Rogers Nokia 920 with Wind Mobile

[raccoonWind]

Hi there.
Someone selling his 920 (locked to Rogers). I'd like to use it with Wind Mobile. Worth trying? I've heard there are problems after some updates, Rogers sorta removed support for some bands in firmware update and so on. :shocked:
Any one with 920 on Wind?

 

[benjaminries]

I am, and so are plenty of others. You have heard incorrectly RE: updates. I have flashed the latest Rogers firmware (v. 1314), and all bands from the side of the product box (including AWS) are supported. They were supported on previous Rogers firmware too. It works on WIND if you have a SIM unlock.

What you may be confusing this with are people who tried to flash the AT&T device firmware to their Rogers devices in the past. That appears to cause trouble with some bands, since AT&T's version of the device doesn't support AWS.

To the best of my knowledge, all Rogers-branded Nokia Lumia 920 devices include support for both 3G and 4G on the AWS band, and can be SIM-unlocked by purchasing a code through various websites, such that the device will run on WIND, Mobilicity, and pretty much every Canadian carrier.

 

[benjaminries]

PS - be sure to update the device to firmware 1314 if it isn't already... that version corrects certain 3G speed issues that had previously limited the data connection to UMTS on WIND. On 1314, your phone should bump up to WIND's faster HSPA service when necessary and possible, and then drop back to UMTS to save power when the connection is idle.

PPS - some of us have flashed international developer OS versions in an attempt to debrand the device. I did, but I eventually came back to a Rogers-branded 1314 firmware. For the past few update cycles, Rogers has actually pushed the update as fast or faster than other carriers. There are no real features to be gained from moving to the euro developer ROM if you're on WIND, except not seeing the Rogers boot logo anymore. Instead on the Rogers ROM, you can just uninstall the Rogers-specific apps, and install Nokia Access Point to select the WIND data APN.

 

[raccoonWind]

Thank you a lot for that detailed response! That cleared every question a had!
Last quick one. What is the best way to sim unlock rogers nokia 920? Shall I speak to Rogers? Or buy some unlock code? Or maybe just go to cellphone repair in Toronto?

 

[benjaminries]

As I understand it, you have to be a Rogers customer with an active Rogers service plan in order to even ask them for a SIM unlock code. I'm not sure what their policy is as to how soon they give customers these codes, or for what price.

But if you're like me and are not a current Rogers cell customer, I think the best option is to just purchase an unlock code online. You'll need to provide your IMEI code from the specific phone, and then there may be a few hours' wait for them to send you back the unlock code. RedFlagDeals users report paying about $15 to use Get Nokia Unlock Codes - Fast Nokia Unlocking!, and about $9 to use Other Phones | Quick Phone Unlock. I think that I used cellunlocker.net, because I've heard of them before and know them to be somewhat reputable.

Now that Rogers has had this device for a while, the 3rd-party unlocker sites don't seem to have an issue with finding a code for each IMEI number.

Congratulations, you've chosen a great device, especially as a Canadian. This particular phone, once unlocked, will run on almost every Canadian carrier (except weirdo Public Mobile) at their highest currently-available speeds: on Bell, Telus and Rogers you would get LTE (falling back to HSPA where necessary); on Wind, Mobilicity and Videotron, you get HSPA falling back to UMTS. In the US, you can get any of LTE or 3G on either AT&T or T-Mobile. Overseas, you can get HSPA on the 2100 MHz band - in Europe, Asia, etc. Just make sure you ask Wind to enable overseas roaming on your plan.

I'm only slightly jealous of the upcoming Lumia 1020 pureview, but it doesn't appear to include the AWS band for 3G. The Lumia 925 does, but it only offers slight improvements over the 920, and is currently not as easy to obtain and unlock. There is still a sense in which the Lumia 920 is one of Nokia's flagship phones with the very best in Nokia-exclusive apps, and once the GDR2 "Amber" firmware update drops, it should be even better.

 

[cndspec]

Just like benjaminries I too purchased unlock codes from cellunlocker for both of our 920s. $15 bucks each, compared to the $50 per phone that Rogers wanted even though we had purchased the phones outright in November/December and had been with them for over 10 years! They work without a hitch on Wind. In fact of late, we seem to be getting more 4G service than 3G according to the phone! Also have to agree that this is one of the best phones on the market here. I had to laugh when my husband made a comment to one of our friends about "Here let me check a real phone" as they were trying to find something on their S3!

 

[benjaminries]

Yeah, the "4G" icon appears when you get HSPA speeds, which some people call 3G+. I will say, as well, that data speeds (for me) have been a little inconsistent on WIND in Toronto compared to Calgary; this might just be due to network overcrowding in the GTA where WIND sales are surely higher. The 1314 firmware did help a lot by allowing the connection to bump up to HSPA, but there are still moments when data seems bottlenecked somehow. I'm not sure if this is an issue that effects other devices.

 

[raccoonWind]

So I actually managed to get brand new phone (Rogers version unlocked) from some store. Set it up updated (took it 3 rounds). APN settings I took from Wind website. So data service of Wind is fairly ****ty. Meaning at 2 am I get quite good speeds (10-11 Mbps down, 0.5-0.6Mbps up), but not at 2pm. Wind obviously missing towers here in GTA. Connection shows 4G and sometimes 3G. Actually I limited data speed to 3G for power saving reason and also I found that 4G is less stable.

 

[MyThIc3LiTe]

The latest 1314 update enables full scale '4G' when it can, otherwise 3G. Not bad in terms of speed if I am honest.

As far as the firmware thing goes, that really only was for people flashing around ATT firmware. Just don't.

I'm not sure if there are 'vanilla' updates out there that have no carrier affiliation but the best bet is to avoid anything with ATT in the name if you want to preserve AWS bands. Seems like ATTs firmware actively disables those bands for whatever reason.