I have noticed in a couple of places my Nexus 6 on Verizon will drop its LTE connectivity briefly. For example, during 4-5 speedtest.net runs, it paused and eventually gave me the "network communication issues" message at least 2-3 times during those 4-5 attempts in one specific location where I know I've seen it have a weak band 4 signal but strong band 13 signal.
Then I read this article which talks about carrier aggregation, and noticed this paragraph:
Because it supports band 29, it has support for LTE-Advanced downlink carrier aggregation with bands 2 and 4 to improve downlink performance. It also supports downlink carrier aggregation with bands 2+13, 2+17, 4+5, 4+13, and 4+17. Curiously enough, none of these band combinations that aren’t associated with band 29 indicate “coverage bands” are supported as the primary component carrier (PCC). Instead, they are noted as secondary component carriers (SCC), as denoted in the format PCC+SCC. This means that in the event you move out of range of the PCC (which are bands 2 or 4 on this device), the network connection will drop and have to be re-acquired instead of seamlessly just switching off carrier aggregation. As long as the network re-acquisition is quick (less than one second), it isn’t a problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Emphasis mine. I am coming from a Galaxy S4 which supports band 4 and band 13 but I'm not sure if it supported carrier aggregation or not. I know I never saw disconnects like this on it. Is this something that can/will be fixed? Or just something we have to live with if we're in an area with spotty band 4 but solid band 13 coverage? It would seem this would cause a disconnect EVERY time you enter a building since band 4 doesn't penetrate as well as band 13 and it'd flip over and cause a disconnect.
Related
So I'm not the brightest with the different frequencies etc... What I do know is that Band 12 on T-Mobile has greater building penetration, and that it's currently not supported on the Nexus 6P, despite the phone having the band. My question is, what functionality do I lose? Aside from having more penetrating power, which gives me better signal, do I lose anything else? Honestly, I'm pretty sure Band 12 isn't even in Columbus, Ohio (where I am) yet... but I don't wanna buy this phone and then Band 12 go live here and then I lose LTE, if that's even what happens... or would it just resort to the current band 4?
Band 12
Powell730 said:
So I'm not the brightest with the different frequencies etc... What I do know is that Band 12 on T-Mobile has greater building penetration, and that it's currently not supported on the Nexus 6P, despite the phone having the band. My question is, what functionality do I lose? Aside from having more penetrating power, which gives me better signal, do I lose anything else? Honestly, I'm pretty sure Band 12 isn't even in Columbus, Ohio (where I am) yet... but I don't wanna buy this phone and then Band 12 go live here and then I lose LTE, if that's even what happens... or would it just resort to the current band 4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats trouble for you. From what I understand there is a long certification process to get the certification from T-Mobile, especially if they do not sell the phone. The Nexus 6 DOES support the T-Mobile band 12:
Unlocked devices
The following unlocked phones not only support LTE band 12 but all other bands required to be compatible with T-Mobile network (LTE bands 2, 4 and 12, HSPA+ on AWS and 1900 MHz, and GSM on 1900 MHz) however band support is not the only requirement. T-Mobile issued a statement regarding band 12 unlocked phones: All Band 12 LTE devices on our network must support VoLTE, E911. Currently only three unlocked phones supports VoLTE and band 12:
Nexus 6 XT1103 (US model)
iPhone 6s A1688 and A1633
iPhone 6s Plus A1689 and A1634
cc999 said:
Thats trouble for you. From what I understand there is a long certification process to get the certification from T-Mobile, especially if they do not sell the phone. The Nexus 6 DOES support the T-Mobile band 12:
Unlocked devices
The following unlocked phones not only support LTE band 12 but all other bands required to be compatible with T-Mobile network (LTE bands 2, 4 and 12, HSPA+ on AWS and 1900 MHz, and GSM on 1900 MHz) however band support is not the only requirement. T-Mobile issued a statement regarding band 12 unlocked phones: All Band 12 LTE devices on our network must support VoLTE, E911. Currently only three unlocked phones supports VoLTE and band 12:
Nexus 6 XT1103 (US model)
iPhone 6s A1688 and A1633
iPhone 6s Plus A1689 and A1634
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well tmobile has already confirm the 5x/6p will work on their network... im just wondering what the lack of band 12 support (for the time being), means for me. i assume i would continue to run on the band 4 that i do now.
Not sure if you've found the answer to your question or not. If you dont have Band 12 where you're located then its really a moot point. I'm in Phoenix and there is a TV station still operating on the 700Mhz Band 12 spectrum so I dont have it. However, if T-Mobile lights up Band 12 and these phones havent received their certification then they will not use Band 12 at all. That means you're limited to Band 2 and Band 4 LTE. Assuming you dont have Band 12 in your area (it appears you do not based on the de-facto map that most cite reference to is here http://www.tmonews.com/700mhz-lte-map/), your coverage will remain the same as it is now.
That being said, Google has stated that they are working with T-Mobile to have the 6p certified by the time the devices ship. So if that holds true, and T-Mobile rolls out Band 12 coverage in your area you should theoretically get better indoor LTE coverage since low-band spectrum travels farther and has an easier time passing through obstacles like block walls. Until then, you should have a similar coverage experience to what you have now. You're not "losing" anything to answer your question.
I got an N910U for use on AT&T in the US. All the phones in my house get full bars since I am on a hill near a lot of cell towers. Except the N910U usually has 0 to 1 bars and only rarely gets LTE. I used LTE discovery app to see that it is almost always on band 2 where the signal is very poor, but very ocassionally switches to band 17 and gets full bars! Then it quickly switches back to band 2 and gets 0 or 1 bars. I tried flashing the other two modems I could find, but it did not change how it acted. I am about to send it back for a refund and get an N910T instead to see if that works better, but it would be much easier to find a solution to why it won't use the strongest signal,
Nevermind. I thought I did adequate research on this phone before I bought it for AT&T, and every Q&A on Amazon asking if the U worked on AT&T LTE said it did. But were wrong. The U does not have 700MHz band 17. So I must return it.
phoneturf said:
I got an N910U for use on AT&T in the US. All the phones in my house get full bars since I am on a hill near a lot of cell towers. Except the N910U usually has 0 to 1 bars and only rarely gets LTE. I used LTE discovery app to see that it is almost always on band 2 where the signal is very poor, but very ocassionally switches to band 17 and gets full bars! Then it quickly switches back to band 2 and gets 0 or 1 bars. I tried flashing the other two modems I could find, but it did not change how it acted. I am about to send it back for a refund and get an N910T instead to see if that works better, but it would be much easier to find a solution to why it won't use the strongest signal,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SM-N910U Galaxy Note 4 does not support band 17, therefore the device does not support AT&T's main LTE band. The device, however, supports several AT&T's supplemental LTE bands, which include band 2, band 4, and band 5. You will only receive LTE signal if you are located in the area where one of these three bands is broadcasting.
Also, you will never receive the strongest signal that AT&T provides because AT&T utilizes device prioritization. The cell tower that you are connected to is programmed to provide best service to AT&T devices. The tower will constantly inform your phone to connect to 3G which is less congested in order to allocate network bandwidth for AT&T branded devices on its LTE network.
LTE-X said:
Also, you will never receive the strongest signal that AT&T provides because AT&T utilizes device prioritization. The cell tower that you are connected to is programmed to provide best service to AT&T devices. The tower will constantly inform your phone to connect to 3G which is less congested in order to allocate network bandwidth for AT&T branded devices on its LTE network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. Does that mean I would still have a low priority if I got a N910T to use on AT&T?
phoneturf said:
Thanks for the info. Does that mean I would still have a low priority if I got a N910T to use on AT&T?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that is correct. If you ran a speedtest with N910T and N910A (AT&T version) side by side on AT&T's network, you will notice around 5mbps - 20mbps difference between the two. As far as I know, AT&T is the only carrier in the US that utilizes this practice.
Can we change it to get the full Band access? I believe there was no any hardware limit on it, Most is on the software settings.
Is there any way to switch the lte bands. Normally I would dial #*#*4636*#*# but the phone information is saying its not available on this device. Both my nexus 6p and my old note 7 got good signal but this phone is horrible as far as signal strength goes.
McQueefus said:
Is there any way to switch the lte bands. Normally I would dial #*#*4636*#*# but the phone information is saying its not available on this device. Both my nexus 6p and my old note 7 got good signal but this phone is horrible as far as signal strength goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is my question as well. AT&T page for V20 lists LTE bands and band 17 is NOT among them. band 17 is supposedly the main ATT LTE band, which basically means you will only be able to get LTE on V20 on ATT on the backup LTE bands where they are available ...
i'm looking for confirmation that this is true, because who knows - maybe some idiot just forgot to type in number 17 on that info page ...
Notes, iPhones and Pixel all have band 17 ...
obviously i won't be getting iPhone and i can't get the Note. i didn't really want to get the Pixel because i feel like it's overpriced ...
but if what you're saying about V20 getting bad signal is true then Pixel may be the only choice ...
i started having my suspicions about V20 when i heard it won't be coming out in UK, which i thought was very odd ... but apparently one difference between Snapdragon 821 in Pixel and 820 in V20 is that 821 has more LTE bands, which would make it better both for ATT and better as a global phone for travel ...
again, i'm looking for confirmation that this is true.
HELP ???
McQueefus said:
Is there any way to switch the lte bands. Normally I would dial #*#*4636*#*# but the phone information is saying its not available on this device. Both my nexus 6p and my old note 7 got good signal but this phone is horrible as far as signal strength goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're talking about being able to choose specific LTE bands, I do that on my Tmobile handset using this dial code (use at your own risk)
*#546368#*918# - for AT&T you need to use 910 or 915 depending on your model # (not sure why AT&T has 2 different model #'s)
So it would be
*#546368#*910# or *#546368#*915#
Then
Go to Field Test
Modem Settings
LTE Band Selection
Choose band
To revert back to auto scanning
Go to Field Test
Modem Settings
Network Mode
Automatic
nest75068 said:
Go to Field Test
Modem Settings
LTE Band Selection
Choose band
To revert back to auto scanning
Go to Field Test
Modem Settings
Network Mode
Automatic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 910 doesn't have those options under modem settings.
g1981c said:
this is my question as well. AT&T page for V20 lists LTE bands and band 17 is NOT among them. band 17 is supposedly the main ATT LTE band, which basically means you will only be able to get LTE on V20 on ATT on the backup LTE bands where they are available ...
i'm looking for confirmation that this is true, because who knows - maybe some idiot just forgot to type in number 17 on that info page ...
Notes, iPhones and Pixel all have band 17 ...
obviously i won't be getting iPhone and i can't get the Note. i didn't really want to get the Pixel because i feel like it's overpriced ...
but if what you're saying about V20 getting bad signal is true then Pixel may be the only choice ...
i started having my suspicions about V20 when i heard it won't be coming out in UK, which i thought was very odd ... but apparently one difference between Snapdragon 821 in Pixel and 820 in V20 is that 821 has more LTE bands, which would make it better both for ATT and better as a global phone for travel ...
again, i'm looking for confirmation that this is true.
HELP ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THAT IS NOT THE DIFFERENCE. Modem and CPU part of the SOC are totally different things. The pixel is and unlocked and more likely to support more bands as unlocked phones tend to be more globally friendly. Chances are that certain bands are on there but T-Mobile has it disabled or LG. T-Mobile is usually more bands friendly but not always, as the HTC M8 was seriously gimped in the LTE bands, didn't even support T-Mobile's band 12. I would look at the unlocked version of the V20 to decipher more info.
And you're welcome for the undeserved thanks. Your comment made no sense. Qualcomm modems for certain phones are usually about 2-5 different sets depending on markets a phone will serve. It is usually 2 or 3 when the phone is released worldwide basically and every carrier and market will have certain bands disabled for whatever reason. It also rare for developers to enable them as it takes specialized hardware or knowledge of the software. Another factor is if the antenna for certain bands are even in the phone. No antenna for a band then no firmware will ever be able to enable it, much less some hijinks tweaking.
@rbiter said:
THAT IS NOT THE DIFFERENCE. Modem and CPU part of the SOC are totally different things. The pixel is and unlocked and more likely to support more bands as unlocked phones tend to be more globally friendly. Chances are that certain bands are on there but T-Mobile has it disabled or LG. T-Mobile is usually more bands friendly but not always, as the HTC M8 was seriously gimped in the LTE bands, didn't even support T-Mobile's band 12. I would look at the unlocked version of the V20 to decipher more info.
And you're welcome for the undeserved thanks. Your comment made no sense. Qualcomm modems for certain phones are usually about 2-5 different sets depending on markets a phone will serve. It is usually 2 or 3 when the phone is released worldwide basically and every carrier and market will have certain bands disabled for whatever reason. It also rare for developers to enable them as it takes specialized hardware or knowledge of the software. Another factor is if the antenna for certain bands are even in the phone. No antenna for a band then no firmware will ever be able to enable it, much less some hijinks tweaking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK i followed your advice and looked up Unlocked V20. i'm not allowed to post links yet but from bhphotovideo page the unlocked US version has LTE bands: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 17, 20, 25 which includes the band 17 ...
while the ATT page lists LTE bands: 1, 2 ,3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 20, 29, and 30 which does NOT include band 17 ...
now the question is, assuming that information is correct, why on earth would ATT chose the version of a phone that doesn't have the main ATT band ?
is there any way to find out whether the above information is accurate ?
as an ATT subscriber, would there be any advantage / disadvantage for getting unlocked phone from B&H versus ATT branded phone from ATT ?
should i try to contact some sort of ATT technical support to try and get an answer ?
EDIT:
according to article titled "LG V20 Model Numbers (F800, H910, H918, H990 DS Dual, H990N Dual, H990T, LS997, US996, VS995) Differences" from techwalls dot com the ATT version has bands: 1,2,3,4,5,7,12,17,20,30 which again has the band 17. it has same number of bands but compared to information on ATT page it subtracts band 29 and adds band 17 ...
frankly, this makes far more sense than ATT page info, but for 800 bucks i need to know for sure ...
EDIT:
according to frequencycheck website the ATT version of V20 ( H910 / H915 ) supports all ( 8 out of 8 ) bands used by ATT, all 4 LTE bands as well as both GSM and both UMTS bands used by ATT.
according to LG's own website H910 has: 2/4/5/12/29/30, Roaming 1/3/7/20, and CA ... which is the same was what ATT lists except for "CA" ...
Band 12 replaces band 17
The way I understand it, band 12 and band 17 covers the same frequency range. At&t has achieved (they were forced by FCC) interoperability between band 12 and 17 now. So band 17 is essentially obsolete and only useful if you are on the at&t network. If you have band 12 capability on your phone, you can use any 700mhz at&t tower that formerly may have only supported band 17. Now all those towers support both bands. And you can use smaller carrier towers too if you have band 12 capability.
Here in Italy I got LTE+ icon with TIM carrier but the speed is almost the same reached in classic LTE: 25mb/s download speed.
The same SIM card used in S7 edge reaches 95 mb/s.
With VODAFONE carrier, instead, I ve never seen the LTE+ icon but just LTE and the speed is about 20-25 mb/s.
Anyone want to share his experience?
Thanks!
Anyone?
LTE+ or 4G+ is at lest a higher form of channel bonding. Try dial code *0011#, *2263# should have band selection,(note this may not always work but did on my note5) it should bring up tower info. Band 2 is [email protected] when LTE+ you will have like band 4 not sure it might be [email protected], this channel bonds to 30mhz with the 20mhz becoming download only vs 10mhz for download and 10mhz upload. The band 4 or whatever your carrier chooses (I have AT&T we use Band 2 and Band 4 as our top bonding, I set Band 2 as favored for default, best performance) becomes the upload only. This makes a + environment like HSPA vs HSPA+.
TechNyne66 said:
LTE+ or 4G+ is at lest a higher form of channel bonding. Try dial code *0011#, *2263# should have band selection,(note this may not always work but did on my note5) it should bring up tower info. Band 2 is [email protected] when LTE+ you will have like band 4 not sure it might be [email protected], this channel bonds to 30mhz with the 20mhz becoming download only vs 10mhz for download and 10mhz upload. The band 4 or whatever your carrier chooses (I have AT&T we use Band 2 and Band 4 as our top bonding, I set Band 2 as favored for default, best performance) becomes the upload only. This makes a + environment like HSPA vs HSPA+.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unfortunatelly these codes don't work in italy...
Ive got a couple of questions and wondering if anyone can help.
Gsmarena lists the note fe as cat12, dose anyone know if cat9 would be supported a cat12 device?
Prior to doing any mods on my n935s, i was not getting 4G+ or the highest data speeds using the EE UK network. On my G935F with the same sim card id would get 4G+ and higher data speeds. Im pretty sure that is due to the fact the S7 was able to make use of 3 cell carrier aggregation. The G935F is CAT 9.
I have installed TWRP on my N935S and then installed the Note 7 BTU CSC to see if my N935S can make use of 3CA, however nothing interms of data speeds has changed. I dont think the phone allows the 3CA connection. I can see from the specs that all the nessacery bands are supported by the N935S.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Hi,
So, I'm interested in getting a cheap 4.7" Android phone to use in the United States and sometimes in Canada. I zeroed in on the Galaxy A3 2017. The model that works best in North America is the A320Y, but so far I've only been able to find it online at some store in New Zealand. Since finding the answer to the question, Will shipping the device from NZ to the United States cost customs fees (and if so, how much)? is a question harder to answer than the question, Where is Jimmy Hoffa?, I've begun considering getting one of the models listed in the title of this thread.
But there's a problem. Those models in the title don't work on US LTE. Actually, according to frequencycheck.com, the A320FL has one LTE band (Cricket/AT&T) and the other models have none of the LTE frequency bands. I wonder if frequencycheck.com is accurate. I'm also wondering if there are other differences between those models. I'm also wondering what happens if I put a Cricket SIM inside these phones. Even though frequencycheck.com says I will get no LTE bands, will putting a Cricket SIM inside suddenly activate an LTE band?
The other question I was wondering: Do I even need LTE if I don't care much about download speed? Maybe HSPA+ or whatever it is will be good enough? If I don't have LTE, will I get less reception indoors or outdoors, or will I get the same exact reception/coverage but just be relegated to 3G/4G/HSPA+ service? What is the benefit of LTE besides data speed?
Finally, which one of these models has the most ROM support? Can they all be bootloader unlocked?
I know I'm asking a whole bunch of questions at the same time. Sorry. I appreciate any help I can get with this!
To answer some:
That website appears to be accurate. Doesn't only list AT&T for a320fl once expanded.
As for SIMs activating bands, I haven't seen it on Samsung, only RRC Release, VoLTE, LTE CAT, maybe individual CA combos. The disabled bands are shown as CAL_DEFAULT vs CAL_PASS. Guess it's like Snapdragon.
HSPA+ vs LTE
The range of 3G/4G is close with the same frequency, but 4G performs better at cell edge (low signal).
Speed (anyway)
Well, 3G is usually given its own spectrum at first, then the 2G is refarmed into 3G. Today, 3G gets refarmed to 4G. This leaves 3G with a small amount of spectrum, it becomes prone to interference. It's bit like multiple tv/fm stations on the same channel number. Other 'tv/fm stations' have to be filtered out by the phone, this lowers the speed. 4G gets some too, along with echoed complex signals, but it gets less.
3G supports up to 5MHz per carrier, 4G up to 20MHz. 3G can have carrier aggregation, so 5+5+maybe 5. Expect up to 2 carriers (not every combo) on 4G, unless a specific SIM is detected in specific phone models. Along with that, 4G can have better spectral efficiency.
If you are going with 3G(HSPA, sometimes called '4G') anyway, you should know that there are these states (usually called fast dormancy) to save power.
DCH = Full speed.
FACH = Up to 32kbps. 4kB/s. Maybe RRC Release downgrade is visible (H+ to H).
PCH = No data.
Anything below is further away from data.
For high performance, keep the speed above 4kB/s, at the cost of battery. LTE has a faster start.
Sometimes, the speed is simply constrained by backhaul, the internet access that goes to the tower.
Thanks. So, to your knowledge, the F and F DS variants shouldn't work on LTE in the United States? I was in a live chat session with someone on Samsung's UK website and she said that the F variant would work on LTE in the United States. I then sent them an email to confirm and they replied with:
As per our resources from our technical review, the following Network is available in our Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017) for the US.
Network
Band: Quad
GSM 850: YES
GSM 900: YES
GSM 1800: YES
GSM 1900: YES
UMTS 2100: YES
GPRS: YES
4G: YES
HSDPA: YES
Works in the US: YES
I replied to ask them why frequencycheck.com lists no LTE frequencies in common for the F variant on AT&T. I'm so confused.
sm-a320f / sm-a320f/ds
According to every other (not alternating) source the LTE band 2 and band 5 is supported in the US (and the entire spectrum of these bands). So, it supports some bands. Check if the signal of those bands (for your mobile network operator) are available in your location. Ask again, specifically for band 2 LTE(4G).