What are Bands? And which do you want?

[ColbyJvonBrown]

OK, so I'm totally new to this I recently bought a Kyocera Hydro Icon on Boost Mobile and it says 3G,4G LTE, and Enhanced LTE compatible. So what does that mean? And why does it have a Sim card? Also what are the best Bands on Sprint? I also called to activate it and talked to a Boost Mobile rep and they said I should have enhanced LTE by March, is that good? Finally do I have to enable any settings to get Bands 25, 26, and 41? It says I'm on Band 26 and look at my bars, if you want you can check my coverage area of 71730 on Sprint or Boost. Here are some screen shots of a set of hidden menus I read about on XDA Developers. Hope this explains everything and feel free to ask me questions! Thanks for the Help!!☺

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[Rukbat]

OK, so I'm totally new to this I recently bought a Kyocera Hydro Icon on Boost Mobile and it says 3G,4G LTE, and Enhanced LTE compatible. So what does that mean?

It means that it has radio firmware that can receive 3rd generation data transmission, 4th generation Long Term Evolution transmission and 4th generation Enhanced Long Term Evolution transmissions. (That's kind of like saying AM and FM. They're technologies.)

And why does it have a Sim card?

SIM = Subscriber Identity Module - it identifies the phone to the network. If you put that SIM card into another phone, you'll still be using your number and your account.

Also what are the best Bands on Sprint?

That's like asking which are the best channels on TV. Sprint uses bands 25. 26 and 41. so those are the best bands to have for Sprint.

I also called to activate it and talked to a Boost Mobile rep and they said I should have enhanced LTE by March, is that good?

High speed internet on a phone is sales hype. The internet runs about 2mbps. You can probably download 3 or 4 files at once on a phone, maximum - that means a maximum bandwidth of 8mbps. Anything more is bragging rights - you'll never get to actually use it aside from when you run a speed test or download something from a server very close to your carrier's internet gateway. A 150mbps download? Not while I'm alive, and depending on your age, maybe not while you're alive. Not unless you're on wifi, downloading from a very fast computer connected to the same router.

Finally do I have to enable any settings to get Bands 25, 26, and 41? It says I'm on Band 26

That means that you're on 4G LTE data and Sprint is using Band 26 in that market (or at least, on that tower). You don't have to change anything - those are the bands that the phone works on if it's designed to run on the Sprint network.

 

[ColbyJvonBrown]

It means that it has radio firmware that can receive 3rd generation data transmission, 4th generation Long Term Evolution transmission and 4th generation Enhanced Long Term Evolution transmissions. (That's kind of like saying AM and FM. They're technologies.)

SIM = Subscriber Identity Module - it identifies the phone to the network. If you put that SIM card into another phone, you'll still be using your number and your account.

That's like asking which are the best channels on TV. Sprint uses bands 25. 26 and 41. so those are the best bands to have for Sprint.

High speed internet on a phone is sales hype. The internet runs about 2mbps. You can probably download 3 or 4 files at once on a phone, maximum - that means a maximum bandwidth of 8mbps. Anything more is bragging rights - you'll never get to actually use it aside from when you run a speed test or download something from a server very close to your carrier's internet gateway. A 150mbps download? Not while I'm alive, and depending on your age, maybe not while you're alive. Not unless you're on wifi, downloading from a very fast computer connected to the same router.

That means that you're on 4G LTE data and Sprint is using Band 26 in that market (or at least, on that tower). You don't have to change anything - those are the bands that the phone works on if it's designed to run on the Sprint network.

Thanks that cleared that up!! I think I'm starting to understand. But some people complained that they wanted band 25, 26, or 41 so that basically means they want LTE. And I guess the tower closets to me uses Band 26?

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[ColbyJvonBrown]

Here's the closest tower tower to the right of the map, it only a few blocks from me. The red marker is not where I live.

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[VW Maverick]

This app will tell you what band you are on and lots of other great info.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...d=com.blueline.signalchecklite&token=1z2FEsLu

Mav.

Sent from my Sprint Tri-Band Nexus 6

 

[ColbyJvonBrown]

Thanks Mav!!! OK, so this is what I got. Where is the band info? Do I have to buy pro?

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[conquereddroiduser]

Thanks Mav!!! OK, so this is what I got. Where is the band info? Do I have to buy pro?

Posted via the Android Central App

You should get band info in scp lite when available. It will show up in the provider line when applicable. With that said, pro is well worth the investment and let's you do things like putting the band in your status bar.

If you're not seeing any band info in the provider line, you are almost assuredly on band 25. That's the standard LTE band sprint has for the basic backbone of their network. It maxes out around 30mb, but you will rarely see that due to singal strength and overloaded towers.

Band 26 has the same capacity of band 25 but reaches further due to being a lower frequency.

Band 41 is the capacity band, and can reach speeds over 80mb. It comes in two flavors, sprint and clearwire. Sprint b41 goes on existing sprint towers while clearwire b41 is a separate network of towers that used to run wimax. Both are usually nice and speedy.

Are you in a spark deployed area? That's sprints way saying if band 41 deployed area (to some degree anyway)

 

[VW Maverick]

Sorry for my delay.
The Atlanta metro area is a Spark Market.
Here is what I got yesterday at my work in Norcross, GA:

You can see it shows "B41" which is, of course, Band 41 LTE.
Not a great signal yet, but it has been building up for several months.
Great things are in store from Sprint.

Mav.

Sent from my Sprint Tri-Band Nexus 6.

 

[ColbyJvonBrown]

You should get band info in scp lite when available. It will show up in the provider line when applicable. With that said, pro is well worth the investment and let's you do things like putting the band in your status bar.

If you're not seeing any band info in the provider line, you are almost assuredly on band 25. That's the standard LTE band sprint has for the basic backbone of their network. It maxes out around 30mb, but you will rarely see that due to singal strength and overloaded towers.

Band 26 has the same capacity of band 25 but reaches further due to being a lower frequency.

Band 41 is the capacity band, and can reach speeds over 80mb. It comes in two flavors, sprint and clearwire. Sprint b41 goes on existing sprint towers while clearwire b41 is a separate network of towers that used to run wimax. Both are usually nice and speedy.

Are you in a spark deployed area? That's sprints way saying if band 41 deployed area (to some degree anyway)

Supposedly I'm supposed to get band 41 Sprint Spark in about 2 months, so say about March. I've called Boost and that's what they said so maybe I should try Sprint just to be sure.

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[JossMan411]

OK, so I'm totally new to this I recently bought a Kyocera Hydro Icon on Boost Mobile and it says 3G,4G LTE, and Enhanced LTE compatible. So what does that mean? And why does it have a Sim card? Also what are the best Bands on Sprint? I also called to activate it and talked to a Boost Mobile rep and they said I should have enhanced LTE by March, is that good? Finally do I have to enable any settings to get Bands 25, 26, and 41? It says I'm on Band 26 and look at my bars, if you want you can check my coverage area of 71730 on Sprint or Boost. Here are some screen shots of a set of hidden menus I read about on XDA Developers. Hope this explains everything and feel free to ask me questions! Thanks for the Help!!☺

Ok, first "enhanced LTE" is the fancy term for Sprint's Spark LTE network which utilizes three LTE bands which are as follows: 25, 26, and 41. A lot of people believe that Spark is only for Band 41, it's not, to be considered "Spark" two LTE bands must be deployed in your market.

Second, the SIM card is for LTE ONLY, without the SIM card in place you will not be able to latch on to a LTE signal. The reason the SIM card is used is because LTE is considered a GSM technology, not CDMA. If LTE wasn't recognized as the 4th generation in cellular technology and instead WiMAX was we wouldn't be using SIM cards we would be using MAC addresses instead, but that is not the case.

Which band is the best, well that is going to differ from user to user and each users experience on either of the three bands will be different. Band 25 is situated in the G Block of 1900MHz PCS, this is Sprint's initial LTE band and it being rolled out nationwide on 5MHz downlink and 5MHz uplink with a theoretical peak rate of 38Mbps. Band 26 is situated in the 800MHz SMR (Specialized Mobile Radio) band, this band is more robust than 1900MHz PCS and will travel and penetrate obstructions much better. Depending on where you live LTE 800 is deployed on either 3MHz downlink and 3MHz uplink or 5MHz downlink and 5MHz uplink with theoretical peak rates between 21.6 - 38Mbps. Now Band 41 is where things get interesting it sits in the 2600MHz BRS (Broadband Radio System) its getting deployed on large 20MHz careers with new 8T8R radios this band is where Sprint wants most of its customers to stay on if you can latch onto it, it will provide the best data experience for the end user.

Here is a little Band 41 taste.