Is HSDPA/UMTS band a software issue? - Networking

Hi guys, I don't know if this is a basic question but I have to ask it since I haven't find an answer yet...
Can I modify the HSDPA/UMTS band via ROM or SPL update?
I bougth a HTC T-mobile myTouch (1700/2100 MHz bands, UMTS/HSDPA) but later I realized that here in CHILE my provider uses the 850/1900 band for 3g .
So, can I do somethig to make it work here or is it a matter of hardware?
Thanks

birutilla said:
Hi guys, I don't know if this is a basic question but I have to ask it since I haven't find an answer yet...
Can I modify the HSDPA/UMTS band via ROM or SPL update?
I bougth a HTC T-mobile myTouch (1700/2100 MHz bands, UMTS/HSDPA) but later I realized that here in CHILE my provider uses the 850/1900 band for 3g .
So, can I do somethig to make it work here or is it a matter of hardware?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you cant change ur radio bands with software, its a hardware issue and im afraid your stuck with what you got, even flashing a new radio wont change things . . . sorry

it's too different versions of the qualcomm cpu's which makes the band difference
it's hardcoded inside the cpu

You should have bought the Canadian/Rogers version of the phone.
Fvcking HTC builds 3 versions of the phone (mytouch, rest of world, Canada) and people like you and me get fvcked. We have to pay an extra $150 to get the canadian version.
Let it be a lesson: do NOT buy HTC! Acer, Dell, Apple ... they all build phones that work everywhere. NOT HTC.

Rudegar said:
it's too different versions of the qualcomm cpu's which makes the band difference
it's hardcoded inside the cpu
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually the CPU (Qualcomm MSM7201a) is capable of supporting five different UMTS frequency bands, however only three at once. Those bands again are indeed preset by the built-in RF chips, so there is no chance of changing frequencies.
Here's the datasheet of the MSM7200 (identical to the MSM7201a in terms of RF support) with an overview of possible RF chip configurations at the bottom of page 3: http://www.ent.eet-china.com/PDF/2007FEB/DTCOL_2007FEB15_AVDE_RFR_AN_01.pdf

inquisitor said:
Actually the CPU (Qualcomm MSM7201a) is capable of supporting five different UMTS frequency bands, however only three at once. Those bands again are indeed preset by the built-in RF chips, so there is no chance of changing frequencies.
Here's the datasheet of the MSM7200 (identical to the MSM7201a in terms of RF support) with an overview of possible RF chip configurations at the bottom of page 3: http://www.ent.eet-china.com/PDF/2007FEB/DTCOL_2007FEB15_AVDE_RFR_AN_01.pdf
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whether a specific band is supported or not in a particular RF topology also depends on the type of RF amplifiers coupled with the baseband IC. Traditionally HTC has been using universal amplifiers for 2G/2.5G hence all recent phones support GSM/GPRS/EDGE on any frequencies. Due to Qualcomm vs. Broadcomm patent lawsuits, they had to stop using universal amplifiers for 3G around 2006, hence most modern phones only support WCDMA/UMTS frequencies that they have individual amplifiers for.
I think it's not HTC specific, any vendors using Qualcomm MSM basebands are doing this as well. So the bottomline is - in most cases it's a hardware issue. In some rare cases (when universal or multi-frequency WCDMA amplifier is installed) frequencies are disabled in software. I can't recall any HTC device that would have this kind of software only limitation.

Wow Very informational posts
Thanks Guys!!!
Hey I'm an old (ancient pre-Intel <BG>) micro hacker
but fairly new to phones. I'm currently very happy with
my cooked AT&T Pure/TopAz with the Tess Leo 1 Rom
I've had most every model of HP IpAQ upto the 4700s
So the PPC side is pretty comfortable for me.
I'm an old programmer with EE background
But really ready to try and get my teeth into the radio side
of phones just trying to understand enough to make some
resonable qualitative and quantitative benchmarks on some these radios
Maybe more to the point is understand if so and so's great looking nice
new task bar should and is properly displaying "3G" or "H" or ?)
But its been hard sorting the Euro vs US and GSM vs CMRS
Phone info.
Can anyone suggest a good "newbie guide" ? or any source of info
(I kinda hate the term "for dummies" but.... )
to the radio end, signal strength, band, networks etc ?
Sorry if this has been asked a million times or its only "two posts" away
but the amount of info here is great! but the s/n is NOT so great <BG>
Thanks Alot
Kenn Lynch
Hey is there a spell checker in this xda forum?
my apologies
I love my phone

if you are on a pc most internet browsers these days got their own spellchecker

Spell check thanks
You know its amazing what some people consider "most" Web Browsers
I was thinking "largest" web browser (Internet Explorer 8.XX on XP)
Spell checking is not natively included, so all my checking has been with
local docs or remotely using the web pages own checker for web based mail and forums.
So I started thinking no wonder this guys name starts with "Rude"
But I looked around and there is a free plug-in for IE called ieSpell.
I seldom bother with the other browsers so I can't say if
spell checking is included right "out of the box" in them either.
but I just installed ieSpell here and it hyphenated "plug-in" nice and easy
Thanks
when you are right you are right
Guess you can teach and old dog <BG>
KJL

Related

two xperia's infront of me :)

In a last-ditch attempt to get one garanteed delivery before the weekend, I ordered two xperia's, one from the UK and one from a US reseller (selling european X1i's nonetheless).
My question is this: my 3g band isn't supported (rogers) and I was wondering if the US version will use the same radio chip and what are the possibilities of getting an update which will enable this additional band (US1?)?
Thanks!
tg989 said:
In a last-ditch attempt to get one garanteed delivery before the weekend, I ordered two xperia's, one from the UK and one from a US reseller (selling european X1i's nonetheless).
My question is this: my 3g band isn't supported (rogers) and I was wondering if the US version will use the same radio chip and what are the possibilities of getting an update which will enable this additional band (US1?)?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read this a couple of times, was a tad confused!
Are you in the UK or US ?
Which version of the X1 does not have 3G? or are you saying you don't get 3G signal where you are?
Who is Roger?
tg989 said:
My question is this: my 3g band isn't supported (rogers) and I was wondering if the US version will use the same radio chip and what are the possibilities of getting an update which will enable this additional band (US1?)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Answered several times already. The X1i does not have 850MHz UMTS. No one has managed to get a radio ROM on any HTC device to bring over the UMTS frequencies.
If you want it to work on 850 you'll need the X1a
artesea said:
Answered several times already. The X1i does not have 850MHz UMTS. No one has managed to get a radio ROM on any HTC device to bring over the UMTS frequencies.
If you want it to work on 850 you'll need the X1a
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so x1a rom on an x1i will not work to enable UMTS 850?? are there any links to x1a roms? I thought it wasn't even released yet...
Had this same problem with an omnia AND an n96 now its starting to get to me with the xperia since I really wanted this phone ;\
The OS rom has nothing to with the radio. It may add some options to radio settings, but it does not change the radio itself. The only practical difference is it may or may not make WM faster.
You can flash an X1a radio rom onto an X1i, but it still will not enable UMTS 850. The two radios are physically different (whether it's the microcode or the whole chip), and cannot be changed via software/rom flash. So many people have been trying with the Diamond, Raphael, etc, all unsuccessful; no reason to believe it will be any different with the X1. The only practical difference is it may or may not improve battery life and/or reception.
The X1a is the only one with a UMTS 850-capable radio chip, so if you need UMTS 850 your only option is the X1a.
fhsieh said:
The OS rom has nothing to with the radio. It may add some options to radio settings, but it does not change the radio itself. The only practical difference is it may or may not make WM faster.
You can flash an X1a radio rom onto an X1i, but it still will not enable UMTS 850. The two radios are physically different (whether it's the microcode or the whole chip), and cannot be changed via software/rom flash. So many people have been trying with the Diamond, Raphael, etc, all unsuccessful; no reason to believe it will be any different with the X1. The only practical difference is it may or may not improve battery life and/or reception.
The X1a is the only one with a UMTS 850-capable radio chip, so if you need UMTS 850 your only option is the X1a.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so its a different radio chip... I remember the omnia i900 and i907 had identical radio chips as per specs but the former had the 850 disabled. Was hoping sony made the hardware identical and only differed on the radio rom.
Thanks for clearing it up
Anybody want two xperias?
I'd like a black X1i, but only if I can find someone willing to buy my TPro

Why don't quad-band phones also support international UMTS/3G frequency bands?

I'm trying to buy an Android phone that would support AT&T's 3G in North America, but for some reason they all only support T-Mobile's 3G frequencies. What's up?
So pretty much every smartphone nowadays is quad-band, GSM 850/900/1800/1900, and works pretty much anywhere in the world.
Why don't phones also support international 3G frequencies: 850/1900 as well as 900, 1700 and 2100 Mhz?
That should be a rule in all modern devices
100% all communication in all the world!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad-band#3G
if you look at the population in the various places
and add the extra cost it seems to currently offer
feature you request it would most likely
not be worth it for htc and other manufacturers
but maybe in time as first we had dualband phones then triband and now quadband 2g
of cause with 4g starting to take off some places maybe it will be absolute before
universal 3g chips get cheap enough
How do the current business travelers manage?
orb3000 said:
That should be a rule in all modern devices
100% all communication in all the world!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The area lot of business people who travel all over the world. How do they manage data access? Do they carry more than one phone all the time?
but as I state the only large user groups of 850 3g is in america
like CDMA is also only supported there
it all comes down to if the inc in cost is enough to justify the inc in
revenue
business people from the rest of the world don't have those issues
people here have also been requesting htc phones which does both cmda and gsm
it' all about GREED!
do you know how many channels your radio or TV receives?
those HTC fools just discriminate against USA users! (my opinion)
Q
I would really like to know how much "more" its going to cost to make a quadband, and 5 band UMTS phone. . . . .
think only qualcomm can answer that question
Rudegar said:
think only qualcomm can answer that question
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it doesnt matter how much! i'm sure qualcomm 1G snapdragon cpu is more expensive than 528mzh cpu, that doesnt stop toshiba or Acer from using it!
it' all about GREED!
htc wants to make it with the cheapst parts, and sell it at the highest price possible! (my opinion)
well yes
even if greed is a negative word for the general capitalism which drive all these company's
it's not like htc are the only ones on that ship :S
Quad band UMTS are rare indeed. Blackberry and Apple have them. Nokia has a quint band unit coming out in about 3 weeks, N8-00 (I have one on pre-order).
The Galaxy S Captivate is a tri band unit that will work in most of the world. It is missing the 900 MHz band. I can't recommend it because GPS is broken while awaiting a software patch and AT&T refuses to unlock the sim for 10 months. There is no known way to unlock the phone at the present time.
netnerd said:
it doesnt matter how much! i'm sure qualcomm 1G snapdragon cpu is more expensive than 528mzh cpu, that doesnt stop toshiba or Acer from using it!
it' all about GREED!
htc wants to make it with the cheapst parts, and sell it at the highest price possible! (my opinion)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't be so hard on the manufacturers (please, note that HTC isn't the only phone manufacturer in the world...) AT&T only just started selling Android phones. Why would Android phone manufacturers make a phone that supports AT&T bands if AT&T won't support them in return? With the delays in so many phone shipments, I'm sure the companies don't need that much more business than they already have. Now that AT&T has decided to play ball, however, I'm sure there'll be a reciprocal increase in the number of Android phones with AT&T 3G bands
ua549 said:
Quad band UMTS are rare indeed. Blackberry and Apple have them. Nokia has a quint band unit coming out in about 3 weeks, N8-00 (I have one on pre-order).
The Galaxy S Captivate is a tri band unit that will work in most of the world. It is missing the 900 MHz band. I can't recommend it because GPS is broken while awaiting a software patch and AT&T refuses to unlock the sim for 10 months. There is no known way to unlock the phone at the present time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can buy an unlock code for like $25 .

HIgh tech question ?

Hello see all the nice wonderful phones around the world and her in the US we are more or less locked out to a few by the fu.... Provider supplied models month later.
Locked around and saw there are 98% HTC Magic and Hero with UMTS 900/2100 mhz. Also a few with a UMTS 850/1900 for the ATT slaves. It is for me not realistic that HTS build a whole new model for each little US player.
I'm sure there is a quadband UMTS but do to FCC regulation and business restriction for the US market HTC jsut block those frequency.
This would be a more or less usefull patch to make those MOdels from the rest of the world also useable in the USA/Canada.
IS there someone who can confirm that HTC built just for this few US guys a total different hardware or my theories with the blocked Feature deep in the hardware.
Thanks
They dont have to build an entire phone to operate in diferent bands...so i guess its hardware related(just the modem i think) with proper software(radio protocol) to go with it.
If it was just software related or some kind of block in the hardware it would already been bypassed by someone in here...my guess.

[Q] HSDPA Frequency limitation - hardware or firmware?

Is HSPDA frequency a hardware limitation? HTC is making phones for Australia, UK and US with different chips in it for limiting the frequency? Or, is the chip is same but somehow they limit the usage bu Radio or with something else?
I searched the whole internet and the answer is its a hardware limitation and cannot be hacked. Bu my question is, did any engineer out here tried it seriously?
sundar_amn said:
Is HSPDA frequency a hardware limitation? HTC is making phones for Australia, UK and US with different chips in it for limiting the frequency? Or, is the chip is same but somehow they limit the usage bu Radio or with something else?
I searched the whole internet and the answer is its a hardware limitation and cannot be hacked. Bu my question is, did any engineer out here tried it seriously?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not USUALLY possible. Its mainly hardware. I have seen windows mobile and maybe a dumbphone where they made it for europe and disabled 850mhz, and someone finding a way to re-enable it but thats different. The radio in the phone already had that capability but it was disabled. The hd2 sold by t-mobile physically does NOT have the capability to get 850mhz 3g from a carrier like at&t. The ONLY device i know of that t-mobile usa sells that works on At&t 3g (850mhz and 1900mhz 3g) is the dell netbook. I don't know of any other current selling phone that has that capability. (But the dell netbook includes NO roaming of any kind. Not even on the t-mobile affiliate i wireless. grr!)

Epic CDMA radio info?

Is there some where to find extended details about the cellular radios found in the Epic? I'm looking for technical style details, not the basic info found everywhere.
Basically what are the components, software control, specifications, etc....
https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas...lledFromFrame=N&application_id=566932&fcc_id=
and select "rf exposure info 1"
that may have some info for you. before they get to the tests, they lay out a lot of details regarding the cdma and wimax radios.
I've already read that info. That's more on testing it, not so much about what it is and how it works.
are you looking specifically for the epic radio or cdma radio specs in general? ive got some hard documents concerning the latter but i would have to scan them and upload them somewhere.
Its CDMA radio, how it's controlled, method of frequency generation, ACTUAL frequency capability, etc...
Just about every cell phone is capable of far more frequencies than just those we use in the US. Motorola's phones are capable of all freqs used world wide, but are usually software controlled depending on the region they're in. I'm interested in the CDMA radio, who makes it, what is it, etc....
NoSoMo said:
Its CDMA radio, how it's controlled, method of frequency generation, ACTUAL frequency capability, etc...
Just about every cell phone is capable of far more frequencies than just those we use in the US. Motorola's phones are capable of all freqs used world wide, but are usually software controlled depending on the region they're in. I'm interested in the CDMA radio, who makes it, what is it, etc....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not entirely.
The phones still need front end band pass filters to tune the specific range of frequencies required. The phones aren't true Software Defined Radios. You can't just magically tune to 1300Mhz if you wanted.
When they talk about making separate phones for AT&T and T-Mobile, they really do have to modify the hardware.
The radios in the Epics are made by Qualcomm. They are the hardest company to get documentation for next to Broadcom.
I was hoping to be able to find if they can do CDMA on 806-821MHz and 851-866. I know they work @ 824MHz+

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