Forum Discussion

memn1's avatar
memn1
Roaming Rookie
Hace 3 años

Minimum 4G LTE bands needed for all US coverage

Hola all,

 

I’m checking to see what are the latest universal 4GLTE bands needed for basic coverage in all the US.

 

Reason I'm asking is that I plan to get an international phone that works in Asia and the US.  I'm looking into a dual-sim phone.

 

For example, the Samsung A32 dual-sim phone supports these 4G LTE bands:

4G LTE B1(2100), B2(1900), B3(1800), B5(850), B7(2600), B8(900), B20(800), B28(700), B38(2600), B40(2300), B41(2500) 

 

Looking at this T-Mobile page, only bands 2 and 5 are supported by this international phone.

https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/t-mobile-network

 

Are these two 4G LTE bands (2, 5) sufficient to support voice calls in the US?

 

The next question is,

what is the fallback connection if the  4GLTE bands that a phone supports aren’t available in a specific location?

 

I also wonder if the Samsung international phone’s VoLTE is compatible with T-Mobile’s US VoLTE.

 

Gracias.

  • drnewcomb's avatar
    drnewcomb
    Fiber Fanatic
    Hace 3 años

    Band 71 would be the minimum for service everywhere T-Mobile has service. From a practical perspective, you will need bands 2, 4, 5, 12, 25, 41 & 71.

  • memn1's avatar
    memn1
    Roaming Rookie
    Hace 3 años

    3G is phased out. What’s the fallback connection if 4GLTE band 71 is needed but not on the phone?

     

     

  • drnewcomb's avatar
    drnewcomb
    Fiber Fanatic
    Hace 3 años

    Non-LTE fallback would be legacy GSM-1900. Very unsatisfactory.

  • memn1's avatar
    memn1
    Roaming Rookie
    Hace 3 años

    T-Mobile should at least keep one 3G band for fallback purpose.  Dropping from 4G all the way back to 2G is a very bad plan for fallback connection.  

     

    For years, I have been able to juggle between the US and Asia with one dual-sim international phone.   It seems this ability is now just totally broken as there's no more 3G connection as the fallback.

     

    Anyone has any workaround to use an international dual-sim phone in the US?

     

     

  • formercanuck's avatar
    formercanuck
    Spectrum Specialist
    Hace 3 años

    You could get a different international phone which supports more bands.  

    OnePlus 8 5g supports a ton of bands

    https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/05/28/oneplus-8-and-8-pro-4g-5g-us-network-bands-and-compatibility-guide/#:~:text=Those%20bands%20are%202%2C%204,29%2C%2030%2C%20and%2066.

     

    • 4G: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 34, 38, 39, 40, 48, 66, 71
    • 5G: n2 (NSA), n5 (NSA), n41 (SA and NSA), n66 (NSA), n71 (SA and NSA), n261* (*Verizon model IN2019 OnePlus 8 only)

    It is dual SIM AFAIK