Will any of the Samsung Notes work with both GSM and CDMA?

[PeteCress]

I am currently a tMob legacy prepaid user with an SM-910C Note 4.

Need data and better/more reliable signal strengths, so I am looking into switching providers.

Signal strengths with tMob run around -107 to -113 dBm, which Phone Signal 4.0 calls Low" to "Very Low".

I get breaking up and miss a significant number of texts.

Tello looks like a good fit, but it seems tb CDMA and my current phone/tMob are GSM.

I can rationalize upgrading to a newer phone for the improved speed, but would rather not get locked into CDMA in case Tello does not pan out.

Whatever phone I get has to have a stylus.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

No

 

[The_Chief]

Newer flagship devices, particularly the unlocked versions, have both GSM and CDMA radios in them. One need only pop a SIM card in and the phone will connect to the towers and activate.

However, yeah - I'm pretty sure the Note 4 is one or the other. It's a T-mobile branded phone, so it's locked to GSM.

I swore off T-mobile after their coverage map showed full 4G LTE all over my area. I switched over, lost some very lucrative promotions on Verizon, and found that the coverage map LIED. T-mobile engineers looked at their tower patterns and said that, in my area, 3G is spotty at best! I begged Verizon to restore our accounts (which had unlimited data at the time) and they did.

So I'm not convinced that the phone is the problem here. I think your network is, depending on your location.

 

[badcatz]

I have used an unlocked Samsung S8 and an S8+ on both TMob and Verizon so going the unlocked route seems like the best approach. You will be able to switch providers whenever it suits your needs bu just popping in a new sim and rebooting.

 

[PeteCress]

Complicating the issue is the fact that I have tMob's legacy prepaid plan.

Just got back from a lunch date where somebody had an s8 on a tMob monthly plan.

We had the phones lying side-by-side and the S8/monthly was getting dB's consistantly in the high eighties while my Note4/prepaid was mostly around 110.

I think my plan is going to be:

1. Get a domestic (CDMA & GSM) Note 8, not really expecting any improvement.
2. If, as expected, things do not improve, get on a Tello (Sprint's CDMA network) prepaid plan and hope things get better.
3. If I strike out with Tello, spend the big bucks and go back to tMob (GSM) with a monthly plan.

 

[The_Chief]

T-Mobile screwed us big time a few years ago. I had the old unlimited data on Verizon, with some very lucrative bonuses that left us paying $9.95 a line, for 4 lines of unlimited, for life - as long as we kept them.

The T-Mobile plan was SO attractive... and the coverage map showed full 4G throughout our area. So I ordered 4 SIMs and a couple of GSM phones. I got them, called T-Mobile to activate them, and... nothing. Picked up another phone. Nothing. I frantically grabbed the Note 2 I'd bought and had barely enough signal to call T-Mobile. I talked to customer service, then tech support, who connected me to the engineering team. They looked at their tower profile and confirmed that 3G was "spotty at best" in our area.

In a full panic, I contacted Verizon over the internet on my PC and begged them to restore our accounts. I managed to get our unlimited plans back, but those bonuses were GONE.

I filed a complaint with the FCC because the coverage map was a total LIE. They, of course, did nothing. To my knowledge, the T-mo map STILL shows full coverage here... in reality, there's no signal to speak of.

For that reason alone, I will NEVER be a T-Mobile customer, out of sheer principle.

 

[KBU2]

I seriously doubt it......