3G in the USA

[JDMBIKE]

Has any been able to get 3G to work in the USA yet?

thank you,
jdm

[bigflavor]

I would say that it is imminent that the US version of the S730 (http://www.pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=1045) will be released soon. AT&T or T-Mobile may pick it up (T-Mobile's 3G network in NYC just went live, but there are no phones). If so, I would suspect that some of these crafty folks (like Alcaline) would be able to extract the radio ROM, and make it available for the S730 that we all have (the european version).

But, here's the most important part... It all depends on whether or not the European version of the S730 has the radio chipsets that will support 3G on the frequencies that are 3G in the US. There is no known answer "available" to this, so it can only be discovered by testing.

[10332007]

The current S730 uses the 2100 band for 3G speeds and ATT is deploying 3g on 1900 and 850 I believe and they sell a decent ammount of 3g phones. T-Mobile is working on setting one up on the 1700/2100 band but I dont care for T-Mobile.

I have watched my phone at times flip into 3G mode for a few minutes then revert back to Edge, its trying but cant work properly without the right frequencies.

[bigflavor]

Check out the chipset datasheet (http://web20.telecomtv.com/docdownload.aspx?fileid=f7e62028-1ab4-490d-8adb-dfc93628f845/MSM7200_Chipset.pdf&id=395). Bottom of page three explains the specific radio chipset combos and their support for different freqs.

I suppose, to save on manufacturing costs, they could have used the single chipset that supports 3G on all freqs (RTR 6285), but I believe this is unlikely due to the difference in model number that was submitted to the FCC (European version: WING220, US version: WING200).

Who knows though. :)

[niloodn]

Hermes models had different model #'s HERM100, HERM200 and had the same radios, in some cases minor difference such as case style, i.e removal of video calling camera etc. With any luck we have the RFR6500 + RTR6275 Combo, or as you mentioned the RTR6285 and just not a radio rom that allows 1900+850 3G. I was looking on the FCC site and they have some interesting screen shots, one of which shows one(s730) with what appears to be the front camera covered up and another which shows a radio rom(R 0.27.03.05B), one that, to do the tests would likely need to support 1900+850. Check Page 250 / 11 in the PDF. However, also in the test is the lack of any mention of 2100 Mhz test, which would suggest that either the US 3G Radio won't support 2100Mhz or that it indeed has different hardware that won't support 2100Mhz. At any rate it would be interesting to know if anyone has tried to flash one of the pre-prod roms for the wing 200 onto the wing220 and see if they are able to connect up to 1900+850 3G.

http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/forms/blobs/retrieve.cgi?attachment_id=890469&native_or_pdf=pdf

I suppose only time will tell.

[bigflavor]

Wow... nice investigative work. Very interesting. I'll start hunting around for the ROM.

[edit]
Searched google and, my favorite, napalm (http://search.ftphost.net/indexer/search.aspx) with no luck. :( I wonder if we can lure an FCC testing engineer into the XDA-dev realm. muahahaha

[niloodn]

I was searching some of the other posts, and it appears that most of the pre-prod radio rom testing had been focused on GPS functionality. Has anyone been able to throw on any of the pre-prod radios with an ATT SIM and tested to see if it can connect to WCDMA -> US Band (1900+850) ??

[Alcaline]

I have no possibility to check the 3G in the USA from my location in Norway.

But just to get this clear, because I have changed my Radio more often then most people change their underweare.
Is everybody able to select WCDMA and then US Band in the settings?

I dont know if this is selectable on all devices or if this is made available after my radio flahings.

[niloodn]

I believe all S730's have the following options available.

Network Type:
Auto
GSM
WCDMA

Band Type:
Auto
US Band
Euro Band
Japan Band

For it to actually be able to operate on all of these frequencies I believe it would need to use the the RTR6285 chipset as the other 2 combos would not support all of the different frequencies combinations.
US Band -> GSM 850+1900 / UMTS 850+1900 (ATT)
Euro Band -> GSM 900+1800 / UMTS 2100
Japan Band -> UMTS 2100+800 (not positive on this one)

If I change band to from Auto -> WCDMA I do not get an error but no 3G Icon and all calls fail. If I then go and change to US Band while having WCDMA selected it indicates that it cannot change to that GSM/UMTS Band. Also interesting, If I stay on WCDMA and select Euro Band, no error, but of course all calls fail. I then tried to change to Japan Band, no error and no phone calls. Finally I am still on WCDMA and I switch to US Band and I get the error that indicates I cannot change to that band. So, I would be interested to know Alcaline if you see the same behavior on some of the other radios you have been trying to see they allow the switch to WCDMA / US Band combo.

Thanks

[niloodn]

Can anyone else confirm this behavior on any of the other Radios out there?

[10332007]

I have no possibility to check the 3G in the USA from my location in Norway.

But just to get this clear, because I have changed my Radio more often then most people change their underweare.
Is everybody able to select WCDMA and then US Band in the settings?

I dont know if this is selectable on all devices or if this is made available after my radio flahings.

I have the ability to tell my phone I am in the states, but it does nothing (default settings though)

[vp3G]

Was the US version (WING200) of this phone ever released? Or has anyone gotten the EU version to work on any US 3G networks? Wondering about T-Mobile... :confused: