Database Users

Can it be used worldwide?

Hi!Can i use an unlocked hermes,(apart from the tytn),in any country round the world?Anybody tried doing so??Thanks!

No mobile works in every country around the world.

I think that answer is a bit terse. A quad-band phone like the Hermes can be used in virtually any country. Take a look here, and you'll see that with the 850, 900, 1800 & 1900 MHz bands covered there's not many countries you can't get a signal in.
http://www.coveragemaps.com/gsmposter_freqbands.htm
I'm not familiar with Japanese requirements, but while it stands out as having a different set of requirements, I'm reasonably sure the Hermes works there too.
Testing it out in every single country could be a bit of a large proposition though.

totallytechie said:
I think that answer is a bit terse. A quad-band phone like the Hermes can be used in virtually any country. Take a look here, and you'll see that with the 850, 900, 1800 & 1900 MHz bands covered there's not many countries you can't get a signal in.
http://www.coveragemaps.com/gsmposter_freqbands.htm
I'm not familiar with Japanese requirements, but while it stands out as having a different set of requirements, I'm reasonably sure the Hermes works there too.
Testing it out in every single country could be a bit of a large proposition though.
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So add the countries with 850/1900/2100 UMTS to the GSM list, and you'll have a comprehensive list... and yes, Japan uses 2100 UMTS, so you can add that one, too.

That just leaves the wierd 1700 spectrum .. wonder if any country is running that ..

gravejoker said:
That just leaves the wierd 1700 spectrum .. wonder if any country is running that ..
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Not yet and probably not for a few years...

So in short,if i unlock the device,i may be able to use its phone capabilities on any carrier in the whole world,provided the carrier uses one of the 4 bands for communicating.The carrier may be anyone apart from the tmobile,o2,orange,cingular,vodafone?!

Yes ... you can use an unlocked TyTN on any carrier in the world that has one of the 7 bands that TyTN supports (4 GSM + 3 UMTS) ..

Ok thanks...the reason behind that question is that i'm going to Mauritius(a lost island situated in the indian ocean, beside reunion island) for a few weeks..And i wanted to be sure that my unlocked m3100 would work perfectly there...Anyway, thanks for ypur kind support..

Ahha .. Mauritius .. You are lucky my friend .. what a beautiful place from what I have heard .. enjoy your trip ..

Thanks,mauritius,the paradise on earth,here i come!

Thanks,mauritius,the paradise on earth,here i come!

gravejoker said:
That just leaves the wierd 1700 spectrum .. wonder if any country is running that ..
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goestoeleven said:
Not yet and probably not for a few years...
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Update: At the end of Nov 2006 T-Mobile won FCC auctions in 120 US markets for spectrum licenses in the 2100 and 1700 frequency bands. It is reported they will start rolling out service during 2007 (Sources: T-Mobile US Press Releases and Wikipedia). So the answer now appears to be, yes, the 1700 spectrum will be used extensively by T-Mobile USA.
I am not personally aware of any HTC phones which support 1700 yet. I am no engineer, but my assumption is that this could not be done through software upgrades on any existing devices. I imagine it will require different radio hardware. Clarification from the experts on this forum would be much appreciated.

Just a note of caution I've tried to use an unlocked VPA compact III in Barbados on the Bmobile network, but I can't geta signal. If I use a vodafone card I manage to get a signal, so I'm not sure all carriers support this phone.

flamingcrumb said:
I am not personally aware of any HTC phones which support 1700 yet. I am no engineer, but my assumption is that this could not be done through software upgrades on any existing devices. I imagine it will require different radio hardware. Clarification from the experts on this forum would be much appreciated.
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Yes, a software upgrade cannot physically synthesize circuitry to support the 1700Mhz frequency channel.
Looking at the hermes architecture, their LNA's have just enough frequency coverage to support the 7 bands. So the answer is a concrete no in re: 1700MHz.
It is possible to deisgn an LNA with a larger bandwidth, for example, to cover frequencies from 1500MHZ to 2300MHZ configurable via MEMS capacitors and inductors (I have a PhD student working on this atm, but he is facing the problem of keeping up the gain as well as linearity of the amplifier). Motivation for this: the fewer LNA's the less power a device will consuming yielding greater battery life.
HTC maybe should think about hardware re-configurability as well, but then again, they would like to make their devices obselete ASAP.

NO, you cannot use it worldwide
I could not receive a signal in Brazil with my 8525. Others reported the same problem with the Samsung Blackjack. Cingular has not provided a solution to our problem.
I hope the band select hack that I found on this great XDA forum will let me use my unlocked 8525 in Brazil next time I go in March.
Australia, if I recall, was also a problem for a Blackjack user. See the Blackjack thread on the Cingular forum for details on our tribulations.
Rgds
Ben

I have used my TyTN in the USA, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Philippines and Hong Kong all with no problems. All locations outside the USA were with pre-paid local SIM cards (except Japan and Taiwan, which were roaming on Cingular).
Are the people having problems using a Cingular SIM (and roaming), or using a local pre-paid card?

I got full coverage in the Geylang District in Singapore. full bars.

Am I right to understand that an 8525 purchased from Cingular is locked to Cingular and in order to use in another country it would need to be unlocked prior to inserting another sim card? Would I simply ask Cingular to provide the unlock code for such use?

I'm having a Problem using a local pre-paid SIM card in Barbados, if I Roam on Vodafone which is my original carrier then it's no problem at all

Confirmation of 3G outside US

I'm travelling in Germany and writing this message over the T-Mobile D network with a 3G connection!
I requested from T-Mobile US to unlock my phone and they did in only a couple business days. When I inserted my foriegn sim card, I was never asked for the unlock code. It appears the phone was unlocked anyway.
For all those wondering if you'll get a high speed connection on a foriegn 2100 UMTS 3G network, fear not. It works great!
**************
Proud to finally upgrade from my HTC Wizard to the HTC Dream
-crreed

nice! thanks for this update!

not asking for unlock code because is still on T-mobile network!

isstay said:
not asking for unlock code because is still on T-mobile network!
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i believe you are wrong! T-Mobile in Germany has different Network ID and lock depends not only on SIM card but Network ID too.

The title made me laugh... why would someone think that 3G wouldn't be available outside of the US? I even think that the US was later in implementing 3G than the rest of the world. So I would say : Confirmation of 3G in the US? ;-)

Actually, this was seen as a potential issue back when the G1 was released in the US because T-Mobile in the US uses slightly different frequencies (W-CDMA 1700) for UMTS than those regularly used outside the US. The "fear" was that the radio in the G1 would only work on those bands and thus render US handsets useless, as far as 3G is concerned, outside the US.
Regards,
Dave

But the G1 is sold outside of the US with a 3G connection.... so why would you think it wouldn't work outside the US on 3G?!
The phone obvisouly supports the odd US frequency as well as the "normal" frequency in europe.

http://www.htc.com/www/product/g1/specification.html
HSPA/WCDMA:
* Europe: 2100 MHz
* US:1700/2100 MHz
* Up to 7.2 Mbps down-link (HSDPA) and 2 Mbps up-link (HSUPA) speeds
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
* 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
(Band frequency, HSUPA availability, and data speed are operator dependent.)

philje123 said:
But the G1 is sold outside of the US with a 3G connection.... so why would you think it wouldn't work outside the US on 3G?!
The phone obvisouly supports the odd US frequency as well as the "normal" frequency in europe.
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You need to look at the date of the original post - this was way back in late October 08. We all know *now* that it works outside the US, but at the time of the original post it wasn't certain.
A bit of thread necromancy brought this up to the fore again, but the answer has been well known for months. That I why I said that this was seen as a potential issue, and that the fear was that it wouldn't work outside the US! Note the use of past tense!
It was of particular interest to me at the time because I was in the US for the last 3 months of 2008, and I was buying a G1 over there for use in the UK when my Blackberry decided to die on me.
Regards,
Dave

[Q] Conflicting info RE: SIM lock to T-mobile for off-contract

I imagine several Canadians like myself will be considering the Dell Venue Pro for use on our new AWS 3G networks (Wind, Mobilicity, Public Mobile, etc.) or, in the alternative, for EDGE 850/1900 2G use on Rogers (or Fido, Chatr, etc.).
(This post is NOT a question about the frequency bands that the DVP supports - there are plenty of other threads for people who are confused about that.)
For the few who managed to get the DVP from Microsoft Stores off-contract (i.e. for $499) on launch, has anybody tried putting in a non-T-Mobile (i.e. AT&T) SIM? Some posts and sites are reporting that Dell will SIM lock the phones to T-Mobile whether you buy them with a contract or not. Has anybody tried calling Dell and asking for a SIM unlock code?

Someone with a DVP from a MS store has already confirmed they tried an at&t SIM and it worked, in one of the threads here.

Okay cool.
Obviously I realize that it will be difficult to confirm until mid-December, but hopefully the same thing will be true of off-contract Venue Pro phones ordered from Dell.com
A sidenote to those who are confused about the Venue Pro 2G and 3G bands (a tragic bit of confusion):
First, pdadb.net lists a SECOND model of the Venue Pro, set to be released in December or January, that does UMTS on the 850/1900/2100 bands. I can't find any independent sources for this.
Second, Rogers users will be pleased to recall that there have been reports, over the past year and a half, of limited 2100 mHz 3G service in parts of downtown Toronto and other Canadian cities.
Third, the FCC documents posted for the current AWS model of the Venue Pro include letters from Dell apparently promissing the FCC that although the phone's radio is capable of 3G on the 850 and 1900 MHz bands, they will prevent it from doing so in firmware. This has led me to speculate that the phone's hardware is indeed capable of 850/900/1700/1900/2100, like the iPhone 4G - but with certain bands shut off in firmware depending on the SKU. Very cool, and some hope if future radio firmwares are interchangeable.

I was going to test this for you using one of our DVPs here in the office, but apparently ATT will automatically charge the loan ATT user in the office for data once the smartphone authenticates with the network. He's already been burned once by this and wants to hold off testing again until he actually has a smartphone plan on his line.
benjaminries said:
Okay cool.
Obviously I realize that it will be difficult to confirm until mid-December, but hopefully the same thing will be true of off-contract Venue Pro phones ordered from Dell.com
A sidenote to those who are confused about the Venue Pro 2G and 3G bands (a tragic bit of confusion):
First, pdadb.net lists a SECOND model of the Venue Pro, set to be released in December or January, that does UMTS on the 850/1900/2100 bands. I can't find any independent sources for this.
Second, Rogers users will be pleased to recall that there have been reports, over the past year and a half, of limited 2100 mHz 3G service in parts of downtown Toronto and other Canadian cities.
Third, the FCC documents posted for the current AWS model of the Venue Pro include letters from Dell apparently promissing the FCC that although the phone's radio is capable of 3G on the 850 and 1900 MHz bands, they will prevent it from doing so in firmware. This has led me to speculate that the phone's hardware is indeed capable of 850/900/1700/1900/2100, like the iPhone 4G - but with certain bands shut off in firmware depending on the SKU. Very cool, and some hope if future radio firmwares are interchangeable.
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It works with ATT
My VP does work with ATT only when 3G is turned off but that's to be expected.

I have been using my Microsoft store Tmobile Dell Venue Pro on ATT since day 3 or so. Been over a week.

Sangheili said:
I have been using my Microsoft store Tmobile Dell Venue Pro on ATT since day 3 or so. Been over a week.
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You will be able to use the phone fine on AT&T. But you will be limited to Edge only.
The Dell Venue Pro uses 900 / 1700 / 2100
AT&T's 3g network is: 850 / 1900

Well, thank you everyone for the info. That's quite a relief and I appreciate you testing your Venue Pros.
Sounds like the buyers of the off-contract Dell Streak aren't as lucky:
http://liliputing.com/2010/08/dell-...m-locked-to-att-with-or-without-contract.html
Again, I have no illusions about the 3G/2G thing. Though I live in Toronto, and odds are that I will get 3G on the 2100 MHz in some parts of the downtown. But 2G is fine until my Rogers contract runs out and I can switch to Wind or something.

benjaminries said:
Well, thank you everyone for the info. That's quite a relief and I appreciate you testing your Venue Pros.
Sounds like the buyers of the off-contract Dell Streak aren't as lucky:
http://liliputing.com/2010/08/dell-...m-locked-to-att-with-or-without-contract.html
Again, I have no illusions about the 3G/2G thing. Though I live in Toronto, and odds are that I will get 3G on the 2100 MHz in some parts of the downtown. But 2G is fine until my Rogers contract runs out and I can switch to Wind or something.
Click to expand...
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There are 3 ways to unlock a phone:
1. Contact the carrier (in this case T-Mobile), and complain that you need to travel and switch to a local sim...you'll get your code.
2. Use one of the cell phone unlocking sites.
3. Wait for XDA to release an unlocking tool.

benjaminries said:
Well, thank you everyone for the info. That's quite a relief and I appreciate you testing your Venue Pros.
Sounds like the buyers of the off-contract Dell Streak aren't as lucky:
http://liliputing.com/2010/08/dell-...m-locked-to-att-with-or-without-contract.html
Again, I have no illusions about the 3G/2G thing. Though I live in Toronto, and odds are that I will get 3G on the 2100 MHz in some parts of the downtown. But 2G is fine until my Rogers contract runs out and I can switch to Wind or something.
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How are you planning on getting a DVP in Canada? I live in Canada as well (Ottawa) and I want a DVP too.

Se4nH4x said:
How are you planning on getting a DVP in Canada? I live in Canada as well (Ottawa) and I want a DVP too.
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I'm going to California to visit some people in December. I'll probably order from Dell.com and have it shipped to them. In the alternative I could go to the Microsoft store in L.A. (assuming demand dies down a bit and they have stock by then).
Razorfold said:
There are 3 ways to unlock a phone:
1. Contact the carrier (in this case T-Mobile), and complain that you need to travel and switch to a local sim...you'll get your code.
2. Use one of the cell phone unlocking sites.
3. Wait for XDA to release an unlocking tool.
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Click to collapse
LOL

I hate to sway off topic, but which other WP7 devices are sim free? I swap sims a lot. Its my main deciding factor. Thanks.

DVP 3G Europe/US Roaming

If I understood right at least some DVPs have radios capable of using both T-Mobile US's 3G network and European 3G networks. Has anyone tried this? Are we sure that all DVPs have the same radios? Or do the European ones have the US frequencies disabled or something?
Thanks in advance for any info,
Tom

The US ones have AWS for TMOUS, and European 900/2100.
Whether they will actually provision correctly and be usable w/ 3G services in non-US locales is anyone's guess. The US DVP has only just recently been unlockable and I don't think we have had any reports of actual int'l roaming success yet.

I think its been mentioned in the unlocking thread that people have used it in Europe and from the listing of the DVP I've seen the specs indicate its has the exact frequencies as the US one. I would expect it to work, unless Dell has done something really screwy (but thats not impossible) but hopefully someone can confirm for sure.

People are claiming that European DVPs have AWS 3G support? I don't think so.
Although it is conceivable that it's there and simply unadvertised, I believe non-US DVPs have 900/2100 *only*.
US DVPs have 900/2100 *and* AWS.

tai4de2 said:
People are claiming that European DVPs have AWS 3G support? I don't think so.
Although it is conceivable that it's there and simply unadvertised, I believe non-US DVPs have 900/2100 *only*.
US DVPs have 900/2100 *and* AWS.
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Actually I was referring to people with US handsets being used in Europe, not the other way round. And its possible the Euro version is hte same as the US one, looking at a video of a DVP released in India it shows the same frequencies as the US one, and Clove also lists the same 3G frequencies so I would lean towards all DVP's bring usable in Europe and the US.

With today's big news, what's the point?
Once AT&T shuts off AWS UMTS in a year or so we are all gonna be left with paperweights anyway.

tai4de2 said:
With today's big news, what's the point?
Once AT&T shuts off AWS UMTS in a year or so we are all gonna be left with paperweights anyway.
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NAY, I SAY THEE NAY!!!!!!!! Could be right though, but I was planning on ditching the DVP for a penta band Nokia so I guess I'll be ok - save for being on at&t!

3G works here

They are saying it will take "several years" to transition T-Mobile users. Lets hope the regulators see sense and block it in any case...

So I have a European DVP now. Anyone know of an app that will tell me the radio frequencies it supports? The System Info one doesn't seem to.

It supports 900 and 2100.

How did you find that out? The box says UMTS 2100/1700/900.

The European box says the phone inside supports 1700?

my US T-mobile DVP (unlocked) works fine on tmobile Germany and I get about 3000k download 2500k upload. I am in a fairly bad region for network speeds. But I have hit upwards of 7000k download in some bigger cities.

tai4de2 said:
The European box says the phone inside supports 1700?
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Yes.......

[Q] Does the DVP actually work on T-Mobile 3G?

Ok I just purchased & received a Dell Venue Pro Unlocked from Dell and am rather frustrated and close to just returning it.
Anyway let me give a quick background, I started with a LG G2x and returned it (way too many issues with the phone) and went back to my iPhone which only works with Edge Data. So once I cleared up the issue with the G2x I decided to give a Windows phone a whirl and picked the Dell Venue Pro believing it supported 3G.
I powered it on and set everything up and have been only getting Edge (I only have the E symbol next to my cell signal bar). I contacted T-Mobile and they switched me to a Windows data plan (or as they called it 4G Unlimited EM+ plan). I'm still only getting Edge where when I had my G2x I'd get 4G.
So I have basically 2 questions:
1) Seeing as how T-Mobiles 3G Bands are 1700 up / 2100 down and this phone only supports 2100. Does it really work on T-Mobiles 3G network
2) If a 4G phone was able to get 4G wouldn't that mean I would receive 3G on a 3G device in the same area?
Anyway any help would be appreciated so I can decide if I should or want to return it.

3G/4G
The Dell Venue Pro does not currently support 4G and 4G/3G are not compatible. The Venue Pro will connect to 3G when in a T-Mobile 3G spot (or least mine does). So, you'll get Edge when the T-Mobile 3G is not available.

Why do you say your phone only supports the 2100 band? Are you sure you got the t-mo version and not at&t? The signal can fluctuate but if its a T-mo model you should get 3G in the same place you had with your previous phone.

Homedesigner said:
The Dell Venue Pro does not currently support 4G and 4G/3G are not compatible. The Venue Pro will connect to 3G when in a T-Mobile 3G spot (or least mine does). So, you'll get Edge when the T-Mobile 3G is not available.
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I know the DVP doesn't support 4G only 3G and Edge. I was just stating with my old 4G phone I was able to pull 4G where I'm at, but I wasn't sure if a 4G phone can get 4G does that imply that in that area a 3G phone should get 3G.

efjay said:
Why do you say your phone only supports the 2100 band? Are you sure you got the t-mo version and not at&t? The signal can fluctuate but if its a T-mo model you should get 3G in the same place you had with your previous phone.
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I bought it via Dell's website and they only offer the Pro version for T-Mobile. But even though I went into the T-Mobile section to buy the unlocked version doesn't mean Dell shipped me the correct phone. Though under the AT&T section they only offer the Venue with Android OS.
Here are the bands it supports:
UMTS 2100/1900/850
GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
HSDPA 7.2Mbps/HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
Since I don't see 1700 listed I'm unsure if this model supports T-Mobile 3G or not.

They do sell an AT&T version. Even though its not on the website currently, they certainly do sell versions for both networks.

Necrothug said:
They do sell an AT&T version. Even though its not on the website currently, they certainly do sell versions for both networks.
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Every search I've done on Google all I've seen was AT&T Dell Venue Pro and other sellers do offer a model that supports AT&T 3G.
I just wish I knew a way to know which one I was sent. I called Dell and they say the one I have is T-Mobile but I'm the kind of person that has to see it, anyone can make a claim but without proof to back it up.
Is there any way to verify on the phone which model I actually got? I've been to the diagnostic menu and double tapped below the MMS field and then typed the top row keys left to right to unhide the other options.
I've been to protocol and entere the password. In there under another tab I can see that it shows the W-CDMA 1700 but still nothing that shows that band is enabled or not.

I believe I found the reason behind no 3G. Under the T-Mobile section they are selling the UMTS version for whatever reason. That version is optimized for AT&T since it supports all their bands.
But if I select the phone section and customize the DVP Unlocked they have the AWS version which is optimized for T-Mobile and has the 1700 band. My box shows it's the UMTS version

I have both a ATT and a Tmobile DVP in front of me right now. They both work with their correct carriers.
for t-mobile. i'm normally get H, but sometimes 3g.
Check the box it came in.. make sure you got the right model.
the ATT is UMTS 2100/1900/850 Edge/GSM 1900/1800/900/850 - and it is on the box (as it is right in front of me now)
it is also VERY clear which phone is for which network when you buy it:
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&model_id=mobile-venue-pro
From dell's site:
Let’s take the Dell Venue Smartphone as a specific example. Venue has two base product versions from the frequency band support perspective:
1.Version One has the following:
2G support: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz (GSM/GPRS/EDGE)
3G support (WCDMA): 850/1900/2100
This version supports quad-band 2G and 2100 3G, therefore it has largely global capability in either 2G or 3G. It also supports the 850/1900 MHZ bands required by AT&T in the US. This version would be recommended for consumers with AT&T service.
2.Version Two has the following:
2G support: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz (GSM/GPRS/EDGE)
3G support (WCDMA): 900/1700/2100 (1700 is also known as the AWS band)
This version also supports quad-band 2G and 2100 3G, therefore it has largely global capability in either 2G or 3G. It also supports the 1700 MHZ bands required by T-Mobile in the US. This version would be recommended for consumers with T-Mobile service.
Click to expand...
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Zurvv said:
I have both a ATT and a Tmobile DVP in front of me right now. They both work with their correct carriers.
for t-mobile. i'm normally get H, but sometimes 3g.
Check the box it came in.. make sure you got the right model.
the ATT is UMTS 2100/1900/850 Edge/GSM 1900/1800/900/850 - and it is on the box (as it is right in front of me now)
it is also VERY clear which phone is for which network when you buy it:
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&model_id=mobile-venue-pro
From dell's site:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the AT&T version, I do take 50% of the blame on that since I should have checked the specs prior to ordering but I assumed when I clicked to look at phones for T-Mobile and selecting the unlocked DVP it would be configured for T-Mobile. Obviously that was a wrong assumption. The other 50% blame is them for putting the wrong version in the T-Mobile category.
Now if I selected to choose a smart phone without selecting a carrier first and doing it that way I am given the choice of either T-Mobile (AWS) or AT&T (UMTS). I have to contact Dell tomorrow and setup an exchange for the correct model.
If you go here: http://www.dell.com/us/p/t-mobile-mobile-broadband.aspx
And select the unlocked version you are not given the option to select AWS or UMTS, they only give you the UMTS version. Purchasing it via the link you provided does give that important option.

Rayvenhawk said:
I have to contact Dell tomorrow and setup an exchange for the correct model.
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Good luck, you will need it. I am sure they will handle your request, hopefully you dont lose sanity in the process!!

At least you know what the problem is, hopefully dell's typically bad CS will have an off day and will sort you out quickly.

raiderfan247365 said:
Good luck, you will need it. I am sure they will handle your request, hopefully you dont lose sanity in the process!!
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efjay said:
At least you know what the problem is, hopefully dell's typically bad CS will have an off day and will sort you out quickly.
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I had a small taste of it trying to figure out the problem. First CS told me my phone is configured for 3G both AT&T & T-Mobile. Even though I told them I need the 1700 Band, they admitted mine doesn't have it but I only need the 2100 band and if I still had issues to call T-Mobile to solve it.
When I finally figured out what went wrong I contacted them again and this CS actually told me they see that I purchased the AT&T version not T-Mobile but I'd have to call support to perform an exchange.
So we'll see which of the 2 I get tomorrow. Though I figure worst case is I'll submit an RMA and send this one back and purchase the right one a little later in the day. Good thing is I'm not hurting for a phone in the mean time, just a hassle to spend all that time setting this one up and now I'm having to do it again. Oh well....

I just got my T-Mobile Dell Venue Pro yesterday and my 3G is working great!

The distinction is between AWS and PCS (not "UMTS," which is the GSM 3G standard, in use on both AT&T and T-Mobile phones).
AWS=1700(+2100)
PCS=850/1900
You bought the AT&T version.