Nokia 8.1 - TA-1119 - No 4G on T-Mobile in USA

[kp_auburn]

Having a tough time connecting this phone to 4G on T-Mobile. Phone was purchased new on ebay and it came from Vietnam. All the settings seem correct including the API. The phone only connects in 3G or slower. I'm looking for suggestions on what settings I may need to change to get things to work or if it's even possible to connect it to the T-Mobile 4G network. From what I read the 4G LTE connection should happen on band 5.

Big thanks in advance.

Kris

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

Hi Auburn. Have you checked the bands in your area and if the phone you have bought will use those bands. Most of the cellular coverage issues and data issues occur due to lack of physical support for the local bands.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! This assumes that T-Mobile uses band 5 in your area -- maybe it doesn't. Call T-Mobile's customer service line and ask them if they can tell you which bands are predominant in your area. Bands 2, 4, 12, and 71 have generally been the backbone for T-Mobile's network.

 

[kp_auburn]

Thank you both for the response. T-Mobile customer support confirmed that bands 2, 12 and 71 are predominant in my area. I was also able to confirm this with the LTE Discovery app (from Google Playstore) which displayed bands 2, 4 and 12. Band 5 is nowhere to be found. According to www.phonemore.com website this Nokia model supports LTE Bands 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 20, 28. Do you know if these bands can be changed on the phone itself either by changing settings, unlocking or rooting it or am I just stuck with the bands this phone supports out of the box?

 

[B. Diddy]

Sorry, but band support is baked into the hardware.

 

[kp_auburn]

I feared that this may be the case.
Thank you.