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Anyone who understands this "spectrum" 3g AT&T Tmob issue more than I.... I have a ?
Okay so here it goes....
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!???
So I've been reading all day to understand this and I do get how we ended up screwed on 3g from the rest of the world
Tmob is on "aws" which is sort of a halfway between 2100/1900 of Europe at 2100/1700
AT&T is on 1900/850 or 850... I couldn't find a straight answer on that.
Now everyone says this is "hardware" in the phone that dictates this issue. I've been researching (this is where I could use your help) and I'm missing something. Nexus one is using Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 3G QSD8250.... This AMAZING chip is not only the processor but the 3g chipset as well... (correct?) Yet this same chip is in the LG expo and the LG expo has 850/1900/2100 for it's 3g.
It would seem to me... (a simple man) that Qualcomm would NOT produce separate chips but would use some firmware/software to let the chip determine which frequencies to use. Otherwise they would have to stamp out more than one chip instead of just having one factory.
The other major issue I see is antenna length is a physical characteristic based on the radio wave you are trying to receive/send. So that may have to change too but that's more about being optimum than impossible.
Not that anyone has the cash for this but what would stop someone with REALLY amazing soldering skills from switching the two supposedly identical chipsets? Would that extremely silly idea work?
Just a thought that I thought a few people on this forum may understand more than I do.
First, the radio ROM should be the one to dictate what frequencies are supported if the radio chip can support multiple frequencies, which it does. There is a soft radio chip from Samsung (I think it's Samsung) that can be reprogrammed to change which carrier it's supporting, but I haven't read of it being used yet. I believe that's the future, but currently you get a chip that almost universally supports European 3G and quad-band GSM w/EDGE out of the box, and then *one* set of US/Canadian frequencies. That's it.
WIND (new Canadian carrier) is using the same AWS spectrum as T-Mobile US is, so that should give more "pull" for more AWS support in future handsets, but with T-Mobile moving toward a "dumb pipe" arrangement (no annoying a la carte options, no music services, no stupid "extras" to pay for, just voice/data/text plans) the hope is more devices will be available in the open market that will just work on T-Mobile and support whatever you're paying for. Since your ISP is just "there" and "supports" (ish) whatever you're using, the hope is T-Mobile US will set the trend for that behavior here, and WIND might be going the same way in Canada, and FINALLY bring this mentality to North America.
If that works out, expect to see more soft radio chips and ROMs to come out with these handsets so they can be "flipped" from network to network and still support all the data and voice options. If it doesn't (I think it will to some degree), then expect the long and annoying tradition of vertically integrated handset and carrier support where the handset has to be "made" to support whatever options the carrier chooses (for compatibility and being as cheap as possible to make) and not have full, cross network support for devices.
Softchips aren't common and won't be. You could probably swap the chips directly, but it's going to cause issues.
T-Mobile uses AWS, which is 1700/2100 for down/up stream. It's considered GSM band 4, which is different from Europe, who uses a 900 band and a 2100 band, both of those are full up/downloads on close bands, so some places use 900, some use 2100, some offer both. It's a bit different. The Nexus One supposed 900/AWS/2100, meaning it's 100% Europe and T-Mobile compatible. We're seeing more and more of these chips since it's significantly simpler than making Euro + AT&T chips.
Motorola is developing a chip with AWS + 850/1900, meaning sometime next year, we should be seeing truly "USA" model cell phones, which will support any US GSM carrier. Euro+USA full could come eventually, but the addition of AWS means it'd take a 5-band chip instead of Quad band like EDGE.
T-Mobile 3G Upgrade
FCC cleared radio frequencies about 3 years ago, T-Mobile bid on the majority of them and used it to upgrade its network.
Much lulz were had.
Here is a List of UMTS Networks. Pretty much all of Europe uses 2100.
I'll do more research as to WHY, but most carriers opt for certain frequencies because of hardware compatibility and cost effectiveness for when they were upgrading.
That link makes it appear that AT&T is worthless outside of NA, but that's untrue (AT&T has, for the most part coverage worldwide, or so I think...) so I'll do some more research on my lunch break.
Renarudo said:
T-Mobile 3G Upgrade
FCC cleared radio frequencies about 3 years ago, T-Mobile bid on the majority of them and used it to upgrade its network.
Much lulz were had.
Here is a List of UMTS Networks. Pretty much all of Europe uses 2100.
I'll do more research as to WHY, but most carriers opt for certain frequencies because of hardware compatibility and cost effectiveness for when they were upgrading.
That link makes it appear that AT&T is worthless outside of NA, but that's untrue (AT&T has, for the most part coverage worldwide, or so I think...) so I'll do some more research on my lunch break.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ATT has some coverage (edge once again) everywhere, some places in canada and australia have 1900, but ATT for the most part is using a freq that's not very universal
The issue is the amplifier module.
I have the Rogers G1 running on AT&T 3G. The radio firmware/software is identicle to the T-Mobile/ADP1 phone.
They did a tear down of the G1's and they both use physically different amplifier part numbers. It's not a part from Qualcomm and has nothing to do with their chipsets. Their chipsets do indeed support AT&T's 3G frequencies, if paired with a compatible amplifier.
Now if someone tears down the Nexus One, and gets the part number for the amplifier, and that amplifier can do AT&T frequencies, it may just be an issue of hacking the radio somehow to enable it.
It's quite possible the amplifier on the Nexus One can handle AT&T 3G, but they didn't bother to "certify" it with the FCC because T-Mobile is te launch parter and AT&T is sucking Apples teet.
One can only wait and see. I'm betting it simple doesn't have the correct amplifier for AT&T.
There are amplifiers that work on all frequencies. Why they don't spend the extra dollar or whatever is beyond me. They are literally THAT cheap.
-James
jmacdonald801 said:
The issue is the amplifier module.
I have the Rogers G1 running on AT&T 3G. The radio firmware/software is identicle to the T-Mobile/ADP1 phone.
They did a tear down of the G1's and they both use physically different amplifier part numbers. It's not a part from Qualcomm and has nothing to do with their chipsets. Their chipsets do indeed support AT&T's 3G frequencies, if paired with a compatible amplifier.
Now if someone tears down the Nexus One, and gets the part number for the amplifier, and that amplifier can do AT&T frequencies, it may just be an issue of hacking the radio somehow to enable it.
It's quite possible the amplifier on the Nexus One can handle AT&T 3G, but they didn't bother to "certify" it with the FCC because T-Mobile is te launch parter and AT&T is sucking Apples teet.
One can only wait and see. I'm betting it simple doesn't have the correct amplifier for AT&T.
There are amplifiers that work on all frequencies. Why they don't spend the extra dollar or whatever is beyond me. They are literally THAT cheap.
-James
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or sell two (or more) versions of the phone?
850/1900/2100
900/1900/2100
1700/2100
I would guess ... idiocy.
Even more idiotic ... phone manufacturers building phones with NAM 3G frequencies ... but not selling them.
It seems the Nexus One at least has the hardware to support AT&T 3G, see my post here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=612950
-James
So I am not an expert on cell phone technology but I have been doing a lot of reading about the Nexus 4 (my new phone) and T-Mobile (my carrier) and I noticed that the AnandTech review which says that
Band 4 (AWS) could essentially be supported with the power amplifiers and transceiver that already are onboard the Nexus 4
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This has me wondering... Part of me imagines that given the uproar over reviewers over lack of LTE, if what I wonder is true then it would have been brought up.
Regardless, T-Mobile is building it's 4G LTE network on the AWS spectrum (. Does the review at AndandTech imply that the radio could be updated to support AWS LTE? That is, could it be possible that the phone will receive a radio update to support the T-Mobile LTE network when it rolls out in 2013? It certainly would make T-Mobile being the only carrier to offer a subsidy of it a bit clearer.
So no one has any idea I guess??
I posted this awhile ago if you check the fcc filing for this phone it shows they tested Band 4
check the sar test report #1
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
Click to expand...
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...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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).
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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.
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.
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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 in the UK and about to buy a LG V20 VS995 from Hong Kong off of Ebay. Pretty sure I've checked the available frequencies here especially the 800 & 900MHz bands as these are the ones which travel the furthest and are able to penetrate buildings better than the higher frequencies. I've attached a table of the main UK networks and what bands they use. So can anyone let me know I've got this right before I purchase. Many thanks
Hi
I am in the UK also and currently using O2 with no problems. I have also used an EE SIM again with no problems. The only thing you need to be aware that the VS995 will not pick up the SIM APNs automatically, at least that is what I found, so you will need to find the APN for whichever network you use. There are off-line APN finders you can find via Google. Hope this is of some help.
Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk
Ferg8080 said:
I'm in the UK and about to buy a LG V20 VS995 from Hong Kong off of Ebay. Pretty sure I've checked the available frequencies here especially the 800 & 900MHz bands as these are the ones which travel the furthest and are able to penetrate buildings better than the higher frequencies. I've attached a table of the main UK networks and what bands they use. So can anyone let me know I've got this right before I purchase. Many thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, the LG V20 VS995 doesn't support ALL the bands used in the UK. It doesn't support one of the LTE bands used by Vodafone - the 2100Mhz band. So if you're on the Vodafone network, you may find that 4G/LTE speeds might be slightly slower.
I got all of this information from frequencycheck.com and it's usually where I get all my information on the bands that smartphones support.
The best option if you want to get a V20 that supports ALL bands in the UK (at this current time), is the LG V20 H990DS (Taiwanese Version).
That is the variant that I own and it supports every single band used in the UK.
The only other variant that supports all bands is the LG V20 H990N (Hong Kong version), but it only has Cat6 capability as opposed to the H990DS's Cat12 capability. Therefore, the maximum speed you'll be able to get is 300Mbp/s on the H990N - whereas on the H990DS you can get up to 600Mbp/s.
I got this information from techwalls.com/lg-v20-model-numbers-differences/
I hope that helped.
rikstar555 said:
Hi, the LG V20 VS995 doesn't support ALL the bands used in the UK. It doesn't support one of the LTE bands used by Vodafone - the 2100Mhz band. So if you're on the Vodafone network, you may find that 4G/LTE speeds might be slightly slower.
I got all of this information from frequencycheck.com and it's usually where I get all my information on the bands that smartphones support.
The best option if you want to get a V20 that supports ALL bands in the UK (at this current time), is the LG V20 H990DS (Taiwanese Version).
That is the variant that I own and it supports every single band used in the UK.
The only other variant that supports all bands is the LG V20 H990N (Hong Kong version), but it only has Cat6 capability as opposed to the H990DS's Cat12 capability. Therefore, the maximum speed you'll be able to get is 300Mbp/s on the H990N - whereas on the H990DS you can get up to 600Mbp/s.
I got this information from techwalls.com/lg-v20-model-numbers-differences/
I hope that helped.
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I'm not really sure that's true according to gsmarena it does support band 4(1700/2100) admittedly that's not the same as 1(2100). I'm sorry but in my ignorance I don't know . Maybe someone who is more enlightened could tell us what the difference is. See here.
Also the bit about the Cat 6, 9, 12 with LTE does not really bother me. For the VS995 it's LTE-A (3CA) Cat12 600/150 Mbps but for the H990N it's LTE-A (2CA) Cat6 300/50 Mbps. Now I ask you is anyone on this planet going to realistically even touch or even dream of a download speed of 300Mbps on a mobile network. I'm not even remotely getting this on my home fibre and we're watching UHD movies!!
Did find this
LTE Band 1: This is one of the paired bands that was defined for the 3G UTRA and 3GPP rel 99.
LTE Band 4: This LTE band was introduced as a new band for the Americas at the World (Administrative) Radio Conference, WRC-2000. This international conference is where international spectrum allocations are agreed. The downlink of band 4 overlaps with the downlink for Band 1. This facilitates roaming.
I guess I'll soon find out, not sure how though
Ferg8080 said:
Did find this
LTE Band 1: This is one of the paired bands that was defined for the 3G UTRA and 3GPP rel 99.
LTE Band 4: This LTE band was introduced as a new band for the Americas at the World (Administrative) Radio Conference, WRC-2000. This international conference is where international spectrum allocations are agreed. The downlink of band 4 overlaps with the downlink for Band 1. This facilitates roaming.
I guess I'll soon find out, not sure how though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be on the safe side, I would just go for the H990N or H990DS. You also don't get the horrible, disgusting Verizon watermarks and logos (software and hardware) if you go with either of the H990 variants. But if you're not going to be using Vodafone, it doesn't really matter - because Vodafone is currently the only UK network that uses B1(2100) for 4G/LTE. Have you already ordered the phone?
i have a h990n in the uk all networks with full 4g
Don't buy CDMA phones for use on GSM carriers, or phones not specific to your region! Though nearly all CDMA phones from Sprint and Verizon in the USA support GSM protocols like 2G: GSM, 3G: UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+, and some LTE bands, they are not always accessible. VS995 doesn't support Vodafone UK's LTE B1. I ran into problems with invalid sims and poor coverage because not all bands were unlocked by Verizon. If you want a V20 save the hassle and buy a GSM unlocked V20: US996, H990, H910 (won't get OTA, so flash H915 KDZ), H915, H918.
More info: https://www.frequencycheck.com/countries/united-kingdom
patato21 said:
Don't buy CDMA phones for use on GSM carriers, or phones not specific to your region! Though nearly all CDMA phones from Sprint and Verizon in the USA support GSM protocols like 2G: GSM, 3G: UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+, and some LTE bands, they are not always accessible. VS995 doesn't support Vodafone UK's LTE B1. I ran into problems with invalid sims and poor coverage because not all bands were unlocked by Verizon. If you want a V20 save the hassle and buy a GSM unlocked V20: US996, H990, H910 (won't get OTA, so flash H915 KDZ), H915, H918.
More info: https://www.frequencycheck.com/countries/united-kingdom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had a look at the above link and have got the following compatibility
GSM: 2G, 2.5G 100% (2/2)
UMTS: 3G, 3.5G, 3.5G (4G speed) 100% (2/2)
LTE: 4G 75% (3/4)
So I'm chuffed especially after reading this concerning the band/frequency I'm missing...
2.6GHz frequency band
The 2.6GHz band is the other frequency which was auctioned by Ofcom and it’s essentially the opposite of the 800MHz band. So it’s not great at travelling over long distances, meaning that masts need to be closer together to deliver reliable coverage and as such it’s not so suited to rural areas.
It’s also not all that adept at penetrating walls so indoor signal on the 2.6GHz band won’t always be perfect.
But on the other hand with 35MHz blocks available it has a high capacity. So it can cope with thousands of simultaneous connections, which in that sense makes it a good fit for cities and other busy areas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ordered the phone and hope to get it in the next couple of weeks and I will post back my experiences. I ended up getting it at a good price too
Stransky said:
Hi
I am in the UK also and currently using O2 with no problems. I have also used an EE SIM again with no problems. The only thing you need to be aware that the VS995 will not pick up the SIM APNs automatically, at least that is what I found, so you will need to find the APN for whichever network you use. There are off-line APN finders you can find via Google. Hope this is of some help.
Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Out of curiousity were you able to update from Nougat to Oreo? I had a quick preliminary look and didn't see any straightforward method via official channels.
Ferg8080 said:
Out of curiousity were you able to update from Nougat to Oreo? I had a quick preliminary look and didn't see any straightforward method via official channels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, very few American V20 users have been able to update to Oreo as the providers have not released Oreo for the phone. To keep ahead with security updates I use a custom Rom on my V20 (Alpha Rom ) but you need to have the Bootloader unlocked and the phone rooted to use it. Hope this offers some clarity.
Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk
Stransky said:
No, very few American V20 users have been able to update to Oreo as the providers have not released Oreo for the phone. To keep ahead with security updates I use a custom Rom on my V20 (Alpha Rom ) but you need to have the Bootloader unlocked and the phone rooted to use it. Hope this offers some clarity.
Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk
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Will probably stick with the stock ROM for a while until I'm settled in with the phone. Has choosing the Alpha rom negatively affected the performance of the camera or sound quality at all?
Some of the reasons for getting this phone is the renowned DAC and the camera esp in manual mode (apparently auto could be disappointing).
Ferg8080 said:
Will probably stick with the stock ROM for a while until I'm settled in with the phone. Has choosing the Alpha rom negatively affected the performance of the camera or sound quality at all?
Some of the reasons for getting this phone is the renowned DAC and the camera esp in manual mode (apparently auto could be disappointing).
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Click to collapse
No negative affects. Alpha Rom is actually based on the last stock Rom from Verizon with some modifications.
Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
Stransky said:
No negative affects. Alpha Rom is actually based on the last stock Rom from Verizon with some modifications.
Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
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Okay thanks for all your help. I'm expecting to get my phone sometime before Christmas
Just looked at the delivery estimate and it was anywhere between Sept 4th and October??th and it was ordered about 10 days ago. I guess it's to be expected coming from Hong Kong.
:good:
Stransky said:
No, very few American V20 users have been able to update to Oreo as the providers have not released Oreo for the phone. To keep ahead with security updates I use a custom Rom on my V20 (Alpha Rom ) but you need to have the Bootloader unlocked and the phone rooted to use it. Hope this offers some clarity.
Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well picked up my new V20 VS995 today and before I launch myself head long into customising it I've posted some questions in the main thread here I would really appreciate any help you might be able to give. I was going to post it here but I thought that would be unfair to load you with a barrage of questions.
The whole process seems so much more complicated than with my Note 4 and I there is a lot less handholding esp with the AΩ ROM'S initial post. For a relative novice it seems an absolute minefield.