GoWireless

 

They put a special flux capacitor in it! Jk

-post deleted. Sorry wrong thread.

Glad your problem was solved but I still wanted to mention that you still might want to consider using localphone.com and that way you can have different local or domestic US long distance numbers for the different international numbers you dial. Works awesome and it's much cheaper than Sprint's rates. There's no charge for the local numbers and they also have a standard calling card service too. With somelocal exchanges they can even forward texts from your local numbers to their associated international contacts at a cost much lower than Sprint's.

It's a bit hard to compare to t-mobile since they changed to their new pricing model. However, the other US contract carrier launching the S4, US Cellular, is also selling it for $200.

Pre-orders start tomorrow.

Sprint's variant looks to be $50 more expensive the the other carriers'.

Sprint is launching LTE in Hampton Roads tomorrow!! Just noticed my S3 was connected to 4G at my house today, too. I believe there are a couple towers that are turned on in williamsburg that are not on the update map. Specifically 4881 centerville rd; and powhatan creek trail, williamsburg.

 

http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/11/sprint-leak-has-lte-reaching-los-angeles-april-12/

Yes, LTE in HR now also shows up on Sprint's official coverage map. That said, while it might be "officially launched" tomorrow, there are still significant gaps in LTE coverage across Hampton Roads. According to Sprint's map, in Virginia Beach for example there's a large coverage hole several miles in diameter centering around the TCC campus. Also, there's no coverage in Great Neck. Hopefully Sprint will fill those gaps quickly.

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For example, the RRU below is rated for 806-869 MHz. Even though Sprint can only broadcast from 817-824 and 862-869 MHz, it gives Sprint the opportunity for future expansion if for some reason down the road the 806-816 and 851-861 MHz becomes available for wireless services broadcast.

 

The above frequency coverage is LTE band class 27 which IIRC is the worldwide ESMR band, of which Sprint's band is a subset of so the inclusion of an "extended" frequency is meant more in order to apply to overseas iDEN to LTE conversions rather than to support some future speculative expansion of Sprint's frequencies (which won't happen anyway due to the public safety band in the US).

Unoffficial country list for the S4 model.

 

North America

I9505 – Canada

I9505 – United States

 

http://phandroid.com/2013/03/21/which-galaxy-s4-will-your-country-get/

Thanks though no big surprise, that's similar to the current non-carrier-branded S3 model numbering and distribution scheme.

Hopefully soon we'll learn what the plethora of model numbers will be for the branded variants (which is what most people buy, at least in North America).

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If I bought a phone NOW without 800LTE support, I can almost guarantee with 100% certainty that I will be eligible for another upgrade by the time that part of NV is done in my area.

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Not necessarily... from what I understand, most of the equipment needed to make LTE800 happen is getting installed at the same time as the LTE1900 equipment, or at least most of the complicated stuff to install is being done at the same time (e.g. antenna panels, BTS enclosures, fiber, etc.). (Note though that from what I understand, this does not apply though to the LTE2600 stuff.) Therefore, in theory, turning on LTE800 should be a much less involved undertaking than the current work being done under NV. Now if I am incorrect about this assumption then forum wizards please feel free to correct me

Plus, it's not NOW as far as an S4 purchase is concerned. The device probably won't be available in US variants before May or June, thus putting it even closer to LTE800 availability.

Ah, yes. I believe you're right about that.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

Yep, this month the SGH-T999L gets released. The added "L" at the end of the model number is indicative of LTE. As expected, this variant also has big brother LTE band 17 support in addition to AWS LTE.

Apropos T-Mobile LTE... It's been spotted in NYC: http://www.tmonews.com/2013/03/t-mobile-2/

 

I think that every Tmo flagship phone from now on will support LTE AWS. Also, if memory serves, the Tmo GS3 always supported LTE AWS, it just needs to be software enabled.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

I believe you are thinking about their Note II variant which has dormant AWS LTE capabilities, but to the best of my knowledge, their original S3 variant does not.

It's a nice bump up but the Note 2 I have is a nice phone too and I have no real choice but to wait till the contract is up.

 

When the FCC filings start being reported and we know for sure which bands I could get a lot more interested. If it does 800 and/or 2500 (2600?) mhz LTE I would be excited and bummed I have to wait.

Based on what Samsung said in their press release, a 2600Mhz LTE-TDD variant won't be released until later in the year. What might happen is that the initial variant would include neither 800 nor 2600 LTE, then a variant that supports both gets released later. In any case, at this point I am thinking that Sprint probably won't even start deploying 2600 until when they're well into 800 deployment. By then, it will probably be time for another upgrade anyway

T-Mobile Galaxy S 4 Supports 4G LTE.

http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/03/15/t-mobile-galaxy-s-4-4g-lte/

Not all that surprising given that this month T-Mobile is supposed to start selling a new variant of the S3 with LTE.

How long does that take.

Without knowing when Samsung submitted the application (which is not public knowledge), it is difficult to guess except to say that it will happen by the time Samsung releases the phone.

i've been reading up on some of the new chip sets that phones may be getting and it all deppends on the release date its looking like snapdragon 600 (won't get lte adv support) but if in march they say that the s4 is getting the snapdragon 800 then then from what i was reading on the snapdragon website the chip will support all bands and it would be a "furture proof" chip set that only needs a software update to support a new band though that would also mean that we wouldn't see the gs4 till july when snapdragon plans on releasing 800 don't look for the new tegra series chip sets in the gs4 due to them not releasing them till 4th quarter this year

http://www.qualcomm.com/snapdragon/processors/800-600-400-200/specs

http://www.nvidia.com/object/tegra-4-processor.html

That's not exactly how it works. Band support is more of a function of the front end RF components, transceiver, and modem. Granted, Qualcomm did announce a new front end solution (google "Qualcomm RF360") that should help with multi band LTE support but they have only just announced it. As for Nvidia's new soft modem, I don't recall them saying anything about CDMA support, plus, as WiWavelength said also, that's just one component, there are other complex components required which sit in front of the modem in order to support different bands. Single-SKU multiple band support is coming one day but the technology encompassing all of the different components in a device to make that happen has not matured enough yet to included in the current batch of new device launches. However, the technology is progressing quickly and a year from now it might be a different story.

 

If swapping sims is such an issue (and I really doubt it would be) why didn't Sprint offer devices with two sims? One hardwired in, one only useful for international travel?

 

Ive been meaning to start a thread about Sprints international plan. From what I can tell, they have the worst international options of the major us carriers, and it baffles me as to why. From what I understand, going forward all Verizon phones will be "world" phones, and thats a strategy I think sprint should have adopted years ago.

International support is a secondary consideration for Sprint, certainly not nearly enough to merit such an unusual SIM arrangement (at least for an American carrier, and particularly a CDMA one).

Sprint used to have a great international data plan (especially for CDMA roaming) years ago but it was discontinued about 3 years ago IIRC. I would turn it on before I went overseas (it required temporarily switching plans to it). The only way they would let you keep it is if you kept it active on your account, which while in the US didn't make sense. In any case, with great prepaid SIM options available in just about every country nowadays, it's not such a big deal anymore.

As for Verizon, I think Vodafone is who kept pushing them to offer GSM capable sets over the years, which is a good thing. These days with most CDMA handset radios handling GSM too, adding GSM to a CDMA device isn't that difficult an undertaking. One thing I have to commend Sprint on is that on most of their GSM-capable devices (as limited a selection as that may have been) they've tended to keep the GSM SIM unlocked for usage outside North America. I do believe the iPhone though is shipped locked unfortunately.

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Second, are embedded SIMs "inane" if Sprint has a valid reason for going that route? FYI, Sprint has had removable SIMs on the internal Network Vision roadmap since at least early last year. Removable SIMs are coming -- just not yet. Some of us speculate that problems with iDEN SIM swapping could be the reason. There could be plenty of other reasons, namely, that Sprint's CDMA2000 network is not set up to utilize SIMs. So, how about you give Sprint the benefit of the doubt that it knows what it is doing? Or do you just have all the answers?

 

AJ

Well, Big Red has been using removable SIMs all this time. How? Simple, the use SIMs for the LTE side of the network only. I suspect that's exactly what Sprint is going to do. If that's the case, one would think they could have been using them all this time.

 

 

I am sorry, but I have to offer a stern response to this "inane" post.

 

First, as soon as Asian companies started naming American handsets, there have been plenty of "inane" names: LG Chocolate 2, Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch, HTC Droid Eris, etc. By comparison, HTC One is practically a paragon of straightforward sense (no pun intended) and simplicity. The "one" legitimate criticism that you can really make is that the flagship handset last year was called the HTC One X, while the flagship this year is just the HTC One. Regardless, "One" is HTC's global brand to compete with singular "iPhone" and "Galaxy" branding from Apple and Samsung, respectively.

 

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Sorry, I wasn't clear enough... I don't have a problem with the moniker "One" per se. In fact, I think it's pretty clever. What I have a problem with is using it now, after they have already released other models named "One [something]" (X, X+, V). That's quite confusing. If it was the first time they had used One in the name it would be a different story. Imagine if Samsung called the Galaxy S4 just "the Galaxy".

In any case, I wish HTC all the best in their competition against The Samsung-Apple doupoly.

Sprint has been billing this as a world phone.

Thanks, I really hope so. Some of the early reports indicated some strange UMTS/WCDMA bands in Sprint's device. Rich over at phonescoop initially showed GSM and UMTS capability for Sprint's device, but has since redone the page without GSM and UMTS. A bit worrying because he's usually pretty good at putting up the right specs for devices.

When I got my Photon, it having overseas GSM/WCDMA capability was definitely a one of the features that sold me on the device.

Sprint has also said their aim this year (not sure if "One" is included) is to make all upper tier (highend smartphones) world phones with GSM functionality and removable sims! It also appears the removable SIMs allow movement of devices on the Sprint network (no more calling in and registering MEID)

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I heard his comments to mean that they will ensure better interoperability with GSM by stopping their annoying use of embedded SIMs and not disabling GSM features in devices, however, not necessarily to mean that they will introduce CDMA device portability using SIMs (which is a relatively common practice on Asian CDMA networks, but one which US networks have been loath to adopt).

"The One" (oh Lord, what a silly name, given that they already have a One X, One V, etc.) passed the FCC today (FCCID NM8PN07200). No LTE800 on this puppy. In fact, I have a gut feeling GSM may be disabled on Sprint's variant. This wouldn't surprise anyone given that this is a company that does such inane things as using soldered-on SIMs.

The HTC One is supposed to be a world phone that works in over 80 countries. Could suport for 2600Mhz or 800Mhz be included in that device. If so I know that'll be my next phone.

Question is, will there be one or two models which work all over a-la the iPhone, or will there be a gazillion variants like the SGSIII.

To the best of my knowledge, the device hasn't passed the FCC yet so it's hard to tell what exactly we'll be getting. Launch is supposed to be late next month, but if there will be a separate Sprint variant, it could come out later than that. Interestingly, Verizon is not on the list of carriers who would be selling the phone right now.

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There was time for the 4S to have 800CDMA. Most Sprint phones in 2011 were given it. The EVO 3D was announced in March, which gave Apple plenty of time to integrate it, but they chose not to as an exercise of control.

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I am not sure the statement "Most Sprint phones in 2011 were given it" is accurate. Remember that the the EVO 3D didn't come out until just before the second half of the year.

Remember too that the 4S was an incremental upgrade, not a brand new phone from scratch. As such, it is conceivable that Apple wasn't going to make a change as major as supporting a brand new band they never covered before (compared to the iPhone 5, which already supports that band).

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And the reason that iPhone 5 supports LTE on PCS A-F, is because Band Class 25 (PCS A-G) is a superset of Band Class 2, and therefore, you can support both LTE bands at the same time.

Yes, but don't forget the CLR band's LTE inclusion which no provider supports. It should also be noted that band class 5 is a subset of band class 26.

In other words, what I am trying to say is that it from a technical perspective, it will be easier for Apple to add band 26 support in the incremental 5S version than it was for them to add CDMA BC10 support in the incremental 4S version. This may sway a decision in favor of including it on the 5S.

Basing on how the 4S should have been more than capable of 800CDMA, Apple should have done it, but instead they based it on Sprint's current network, not on the future.

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It's possible that there wasn't enough time for Apple to prep for 800CDMA when the 4S came out. It would have required more significant changes to the radio and antenna in the device than would be required in the 5S. In the 5, the antenna and radio is already there covering ESMR and CLR, which are two contiguous bands. Hence extending LTE into the other band should be a simpler undertaking than putting CDMA800 in the 4S, which didn't include the 800 band at all in the previous model.

You can make that assumption with just about any phone. But if you look at the past with Apple, they always follow one footstep behind the others in hardware. They've done it with everyone phone including the very original iphone, so I do not expect them to alter their practices. (This is not a bash on them so please do not start an Apple/Android/WP throw down)

On the other hand, Apple also included LTE support in the CLR and PCS bands (A-F), even though no carrier has deployed LTE in those bands. Therefore, I do not think it would be all that surprising for them to "stretch" their existing CLR band LTE coverage into Sprint's CDMA 800 band which abuts it.

I don't expect phones to support 800SMR LTE until summer or fall. And in the case of Apple, they won't put it in the iPhone this year as their won't be any 800 LTE network yet.

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I wouldn't be so unequivocal about that. Remember that the iPhone 5 already has LTE on the cellular band (band 5) and CDMA support for the ESMR band (which directly abuts the cellular band). Technically, it shouldn't be that difficult to extend the LTE coverage by 10Mhz more and cover ESMR as well (band 26, which covers both ESMR and cellular). In fact, radio, switch, and antenna technology has made decent strides in the past year and it's not inconceivable that Apple may be able to go back to producing a single-SKU device for North America when the iPhone 5S comes out, probably in October. At the very least, Verizon is going to require that Apple implement AWS support in their 5S which is going to necessitate a redesign of the radio in the iPhone. Given that, my bet is that apple is going to figure out some way of supporting both both AT&T and Verizon's 700 bands in one device. Last year that would have been exceedingly difficult to implement but nowadays it should be easier to overcome technically.

Meanwhile, in the news from the competition department...

AT&T officially "launched" LTE in South Hampton Roads today. I put launched in quotes because coverage is still quite limited, though where it exists it's pretty good... pulled about 35mbps down near Lynnhaven mall yesterday.

T-Mobile also "launched" HSPA1900 coverage in SHR a few weeks back. Its footprint too however is rather limited. Speeds are good though, about 9mbps down if you are where you can get a UMTS1900 signal.

You correctly listed the SMR 800 MHz uplink/downlink pairings earlier in the thread.

 

AJ

Is it though? Didn't Sprint go through "rebranding" in the past seven or so years and now their band is 814-824Mhz?