Lumia 930 on T-mobile in the USA, Only 3 g?

[Tim-O]

Hello friends,

It was with great excitement that I got my new unlocked Lumia 930 today, which is the 000-TH version, and was stoked when it almost immediately upgraded to DENIM --- YEAH!!!! However, when I got a new SIM card from T-Mobile, as my 925 was too big, I found that I am only getting 3G. Even the guy from the door said that I would get 4G (no LTE), but it hasn't happened.

Any ideas?:excited:

 

[Fred Wilson2]

Marketing here in the US is all screwed up with regards to 3G, 4G and LTE.
You will not get LTE (4G as it's also called here) on the 930 on T-Mobile.
The 930 doesn't have the LTE bands that T-Mobile uses.
You'll get "3g" as you have already seen.
Don't know what speeds you'll get on 3G with T-Mobile, but I get (on AT&T) 10~13 mps on their 3G network (HSPA+).
Some phones, especially AT&T branded phones, display "4g" when they are , in fact, only on 3G, the HSPA+ AT&T network, but it's on "3g" not "4g".


Fred

 

[Tim-O]

I HOPE that this isn't exactly the case, as there is definitely a difference on T-MOBILE between their 4g and 4gLTE, and if I only will max out at the 3g, then I am going to be quite disappointed. While doing my research before buying the phone, it seemed pretty clear that I would be able to get the lesser of the 4G speeds, which while isn't amazing, is actually good enough, something like 8 Mb/s...

 

[pankaj981]

T-Mobile HSPA+ aka 4G in the US is about 8M average. You won't get true LTE (20-40M) on the 930, it does not support US LTE bands

 

[Fred Wilson2]

Yup, and HSPA+ is really "3g" not "4g" by the specs
Depending on the phone it may display "3g" or "H+" or "4g".
Simply run speedtest.net to check your network speeds. Doesn't really matter what the display shows.
You will not get LTE for sure, you will get HSPA+, whatever the phone displays it as.
The previous posted said that T-Mobile's HSPA+ speed is around 8mps, so you can check and see if your getting that in areas of good reception.
I'm on AT&T and their HSPA+ seems faster as I get 10~12 or 13 mps in areas of good reception.


Fred

 

[Tim-O]

Thanks guys, and great suggestion about the speed test.
This is actually encouraging news, and I hope good for others interested in unlocking with the 930, which so far is pretty cool.
While my phone is still showing 3G, here are my speed results: 8.28 Mb/s down - 2.86 Mb/s up. Is this amazing? Nope, but I knew I wasn't getting LTE speeds, and 8.28 isn't bad. Fast enough for the kids to watch netflix to avoid a meltdown...

Thanks guys!

 

[xandros9]

Thanks guys, and great suggestion about the speed test.
This is actually encouraging news, and I hope good for others interested in unlocking with the 930, which so far is pretty cool.
While my phone is still showing 3G, here are my speed results: 8.28 Mb/s down - 2.86 Mb/s up. Is this amazing? Nope, but I knew I wasn't getting LTE speeds, and 8.28 isn't bad. Fast enough for the kids to watch netflix to avoid a meltdown...

Thanks guys!

Certainly beats my AT&T 920's 3G speeds where I live

 

[Fred Wilson2]

I'm using a 920 now and on AT&T. I'm getting 10+mps most of the time on their 3g (HSPA+) network.
I disabled LTE on the phone.



Fred

 

[Tim-O]

Thanks Fred,

That is helpful information for anyone thinking about using the 930 on AT&T. It is certainly an impressive phone, especially for ~$350 unlocked and off contract.