Database Users

Bell's Vibrant is tri-band HSDPA!

Alright, I saw it on the box, so I can confirm with certainty: Bell's Vibrant is tri-band HSDPA 850/1900/2100. I think I'm gonna get me one right away. (Might it be smarter to wait for deals from FS?)
Before seeing it on the box, noone could confirm that: I had called Bell tech support (highest tier), Samsung Canada tech. support, noone! I just can't believe how incompetent these guys (and gals) can be! Samsung tech support didn't even know what HSDPA is! Go figure! Who pays these guys?

yes 3 band data as mentioned above
and quad band voice 850/900/1800/1900
who cares about the voice, the 850/1900/2100 range is what we wanted anyways
now i can go to Brazil visit my >beeep< or go to europe and still have good data reception (using local sim cards of course)

Is the bell's vibrant different from t-mobile's???

felipehcampos said:
Is the bell's vibrant different from t-mobile's???
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Yes, it's a full-on I9000 complete with FFC and physical Home button.

confused about Bell's Vibrant 2G and 3G networks
For reference the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S has:
2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100
What about Bell's Samsung GT-I9000M Galaxy S Vibrant? Which 2G Network? Which 3G Network?
I'm asking that because I'm confused:
Aqua1ung said:
Alright, I saw it on the box, so I can confirm with certainty: Bell's Vibrant is tri-band HSDPA 850/1900/2100
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But both Best Buy and Future Shop says "3G 900/1900/2100" for Bell's SGS specs?!
AllGamer said:
yes 3 band data as mentioned above
and quad band voice 850/900/1800/1900
who cares about the voice, the 850/1900/2100 range is what we wanted anyways
now i can go to Brazil visit my >beeep< or go to europe and still have good data reception (using local sim cards of course)
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Click to collapse
Is it like AT&T's (and supposedly Rogers') Samsung i897 Captivate:
2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100
Does that means Bell's SGS has GSM quad band built-in? But Bell's network is CDMA, not GSM?!
It's a pretty big deal if it has 2G GSM network compatibility, because as you said that means it's possible to use it with both European and Canadian cell phone carriers (once unlocked).
The 3G 850 / 1900 is necessary for Canada, and 2100 for France but that's assuming you stay in big cities where 3G networks are deployed. But what about going to the countryside? In that case we need to rely on the GSM 2G networks to get voice and data connection, am I right?

gaelynx said:
It's a pretty big deal if it has 2G GSM network compatibility, because as you said that means it's possible to use it with both European and Canadian cell phone carriers (once unlocked).
The 3G 850 / 1900 is necessary for Canada, and 2100 for France but that's assuming you stay in big cities where 3G networks are deployed. But what about going to the countryside? In that case we need to rely on the GSM 2G networks to get voice and data connection, am I right?
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actually that's why for some people like myself the 850 is a pretty big deal, so that we can get 3G on the country side, otherwise we'll only get Edge or 2G

gaelynx said:
But both Best Buy and Future Shop says "3G 900/1900/2100" for Bell's SGS specs?!
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The 3G 900 in the specs must be wrong. Only Australia, New Zealand and maybe Iran use that band (src). And Future Shop is a sub-division of Best Buy so maybe that why they both have the same error?
AllGamer said:
actually that's why for some people like myself the 850 is a pretty big deal, so that we can get 3G on the country side, otherwise we'll only get Edge or 2G
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So 3G 850 and 1900 are enough to cover cities and countryside for voice+data in Canada? There is no CDMA technology in the Bell Vibrant?
And we have a good 3G coverage for worldwide use thanks to the popularity of the 2100MHz band.
Some part of the countryside in France (including where my family lives) doesn't have 3G coverage. So I would like to know the 2G Network capabilities of the Bell Vibrant.
if it has Quad-band GSM then its only difference with the I9000 is the 850 3G band instead of the 900 3G band?! and the difference with the Samsung i897 Captivate is the external design and the front camera?
After additional google-ing I found an official news from Samsung (June 30th) that says:
The first Samsung Galaxy S™ device to launch in Canada will be the Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant™ and it is scheduled to launch this summer on Bell Mobility’s state-of-the-art HSPA+ network – the fastest and largest wireless high-speed network in Canada.
Canadian consumers can anticipate the release of additional Galaxy S™ smartphones throughout the rest of 2010.
[..]
Network: HSPA/Quad Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
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and I could find one confirmation on XDA (without source):
Croak said:
Quad band GSM and 850/1900/2100 UMTS.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App
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So that means the Bell Vibrant doesn't relies on Bell's CDMA network, only on its HSPA+ network.
I see no point in waiting for Rogers to release the Captivate, unless we don't mind the lack of Front Facing Camera and prefer the other external design...

the Canada version of Vibrant operates at all those bands on both 2G and 3G also for Voice, so you got it all covered.
the only thing left is to get it unlocked after you buy it.
it is also compatible with the i9000 firmware upgrades without any changes

T-Mobile USA HD2 Network Frequencies and compatibility in Canada

Hi guys,
Just got myself T-Mobile USA HD2. Its unlocked. Moving to toronto canada next week. Can someone tell me what frequencies does my HD2 work on?
and will it work on networks in Toronto, Canada? like Rogers, telus, etc.?
Kindly let me know.
Thanks

tmous =
gsm (calls, gprs, edge) on 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G HSDPA on 1700 MHz (AWS) / 2100 MHz
for rogers it will work for calls, gprs and edge on gsm 850/1900, but rogers also uses 850 and 1900 for 3g, so tmous wont work for 3g, and isnt telus cdma? or have they switched to gsm yet? (i know they say theyre switching to gsm this year, but talk is cheap...) Regardless, its very unlikely to work for 3g, though it should work for calls, gprs and edge, assuming they HAVE turned on gsm.

samsamuel said:
tmous =
gsm (calls, gprs, edge) on 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G HSDPA on 1700 MHz (AWS) / 2100 MHz
for rogers it will work for calls, gprs and edge on gsm 850/1900, but rogers also uses 850 and 1900 for 3g, so tmous wont work for 3g, and isnt telus cdma? or have they switched to gsm yet? (i know they say theyre switching to gsm this year, but talk is cheap...) Regardless, its very unlikely to work for 3g, though it should work for calls, gprs and edge, assuming they HAVE turned on gsm.
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thanx for the reply. telus side is surely selling gsm devices i guess. so maybe they r onn. not sure though. but other than rogers, are there any other gsm networks in toronto?
although i don use 3g at al so not a big deal for me as long as gsm works and only if sometimes req edge shd work. thats it.
also right now am in india, and i have tmobile usa HD2. moving to canada next week, is there any chance the customs ppl will have an eye on my cell phone and ask for its details? i bought it 4m ebay. if there is anything anyone know in this respect then do let me know(kinda off topic).
thanx.

[Q] question for 3G frequencies in Canada

I have a tmobile vibrant phone (hardware only). According to the phone specs i SHOULD be able to get 3g signal with my fido sim card since the phone seems to support all the same frequencies as the Canadian i9000.... but i only get edge.
If you guys are getting 3G with fido or rogers sim cards, did you have to set anything special in the phone settings?
Thanks!

Vibrant T-mobile 3G runs on 1700
that is why you only get EDGE (2G)
Fido, Rogers & Bell runs on 850 & 1900 for 3G

On my way to work today this is what i saw in the network box.
inside my house - EDGE
Outside my house - 3G
back country roads to work - i saw just G or no signal (normal i loose signal with my iphone and blackberry on there)
at work - back on edge
So i DO get 3g somehow! or is it just teasing me by showing 3G?

i read somewhere that the t-mo vibrant does have 1900 as one of its 3g bands, so this is why your phone has been able to pick up 3g at times. the problem for you is that rogers/fido mainly use the 850 band. i had the nokia n97 mini that had the 1900 but no 850 and while driving around most of the gta i would get 3g, but when i went into buildings, houses, etc, it would drop to edge.

Maybe your phone supports 1900 and not 850 MHz? Or the oposite? That would explain why you would get bad UMTS coverage.
@hondaguy you were faster than me

boravr6 said:
I have a tmobile vibrant phone (hardware only). According to the phone specs i SHOULD be able to get 3g signal with my fido sim card since the phone seems to support all the same frequencies as the Canadian i9000.... but i only get edge.
If you guys are getting 3G with fido or rogers sim cards, did you have to set anything special in the phone settings?
Thanks!
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To my knowledge the T-Mobile Vibrant does not support the major Canadian 3g bands. It is quad band 2g, which is why you are able to get edge but it is only 2 band 3g, at least according to this spec sheet:
http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=2439&c=samsung_sgh-t959_galaxy_s_vibrant
T-mobile uses the 1700 and 2100 UMTS bands for 3g, Bell/Rogers/Telus/Virgin/Fido use 850/1900 UMTS bands for 3g. Therefore the 3g radio on the Vibrant is not compatible with these networks.
However, WIND mobile uses the 1700/2100 UMTS bands for 3g and you can use unlocked T-Mobile phones to their full ability on Wind's network. Wind is only in major urban centres though so this may not help you if you're not in the city. Hopefully you are as Wind has a pretty sweet unlimited data plan!
http://shop.windmobile.ca/
On the other hand according this this article from Engadget:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/22/confirmed-galaxy-s-unlock-codes-are-stored-in-your-phone-vibra/
If they're right that the Vibrant is somehow capable of AT&T 3g, it would mean the phone has to be tri-band UMTS: 850, 1700, 2100 (or 1700,1900,2100) as AT&T uses the 850/1900 bands like Rogers/Bell/Telus.
This doesn't make sense to me why T-Mobile would do this. The 850/1900 bands are really only used in North America on competing carriers, so it doesn't give the phone "world" capabilities, the 2100 band does that. Why they would add a feature who's only purpose is to make the phone work on competitors' networks is a mystery to me but Engadget seems to have a picture that confirms it. If this is true than an unlocked Vibrant should technically be able to work on Rogers/Bell/Telus/Fido/Virgin 3g, but only if it is unlocked. I'm pretty sure that T-Mobile sells their phones SIM locked to their network, have you unlocked yours?
~Edit if it does have 1900 as the third band the above posters are correct in that you will get minimal 3g coverage as 850 is the primary in Canada.

yeah i wanted to switch to Wind Mobile for the $35 true unlimited data plan, until i found out they don't work with normal 850/1900/2100 phones
only 1700 / 2100

[Q] Which Network ????

Hi All
I am visiting the USA in September for holiday and am doing a bit of travelling while i am out there. I was going to buy a prepaid sim to use with my SGS II which is sim unlocked. I am visiting Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vegas what network would you guys recommend for coverage and costs ?? it would have to be a GSM network.
Thanks

I would say T-mobile because they have a awesome pay as you go plan

I would say T-Mobile

T-Mobile and AT&T are the only ones compatible with your SIM. However the SGS2 is only going to get EDGE on T-Mobile if you're wanting data. It's compatible with the HSPA for AT&T however. From what I understand there really isn't a difference in price between the two for prepaid. Nothing to make a difference when you're taking an international trip anyway.

Hydroshock said:
T-Mobile and AT&T are the only ones compatible with your SIM. However the SGS2 is only going to get EDGE on T-Mobile if you're wanting data. It's compatible with the HSPA for AT&T however. From what I understand there really isn't a difference in price between the two for prepaid. Nothing to make a difference when you're taking an international trip anyway.
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European 3G bands are different than US ones. In Europe the UMTS band is operating on 2100MHz. AT&T operates it's 3G service on 850 and 1900 MHz.

cajunflavoredbob said:
European 3G bands are different than US ones. In Europe the UMTS band is operating on 2100MHz. AT&T operates it's 3G service on 850 and 1900 MHz.
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Yeah but the SGS2 has the 1900MHz band in it, so it would work on AT&T's 3G network, but only on T-Mobile's EDGE.

Longcat14 said:
Yeah but the SGS2 has the 1900MHz band in it, so it would work on AT&T's 3G network, but only on T-Mobile's EDGE.
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You need both bands for AT&T 3G. 850 provides downlink. 1900 provides uplink. In Europe, 2110 is downlink and 2150 is uplink. It is normally just included in one spec of 2100MHz. The 850MHz band in this device would only provide 2G speeds.

AT&T is your best bet.

[Q] Which note 3 for these connections

I need a note 3 that can:
connect to AT&T LTE here in the USA
And connect to T-Mobile NL in Holland
And unlocked bootloader
ATT:
850 MHz CLR 5 UMTS/HSPA+ 21Mbit/s 4G In service
1900 MHz PCS 2 UMTS/HSPA+ 21Mbit/s 4G In service
700 MHz Block B 17 LTE 4G In service Main LTE band providing complete coverage
1700/2100 MHz AWS 4 LTE 4G In service Additional LTE band for more bandwidth in select markets
1900 MHz PCS 2 LTE 4G Service starts by the end of 2013 Additional LTE band for more bandwidth in select markets[31]
2300 MHz WCS 30 LTE 4G Approved for deployment in Oct 2012[32]
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TMO:
This company uses GSM1800 as their main frequency band for communications. In 2010 T-Mobile Netherlands had some problems with 3G capacity, but after investing in the network modernization they have managed to deal with this problem. So now they provide 3G services using 2100MHz band
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Am I restricted to the N900-T? or is there another one you know of.
sorry for the noob question i don't know about all the bands.
Thanks!

T-Mo NL uses the 900Mhz for 2G, 2100Mhz band for 3G, and are in the process of updating to the 900Mhz band for both 2G and 3G. (Should be finished by the end of 2016.) LTE runs on the 1800Mhz band. (I can dream these numbers by now...)
You can find the bands per phone version here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2574886
Does the TMo US version even work with AT&T?
Both N900-t and N9005 work in terms of frequency for 2G.
You will probably not be able to use the N900T for 3G once the network upgrade is finished here, as we're going to be using the 900Mhz as the main frequency for 3G. The N900T can't see that one. The 2100Mhz will be serving as a bandwidth increaser, not as the main band.
There's a chance you won't get 4G everywhere on the N9005 when using it in the US, as it can't see the 700/1700/1900/2300Mhz frequency.
And you're going to have to root to get rid of the region lock either way if you want to use both SIMs.

Tmo version 4G will not work with AT&T 4G. I tried with my wife's phone

T-Mobile (US) devices support the same frequencies as AT&T devices. This is coming from experience and from the fact that I've pretty much memorized all the band numbers that carriers use and phones support.
If you want a Note 3 that supports AT&T LTE in the US and HSPA+ in NL, you can either get the AT&T model or the T-Mobile model. The T-Mobile model supports one extra band (1700 MHz HSPA+) that is only used on T-Mobile US (nowhere outside of North America), so it wouldn't make a difference. Just know that it CAN be used on AT&T. The other differences between the two:
1. The T-Mobile version supports Wifi Calling (if used on T-Mobile), AT&T model doesn't.
2. AT&T removes the "Network Mode" menu from the Settings menu (so you can't force EDGE for example).
3. AT&T version has a locked bootloader. T-Mobile version doesn't.
In many instances, although 900 MHz WCDMA/HSPA+ isn't listed, it's supported. I can't confirm it because I'm in the US, and GSM carriers use (total) 850/1700/1900/2100 MHz for WCDMA, not 900 MHz. I think it's just unlisted to discourage people from exporting the US models. The only LTE frequency that North America shares in common with Europe is 2600 MHz, which is supported by the phone. I believe that's only used in urban areas in Europe.
Overall the T-Mobile model is the most open in terms of bootloader and supported frequencies (though either model would work in your case).