Project Fi - Xperia Z5 Compact Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Anyone here using Project Fi on their device? My friend uses it and let me borrow his data-only sim for an upcoming international trip. I believe it uses T-Mobile. I plugged it in and the best I could get was HSPDA+, not 4G LTE. Not sure why, I believe the phone supports all of T-Mobile's bands. Not sure how it will work once I travel.
I'd be interested to hear other people's experiences and whether they were able to achieve 4G

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[Q] Sim card support?

Looking at pictures of the Rezound, it looked as if it has sim card support, is there any known way to root/unlock the phone to use on T-mobile/AT&T?? if so i need one...
no the sim card is for LTE only. Sorry! It doesn't have GSM or HSPA support. Only CDMA EvDo 1xRTT and LTE
Ah bummer. Well ill definently have to consider virizon instead of tmobile when i get my own contract
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA App
Excuse my ignorance, but just trying to sort this out. Realise it uses an LTE sim card, but as I live in China was hoping to put in a china telecom sim card and use it on their CDMA2000 network (which it does support).
This possible? Thanks in advance.
The sim card is solely for LTE if that helps. It may be possible to flash it to their network but I cannot answer a yes or no
It depends on the spectrum your LTE network uses. The phone should function CDMA only if you or your carrier know how to flash it correctly. Verizon uses a special LTE spectrum range they bought from the FCC known as C-Class if I remember correctly. It was sold after the US went from Analog to Digital TV. There were A-E Class Spectrum and C apparently was the best for whatever reason. I don't know to say anyone on here would know any more info than that in regards to the frequencies.
Thanks, I don't know how to flash it and I assume my carrier probably doesn't know how to or want to either. Shame. Really wanted this phone. It is being sold on taobao here (Chinese ebay equivalent) so maybe a solution will be found in the future.
There is a program called CDMA Workshop that most places in the US use to flash CDMA phones from major carriers to pre-paid carriers. I am sure someone over there could do the same. I lived in South Korea for 2 years, the stuff they could do was ridiculous, and I know China is the same. Actually, my neighbor is from China and is pretty tech Savvy too. I will text him later as he was just in China a couple weeks ago.
He said his girlfriend was able to bring her iPhone from China and have it flashed. Should work the other way around. As far as LTE though, beyond me.

[Q] Sprint not available

I was wondering if there is a way to use another carrier to get 4G for my tablet? I want 4G for my tablet but Sprint is not in my area. I would have to use US Celluar or Verizon. I checked Verizon and it would be $35ish a month. How do I change set it up for another carrier? Hoping I don't have to go as far as rooting it. Thanks!
love_my_htc said:
I was wondering if there is a way to use another carrier to get 4G for my tablet? I want 4G for my tablet but Sprint is not in my area. I would have to use US Celluar or Verizon. I checked Verizon and it would be $35ish a month. How do I change set it up for another carrier? Hoping I don't have to go as far as rooting it. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately you can't, even with rooting. That's because 4G isn't a wireless protocol, but rather a standard that defines minimum speeds for protocols that wish to call themselves 4G (or something like that). Different carriers achieve 4G through different communications protocols. Verizon and AT&T use LTE. T-Mobile uses HSPA+. Sprint uses WiMAX. Currently Sprint is the only carrier to use WiMAX, and the only other WiMAX provider is Clearwire. But since Sprint uses Clearwire for its WiMAX, if you had Clearwire available in your are you'd have Sprint 4G, too. (Also, Sprint is abandoning WiMAX in favor of LTE in the coming years, so WiMAX is pretty much dead).
Your best bet is to find a carrier that offers 4G service in your area and buy a wireless hotspot and a plan from them. The advantage is that you can also use that plan for other devices such as laptops and WiFi capable phones.
Thanks for the reply.. That sounds like a good idea!!

Universal phone? Verizon and T-mobile?

Hi, im looking for a phone which would work with both verizon and T-mobile. Why both? well im in an odd situation, where im halfway through my contract with verizon, but want to switch to T-mobile. But my phone right now barely even works at the moment, so i need a new one, which I can bring over with me when i switch to T-mobile
I need a phone which works on both carriers or else I will end up buying to phones at full price, and I wouldnt want to do that!. Any help wpuld be extremely appreciated, there has to be some kind of smartphone out there thats capable of this
robotnikman said:
Hi, im looking for a phone which would work with both verizon and T-mobile. Why both? well im in an odd situation, where im halfway through my contract with verizon, but want to switch to T-mobile. But my phone right now barely even works at the moment, so i need a new one, which I can bring over with me when i switch to T-mobile
I need a phone which works on both carriers or else I will end up buying to phones at full price, and I wouldnt want to do that!. Any help wpuld be extremely appreciated, there has to be some kind of smartphone out there thats capable of this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot of phones these days are tri/quad-band. This means they operate on 3 or 4 frequencies ranges.
I'm not from the US so I'm not 100% sure but I believe Verizon is a CDMA based network while T-Mobile uses GSM (or WCDMA).
This would mean that most phones cannot be taken from one to the other. However many newer phones are released in carrier specific versions but don't have any hardware differences. Its often very hard to test/confirm this without having the specific device in your hand.
Google suggests that the iPhone 5, 5C & 5S from Verizon is unlocked and works on T-Mobiles 3G & 4G networks. So this could be an option.
As far as android handsets go, most of the phones I can find dont have a good overlap of frequencies for both networks.
Using the LG G2 as an example, the T-Mobile versions of most handsets use 850/1700/1900/2100 for 3G and LTE Bands 2, 4, 17. Verizon uses 850/900/1900/2100 for 3G and LTE Bands 4, 13. There is a little overlap there, 3G @ 850, 900 & 2100, but the LTE coverage is limited to Band 4 which could result in some negative experiences coverage wise on T-Mobile.

[Q] If I have a GSM device that supports either T-Mobile or AT&T can I....?

So, I have an NVIDIA Shield, and am very interested in the LTE version of the upcoming NVIDIA Shield Tablet, but I need to know something. I intend on buying the LTE variant for data. I have no reason to have voice, but I want to use data. I am under the impression it is a GSM device, and is for T-Mobile or AT&T, I want to use my Verizon LTE data. The question breaks down to whether I can pop my Verizon SIM in and use it on the LTE-only bands? I know the Nexus 7 had a LTE radio, but I am under the impression it was somewhat carrier specific. Anyways, if somebody has the answer, that'd be great.
Thanks in advance.

[Q] Groupon S5 Deal: Work on T-Mobile?

Groupon has a deal for the S5 that says it's for "Verizon and GSM Unlocked":
https://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-samsung-galaxy-s5-smartphones
Is there any way to tell what model # this is? I'm guessing that it is a generic S5 and not the T-Mobile specific SM-G900T. If that's true, then it likely doesn't have the TMo specific LTE frequencies needed for full service (I'm in the Chicago area), correct?
I really hate having to find special versions of GSM devices to make full use of T-Mobile's network...
<TAP><TAP> Is this thing on???
Unlocked for all Verizon and GSM carriers.
On the same page --> https://www.groupon.com/pages/groupon-deal-images-gg-gsm-providers
Only thing is that it probably will not be compatible with WiFi calling features, but I could be wrong.
I know it would work but I was curious about whether it was the same model they sell via T-Mobile that has their unique frequency bands (1900/2100 I believe). Groupon responded to an inquiry and said it was a Verizon model so while I can't confirm it, I'm guessing it doesn't have the extra bands needed to fully make use of T-Mobile's LTE network so it would likely drop down to HPDPA+ in many locations.
According to the reviews, its a Verizon branded phone. A couple of the reviews are from T-mo users and they claimed to have issues with the sim/network not going to LTE, instead it uses their HSPA network.
If it was me, I would not buy this. It is cheap yea, but remember that the S5 is not compatible with the new band 12.
-edit-
The Chicago area isn't getting band 12 anyways, not anytime soon that is.
I'm using a Verizon S5 with a T-mobile rom and it works perfect 4g lte and all If you end up getting it just root it then look at my view forum posts.

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