LG V20 VS995 in the UK?

[Ferg8080]

I'm in the UK and about to buy a LG V20 VS995 from Hong Kong off of Ebay. Pretty sure I've checked the available frequencies here especially the 800 & 900MHz bands as these are the ones which travel the furthest and are able to penetrate buildings better than the higher frequencies. I've attached a table of the main UK networks and what bands they use. So can anyone let me know I've got this right before I purchase. Many thanks

 

[Stransky]

Hi
I am in the UK also and currently using O2 with no problems. I have also used an EE SIM again with no problems. The only thing you need to be aware that the VS995 will not pick up the SIM APNs automatically, at least that is what I found, so you will need to find the APN for whichever network you use. There are off-line APN finders you can find via Google. Hope this is of some help.


Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk

 

[rikstar555]

I'm in the UK and about to buy a LG V20 VS995 from Hong Kong off of Ebay. Pretty sure I've checked the available frequencies here especially the 800 & 900MHz bands as these are the ones which travel the furthest and are able to penetrate buildings better than the higher frequencies. I've attached a table of the main UK networks and what bands they use. So can anyone let me know I've got this right before I purchase. Many thanks

Hi, the LG V20 VS995 doesn't support ALL the bands used in the UK. It doesn't support one of the LTE bands used by Vodafone - the 2100Mhz band. So if you're on the Vodafone network, you may find that 4G/LTE speeds might be slightly slower.
I got all of this information from frequencycheck.com and it's usually where I get all my information on the bands that smartphones support.

The best option if you want to get a V20 that supports ALL bands in the UK (at this current time), is the LG V20 H990DS (Taiwanese Version).
That is the variant that I own and it supports every single band used in the UK.
The only other variant that supports all bands is the LG V20 H990N (Hong Kong version), but it only has Cat6 capability as opposed to the H990DS's Cat12 capability. Therefore, the maximum speed you'll be able to get is 300Mbp/s on the H990N - whereas on the H990DS you can get up to 600Mbp/s.
I got this information from techwalls.com/lg-v20-model-numbers-differences/

I hope that helped.

 

[Ferg8080]

Hi, the LG V20 VS995 doesn't support ALL the bands used in the UK. It doesn't support one of the LTE bands used by Vodafone - the 2100Mhz band. So if you're on the Vodafone network, you may find that 4G/LTE speeds might be slightly slower.
I got all of this information from frequencycheck.com and it's usually where I get all my information on the bands that smartphones support.

The best option if you want to get a V20 that supports ALL bands in the UK (at this current time), is the LG V20 H990DS (Taiwanese Version).
That is the variant that I own and it supports every single band used in the UK.
The only other variant that supports all bands is the LG V20 H990N (Hong Kong version), but it only has Cat6 capability as opposed to the H990DS's Cat12 capability. Therefore, the maximum speed you'll be able to get is 300Mbp/s on the H990N - whereas on the H990DS you can get up to 600Mbp/s.
I got this information from techwalls.com/lg-v20-model-numbers-differences/

I hope that helped.

I'm not really sure that's true according to gsmarena it does support band 4(1700/2100) admittedly that's not the same as 1(2100). I'm sorry but in my ignorance I don't know . Maybe someone who is more enlightened could tell us what the difference is. See here.

Also the bit about the Cat 6, 9, 12 with LTE does not really bother me. For the VS995 it's LTE-A (3CA) Cat12 600/150 Mbps but for the H990N it's LTE-A (2CA) Cat6 300/50 Mbps. Now I ask you is anyone on this planet going to realistically even touch or even dream of a download speed of 300Mbps on a mobile network. I'm not even remotely getting this on my home fibre and we're watching UHD movies!!

 

[Ferg8080]

Did find this

LTE Band 1: This is one of the paired bands that was defined for the 3G UTRA and 3GPP rel 99.
LTE Band 4: This LTE band was introduced as a new band for the Americas at the World (Administrative) Radio Conference, WRC-2000. This international conference is where international spectrum allocations are agreed. The downlink of band 4 overlaps with the downlink for Band 1. This facilitates roaming.

I guess I'll soon find out, not sure how though

 

[rikstar555]

Did find this

LTE Band 1: This is one of the paired bands that was defined for the 3G UTRA and 3GPP rel 99.
LTE Band 4: This LTE band was introduced as a new band for the Americas at the World (Administrative) Radio Conference, WRC-2000. This international conference is where international spectrum allocations are agreed. The downlink of band 4 overlaps with the downlink for Band 1. This facilitates roaming.

I guess I'll soon find out, not sure how though

To be on the safe side, I would just go for the H990N or H990DS. You also don't get the horrible, disgusting Verizon watermarks and logos (software and hardware) if you go with either of the H990 variants. But if you're not going to be using Vodafone, it doesn't really matter - because Vodafone is currently the only UK network that uses B1(2100) for 4G/LTE. Have you already ordered the phone?

 

[lukem99626]

i have a h990n in the uk all networks with full 4g

 

[patato21]

Don't buy CDMA phones for use on GSM carriers, or phones not specific to your region! Though nearly all CDMA phones from Sprint and Verizon in the USA support GSM protocols like 2G: GSM, 3G: UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+, and some LTE bands, they are not always accessible. VS995 doesn't support Vodafone UK's LTE B1. I ran into problems with invalid sims and poor coverage because not all bands were unlocked by Verizon. If you want a V20 save the hassle and buy a GSM unlocked V20: US996, H990, H910 (won't get OTA, so flash H915 KDZ), H915, H918.

More info: https://www.frequencycheck.com/countries/united-kingdom

 

[Ferg8080]

Don't buy CDMA phones for use on GSM carriers, or phones not specific to your region! Though nearly all CDMA phones from Sprint and Verizon in the USA support GSM protocols like 2G: GSM, 3G: UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+, and some LTE bands, they are not always accessible. VS995 doesn't support Vodafone UK's LTE B1. I ran into problems with invalid sims and poor coverage because not all bands were unlocked by Verizon. If you want a V20 save the hassle and buy a GSM unlocked V20: US996, H990, H910 (won't get OTA, so flash H915 KDZ), H915, H918.

More info: https://www.frequencycheck.com/countries/united-kingdom

Had a look at the above link and have got the following compatibility
GSM: 2G, 2.5G 100% (2/2)
UMTS: 3G, 3.5G, 3.5G (4G speed) 100% (2/2)
LTE: 4G 75% (3/4)

So I'm chuffed especially after reading this concerning the band/frequency I'm missing...

2.6GHz frequency band
The 2.6GHz band is the other frequency which was auctioned by Ofcom and it’s essentially the opposite of the 800MHz band. So it’s not great at travelling over long distances, meaning that masts need to be closer together to deliver reliable coverage and as such it’s not so suited to rural areas.
It’s also not all that adept at penetrating walls so indoor signal on the 2.6GHz band won’t always be perfect.
But on the other hand with 35MHz blocks available it has a high capacity. So it can cope with thousands of simultaneous connections, which in that sense makes it a good fit for cities and other busy areas.

I ordered the phone and hope to get it in the next couple of weeks and I will post back my experiences. I ended up getting it at a good price too

 

[Ferg8080]

Hi
I am in the UK also and currently using O2 with no problems. I have also used an EE SIM again with no problems. The only thing you need to be aware that the VS995 will not pick up the SIM APNs automatically, at least that is what I found, so you will need to find the APN for whichever network you use. There are off-line APN finders you can find via Google. Hope this is of some help.


Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk

Out of curiousity were you able to update from Nougat to Oreo? I had a quick preliminary look and didn't see any straightforward method via official channels.

 

[Stransky]

Out of curiousity were you able to update from Nougat to Oreo? I had a quick preliminary look and didn't see any straightforward method via official channels.

No, very few American V20 users have been able to update to Oreo as the providers have not released Oreo for the phone. To keep ahead with security updates I use a custom Rom on my V20 (Alpha Rom ) but you need to have the Bootloader unlocked and the phone rooted to use it. Hope this offers some clarity.

Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk

 

[Ferg8080]

No, very few American V20 users have been able to update to Oreo as the providers have not released Oreo for the phone. To keep ahead with security updates I use a custom Rom on my V20 (Alpha Rom ) but you need to have the Bootloader unlocked and the phone rooted to use it. Hope this offers some clarity.

Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk

Will probably stick with the stock ROM for a while until I'm settled in with the phone. Has choosing the Alpha rom negatively affected the performance of the camera or sound quality at all?

Some of the reasons for getting this phone is the renowned DAC and the camera esp in manual mode (apparently auto could be disappointing).

 

[Stransky]

Will probably stick with the stock ROM for a while until I'm settled in with the phone. Has choosing the Alpha rom negatively affected the performance of the camera or sound quality at all?

Some of the reasons for getting this phone is the renowned DAC and the camera esp in manual mode (apparently auto could be disappointing).

No negative affects. Alpha Rom is actually based on the last stock Rom from Verizon with some modifications.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

 

[Ferg8080]

No negative affects. Alpha Rom is actually based on the last stock Rom from Verizon with some modifications.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

Okay thanks for all your help. I'm expecting to get my phone sometime before Christmas

Just looked at the delivery estimate and it was anywhere between Sept 4th and October??th and it was ordered about 10 days ago. I guess it's to be expected coming from Hong Kong.

:good:

 

[Ferg8080]

No, very few American V20 users have been able to update to Oreo as the providers have not released Oreo for the phone. To keep ahead with security updates I use a custom Rom on my V20 (Alpha Rom ) but you need to have the Bootloader unlocked and the phone rooted to use it. Hope this offers some clarity.

Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk

Well picked up my new V20 VS995 today and before I launch myself head long into customising it I've posted some questions in the main thread here I would really appreciate any help you might be able to give. I was going to post it here but I thought that would be unfair to load you with a barrage of questions.
The whole process seems so much more complicated than with my Note 4 and I there is a lot less handholding esp with the AΩ ROM'S initial post. For a relative novice it seems an absolute minefield.