Hey guys,
Interested in upgrading to the S4 in the coming months and am currently in contract with Sprint which expires in August (8/13).
Trying to get a better understanding of the S4's capabilities with T-Mobile. With T-Mobile's new unlimited offering of 70/mo and their HSPA+ 4G network, can anyone confirm if the S4 is able to pull HSPA+ 4G speeds on T-Mobile network?
My local Sprint store has S4's in stock, but it became quite the deal breaker when I realized the device was incompatible with Sprint's 4G WiMax network. They anticipate building out to my region (Florida) in the coming months, but my experience with their highspeed coverage has been limited at best. T-Mobile may be now a viable competitor to switch to, and I'm comfortable with absorbing the cost of the phone up front.
Thank you for your input.
Related
Do you think hd2 owners who have at&t will get to use tmobiles wavelength and finally get more than edge network from this happening??
For reference if new to this subject at&t and tmobile both have an EDGE network on the same wavelength so on an unlocked tmobile hd2 one can use the slow 2g internet connection of at&t, but the 3g networks run off of different bands so an at&t # can't connect to any 3g whatsoever, with at&t's purchase of tmobile wouldn't at&t have to utilize tmobiles 3g wavelength in order to still provide 3g and 3.5g to everyone with tmobile phones that aren't compatible with at&t's current network? If so then I'm personally benefitting from this and finally getting a decent mobile data speed on my tmobile phone with my at&t network
Please don't bash at&t here, I know they suck, I've used their service for quite some time now, I'm just looking for opinions and facts on this matter
and I know euro hd2's already pick up at&t 3g, I'm talking about tmous hardware
From what I have read it seems that in a year or so if this deal is accepted by the FCC at&t will reuse and refit tmobiles network towers/equipment to use there 4g LTE network and give it a boost while removing T-Mobile service altogether causing us T-Mobile 3g/4g users to get new phones that work on AT&T's data network so in your case I highly doubt it there really isn't a benefit for AT&T or T-mobile other then T-Mobile users will be able to have different range of phones (mostly iPhone) I really hope the FCC denies this deal not only does it kills another service provider option limiting us to 3 major companies and forces people escaping the high price of service from sprint, Verizon, and At&t (I've been on them all and left because of price and QOS) but also makes AT&T top dog just because they bought out another company
Yea I read about this yesterday. Highly pissed off. I can't stand at&t. Crappy phone signal, high prices, and crappy customer service. I hope this deal does not go through. Just like when sprint was supposed to buy tmobile. Hopefully it's just a rumor.
XsceneXhippieX said:
Do you think hd2 owners who have at&t will get to use tmobiles wavelength and finally get more than edge network from this happening??
For reference if new to this subject at&t and tmobile both have an EDGE network on the same wavelength so on an unlocked tmobile hd2 one can use the slow 2g internet connection of at&t, but the 3g networks run off of different bands so an at&t # can't connect to any 3g whatsoever, with at&t's purchase of tmobile wouldn't at&t have to utilize tmobiles 3g wavelength in order to still provide 3g and 3.5g to everyone with tmobile phones that aren't compatible with at&t's current network? If so then I'm personally benefitting from this and finally getting a decent mobile data speed on my tmobile phone with my at&t network
Please don't bash at&t here, I know they suck, I've used their service for quite some time now, I'm just looking for opinions and facts on this matter
and I know euro hd2's already pick up at&t 3g, I'm talking about tmous hardware
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Actually I have read that its the exact opposite......AT&T has planned to upgrade all of Tmobiles service towers to the 4G LTE, leaving all T-Mobile Branded 3g phones unable to access
robstillholdin said:
Actually I have read that its the exact opposite......AT&T has planned to upgrade all of Tmobiles service towers to the 4G LTE, leaving all T-Mobile Branded 3g phones unable to access
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yeah, about 5 minutes after i posted this i saw the article stating that at&t is decommissioning tmobile's 3/3.5g towers to use them for their LTE, too bad at&t is already selling "4g" phones (ie the atrix and the inspire 4g) with no capability of utilizing TRUE 4g via LTE later on... anyone else think at&t will re-release said phones as LTE devices for $50 more than the hspa versions? i cant wait to switch to verizon personally, but im waiting for a htc pyramid compatible with verizons 4g network to switch
I received a letter from tmobile if I wanted to attend a meeting/conference for San Jose, Ca becuase my current phone service will be upgraded.... not removed....
Is this confirmed yet? If so, I am going to be HIGHLY pissed off. I HATE AT&T with a passion and refuse to use their service.
Is it possible to unlock my HD2 and my fiancee's Galaxy S Vibrant to use on Sprint or Verizon?
Specialk47150 said:
Is this confirmed yet? If so, I am going to be HIGHLY pissed off. I HATE AT&T with a passion and refuse to use their service.
Is it possible to unlock my HD2 and my fiancee's Galaxy S Vibrant to use on Sprint or Verizon?
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No, only for gsm networks, which is now going through an approval process to become a single gsm network, not confirmed until the fcc gives the word though so keep your fingers crossed!
Sent from cyanogen mod 7
Specialk47150 said:
Is this confirmed yet? If so, I am going to be HIGHLY pissed off. I HATE AT&T with a passion and refuse to use their service.
Is it possible to unlock my HD2 and my fiancee's Galaxy S Vibrant to use on Sprint or Verizon?
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No Tmobile and AT&T use sim cards and use totally different frequencies
If the deal passes I highly doubt that the T-mobile name will continue for long. Especially since both carriers operate on the voicestream network. This will combine T-mobile's few towers with ATT's many towers. But as someone mentioned earlier niether of these two have real 4G. It ticks me off when I see comercials calling it 4G. Only verizon is rolling out true 4G in LTE.
And in case you haven't heard. T-mobile was going down hill. They were losing money. There were talks of Sprint buying them at first. So it may be a good thing with ATT buying them up.
MOD EDIT: Any questions regarding the merge should be directed in the original discussion thread ~TheRomMistress
This thread is about one and only question. The whole reason for my question is that my wife has a full upgrade at the end of this month and I want to be the damn 4G mhz band is going to last...
What will happen to our 4G band during this merger?
Please links to anything, ill also be trolling for anything I can find and posting it here.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
in the next year we will see if T-Mobile gets acquired.
AT&T's plan for T-Mobile is to take their towers and spectrum and use them to reinforce their 3G and then roll out HSPA+ and LTE.
When they finally flip the switch, your G2 won't work anymore theoretically because it only works for 3G on 1700/2100, which AT&T does not. They will more than likely have backwards compatibility for quite a while before they shut down the ability for 1700/2100 3G T-Mobile phones to access their network. At that time when they choose to stop using 1700/2100 for 3G I'm sure that there will be a transition plan for them to move users from their old T-Mobile phones to new AT&T phones.
I think by the time AT&T finally switches to drop all of 1700/2100 3G support for T-mobile, the G2 will be quite old news. We're talking a year before the acquisition even becomes final, and then they have to start in with their transition plan. We're looking at a long way off before this is happening.
NEW YORK -- AT&T Inc. said Monday that if its deal to buy T-Mobile USA goes through, T-Mobile subscribers with "3G" phones will need to replace those to keep their wireless broadband service working. But there will be plenty of time to do that.
Dallas-based AT&T said Sunday it had agreed to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion. If approved by regulators, the deal would close in about a year.
AT&T said that some time after the closing, it plans to rearrange how T-Mobile's cell towers work. The airwaves they use for third-generation services, or 3G, will be repurposed for 4G, which is faster.
That would leave current T-Mobile phones without 3G. They would need to be replaced with phones that use AT&T's 3G frequencies. Ralph de la Vega, AT&T's head of wireless and consumer services, said this will happen as part of the normal phone upgrade process.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/21/att-t-mobile-3g-phones-_n_838492.html
pretty much our phones wont work and they will offer us phones that do work so they can avoid grandfathering our current plans
TrueYears said:
NEW YORK -- AT&T Inc. said Monday that if its deal to buy T-Mobile USA goes through, T-Mobile subscribers with "3G" phones will need to replace those to keep their wireless broadband service working. But there will be plenty of time to do that.
Dallas-based AT&T said Sunday it had agreed to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion. If approved by regulators, the deal would close in about a year.
AT&T said that some time after the closing, it plans to rearrange how T-Mobile's cell towers work. The airwaves they use for third-generation services, or 3G, will be repurposed for 4G, which is faster.
That would leave current T-Mobile phones without 3G. They would need to be replaced with phones that use AT&T's 3G frequencies. Ralph de la Vega, AT&T's head of wireless and consumer services, said this will happen as part of the normal phone upgrade process.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/21/att-t-mobile-3g-phones-_n_838492.html
pretty much our phones wont work and they will offer us phones that do work so they can avoid grandfathering our current plans
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Note that this suggests 1700/2100 LTE.
I realize that the g2 will be old news but that doesn't mean for that when I purchase a 4g phone this month for my wife I don't want the 4g to work in 12 months...
http://www.google.com/m/url?client=...UQFjAE&usg=AFQjCNEZ6OUeODq4FJmRQuwYDsGVqqzW3Q
"Find" the word "handset" and read that paragraph.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Got a question for all: Who do you think is best to move to FROM Verizon.
AT&T: Did the discount calculations, I save a whopping 9 dollars compared to the 13-15 dollar discount for my Verizon discount, so its still over 20 dollars more than what I would pay for Verizon by myself.
Sprint: No more CDMA, no faith in its LTE rollout, Wimax in my area is pretty slow compared to HSPA+ from AT&T and T-Mo.
T-Mo: No real plans I know of for LTE or any potential 4G predecessor (LTE or WiMax) so little incentive.
I just want phones that are regularly updated, and the GSM Galaxy Nexus is that, and an LTE phone from AT&T would be nice when I am in an area.
OPINIONS PLEASE!!!!!
Ok I am on both AT&T and verizon, so I will put my 2c in.
AT&T: They have good HSPA+, fast and in a lot of places. Voice is not as good as verizon and you may drop a call every 3 months or so.
Sprint: I think they are on there way up with LTE and yes I know all about how they messed up WiMax, but I saw it coming due to the bands used suck for cell phone use.
T-mo: They will put up LTE in 2013 and they are building out there HSPA+ network some more. The HSPA+ speed can even top verizon's LTE. ( If you live were I do, then that would be all day.)
If you live in an AT&T LTE area like I do, then yes you should buy a one XL and go with AT&T. ( You may even be able to walk right into a AT&T store and buy a XL today.)
Ok that's my 2
Howdy kids,
Quick question for those with more knowhow/info on the LTE bands and carriers. In your opinion at this stage of the game... Which US S4 version will have the most compatibily domestically (formost) and internationally? I know he carries all get thier own hardware/modem... im just currious which phone i should try if i might end up switching carries after 6months or so (no contract).
thanks for your thoughts
If I had to guess, probably T-Mobile. Unfortunately where I live, T-Mobile is almost all 2G/3G so I have to go with Sprint CDMA. But GSM networks are definitely the most flexible if you travel.
Sarcron said:
If I had to guess, probably T-Mobile. Unfortunately where I live, T-Mobile is almost all 2G/3G so I have to go with Sprint CDMA. But GSM networks are definitely the most flexible if you travel.
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If I had to guess I'd say AT&T...def not T-Mobile - although both are gsm which adds flexibility, T-Mobile has terrible service and AT&T has better service (not saying ATT has the best...but its def better than T-Mobile) and sprint service is pretty bad too...
Also keep in mind it depends on where you live. The above is based on where I love which is southern California (orange county)
But definitely go for either the T-Mobile or att as gsm networks seem to be the most flexible
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Yep, GSM all the way if you travel and probably the snapdragon for the LTE if you have it in your home area or roam frequently where it is available. I'd likely go AT&T for the coverage unless you are in an area where you get good Tmo service and seldom leave it. No reason not to save the ching and get a cheaper plan with Tmo in that case.
I'd also add that if you plan on going off-contract and paying the full phone price, T-Mobile has the advantage of offering much better prepaid plans with unlimited data.
At&t id say. The verizon one will to but im betting the bootloader will be locked up. Once a dev cracks it then im sure roms will follow.
I'm currently with Verizon but my contract doesn't end until another year and I'm not eligible for an upgrade either, although I'm not so sure if I want to sign another 2 year contract. I want to buy the Note 3 but I'll have to pay full price and I'm not sure if I should go for the Verizon version or the International one since I'm already going to be paying full price... What do you guys suggest? Thanks.
What is coverage like in your area for AT&T and T-Mobile? Try OpenSignal's app to see coverage maps from all the providers and see if a GSM device would be right for you. An unlocked GSM phone will work on either AT&T or T-Mobile. I bought my original Note on an AT&T contract and paid ETF earlier this year, unlocked it, and went to a T-Mobile prepaid plan. It is working out great for me, $30 for 5GB data is awesome but I'm in Kansas City area which is one of T-Mo's LTE areas. Problem is that prepaid plans don't count as acceptable service for discounts on T-Mo devices apparently. I want to get the Note 3 but they said it would be $740 instead of $700 due to having prepaid vs. postpaid. I'm still probably going to buy it after AOSP based ROMs start showing up. Loved the hardware when I played around with the demo unit but the software was just messy...never been a fan of Touchwiz, it lasted all of a week on my Note 1 before CM took its place.
CalcProgrammer1 said:
What is coverage like in your area for AT&T and T-Mobile? Try OpenSignal's app to see coverage maps from all the providers and see if a GSM device would be right for you. An unlocked GSM phone will work on either AT&T or T-Mobile. I bought my original Note on an AT&T contract and paid ETF earlier this year, unlocked it, and went to a T-Mobile prepaid plan. It is working out great for me, $30 for 5GB data is awesome but I'm in Kansas City area which is one of T-Mo's LTE areas. Problem is that prepaid plans don't count as acceptable service for discounts on T-Mo devices apparently. I want to get the Note 3 but they said it would be $740 instead of $700 due to having prepaid vs. postpaid. I'm still probably going to buy it after AOSP based ROMs start showing up. Loved the hardware when I played around with the demo unit but the software was just messy...never been a fan of Touchwiz, it lasted all of a week on my Note 1 before CM took its place.
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Verizon has the best coverage in my area and also the best speeds. I had Sprint before and it was horrible. I also had AT&T before they went LTE but my brother has it and I always get better signal than him or faster speeds. T-Mobile should be below AT&T if i'm not mistaken but I should check their coverage like you said. So International phones are only GSM? The International Note 3 wouldn't work on Verizon?
Yeah, International are GSM phones, Sprint and Verizon aren't compatible I don't think (unless LTE changed this).