Hello !!
I bought an unlocked Galaxy Tab in Dubai UAE and would like to use it in SF Bay Area.
My Tab's Supported bands are:
GSM&EDGE Band 850/900/1800/1900
3G Band 900/1900/2100
I would like your advice / experience sharing with subscribing to the most suitable US wireless carrier for my tab.
Would ATT or Tmobile work?
Is 3G an attainable objective?
Which plans would you suggest? I am planning to use this device primarily for mobile web access, with occasional phone calls as well.
Thanks in advance for your kind feedback!
K
PS: pls note I spent several hours trying to find answer on this site as well as others before posting, my apologies however if this question was already asked and answered on this forum.
Hi,
on a recent trip the the US I purchased a prepaid SIM from AT&T for data usage only.
I wanted to get one that allowed me the option to make a phone call but didnt find any luck - all data/phone bundles are for postpaid and tie you to a 12/18 month contract....
Although I must say they were not very sure of what they were doing, I had to convince them that the same iPad packages would work on the Galaxy - keeping in mind that you would have to manually entr the APN settings..
kido007 said:
Would ATT or Tmobile work?
Is 3G an attainable objective?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You won't get 3G on TMo at all, since your Tab doesn't support AWS 1700/2100.
AT&T supports 3G on 850MHz and 1900MHz, so if you are in a region which uses 1900MHz you should be ok.
The bad news is that prepaid data deals on AT&T are very poor indeed and there don't seem to be an MVNOs that run on AT&T and offer decent amounts of data.
My advice, which is what I've actually done, would be to by a Virgin Mobile MiFi - for $40 a month you get 5GB data (it was unlimited, but that ends at the start of Feb). Virgin Mobile runs over Sprint (CDMA), but using the MiFi at least gives you a decent amount of data for a reasonable price - however, the MiFi will run you around $129.
Regards,
Dave
kido007 said:
My Tab's Supported bands are:
GSM&EDGE Band 850/900/1800/1900
3G Band 900/1900/2100[/INDENT]
I would like your advice / experience sharing with subscribing to the most suitable US wireless carrier for my tab.
Would ATT or Tmobile work?
Is 3G an attainable objective?
Which plans would you suggest? I am planning to use this device primarily for mobile web access, with occasional phone calls...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This tab will work on the at&t network and should go to 3g. Unlocked is a good start, but you will most likely need to flash Roto JME version 4, to get the phone dialer. You should also flash the bell i900 modem instead of the stock modem. You will need an at&t data plan. I don't know what their prices are. I have heard of people using an iphone plan.
There are several good step by step lessons. I saw one by member Queen Amy that is excellent.
Or you can avoid all this and use wifi only.
kido007 said:
Hello !!
I bought an unlocked Galaxy Tab in Dubai UAE and would like to use it in SF Bay Area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does your Galaxy Tab have the Market App? When I bought mine from Dubai, it didn't.
You might want to have a look at this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=818167 for details about how to enable it.
Thank you all!
Related
Have been dead-set on getting a Tab for a while now, and since Christmas is coming up I'm considering having my family in the states send me a T-Mo Galaxy Tab.
I've been reading over the threads on getting voice unlocked on the T-Mo models. Voice isn't a MASSIVE issue for me, since I use text messaging 99% of the time anyway, but it would be a nice feature to have. I can wait for that though, so it's not a deal-breaker.
The one thing I would really hate to be without would be 3G. My local provider (Vodafone New Zealand) uses UMTS as well, but without AWS. Both T-Mo and VFNZ use 2100Mhz, but T-Mo uses 1700Mhz and VFNZ use 900/1800Mhz. If it's just a matter of ROMs, I'm sure that wouldn't be too much of a problem as eventually the local carrier stores will start selling it, but at the moment the only places I can find it for are importers (and they're charging ~1000USD).
Advice? How likely am I to be without 3G? How likely to be without phone support? And do I have any alternatives that don't involve paying nearly twice what a US model costs?
Your best bet would be At&t's (USA) version of the Galaxy Tab with Quad band GSM.
This is from Samsung's website:
Quad-Band GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz);
Tri-band UMTS (850/1900/2100MHz) & Wi-Fi
http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab/SGH-I987ZKAATT-features
There are ways around the voice capability, though it will strictly be over VOIP and not cellular. For example, you can use Skype to call people. As long as you have good wifi coverage, there shouldn't be much difference from cellular.
Your last bet would be to get the totally unlocked and full featured international version of the Galaxy Tab. However, that costs quite a bit more than the carrier locked US versions.
----------
Hey Guys,
I am thinking of buying a Galaxy Tab, but I am unsure of which carrier I want to go with.
I am from the UK, but living in the US. I do go back to the UK occasionally, so want something that works there - this would mean I would either need the T_Mobile or the AT&T versions.
However, I believe that AT&T and T-Mobile use different frequencies for their 3G signal here in the US, with AT&T being the only one that is the same as the UK/EU.
I was wanting to to with the T-Mobile version as I read somewhere that their speeds would be faster, but if 3G is not going to work in the UK, i'll pass on it. T-Mobile also had a subsidised version which is also an incentive.
So, do any of you guys know if the hardware radio has this frequency limitation or is it something to do with the software? I ask this because my AT&T blackberry was able to connect to T-Mobiles 3G network while I was over in the US last time so it is possible to havea radio that can connect to both.... Perhaps they did not do this though for cost savings....
Why don't u buy a Euro tab. There was a post stating he could use the Euro tab with both voice & data with AT&T sim. No hacking was needed
dh010447 said:
However, I believe that AT&T and T-Mobile use different frequencies for their 3G signal here in the US, with AT&T being the only one that is the same as the UK/EU.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't guarantee you that a TMo US Tab would work on UK 3G, but what I can say is that my TMo US G1 worked fine.
Regards,
Dave
After reading many posts about using SIM cards I was wondering if I could use my T-Mobile Hot Spot SIM card in a 6800? Has anyone used a T-Mobile SIM in their 6800?
I bought the 6810 thinking I would just use the Hot Spot to connect when taveling.
Now I may have some buyer's remorse that I didn't get the 6800 and insert the SIM from the Hot Spot thus only having to carry only one device and not two.
Otherwise I love the 6810 WiFi only.
My Hot Spot is a pay as you go plan so I buy a data plan when/if I need it
Mine is the HK version from Negri.
DuhDroid said:
After reading many posts about using SIM cards I was wondering if I could use my T-Mobile Hot Spot SIM card in a 6810? Has anyone used a T-Mobile SIM in their 6810?
I bought the 6800 thinking I would just use the Hot Spot to connect when taveling.
Now I may have some buyer's remorse that I didn't get the 6810 and insert the SIM from the Hot Spot thus only having to carry only one device and not two.
Otherwise I love the 6800 WiFi only.
My Hot Spot is a pay as you go plan so I buy a data plan when/if I need it
Mine is the HK version from Negri.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, this post was really confusing...
Let's start over. The P6810 is the Wifi only model and the P6800 is the 3G model.
Which one did you buy, and what is your question/issue?
DuhDroid said:
After reading many posts about using SIM cards I was wondering if I could use my T-Mobile Hot Spot SIM card in a 6810? Has anyone used a T-Mobile SIM in their 6810?
I bought the 6800 thinking I would just use the Hot Spot to connect when taveling.
Now I may have some buyer's remorse that I didn't get the 6810 and insert the SIM from the Hot Spot thus only having to carry only one device and not two.
Otherwise I love the 6800 WiFi only.
My Hot Spot is a pay as you go plan so I buy a data plan when/if I need it
Mine is the HK version from Negri.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you have the 6800? That's the model that has a cell radio (and a SIM slot). The 6810 is WiFi only and you can't use that with a SIM card.
At any rate, you're probably not going to get anymore than 200 Kbps speeds on T-Mobile with the 6800.
Are you just lamenting that you paid more for the 6800 since you don't use the SIM card with it? What is the issue here?
"Jade Eyed Wolf: OK, this post was really confusing...
Let's start over. The P6810 is the Wifi only model and the P6800 is the 3G model"
Duh.....my bad.....I OWN a 6810 WiFi only. I just wanted to know if someone has used a T-Moblie SIM card in the 6800 3G.
Sorry bout that. I have made the numerical correction to my original post.
DuhDroid said:
"Jade Eyed Wolf: OK, this post was really confusing...
Let's start over. The P6810 is the Wifi only model and the P6800 is the 3G model"
Duh.....my bad.....I OWN a 6810 WiFi only. I just wanted to know if someone has used a T-Moblie SIM card in the 6800 3G.
Sorry bout that. I have made the numerical correction to my original post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, that makes more sense.
To answer your question, yes, you can use your data-only T-Mobile SIM card in a P6800 with no issues. However, due to the hardware in the P6800, you won't be able to take advantage of T-Mobile 3G; you'll most likely be stuck on EDGE, which is much slower. T-Mobile uses 1700mhz AWS for its 3G service in most of America, and the P6800 does not support this frequency band, unfortunately. However, some T-Mobile users on the west coast have been reporting that T-Mobile is starting to roll out 1900mhz 3G service in certain areas. The P6800 does support this frequency, and thus you would get T-Mobile 3G service if you happen to be in one of those areas.
One suggestion I would make, considering that you are a pay-as-you-go customer, is this:
If you ever wanted to trade your P6810 for a P6800 instead, AT&T GoPhone offers a $50/month pay-as-you-go plan with unlimited everything (texts, MMS, voice, data); the whole kit and kabootle. AT&T's network is fully compatible with the 3G 7.7
If you had this, and especially if you use Google Voice, people could call or text one number (your Google Voice number), and you could get everything on both your tablet AND your phone simultaneously.
Food for thought
Alternatively, if you're happy with your P6810 as it is, you can always just tether to your phone for data access on the go. Additionaly, assuming your phone is an Android device, I would highly recommend an app called Tablet Talk. With this app, you can synchronize, over Bluetooth or wifi, all your SMS between phone and tablet. Basically, in real time, as soon as you receive a message on your phone, you can read and respond to it on your tablet. Also, the phone keeps a log of any SMS you make from your tablet in its own native SMS app as if you had responded right from your phone. Pretty nifty stuff! Oh, and it also shows caller ID on your tablet when someone calls too! Totally worth the purchase!
Hope this has helped!
Awesome! Yeah that is the info I was looking for. Now I don't feel so bad about my 6810 purchase...I am on the east coast so wouldn't want to have to deal with being on the EDGE.
BIG THANKS!!
DuhDroid said:
Awesome! Yeah that is the info I was looking for. Now I don't feel so bad about my 6810 purchase...I am on the east coast so wouldn't want to have to deal with being on the EDGE.
BIG THANKS!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure thing man! Hey, looks like you're just across the river in DC there. PM me if you wanna grab a beer sometime!
Jade Eyed Wolf said:
However, due to the hardware in the P6800, you won't be able to take advantage of T-Mobile 3G; you'll most likely be stuck on EDGE, which is much slower. T-Mobile uses 1700mhz AWS for its 3G service in most of America, and the P6800 does not support this frequency band, unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, let's revisit this because now that the Samsung Note is working on T-Mobile's 3G/4G USA perhaps the hardware is capable of doing such since the Note was originally thought to NOT support the 1700 frequency bands.
Could someone try flashing the same modem.bin's that enabled 3G/4G on the Galaxy Note on their Galaxy Tab 7.7?
Please, please, please try. Hopefully no boot loops or stuff like that happens. But, don't hold me responsible for any troubles it may cause. Here's the link to the Samsung Note hack for T-Mobile 3G/4G:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1521755
Munk0 said:
Hey, let's revisit this because now that the Samsung Note is working on T-Mobile's 3G/4G USA perhaps the hardware is capable of doing such since the Note was originally thought to NOT support the 1700 frequency bands.
Could someone try flashing the same modem.bin's that enabled 3G/4G on the Galaxy Note on their Galaxy Tab 7.7?
Please, please, please try. Hopefully no boot loops or stuff like that happens. But, don't hold me responsible for any troubles it may cause. Here's the link to the Samsung Note hack for T-Mobile 3G/4G:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1521755
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the LTE Note (I717), not the original Note (N7000). The N7000 has the same SoC and frequency bands--and presumably identical cellular hardware--as the P6800. The I717 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC with integrated baseband that does support pentaband UMTS in hardware, and there are alternative radios that support AWS, sourced from the T989 (T-Mobile US GS2). Nobody has ever found a radio that works on the N7000 that supports AWS however, so even if the hardware does have the support (which is unlikely), it can't be exposed.
Thanks Teiglin! That is an answer that had eluded me with all of the articles I have read. Geesh I'm frustrated but at least that makes more sense now. I just want to get a larger than 4.5" screen device like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0" that I'm using now. Of course, it needs to be able to make phone calls and work on the TMobile USA network.
So far it looks like the Tmobile S4 has LTE/HSPA+ support for AT&T, and no real signs of a locked bootloader. Anyone else plan on buying that version and unlocking it if the bootloader is in fact unlocked?
Does anyone know of any apps that would test the LTE/HSPA+ bands the phone is capable of? I want to go into a Tmobile and use a test unit to see if I can get service with my LTE AT&T SIM.
https://explore.t-mobile.com/samsung-galaxy-s4
Edit: Well, it looks like I'll be getting the Tmobile variant unsubsidized and use it on AT&T. Tmobile will unlock the phone if you pay the total cost up front. I just need to find a replacement back cover to rid myself of the stupid Tmobile logo on the back... lol.
xxhorseriderxxx said:
So far it looks like the Tmobile S4 has LTE/HSPA+ support for AT&T, and no real signs of a locked bootloader. Anyone else plan on buying that version and unlocking it if the bootloader is in fact unlocked?
Does anyone know of any apps that would test the LTE/HSPA+ bands the phone is capable of? I want to go into a Tmobile and use a test unit to see if I can get service with my LTE AT&T SIM.
https://explore.t-mobile.com/samsung-galaxy-s4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I had the money to buy the S4 outright for full price, I would just get an i9505.
EDIT: Spoke too soon. The i9505 doesn't support AT&T's LTE bands.
Can you post info on the source? I was also curious about this but i was thinking if we changed the radios like they did in the past that maybe we could get something working?
XsMagical said:
Can you post info on the source? I was also curious about this but i was thinking if we changed the radios like they did in the past that maybe we could get something working?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I put the info in the OP that I have so far; the LTE/3G radios are reported to support all of AT&T's bands. The bootloader, I'm going off of a guess since I don't think that Tmobile could afford to bribe Samsung to lock their bootloaders for them.
HMM, ok thanks for the info so far. I might have to go out and pick one up and test it.
Looks like the T-Mobile version has all the same bands and some extra ones added in. For instance the at&t only has lte bands 4&17. The tmobile version has LTE bands 1,2,4,5,7&17. Will T-Mobile unlock their phones for u??
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
I dnot know t mobile has att lte but i am using att phone with t mobile sim in it and i am getting 12-15 Mbps speed.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=40888195&postcount=46
T-Mobile:
HSPA+ Bands: I (UMTS 2100), II (1900), IV (1700/2100/AWS), V (850)
LTE Bands: Band 1 (2100), 2 (1900), 4 (1700/2100), 5(850), 7 (2600) & 17
GSM Bands: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
Rogers - Applies for Bell and Telus:
GSM Bands:850/900/1800/1900
HSPA+/HSPA Bands:850/1900/2100
LTE Bands:2100/2600
AT&T:
4G-LTE Band 4 and 17
3G - UMTS 850/1900/2100MHz
GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz
T-Mobile Bootloader Locked or Unlocked ?
xxhorseriderxxx said:
So far it looks like the Tmobile S4 has LTE/HSPA+ support for AT&T, and no real signs of a locked bootloader. Anyone else plan on buying that version and unlocking it if the bootloader is in fact unlocked?
Does anyone know of any apps that would test the LTE/HSPA+ bands the phone is capable of? I want to go into a Tmobile and use a test unit to see if I can get service with my LTE AT&T SIM.
https://explore.t-mobile.com/samsung-galaxy-s4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm feeling like a newbie today cause I have my new T-Mobile Galaxy S4 in front of me & still playing with new features after 3 hours.
Tell me how to check to see if bootloader is unlocked and I'll do it.
Also trying to remember where we go to unlock the developer tools. Only remember that it must be clicked 7 times?
Just remembered, Settings.About Device>Build Number <Click Build Number 7 times, back out and Developer options magically appears.
Now i can go into it and toggle USB debugging. Now I only feel 95% newbie.
Glenn
So .. How do I get TMoble 4G on my HTC One X
What do I have to do get off Edge and onto Tmobile 3g/4g. I have the unlocked HTC One X ... What apps are there, and what steps needs to be followed.
trvlpoet said:
What do I have to do get off Edge and onto Tmobile 3g/4g. I have the unlocked HTC One X ... What apps are there, and what steps needs to be followed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you realize you are in the S4 forum?
weltwon said:
I'm feeling like a newbie today cause I have my new T-Mobile Galaxy S4 in front of me & still playing with new features after 3 hours.
Tell me how to check to see if bootloader is unlocked and I'll do it.
Also trying to remember where we go to unlock the developer tools. Only remember that it must be clicked 7 times?
Just remembered, Settings.About Device>Build Number <Click Build Number 7 times, back out and Developer options magically appears.
Now i can go into it and toggle USB debugging. Now I only feel 95% newbie.
Glenn
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you don't have to worry about checking the bootloader, it has already been confirmed to be unlocked
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2258476
I love this thread, i cant wait to get the Tmo version of the S4 and return this locked down model.
Stroked from my Dirty Nocturnal'd Galaxy S4
scott14719 said:
Do you realize you are in the S4 forum?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh ... thanx... fustration!!!!
Has anybody tried their T-Mobile phone on AT&T yet?
If so, I have a couple of questions.
1. Can you use the T-Mobile phone to wireless tether (become a wifi hotspot) on AT&T's network? The AT&T version can be used to tether (with a simple hack). I was just wondering if a different .APK would be needed to do the same with the T-Mobile phone on AT&T's network or if the T-Mobile phone already has an APK installed that works on AT&T's network?
2. I realize an existing AT&T sim card can just simply be placed into the sim unlocked T-Mobile phone for it to work, but how would I go about changing the imei and other phone info that AT&T has in their system about the phone? In other words, would AT&T cause problems with anyone using a T-Mobile phone on their network even if the person paid full price for the phone and it is unlocked? Would it be better to have them change the system information at a store versus over the telephone?
3. It is reported that the T-Mobile phone works fine on AT&T's LTE network, has anyone verified this and does the phone show LTE when on AT&T's LTE network?
Thank you for any replies. Hopefully this information can help people decide if they want to buy the T-Mobile S4 to use on AT&T or not.
scott14719 said:
Has anybody tried their T-Mobile phone on AT&T yet?
If so, I have a couple of questions.
1. Can you use the T-Mobile phone to wireless tether (become a wifi hotspot) on AT&T's network? The AT&T version can be used to tether (with a simple hack). I was just wondering if a different .APK would be needed to do the same with the T-Mobile phone on AT&T's network or if the T-Mobile phone already has an APK installed that works on AT&T's network?
2. I realize an existing AT&T sim card can just simply be placed into the sim unlocked T-Mobile phone for it to work, but how would I go about changing the imei and other phone info that AT&T has in their system about the phone? In other words, would AT&T cause problems with anyone using a T-Mobile phone on their network even if the person paid full price for the phone and it is unlocked? Would it be better to have them change the system information at a store versus over the telephone?
3. It is reported that the T-Mobile phone works fine on AT&T's LTE network, has anyone verified this and does the phone show LTE when on AT&T's LTE network?
Thank you for any replies. Hopefully this information can help people decide if they want to buy the T-Mobile S4 to use on AT&T or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can, for now, use PDAnet for tethering.
As far as changing the phone to appear as "unknown" to AT&T's system, don't do it without a backup of your /efs folder. I don't recommend doing it either because it's not really worth changing things around to hide that you're on a Tmobile phone, because for the most part, they don't care as long as you're paying them your monthly bill. I personally know a friend who has used her unlocked HTC Amaze on AT&T without issue (she was stuck to 2G speeds). The only way for you to have an "unknown" phone on your account is to use an international model phone such as the HTC one or the i9500 (unconfirmed that the i9300/i9500 model is entered into AT&T's system, I only hèard a rumour that AT&T has the IMEI of those phones in its system). My i9100 currently shows up as "unknown" in my bill statement.
I took a screenshot, but I don't have a link of the LTE working conformation (attached). I won't be getting my phone until I am on holiday in New Hampshire so that I can avoid the sales tax on purchasing the Tmobile variant. I would ask my parents to buy it for me, and I send them the money, but they have no technological skills whatsoëver close to asking/knowing what to ask for at the Tmobile store. Sorry guys, lol.
my t mobile m919 stock mdl rooted..tetheting works out of the box SN at&t and on their system it doesn't know what kind of phone I have...
Sent from my SGS 4
T-Mobile uses the 1700MHz and 2100MHz frequencies for 4G LTE data, and the Galaxy S5 Active supports 1700 and 2100, according to GSMArena.
1) Why then is the phone listed everywhere as "For AT&T"?
2) If I buy an S5 Active without a contract, how will data work on T-Mobile? 3G? 4G? 4G LTE?
dandv said:
how will data work on T-Mobile? 3G? 4G? 4G LTE?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any given S5 model has the hardware capability to operate on all of the GSM and LTE bands. But Samsung can sell more phones, and carriers can deter you from jumping ship too readily by marketing lots of different S5 models that have various incompatibilities.
The S5 Active or SM-G870ADGEATT is a ruggedized variant, exclusive to ATT. So why is it said to be for ATT? Marketing.
As to compatibility with TMobile, assuming that you SIM unlock it, it can operate on most of the TMB bands. But again ATT has put a lot of thought into how to discourage you from moving to a different carrier. To wit, they have omitted support for TMB's 3G 1700 and LTE band 8.
You'd have to find out how widely TMB uses those bands to know if that would be a large impact on data use or not.
.
dandv said:
T-Mobile uses the 1700MHz and 2100MHz frequencies for 4G LTE data, and the Galaxy S5 Active supports 1700 and 2100, according to GSMArena.
1) Why then is the phone listed everywhere as "For AT&T"?
2) If I buy an S5 Active without a contract, how will data work on T-Mobile? 3G? 4G? 4G LTE?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There was a rumor posted 2 months ago on the Android Community that a T-Mobile version of the Galaxy S5 Active (model SM-G870T vs the AT&T model SM-G870A) would be out in late July. Here's a link.
http://androidcommunity.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-active-availability-leaks-out-20140529/
Obviously it's late July now and we haven't seen it but I'm wondering if AT&T got an exclusive on the Galaxy S5 Active for a few months and T-Mobile will release it after the exclusivity period expires.
fffft said:
Any given S5 model has the hardware capability to operate on all of the GSM and LTE bands. But Samsung can sell more phones, and carriers can deter you from jumping ship too readily by marketing lots of different S5 models that have various incompatibilities.
The S5 Active or SM-G870ADGEATT is a ruggedized variant, exclusive to ATT. So why is it said to be for ATT? Marketing.
As to compatibility with TMobile, assuming that you SIM unlock it, it can operate on most of the TMB bands. But again ATT has put a lot of thought into how to discourage you from moving to a different carrier. To wit, they have omitted support for TMB's 3G 1700 and LTE band 8.
You'd have to find out how widely TMB uses those bands to know if that would be a large impact on data use or not.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to dredge up an old topic, however you mentioned that the S5 active has the hardware capability to support all TMB bands, 1700 included, but then say "To wit, they have omitted support for TMB'S 3G 1700 and LTE band 8". Does this just mean the stock AT&T ROM is the only limiting factor? So, were I to flash the AT&T stock ROM and install a Tmobile ROM for example I could then utilize ALL of Tmobile ' 3G and LTE bands? (And wifi calling to boot).
Thanks
S5 Active is pretty limited on Tmobile network
"Sorry to dredge up an old topic, however you mentioned that the S5 active has the hardware capability to support all TMB bands, 1700 included, but then say "To wit, they have omitted support for TMB'S 3G 1700 and LTE band 8". Does this just mean the stock AT&T ROM is the only limiting factor? So, were I to flash the AT&T stock ROM and install a Tmobile ROM for example I could then utilize ALL of Tmobile ' 3G and LTE bands? (And wifi calling to boot).
Thanks"
I NEED to do something with my S5 Active to get it working better on Tmobile. I love the S5A... its a perfect phone for me. Not too big, but big enough. Rugged, waterproof, good camera, uSD card, etc. Without WiFi Calling and support for all of Tmo's freq & channels, its severely limiting.
I'd pay someone to help me convert my phone to Tmobiles stock S5 5.1.1 ROM and baseband radio firmware.
Help!
Jim
Also having the same problem with an unlocked S5 Active originally setup for AT&T. It uses the EDGE network only.
Has anyone successfully modified the phone to utilize the TMB 1700 band or the LTE band 8 as mentioned in this post? (either through ROM upgrade or other)?
I love the S5 Active, but using it with T-Mobile is such a hassle. I have the $30/mo. prepaid plan that includes unlimited text and data, so I'm not changing carriers anytime soon, but I have to buy new phones outright. When I bought this for myself last December, I saw it was compatible with T-Mobile so I pulled the trigger - a mistake in retrospect.
I'm from a large metro-area but T-Mobile's 4G signal is nearly impossible to get with this phone. Aside from never being able to connect to the internet when out of my apartment, sending/receiving MMS texts are a chore. I also discovered today that my android OS with this phone hasn't updated itself since I bought it - it's still running 4.4.2 and when I try to check for updates to Android through my device settings, it tells me AT&T has no new available updates at this time (there have in fact been 3 new updates AT&T released during this time).
So while I really love the phone, I'm going to have to sell it and look for a new device that's actually compatible with T-Mobile's network.
The Fix
I would go in the VPN settings and manually reset the ports and frequencies the phone reads and when it reads the T-Mobile sim card that it reads upon boot up.
Now, I'm running similar set up with Samsung Galaxy S4 & S5 (At&T variants), it seems like it works, have tried it on friend's S5 Active and it works perfectly.
The only problem is that you won't get to enjoy the freedom of wifi calling even though u have T-Mobile sim card and service, But at least u will be guaranteed to use T-Mobile 4G LTE speed and signals. Occassionally, T-Mobile will blackout or a region without T-Mobile and automatically the phone will roam with no charge and use AT&T signals for up to 15 minutes or depending to circumstances of the situation.
---------- Post added at 05:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:04 PM ----------
ActiveS5 said:
I love the S5 Active, but using it with T-Mobile is such a hassle. I have the $30/mo. prepaid plan that includes unlimited text and data, so I'm not changing carriers anytime soon, but I have to buy new phones outright. When I bought this for myself last December, I saw it was compatible with T-Mobile so I pulled the trigger - a mistake in retrospect.
I'm from a large metro-area but T-Mobile's 4G signal is nearly impossible to get with this phone. Aside from never being able to connect to the internet when out of my apartment, sending/receiving MMS texts are a chore. I also discovered today that my android OS with this phone hasn't updated itself since I bought it - it's still running 4.4.2 and when I try to check for updates to Android through my device settings, it tells me AT&T has no new available updates at this time (there have in fact been 3 new updates AT&T released during this time).
So while I really love the phone, I'm going to have to sell it and look for a new device that's actually compatible with T-Mobile's network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To get the At&T updates, I would advise you to go to Ebay and buy a prepaid At&t sim card for the phone and use it temporarily just to update it all the up to 5.1 Android OS and your phone will be running up to date. (cost anywhere from $3.99 to $15.99)
rossionQ!va said:
I would go in the VPN settings and manually reset the ports and frequencies the phone reads and when it reads the T-Mobile sim card that it reads upon boot up.
Now, I'm running similar set up with Samsung Galaxy S4 & S5 (At&T variants), it seems like it works, have tried it on friend's S5 Active and it works perfectly.
The only problem is that you won't get to enjoy the freedom of wifi calling even though u have T-Mobile sim card and service, But at least u will be guaranteed to use T-Mobile 4G LTE speed and signals. Occassionally, T-Mobile will blackout or a region without T-Mobile and automatically the phone will roam with no charge and use AT&T signals for up to 15 minutes or depending to circumstances of the situation.
---------- Post added at 05:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:04 PM ----------
To get the At&T updates, I would advise you to go to Ebay and buy a prepaid At&t sim card for the phone and use it temporarily just to update it all the up to 5.1 Android OS and your phone will be running up to date. (cost anywhere from $3.99 to $15.99)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the AT&T updates by going into a Best Buy where they have a Samsung Experience center, took about 10 minutes but they updated my phone. I'll have to look into the VPN settings and see if there's anything I can do, but after purchasing the phone online I did have the folks at a T-Mobile store set the phone up for me so I would've figured they would have set it up proper.
Thinking of going to TMobile
ActiveS5 said:
I got the AT&T updates by going into a Best Buy where they have a Samsung Experience center, took about 10 minutes but they updated my phone. I'll have to look into the VPN settings and see if there's anything I can do, but after purchasing the phone online I did have the folks at a T-Mobile store set the phone up for me so I would've figured they would have set it up proper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a S5 Active and I was considering making the jump to TMo, but I really would like the functionality of the wi-fi calling and text, since I work in a hospital and can get no reception or texts. Pardon me if this is a dumb question as I have no experience in jumping carriers with rooted phones, but would I get the features if I had the TMo sim, applied the TMo APN's, flashed a TMo stock or custom rom that has the features baked in? Would I just flash the 870a kernel to make it work? Anybody that has any ideas, I would love to hear them. Thanks
I'm on T-Mobile, would it be worth getting the S5 Active? I currently have the S4 Active.