as I am going to leave the UK in a few months.
Sounds fair enough, I changed region of my BLA L29 but not model. I definitely wouldn't have wanted to lose other functionality.
I've seen people say they've changed from an L09 to L29 but not the A00.
Err they don't stock the standard Mate 10 so the branded firmware doesn't exist