Still confused, What Android phones will work? ST told me it would be Verizion

[jenniferdingler]

I'm still confused over which phones will actually work in my area. ST told me we would be using Verizon towers. Will that make a difference as to what phone I can use with the BYOD. I was looking at buying either the HTC one X, or a Galaxy Nexus. I have a HTC evo 4g with sprint now, but their service around here is awful. I really want to make sure the phone I buy will actually work before i spend that kind of money. Any help will be greatly appericiated.

[Brett Jackson]

You can not use any Verizon phones with BYOD. When they mention Verizon towers, they are referring to the Straight Talk branded basic phones, as well as two ST branded androids(LG Optimus Zip and Samsung Galaxy Proclaim).

If you choose to do BYOD, you will need a GSM phone. This will generally be either AT&T or T-Mobile. I would find out which of the two has better service in your area. Talk to friends who use these carriers. If you go with AT&T, you will have coverage in the AT&T post-paid coverage map. T-Mobile is more limited if I am correct.

For an AT&T SIM, you will need a phone capable of the 850 and 1900 mhz frequencies for 3G.
For a T-Mobile SIM, you will need a phone capable of 1700 and 2100 mhz frequences for 3G.

I purchased an unlocked Samsung Galaxy Captivate(an AT&T specific phone). I later found out it doesn't need to be unlocked since I am using the ST AT&T sim card. I get coverage from AT&T.

[jenniferdingler]

Ok, Thanks . So is I buy an AT&T phone , I don't need to buy a sim from ST. Just call and get the service started with them ? Sorry , but I'm so clueless on these things.

[Jflynn4]

You need to buy an ATT compatible phone and the an ATT sim card from ST.

[efparri]

To avoid confusion, AT&T uses 3G on Band II (1900) and Band V (850). T-Mobile use 3G on Band IV (1700). Band IV uplinks in the 1700 MHz range and downlinks in the 2100 MHz range. A phone having Band I (2100) will not work on T-Mobile. One should characterize a phone's or carriers' capabilities with bands rather than a single frequency number. Both 1700 MHz and 2100 MHz range frequencies are used in multiple bands. Go to http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/ and choose your phone model. Under Modes, click More Details to see what bands the phone can use. This website only works for phones available in the United States. It covers all protocols, including CDMA, GSM, UMTS and LTE.

[ChazzMatt]

To avoid confusion, AT&T uses 3G on Band II (1900) and Band V (850).

T-Mobile use 3G on Band IV (1700). Band IV uplinks in the 1700 MHz range and downlinks in the 2100 MHz range.

A phone having Band I (2100) will not work on T-Mobile.

A cell phone having Band I will work on USA T-mobile, if it also has the other bands.

I think you meant to say a phone having only Band I will not work on USA T-Mobile?

Just clarifying "to avoid confusion". You can't make a blanket statement, saying "a phone having Band I (2100) will not work on T-Mobile."

Two reasons that statement would be incorrect:

1) Phones with Band I will definitely work on USA T-mobile -- if they are pentaband phones. Yes, they have Band I!

2) PLUS, T-Mobile actually operates on Band 1 -- in Europe. Yes, "T-Mobile" operates on Band I. T-Mobile (and using the T-Mobile brand name) operates in 11 European countries and use Band I in some of those countries.

Sure, here in this forum, "USA" T-Mobile is normally assumed, but you are the one who introduced the topic of European Band I and specifically mentioned T-Mobile. So, if you insist on talking about European Band I and T-Mobile, you have to acknowlege T-Mobile DOES operate in that band in Europe and limit the discussion to USA T-Mobile.

So, if we are talking about USA T-Mobile and phones with Band I capability...

MY phone has Band I and works just fine on USA T-Mobile 3G (HSPA+). Of course, it has Band I and others. It's a penta-band phone.



(above) A Galaxy Nexus with Band 1 capability on ST "T-Mobile" sim as well as official T-mobile sim



Penta-Band 3G for these 5 frequency "bands": 850/900/1700/1900/2100mhz.

The unlocked "international" GSM Galaxy Nexus ($350 at Google Play) is a pentaband phone and works on ALL those bands, thus is the safe choice for both ST "AT&T" and "T-Mobile" capability. On Straight Talk, the Galaxy Nexus will run on HSPA+ speeds on both ST "AT&T" and ST "T-Moible" towers. Bonus is the fantastic specs!

Samsung Galaxy Nexus: yes, it can go toe-to-toe with the Galaxy S III
http://www.starkinsider.com/2012/07/...elly-bean.html

But there are lots of other pentaband phones that have Band I and will run on T-mobile HSPA+ in the USA.

This is the nice-looking pentaband Meizu MX:



Some are easy to get ahold of, some are harder. But they all have Band I and will run on USA T-Mobile. Bonus is if you ever travel to Europe or South America on vacation or business, your pentaband phone will still work with cheap local pre-paid sim cards!

Again, the Galaxy Nexus is the safe choice!

Once you get your pentaband phone, just choose the sim for the better of the two HPSA+ networks in your area. For me it was the ST "AT&T" sim, but when AT&T towers are not available, my phone will ALSO run on the T-Mobile towers at HSPA+ speeds. An AT&T branded phone will not do that, as they have no pentaband phones. If an AT&T branded phone on Straight Talk is able to access T-Mobile's towers, it will do so only at the very slow Edge speeds, as it does not have the proper chipsets for HSPA+.

[Endeavor]

Read the FAQ. See my signature for the link!

[efparri]

A cell phone having Band I will work on USA T-mobile, if it also has the other bands.

I think you meant to say a phone having only Band I will not work on USA T-Mobile?

Just clarifying "to avoid confusion". You can't make a blanket statement, saying "a phone having Band I (2100) will not work on T-Mobile."

Two reasons that statement would be incorrect:

1) Phones with Band I will definitely work on USA T-mobile -- if they are pentaband phones. Yes, they have Band I!

2) PLUS, T-Mobile actually operates on Band 1 -- in Europe. Yes, "T-Mobile" operates on Band I. T-Mobile (and using the T-Mobile brand name) operates in 11 European countries and use Band I in some of those countries.

Sure, here in this forum, "USA" T-Mobile is normally assumed, but you are the one who introduced the topic of European Band I and specifically mentioned T-Mobile. So, if you insist on talking about European Band I and T-Mobile, you have to acknowlege T-Mobile DOES operate in that band in Europe and limit the discussion to USA T-Mobile.

So, if we are talking about USA T-Mobile and phones with Band I capability...

MY phone has Band I and works just fine on USA T-Mobile 3G (HSPA+). Of course, it has Band I and others. It's a penta-band phone.


(above) A Galaxy Nexus with Band 1 capability on ST "T-Mobile" sim as well as official T-mobile sim



Penta-Band 3G for these 5 frequency "bands": 850/900/1700/1900/2100mhz.

The unlocked "international" GSM Galaxy Nexus ($350 at Google Play) is a pentaband phone and works on ALL those bands, thus is the safe choice for both ST "AT&T" and "T-Mobile" capability. On Straight Talk, the Galaxy Nexus will run on HSPA+ speeds on both ST "AT&T" and ST "T-Moible" towers. Bonus is the fantastic specs!

Samsung Galaxy Nexus: yes, it can go toe-to-toe with the Galaxy S III
http://www.starkinsider.com/2012/07/...elly-bean.html

This is the nice-looking pentaband Meizu MX:



Some are easy to get ahold of, some are harder. But they all have Band I and will run on USA T-Mobile. Bonus is if you ever travel to Europe or South America on vacation or business, your pentaband phone will still work with cheap local pre-paid sim cards!

Again, the Galaxy Nexus is the safe choice!

Once you get your pentaband phone, just choose the sim for the better of the two HPSA+ networks in your area. For me it was the ST "AT&T" sim, but when AT&T towers are not available, my phone will ALSO run on the T-Mobile towers at HSPA+ speeds. An AT&T branded phone will not do that, as they have no pentaband phones. If an AT&T branded phone on Straight Talk is able to access T-Mobile's towers, it will do so only at the very slow Edge speeds, as it does not have the proper chipsets for HSPA+.

Your argument has already been lost. Move on to something else. You have already admitted that GSM and WCDMA are not your strong suits. Everyone knows that a wireless phone with a single radio can only use one band at a time. If a phone is using Band I, it cannot use another band at the same time. So if a phone is using Band I, it cannot use Band IV for the same connectiion.

Sent from my A1_07 using HowardForums

[alphamale-b]

chaz researches his answers. OMG i am glad i only have to look at that wall when its quoted.