So I'm a bit confused about the 3G bands on the iPhone 4S....

Agent-P · Oct 5, 2011

According to the specs on gsmarena for both the MyTouch 4G (confirmed to be able to use T-Mobile's "4G" network) and for the iPhone 4S, they will both support the 2100 band for 3G. It is my understanding that T-Mobile uses the 1700 and 2100 bands. So I'm confused as to why the iPhone 4S (unlocked) won't be able to use T-Mobile's 3G network

http://www.gsmarena.com/t_mobile_mytouch_4g-3520.php
http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_4s-4212.php

DeusInvictus7 · Oct 5, 2011

I'm pretty sure T-Mobile only uses the 1700 band for 3G, the 2100 band is for 2G, so Edge and calling/texting. That's how it's been for the past few years.

AIP5 · Oct 5, 2011

I'm still confused as to what they changed about the antenna. It appears to be exactly like the Verizon CDMA iPhone 4. So is it a software thing that they did in regards to the switching thing, or is it really a hardware thing?

Agent-P · Oct 5, 2011

DeusInvictus7 said:
I'm pretty sure T-Mobile only uses the 1700 band for 3G, the 2100 band is for 2G, so Edge and calling/texting. That's how it's been for the past few years.

Then that just furthers my confusion because they list those bands for 3G and then different ones for 2G. Ugh, I guess the only way to know for sure might be to get an unlocked iPhone 4S and then drop a microsim into it an check?

EDIT: Is it possible that maybe T-Mobile phones need to utilise both the 1700 and 2100 bands to use 3G?

profets · Oct 5, 2011

Tmobile uses 850 and 1900 for 2G (It's the same for other gsm carriers in north america).

For 3G Tmobile uses UMTS Band IV also listed as AWS or 1700. (It actually uses both 1700mhz for the uplink and 2100mhz for the downlink). The important thing to look for is AWS or 1700 when you're looking at specs on a site like gsmarena.

DeusInvictus7 · Oct 5, 2011

profets said:
Tmobile uses 850 and 1900 for 2G (It's the same for other gsm carriers in north america).

For 3G Tmobile uses UMTS Band IV also listed as AWS or 1700. (It actually uses both 1700mhz for the uplink and 2100mhz for the downlink). The important thing to look for is AWS or 1700 when you're looking at specs on a site like gsmarena.

Interesting, I guess I was wrong. Thanks for the info.

Agent-P · Oct 5, 2011

profets said:
Tmobile uses 850 and 1900 for 2G (It's the same for other gsm carriers in north america).

For 3G Tmobile uses UMTS Band IV also listed as AWS or 1700. (It actually uses both 1700mhz for the uplink and 2100mhz for the downlink). The important thing to look for is AWS or 1700 when you're looking at specs on a site like gsmarena.

Okay, I understand where you're coming from and it's starting to make more sense. However I have one more question that I'm not sure you (or anyone) may have an answer for. On the specs for the HD2 (the phone I currently have) it doesn't make a mention of 1700 bands or AWS bands. Just the 850 and 2100 bands. So why is that still able to use 3G?

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_hd2-2957.php

profets · Oct 5, 2011

Agent-P said:
Okay, I understand where you're coming from and it's starting to make more sense. However I have one more question that I'm not sure you (or anyone) may have an answer for. On the specs for the HD2 (the phone I currently have) it doesn't make a mention of 1700 bands or AWS bands. Just the 850 and 2100 bands. So why is that still able to use 3G?

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_hd2-2957.php

That's because there's different versions of the HD2 for different regions. The one with 850 and 2100 for 3G sounds like it was for Australia.

Here's info for the t-mobile version, it mentions AWS and 2100
http://www.htc.com/us/products/t-mobile-hd2/#tech-specs

Agent-P · Oct 5, 2011

profets said:
That's because there's different versions of the HD2 for different regions. The one with 850 and 2100 for 3G sounds like it was for Australia.

Here's info for the t-mobile version, it mentions AWS and 2100
http://www.htc.com/us/products/t-mobile-hd2/#tech-specs

It seems that you are correct. Alright, this makes much more sense now. Thanks for the clarification

profets · Oct 5, 2011

DeusInvictus7 said:
Interesting, I guess I was wrong. Thanks for the info.

No worries

Also to note - calls/sms/data can operate on 2G or on 3G. It's not setup that 2G is for call/sms and 3G for data. In canada bell, telus, wind, mobilicity are all like this with only 3G (hspa) networks.

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Agent-P said:
It seems that you are correct. Alright, this makes much more sense now. Thanks for the clarification

No prob, happy I could help

kdarling · Oct 5, 2011

Agent-P said:
EDIT: Is it possible that maybe T-Mobile phones need to utilise both the 1700 and 2100 bands to use 3G?

Yes, I think you're right. I've heard that:

They use 1700 for their 3G uplink and 2100 for the 3G downlink.

So if a phone is missing the 1700 band, then it can only operate as 2G on T-Mobile.

Edit: Never mind. I see it's been answered.

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So I'm a bit confused about the 3G bands on the iPhone 4S....

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