Am i hampered by having the chinese Redmi 5 plus?? Help please... - Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 / 5 Plus Questions & Answers

Ok, sorry about this bit of a noob (and the MIUI forums are a bit sarcy) you guys are usually helpful..ok, i bought a redmi 5 + from ebay, it came as the chinese model i.e MEE7 (not MET7 or MEG7) now when i boot up it says 'unlocked' under the Mi logo and there's a unlocked padlock symbol, the MIUI version is Global 9.5 Stable 9.5.11.0 (NEGMIFA) which i received as an OTA (so i assume i can get OTAs for this phone even though it's Chinese?)...now i've been told that i can't get band 20 (via MIUI forums and said i was ripped off) after checking on LTE discovery i'm on band 7 (i'm in the UK and with EE and i seem to get 4G+) is band 20 that important? how can i check what bands this phone has got? is band 20 faster? on net velocity i get 35.25mps download and 19.72mps upload., is this ok?..also will i be hampered in anyway with regards to future updates, including Oreo and MIUI 10...any help would be great guys, and cheers for helping a noob.
See.:good:

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Band 20 is an issue in some countries where it is used more, and not in others. Don't know about the UK, but it is being rolled out more and more across Europe.
It's important because it's a low frequency band for good coverage both outdoors over a long range and deep indoors. This is the band that also gives you the good converge inside of the buildings.
Higher frequency bands have more capacity. Lower frequency bands have better coverage.
You shouldn't be missing anything else. Your phone should update fine with the global rom.

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BigMango said:
You shouldn't be missing anything else. Your phone should update fine with the global rom.
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Ok cool, so i'm not crippled by the fact it's a chinese model then (as it updates fine via OTA) by the way how can i check what bands are on this phone?? the apps i've tried just tell the band being currently used (in my case 7) but nothing tells you what is available (on Mediatek you can use engineering mode) does a mode exist for QC snapdragon?

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But : are you sure your are getting 4g+ and not only 4g?
Because many xiaomi phones including the 5 plus don't have interband carrier aggregation on bands 3+7 (only intraband which is used in China).
There is however a patch on the miui forum to enable it. But some users have reported that the resulting speeds are slower than 4g. Others haven't said anything.
---------- Post added at 02:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:32 AM ----------
Yes, search Google for the ### code tu access the engineering info. You can see the bands there.

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BigMango said:
But : are you sure your are getting 4g+ and not only 4g?
Because many xiaomi phones including the 5 plus don't have interband carrier aggregation on bands 3+7 (only intraband which is used in China).
There is however a patch on the miui forum to enable it. But some users have reported that the resulting speeds are slower than 4g. Others haven't said anything.
---------- Post added at 02:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:32 AM ----------
Yes, search Google for the ### code tu access the engineering info. You can see the bands there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried all codes on here with no luck in any answering what available bands there are??
http://www.hardreset.info/devices/xiaomi/xiaomi-redmi-5-plus/codes/
it says 4G+ in the notification panel (next to my battery percentage) and i posted the mps in the first post...do those speeds (in your opinion) equate to 4G+...i just want to know if band 20 is unlocked? but there is no way of bloody checking?!

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seedaripper said:
Tried all codes on here with no luck in any answering what available bands there are??
http://www.hardreset.info/devices/xiaomi/xiaomi-redmi-5-plus/codes/
it says 4G+ in the notification panel (next to my battery percentage) and i posted the mps in the first post...do those speeds (in your opinion) equate to 4G+...i just want to know if band 20 is unlocked? but there is no way of bloody checking?!
Click to expand...
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There are at least three versions of this same model (not variant);
First, the chinese version that was the first available in stores like Aliexpress, Gearbest and others (I bought this), it has firmware only in chinese and english and then to solve this some sellers flashed international rom to devices that were dispatched for other places in the world out of China and some devices came unlocked out of the box.
A second version precharged with international firmware (by the manufacturer) with more languages for the great demmand in the world.
These two previous versions came with the bands 4G: FDD-LTE B1/B3/B5/B7/B8 and there´s no way to enable more bands cause is a limitation hardware related.
A third version Global that came with the bands 4G:FDD LTE B1: 2100/B3: 1800/B4: 1700/B5: 850/B7: 2600/B8: 900/B20: 800MHz for a difference about 25Usd at starting in february; in red marked the added bands.

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SubwayChamp said:
There are at least three versions of this same model (not variant);
First, the chinese version that was the first available in stores like Aliexpress, Gearbest and others (I bought this),
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is yours the MET7 or MEE7 version?? (i have MEE7) does this make a difference?
SubwayChamp said:
A second version precharged with international firmware (by the manufacturer) with more languages for the great demmand in the world.
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Click to collapse
How do i know which version is which? (as i stated in OP when i boot phone it says unlocked on bootscreen with an open padlock, do you think it's the seller who did this or the factory? )
SubwayChamp said:
These two previous versions came with the bands 4G: FDD-LTE B1/B3/B5/B7/B8 and there´s no way to enable more bands cause is a limitation hardware related.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it's safe to say it doesn't have band 20 then? as i said before via lTE discovery it says band 7 (but i get 4G+ and very fast speeds)...
SubwayChamp said:
A third version Global that came with the bands 4G:FDD LTE B1: 2100/B3: 1800/B4: 1700/B5: 850/B7: 2600/B8: 900/B20: 800MHz for a difference about 25Usd at starting in february; in red marked the added bands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So should i really worry at not having band 20, or should i ask for a swap to a global version if it's going to cause me problems in the future with regards to OTAs (i.e MIUI 10 and Oreo etc) i have received working OTAs recently with no problems...
thanks for answering.
See.

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seedaripper said:
Is yours the MET7 or MEE7 version?? (i have MEE7) does this make a difference?
How do i know which version is which? (as i stated in OP when i boot phone it says unlocked on bootscreen with an open padlock, do you think it's the seller who did this or the factory? )
So it's safe to say it doesn't have band 20 then? as i said before via lTE discovery it says band 7 (but i get 4G+ and very fast speeds)...
So should i really worry at not having band 20, or should i ask for a swap to a global version if it's going to cause me problems in the future with regards to OTAs (i.e MIUI 10 and Oreo etc) i have received working OTAs recently with no problems...
thanks for answering.
See.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is MEE7 version, there is no substantial differences, most likely is a method to mark the batches simply.
This version is the first chinese anyway the second has the same bands enabled, only the differences are the firmware pre-installed. Other simply way to check this is that this version came into a box very red with all chinese letters and the second comes in a red-orange-ish. Yes, sellers unlock bootloader in this first version to can flash international firmware more easily and without risks to brick device.
If your carrier works in the band 7 for 4G and also 4G+ then it has to work normally, Many countries don't work with the band 20, any of the bands allows implement the most advanced features so them depends on the carrier it mean that an operator can improve the reachability in a band but improve the strength signal in other; first option is most used in cities with less population to reach great distances and a second is used to improve the quality when demand it's highly required.
No worry about OTAs, updates, miui 10, this version is absolutely functional and working great.

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@seedaripper
Hi
If you can get hold of an O2 SIM try and see if it will work in your phone, if it does you have Band 20 (800), as O2 only use Band 20 in UK.
Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using Tapatalk

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SubwayChamp said:
Mine is MEE7 version, there is no substantial differences, most likely is a method to mark the batches simply.
No worry about OTAs, updates, miui 10, this version is absolutely functional and working great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
great stuff, thanks for clearing that up. I was told that I was duped by miui forum member as I have a rigged phone?? Made me worry a bit, to be honest my signal isn't super great indoors is there anyway to change that?

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Stransky said:
@seedaripper
Hi
If you can get hold of an O2 SIM try and see if it will work in your phone, if it does you have Band 20 (800), as O2 only use Band 20 in UK.
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Click to collapse
Nice one mate, I'll ask around. Ya for the heads up.

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Stransky said:
@seedaripper
Hi
If you can get hold of an O2 SIM try and see if it will work in your phone, if it does you have Band 20 (800), as O2 only use Band 20 in UK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did I answer this?

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seedaripper said:
great stuff, thanks for clearing that up. I was told that I was duped by miui forum member as I have a rigged phone?? Made me worry a bit, to be honest my signal isn't super great indoors is there anyway to change that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I´m very prideful for this device, it´s not a fake at all, the great difference is only the two bands enabled in the global (really) version but I didn´t need this.
There is something that I noted like a difference within miui roms and any aosp based rom, the signal in aosp roms is slightly better than in miui roms. A simple way to see the strength is going to Settings/about phone/status/sim status you will see a range normally between (in my experience);
- In aosp based roms it´s -83 to -91
- In miui or miui based roms it´s -91 to -97
When the level is more (in a negative scale) it´s mean better signal. That´s about cellullar signal not specifically the uploading/downloading of data, for this there should be an application in Play Store also some custom tweaked roms can improve this.

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SubwayChamp said:
- In aosp based roms it´s -83 to -91
- In miui or miui based roms it´s -91 to -97
When the level is more (in a negative scale) it´s mean better signal. That´s about cellullar signal not specifically the uploading/downloading of data, for this there should be an application in Play Store also some custom tweaked roms can improve this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok so i'm getting 83dBm 57 asu? don't you mean when the level is 'less' in a negative scale i.e the lower the better?
Yes, i'm pleased by the phone, just a bit worried about future updates, to be honest (with regards to it being a foreign ROM on a Chinese phone) i don't use my data much (only when travelling abroad or journeys within the UK) otherwise i leech from wifi...looking forward to MIUI 10 (and fingers crossed an Oreo update in its wake)

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seedaripper said:
Ok so i'm getting 83dBm 57 asu? don't you mean when the level is 'less' in a negative scale i.e the lower the better?
Yes, i'm pleased by the phone, just a bit worried about future updates, to be honest (with regards to it being a foreign ROM on a Chinese phone) i don't use my data much (only when travelling abroad or journeys within the UK) otherwise i leech from wifi...looking forward to MIUI 10 (and fingers crossed an Oreo update in its wake)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, definitely you don´t have nothing to worry about, remember that really all R5+ are chinese, I just referred to a chinese version to indicate how it´s recogniced the first version but Xiaomi considers all these versions like upgradable.
You have an excellent signal strength, you forgot the symbol (-) and it´s correct the stated before, in a positive scale a superior number is more and in a negative scale an inferior number is in the same way by the logic of the opposites; more.