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Hi,
I just received an unlocked International Galaxy Note II in the US. Ordered from Handtec in the UK, and the phone appears to be the French model. I have observed what I think is a problem when trying to use the phone on T-Mobile USA.
I put my T-Mobile USA SIM card in the phone, and the phone thinks I am roaming. Uhhhh no. It's a T-Mobile USA SIM card on the T-Mobile USA network. It is NOT roaming. Now, it probably doesn't have any impact beyond the "R" notifier, and a "Roaming" page which shows up on TouchWiz, but it DOES make me feel very uneasy. I have to enable "Data use while roaming" to be able to use data while on my home network!! It's crazy!
To those who will point out, yes, I know that T-Mobile USA has their 3G currently on the AWS 1700/2100 band, which the Note II does not support. I am therefore using EDGE with this phone. (Yes the data speeds suck, but T-Mobile's refarming will make this problem go away in the next few months). Even though I am on EDGE, I am not "roaming" unless the Note II's definition of roaming is different from mine. I am still on the home network, regardless of whether I am on 2G or 3G.
Has anyone else seen a problem like this?
If I can't figure this out in the next day or two, I may return the Note II and just wait another month or so for the T-Mobile US version. (Probably that's what I should do anyway, but I figured the GT-N7100 would get more developer support).
Hope someone can help!
Thanks!
Edit: I forgot to add - I also have and unlocked international Note 1 GT-N7000 and an unlocked iPhone 4. Neither possess the T-Mobile USA 3G band, and neither of which show roaming when I'm using T-Mobile USA. So, either T-Mobile did some funky network work today which changed something, or there is something different (and possibly a bug) about how the Galaxy Note II determines if it's roaming.
Unfortunately I cannot be of any assistance to your issue, just wanted to comment however. I find it very odd that ALL Note II's don't work on every frequency. Bear with me, I'm under the impression that they are identical hardware wise, every version. So, maybe it's a simple matter of flashing a different radio.img? Not that there are any available currently, but there will be shortly. I hope (think) it will be similar to the ATT Note on Tmo. Hopefully it works out better though. We still don't know if the Tmo Note II will be HSPA+42 or not, but it will support next years Tmo LTE.
So, as of now, this is a little bit of a disappointment for Tmo customers looking for the N7100. Hope you can find a workaround for at least HSPA+21 soon :good:
ccampbell1 said:
Hi,
I just received an unlocked International Galaxy Note II in the US. Ordered from Handtec in the UK, and the phone appears to be the French model. I have observed what I think is a problem when trying to use the phone on T-Mobile USA.
I put my T-Mobile USA SIM card in the phone, and the phone thinks I am roaming. Uhhhh no. It's a T-Mobile USA SIM card on the T-Mobile USA network. It is NOT roaming. Now, it probably doesn't have any impact beyond the "R" notifier, and a "Roaming" page which shows up on TouchWiz, but it DOES make me feel very uneasy. I have to enable "Data use while roaming" to be able to use data while on my home network!! It's crazy!
To those who will point out, yes, I know that T-Mobile USA has their 3G currently on the AWS 1700/2100 band, which the Note II does not support. I am therefore using EDGE with this phone. (Yes the data speeds suck, but T-Mobile's refarming will make this problem go away in the next few months). Even though I am on EDGE, I am not "roaming" unless the Note II's definition of roaming is different from mine. I am still on the home network, regardless of whether I am on 2G or 3G.
Has anyone else seen a problem like this?
If I can't figure this out in the next day or two, I may return the Note II and just wait another month or so for the T-Mobile US version. (Probably that's what I should do anyway, but I figured the GT-N7100 would get more developer support).
Hope someone can help!
Thanks!
Edit: I forgot to add - I also have and unlocked international Note 1 GT-N7000 and an unlocked iPhone 4. Neither possess the T-Mobile USA 3G band, and neither of which show roaming when I'm using T-Mobile USA. So, either T-Mobile did some funky network work today which changed something, or there is something different (and possibly a bug) about how the Galaxy Note II determines if it's roaming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That happened to me as well using my International Galaxy S3, I dug into it for about a month and trust me, it's something with the phone detecting that it can't connect to the HSPA+ bands it supports, and when it "defaults" down to EDGE it considers it "Roaming". Stop digging for answers, I was at it for weeks, this is the reason.
You wont get charged for roaming or anything though, so use EDGE until T-Mobile's refarming finally happens; I waited for 2 months and nothing, so I jumped ship and got Straight Talk. I use over 15 GB of data a month, no throttling, $45 bucks. :good:
Hope this helps, because NO ONE gave me a straight answer, Dont even bother calling T-Mobile, they're of absolutely no help. I flashed all sorts of custom ROMs, Kernels, Network Tools, Diagnostics, etc. trying to figure it out. It's just the way these Samsung phones (GT-I9300 and N7100 by the looks of it) work when their 3G/HSPA+ bands are not supported.
Cheers!
farfromovin said:
Unfortunately I cannot be of any assistance to your issue, just wanted to comment however. I find it very odd that ALL Note II's don't work on every frequency. Bear with me, I'm under the impression that they are identical hardware wise, every version. So, maybe it's a simple matter of flashing a different radio.img? Not that there are any available currently, but there will be shortly. I hope (think) it will be similar to the ATT Note on Tmo. Hopefully it works out better though. We still don't know if the Tmo Note II will be HSPA+42 or not, but it will support next years Tmo LTE.
So, as of now, this is a little bit of a disappointment for Tmo customers looking for the N7100. Hope you can find a workaround for at least HSPA+21 soon :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
farfromovin,
I agree it's a complete pain why one model can't work worldwide - or even between carriers in one country, the US!! I'm not sure that all the revisions are the exact same hardware though. Certainly the different revisions will support different LTE bands from one another, different 3G bands (ie T-Mobile USA) and even different technologies (VZW, Sprint, US Cellular CDMA). Whether there is one uber radio chip that's the same in all versions, with different bits enabled here and there, I don't know. I would doubt that a chip currently exists to support all GSM, UMTS, LTE and CDMA bands in the one, but you never know.
I really cannot wait (getting super sick of it) until T-Mobile's 1900MHz refarming, and finally all UMTS/HSPA phones will work on pretty much any UMTS/HSPA network worldwide. But just as we finally get 3G harmony, LTE comes along with a zillion different bands, and we're back to where we were at the start of GSM, and the start of UMTS - all over again.
As far as getting the GT-N7100 to work on T-Mobile AWS bands - unless the radio supports that band somewhere, and can be enabled by some hacky flashing, I don't think there's much chance. I followed a thread for a while which was trying to do that for the original GT-N7000 and it ended up nowhere unfortunately.
I'd be very, very surprised if the T-Mobile US official Note II did not support DC-HSPA +42. Given how TMO pushes that, I don't think they'd sell a phone without it these days. I'm kind of surprised the GT-N7100 doesn't have it, to be honest, but I guess it's not yet that widespread, and most carriers will bypass it to go to LTE.
Cheers!
Ars-Hexis said:
That happened to me as well using my International Galaxy S3, I dug into it for about a month and trust me, it's something with the phone detecting that it can't connect to the HSPA+ bands it supports, and when it "defaults" down to EDGE it considers it "Roaming". Stop digging for answers, I was at it for weeks, this is the reason.
You wont get charged for roaming or anything though, so use EDGE until T-Mobile's refarming finally happens; I waited for 2 months and nothing, so I jumped ship and got Straight Talk. I use over 15 GB of data a month, no throttling, $45 bucks. :good:
Hope this helps, because NO ONE gave me a straight answer, Dont even bother calling T-Mobile, they're of absolutely no help. I flashed all sorts of custom ROMs, Kernels, Network Tools, Diagnostics, etc. trying to figure it out. It's just the way these Samsung phones (GT-I9300 and N7100 by the looks of it) work when their 3G/HSPA+ bands are not supported.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Ars-Hexis,
Thanks so much for the reply. I googled about the same issue on the i9300 as you mentioned - and sure enough a couple of threads on androidcentral, and tmobile support - and all with pretty much a bunch of people going "what?" I think you're right, and this is either some crazy change which Samsung has made to the "S3" generation of phones, or it's an unintended bug which was introduced. I contacted Samsung support on twitter but I'm sure they'll tell me to go away since this is an international model and not sold or supported in the US.
I would love to have this properly reported to Samsung though because it is NOT correct behaviour, and I'm sure it does not meet the 3GPP standard behaviour. These phones' definition of "roaming" is frankly wrong. It's possible they know about the bug but don't care about it too much, because it only affects the minority of importers or travelers, and then only on the very few networks which use AWS band for 3G.
The phone and data works fine of course, so it's really a cosmetic annoyance. However, if I was actually outside TMO's network without knowing it (maybe camping on to some network on the Canadian border or something) then I'd never know if I was actually roaming or not. So the phone's roaming indicator, by being permanently false, is useless in the times when I'm actually roaming. Since this is not a likely scenario for me to be on the Canadian border and roaming onto an AWS-only network any time soon, I'll not worry too much about it.
Yes, I'm really sick waiting on this refarming. It's a huge undertaking of course, so I understand why. I do have a Straight Talk AT&T SIM which I got for my Galaxy Note 1, however I don't use it often for several reasons: haven't ported my number to it, am wary about data throttling or cut-off, and I find the data hit or miss on Straight Talk anyway. I heard stories about people being warned or cut off after 100MB in any day, but if you're saying 15GB and no throttling, it may be something I want to put to the test!
Thanks a lot for your reply! It's nice to know I'm not crazy!
Cheers!
ccampbell1 said:
Hey Ars-Hexis,
Thanks so much for the reply. I googled about the same issue on the i9300 as you mentioned - and sure enough a couple of threads on androidcentral, and tmobile support - and all with pretty much a bunch of people going "what?" I think you're right, and this is either some crazy change which Samsung has made to the "S3" generation of phones, or it's an unintended bug which was introduced. I contacted Samsung support on twitter but I'm sure they'll tell me to go away since this is an international model and not sold or supported in the US.
I would love to have this properly reported to Samsung though because it is NOT correct behaviour, and I'm sure it does not meet the 3GPP standard behaviour. These phones' definition of "roaming" is frankly wrong. It's possible they know about the bug but don't care about it too much, because it only affects the minority of importers or travelers, and then only on the very few networks which use AWS band for 3G.
The phone and data works fine of course, so it's really a cosmetic annoyance. However, if I was actually outside TMO's network without knowing it (maybe camping on to some network on the Canadian border or something) then I'd never know if I was actually roaming or not. So the phone's roaming indicator, by being permanently false, is useless in the times when I'm actually roaming. Since this is not a likely scenario for me to be on the Canadian border and roaming onto an AWS-only network any time soon, I'll not worry too much about it.
Yes, I'm really sick waiting on this refarming. It's a huge undertaking of course, so I understand why. I do have a Straight Talk AT&T SIM which I got for my Galaxy Note 1, however I don't use it often for several reasons: haven't ported my number to it, am wary about data throttling or cut-off, and I find the data hit or miss on Straight Talk anyway. I heard stories about people being warned or cut off after 100MB in any day, but if you're saying 15GB and no throttling, it may be something I want to put to the test!
Thanks a lot for your reply! It's nice to know I'm not crazy!
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey there! Sorry I hadn't answered in such a long time. We'll actually I've found that the S3 (sold it) and the Note 2 (own it) some how cannot be tracked for data usage correctly by straight talk. It's quite interesting... I ported my number over from T-Mobile, so if you have an S3 with a T-mobile prepaid sim... I think you have nothing to lose! I'm in Dallas and regularly get around 3-4Mbits/S during high usage hours and 6-7Mbits/S after 7 pm when network usage goes down.
There have been 2 occasions over the past 2 months where I'm throttled for like an hour and suddenly it gets uncapped on its own (?!?!?) lol. Last month I used about 25 GB... It's insane. Btw, if you if get throttled for real (happened to me once), you can just call them and say your "Internets is slow" (act technologically challenged) and they'll reset it.
Ah 1 last thing: I got the at&T ST sim card when I switched.
Cheers!
Sent from my GT-N7100 using XDA Premium HD app
I just got my International Note 2 today, and I am using it on the T-Mobile network also. I am seeing that I am roaming but my data is off and I am just using wifi. I have turned off my phone and back on again and its still showing. But after reading this whole thread I am getting that is a bug or something along those lines is that correct? Thanks.
I really need to know
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
roaming
I am on prepaid tmobile and I have Roaming sign only in areas where I used to loose signal with my old phone . Basically when I go in Garage underground my signal starts getting weaker and weaker and then roaming kiks in and signal is up all the way . T-mobile does not charges for local roaming . If you use USA tmobile and you are in usa you are fine . My texts and voice are still the same rate for me . When I had Chinese rom it was showing all the time , now I flashed German t-mobile and R shows only sometime , but it does not bother me .
Hope this helps .
I too have a Note II (GT-N7100) I purchased in Thailand in December. I use it on the T-Mobile network and have the same issues with the "R" symbol. I am located in Tampa Bay area, Florida.
T-Mobile was indicating to me in January that this was an issue in weaker signal areas for their data network as they prepare to refarm it. Don't know if this explanation is entirely accurate, but I find in my local area that the R symbol goes away in certain areas and it behaves "normally". This includes the area where my T-Mobile office is located. It seems to be somewhat of a patchwork network, and for some reasons certain areas cause it to go into the Roaming mode.
I was just on a trip with stops in Los Amgeles, San Francisco, and Philadelphia and noted the same behavior in some of those cities: Getting normal signal indications in some places, and Roaming in others.
Hey guys,
Looking for some opinions. I'm planning on jumping ship top the galaxy note 2. I live in the USA and I'm in an area with great LTE coverage. I'm either going to purchase the international or local variant.
I'm thinking of getting the international version because I assume development will be much greater and more accessories available.
If I wait and get the Att version I'll have access to the LTE network, but I fear there will be less development and accessories.
Any thoughts, what would you guys do?
Thanks,
Rob
Sent from my HTC One XL using xda premium
Great LTE speeds or great development. AT&T version will have the same specs as the international version. The rest is up to you to make a decision
im getting unlocked version i have a GS3 on ATT and HSAP+ is pretty good on ATT.. plus no crap ware from ATT unless you root which is the only to roll :highfive: more support on unlock.. plus HSAP+ will be more battery friendly :victory:
markysd said:
im getting unlocked version i have a GS3 on ATT and HSAP+ is pretty good on ATT.. plus no crap ware from ATT unless you root which is the only to roll :highfive: more support on unlock.. plus HSAP+ will be more battery friendly :victory:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My thoughts exacty. Received my N7100 on Monday. LTE is not available in my area anyway.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
Pinkthesink said:
Hey guys,
Looking for some opinions. I'm planning on jumping ship top the galaxy note 2. I live in the USA and I'm in an area with great LTE coverage. I'm either going to purchase the international or local variant.
I'm thinking of getting the international version because I assume development will be much greater and more accessories available.
If I wait and get the Att version I'll have access to the LTE network, but I fear there will be less development and accessories.
Any thoughts, what would you guys do?
Thanks,
Rob
Sent from my HTC One XL using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am in the same boat, picked up the NOTE 2 7100 and honestly after using the htc one x lte for 5 months on mobile network i really havent felt deprived unless im viewing a picture heavy site. my theory is i can sell my 7100 get the att one or buy the att one stuff my 7100 in the box (after switching stickers of course) and return it.
americasteam said:
My thoughts exacty. Received my N7100 on Monday. LTE is not available in my area anyway.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
must be loving it:victory: im close to pulling the trigger..the more i go on this site and watch youtube videos about the Note 2 the closer ill buy it..im really wanting a 32GB due to i dont know why we cant run apps from SD cards or burst shots saved ect and what else that only runs on internal memory..16GB now days gets eaten up quick specially when backed up roms .. the SD card reader on the NOTE supports them crazy fast reading from sandisk cards...
high end phones now days should be 32GB at the lowest phones are getting smarter/faster/higher camera MP ect and require more GB but i guess i can live with 16GB for apps only and like 3 roms backed up ect..i feel more safe with 32GB plus the note is design for content consumption i dont really talk on the phone:silly:
i miss my note 1 in a way but was just a test drive to see if i like it and i did. i dont really like 1st gen devices.
I'm agreeing with you guys about LTE, its fast but the hspa+ in this area is real good as well. Plus there's no telling what Att will do to the device, bootloader and all. I think I'll go the intl route for now. Any ideas on foreign suppliers right now, I've used clove on the UK for the original note and gs2 with great success.
Sent from my HTC One XL using xda premium
I prefer international version too but I'm having such a bad luck with data speed. I can barely go over 1mbps, if I'm lucky 2mbps at the most. I know my location has LTE coverage but doesn't seem hspa+ friendly. It's so frustrating, for that reason I might try att LTE version since specs are most identical.
As for accessories, I don't think there will be too much difference. Int & US S3 has just about same amount of accessories availability. I assume it will be same for Note 2.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
One thing I don't see a lot of people mentioning is the tethering capabilities of the international version.
That is the main reason why I went with the international version of the US version HTC One X, Galaxy S3 and now the Note 2 was for the built in tethering.
With the US version, as soon as I tried tethering a device to it, it requires me to add an appropriate more expensive data plan before I can connect.
With the international versions, I tether all day to them with my laptop, my other wifi devices ect. without incurring any extra charges or making any changes to my current data plan.
That my friend, is way worth it for me to go with the international version.
Once you got LTE, you never go back...thats me though. Same exact specs plus LTE? Also it should be out in a week or two? Id wait.
So people who have Note 2 in the US how are your data speeds are seeing a big difference in not having the LTE version? I live in a non LTE area does affect me?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
jawain said:
So people who have Note 2 in the US how are your data speeds are seeing a big difference in not having the LTE version? I live in a non LTE area does affect me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Comparing my international note2 to my wife's galaxy S3 with AT&T's LTE service, she gets faster data speeds - at least 2x what I can get (and sometimes even 4-5x times what I can get.) (I get about 4 to 7 down while I've seen hers go as high as 25 down.) However, it's really not noticable for web browsing, email, etc. The only time I noticed any difference (outside of the speedtest benchmark app) was when downloading something from the google play store. Even that isn't an issue for me, as I usually don't download from the play store when I'm not home (and on wifi.)
Having the LTE device will result in heavier battery usage (even in a non-LTE area.) Until the devices start showing up, however, it's impossible to say what the difference will be. It might be an extremely power efficient LTE chip, or it might not be. The extra drain will be most noticable when the device is connected to the LTE network and data is transfering. Even when NOT using data or not connected to LTE, it will still drain extra power (as the extra LTE chip will be powered and will occassionally search for an LTE connection.)
Take care
Gary
garyd9 said:
Comparing my international note2 to my wife's galaxy S3 with AT&T's LTE service, she gets faster data speeds - at least 2x what I can get (and sometimes even 4-5x times what I can get.) (I get about 4 to 7 down while I've seen hers go as high as 25 down.) However, it's really not noticable for web browsing, email, etc. The only time I noticed any difference (outside of the speedtest benchmark app) was when downloading something from the google play store. Even that isn't an issue for me, as I usually don't download from the play store when I'm not home (and on wifi.)
Having the LTE device will result in heavier battery usage (even in a non-LTE area.) Until the devices start showing up, however, it's impossible to say what the difference will be. It might be an extremely power efficient LTE chip, or it might not be. The extra drain will be most noticable when the device is connected to the LTE network and data is transfering. Even when NOT using data or not connected to LTE, it will still drain extra power (as the extra LTE chip will be powered and will occassionally search for an LTE connection.)
Take care
Gary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for that information so despite the the data speeds are you satisfied with the Int Note 2 or do you think you will switching to the US version?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
I have never owned an LTE phone and seem to do just fine on HSPA+. My Note 2 will here Monday (from Newegg) and I'll just use it as I do every other HSPA+ phone. If it meets my needs (streaming netflix/radio/tethering) I'll just keep it. If the AT&T version is super power efficient and screams on LTE without sucking (bloatware, locked down, etc) I'll just sell my mint international Note 2 and move on with my life and get the AT&T version.
Win-win.
jawain said:
Thank you for that information so despite the the data speeds are you satisfied with the Int Note 2 or do you think you will switching to the US version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most likely, I'll keep the international version. I expect AT&T to sell their LTE version for 750 off contract (75 more than I paid for the international), it'll be bloated (as every AT&T device is), locked to AT&T frequencies and SIMs, and I don't think it'll be as well supported by the open community as the n7100.
Finally, I think it'll be at least one more generation of chips before LTE is power efficient enough for me. I simply don't do anything with my phone that really takes advantage of the LTE speeds - so the extra battery drain from the LTE support isn't worth it for me.
If I used my phone for tethering, on the other hand, I probably wouldn't even consider the non-LTE handsets anymore (and would keep a spare battery or two.)
Take care
Gary
Any idea what size sim card will be used for the AT&T version? Should be regular size right? That is my only concern because I don't want to have to cut my regular sized sim card if I were to get the international version. Unless AT&T will use micro sim too... if that's the case then I could just buy the international version now since I'll be cutting my sim card either way.. and I don't really need LTE and AT&T's bloatware.
maykatok said:
Any idea what size sim card will be used for the AT&T version? Should be regular size right? That is my only concern because I don't want to have to cut my regular sized sim card if I were to get the international version. Unless AT&T will use micro sim too... if that's the case then I could just buy the international version now since I'll be cutting my sim card either way.. and I don't really need LTE and AT&T's bloatware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
microSIM. Pretty much all new phones these days are micro. It's the new standard.
What carriers are you guys using to tether?
Just curious because i was considering straight talk but its against their ToS to tether.
just something i found on youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz6frJcsAh0
LTE version of note 2 bench marked lower then the N7100
turilo said:
just something i found on youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz6frJcsAh0
LTE version of note 2 bench marked lower then the N7100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol totally disregard my last post lte note 2 is the same in benchmark tests
Sent from my SGH-I317M using Tapatalk 2
Hi guys!
Okay so more rather to cater to my burning curiosity of how the T-Mobile Varient would do with HSPA+ 42 and the 1700/2100 I went down this morning grabbed a white version and came home and did some test. And here's what I've found.
#1) The T-Mobile Variant of the Note 2 is Made in CHINA! While the N7100 is made in Korea
#2) The T-Mobile Variant had worse download speeds where I live and testing the HSPA+ speeds in my house resulted in the unlocked N7100 beating it on the 1900mhz band. (Keep in mind I only get HSPA+ On t-Mobile near my house all other are's that were tested I have edge on the N7100 they are still refarming.
#3) So I took it upon myself to see is the T-Mobile branded version actually faster? I drove around for about 10-20 miles stopping in different area's and testing, The highest I've Gotten with it was 15mbps down. However I was not able to compare it to the N7100 in the same exact location because that area is not yet refarmed. However Comparing it side by side the N7100 at home the N7100 had the edge in download speeds which was funny to me.
Besides that fact, the N7100 is fully unlocked and no bs from T-mobile on it and the instant I used the T-Mobile version I wanted the N7100 back. So Moral of the story for me was that is it worth getting the T-Mobile version? If your on the Re farmed network I'd say no get the N7100 instead no bloatware faster updates, Speeds won't vary much, and You can tether devices without rooting!
Good to hear others thinking along these same lines. Guess it really depends on whether tour city is being refarmed.
I live in Memphis, and I've heard rumors that we're getting / already have the 1900 band. Guess I might need to find a good way to test before hand.
km
Nyxagamemnon said:
Hi guys!
Okay so more rather to cater to my burning curiosity of how the T-Mobile Varient would do with HSPA+ 42 and the 1700/2100 I went down this morning grabbed a white version and came home and did some test. And here's what I've found.
#1) The T-Mobile Variant of the Note 2 is Made in CHINA! While the N7100 is made in Korea
#2) The T-Mobile Variant had worse download speeds where I live and testing the HSPA+ speeds in my house resulted in the unlocked N7100 beating it on the 1900mhz band. (Keep in mind I only get HSPA+ On t-Mobile near my house all other are's that were tested I have edge on the N7100 they are still refarming.
#3) So I took it upon myself to see is the T-Mobile branded version actually faster? I drove around for about 10-20 miles stopping in different area's and testing, The highest I've Gotten with it was 15mbps down. However I was not able to compare it to the N7100 in the same exact location because that area is not yet refarmed. However Comparing it side by side the N7100 at home the N7100 had the edge in download speeds which was funny to me.
Besides that fact, the N7100 is fully unlocked and no bs from T-mobile on it and the instant I used the T-Mobile version I wanted the N7100 back. So Moral of the story for me was that is it worth getting the T-Mobile version? If your on the Re farmed network I'd say no get the N7100 instead no bloatware faster updates, Speeds won't vary much, and You can tether devices without rooting!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So would you be able to tell me if the T-mo Note and the N7100 are exact the same dimensions/shape. I want to buy a case for the T-mo version but I think all the ones on ebay are for the N7100. Maybe you can switch out battery covers to see if they fit. Thanks!
I too was sitting on the fence on whether to pick the the N7100 or T-mobile's handset. I eventually chose the latter for the following reasons. It may not necessarily apply to everyone. I'm not an engineer so I don't know much about technical details but I am very logical in understanding how things work:
1) Tmo has done a fairly good job on refarming the 1900 band for hspa+ and true enough you will get speeds >10mbps. I previously tested this service on an international SGS2 and international GN1. And that was using a prepaid sim. So clearly international versions of samsung will have hspa+ service IF there is coverage. However as to date, we still have to see consistent and widespread coverage of hspa+ on the 1900 band. Who's to say that by year's end the refarming would have been completed to a satisfactory level as promised by T-mobile? What if coverage would still be practically the same in YOUR area? What if completion simply means additional cities/towns but your area basically has already been refarmed to completion. I feel that will be the case with MY area. It's still really "wait and see" for the refarming project. While with the t-mo variant you get consistent hspa+ ALREADY, NOW and greater coverage simply because they have been designed to work with the existing hspa+ AWS bands of Tmo. 1900 hspa+ is just additional for the Tmo variant.
In my case, I use my home wifi. So that situation negates the 4G coverage comparison between the 2 .
I'm curious as to what your home speed differences were? Was it that significant to outweigh the benefit of more consistent hspa+ coverage outside your home? I understand your mobile tests showed Tmo's variant to be the winner by "default". Meaning N7100 didn't have a chance to even compete. That alone is enough for me to chose Tmo's.
2) N7100 has a 21mbps hspa+ radio. Tmo's variant has a 42mbps radio. Although I am not seeing speeds proportionate to the advertised 42mbps radio in my area. I believe some folks around the US have demonstrated 20-30mbps on Tmo's network. Just scourge the net for those blogs and anecdotes. Obviously the 42mbps radio is required for those speeds. I guess it will all depend on the location and if 42mbps hspa+ is enforced on the surrounding towers.
3) re: bloatware - They don't bother me much. However for the tinkerers out there, this may be a deal breaker. But I am certain there is always a way around this for the advanced users.
4) N7100 doesn't have an LTE radio. Tmo's variant potential has this feature. That adds a little future proofing value to it. Check engadget's latest review of Tmo's variant. To quote:
"Also, according to the T889's FCC application, the device includes support for LTE bands 4 (AWS) and 17, though this particular set of radios is currently locked on T-Mobile. We're hoping the AWS LTE band will be enabled for us as soon as the network is ready to push ahead with its next-gen technology, but we haven't heard any official word from Magenta about this. Regardless of what happens, we wouldn't put it past hackers Android programming aficionados to come up with a way of taking advantage of this."
Regardless, by the time LTE would be fully and satisfactorily enforced, we all would have probably moved on to another device.
trojanlawyer said:
So would you be able to tell me if the T-mo Note and the N7100 are exact the same dimensions/shape. I want to buy a case for the T-mo version but I think all the ones on ebay are for the N7100. Maybe you can switch out battery covers to see if they fit. Thanks!
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They are the same damn phone except for the International version is made in Korean (says on label) and the U.S. variants are made in China (again, on the label) but the specs are the same as far as the meat and bones and the accessories will all work together just like the Galaxy S 3.... I have both a T-mobile (which I picked up today) Titanium color and An International Note in white and my T-mobile is performing a tad quicker as far as benchmarks but that really does not mean much... As far as where it's made.... I, personally, don't care cause they are both the same phone and qc for Samsung (in general) is the same across the board. I almost want to keep the T-mobile AND the International but I don't know if my budget will like that although I did get the International N7100 for $589.99 plus $12.00 back in ebay bucks so I can't complain on the price! The T-mobile was $688.00 OTD when I purchased it today but the HUGE difference is that the T-mobile will work on HSPA+ networks with both T-mobile and AT&T (if unlocked) and the International is edge on T-mobile(nothin you can do)... So I have more options as far as Pre-paid services and I can obtain insurance or a warranty without a problem in the US with the T-mobile version also... Another big plus! The International version is nice because it has hardly any bloat and it gets updates quickly! Who knows when we will see multitasking on the T-mobile version although they aren't as bad as some networks for updates... My opinions on the two versions....
EDIT: What he said above.... LOL He beat me to it! **I also notice on the T-mobile version that when you go to the dialer and press *#0*# there are more test options....??**
Hi all, here's a map you should all have bookmarked and contributed to:
http://www.airportal.de/
Quick comment - checked back of my phone and it says made in Korea . My model jumber is SGH-T889v. Thanks!
Aren't the white ones made in Korea?
Kawaisa - I have the titanium grey - the SGH-T889v I have is the Canadian variant.
That's one way to look at it I guess. If you get 1900 Mhz at your house and don't want to use your wifi, ok. I would take the Tmo version with wifi calling app and HSPA+42 radio with next years LTE bands built in and just run a debloated stock rom when they start popping up here (or pull your own bloat out using TB). I got one today at Tmo, rooted it, uninstalled a bunch of garbage, and am really happy with the device. The only thing I "want" is the TV animation when shutting the screen off lol. Oh, and I don't like the boot audio either of the SGH-T889, but that will change in a week or so when ROM's start getting released To each there own, although I'd bet the N7100 will get superior dev support...
Kawaisa said:
Aren't the white ones made in Korea?
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I would like to know too. Does anyone have the White US version and where it was made?
I have the white where i can check that
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
AndroidNoober said:
I have the white where i can check that
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
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Behind the phone, under the battery in the back. Thanks.
Tmo white note 2 is Made in china
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
I'm going to receive my T-Mobile Note2 in a few days and I chose it pretty much for the same reasons as what had already been stated.
I am not based in the US..but I'm based in the Philippines and will just unlock my Note2. I got it through Wirefly so the price difference really did sway me to get it over the international variant. I also like that it is LTE capable so at least it's future proof somehow.
I am very capable of tinkering with phones so I can easily get rid of bloat and such.
My main concern is the amount of dev support this would be getting. I would imagine that due to the similar hardware, porting ROMs meant for international version would be relatively easy.
I'm wondering though if I could just flash an international based ROM straight away since I don't intend to use this with TMO anyway so I can live without sms/call/data of TMO as long as it can still somehow work with my international SIM and the phone still fully function.. I don't want to wait for updates via carrier.
I've read several of you are talking about uninstalling bloatware, wouldn't this hinder in the OTA update process (we should get one soon for the multi-window feature) whenever it gets pushed out. I thought it was best to disable or freeze the apps through TB rather than uninstalling it, could someone clarify that for me?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
GN2 TMo on ATT with 3G speeds?
shojus said:
They are the same damn phone except for the International version is made in Korean (says on label) and the U.S. variants are made in China (again, on the label) but the specs are the same as far as the meat and bones and the accessories will all work together just like the Galaxy S 3.... I have both a T-mobile (which I picked up today) Titanium color and An International Note in white and my T-mobile is performing a tad quicker as far as benchmarks but that really does not mean much... As far as where it's made.... I, personally, don't care cause they are both the same phone and qc for Samsung (in general) is the same across the board. I almost want to keep the T-mobile AND the International but I don't know if my budget will like that although I did get the International N7100 for $589.99 plus $12.00 back in ebay bucks so I can't complain on the price! The T-mobile was $688.00 OTD when I purchased it today but the HUGE difference is that the T-mobile will work on HSPA+ networks with both T-mobile and AT&T (if unlocked) and the International is edge on T-mobile(nothin you can do)... So I have more options as far as Pre-paid services and I can obtain insurance or a warranty without a problem in the US with the T-mobile version also... Another big plus! The International version is nice because it has hardly any bloat and it gets updates quickly! Who knows when we will see multitasking on the T-mobile version although they aren't as bad as some networks for updates... My opinions on the two versions....
EDIT: What he said above.... LOL He beat me to it! **I also notice on the T-mobile version that when you go to the dialer and press *#0*# there are more test options....??**
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Besides unlocking a TMo note 2, did you have to do anything else to make it work on 3G on ATT? Did you actually test that it would work on ATT 3G or this is just a guess based on specs?
dont be mad now that the cat is out of the bag that tmobile galaxy note 2 has LTE
RE: Bloatware
its called root and titanium backup if you want the Tmo version and no bloatware. root is achievable on the Tmo Note 2, along w/CWM. i am sticking w/the stock rom since i plan to use S-Pen quite a bit. we'll see as the weeks go by and roms start to appear.
i went the tmo vs international due to that 1900 isn't in my area yet and won't be until end of year and our version as prev noted does have the LTE hardware and cheaper than importing an unlocked phone. has anyone noticed VERY slow A-GPS lockons when in doors? my gnex was freakin instant indoors.
Can anyone else post what color they have and where it was Made?
I was reading that the international ones have Made in Korea, Made in China, and Made by Samsung.
Thanks.
Is there any way to use an unlocked tmobile s4 on verizon???? Can you flash a certain modem to make it work?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
No. GSM phones are incompatible with CDMA networks.
verizon
I have a stock sgh-m919 and I gave my imei to Verizon over the phone, they stated they could not use my phone on a prepaid plan, but I did not inquire about a contract plan. Visit a store and ask questions.
I realize Verizon is CDMA, but I have seen those radio ROMs somewhere to change the frequency of the radio. I think it would require more than that, perhaps even an imei change, I don't really know, I'm just going out on a limb here.
From what I understand Verizon does use the 700Mhz band like AT&T but they use a different portion of the band, the upper is what I read. Google 700Mhz LTE, I think that it will come up.
good luck, let me know how that turns out.
Also, my mother has a Iphone 4S on Verizon and although I don't really like apple products, I do know that it has a sim card slot, so that taken into consideration, perhaps there is hope.
inspectergadget said:
I have a stock sgh-m919 and I gave my imei to Verizon over the phone, they stated they could not use my phone on a prepaid plan, but I did not inquire about a contract plan. Visit a store and ask questions.
I realize Verizon is CDMA, but I have seen those radio ROMs somewhere to change the frequency of the radio. I think it would require more than that, perhaps even an imei change, I don't really know, I'm just going out on a limb here.
From what I understand Verizon does use the 700Mhz band like AT&T but they use a different portion of the band, the upper is what I read. Google 700Mhz LTE, I think that it will come up.
good luck, let me know how that turns out.
Also, my mother has a Iphone 4S on Verizon and although I don't really like apple products, I do know that it has a sim card slot, so that taken into consideration, perhaps there is hope.
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A Verizon model will work on T-Mobile, just not the other way around :/
chubbrock said:
Is there any way to use an unlocked tmobile s4 on verizon???? Can you flash a certain modem to make it work?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I've been traveling for a while now with T-Mobile service with my T-Mobile s4 *cough* *unlocked* *cough*, and it does pick up Verizon service and I am able to call and text due to the agreements the carriers have. So I don't see why not. And as to activating any phone on Verizon prepaid, you can't .only have the options they have.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Hello all. Been a long while since I've been on the forums. I've got a VZW Note 10+ (SM-N975U) that I just paid off through my carrier. However I'm going to be switching me and my family to ATT solely for better coverage reasons and a buddy of mine needs a new phone bad. I've thought it upon myself to send my Note to him however I'm not 100% sure how good the lte functionality would be for him.
He says right now in his area the only bands they honestly support are 900/1800/2400 for the 4G LTE handle. I wasn't able to find much for the LTE handles this one specifically supports which is why I'm making this post. Would my phone be compatible if I had sent it to him.?
I can send whatever screenshots necessary, this is just something that's new to me
Thanks all
-ElmoRapz
Where is he at?
I've had no problems using Verizon 4G LTE phones in both Okinawa and Japan.
gernerttl said:
Where is he at?
I've had no problems using Verizon 4G LTE phones in both Okinawa and Japan.
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He's over by Yelverton UK
It should work. He should be able to pop in a SIM from a local provider access get LTE.