Galaxy S3 carrier differences?
I'm currently on Tmobile but thinking of switching to Simple Mobile. I've been Googling to try and figure out which variants can do 4G on which carriers. Here's what I'm confused about:
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I see a lot of listings saying the international S3 supports 2100 but not 1700 frequency. Does that mean it won't be able to do Tmobile's 4G when it's made available? Tmobile's 4G will require "1700/2100" but I don't know if that means my phone needs both or just one.
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Simple Mobile also says they need 1700/2100 for 4G, but they use a mix of AT&T and Tmobile towers. Which would make me think that AT&T must also be using 1700/2100 for their 4G -- suggesting I could buy the AT&T S3 and use it on Tmobile but I read elsewhere that getting HSPA+ (Tmobile's 3G right?) on the AT&T S3 "may require some hacking."
Basically, I'd prefer to get the international quad core S3 with the better GPU, but not if it means giving up 4G in the states. If I can get 4G with the international S3 on either Tmobile or Simple Mobile I'd be happy. If that doesn't work out though, the AT&T S3 is available now but the Tmobile one isn't yet, so I'd think about getting it, but I'm unsure if it can do 4G on either Simple Mobile or Tmobile.
Confused newb, halp?
Posted Jun 21, 2012, 12:04 AM UTC
International doesn't do AWS/1700mhz. You will NEED the T-Mobile SGSIII and not the AT&T one as that doesn't have AWS but instead LTE
Simple mobile doesn't actually jump between AT&T and T-Mobile towers, when you sign up they will ask you which network you want to use and issue you a sim card that can only be used for that network.
AT&T actually uses 850mhz @ 14/21mbit (HSPA+) and 1900mhz (3G) for their network while T-Mobile is 1700mhz @ 42mbit (HSPA+) and I think 2100mhz for 3G. Word is T-Mobile is going to be using 1900mhz for 3G too soon.
BTW 42mbit HSPA+ is marketed as 4G on T-Mobile and LTE is AT&T's 4G, Totally different tech
If you want decent speed and device then get the International SGSIII and go on Simple Mobile/Straight talk using the AT&T HSPA+ 14/21mbit network. Otherwise get the T-Mobile SGSIII and use a sim for T-Mobile on the "faster" rated network of T-Mobile. From what I gather T-Mobile's AWS/42mbit network isn't that much faster then AT&T's 14/21mbit network due to coverage area and congestion.
I have no clue about this stuff and it seems like you do. If I buy the At&t version of the S3 will I be able to use it on t mobile?
yes but no 3G or 4G.
Just work out which network you want and then figure out the device
To work on T-Mobile you must get a T-Mobile AWS device, To work on AT&T you can use a SGSIII international but there's no LTE on them but you do get a device with faster GPU and quadcore. The AT&T SGSIII isn't bad even if it's dual core as performance for CPU is around the same while the GPU is around 50% lower then the one in the SGSIII International but I'm guessing LTE will kill your battery as is the case with every other LTE device out there
I'm currently with ATT now and will be with them until sometime in November. I'm most likely going to switch over to T-mobile then. I wanted to pick up the S3 now for ATT and then hopefully use it on T mobile when the time comes.
That's the best solution but be careful of contracts , Who knows the next Nexus phone coming out in Nov/Dec might be awesome , better then the SGSIII and might head T-Mobile (They have good history with Google devices), Who knows...
I recommend you just buy the phone SGSIII outright so you can keep unlimited data (Is it AT&T that's doing that?) and also you can sell it easily if you so wish without telco blocking/locking it as it's not a contracted phone, Great if the next Nexus does turn out to be a better device (which I doubt)
Yes, The AT&T version will get 3G on T-Mobile, if you do one or both of the following :
Unlock the device + radio (to get at AWS Tmobile 3G, available today)
Or, wait 6 to 9 months (to get at PCS Tmobile 3G, coming soon)
This is true out of the box, but not strictly true from the hardware side.
The AT&T model supports T-Mobile HSPA network (up to 21+ mbps, it was conceived when AT&T was still trying to buy T-Mobile, similar to the Skyrocket and the Galaxy Note, which also support T-Mobile bands)
The T-Mobile version supports their own 3G (up to 42+ Mbps) and also fully supports AT&T network, including 3G on 850 (just like T-Mobiles HTC Amaze does), because T-Mobile has a "3G" roaming agreement with AT&T.
And T-Mobile is adding 3G to their PCS spectrum this year, so if you buy a international model and throw a T-Mobile sim in it, you will (eventually) get 3G on it
The trick however, for the above phones, is you need to unlock the sim and (i believe) the radio to use them on the other network. If your not comfortable swimming through the XDA forums, you should just stick to the device native to your service. (TMobile is usually better in any urban environment, AT&T is usually better in suburban and rural areas)
If you are hackerly minded however, the hardware for both models supports most-to-all of the others networks.
So Tmobile's site today starting listing the S3, and guess what? It lists the exact same frequencies as the international version! 1900 is there but 1700 is not. Copy and paste from their description: "850 MHz;900 MHz;1800 MHz;1900 MHz;UMTS: Band I (2100);UMTS: Band IV (AWS);UMTS: Band V (850)"
So does that mean they've finished converting all their 3G/"4G" to 1900Mhz and the international would work? Or does that 'AWS' implicitly mean 1700/2100?
Man, I don't know. It's early in the morning and I havn't had my smoke yet.
Actually 1700mhz IS there, It's the Band IV AWS
You will still need it if on T-Mobile
But look closer at them specs it's now a global phone except it uses 850mhz umts while the world mostly use 900mhz umts but at least you will get 3G as that's 2100mhz. IF anything you can now use it on AT&T perfectly without LTE
What does 14/21mbit mean? Is 14mbit the '3G' speed and 21mbit the '4G' speed? Also, what is AWS?
AWS = 1700mhz/2100mhz system T-Mobile uses, They are 1 of 9 telcos in the world that does , bad thing imho as you need to hunt down phones and you won't be able to buy them from Asia or Europe
14/21mbit = either 14mbit or 21mbit depending if your phone supports it, Not all phones do 21mbit HSPA+ nor do networks. 14mbit is the most commonly used in the world while 21mbit is rather rare and I think AT&T is one of the few.
How can I tell if the SGSIII international would get 14mbit or 21mbit out of AT&T's network? Is 21mbit 3G or 4G?
Also, Simple Mobile says their 4G specifically uses 1700/2100, so maybe you're limited to picking Tmobile with them if you ask for the 4G plan?
The SGSIII supports 21mbit but will downgrade itself if the network doesn't support it, common sense.
HSPA+ is considered 3G (Really 3.75G) outside of the U.S but it's marketed as 4G other there. HSPA+/Wimax and LTE are all marketed as 4G in the U.S to confuse the consumers into thinking their telcos all have 4G, but in reality none of them are true 4G networks as LTE Advanced and Wimax2 (pretty much dead) are the REAL as 4G. The U.S telcos even got the the ITU standards board to call HSPA+/Wimax and LTE 4G
And yes anything to do with 1700mhz is T-Mobile AWS devices only.
It doesn't matter which the international S3 supports on HSPA, since ATT only uses the older 14.4 HSPA anyway. Whatever the international supports will be "downgraded" to 14.4 when your using it on AT&T. (they aren't upgrading HSPA anymore, as they're trying to switch to LTE)