Database Users

Australia - Future 4G Bands 700Mhz

I am concerned after the Government sold new 4G bands to Telstra, Optus and TPG.
The new bands are in the 700Mhz 4G bands, similar to Americas 4G networks. IMO a stupid move because hardly any phone manufacturers target this band when creating global devices. Why is Australia trying to follow the US so much?
This will significantly reduce the 4G devices that we will be able to buy going forward, and in a lot of cases will not even be available. Obviously the Telcos are excited by this, because you are more likely to be forced into buying their phones.
The roll out is planned over the next two years

this put a damper on my morning!

decentgi said:
this put a damper on my morning!
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Sorry, I think that I wasn't clear, but I am sure that the existing networks will still be supported. So our Xperia Z should still work, but you can be sure that the this 4G network will be the new development and the network they will put the most work into (Similar to Telstra's nextG)

Not bothered by this, the 4G coverage is still too 5hit IMO...

Got coverage in south eastern side of Melbourne, chadstone, mount Waverly, burwood, Doncaster
Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk 2

danw_oz said:
I am concerned after the Government sold new 4G bands to Telstra, Optus and TPG.
The new bands are in the 700Mhz 4G bands, similar to Americas 4G networks. IMO a stupid move because hardly any phone manufacturers target this band when creating global devices. Why is Australia trying to follow the US so much?
This will significantly reduce the 4G devices that we will be able to buy going forward, and in a lot of cases will not even be available. Obviously the Telcos are excited by this, because you are more likely to be forced into buying their phones.
The roll out is planned over the next two years
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Click to collapse
Worldwide companies are working with the 700Mhz band. Vodafone international has been testing the 700Mhz band in New Zealand, Australia, U.K and parts of Europe for the past year due to it's higher stability, and far better range than current bandwidths. Phone manufacturers are also aware of this, but it's still a long way from being put into commercial use, mainly due to the bandwidth still being tied up with other services (UHF Television for example).

cheetah2k said:
Not bothered by this, the 4G coverage is still too 5hit IMO...
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Yep your not wrong

Bl1tZ7 said:
Worldwide companies are working with the 700Mhz band. Vodafone international has been testing the 700Mhz band in New Zealand, Australia, U.K and parts of Europe for the past year due to it's higher stability, and far better range than current bandwidths. Phone manufacturers are also aware of this, but it's still a long way from being put into commercial use, mainly due to the bandwidth still being tied up with other services (UHF Television for example).
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Click to collapse
I am not sure that you are correct, because Vodafone have not purchased any 700MHz bands for 4G in Australia. These are new bands that have just been opened up, so any commercial testing on these bands can only start now and not for Vodafone. Analogue TV is being switched off here very soon, and all of Australia by the end of the year.
Vodafone is huge in New Zealand but in Australia they are CRAP, and they are typically known as vodafail, they are only enabling the 4G in June, the band they are using in Australia is 1800MHz with a 20MHz width.
Yes, and New Zealand has commonly been unusual for mobile support look at the telecom cdma network that was introduced, and the lack of devices to support it when it was released.
Qualcomm already has all LTE bands support in it's latest chipset, but obviously that is not included in most phones today.

danw_oz said:
I am not sure that you are correct, because Vodafone have not purchased any 700MHz bands for 4G in Australia. These are new bands that have just been opened up, so any commercial testing on these bands can only start now and not for Vodafone. Analogue TV is being switched off here very soon, and all of Australia by the end of the year.
Vodafone is huge in New Zealand but in Australia they are CRAP, and they are typically known as vodafail, they are only enabling the 4G in June, the band they are using in Australia is 1800MHz with a 20MHz width.
Yes, and New Zealand has commonly been unusual for mobile support look at the telecom cdma network that was introduced, and the lack of devices to support it when it was released.
Qualcomm already has all LTE bands support in it's latest chipset, but obviously that is not included in most phones today.
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Click to collapse
The Sale of Bandwidths is so a provider can use them towards commercial use, Telstra for example began LTE testing as early as 2010. Companies do not need to purchase a frequency before they can begin testing on it. For Example, Vodafone New Zealand launched LTE just this March, after purchasing the 1800Mhz frequency in February, but have been testing the frequency since 2011.
And I agree, Vodafone in Australia is rubbish
Don't get me started on Telecom, they're the reason NZ is still so far behind the rest of the developed world in terms of Telecommunications.

[Q] Using my Galaxy S5 G900F in Canada?

Hi all, I'm wondering if I may trouble you with a quick question.
I recently bought a Galaxy S5 (Galaxy S5 G900F) in the hopes to have it future proof as I move to Canada next year and would like to have a solid phone for about two - three years. I'm based in Ireland at the moment and wondering can the phone be used in Canada without issue?
I was looking at a phone company (Koodo) who offer great rates and once I inputted my IMEI it stated my phone wouldn't work on their network.
Surely the S5 would work on any network throughout the globe? Last year my Note 3 worked perfectly in America and it was an international edition also.
Is this a hardware issue (radios) or software (were a simple flash of a different rom could fix)?
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Regards

gbyrne2011 said:
Surely the S5 would work on any network throughout the globe?
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Okay, let me ask you this question. If the S5 should work around the world.. why does Samsung have a dozen S5 variants?
Figured it out yet? Ironically the hardware is capable of supporting all GSM and LTE bands world wide. But Samsung endeavors to sell their phones for higher prices in more affluent countries. And carriers don't want to make it easy for you to jump ship and sign your phone up to another network. So they have artificial restrictions in the firmware and other measures e.g. region locking, SIM locks, to limit what you can do. They have to allow enough compatibility that you could usually roam when traveling. But not complete compatibility or you might buy a cheaper S5 from another country. Or change carriers willy nilly.
Yup, great system.
And so it is for your phone. It will work most of the time in Canada. But it isn't 100% compatible and you may find that it can't operate on the necessary bands in fringe areas or for niche carriers.
Most of the bands are the same between the S5 900F (yours) and the S5 900W8 (Canada)
The differences, I believe are:
2G: same for both
3G: Most bands are the same. But you have B8(900) in place of Canadian band B4(1700 aka AWS)
4G: Most bands are the same. But you have B5(850), B20(800) instead of Canadian bands B4(1700 aka AWS), B17(700)
In the case of Fido, their site says:
Fido said:
Things to Know
Your device must be compatible with the Fido network, which uses GSM, UMTS, HSPA and HSPA+ at 850 MHz and 1900 MHz and LTE at 2100 MHz and 2600 MHz. If you are unsure of how to check the frequencies your device supports, try the manufacturer's official website and search for the specifications for your particular phone/smartphone model;
If your device is currently locked, it needs to be unlocked by the carrier you bought it from;
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It appears to me that your phone supports all of the Fido bands. And most, but not all of the bands on other Canadian carriers. I don't believe that your phone will work at all on niche carriers Wind or Mobilicity.
.

fffft said:
Okay, let me ask you this question. If the S5 should work around the world.. why does Samsung have a dozen S5 variants?
Figured it out yet? Ironically the hardware is capable of supporting all GSM and LTE bands world wide. But Samsung endeavors to sell their phones for higher prices in more affluent countries. And carriers don't want to make it easy for you to jump ship and sign your phone up to another network. So they have artificial restrictions in the firmware and other measures e.g. region locking, SIM locks, to limit what you can do. They have to allow enough compatibility that you could usually roam when traveling. But not complete compatibility or you might buy a cheaper S5 from another country. Or change carriers willy nilly.
Yup, great system.
And so it is for your phone. It will work most of the time in Canada. But it isn't 100% compatible and you may find that it can't operate on the necessary bands in fringe areas or for niche carriers.
Most of the bands are the same between the S5 900F (yours) and the S5 900W8 (Canada)
The differences, I believe are:
2G: same for both
3G: Most bands are the same. But you have B8(900) in place of Canadian band B4(1700 aka AWS)
4G: Most bands are the same. But you have B5(850), B20(800) instead of Canadian bands B4(1700 aka AWS), B17(700)
In the case of Fido, their site says:
It appears to me that your phone supports all of the Fido bands. And most, but not all of the bands on other Canadian carriers. I don't believe that your phone will work at all on niche carriers Wind or Mobilicity.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for your reply. I figured it would be something to do with the radio.. Will check the bands for the network Koodoo, if it falls in ok and I can find a firmware to flash which hopefully should do the trick. Hell I might even just sell before I go, make it easier.
Cheers

gbyrne2011 said:
Will check the bands for the network Koodoo
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Koodo is a secondary brand of Telus.
They use 3G 850 CLR/1900 PCS
And 4G /LTE 1700/2100 (and possibly 700 in the future)
You are missing their 1700 LTE band, sometimes referred to as AWS. So you will have to find out how extensively they use that band and whether it is a sole frequency in any areas.
.

fffft said:
Koodo is a secondary brand of Telus.
They use 3G 850 CLR/1900 PCS
And 4G /LTE 1700/2100 (and possibly 700 in the future)
You are missing their 1700 LTE band, sometimes referred to as AWS. So you will have to find out how extensively they use that band and whether it is a sole frequency in any areas.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much for all your help fffft, it's much appreciated.

LTE Bands for OP5

Hi all,
I am considering buying an OP5 from Dubai, but I live in Europe (Switzerland).
Does anybody know if the specs vary around regions? Or is it safe to assume that 4G/4G+ will work (including band 20 etc.)?
Thanks

atzakas said:
Hi all,
I am considering buying an OP5 from Dubai, but I live in Europe (Switzerland).
Does anybody know if the specs vary around regions? Or is it safe to assume that 4G/4G+ will work (including band 20 etc.)?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please search. I'm sure you can easily find what your carriers Lte bands are and then research what's op5 bands are supported

I know what the bands for my carrier are and I can find the specs for OP5 on the Oneplus website. It appears that there are no differences in the hardware across regions but I wanted to confirm that. I know other brands (like Xiaomi) differentiate the hardware depending on the region where the phone is sold.

OP5 now supports 32 bands, all on same worldwide phone.

Differences between A320F/DS, A320F, A320FL and Usability in the United States?

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).

Will it work in Australia on Telstra?

Hello everyone!
I live in Australia, and have just ordered this phone in India, who is supposed to bring it to Australia next week.
The box says 'Indian sim only'. But when I asked the Samsung customer care and looked into some other sources, people say that after using it on an Indian sim for 10-15 mins, it'll work on other networks too. The bands are supported though.
I'm really confused, whether to keep it or return it. Please suggest! Thanks in advance.

https://www.frequencycheck.com/carr...m-td-lte-128gb-samsung-m307/telstra-australia
I do not know how accurate is above information because from other source seems Telstra Au uses more frequencies
https://www.whistleout.com.au/Mobil...nJczYWP8cUPDqJ8YucWnA1Mnnxor8DGDNYbT-jiKyYepW
Supported bands from Sammobile
https://www.sammobile.com/samsung/galaxy-m30s/specs/#SM-M307F
From above seems following bands are supported:
900MHz (B8)
1800MHz (B3)
2100MHz (B1)
2600MHz (B7)

Thanks @pabgar for the info. I think the bands are supported. It's the regional lock I'm worried about. Because the box says Indian sim only. And there are confusing facts over the internet. Some say it won't work outside India, but others say that after using it on Indian sim and making a call for 10-15 minutes registers in on the Indian carrier, then it works on other networks too. Band compatibility:
https://www.kimovil.com/en/frequency-checker/AU/samsung-galaxy-m30s

I remember the Australians telling me Band 28 was necessary for good service within Australia.

Indeed B28 is low 700MHz band applied in rural areas because of long range from BTS

It works!
Happy to report that it works well on Telstra, and in Australia.