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Cell phone

I don't have a Galaxy tablet yet, I saw a video on the Samsung galaxy tablet and it was used as a cell phone. Is this a standard feature for this tablet with the 3G service?
Thanks!
Ed

It's pretty much standard outside North America, but not within where the carriers have intentionally crippled the device.
You can generally flash GSM devices with a Euro ROM in order to reenable calling, but there is no known solution for CDMA devices.
If you are in the US, there are threads for getting the phone working on AT&T and TMo, though if you want 3G data and phone, AT&T are your best bet.
Regards,
Dave

[Q] Dubai Tab in the USA

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!

[Q] T-Mobile SIM w/ 7.7

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.

Should I get the GT-P1000, or are the T-Mo / AT&T versions just as useful?

I'm looking for an inexpensive, quality tablet that I can use with a pay-as-you-go SIM from Lycamobile. I'd prefer android 4.1+, capacitive buttons on the bezel, a decent display, and an SD card slot; The original G Tab seems like the perfect and least-expensive tablet which meets all of these requirements. After searching and reading the forums for a while, I'm still unsure as to whether I should go with the P1000 model or if I can simply unlock an AT&T or T-Mobile model. Are there any pitfalls to the carrier-locked models other than that I'll have to manually unlock them? Can I use any of these models with android 4.1+, data, and voice, all in one working package without bugs or trade-offs?
Thanks for any input!

depends on where you and which network you are with.
for USA AT&T, to get 3G data, you can only use the AT&T model or the equivalent one (Telstra, Canada Bell, or Mexico?)
Same deal witt T-Mo.
P1000 is the safest bet.
A T-Mo one should also work in Europe/Asia. It has extra band but still has the usual bands.
The Android 4.1+ is non Samsung stock. Samsung only has official ROM up to 2.3
Make sure you get the unlocked model. Unlocking via meddling with the EFS is risky and not always working.

priyana said:
depends on where you and which network you are with.
for USA AT&T, to get 3G data, you can only use the AT&T model or the equivalent one (Telstra, Canada Bell, or Mexico?)
Same deal witt T-Mo.
P1000 is the safest bet.
A T-Mo one should also work in Europe/Asia. It has extra band but still has the usual bands.
The Android 4.1+ is non Samsung stock. Samsung only has official ROM up to 2.3
Make sure you get the unlocked model. Unlocking via meddling with the EFS is risky and not always working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll do that then, thank you
Edit:
Have you guys seen the new Dell Venue 8 and 11 Pro models? They're insane! The 8 Pro is a little 8" x86 quad-core tablet and the 11 Pro is a full i5 machine, complete with Transformer-style keyboard dock (with integrated battery). I might just replace my laptop entirely and forget about buying an Android tablet, killing two birds with one stone.

[Q] Galaxy S5 Active on T-Mobile

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.