How To: AT&T Lumia 1520 (RM-940) on T-Mobile/Wind/Mobilicity AWS1700Mhz/HSPA+ Band 4

[AR2186]

Re: Instructions: AT&T Lumia 1520 on T-Mobile AWS 3G (HSPA Band 4 - 1700)

Thought... what if we find antenna cable/hardware for the 1520.3 and swap whats in the 1520.2 , anyone think it will give us the same reception as the 1520.3?

There is almost no chance that the antennae used in RM-937/RM-938/RM-940 are different hardware, as it makes absolutely no sense from a purchasing or manufacturing run perspective. Its likely that the only real difference between the models (other than the QI hardware and storage space in RM-940) is all firmware/software based.

I know NVIDIA chips have been software defined for a while, and if Apple's iPhones are any example, Qualcomm radios can be configured for a lot of bands (obviously it costs extra $/band). Chances are the mainboards are just configured for specific firmware. At one point, it seemed to be possible to flash different firmware on 920's and, I think, enable different bands

 

[ElronTheElder]

I didn't want to hi-jack this beautiful thread, however, you have to "hack" (old school saying) the settings in order to make this work.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

.

Old school "hack" is duct tape, bubblegum, wire, ...whatever it takes to overcome innate limitations.
as in: I have used a lead pencil to create tracings on CPU's to overcome set base frequency's.
What the OP has done is overcome the hack used to limit capabilities of this hardware.
In effect he bypassed a hack.
We both agree it was well done.
ha, no smear intended or implied.

 

[len0808]

i have a att 1520, that i'm using on tmobile, as a test, i disabled all bands except wcdma 1700 and wcdma 2100. sure enough, the 4G signal strength has more bars, and UARFCN = 2037 confirmed that it is on AWS band 4. so my final setting was to uncheck all bands except for LTE band 4 and band 17, WCDMA 1700 and 2100. Kudos to the OP. i live in chicago, even though tmobile has refarmed 4G 1900, signal is always very weak.

 

[beyondcr]

i have a att 1520, that i'm using on tmobile, as a test, i disabled all bands except wcdma 1700 and wcdma 2100. sure enough, the 4G signal strength has more bars, and UARFCN = 2037 confirmed that it is on AWS band 4. so my final setting was to uncheck all bands except for LTE band 4 and band 17, WCDMA 1700 and 2100. Kudos to the OP. i live in chicago, even though tmobile has refarmed 4G 1900, signal is always very weak.

I was starting to do this last night, I was not sure all bands t mobile used, was wondering if it would save battery or give better reception disabling unused bands this way the phone will only look for what it should use.

 

[Donny James]

This Just in. FCC grants T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T spectrum from AWS-3 auction ? TmoNews

FCC grants T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T spectrum from AWS-3 auction

Those of you following spectrum acquisitions and auctions will know that, towards the end of 2014, T-Mobile and a bunch of other companies took part in an AWS-3 spectrum auction. Although T-Mo was by no means the biggest of the bidders, it did secure a healthy amount of the airwaves to help strengthen its network. And, it?s been discovered today, that it is one of the first to be granted its spectrum by the FCC.

Of all the 31 bidders, 11 of them have now been granted licenses. Among those were T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon as well as Central Texas Telephone Investments, FTC Management Group, Gila River Telecommunications, Ligtel Communications, Michigan Wireless, Nsight Spectrum, Pioneer Telephone Cooperative and the Triangle Communication System.

It doesn?t take a math genius to figure out that far more are still waiting for their licenses to be approved than have had them granted so far. But perhaps the interesting story is who those are. Among them is Dish, a company which was surprisingly one of the biggest bidders during the winter auction. There are also concerns ? from carriers ? that some of the bidding was coordinated in an unfair manner to secure discounts for companies bidding as ?designated entity partners?. As reported by Fierce Wireless:

?Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless made $13.3 billion in gross provisional winning bids, but are seeking to pay only around $10 billion because they filed their applications as designated entities to get the FCC?s 25 percent discount for designated entities and small businesses. That move has drawn strong opposition from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, as well as lawmakers and Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai. They claim Dish and its designated entity partners manipulated the rules of the auction and coordinated their bidding strategy.?

Turning our attention back to T-Mobile, what this means for you is that the carrier now has more 1700/2100 spectrum to roll out, although AWS-3 frequency issues mean it won?t be added to the existing band 4 LTE. The spectrum covers a number of areas in North and South Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Arizona, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, West Virginia, North Dakota, Texas, Arkansas, Los Angeles, Nebraska, Missouri, South Dakota, Montana, New Mexico, Colorado, New York and Oklahoma. In fact, for a full list of markets covered by the spectrum, head on over to this FCC PDF attachment to the public notice.

With this spectrum now secured, and the 700MHz and 1900MHz LTE networks being deployed, T-Mo?s network is going to get much stronger. Not just wider reaching, but faster and more reliabletoo.

EDIT ? Previously assumed the AWS-3 frequencies matched the 1700/2100 network in use. Apparently, it doesn?t. I?ve changed the post to reflect that. 3GPP is currently working on a new band to comply with all of the FCC?s requirements.

 

[pdawg17]

Does this trick work on the WP10 preview?

 

[aleunge]

Does this trick work on the WP10 preview?

No idea. But you should do this before you update to w10. It should stick since this is at a firmware level (I.e. Firmware updates on the other hand might kill this off in the future)

 

[Donny James]

Does this trick work on the WP10 preview?

Yes it so works.

 

[sadude69]

When I enter the field test menu and I update network type...there is no manual option. it just says automatic, 2g only, 3g only and 4g only. I don't see a way of bringing up the list of bands like in the screenshot.

I have a RM-940 that is unlocked and it is a t-mobile SIM

 

[Dr_8820]

Are you sure that it's a RM-940?
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 1520 using Tapatalk

 

[AR2186]

When I enter the field test menu and I update network type...there is no manual option. it just says automatic, 2g only, 3g only and 4g only. I don't see a way of bringing up the list of bands like in the screenshot.

I have a RM-940 that is unlocked and it is a t-mobile SIM

What firmware do you have. OS and Firmware number?

 

[sadude69]

Bizarre...I guess the SIM that came in my phone wasn't active and it changed the options. I put in my wife's sim from her 1520 and I got the manual option right away and was able to select the 1700 band just as described. I'll do some testing later on today to see if it works as intended but so far so good

Thanks!

It is a RM-940 and I just updated it to Denim as it was shipped to me with Black

OS 8.10.14219.341
Firmware 02540.00019.14484.37028

 

[aleunge]

I did this on a few 1520s and no issues each time (black and denim). But I did do it with no SIM card inserted. Not sure if that makes a difference.

 

[Sean Boyle]

When I enter the field test menu and I update network type...there is no manual option. it just says automatic, 2g only, 3g only and 4g only. I don't see a way of bringing up the list of bands like in the screenshot.

I have a RM-940 that is unlocked and it is a t-mobile SIM

I have the same problem, very odd. I order Lumia 1520's online and sell on Kijiji for profit. Some people want them to work on Wind mobile, so I do this trick as someone who was buying one showed me. But I had to dig a little deeper as I came across another individual who needed a Wind compatible. As I get to step 4, there is no option to change to manual! Only Automatic, 2G, 3G, and 4G. With or without the SIM card inserted - no option. Its is a RM 940 from AT&T running Cyan. The person bought the phone but is now asking for my help to get it to work - and I also need to know for future phones. Any idea why I don't have the option to switch to Manual?

 

[Dr_8820]

As sadude69 said, try switching SIM cards.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

 

[Sean Boyle]

As sadude69 said, try switching SIM cards.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Ok thanks, I figured since his SIM card wasn't activated that it would be like not having one in there.
I forgot to mention I am running
OS version
8.10.14219.341
Firmware revision #
02540.00019.14484.37028

I will try putting in a active sim from another network, will post results.

 

[Sean Boyle]

Also the first SIM card that I had in it was active.

 

[Sean Boyle]

As sadude69 said, try switching SIM cards.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Tried inserting another active SIM card (Rogers), still no manual option, tried again with active WIND card, nothing still. Any ideas?

 

[Dr_8820]

Did you try without a SIM card in? I believe that someone did that and it worked....
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 1520 using Tapatalk

 

[Sean Boyle]

Did you try without a SIM card in? I believe that someone did that and it worked....
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 1520 using Tapatalk

Yeah I have tried without any SIM card in multiple times. Reset (turn off/on) the phone in between. The first time I tried I had no SIM.