Requesting help selecting Lumia 640 version that will work in US and Germany?

[Windows Central Question]

Requesting help selecting Lumia 640 version that will work in US and Germany

Wife and I are looking to replace our Lumia 521s with 640s (not XL variant).

We travel to Germany about once a year. Last trip we topped out at 2G speeds and would really like some better data speeds. Unlocking and SIM swapping is not a problem.

We have Tmobile and intend to stay with them. However, they no longer sell the 640. Walmart does, for $100, but they also offer the ATT Gophone variant for only $60.

We're happy to spend the extra money IF it gets us better network performance in Germany.

I'm having a pretty hard time hunting down exactly which bands the two versions support AND if that will make a difference in Germany. Would greatly appreciate it if anyone who has hard knowledge of these things could chime in.

Here's what I have found:
Tmo variant has wifi calling (neither of us has ever used it) and Band 12, and the ATT variant does not.
Germany auctioned Band 12 spectrum earlier this year, so it's unlikely to have much buildout for the next couple of years, maybe?
So it appears that Band 12 is not essential to our needs, but what I can't nail down is, do the bands that are available on either phone make a difference?

Thanks.

 

[RumoredNow]

Re: Requesting help selecting Lumia 640 version that will work in US and Germany

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks_in_Europe

In Germany you are looking at primarily Bands 3, 7 and 20 for LTE on a local SIM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks#Americas

And Bands 2, 4 and 12 on T-MoUS.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_network_operators_of_Europe#Germany

For 3G/H+ in Germany you need 2100 MHz - This is UMTS Band 1 on 1900/2100, not to be confused with UMTS Band 4 used in the US which requires 1700/2100 - They are not interoperable!!!



2G is pretty much universal for all GSM phones.



This RM-1075 will match all the LTE you need in both Germany and the US...

While it has all the frequencies needed for both countries, I can not find out if it 3G Band 1 and Band 4 enabled.

Microsoft Lumia 640 RM-1075 8GB Dual SIM Smartphone A00025379

True enough it won't get T-Mo WiFi calling no matter what else happens with it.



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[anon(50597)]

Sorry to bring up an older thread but I will be traveling to Munich in June. I have the AT&T 640 RM-1073 and had it unlocked. Am I to understand correctly that it will work? I don't need to stream videos over 4g or anything, just email, use maps, etc.
Thanks for any insight.

 

[RumoredNow]

GoPhone 640 has all the bands available in the ROM as being active right out of the box...

GSM quad band which is the world standard
3G Bands 1 (2100) / 2 (1900) / 4 (US 1700) / 5 (US 850)
LTE Bands 2 (1900) / 4 (1700/2100) / 5 (850) / 7 (2600) / 17 (700) / 28 (700)

I would expect H+, but not LTE. You may hit pockets where Band 7 LTE works, but that's only 1 out of 3. They use 3 / 7 / 20 there.

 

[anon(50597)]

Re: Requesting help selecting Lumia 640 version that will work in US and Germany

Thank you Sir! That will work just fine for me. Appreciate the info.

 

[shenandoah]

TgeekB,

I was in Germany in January with a Microsoft Lumia 640 (unlocked AT&T gophone) and it worked great. I used a prepaid LIDL and Congstar sim in the phone at various times. Everything worked fine. With prepaid you only get HSDPA+ (4g), but that was plenty fast enough.

Eric

 

[anon(50597)]

TgeekB,

I was in Germany in January with a Microsoft Lumia 640 (unlocked AT&T gophone) and it worked great. I used a prepaid LIDL and Congstar sim in the phone at various times. Everything worked fine. With prepaid you only get HSDPA+ (4g), but that was plenty fast enough.

Eric

Thanks Eric, that makes me feel confident.
I'll be picking up a sim when I get there. Did that a couple of years ago and worked great. I think it was Lebara.

 

[shenandoah]

TgeekB,

You can pick up a Lebara sim off of ebay for $7-$10 activated. You can then set up the account online and get whichever plan you're interested in BEFORE you go to Germany. That way when you land, you're phone/sim is set up and ready to go.

There are also a couple apps for Windows phones for the city (Berlin, Munich, etc) public transportation and an app for the German rail system.

Eric

 

[anon(50597)]

TgeekB,

You can pick up a Lebara sim off of ebay for $7-$10 activated. You can then set up the account online and get whichever plan you're interested in BEFORE you go to Germany. That way when you land, you're phone/sim is set up and ready to go.

There are also a couple apps for Windows phones for the city (Berlin, Munich, etc) public transportation and an app for the German rail system.

Eric

I may try that!

(I just ordered a sim, Blau, on eBay)

 

[Anarchy_X]

Hi. i'm going to Germany for 2-weeks and would like to get a Lumia 640 XL (assuming I can still find one). HOw do I go about doing getting a SIM State-side and setup prior to arrival in Frankfurt?
Thanks!

 

[anon(50597)]

Re: Requesting help selecting Lumia 640 version that will work in US and Germany

Originally posted by Anarchy_X
Hi. i'm going to Germany for 2-weeks and would like to get a Lumia 640 XL (assuming I can still find one). HOw do I go about doing getting a SIM State-side and setup prior to arrival in Frankfurt?
Thanks!

EBay. They will send it to you from Germany.

 

[aybarrap1]

Hi. i'm going to Germany for 2-weeks and would like to get a Lumia 640 XL (assuming I can still find one). HOw do I go about doing getting a SIM State-side and setup prior to arrival in Frankfurt?

Thanks!

The first thing to be sure of is whether or not the 640XL you plan on buying has the radios/antennas to work on networks in Germany. If it does, make sure the phone is SIM unlocked. You may have to contact the carrier the phone is branded to if not unlocked and see if you can get an unlock code. If you have to get an unlock code, all you need is an active sim from another carrier (i.e. AT&T branded 640XL you can use active T-Mobile or MetroPCS SIM) to complete the unlock process. If all of these requirements are met, you should be able to get a sim card in country, insert, and go. Worst case is getting APN settings set up for the carrier so data and MMS will work.