Checking Frequency/Band Support

[Maine_Coon11]

[WuddaWaste]

My understanding of T-Mobile frequency bands in the United States as of 2013. I've tried to make this as simple as possible so hopefully anyone who comes across it will understand. (I have yet to see anywhere online where this is spelled out plainly.)

2G GSM/EDGE/GPRS exists in 850MHz or 1900 MHz. Either can be used.
3G UMTS requires both 1700 and 2100 MHz (send and receive)
4G HSPA+ requires both 1700 and 2100 MHz (send and receive)
4G LTE (launching 2013) requires both 1700 and 2100 MHz

Right now T-Mobile is working on re-framing some of the under-utilized 2G 1900 MHz spectrum to use 3G.

Bonus info:
1900 MHz is commonly called "PCS"
1700/2100 MHz is commonly called "AWS"

Main sources:
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]

At this point, I haven't seen many/any China phones which support T-Mobile USA 3G or 4G networks. But like many, I mostly only need fast data while I'm in WiFi anyway.

Hope this helps more than it confuses.

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If a phone's specs say the following (as I've commonly seen in China phones):
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/2100MHz

It WILL work in T-Mobile USA 2G GSM networks.
It WILL NOT work in T-Mobile USA 3G networks.

[Maine_Coon11]

Right now T-Mobile is working on re-framing some of the under-utilized 2G 1900 MHz spectrum to use 3G.

If a phone's specs say the following (as I've commonly seen in China phones):
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/2100MHz

It WILL work in T-Mobile USA 2G GSM networks.
It WILL NOT work in T-Mobile USA 3G networks.

I provided the map of the 1900mhz coverage of T-Mo in the post above.

S7589 supports both GSM and WDCMA in 3G.

B6000 supports WDCMA only.

[Rdmkr]

Ok, I'm about to recommend a Haier W910 to the person in question; my worst fear is that I end up recommending something that is not usable in the way she is used to and she will hate it despite all the goodies it otherwise comes with. She says she only sporadically uses light data activities like browsing for information, consulting weather forecasts, not streaming video or anything. Can I have final confirmation that 2G data is fast enough for purposes like these and available on a quad band chinaphone? Can anyone say from first hand experience?

[GizBeat]

Ok, I'm about to recommend a Haier W910 to the person in question; my worst fear is that I end up recommending something that is not usable in the way she is used to and she will hate it despite all the goodies it otherwise comes with. She says she only sporadically uses light data activities like browsing for information, consulting weather forecasts, not streaming video or anything. Can I have final confirmation that 2G data is fast enough for purposes like these and available on a quad band chinaphone? Can anyone say from first hand experience?

It will be fine for email and chat and maybe forums or text sites (wiki etc...). Most other web browsing will be frustrating and slow. Why would you recommend a phone without 850? Thl w100 is the way to go for a bargain phone in USA.

[Rdmkr]

Ok, I'm about to recommend a Haier W910 to the person in question; my worst fear is that I end up recommending something that is not usable in the way she is used to and she will hate it despite all the goodies it otherwise comes with. She says she only sporadically uses light data activities like browsing for information, consulting weather forecasts, not streaming video or anything. Can I have final confirmation that 2G data is fast enough for purposes like these and available on a quad band chinaphone? Can anyone say from first hand experience?

It will be fine for email and chat and maybe forums or text sites (wiki etc...). Most other web browsing will be frustrating and slow. Why would you recommend a phone without 850? Thl w100 is the way to go for a bargain phone in USA.

Haier is good on most other fronts; the cheapest 720p screened phone I know and it has a very advanced processor (1.5 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon Krait) despite being just dual core. It's proofed against almost any form of wear and tear too. Not too bad ROM, 8GB, without TF expansion. w100 is something I might look into as an alternative, though. Screen is slightly sub-par but should help the performance along. What is it cheapest available for and where? Also can this get her 3G with her existing provider, T-Mobile in Atlanta, Georgia if I'm not mistaken?

edit: Oh, you already answered this earlier in the thread.

[Rdmkr]

is this the coverage map for AT&T 850Mhz 3G that the Thl w100 can connect too..? it says 850/1900mhz

[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]&org_id=20&cid=169

[GizBeat]

That's coverage of either/or, it doesn't mean both. Even if you call them to ask if her area was covered by 850, you'd probably have to talk to high-level tech support before they even knew what you were talking about. I'd guess Atlanta has 850, but not sure.

For T-Mobile, she likely won't have any coverage at all on 3G with 850.

The MSM8260 is just okay. Even at 1.5GHz, it's not better than standard MTK6589. My K-Touch is significantly slower.

I guess it comes down to how important 3G is to her. If she wants to surf the web, she'll probably want 3G. If just chatting and wiki, etc... 2G should be okay.

Merimobiles is our sponsor. With the discount, should be about $148 shipped.

[Rdmkr]

That's coverage of either/or, it doesn't mean both. Even if you call them to ask if her area was covered by 850, you'd probably have to talk to high-level tech support before they even knew what you were talking about.
ah, ok. so it's very hard to disaggregate which parts of that map are 850 covered and which are 1900 covered?

I'm beginning to think I should not get her hopes up about getting 3G connectivity regardless of what she gets.

[GizBeat]