Database Users

Can it be used worldwide?

Hi!Can i use an unlocked hermes,(apart from the tytn),in any country round the world?Anybody tried doing so??Thanks!

No mobile works in every country around the world.

I think that answer is a bit terse. A quad-band phone like the Hermes can be used in virtually any country. Take a look here, and you'll see that with the 850, 900, 1800 & 1900 MHz bands covered there's not many countries you can't get a signal in.
http://www.coveragemaps.com/gsmposter_freqbands.htm
I'm not familiar with Japanese requirements, but while it stands out as having a different set of requirements, I'm reasonably sure the Hermes works there too.
Testing it out in every single country could be a bit of a large proposition though.

totallytechie said:
I think that answer is a bit terse. A quad-band phone like the Hermes can be used in virtually any country. Take a look here, and you'll see that with the 850, 900, 1800 & 1900 MHz bands covered there's not many countries you can't get a signal in.
http://www.coveragemaps.com/gsmposter_freqbands.htm
I'm not familiar with Japanese requirements, but while it stands out as having a different set of requirements, I'm reasonably sure the Hermes works there too.
Testing it out in every single country could be a bit of a large proposition though.
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So add the countries with 850/1900/2100 UMTS to the GSM list, and you'll have a comprehensive list... and yes, Japan uses 2100 UMTS, so you can add that one, too.

That just leaves the wierd 1700 spectrum .. wonder if any country is running that ..

gravejoker said:
That just leaves the wierd 1700 spectrum .. wonder if any country is running that ..
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Not yet and probably not for a few years...

So in short,if i unlock the device,i may be able to use its phone capabilities on any carrier in the whole world,provided the carrier uses one of the 4 bands for communicating.The carrier may be anyone apart from the tmobile,o2,orange,cingular,vodafone?!

Yes ... you can use an unlocked TyTN on any carrier in the world that has one of the 7 bands that TyTN supports (4 GSM + 3 UMTS) ..

Ok thanks...the reason behind that question is that i'm going to Mauritius(a lost island situated in the indian ocean, beside reunion island) for a few weeks..And i wanted to be sure that my unlocked m3100 would work perfectly there...Anyway, thanks for ypur kind support..

Ahha .. Mauritius .. You are lucky my friend .. what a beautiful place from what I have heard .. enjoy your trip ..

Thanks,mauritius,the paradise on earth,here i come!

Thanks,mauritius,the paradise on earth,here i come!

gravejoker said:
That just leaves the wierd 1700 spectrum .. wonder if any country is running that ..
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goestoeleven said:
Not yet and probably not for a few years...
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Update: At the end of Nov 2006 T-Mobile won FCC auctions in 120 US markets for spectrum licenses in the 2100 and 1700 frequency bands. It is reported they will start rolling out service during 2007 (Sources: T-Mobile US Press Releases and Wikipedia). So the answer now appears to be, yes, the 1700 spectrum will be used extensively by T-Mobile USA.
I am not personally aware of any HTC phones which support 1700 yet. I am no engineer, but my assumption is that this could not be done through software upgrades on any existing devices. I imagine it will require different radio hardware. Clarification from the experts on this forum would be much appreciated.

Just a note of caution I've tried to use an unlocked VPA compact III in Barbados on the Bmobile network, but I can't geta signal. If I use a vodafone card I manage to get a signal, so I'm not sure all carriers support this phone.

flamingcrumb said:
I am not personally aware of any HTC phones which support 1700 yet. I am no engineer, but my assumption is that this could not be done through software upgrades on any existing devices. I imagine it will require different radio hardware. Clarification from the experts on this forum would be much appreciated.
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Yes, a software upgrade cannot physically synthesize circuitry to support the 1700Mhz frequency channel.
Looking at the hermes architecture, their LNA's have just enough frequency coverage to support the 7 bands. So the answer is a concrete no in re: 1700MHz.
It is possible to deisgn an LNA with a larger bandwidth, for example, to cover frequencies from 1500MHZ to 2300MHZ configurable via MEMS capacitors and inductors (I have a PhD student working on this atm, but he is facing the problem of keeping up the gain as well as linearity of the amplifier). Motivation for this: the fewer LNA's the less power a device will consuming yielding greater battery life.
HTC maybe should think about hardware re-configurability as well, but then again, they would like to make their devices obselete ASAP.

NO, you cannot use it worldwide
I could not receive a signal in Brazil with my 8525. Others reported the same problem with the Samsung Blackjack. Cingular has not provided a solution to our problem.
I hope the band select hack that I found on this great XDA forum will let me use my unlocked 8525 in Brazil next time I go in March.
Australia, if I recall, was also a problem for a Blackjack user. See the Blackjack thread on the Cingular forum for details on our tribulations.
Rgds
Ben

I have used my TyTN in the USA, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Philippines and Hong Kong all with no problems. All locations outside the USA were with pre-paid local SIM cards (except Japan and Taiwan, which were roaming on Cingular).
Are the people having problems using a Cingular SIM (and roaming), or using a local pre-paid card?

I got full coverage in the Geylang District in Singapore. full bars.

Am I right to understand that an 8525 purchased from Cingular is locked to Cingular and in order to use in another country it would need to be unlocked prior to inserting another sim card? Would I simply ask Cingular to provide the unlock code for such use?

I'm having a Problem using a local pre-paid SIM card in Barbados, if I Roam on Vodafone which is my original carrier then it's no problem at all

Sad that T-Mobile USA 3G isn't happening

This broke my heart... and I work for T-Mobile. Why on earth would HTC/SE make a phone that practically every company in the world can use with 3G, but not T-Mobile!? Frustrated.

gregnm369 said:
This broke my heart... and I work for T-Mobile. Why on earth would HTC/SE make a phone that practically every company in the world can use with 3G, but not T-Mobile!? Frustrated.
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Then why don't you blame T-mobile for building their 3G network on 2100mzh while there others are using 850/900/1900 for YEARS?

jackleung said:
Then why don't you blame T-mobile for building their 3G network on 2100mzh while there others are using 850/900/1900 for YEARS?
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AT&T is 2100mhz... T-Mobile USA is 1700mhz

Uh...ATT is 850/1900, FYI. Tmobile is 1700/2100 both, not either or.

jvs60 said:
Uh...ATT is 850/1900, FYI. Tmobile is 1700/2100 both, not either or.
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That's strange. A G1 is unlockable to ATT, but only supports UMTS 1700/2100. The G1's in our store access 3G just fine. My X1i won't access anything but EDGE (not 3G). Since the G1 supports 1700 and X1i does not, this is the logical deduction that the X1i doesn't support the same standard that the G1 does which is T-Mobile USA 3G

gregnm369 said:
Why on earth would HTC/SE make a phone that practically every company in the world can use with 3G, but not T-Mobile!?
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hmmm... let me state it upside down:
"Why on earth would T-MOBILE chose a band NOT USED BY ANY OTHER COMPANY IN THE WORLD ??"
Sounds better this way
Or... you can say it like this:
"Why on earth would HTC/SE or ANY other phone maker include in all their phones a band that is ONLY USED by T-MOBILE ??"
This one is even worst
PS: It's true, T-Mobile is the ONLY operator using the 1700+2100 martian band don't blame phone makers
And beware: it is NOT "1700 & 2100" but "1700 PLUS 2100" (one band for uplink and the other band for downlink)
SUCH A FREAK !!

gregnm369 said:
AT&T is 2100mhz... T-Mobile USA is 1700mhz
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Are you kidding me that you are working for a carrier and you don't even know what bands your company (or your competitor) is using? I am starting to understand why you would blame the phone manufacture now ....

Why would HTC/SE make a phone that practically every company in the world can use with 3G, but not T-Mobile?
Why would T-mobile chose a 3G band (1700+2100mhz) not used by any other company in the world?
It's really quite complicated, so I'll keep it simple (although the details won't be very clear).
It's neither HTC/SE nor T-mobile's fault. Unlike in Europe, the American government (FCC) does not define or reserve specific bands (1900mhz, 2100mhz, etc) for specific technologies (GSM, UMTS, CDMA, etc). The US government also does not want to reallocate bands that are already being used, even if it's for older technology. Since VoiceStream (Tmo before Deutsche Telekom bought it) didn't have any money to buy spectrum in advance for 3G, that pretty much means that T-mobile has had to settle for whatever bands are leftover.
T-mobile wanted to keep their US 3G bands the same as in Europe, but the lower half (uplink) is already occupied by another technology (which the FCC cannot or will not vacate). So the only choice was to launch 3G on the 1700+2100mhz "AWS" band, or have no 3G at all. And without 3G, AT&T would have a monopoly on UMTS, Tmo would lose business with only 2G, and we as customers would suffer in the long run (especially since without competition, AT&T could keep its prices artificially high).
For the other points, contrary to popular belief, Tmo is not the only carrier in the world that runs a UMTS network in the 1700mhz range. Carrier e-Mobile in Japan runs a UMTS 1700 network. It is slightly different than Tmo's AWS because e-Mobile uses 1700-uplink/1800-downlink (UMTS Band IX) while Tmo uses 1700-uplink/2100-downlink (UMTS Band IV) and is therefore still incompatible. However, as with the G1, it is fully possible to build a radio that can switch between "overlapping" modes (eg: 1700+2100 and 1900+2100* on the G1), it just isn't very cost-effective to make those radios at the moment.
*1900+2100 does not mean AT&T's UMTS 1900mhz network. It's 1900mhz uplink and 2100mhz downlink, and you can see the specific frequency differences here (UMTS Bands I and II).
Keep in mind (and this is a more general point): GSM started off with most phones being only dual-mode (900/1800mhz or 850/1900mhz), but after the technology matured tri- and quad-band radios became commonplace, and now quad-GSM phones are found everywhere. In time we might see a penta-band (850/900/1700/1900/2100) "global" UMTS radio become standard on all phones -- just not with the X1. Then again, by the time we see penta-radios, we will move on to 4G, and with the current split between WiMAX and LTE, we will probably have these same headaches all over again.
So if you want someone to blame, blame the FCC for being unable or unwilling to harmonize the US wireless spectrum with other global standards. Tmo, HTC, and SE are merely just trying to play the cards dealt to them.
--
You might also stop to consider: it is still possible for SE to release a Tmo-capable X1 (let's call it the X1t), but the only advantage is that it would work with Tmo, and thus only Tmo customers would buy it (unlike the X1a which can work with any 850/1900/2100mhz carrier, not just AT&T). That makes it cost-prohibitive at the moment. Furthermore, since it would be sold in the American market, the Qualcomm patent restrictions would still apply, and you would end up with the MSM7201A processor which many X1a users have been complaining about. There is just no perfect answer.

Thank you for clarifying. I learned something from that.

X1a in Other Countries

Hello everyone,
This is my first post. Anyways, I have searched the forum, for this answer, but could not find it.
I understand that the X1a will be best in the US, as I understand it, because the network I will be on, AT&T, will be expanding their network to the 850MHz band. OK, well what I need to know is what kind of connectivity I should be expecting outside the US.
My new extended international family is all over the world. I don't travel real often right now, but I will be traveling more frequently over the next few years.
As I understand it, in the major cities in the US, the X1i will do fine on AT&T, as they have 3G on 1900MHz, but again, only in the big cities. This would be fine with me, I just don't want to be screwed as I move beyond the cities when traveling in the US.
So, for my situation, what is recommended? I fully understand the differences between the models, I am just not as familiar with the networks across the world.
Thanks,
-Steve

You should be able to get GSM reception world wide (quad band GSM) on either phone.
If you want 3G reception in the US go for the X1a, it also has UMTS2100, so you will be able to get 3G reception in many other parts of the world too.

buzz83 said:
You should be able to get GSM reception world wide (quad band GSM) on either phone.
If you want 3G reception in the US go for the X1a, it also has UMTS2100, so you will be able to get 3G reception in many other parts of the world too.
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Is that a garaunteed 3G Freq in the rest of the world? Can you give examples of where it would be used? or is it like 1900 in the US, where only major cities will broadcast on that Freq?

bluespire said:
Is that a garaunteed 3G Freq in the rest of the world? Can you give examples of where it would be used? or is it like 1900 in the US, where only major cities will broadcast on that Freq?
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I haven't problems with my SEX1 on Russia (my country) 3G, EDGE, GPRS, and in Europe (UK, Germany, France)

AlexDem said:
I haven't problems with my SEX1 on Russia (my country) 3G, EDGE, GPRS, and in Europe (UK, Germany, France)
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Do you have the X1a or X1i? My question is specifically about the X1a Freqs.

bluespire said:
Do you have the X1a or X1i? My question is specifically about the X1a Freqs.
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Oops, sorry, my official russian SEX1 exactly X1i
But I think difference between X1a and X1i only in ROM, you can change it to worldwide edition.

AlexDem said:
Oops, sorry, my official russian SEX1 exactly X1i
But I think difference between X1a and X1i only in ROM, you can change it to worldwide edition.
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I know for a fact that what you just said is wrong, there is a hardware difference. Specifically, the radios are different.

bluespire said:
I know for a fact that what you just said is wrong, there is a hardware difference. Specifically, the radios are different.
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Sorry, I can't catch a problem.
You can compare spec from Russian and US official SE sites
http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/specifications/x1?lc=en&cc=us
http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/specifications/x1?lc=ru&cc=ru
Networks / Поддерживаемые стандарты
No difference

AlexDem said:
Sorry, I can't catch a problem.
You can compare spec from Russian and US official SE sites
http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/specifications/x1?lc=en&cc=us
http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/specifications/x1?lc=ru&cc=ru
Networks / Поддерживаемые стандарты
No difference
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The English version you linked to is indeed the X1i (900MHz), and not the X1a (850MHz).

Bump!!
Please, read my OP and let me know what you think.

Sorry to keeps asking this, but I really need a satisfactory answer before I choose which one to buy.

bluespire said:
My new extended international family is all over the world. I don't travel real often right now....
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I recently purchased an additional Xperia, an X1i, to test 1900 MHz 3G proliferation in my part of the world.
In most of the area that I live, work and travel, the X1a got a perfect 3G signal and the X1i would only get EDGE. The only place the X1i picked up a truly usable "H" signal was in DC itself. As soon as I got outside the DC metro area, the phone would start using EDGE. Even if it showed an "H" it would immediately move to EDGE when I started to make a voice call or when I started to use data.
I do not think that most users of the Xperia are going to be happy unless they have an X1a. If you live in a metro 1900 MHz area that was developed in part of the older AT&T 3G rollout and you will seldom leave that metro area, then perhaps the X1i will work for you. Otherwise, I think you should spend the extra money for the X1a.
As for your overseas travel, perhaps people could be of a little more use to you if you could tell us what countries or major metro areas you'll be travelling in.
Most of Europe is using the 2100 MHz WCDMA frequency, if that helps. Your US edition X1a would work fine on that frequency.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands <--If you scroll down you will see the UARFCN settings for the UMTS frequencies. If one of your friends overseas can use fieldtest.exe from a Windows Mobile phone, they can check to see what channel they are on. I know the UARFCN will show up in the "3G Neighbour" screen. Cannot remember if it shows up elsewhere.

HTC Magic (Vodafone UK) - Trying to get 3g in the states?

I have just taken a job in the states and brought my phone with me. I was expecting to be able to get 3g when I insert an AT&T or T-Mobile sim card. Unfortauntely the best that the phone seems to be able to get is Edge.
After doing a bit of research it seems that in the US they are using differnt frequencies.
Does anyone know of a fix which would allow my phone to get 3g in the states?

kdrover said:
I have just taken a job in the states and brought my phone with me. I was expecting to be able to get 3g when I insert an AT&T or T-Mobile sim card. Unfortauntely the best that the phone seems to be able to get is Edge.
After doing a bit of research it seems that in the US they are using differnt frequencies.
Does anyone know of a fix which would allow my phone to get 3g in the states?
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T-Mobile are, I think, UMTS 900 / 2100 (perhaps like Vodafone in the UK and elsewhere, which is why we can all use T-Mobile-based rooted HTC ROMs in our phones).
AT&T is UMTS 850 and 1900.
At the moment no phone on earth can do both UMTS 850 *and* UMTS 900. These frequencies are used to provide longer range coverage in low-density service areas - in other words, most city-edge and countryside places.
UMTS 1900, 2100 and other higher numbered frequencies are used in higher-density areas to provide more calling / data capacity, but with the downside of more limited range.
It seems (googling) that AT&T do 850/1900 and T-Mobile do 1700 (as of May '08 sez Wikipedia), though the T-Mobile MyTouch3G does 1700 and 2100....so maybe T-Mobile now do 2100 as well (at least in some places). There doesn't appear to be much, if any overlap on 3G frequencies between carriers and users must be EDGE only on the telco that doesn't match their phone. Everyone does EDGE.
In New Zealand, where I am, one carrier does 850 and the other 900...but they both support 2100....and a 3rd carrier will soon be offering 2100 later this year.....so you do get *some* 3G on just one phone in built up areas where telcos need more capacity and use 2100....but you get nothing in the countryside and have to used EDGE/GPRS.
There are about 7 UMTS frequency bands all up (Wikipedia).....so any single device is going to be seriously challenged to support all those well.....and what telco would want their phones to do that anyway? Frequency incompatibilities prevent their customers from leaving.......which explains why there aren't any phones that do all 7.

linuxluver said:
T-Mobile are, I think, UMTS 900 / 2100 (perhaps like Vodafone in the UK and elsewhere, which is why we can all use T-Mobile-based rooted HTC ROMs in our phones).
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If Vodafone (UK) & T-Mobile (US) are using the same UMTS frequencies, does this mean that I should be able to get 3g in the states? I am currently using a T-mobile (US) sim card but the phone is only getting an Edge connection. Maybe I need a ROM update??

maybe your in a area with no 3g coverage?
go to t mobiles website or better yet go here
http://coverage.t-mobile.com/default.aspx?pageType=idealer
and press the data coverage tab....are you in a purple place?

glendawg619 said:
maybe your in a area with no 3g coverage?
go to t mobiles website or better yet go here
http://coverage.t-mobile.com/default.aspx?pageType=idealer
and press the data coverage tab....are you in a purple place?
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I checked on the t-mobile site and Tampa, FL appears to be all purple.

Have you checked your settings?
Settings -> Wireless controls -> Mobile networks -> Make sure 2G only is "Un-ticked"
If it doesn't work, maybe you would like to consider selling your one on ebay and buying a Magic {or other handset} from the US

XT1644 Greece GSM Bands?

I have an XT1644 and I am going to Greece in September. My carrier (cricket wireless) is able to add international calling and data for a low-cost fee for the time I am over there. My question is, will my phone work on the bands within Greece or will I need to get a new phone for the time I am over there and then switch back? I couldn't find any answers on this while looking on the forums.
and Moto g4 plus on the frequency check website looks like it would work without a problem on 2/3 bands. Is this true?
Based on my phone specs listed and the bands from the link above It seems it will work but I do not want to be stranded without data when I get over there. :fingers-crossed:

From what I can tell, your XT1644 should work in Greece Your device has support for LTE 3 and 7 (1800 MHz, 2600 MHz) though is missing LTE band 20 (800 MHz) as you've noted. Seems that most carriers have support for bands 3 and 7 so it looks like you'll get LTE (hopefully a nice signal in the region you're in). A useful website for seeing which carriers will play nice with your device is: http://willmyphonework.net/
Seems that most of the 4G/LTE operators (e.g. Cosmote, Frog, Vodafone and Wind) there have decent coverage of Greece (from their coverage maps).

Well it looks like I read the agreement wrong for Cricket. It is from the US to that country. My phone will work but I will have to get a temporary card from Greece in order for it to work. Any suggestions on that one?

Get a local SIM card like Vodafone. They constantly have deals for new customers, offers for higher data. I think it is something like 20 Euros.
Lack of band 20 is not important, Vodafone in EU have a strong H/H+ (3G) network usually in the rural areas (where LTE 20 might be deployed) and the G4 Plus has all the needed bands for that.
PS: I am returning from Romania now, where with Vodafone and equivalent of $20, by playing with the offers, I had 44GB of data for my vacation. Plus 900 phone minutes with US. In Romania, the 3G speeds where around 19/5 Mbps, on 4G (they don't display LTE) I had speess up to 66/22Mbps.