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Buying a phone

eljefe0000 said:
cdma is like giving a kid a lollipop and only when you get to the center you find out it has a cricket in the middle
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Well in my area the gsm carriers voice quality sucks and indoors data drops constantly. Nothing beats vzw and sprint coverage in Chicago now. CDMA or c u later
 
eljefe0000 said:
even in refarmed areas the best he can do with that is 3g my wife has that other phone from att that has that rotten apple in the back and all she gets is 3g the refarming will not support hspa
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It *does* support HSPA+ in refarmed areas, that's kinda the whole point of the refarming project. I can definitely confirm it in Kansas City at least. Your wife's problem is probably that rotten apple phone.

Linux user #266351. Android since v1.0
 
coco3133 said:
I don't have unlimited funds like you
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i dont understand you want a phone for tmo but your willing to get an att phone we suggest you look on craigslist or ebay for something used for cheaper than buying outright from tmo. you dont want to buy a used crappy phone from craigslist or ebay, so the only solution is to either buy a new phone outright or not get anything
 
Crashdamage said:
It *does* support HSPA+ in refarmed areas, that's kinda the whole point of the refarming project. I can definitely confirm it in Kansas City at least. Your wife's problem is probably that rotten apple phone.

Linux user #266351. Android since v1.0
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your right this may be possible im looking at band frequencies so i got a little confused as to whats where and yes rotten apples smell bad
 
eljefe0000 said:
i dont understand you want a phone for tmo but your willing to get an att phone we suggest you look on craigslist or ebay for something used for cheaper than buying outright from tmo. you dont want to buy a used crappy phone from craigslist or ebay, so the only solution is to either buy a new phone outright or not get anything
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No? Get a like new or in great condition phone a person want to sell and because I live in a smaller town they go for cheaper then listed on eBay. And I want to do a trade + cash for it. So buying a new phone would be pointless because it would cost twice as much as from buying it used from a person.
 
coco3133 said:
No? Get a like new or in great condition phone a person want to sell and because I live in a smaller town they go for cheaper then listed on eBay. And I want to do a trade + cash for it. So buying a new phone would be pointless because it would cost twice as much as from buying it used from a person.
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Look at LG Optimus line of phone. They are new at $250 or less.
 
If you like it, you like it. I personally ain't buying something that dude on craigslist probably dropped in the toilet or abused in other ways. Optimus L9 brand new in box from Wallyworld runs 199.99. Its a bloody great phone for 200$. Little low on storage, but a 10$ card solves that. And brand spankin' new S2's are only 299$- all day long.
 
walmart989 said:
If you like it, you like it. I personally ain't buying something that dude on craigslist probably dropped in the toilet or abused in other ways. Optimus L9 brand new in box from Wallyworld runs 199.99. Its a bloody great phone for 200$. Little low on storage, but a 10$ card solves that. And brand spankin' new S2's are only 299$- all day long.
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here in jax fl feb 1st they had the s2 for 199 with one month service at my local walmart, needless to say they were sold out.
 
If you see my posting today, you can get one for $150 on a brand new L9.

Is $150 cheap enough? It got 4.5" screen.

Any reason to buy used or refurbished?
 
mogelijk said:
Actually, T-Mobile has been making their network compatible with AT&T's, largely so they could get iPhones to work on 4G. From things I've read recently, I believe that the refarm may be complete.

In this case, I'd recommend talking to your local T-Mobile store and find out if the 1900 Mhz band (the frequency AT&T uses) is working in your area. This article lists the areas which had the 1900 Mhz band refarmed as of Jan 11.

You'll also have to ensure the Atrix is not locked to AT&T and, if it is, get AT&T to provide you with the unlock code.

You might also look into buying the Nexus 4 directly from Google. You essentially will be paying a "used" price ($300 or $350, depending if the phone is 8 or 16 GB) for a brand new phone.
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Crashdamage said:
It *does* support HSPA+ in refarmed areas, that's kinda the whole point of the refarming project. I can definitely confirm it in Kansas City at least. Your wife's problem is probably that rotten apple phone.

Linux user #266351. Android since v1.0
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So they refarmed it already? Let's say I get an unlocked phone with bands for at&t (ie HTC One x). Since it has a 1900 band will it get the hspa+ speed? Or will it just get 3g. Also, by 4G you mean hspa+ right? If 2g is edge, then what is 3g?

That's nice news if they got it all done. :)
 
SuperAfnan said:
So they refarmed it already? Let's say I get an unlocked phone with bands for at&t (ie HTC One x). Since it has a 1900 band will it get the hspa+ speed? Or will it just get 3g. Also, by 4G you mean hspa+ right? If 2g is edge, then what is 3g?

That's nice news if they got it all done. :)
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The refarm project is mostly done, but not complete everywhere quite yet. If you're in a refarmed area, which is likely, an AT&T phone will work for T-Mobile 4G/3G but of course must be unlocked from AT&T. HSPA+ is basically 4G (fast). HSPA is 3G (slower). Edge is 2G (very slow). However, Edge works with any GSM phone even in a non-refarmed area.

Linux user #266351. Android since v1.0
 
SuperAfnan said:
So they refarmed it already? Let's say I get an unlocked phone with bands for at&t (ie HTC One x). Since it has a 1900 band will it get the hspa+ speed? Or will it just get 3g. Also, by 4G you mean hspa+ right? If 2g is edge, then what is 3g?

That's nice news if they got it all done. :)
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As Crashdamage stated, the refarm does appear to be mostly done. This does mean that you should get HSPA+ in areas that have it on any GSM phone (regardless if an unlocked AT&T or T-Mobile phone).

And yes, by 4G I did mean HSPA+, though T-Mobile has started rolling out LTE in a few cities. And Crashdamage did a good job of pointing out the 3G/4G difference.
 
chong67 said:
If you see my posting today, you can get one for $150 on a brand new L9.

Is $150 cheap enough? It got 4.5" screen.

Any reason to buy used or refurbished?
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If someone buys a refurbished phone from T-Mobile's web site, the phone has had whatever the problem was with it, corrected/repaired and the phone has then been tested to ensure that it works properly. Refurbished phones also come with a warranty.

As is the case with refurbished small appliances (e.g. a coffee maker), the refurbished phone's packaging may be a plain white box.
 
Crashdamage said:
The refarm project is mostly done, but not complete everywhere quite yet. If you're in a refarmed area, which is likely, an AT&T phone will work for T-Mobile 4G/3G but of course must be unlocked from AT&T. HSPA+ is basically 4G (fast). HSPA is 3G (slower). Edge is 2G (very slow). However, Edge works with any GSM phone even in a non-refarmed area.

Linux user #266351. Android since v1.0
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I thought the refarm project was to.continue through 2013. The local cell site to me, is still on 1700/2100 UMTS, haven't noticed 1900 UMTS locally, yet.
 
epp said:
I thought the refarm project was to.continue through 2013. The local cell site to me, is still on 1700/2100 UMTS, haven't noticed 1900 UMTS locally, yet.
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This might be a dumb question but how do you check? I'm in Jacksonville Florida by the way. :cool:
 
SuperAfnan said:
This might be a dumb question but how do you check? I'm in Jacksonville Florida by the way. :cool:
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I put the phone into Field Test mode when it's connected to the mobile network. What that displays on my Samsung, includes the receiving and transmitting frequencies. Both of them currently display frequencies in the 1700/2100 band.
 
epp said:
I put the phone into Field Test mode when it's connected to the mobile network. What that displays on my Samsung, includes the receiving and transmitting frequencies. Both of them currently display frequencies in the 1700/2100 band.
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The phone should always use the 1700/2100 band if it's available to it. That's not how you should/can test it.





SuperAfnan said:
This might be a dumb question but how do you check? I'm in Jacksonville Florida by the way. :cool:
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You should force your phone to use the 1900 band of umts. It's doable on Galaxy s3. I don't know how to do it on other models. If you know someone with an unlocked AT&T phone then just pop your T-Mobile SIM in it. If you get 4g/3g (anything greater than 1/2 mbps) speeds than you are in a refarm area.
 
Also in Jacksonville Fl in my house, which is in a neighborhood with lots of pine trees so the signal isnt as good as it can be, I get 9 to 12 Mbps down and 1.4 to 2 Mbps up.
This is on a Nexus 4 with t mobile.
 
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