Questions About 3G Frequencies

[t_muraoka]

I'm looking at getting a Samsung Galaxy S2 and this is the first time I'm thinking about 3G.

AFAICT, the S2 is a quad-band phone that works on the 850/900/1900/2100 frequencies, but everyone in the shops is telling me that I need to get a phone that will work on my carrier since (according to one shopkeeper), Samsung is shipping units that only work on 850/1900/2100 (for True) or 900/1900/2100 (for AIS).

(*) Is there any real reason for doing this other than to segment the market?

(*) If I get a unit from True, will it be locked to them in any other way i.e. if DTAC ever get their 3G up and running (supposedly on 850), will the phone Just Work on their network?

(*) If I get a unit from overseas that hasn't been crippled like this, will it Just Work across all networks?

(*) One shopkeeper told me that it would be possible to "fix" a phone to work on all 4 bands but it would void the warranty. I'm guessing he was talking about rooting the device and installing a new ROM? I'm capable of doing that but I'd rather not unless I absolutely have to.

(*) There are reports that bands can be re-enabled via an engineering menu but I've also seen claims that some units are being shipped with receivers that can't handle all 4 bands i.e. no software fix. Anyone know anything about this?

I'm currently with DTAC but thinking about switching to True for their unlimited 3G Android plan.

[jackbox]

The S2 is supposed to be a quadband 3G phone (850, 900, 1900 2100) phone. In the past most phones with 3G were dual or triband and you had to buy a phone to target the frequency of your carrier. This is the case all over the world. For example, in the USA AT&T devices cannot get 3G on T-Mobile's network and vice versa. The S2 will get 3G with all carriers in Thailand (except Hutch which is CDMA) that offer 3G services. AIS is 900, DTAC and True are 850 and TOT3G is 2100. You can check it out yourself on Samsung's Thailand website. If Samsung is turning off one 3G band in the ROM that would make no sense. The frequencies are normally listed on the box. Ask the guy to let you see one. If you do have to select a frequency go for 850 support (DTAC and True) over 900 (AIS). Both versions, if two really exist, will work on TOT3G.

http://www.samsung.com/th/consumer/mobile-devices/smartphone/android-os/GT-I9100LKTTHL/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=specification

All phones sold in Thailand are sold carrier unlocked. If you change carriers simply swap your sim and you are good to go, if the phone supports that carrier's frequencies. Buying a phone from overseas will get you a lot of bloatware from the overseas carriers, and often they cripple many features of the phone. You are much better off buying locally and getting a Thai warranty.

Edited July 26, 2011 by jackbox

[lomatopo]

Since you want to use either DTAC or True then it seems straightforward, buy the i9100T as this definitely supports 850/1900/2100 Mhz 3G and both DTAC and True operate on 850 Mhz for 3G. If you want to use AIS then buy the i9100 as it supports 900/1900/2100 Mhz 3G and AIS operates their 3G network on 900 Mhz.

The SGS2 (i9100_) has a robust baseband IC: Intel X-626 Gold which is penta-band 3G (850/900/1700/1900/2100) and quad-Band EDGE (850/900/1800/1900) capable. The questions remain:

1.) Are the i9100 and/or i9100T both 850 and 900 Mhz 3G capable out of the box?

2.) And if they are not, can they somehow be re-programmed?

Yes, I know there are service menu picks for all these bands.

Yes, I can read published specifications on websites.

You can use a Market program called "SGS Tools", and then "Secret Codes" to access the engineering service menus, or *#*#197328640#*#* (save this to your phone book)

I can enable all the bands on my SGS1/Captivate but it doesn't matter, 900 still doesn't work. (see left-most photo here).

Edited July 26, 2011 by lomatopo

[jackbox]

In another thread on this forum one member says if bands are not enabled in the ROM you can enable them by going to a special menu with the following key sequence:

You can use additional bands if they are not enabled by entering *#2263# in the keypad.

Use the left button to bring up the menu to go back/end/key input/select/help.

Another member says he bought an i9000T and all bands were enabled out of the box and he has a photo to prove it. Here is the post.

Don't know why Samsung had to apparently release different models and confuse everyone. One model in Thailand with everything enabled would have made more sense.

[t_muraoka]

Since you want to use either DTAC or True then it seems straightforward, buy the i9100T as this definitely supports 850/1900/2100 Mhz 3G and both DTAC and True operate on 850 Mhz for 3G. If you want to use AIS then buy the i9100 as it supports 900/1900/2100 Mhz 3G and AIS operates their 3G network on 900 Mhz.

This gets to the heart of my question. The S2 is advertised as a 4-band phone, why should I have to commit to using a particular carrier? Or what if I go overseas - it'd be disappointing to not be able to use 3G because of some stupid shenanigans going on in Thailand.

I'd like to buy a version of the phone that runs on all 4 bands but every vendor I've asked has said the same thing, I need to buy the correct version for my carrier. As jackbox said, it doesn't make a lot of sense to be crippling a phone like this :-/

[lomatopo]

Since you want to use either DTAC or True then it seems straightforward, buy the i9100T as this definitely supports 850/1900/2100 Mhz 3G and both DTAC and True operate on 850 Mhz for 3G. If you want to use AIS then buy the i9100 as it supports 900/1900/2100 Mhz 3G and AIS operates their 3G network on 900 Mhz.

This gets to the heart of my question. The S2 is advertised as a 4-band phone, why should I have to commit to using a particular carrier? Or what if I go overseas - it'd be disappointing to not be able to use 3G because of some stupid shenanigans going on in Thailand.

I'd like to buy a version of the phone that runs on all 4 bands but every vendor I've asked has said the same thing, I need to buy the correct version for my carrier. As jackbox said, it doesn't make a lot of sense to be crippling a phone like this :-/

I'm not sure anyone can fully allay your fears? Or satisfy your global requirements? Obviously there are different SGS2's for Korea and Japan, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon.

It's almost moot however, many 3G systems operate on 2100 Mhz so you should be fine in most locales, so just choose the best model for your Thailand requirements. AFAIK, these models are not crippled, and who knows, maybe they are quad band out of the box?

However, since you seem to have narrowed your local provider to True or DTAC then maybe just buy the i9100T as this will work with either/both and stop kvetching.

[rmacdon61]

Since you want to use either DTAC or True then it seems straightforward, buy the i9100T as this definitely supports 850/1900/2100 Mhz 3G and both DTAC and True operate on 850 Mhz for 3G. If you want to use AIS then buy the i9100 as it supports 900/1900/2100 Mhz 3G and AIS operates their 3G network on 900 Mhz.

This gets to the heart of my question. The S2 is advertised as a 4-band phone, why should I have to commit to using a particular carrier? Or what if I go overseas - it'd be disappointing to not be able to use 3G because of some stupid shenanigans going on in Thailand.

I'd like to buy a version of the phone that runs on all 4 bands but every vendor I've asked has said the same thing, I need to buy the correct version for my carrier. As jackbox said, it doesn't make a lot of sense to be crippling a phone like this :-/

I'm not sure anyone can fully allay your fears? Or satisfy your global requirements? Obviously there are different SGS2's for Korea and Japan, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon.

It's almost moot however, many 3G systems operate on 2100 Mhz so you should be fine in most locales, so just choose the best model for your Thailand requirements. AFAIK, these models are not crippled, and who knows, maybe they are quad band out of the box?

However, since you seem to have narrowed your local provider to True or DTAC then maybe just buy the i9100T as this will work with either/both and stop kvetching.

I now have the galazy II and unlock is simple and will work anywhere you have 3G carrier. I set mine for Bell Canada and DTAC. I have my DTAC simm here and phone recog it no problem after unlock. No dtac here so no function test. Will see when I get back there.

[justsumhelp]

The ais i9100 works with true out of the box. Haven't had access to an ais sim to test on the i9100T

Moderator can we please merge some of these s2 post?

Edited July 31, 2011 by justsumhelp