Jump to content

North American and Caribbean customers


Recommended Posts

That big question "will the Pro1 work on...?"

Stop right there. The answer is "You betcha!".

If your carrier has a CDMA/EvDO/1xRTT network that allows activation or active UTMS/HSPA (WCDMA) or GSM/EDGE base stations you're fine.

 

The Pro1 can use any LTE band on the continent excepting 14 (FirstNet/LE), 29, 30, 66 (why?), 71 (new 600 Mhz for T-M) these being:

B# MHz Name

2 1900 PCS blocks A-F

3 1800 DCS (Caribbean only)

4 1700/2100 AWS-1 blocks A-F

5 850 Cellular

7 2600 IMT Extended

12 700 Lower SMH blocks A-C

13 700 Upper SMH blocks C 1,2

17 700 Lower SMH blocks B-C

20 800 EUDD (Caribbean only)

25 1900 PCS extended blocks A-G

26 850 Cellular extended

38 2600 IMT extended (Caribbean only)

41 2500 BRS/MMDS

 

LTE bands by carrier (useful should you need an external antenna):

Rogers 2 4 7 12 17

Bell/Telus 2 4 5 7 12 13 17 29

AT&T 2 4 5 12 14 17 29 30 66

VZW 2 4 5 13 66

T-Mobile 2 4 5 12 66 71

Sprint 25 26 41

Telcel/AT&T 4

Movistar 2

Band 3 is used partially or exclusively by carriers in the Dutch Antilles, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Cayman Islands, Saint Martin, and possibly elsewhere.

Band 20 is used on some French islands.

Band 38 is used in the Dominican Republic and supposedly on Trinidad & Tobago

Link to post
Share on other sites

Just took a trip to the eastern US and Canada, using a BB STV100-3. It is missing LTE bands 66 and 71, two bands which per currently-published specs the Pro1 also doesn't have.

 

The STV100-3 cell radio was basically unusable with T-Mobile in all of Charlotte NC, Virginia Beach and Syracuse NY. Upon return to the SF bay area, it is happy again.

 

frequencycheck.com claims B66 and B71 are both needed for T-Mobile. Based on my recent experience this is very true for at least one of B66 and B71.

 

Very much hoping a Pro1 version will appear which includes support for these bands. Until then, seems best to not count on using the Pro1 with T-Mobile.

Link to post
Share on other sites

CellMapper has maps with coverage by specific bands and carriers. Not sure exactly where the data comes from. (Hint: if you don't provide a location to the site, start by zooming out. You start at lat/lon 0/0)

 

This seems to show that band 66 and 71 have far less coverage than the other bands, especially 12.

Some posts by T-Mobile (e.g. this support question) imply that band 66 is only deployed alongside other bands, not alone. This may mean that most of the time, coverage should be available on other bands.

 

Band 66 and 71 both are "new" (started in 2016/2017) so lacking them might mean the Pro1 is not quite "future proof". :(

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
Just took a trip to the eastern US and Canada, using a BB STV100-3. It is missing LTE bands 66 and 71, two bands which per currently-published specs the Pro1 also doesn’t have.

 

The STV100-3 cell radio was basically unusable with T-Mobile in all of Charlotte NC, Virginia Beach and Syracuse NY. Upon return to the SF bay area, it is happy again.

 

frequencycheck.com claims B66 and B71 are both needed for T-Mobile. Based on my recent experience this is very true for at least one of B66 and B71.

 

Very much hoping a Pro1 version will appear which includes support for these bands. Until then, seems best to not count on using the Pro1 with T-Mobile.

 

I'm not a phone band expert (and I'm also not on T-Mobile) but from these two articles, one from Last April and one from Last December, it looks like T-Mobile is leaning heavily on it's new spectrum acquisition, Band 71, in some areas. I had T-Mobile briefly in VA a few years ago and wasn't very happy as the coverage seemed very spotty.

 

https://www.whistleout.com/CellPhones/Guides/cell-phone-networks-and-frequencies-explained

 

https://www.phonearena.com/news/Cheat-sheet-which-4G-LTE-bands-do-AT-T-Verizon-T-Mobile-and-Sprint-use-in-the-USA_id77933

 

These articles are posted as information. I don't know enough to be able to evaluate their claims.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Two more data points:

 

This Reddit post has a great breakdown of the bands on several carriers and what they are used for. TL;DR: band 66 is high frequency, so doesn't travel far or penetrate buildings well. Band 71 is low frequency, which does travel far and penetrate buildings.

 

The Moto Z2 Force (which I'm assuming a bunch of the indiegogo backers have) has band 66 but not 71.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Very much hoping a Pro1 version will appear which includes support for these bands. Until then, seems best to not count on using the Pro1 with T-Mobile.

 

Personal testimonial, I have been using this phone which only supports bands 2, 4, and 12 for around 3 years now (too many in my opinion) on T-Mobile. I don't have experience with phones that use bands 66 and 71, but my phone works great throughout the cities and the northern part of Minnesota, and I don't remember having any issues when traveling around the states. Of course, this is my personal experience, and your area's coverage will very. I'm just saying I personally haven't have any problems while using my phone on their network.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I just checked my area, it looks like band 12 is mostly used in urban areas, but where I am (between 2 urban areas) seems to only be covered by 66 and 71, meaning I can't use the Pro1 on LTE here. I may be stuck on Verizon for that.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
How would I find out what cell cariers would support this device? Like Sprint, Straight Talk, Criket, ect.

 

There is no firm way to know for sure in advance. You can find authoritative listings of carriers and their bands, some listed in this thread, and compare those to the listed bands for the Pro 1. I doubt whether comprehensive tests have been run with the Pro 1 of North American Carriers. The carriers themselves are unlikely to confirm anything without the device to test.

 

I use Verizon and I'm pretty sure it will do fine on Verizon or, if not, on AT&T which are the two carriers I prefer (both Pay as you GO or Prepaid), but ultimately I can't be 100% sure until I get the phone. That's what the 14 Day return is for, I'm afraid.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms