LTE Networks and phone choices

[sjrobinson]

I have an unlocked HTC Vivid but the screen broke a while ago, I replaced it but I've had to replace the screen several times because after a while the screen would start to go- not responding to touch or acting like I'm touching it when I'm not. Thats another subject. If anyone is interested I will be selling this phone for repair... So at this point I want to just get a new phone.

With the vivid I was able to figure out that I could get it to run T Mobiles LTE network since it can operate on the 1700 frequency. But its only in certain spots with really good signal. And I had to modify some settings like the APN from what the Tmobile tech originally set.

I'm looking at the Samsung Optimus G E970
Optimus G by LG

I see that it does operate on the 1700 frequency as well. But it is originally for At&t just like the Vivid.

What do I look for in the specs to know if I will get better data from a phone?

I'm imagine T Mobile phones do much better on their own network but what makes them different from other GSM phones with the same frequency?


Thanks

 

[zedorda]

I have an unlocked HTC Vivid but the screen broke a while ago, I replaced it but I've had to replace the screen several times because after a while the screen would start to go- not responding to touch or acting like I'm touching it when I'm not. Thats another subject. If anyone is interested I will be selling this phone for repair... So at this point I want to just get a new phone.

With the vivid I was able to figure out that I could get it to run T Mobiles LTE network since it can operate on the 1700 frequency. But its only in certain spots with really good signal. And I had to modify some settings like the APN from what the Tmobile tech originally set.

I'm looking at the Samsung Optimus G E970
Optimus G by LG

I see that it does operate on the 1700 frequency as well. But it is originally for At&t just like the Vivid.

What do I look for in the specs to know if I will get better data from a phone?

I'm imagine T Mobile phones do much better on their own network but what makes them different from other GSM phones with the same frequency?


Thanks

Best way to find out if it gets better data is make sure the conuter valves are in sync. Samsung Optimus G is known for having very bad conuter valves.

 

[sjrobinson]

I will google this but I'm a beginner to phone software and hardware. What do you mean exactly?

 

[Rukbat]

What do I look for in the specs to know if I will get better data from a phone?

You don't, you look at the network and the location. Regardless of which phone you have and which network you're on, there are going to be some places that you get poor or no coverage. There's no carrier that covers every square inch of the country (regardless of what their commercials want you to think). Find someone with a T-Mobile phone, someone with a Verizon phone and someone with an AT&T phone and see what data coverage is like in the areas in which YOU want coverage. That's the first decision to make in choosing a cellular phone - which carrier is best for you.

Then decide on a phone. Most phones for AT&T and T-Mobile of the same model are the same (with the glaring exception of the Note3).

I'm imagine T Mobile phones do much better on their own network but what makes them different from other GSM phones with the same frequency?

Nothing really. It's the receiver and antenna that make the difference, not the branding on the case that makes the difference.

It sounds to me as if you;re right on the edge of T-Mobile's LTE coverage and no phone is going to do that well for you on T-Mobile. Check AT&T and Verizon (with actual phones, not by looking at their make-believe coverage maps) to see which one gives you the best (most consistent, fastest, whatever you consider "best") data coverage where you need it.

Once you're down to a few phones, read the reviews of those phones and see if there are any legitimate gripes about them. (I ignore rants that basically sound like "I have no idea how to use a cellphone and I have no intention of learning how to - I want the phone to do it all for me". Even after more than 60 years in the electronics communications business, I still read the manuals. Sometimes the people who write them actually know the device better than I do.)

Then it's a crap shoot, but at least it's an informed one. But choosing the phone first is definitely not the right way to go. Before I moved I had great service. If I hadn't changed carriers after I moved, I would have had to build a phone booth on my roof, because that was the only place I had a signal in this house.