Develop Bugs

Unlocking T-Mobile for AT&T service

hi everyone:
I have been looking via numerous thread online on many Android forums especially here and have been unsuccessful for the past 2 days now. So I figured I would need to create a thread and finally give in and ask for some help. I have a T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy 3 phone and I need to unlock it so that it will work on my AT&T service. Now i understand about rooting the phone and being able to play with themes etc, but its not that great if I can't use the phone itself.
Now without coming up with some kind of answer I must have watched about 40 youtube video's hoping to find out some kind of information. Mostly what I got out of it was numerous website that offer unlocking for phones at a certain price.
unlockcodesource(.)com
unlock2go(.)com
mobileunlockcodes(.)co.uk
Has anyone ever used any of these website or can someone give me some good advise on how I can get this phone unlocked please/
~Aqua

I think the toolkit stickied in the development forum has an option to SIM unlock the GS3. I have not tried this, and do not know if it works, but if the option is there, you might want to give it a shot.

If you're on contract with t mobile and your account is in good standing with them. Call them tell them you're going over seas and need to unlock your phone so you can use it. They will send you unlock code ... then pop in an att sim card and it will prompt you to enter the unlock code t Mobil gave you. Done
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

thanks _
Crisisx1 said:
If you're on contract with t mobile and your account is in good standing with them. Call them tell them you're going over seas and need to unlock your phone so you can use it. They will send you unlock code ... then pop in an att sim card and it will prompt you to enter the unlock code t Mobil gave you. Done
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
OK thank you. I followed your instructions and they said it would take up to maybe 24 hrs for the phone to be unlocked. If it isn't unlocked than she said to call back with the conformation number she gave me. If that doesn't work than they would have to give Samsung my info and could take up to 14 days. She said when you buy phones almost all stands and corp stores have already unlocked phones.
she also said it would be auto unlocked for good. Can they lock the phone back up once it is be unlocked?
~Aqua
edited: Once I have it unlocked ( if all goes good ) do i use the same APN settings that I needed to put into the phone in order for my phone to work on the AT&T network as I did with my S2 that I got unlocked ?

Don't they use different frequencies for HSPA+
You would be relegated to edge speeds, correct me if I'm wrong

speed issue
five40 said:
Don't they use different frequencies for HSPA+
You would be relegated to edge speeds, correct me if I'm wrong
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Click to collapse
I really don't know. That would be a great question if someone would be nice enough to help me with this information? Again i have a T mobile S3 hopefully its unlocked would I be losing speeds by being on the AT&T network?
thanks
~Aqua

AquaWater said:
I really don't know. That would be a great question if someone would be nice enough to help me with this information? Again i have a T mobile S3 hopefully its unlocked would I be losing speeds by being on the AT&T network?
thanks
~Aqua
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The T-Mobile S3 has the 850/1900 3G bands so it will work on AT&T's 3G network. It will not get LTE though.
You can unlock either by paying for a code from the various resellers online or requesting an unlock code from T-Mobile if you have an account in good standing with them. If you can't get the code from T-Mobile I suggest searching 'T999 unlock' on eBay and you'll find some good options.

The tmobile galaxy s3 will work on the ATnT HSPA+21 frequency. Same frequency the International version runs on for that network.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Edge network and 3/4G Question
I found an excellent place so far on eBay for buying unlock codes. they have almost 3800 sells with a 99% positive feedback. Great customer service. The guy answered numerous questions of mine and made sure i did everything correctly. Payment was $24.95 US, so hopefullly everything will go good.
He was talking about being on something called an " Edge " network which is a little slower, but he said you won't notice a difference between your unlocked S2 and the unlocked S3 now. Right now my S2 says I have 3G service when I use it. I dont understand how i had a inspire4G, what is the 4G for if AT&T only gives you 3G service? And where I am in United States I should have 4G service no matter what. I'm confused on that.,

AquaWater said:
I found an excellent place so far on eBay for buying unlock codes. they have almost 3800 sells with a 99% positive feedback. Great customer service. The guy answered numerous questions of mine and made sure i did everything correctly. Payment was $24.95 US, so hopefullly everything will go good.
He was talking about being on something called an " Edge " network which is a little slower, but he said you won't notice a difference between your unlocked S2 and the unlocked S3 now. Right now my S2 says I have 3G service when I use it. I dont understand how i had a inspire4G, what is the 4G for if AT&T only gives you 3G service? And where I am in United States I should have 4G service no matter what. I'm confused on that.,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edge is 2G speeds, which are substantially slower than 3G speeds. IMHO, 3G speeds are livable, 2G/Edge is not.
Different phones have different radios which work on different frequencies. Some phones are not compatible with other services at all, and some will work on other carriers but often not at optimal speeds.

Darmokk said:
Edge is 2G speeds, which are substantially slower than 3G speeds. IMHO, 3G speeds are livable, 2G/Edge is not.
Different phones have different radios which work on different frequencies. Some phones are not compatible with other services at all, and some will work on other carriers but often not at optimal speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So than why would someone suggest that I would get "edge" instead of what i have now? I'm getting 3G now with my T-Mobile S2 unlocked on AT&T, but now I'm going to have an unlocked S3, why wouldn't it be the same?

Because the radios in the devices are different.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

So than why would someone suggest that I would get "edge" instead of what i have now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because he/she doesn't know what he/she is talking about. You will be fine with a T-Mobile S3 on AT&T.

That's what I said earlier in not so many words.
Voice willl work fine you will not see HSPA+ speeds on At&t with a T-Mobile Galaxy SIII.
If the T-Mobile SIII has the hardware capability to support the At&t HSPA+ bands you would need modified radio software to unlock this ability.
I believe this was done on the Galaxy Note to tun on T-Mobile HSPA+ network before it was officially launched on T-Mobile.
kmdub I believe your the one that's wrong.

five40 said:
That's what I said earlier in not so many words.
Voice willl work fine you will not see HSPA+ speeds on At&t with a T-Mobile Galaxy SIII.
If the T-Mobile SIII has the hardware capability to support the At&t HSPA+ bands you would need modified radio software to unlock this ability.
I believe this was done on the Galaxy Note to tun on T-Mobile HSPA+ network before it was officially launched on T-Mobile.
kmdub I believe your the one that's wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I unlocked my t999 and am using an att straight talk sim getting HSPA speeds. Going to switch back to tmobile prepay because it is way faster than att HSPA with better latency. Although coverage may be lacking, i may just switch to an att ST sim.
To answer your question, a Tmobile S3 will work on ATT HSPA+ network with the HSPA+ Speeds of up to 6-7mbps in NYC area. The average I've been getting is around 2-3.5 mbps. With the tmobile prepay sim I have, it's usually around 2-18mbps down in NYC area.
The T-mobile S3 will not work on the ATT LTE network because it lacks that radio (or so they say for now); there have been other threads suspecting it's just a matter of flashing the right radio to "turn on" the ATT LTE radio. However, if all you want is HSPA+ speeds, rest assured it will work fine.
The ATT S3 is lacking the AWS bands for TMobile so it will not get the HSPA+ on Tmobile.
Best regards.

radio issue
First off, I would like to thank everyone who has been helping me along with my issues with my phone. I appreciate it a lot and I'm picking up more knowledge more and more everyday from you guys and reading heavily on the forums.
if the hardware in the phone doesn't support HSPA+ 1) will i have to root the phone and 2) change the radio? And 3 ) if I change the radio does that mean I would need to install a custom ROM i order for it to work properly?
Also, from one of the post they said "The T-Mobile S3 has the 850/1900 3G bands " - of that is true will than I should be able to have the 3G speeds correct?
I really hope I am not making some people angry, I'm new to this and trying my hardest to understand everything so I don't make mistakes. Please bare with me. Again, thank you so much everyone who has contributed so far. I still have a lot to learn. The reason why is because I just don't want it to work ( I do, want it to work ) but I want to understand why everything is working they way it is and I've over the past almost month have been picking up a lot of knowledge. Can't wait to hear from you guys

kmdub I believe your the one that's wrong.
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Click to collapse
No, actually, you are wrong. The T-Mobile S3 does not need any modification to work properly on AT&T's HSPA network. Seems you are confusing something else with frequency. Quit spreading bad information.
OP: Don't worry about it. Some are making this way more complicated than it needs to be. As said before, if you have the T999, you will be fine on AT&T's HSPA network without any modifications (other than an account...lol). Just get the phone SIM-unlocked, pop in the right SIM, you are good to go. Seriously, it is that easy.

Well there it is, I stand corrected!
I had no idea the T-Mobile SIII supports At&t HSPA+ bands.
Is the same true to all T-Mobile HSPA+ phones?

Sorry for any issues, just learning
Hi everyone,
thanks so much for the info. Will the S2 I needed to put in certain APN settings inorder to receive MMS ( picture ) via texts. Do i use the same settings for the Samsung Galaxy 3?

kmdub said:
No, actually, you are wrong. The T-Mobile S3 does not need any modification to work properly on AT&T's HSPA network. Seems you are confusing something else with frequency. Quit spreading bad information.
OP: Don't worry about it. Some are making this way more complicated than it needs to be. As said before, if you have the T999, you will be fine on AT&T's HSPA network without any modifications (other than an account...lol). Just get the phone SIM-unlocked, pop in the right SIM, you are good to go. Seriously, it is that easy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too have learned from this thread

AT&T Samsung SGH-i317 Galaxy Note II LTE on Simple Mobile

Morning guys...
This is my very first thread on this forum so please bear with me if something was not done the right way.
Since I couldn't find an specific thread for this specific topic that's why I decided to post a new thread on this.
This thread will help you get a Stock AT&T Samsung SGH-i317 Galaxy Note II LTE phone with a stock ROM into Simple Mobile network with working 4G.
I can't guarantee this method would work on other Galaxy Note II models so please make sure your phone is exactly the same as the specs described on this link.
Also please be aware I cannot and will not be responsible for any damage this thread could cause to your phone. All I can say is, I tried this myself on my own phone and it worked for me and my only intention here is to share my experience to other users on my same situation.
So let's get into business!
Verify the phone specs. Please make sure your phone is an AT&T Samsung SGH-i317 Galaxy Note II LTE phone and that it matches the specs described here.
Get your phone unlocked. On a personal note this appears to be a must, so if you can't get it unlocked for some reason don't even bother moving forward down the list. I followed this thread to unlock my phone. Yes, the thread is for a Galaxy Note I, but it still worked for me.
Get it rooted. That can be done here.
Flash a stock T-Mobile ROM. That also can be done here which is the same thread as of step 3.
Enable AWS band. Is worth mentioning if you made it here successfully, then you already can use Simple Mobile just fine!, however you'll be stuck on 2G/EDGE unless you Enable AWS band here. This will let you enable 3G and 4G on your phone!.
Now at this point I'm sure you may be able to use another ROM of your desire, but I'm not 100% sure if that would work. On my personal recommendation I would first try the 5 steps EXACTLY as described above. Then if you still want to use another ROM, then you may need to repeat steps 4 and 5 with another ROM.
Now I also want to say, the credit is not all mine here. All I did was to compile the information altogether for you guys. Please don't forget to thank me, as well as the original thread owners compiled in this list.
Good luck in the Kitchen!

Reserved!

^^^Thanks, thread moved to general and stuck for easy reference.
D.O.C
XDA Senior Moderator​

Wait, You Menchtened LTE and 4G, And in which T-Mobile doesnt have. T-Mobile has 3G/3.5G HSPA+ but not 4G..

U dont need aws band on at&t phonez lmao noobs all u need is your phone unlocked and youll get on t-mobiles fake 4g .its cause t-mobile now shares at&t spectrum stop giveing people false info.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

That is not entirely true sir. Not ALL areas have the 1900mhz Tmobile yet. You do need to unlock the AWS band for some areas to get the 4g. In my area (South Florida) they happen to have the 1900mhz 4g. I know because I sold an unlocked Infuse 4g (AT&T phone) to a buddy with a tmobile sim card and he got 4g on his phone.

rootyourphones said:
U dont need aws band on at&t phonez lmao noobs all u need is your phone unlocked and youll get on t-mobiles fake 4g .its cause t-mobile now shares at&t spectrum stop giveing people false info.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol ignorance speaks. People, dont listen to this clown.

MrBooMY said:
That is not entirely true sir. Not ALL areas have the 1900mhz Tmobile yet. You do need to unlock the AWS band for some areas to get the 4g. In my area (South Florida) they happen to have the 1900mhz 4g. I know because I sold an unlocked Infuse 4g (AT&T phone) to a buddy with a tmobile sim card and he got 4g on his phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good information man. Ignore the OTHER GUY that is giving false information.

Everything worked for me, except one thing: CDMA VS GSM preference.
My CDMA signal is weak, so 4g cuts out. The phone just wants to default to EDGE as a first priority. How can I make CDMA the default preference so I always get 4g when available?

thanks!

inspron said:
lol ignorance speaks. People, dont listen to this clown.
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Click to collapse
Yeah who listening to you.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

I have a sgh-i317 with at&t radio uamc3 or something like that and jedi master 14 with aws mod. I also restored my friends nv item backup from his sgh-t889 with jedi master 14. I am getting the 4g bands but my phone will not connect to the lte bands of t mobile. is anyone else having this problem? I have tried everything to get lte includes odin to stock wich should allow me to connect to tmobiles lte but wont. other people are connecting with no problem. can anyonw help me think of more ways to fix this. or is this particular phone not support 1700mhzaws. I really dont get it as the specs everyware state it does. also when I select all lte bands and selct t mobile it say unable to connect, try again later. I put my sim in a s4 t mobile and lte works so it cant be the sim. I also put at&t sim in my phone and lte works so my lte chip/radio is working fine. is maybe the free unlock methode not unlocking my phone completely? any way to relock and do it with an an unlock code. franky I am puzzled. I am in an area getting t mobile lte, confirmed on both my friends with a note 2 and s4 from t mobile.

Anyone using this phone on ATT

I understand that this phone has the same hardware and supports the ATT LTE bands. I am done with locked bootloaders, I need confirmation someone is using this phone on ATT Network w LTE successfully without any hacks..
Any other feedback will be great (call quality, radio performance on ATT network)
Seriously pondering getting the T-MO version. I am hoping I can get one off contract.
TIA

I am currently using the phone on at&t. LTE works. Just make sure you set your APN right. I just disabled WiFi calling because it is not supported.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

Yes I am. I had to add the apn and then choose lte in the network section. Works great though.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

Same here. Rooted, unlocked and running very smoothly, no lag at all.
Just need to get a case for it.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

what is the apn setting bc im looking to switch to t mobile with the s3 att

I am NOT able to get this to work at all on mine. I am unlocked, rooted and I am using a red pocket sim that uses AT&T towers.
Any suggestions?

Did you get an unlock code from tmo, a 3rd party, or some sort of debug method a la s3 and note 2?

muqali said:
Did you get an unlock code from tmo, a 3rd party, or some sort of debug method a la s3 and note 2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm considering buying the TMO variant to use on AT&T as well and I have a few questions related to this topic:
Would service reception be restricted to just LTE or can the T-Mobile S4 still receive AT&T's E, 3G, etc as well when used on AT&T's network?
Also, and I'm sure this is dependent on the answer to my first question, would the T-Mobile S4 work with the AT&T 3G Microcell?

Whos Lte is faster tmobiles or att.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

rp56 said:
Whos Lte is faster tmobiles or att.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hard to answer; it really depends on the area, but for the most part im pretty confident in saying t-mobiles LTE is faster.
see attached photo

I've been using the T-Mobile version on AT&T for a few days. I unlocked using the debug menu instructions in this forum, setup the AT&T LTE APN and set the preferred network to LTE. It works fine on LTE, hspa, etc.
Speed test results were 53Mb down, 19Mb up, 66ms ping in Raleigh, NC.
I gave away my microcell with my POS iPhone because the Samsung phones performed OK without it. So, I can't answer whether the T-Mobile version will work correctly with a microcell.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

Help please...
Hi all,
I have a Galaxy S4 I9500, I keep my brightness at full all the time. When I finish playing games even "subway surfer" for 10 minutes, and exit to the desktop, I find that brightness is lowered alittle bit & increase gradually to the previous state which is full brightness (from 5 to 10 seconds). Could this be a result of that when playing games, the device uses the 1.6 quad core CPU and upon exit it takes alittle time (those 5 to 10 seconds) to shift to the 1.2 quad core CPU?
Really need your help.
Thanks alot.

So it seems this is the perfect phone to use on AT&T due to all that bootloader problems and crap on the AT&T version.

So folks still running fine without issues with this device on AT&T's network? I know LTE bands over lap so those are fine and the specs for the other frequencies all line up too but any problems with any data or voice stuff at this point after more time has passed? Including text and media messaging?

Screwbal said:
So folks still running fine without issues with this device on AT&T's network? I know LTE bands over lap so those are fine and the specs for the other frequencies all line up too but any problems with any data or voice stuff at this point after more time has passed? Including text and media messaging?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had left an area with LTE coverage before I was able to network unlock, so I can't comment as to how LTE is working... but I've had no problems using it on Edge or 3G, texting/mms, etc. It even works flawlessly on my Microcell with no modifications other than the network unlock.

mohan_kr said:
I understand that this phone has the same hardware and supports the ATT LTE bands. I am done with locked bootloaders, I need confirmation someone is using this phone on ATT Network w LTE successfully without any hacks..
Any other feedback will be great (call quality, radio performance on ATT network)
Seriously pondering getting the T-MO version. I am hoping I can get one off contract.
TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mohan,
Which phone are you getting? The T-mobile version or the Google S4? I read online that the Google version of S4 is the same as the T-mobile version. I'm a T-mobile customer but I want to follow you using the Embryo rom on your new phone selection and hopefully get wifi-calling feature. I'm currently using the Embryo rom on my T989. Thanks.

adding an APN ... issues
lemme ask what will undoubtedly be a noob question. i've unlocked my T-Mo S4. confirmed. i popped in my AT&T iPhone 5's SIM card and boot up. i see that i have a signal, am able to make and receive phone calls. but no data. when i look at the APN, i'm seeing Cingular APN. what gives? i thought the phone would auto-detect and attach to the correct APN and i'd be good-to-go. thoughts? do i need to manually add the APN? I have all of the info necessary. when i try to add the APN, i am able to get to the proper menu, add all of the info. however, when i try to "save" the info, it never shows up as an APN for me to select. so whatever info i've just entered was never saved.
help!

[Q] Signal issues i747 on T-mobile. Any help or suggestions appreciated!

I have an unlocked AT&T i747 on T-mobile's $30 100 min unlimited text, and 5GB 4G data plan.
It is running a fitsnugly nightly build of CM 10.1 for d2att
Was previously running Leankernel and now i'm running Ktoonsez's kernel
I unlocked using this method.
The Issue: My signal switches between H+, 3G, E, and rarely G. All while being in the same spot. It spends 90% of the time on E.
This happens in areas of great reception, indoors and out.
Rarely will H+ happen and 3G is very sporadic too.
I live in the heart of a major city (Boston) where T-mobile is prepping LTE so I can get their 3G/4G on the refarmed 1900MHz and without AWS.
My IMEI is listed in the status section.
What I've tried:
Before doing any modding of my phone, I previously backed up my EFS/IMEI with Andromizer (XDA link). Restoring it hasn't changed anything.
Changing network modes (LTE/WCDMA, LTE/GSM/WCDMA, GSM/WDCMA preferred)
Enabling/disenabling data roaming
Changing APN settings (The choices were T-Mobile US and T-Mobile US LTE)
So would flashing Tmobile radios help? Tmobile/d2tmo ROMs?
TL;DR: MY ATT I747 ON TMOBILE WONT KEEP THE H+ OR 3G SIGNAL AND IT SUCKS AND MAKES ME WANT TO CRY. PLZ HELP PLZ PLZ PLZ
Seriously though, any help would be appreciated. Thanks everyone! If you need anymore info Just let me know.

That "free" unlock method always made me suspicious and I've seen other complaints like this...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

You may want to try flashing t-mo radio/modem. Do a nandroid first.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

gotmilk702 said:
That "free" unlock method always made me suspicious and I've seen other complaints like this...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is pretty frustrating. I changed my modems to an older ATT one, and now I only get 3G sporadically and 90% of the time its on G. So odd...
Also I'm pretty sure I'm specifically not supposed to flash a T-mobile modem....

davidjavid said:
This is pretty frustrating. I changed my modems to an older ATT one, and now I only get 3G sporadically and 90% of the time its on G. So odd...
Also I'm pretty sure I'm specifically not supposed to flash a T-mobile modem....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im so sorry i misread the OP...
Did you check your APN settings?

metalsnakebite said:
Im so sorry i misread the OP...
Did you check your APN settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I checked them.... I tried a few different ones with the same results.Thanks for replying! There are some updates to the situation:
New thread.

Running T-mobile on ATT note 2

Hello everyone.
I'm sorry if i write bad English because I'm not really good at it. Sorry in advance.
I have a ATT Note 2 which i bought from a friend and i unlocked it by using the free method from the forms.
When i first unlocked it my phone went to lte signal and my data was working fine and i was getting lte speeds.
I made a phone call which usually drops the single to HSPA+ aka 4g/3g but for some reason my phone doesn't go back to lte after.
I even called t-mobile they said they see my phone was on lte but they don't know why it's not going back to lte.
If anyone here running Tmobile sim in Att note 2 and still getting lte speeds after phone call is made please provide me some instructions as because I've tried everything possible i can from the forms. I've been trying for almost more then 3 to 4 months i still haven't found any solution to this problems.
If anyone can help me out that will be great.
Thank you and sorry for my bad English.

That's odd, mine is unlocked and I use Tmobile but I dont have those problems... maybe it's the modem, could be reception... sorry to head you're having issues dude.
FREE BUMP

justforgot said:
Hello everyone.
I'm sorry if i write bad English because I'm not really good at it. Sorry in advance.
I have a ATT Note 2 which i bought from a friend and i unlocked it by using the free method from the forms.
When i first unlocked it my phone went to lte signal and my data was working fine and i was getting lte speeds.
I made a phone call which usually drops the single to HSPA+ aka 4g/3g but for some reason my phone doesn't go back to lte after.
I even called t-mobile they said they see my phone was on lte but they don't know why it's not going back to lte.
If anyone here running Tmobile sim in Att note 2 and still getting lte speeds after phone call is made please provide me some instructions as because I've tried everything possible i can from the forms. I've been trying for almost more then 3 to 4 months i still haven't found any solution to this problems.
If anyone can help me out that will be great.
Thank you and sorry for my bad English.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd verify the APN and make sure you have the most recent modem flashed.

CharliexCharger said:
I'd verify the APN and make sure you have the most recent modem flashed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First things first, what solutions have you tried? If we don't know what you've tried it won't help much. Also what method did you use to unlock it?

If you used the free unlock then you have the J2 modem - that's the earliest stock AT&T modem. Since you were able to downgrade, I'm assuming you can upgrade too. Depending on your location (whether t-mobile is using the refarmed AT&T bands or using their own) you can use the latest modem or you can search for a t-mobile modem.
But speed is what matters, not what icon is displayed. Check the phone status under the settings menu to see the actual network type you're connected to.