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Help Activating Galaxy S2 in U.S.

9

90kimsj

Lurker
Hi,
I'm trying to buy a galaxy s2 on Amazon and get delivered to the U.S.
Once I get it delivered with which carrier should I activate my phone?
I heard T-mobile won't support 3G and AT&T will, but I'm just not sure.
Please help me out here.
 
Hi Kimsj, welcome to AndroidForums!

Yes you are correct the SGS2 should work on AT&T for both 2G and 3G

SGS2:
2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100

Frequencies used on the AT&T Network
Frequency Protocol Class
850 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G
850 MHz UMTS/HSPA 3G
1900 MHz UMTS/HSPA 3G

How much is it going on ebay? If you live near Canada, you can drive up there to grab one for $600+tax
 
Hi Rob,

I assume your SGS2 is not SIM unlock?

I don't know about Docomo phones working in Canada but I have read that Canada phones (with same frequencies) have hard time working in Japan due to some restrictions with the networks there.

Just did a quick look up at Docomo's frequencies

It provides 2G (mova) PDC cellular services on the 800 MHz band,
3G FOMA W-CDMA services on the 2 GHz (UMTS2100) and 800 MHz(UMTS800(Band VI)) and 1700 MHz(UMTS1700(Band IX)) bands.
Click to expand...
wiki source

I'm not sure how accurate that wiki post is, but from my (limited) understanding, the Docomo SGS2 is using radios (PDC/CDMA) that are not compatible with Rogers. What confused me is that 2G/Edge is working for you?

I'm sorry but I might not be of much help with this :( I checked the other thread you posted in and I saw that Docomo uses GSM bands as well (?) but from my readings this doesn't seem to be the case.

Japan was the first country to adopt 3G technologies, and since they had not used GSM previously they had no need to build GSM compatibility into their handsets and their 3G handsets were smaller than those available elsewhere. In 2002, NTT DoCoMo's FOMA 3G network was the first commercial UMTS network—using a pre-release specification,[8] it was initially incompatible with the UMTS standard at the radio level but used standard USIM cards, meaning USIM card based roaming was possible (transferring the USIM card into a UMTS or GSM phone when travelling). Both NTT DoCoMo and SoftBank Mobile (which launched 3G in December 2002) now use standard UMTS.
Click to expand...
wiki source
 
90kimsj said:
Hi,
I'm trying to buy a galaxy s2 on Amazon and get delivered to the U.S.
Once I get it delivered with which carrier should I activate my phone?
I heard T-mobile won't support 3G and AT&T will, but I'm just not sure.
Please help me out here.
Click to expand...
In addition, I'm actually looking into activating galaxy s2 with Verizon.
Anyone knows anything about Verizon plz tell.
 
90kimsj said:
In addition, I'm actually looking into activating galaxy s2 with Verizon.
Anyone knows anything about Verizon plz tell.
Click to expand...

Not going to happen. Verizon uses a CDMA network for both 2G and 3G and all of the SGS2 phones out right now are GSM/HSDPA...well except for Docomo.
 
kamandor said:
Hi Roze,
The EDGE/2G network is working on my GS2. It is currently on WCDMA 800/2100, which are the Japanese frequencies.

It appears I can get the phone to run on the WCDMA 1900 frequency. I can select GSM 850 (which isn't 3G?), but I have no idea if the phone is 'running' on the frequency.

So basically the Japanese phone is a CDMA phone and I need GSM. I thought the GS2 was a quad-band phone.
Click to expand...

The GS2 IS a quad-band but for GSM/HSPDA networks. CDMA uses a completely DIFFERENT radio technology so the network itself is different.

As this is not something I'm knowledgeable in, I'll see if another staff member will have the knowledge to assist you.

Do you think if I rooted the phone and wiped the existing ROM completely, that I may be able to get the phone to use a different frequency? (I am a total Android noob).
Click to expand...
This I know you can't. The Radio is stored in a different location that is not affected by the ROM. So rooting and putting a new ROM on would not make much of a difference.
 
Roze said:
The GS2 IS a quad-band but for GSM/HSPDA networks. CDMA uses a completely DIFFERENT radio technology so the network itself is different.

As this is not something I'm knowledgeable in, I'll see if another staff member will have the knowledge to assist you.


This I know you can't. The Radio is stored in a different location that is not affected by the ROM. So rooting and putting a new ROM on would not make much of a difference.
Click to expand...

Nvm. Got it to work.
 
Not without replacing the hardware; the existing SGS2 versions don't have the 1700/2100 MHz AWS band that T-Mo US uses for its 3G/4G data. IIRC, there is a SGS2 variant, code named Hercules, that is supposed to support the AWS band, but it hasn't shown up yet. Presumably the Hercules is the version that T-Mo will roll out whenever it decides it needs to offer a SGS2 to match the offerings of AT&T/Sprint/Verizon.
 
musiksource said:
can you please tell me how you activated your phone on verizon? I won mine on quibids.com and it said unlocked but didnt mention no verizon but there has got to be a way. please help! Thanks!!
Click to expand...

There isn't a way for it to work on Verizon. It will work on AT&T and tmobile, will not work on Verizon or sprint.
 
So, I got my Samsung s2 delivered from the UK after winning on Quibids.com for $25.. How do I get the 3 or 4 g to work? The SIM is installed but it doesn't register a network. Is there a setting I need to change? The ATT rep said the phone was connected bit shows UNKNOWN under the make amd model where the name nramd should be. Any ideas? I have read its possible but not sure how. Thanks guys!
 
musiksource said:
So, I got my Samsung s2 delivered from the UK after winning on Quibids.com for $25.. How do I get the 3 or 4 g to work? The SIM is installed but it doesn't register a network. Is there a setting I need to change? The ATT rep said the phone was connected bit shows UNKNOWN under the make amd model where the name nramd should be. Any ideas? I have read its possible but not sure how. Thanks guys!
Click to expand...

If you goto Settings ->Wireless and Networks ->Mobile Networks ->Network Operators, do you see AT&T? I have mine activated on Rogers in Canada but have an AT&T SIM for when I am in the US. I put the AT&T sim in my phone and turn it on and it automatically works. Not sure why it won't for you..
 
I think the ATT reps have no idea what they are talking about. I am still stumped and bummed. Everywhere I read it says the S2 my version is GT-I9100 works with ATT and on Tmobile only 2G. I can use my phone to make calls but it will not jump on ANY network at all. Is it a paperweight now?
 
musiksource said:
I think the ATT reps have no idea what they are talking about. I am still stumped and bummed. Everywhere I read it says the S2 my version is GT-I9100 works with ATT and on Tmobile only 2G. I can use my phone to make calls but it will not jump on ANY network at all. Is it a paperweight now?
Click to expand...
Do you want to roam on the TMobile network or completely use it on TMobile.

If it's the later, is your phone carrier unlock? If you have the phone for more than 3/6 months, call AT&T and they will give you the unlock code for free. Next, you need to put in the APN of TMobile on your phone. You then need TMobile sim card that is activated.
 
so here goes.... photos if you want a galaxy s 2 on at&t it is most definitely possible if you are unable to access data. after spinning an entire day and thanks to your heart on the road I was able to resolve my problem like to share my information in case somebody else runs across this problem. if you get a samsung galaxy s 2 from another country shift into the united states it will work. what you need to do when you go to the at&t store is make sure a beer at understanding your device wanna be recognised in your system. so what you need to do is you have ham load in mini sim card. use the big sim card mini adaptor. have the rabbit load the device in their system will at&t have to sit under an iphone. you will of course provider phone data. insert a sim card in your done. good luck. forgive my text writing to use the voice recognition program.
 
I have the Latin America version of this phone UHKI1 base firmware took AT&T 4 hours on the phone to get data to work.. with 4G settings!! At the time they had not released the us version of the GS2 on the network. AT&T has my phone registered in their books as a my touch 4G that being said put my phone next to the new iphone 4s it blows it out of the water on net speed and downloads. :P my boss hates me lol they wouldn't let him return his iphone
 
Hello all! I purchased a samsung galaxy s2 gt-i9100 unlocked from ebay and was with t-mobile. I was only able to use edge or 2g and is in search for a better service provider, so i switched last week. Today i spoke with at&t and they told me i won't be able to use any data with their service, but upon research i doubt this to be true. I love my phone and i don't want any limits to its capabilities. Please someone give me good news because i paid $450 for the phone...thanks.
 
What was the reason you couldn't use their data? If the phone is unlocked, get a plan and SIM and you should be good to go??
 
msbeethoven1 said:
Hello all! I purchased a samsung galaxy s2 gt-i9100 unlocked from ebay and was with t-mobile. I was only able to use edge or 2g and is in search for a better service provider, so i switched last week. Today i spoke with at&t and they told me i won't be able to use any data with their service, but upon research i doubt this to be true. I love my phone and i don't want any limits to its capabilities. Please someone give me good news because i paid $450 for the phone...thanks.
Click to expand...

I have the same problem, i cant use my unlocked samsung galaxy s2 in tmobile 4g, it gets stuck on EDGE data network.(it is not even 2G, and its incredibly slow)


I have searched internet but just a few ppl has the same problem with unlocked samsung galaxy S2 and tmobile.That made me think that there might be a solution like changing the Tmobile sim card(i dont know if there is only one type of sim card), entering an unlock code provided by tmobile, or going to a samsung maintenance service and let them fix it or anyother? I have updated to the new firmware but did no effect.I cant understand how such a big company like samsungs' cutting edge new phone comes out of the factory with unsupporting the USAs one(Tmobile) of the 2(Tmobile,ATT) GSM networks data frequency..There must be a solution.I had called samsung customer service but the guy on the phone did not even know the problem.

I have found these two relevant pages but that should not necesarrily mean that there is no way because its what the poster thinks..Maybe someone else can help?
http://support.t-mobile.com/message/40898#40898
http://support.t-mobile.com/message/51178#51178
 
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