vB Easy Archive - Band Conversion 900/1800 to 1900?

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Band Conversion 900/1800 to 1900?
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Posted by: ProxRB

I bought a phone while in China branded CECT, model QS518. It looks very much like a generic Samsung D508, with the sliding body, almost identical arrangement of buttons, and has a very similar function set. I need to find a way to convert it to operate on the 1900 band so it will work on the T-mobile network in the USA.

Basic research indicates that generally band conversions require a swap of the antenna and some software modifications, both of which I am not prepared to do, as my soldering skills are laughable and I have no experience with programming. Can any of you advise how I can get this conversion completed? Should I go to a T-mobile retailer?

links to the phone:
http://detail.zol.com.cn/cell_phone/index78147.shtml
http://product.xiyuit.com/detail/79/78147/param.shtml

Thanks. I have up till now been using a 5 year old motorola phone which is having trouble charging now... I should have spent a little more time researching before I spent the $125, although I must say, the phone seems like a really good deal, mp3 and mpeg4 playback, 1.3 megapixel camera, memory card slot...

Posted by: panerai7

My friend, it sounds like too much trouble over a knock-off phone. Are you sure you don't just wanna get another phone? I don't mean to sound sarcastic, but it doesn't seem like it's a hell of the phone to go through all this trouble.... Now if someone could find a way to convert AU and NTDocomo phones to 1900GSM, that would be awesome, i know it can't be done, just dreaming

Posted by: ProxRB

Well, considering $125 is still WAY below what I'd expect to pay for a phone like this, considering I dont mind much about brands, considering the quality of the fit and finish on this thing is actually pretty darn nice, and considering the alternative is using this old POS that doesnt charge half the time, I want to keep it. Also, its kind of an issue of pride, I was stupid enough to get fooled, and I wanna conquer.

So conversion isnt something commonly done? Its a troublesome task? I was hoping that it wouldnt be TOO bad. I was hoping there'd be some sort of "phone technician" or something that I could send it to and have it converted for like $50 or something.

Posted by: yangj08

All I remember was once hearing about some places in the phillipines where certain 1900/850 Nokia phone models could be modified to their 1800/900 equivalents. Now, you bought a CECT? They're not that bad- the Treo 650 sells under their brand in China. It's not that bad a deal, I suppose. Just look around if you're still in China- there should be a couple of places that will do the work for you. You kust have to speak the language. Same for getting AU phones to work on Chinese networks- I see advertisements all over eBay china that sell AU phones sometimes as low as $25 with some sort of reprogramming cable (the cable is supposedly so that the models that already support foreign CDMA, like the A5505SA, can be reprogrammed with non-AU data). They do a similar thing with the DoCoMo phones- sell the phones anywhere from　$25-$75 and they say that the phones support normal SIM cards. Now, I know that's not the case, but if you want a cheap camera/MP3 player, I suppose that one of those will do. Well- I can dream, and at least I can use Willcom phones here in China.

Posted by: ProxRB

I'm not in China anymore, but have relatives in Shanghai and in Quanzhou that might be able to help me look . When you say "look around," what exactly am I looking for? Would a department store that retails cell phones do the work? How much money would such a job probably take?

Posted by: braindead5400

You're out of luck as far as changing the bands. The phone is nothing but a brick here.

As far as the Nokias, those could be changed because they literally took the insides of one phone and placed then into another. It's easier to do when a company has many similar models.

Posted by: yangj08

When I say "look around" I mean to go to those small "hole-in-the-wall" shops that also take secondhand phones- department stores won't do it. I have no idea about the cost- I do know that it is possible (if the people I asked are to be believed). I suppose that the idea would be to replace the internal parts with those from the Samsung D508 then (if the D508 is tri-band) since yu said that that is the closest phone it resembles. If that doesn't work out, then at least it's still good for everything else (it's like trying to use a PDC phone outside Japan- it's no good for phone calls, web, or mail, but at least it can still play music, take pictures, watch movies...)