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Hello,
I'm trying to make sense of the LTE frequencies, so maybe you can help.
The situation: I'd like to buy the phone and use it on AT&T LTE in the US, but -- very important -- also use it for data when traveling outside the US. Also, I'd like the ability switch providers in the US (that's why I'm not buying a subsidized phone from AT&T).
The question: The Note 4 model SM-N910W8 has more LTE frequencies than the model SM-N910A. I assume it means that the SM-N910W8 is more likely to perform well in foreign countries and on other US carriers. If so, that's a better purchase than AT&T model of the phone (SM-N910A). Is this correct?
The data:
According to GSM Arena, the "North American" model SM-N910W8 supports
LTE 700 / 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 / 2600 (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17)
According to Samsung website, the specialized AT&T version of the phone SM-N910A supports
2G GSM : 850/900/1800/1900;
3G WCDMA : Band I/Band II/Band V;
4G (LTE Cat 4 150/50Mbps) : B2 / B4 / B5 / B12 / B17
(the system won't allow me to provide links to the data sources, but PM me if you'd like them)
I was also confused about all the band stuff. I am on AT&T myself and I just purchased a note 4 sm-n910c. it is the exynos version (some people don't want that) but it supposedly works great with AT&T lte. The phone arrives on Wednesday soo I personally don't know. But I did alot of research before purchasing.
My current att branded note edge (i assume same as note 4) supports
4G FDD LTE: B1(2100), B2(1900), B3(1800), B4(AWS), B5(850), B7(2600), B17(700), B20(800);
And the 910c supports:
LTE 800 / 700 / 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 / 2600
(Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 17, 20)
You may also want to look into the sm-n910u
Thanks! So according to the source below, a "band" is simply a range of radio frequencies. That's why there's an overlap between "radio frequencies" and "LTE bands".
radio-electronics.com/info/cellulartelecomms/lte-long-term-evolution/lte-frequency-spectrum.php
My impression is that the more frequencies a device has, the better it performs across carriers, when roaming. And of course, any carrier is better off selling a device that's customized to its own network, thereby making switching carriers more difficult. I guess that this is why the AT&T model has fewer frequencies than the non-AT&T model.
By the way, the seller of the SM-N910W8 assured me that the device is capable of the same LTE speeds at a SM-N910A.
Right every carrier uses specific bands of frequency. Some work on multiple carries. For instance the t-mobile note 4 work on ATT network.
I don't know much about the 910w8 but yes the more bands it supports the more universal it will be across carriers. Of course GSM phones will not work on CDMA networks like version and sprint
Craleb said:
Right every carrier uses specific bands of frequency. Some work on multiple carries.
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That's right. And my hunch is that carriers limit their branded phones (the subsidized phones they sell). This way, the phone will perform best only on their network. At least in the case of AT&T, I can't find another explantion why their branded phone (SM-N910A) supports fewer bands than a non-AT&T branded phone (like the SM-N910W8).
Does iPhone have these restrictions... Just curious
magichoward said:
Does iPhone have these restrictions... Just curious
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Yes, the iPhone is also frequency restricted. Manufacturers do it to help carriers (which are their big customers, not us retail customers). Carriers use the frequency restrictions to curb cross-border sales and limit your ability to switch to a competitor, even if you paid for your device.
Iphone 6 A1522 (GSM)
LTE (band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29)
Iphone 6 A1524 (CDMA):
FDD-LTE (band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29)
TD-LTE (band 38, 39, 40, 41)
(I found the data in "Galaxy Note4 Firmware - All Models")
The version that ends in W8 is the Latin American version. The T-Mobile version is compatible with most bands.
Att has locked boot loader, as well as vzw. If your into rooting and flashing custom Roms, stay away from those phone's.
jaxenroth said:
Att has locked boot loader, as well as vzw
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Thanks! I didn't know that. So now the AT&T version (SM-N910A) is definitely off the table. It's down to two models. Both will support all of AT&T LTE bands, but one adds full support for European LTE and the other adds full support for T-Mobile US.
SM-N910C, which has Exynos CPU and supports 800 Mhz and 4G band 20, which one of the three bands common in Europe.
SM-N910W8, which has Snapdragon CPU and supports 4G band 12, which means full support for T-Mobile 4G.
arjun90 said:
The version that ends in W8 is the Latin American version. The T-Mobile version is compatible with most bands.
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Yes, the T-Mobile version (which I see is the one you one) has the same bands as the 910W8 and the same CPU. The advantage (for me) is that I can buy it from T-Mobile and receive warranty.
The T-Mobile version is the appropriate one for you, especially since you will receive warranty from Samsung USA.
NYCgirl said:
Yes, the T-Mobile version (which I see is the one you one) has the same bands as the 910W8 and the same CPU. The advantage (for me) is that I can buy it from T-Mobile and receive warranty.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
I'm curious about what cellular frequencies this device supports, specifically LTE frequencies. I'm seeing some disparity with its supported LTE bands across LG, T-Mobile, the FCC, my own experience and various spec sites.
The FCC itself tested LTE bands 2, 4/66, 5, 12 and 13, while T-Mobile says 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13. LG's site says 1, 2, 3, 4/66, 5, 7, 12, 13, 20. My own experience has shown me roaming on AT&T's LTE band 17, which adds yet another band to the list. GSMArena says the same as LG's website. Phone Arena says 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 20, 26, 28, which adds even more on. Frequency Check has the same report as LG's website.
What bands does this device actually support?
Hello.
I tried searching but I did not come up with any answers to this issue. I bought the Verizon Prepaid Moto E4 for about $50 (found out later that Wal-Mart hast it for $40). I have it network unlocked but I need to know what LTE bands are active and if other bands are available and can be activated. Lot's of conflicting data in the Internet.
Verizon says Bands 2, 4 and 13. Other sites have more bands but they may be melding several sub-models.
I want to take this phone overseas and then swap out the SIM card for a local carrier. The Verizon SIM is used with WiFi to get messages, emails, etc. Local SIM's are cheaper for local calls and data.
Anyone knows for sure of the LTE band support? The model under the battery is XT1767 and the SKU is MOTXT1767PP. I looked at the FCC documents, they mention other channels too.
Thanks
2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 17
Go here and scroll down down to Community Wiki, it will give you some more information.
acejavelin said:
2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 17
Go here and scroll down down to Community Wiki, it will give you some more information.
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Now if I go to the FCC and check for the FCC ID, the report says that the following LTE Bands were tested
2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 17, 25, 26, 38, 41 and 66
In the SlickDeals E4 (big) thread, there is a mention that they used a Vodafone in Spain and Europe, AFIK they use Band 7. So maybe all of this Bands are active,
Any chance to unlock the bootloader of this model? [emoji31][emoji45]
Enviado desde mi Moto E (4) mediante Tapatalk
mendozaram said:
Any chance to unlock the bootloader of this model? [emoji31][emoji45]
Enviado desde mi Moto E (4) mediante Tapatalk
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No chance unless an exploit is found, which is highly unlikely.
Get the unlocked, retail version or the US Cellular version. Those can be bootloader unlocked through Motorola.
LTE bands can be enabled on this device by using Qualcomm's leaked software QPST. This method was successful on both the AT&T & Verizon branded variants of the Moto E LTE (Surnia).
See this thread for more details: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-e-2015/general/guide-enable-lte-bands-surnia-t3351673/page7
capun1950 said:
Now if I go to the FCC and check for the FCC ID, the report says that the following LTE Bands were tested
2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 17, 25, 26, 38, 41 and 66
In the SlickDeals E4 (big) thread, there is a mention that they used a Vodafone in Spain and Europe, AFIK they use Band 7. So maybe all of this Bands are active,
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"Hi! Your handset Motorola XT1767 supports 3G & 4G LTE on Band 1(2100 Mhz) without video calls.To have uninterrupted 4G service across circles, we recommend a 4G compatible handset on both band 3(1800Mhz) & band 1(2100 Mhz).You are active on 4G SIM."
Received this message from my carrier, Idea cellular India. So this phone might also support Band 1 too.
Is this phone europe frequency friendly? Band 8 and band 20 to be exact for LTE? If not, any news of this coming in the European market?
Thanks in advance!
FDD-LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20) according to Asus tech specs (change Asus.com to India region and lookup the phone)
Sir_Lenncelot said:
FDD-LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20) according to Asus tech specs (change Asus.com to India region and lookup the phone)
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Seems pretty much europe-compatible! Now let's find a way to buy it in Europe :fingers-crossed:
Yes looking forward to import one to Germany! Looks like a really great piece of hardware