LTE on T-Mobile

[gvp 1995]

Daniel Rubino in his review stated that even Icon is unlocked it won't work with T-Mobile LTE. Then some people argued otherwise:

pankaj981 says:
..Doesn't T-Mobile support LTE Band IV? Technically it should get LTE on T-Mobile and HSPA+ if in a refarmed area

Posted on Feb 12, 2014 at 2:12 pm - 1 week ago
Reply. MikeSo says:
..That's what I thought too, that LTE on T-Mobile uses Band IV.

Posted on Feb 12, 2014 at 2:15 pm - 1 week ago
Reply. Daniel Rubino says:
..Yup, probably should, be here in NY I don't get many of those, so I'd never personally rely on it.

So what is the verdict? Will it or not?!

 

[palandri]

Just out of the box, I've never heard of it being done. Over at XDA a guy claims he got Verizon LTE band 4 to work with T-Mobile LTE band 4 with an Android phone, but he had to root the phone. Here's one post on it:
VZW Note 3 N900V Fully Functional on T-Mobile 4G lte (band 4) - xda-developers

 

[sahib lopez]

From what I know..... they natively have LTE on 1700/2100 AWS on band 4 but later once they deploy their 700mhz on band 12 but I'm not sure if they have LTE on 1900mhz band but they do have hspa and hspa+ on refarmed areas..i could be wrong but I don't think it will get LTE on tmobile

 

[gvp 1995]

Did anyone test it with T-Mobile SIM? Does it work? Does it have LTE?

 

[jgbstetson]

From what I know..... they natively have LTE on 1700/2100 AWS on band 4 but later once they deploy their 700mhz on band 12 but I'm not sure if they have LTE on 1900mhz band but they do have hspa and hspa+ on refarmed areas..i could be wrong but I don't think it will get LTE on tmobile

That was a crazy run-on sentence. Deployment of 700 MHz LTE will not be happening until the end of the year. Even then, they won't simply turn off band 4. MetroPCS does have some 1900 LTE support, but others have trouble making this work even with ATT phones.

 

[gvp 1995]

We certainly can theorize about this topic in hypothetical terms, but what I am asking is a simple statement that I put T-Mobile SIM, and the phone did work (or otherwise), and my data speed was this and that. For example, I use ATT Lumia 1020 on T-Mobile and have no problems (LTE, 4g, E). A family member is using Verizon X8 on T-Mobile and also has no problems, although the highest speed is "H" (I assume it stands for "HSPA")

 

[pankaj981]

The Verizon 8X doesn't support GSM LTE Bands hence only HSPA+ on T-Mobile if one is in a refarmed area, ATT gets HSPA+ nonetheless. One thing you could try is grab a T-Mobile SIM, drive to the nearest Verizon or Microsoft store and try it yourself (provided that area has T-Mobile LTE enabled)

 

[gvp 1995]

The Verizon 8X doesn't support GSM LTE Bands hence only HSPA+ on T-Mobile if one is in a refarmed area, ATT gets HSPA+ nonetheless. One thing you could try is grab a T-Mobile SIM, drive to the nearest Verizon or Microsoft store and try it yourself (provided that area has T-Mobile LTE enabled)

Icon has similar frequencies with X8 (with an exception of 1800 I think). And HSPA+ is more than enough for all practical purposes. But the problem is where to get the T-Mobile SIM?! Icon uses nano-SIM, but all my phones have micro-SIM. It is almost chicken and egg problem: I cannot start requesting nano-SIM from T-Mobile before I know the thing is working, but I cannot test it at, say, MS Store before I get nano-SIM...

 

[sahib lopez]

That was a crazy run-on sentence. Deployment of 700 MHz LTE will not be happening until the end of the year. Even then, they won't simply turn off band 4. MetroPCS does have some 1900 LTE support, but others have trouble making this work even with ATT phones.

I know sorry about that It didn't occur to me to put some commas and periods ! But that's what I was referring too

 

[pankaj981]

And HSPA+ is more than enough for all practical purposes.

Again that depends only till you're using it in a area that's refarmed, which from your previous post looks like is, but it won't necessarily work everywhere.

But the problem is where to get the T-Mobile SIM?! Icon uses nano-SIM, but all my phones have micro-SIM. It is almost chicken and egg problem: I cannot start requesting nano-SIM from T-Mobile before I know the thing is working, but I cannot test it at, say, MS Store before I get nano-SIM...

You can either get a nano SIM cutter, which comes with adapters to revert back and test it with your existing SIM or get an unactivated T-Mobile Nano SIM Kit from T-Mobile and use it for testing

 

[AR2186]

Just out of the box, I've never heard of it being done. Over at XDA a guy claims he got Verizon LTE band 4 to work with T-Mobile LTE band 4 with an Android phone, but he had to root the phone. Here's one post on it:
VZW Note 3 N900V Fully Functional on T-Mobile 4G lte (band 4) - xda-developers

My Verizon iPhone 5s has no problem using T-Mobile's LTE network, and AT&T for that matter

That was a crazy run-on sentence. Deployment of 700 MHz LTE will not be happening until the end of the year. Even then, they won't simply turn off band 4. MetroPCS does have some 1900 LTE support, but others have trouble making this work even with ATT phones.

In NYC they have already lit up LTE band 4, and the speeds are ridiculous (50 mbps vs 10 on band 13). My test Lumia 925 could see it (though not connect - sim lock) and ministers 920 couldn't register on the network but also saw it (sim unlocked).

 

[Alex Zapata]

Assuming you have the TMO apn configured and you're in a TMO LTE market there's no reason it shouldn't connect. I'm actually curious to try this out for myself now......

 

[gvp 1995]

Assuming you have the TMO apn configured and you're in a TMO LTE market there's no reason it shouldn't connect. I'm actually curious to try this out for myself now......

It would be so nice if you do and write about your findings! I assume you have both: Icon and T-Mo nano-SIM. I have neither, but I would consider this phone if proved working.

 

[palandri]

My Verizon iPhone 5s has no problem using T-Mobile's LTE network, and AT&T for that matter...

Thanks that's good to know. Can you activate a Verizon phone on anything other than a Verizon network? If he buys the Icon, wouldn't he have to have a Verizon account to activate it on?

 

[pankaj981]

Thanks that's good to know. Can you activate a Verizon phone on anything other than a Verizon network? If he buys the Icon, wouldn't he have to have a Verizon account to activate it on?

Nope, you don't need a Verizon account. I activated an iPhone 5 for the first time on T-Mobile network.

 

[Alex Zapata]

While I do have a nano SIM (which I keep in an adapter) I don't have an ICON. If I ever get the chance I'll report on my findings.

 

[AR2186]

Thanks that's good to know. Can you activate a Verizon phone on anything other than a Verizon network? If he buys the Icon, wouldn't he have to have a Verizon account to activate it on?

The Verizon phones work on any GSM network (frequency dependent), but will only work on Verizon's CDMA network unless people figure out how to get it programmed properly. There is a setting to look for networks in "Global Mode", "LTE and CDMA" and "LTE/UMTS/GSM".

As for activation, I am not entirely sure, but I believe you can skip any carrier activation/programs when you first log in, or just pop the SIM card of a GSM carrier in an you are ok.


Sent from my iPhone using WPCentral Forums mobile app

 

[darkoman4]

Apple's new iPhone 5S is a true universal phone and any iPhone 5S other then Sprint one is basically the same rest verizon one has CDMA radio added. I hope all other OEMs start doing the same thing which would be beneficial to us as well as OEMs. And I don't see why that would be bad for carriers either. True, people can switch and leave, but they can also switch and come.

 

[trandz]

Wait...so I can buy it and use it on ATT without a problem out the box ??

 

[pankaj981]

Wait...so I can buy it and use it on ATT without a problem out the box ??

Yes