HTC One max [Tri-Band] (was "HTC "Phablet" aka "T6"")

[themuffinman]

I just got my one max a couple of days ago and see when on Wi-Fi my phone still has the 3G icon on is that normal.

For this particular device, yes it is.

[mikejeep]

Has anyone dug into the One Max and noticed if there are any Spark-specific APKs or other similar tidbits floating around? Very curious to know how Sprint is identifying Spark/non-Spark connections.

 

Thanks,

-Mike

[SprintHTC]

Um........Sprint's LTE operates on the 1.9 GHz band. Any device connecting to the 800 MHz or 2.5 GHz band must be a Spark-capable device.

 

Sent from my HTC One Max using Tapatalk

 

 

[imex99]

Um........Sprint's LTE operates on the 1.9 GHz band. Any device connecting to the 800 MHz or 2.5 GHz band must be a Spark-capable device.

 

Sent from my HTC One Max using Tapatalk

Wish it was that easy.... With the g2 people have been connecting to b41 .

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

 

 

[leerage]

There was also N5's connecting to band 41 as well:

 

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4950-sprint-spark-official-name-for-the-tri-band-network-was-sprint-to-demo-its-25ghz-network-technology/?p=249133

[zodiac12345]

Spark is just a marketing term for Band 41. All it does is replace the "LTE" icon with the spinning spark icon. All 4G connections, whether band 25, 26 or 41, are shown with the Spark icon. If you're phone connects to Band 25 (1.9 GHz), you will still see the Spark icon. 

 

For the most part, the Spark update just replaces the LTE icon with the Spark icon for any LTE connection. I assume this will be true on the G2. The Nexus 5 might not be true, as its an AOSP device. 

[S4GRU]

Spark is just a marketing term for Band 41. All it does is replace the "LTE" icon with the spinning spark icon. All 4G connections, whether band 25, 26 or 41, are shown with the Spark icon. If you're phone connects to Band 25 (1.9 GHz), you will still see the Spark icon.

 

For the most part, the Spark update just replaces the LTE icon with the Spark icon for any LTE connection. I assume this will be true on the G2. The Nexus 5 might not be true, as its an AOSP device.

The Spark update also enables Band 25/41 for devices that it was not enabled on before. The HTC One Max did not work automatically on these additional bands until the Spark update was released, right around the time the device went on sale.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[mikejeep]

Spark is just a marketing term for Band 41. All it does is replace the "LTE" icon with the spinning spark icon. All 4G connections, whether band 25, 26 or 41, are shown with the Spark icon. If you're phone connects to Band 25 (1.9 GHz), you will still see the Spark icon.

 

For the most part, the Spark update just replaces the LTE icon with the Spark icon for any LTE connection. I assume this will be true on the G2. The Nexus 5 might not be true, as its an AOSP device.

Thanks, I thought it was showing a different icon when you had Spark connection, that's what I was interested in. Never mind!

 

-Mike

[Kevster1321]

I tried loading a prl to the phone but qpst doesn't recognize the phone.I'm trying to load it like the EVO lte.is it the same steps or is it done a different way.

[SprintHTC]

zodiac12345 is right. In my area, my HTC One Max connects to Band 25 most of the time, but Band 41 on occasion...depending on where I am. The spinning Spark logo shows up either way. Otherwise, it's the 3G logo.

 

Sent from my HTC One Max using Tapatalk

 

 

[zodiac12345]

I tried loading a prl to the phone but qpst doesn't recognize the phone.I'm trying to load it like the EVO lte.is it the same steps or is it done a different way.

I had no issues using QPST to load the 56017 PRL. I did have to manually tell QPST which port my phone was connected to, but that wasn't too hard. 

[zodiac12345]

Just a comparison for the signal quality on Band 25 for LTE between the LG G2, HTC One Max, S4 Mini, LG Viper, and the Photon Q:

 

They all have roughly the same performance on Band 25. They all hovered around -105 dBm in my basement in New York City (there's a tower a half block away from my home). However, the triband devices parked onto Band 25, and would not let go of the signal. The Photon Q and LG Viper both kept switching from LTE back to EVDO. The Photon Q consistently had about 2 dBm less than the spark devices, or about -107 dBm. The Viper would connect intermittently and quickly lose signal, but hovered around the same -107 dBm as the Photon. This might also be in part of the fact that it is now deactivated. 

 

I wanted to take a picture of all the devices on their respective engineering screens, but ran into issues with both another phone's camera blurring the image on each screen, and also due in part that the S4 Mini needs the MSL code to access the Engineering screen. 

 

I cannot comment on Band 41 performance between the G2, One Max, and S4 Mini for the following reasons:

1) Because the G2 is not my personal device, I do not want to root or mess with any settings inside the hidden menus. 

2) The S4 Mini needs the MSL code to access the Engineering Screens in ##DEBUG#, and, again, since its not my personal device I do not want to call Sprint to get the code.

 

However, when Band 41 is activated on a tower closer to me and the G2 gets its Spark update, I will make another post comparing those signal strengths on these devices respectively. 

[The_Chemist]

Just a comparison for the signal quality on Band 25 for LTE between the LG G2, HTC One Max, S4 Mini, LG Viper, and the Photon Q:

 

Thank you for posting your observations.

[Kevster1321]

I had no issues using QPST to load the 56017 PRL. I did have to manually tell QPST which port my phone was connected to, but that wasn't too hard. 

How do you do it manually .

[zodiac12345]

How do you do it manually .

I'll just make a list of steps:

 

1) Go into your phone's dialer and press ##DIAG#, then click "On" in the screen that comes up. Put in your MSL Number afterwards.

2)In QPST, click on " Add New Port..." and you should see several "COM__" ports (The underscores are numbers like 02 or 13). 

3)Add every single port you see under the "Serial/USB ports" tab

4)Back in QPST Configuration under "Ports", click on each port and try to go into "Start Clients > Service Programming". One of those ports should pop up with your phone number and ESN in a new window. 

[mikejeep]

The Viper would connect intermittently and quickly lose signal, but hovered around the same -107 dBm as the Photon. This might also be in part of the fact that it is now deactivated.

 

Nice write-up, thanks for sharing with us! I have a deactivated EVO LTE that will only connect to LTE briefly when I first power it up; it then falls back to EV-DO and never shows LTE (or eHRPD) again. When it was activated, I had solid LTE performance in the same place (and two other devices still on LTE in the same place no problem), so it's definitely related to activation. Sprint must block unregistered devices from connecting to LTE (or eHRPD).

 

-Mike

[The_Chemist]

Sprint must block unregistered devices from connecting to LTE (or eHRPD).

 

-Mike

 

I believe so. My LG G2 is currently deactivated since I'm using my Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The G2 will not show LTE information

[WiWavelength]

...so it's definitely related to activation. Sprint must block unregistered devices from connecting to LTE (or eHRPD).

 

Yep.  Even deactivated devices were good for CDMA1X network spelunking, but that is no longer the case with LTE.

 

AJ

[mikejeep]

Yep.  Even deactivated devices were good for CDMA1X network spelunking, but that is no longer the case with LTE.

 

Actually, I was mistaken earlier.. some deactivated devices do work ok. The Samsung Galaxy Victory that Robert loaned me is deactivated and always connects to LTE without any issues, I use it for testing nearly every day. Perhaps it doesn't try to register/authenticate/connect the same way some of the other devices do, so it never gets kicked off.

 

-Mike

[bmoses]

so is everyone that got this phone still loving it? i might be switching to the framily plans soon and taking advantage of the "early upgrade" and i'm between this one and the nexus 5.

 

i really want a larger screen and it sounds like this phone would be a better option than the galaxy mega. however the RF performance of the N5 and its ability to gather so much info for tracking LTE sites is hard to pass up. i assume this being a HTC device it still only reports GCI and not the PCI as well?

 

i have a wilson sleek that i use at work currently with my evo 4g lte that takes me from not getting LTE at all to having a usable ~-105db signal plus we should be seeing 800 LTE light up "soon" around here so the RF performance difference may not be that big of a deal.

[digiblur]

so is everyone that got this phone still loving it? i might be switching to the framily plans soon and taking advantage of the "early upgrade" and i'm between this one and the nexus 5.

 

i really want a larger screen and it sounds like this phone would be a better option than the galaxy mega. however the RF performance of the N5 and its ability to gather so much info for tracking LTE sites is hard to pass up. i assume this being a HTC device it still only reports GCI and not the PCI as well?

 

i have a wilson sleek that i use at work currently with my evo 4g lte that takes me from not getting LTE at all to having a usable ~-105db signal plus we should be seeing 800 LTE light up "soon" around here so the RF performance difference may not be that big of a deal.

Another thing you can do with the N5 is swap SIM cards. Perfect for those non Sprint area vacations.

 

The N5 is probably one of the best hunting devices for tower info. Especially with lordsutch's app that shows even the nearby LTE sites, the PCI, GCI, and even your location on the map.

[themuffinman]

so is everyone that got this phone still loving it? i might be switching to the framily plans soon and taking advantage of the "early upgrade" and i'm between this one and the nexus 5.

 

i really want a larger screen and it sounds like this phone would be a better option than the galaxy mega. however the RF performance of the N5 and its ability to gather so much info for tracking LTE sites is hard to pass up. i assume this being a HTC device it still only reports GCI and not the PCI as well?

 

i have a wilson sleek that i use at work currently with my evo 4g lte that takes me from not getting LTE at all to having a usable ~-105db signal plus we should be seeing 800 LTE light up "soon" around here so the RF performance difference may not be that big of a deal.

Well you really have to decide what's important to you, screen size or rf performance.  I currently carry both the One Max and the N5 and both are excellent devices and both have their advantages and disadvantages but the lte performance is just way to strong for me to ever replace my nexus with anything else(for what its worth though, the Max is better than the One when it comes to lte performance) and of course you have the flexibility of it also being unlocked out of the box.  Honestly, I don't think anyone can argue that, pound for pound, the N5 is easily the best android phone on the market right now.

[bmoses]

Another thing you can do with the N5 is swap SIM cards. Perfect for those non Sprint area vacations.

 

The N5 is probably one of the best hunting devices for tower info. Especially with lordsutch's app that shows even the nearby LTE sites, the PCI, GCI, and even your location on the map.

 

 

Well you really have to decide what's important to you, screen size or rf performance.  I currently carry both the One Max and the N5 and both are excellent devices and both have their advantages and disadvantages but the lte performance is just way to strong for me to ever replace my nexus with anything else(for what its worth though, the Max is better than the One when it comes to lte performance) and of course you have the flexibility of it also being unlocked out of the box.  Honestly, I don't think anyone can argue that, pound for pound, the N5 is easily the best android phone on the market right now.

 

thank you both for your input i'm going to the store tonight to ask questions about switching to framily and will play around with the phones while i'm there.

 

i blame s4gru for my dilemma if it wasn't for this site and doing the map/spreadsheet for gathering info for my market i wouldn't have the knowledge/need of the N5's capabilities for that and it wouldn't be weighing as heavily in my decision

[bitslizer]

Another thing you can do with the N5 is swap SIM cards. Perfect for those non Sprint area vacations.

 

The N5 is probably one of the best hunting devices for tower info. Especially with lordsutch's app that shows even the nearby LTE sites, the PCI, GCI, and even your location on the map.

 

Which app is that? do you have a link please?

[mikejeep]

Which app is that? do you have a link please?

 

His thread is here: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/3153-cheesy-esmrlte-base-station-tracker/

 

-Mike