ATIV S works with LTE on T-Mo, speed test pic included

[IlyaBu]

Seems T-Mo has been doing some LTE testing in the Seattle area this weekend as I've been getting LTE signal all over town on and off. My ATIV S is originally a Telus model, now unlocked and running on T-Mo. Speeds have been pretty great when getting 3 bars or more, per speed test pic below.

 

[Sam Sabri]

Nice! I'm getting the same speeds on my Lumia 920 from Build down here in socal on T-Mobile. Loving the fast life.

 

[PauerSource]

Very nice... been getting spotty LTE here in Bellingham, WA too. LTE is so much faster than H+. I have the Bell model from Canada.

 

[Matthew Becker1]

Awesome! I know some users were wondering about LTE connectivity with T-Mobile. Has anybody been able to get LTE speeds with AT&T?

 

[FricoRico]

What version number are your phones? I mean, it doesn't really support 4G LTE does it? Atleast I don't see a 4G option in the settings menu with my ATIV S...

 

[IlyaBu]

Yes, it does absolutely support 4G LTE IF you have the Canadian version of the phone, the SGH-T899M. Mine is firmware v 2212.12.12.2 hardware rev 15.3.1.0

 

[FricoRico]

Do you know if this SGH-T899M differs from any other version, in case of hardware. Because if the hardware isn't really different from the other versions, it must be a software limitation. I've always been wondering why Samsung did not include 4G in every model. The Snapdragon chip they used supports it, which makes me think it's a software limitation.

 

[IlyaBu]

As I understand it, there are two distinctly different hardware versions, the SGH-T899M, which does support LTE, and the I8750 from does not support LTE but only a max of HSDPA 42. The I8750 was being sold unlocked by Expansys for a while, where as the T899M is the one sold by the Canadian carriers.

 

[merdeka04]

My phone always shows no service whenever I'm at home, I have to go miles away from the house to obtain signal. - Carmack Moving and Storage

 

[FricoRico]

As I understand it, there are two distinctly different hardware versions, the SGH-T899M, which does support LTE, and the I8750 from does not support LTE but only a max of HSDPA 42. The I8750 was being sold unlocked by Expansys for a while, where as the T899M is the one sold by the Canadian carriers.

I'm no hardware tech junkie, but other than the SOC that needs to support it, does an antenna make a difference in supporting 4G? When you look at the new Bluetooth 4.0 announcement for Nokia Lumia phones, it would seem that much of it is actually the firmware activating the features. But I'm not sure about if the same counts for 4G.

Maybe you know more about the subject?

 

[Coolknight1968]

Do you know if this SGH-T899M differs from any other version, in case of hardware. Because if the hardware isn't really different from the other versions, it must be a software limitation. I've always been wondering why Samsung did not include 4G in every model. The Snapdragon chip they used supports it, which makes me think it's a software limitation.

The hardware for the LTE version has a different wireless chipset...

 

[GTF696]

Can you tell us the settings you used to get LTE to work on T-Mobile?

 

[FricoRico]

The hardware for the LTE version has a different wireless chipset...

After extensive searching I'm 99.99% certain that there is NO different hardware for either versions. How do I know? Well I've found a secret menu in the phone that you can get to by ##3282#, after that you can get into another 'dialer' by pressing the back button once. Then when I enter *#8888# and press number 4 in the new menu another menu pops-up. Pressing the on-screen button saying 'Back' brings you to the root menu where you can select 3 for LTE tests, after which you can select 1 for the debug view. It gives me all sorts of information;

RRC: IDLE, Band1
WCDMA: IDLE
RX 10637, RI:-91, CID: 8b3af
TX: 9687, PSC: 279
Eclo: -8, RSCP: -99
VOC: FR FR FR, 0
L1: PCG_Sleep
CQI: 0, Sam: 0

I think ******* Samsung just disabled 4G on most phones, not sure why, but one day I'll find out to how to hack it. Also I think the RI and RSCP values have something to do with the reception, probably some sort of dB value. It changes when I move my phone around and go into the debug menu again.

 

[Antonio Jose]

How are you running LTE speeds? I have an unlocked GT-i8750 running on T-Mobile here in philly and it only gets up to HSPA+ It cant be something with the signal because my HTC Radar got 4G LTE with no problem

 

[Matthew Becker1]

How are you running LTE speeds? I have an unlocked GT-i8750 running on T-Mobile here in philly and it only gets up to HSPA+ It cant be something with the signal because my HTC Radar got 4G LTE with no problem

Hi, Antonio. I don't think the i8750 model is capable of LTE. You would need the SGH-T899.

 

[neo158]

After extensive searching I'm 99.99% certain that there is NO different hardware for either versions. How do I know? Well I've found a secret menu in the phone that you can get to by ##3282#, after that you can get into another 'dialer' by pressing the back button once. Then when I enter *#8888# and press number 4 in the new menu another menu pops-up. Pressing the on-screen button saying 'Back' brings you to the root menu where you can select 3 for LTE tests, after which you can select 1 for the debug view. It gives me all sorts of information;

RRC: IDLE, Band1
WCDMA: IDLE
RX 10637, RI:-91, CID: 8b3af
TX: 9687, PSC: 279
Eclo: -8, RSCP: -99
VOC: FR FR FR, 0
L1: PCG_Sleep
CQI: 0, Sam: 0

I think ******* Samsung just disabled 4G on most phones, not sure why, but one day I'll find out to how to hack it. Also I think the RI and RSCP values have something to do with the reception, probably some sort of dB value. It changes when I move my phone around and go into the debug menu again.

They both use a different SOC. The T899M uses the Qualcomm QSD8650 and the i8750 uses the Qualcomm MSM8260A.

You can check them both:
Samsung SGH-T899M Ativ S LTE Specs | Technical Datasheet | PDAdb.net
Samsung GT-i8750 Ativ S 16GB Specs | Technical Datasheet | PDAdb.net