Z30 on T-Mobile / STA100-3 or STA 100-5?
- Excellent replies from both of you. Thanks. So no plans to use band 12 in Canada, and only T-Mobile barely using it (more as time goes by), and no Band 12 on Apple devices kind of seals the deal. BlackBerry's decision to not include Band 12 is a no brainer. T-Mobile and BlackBerry aren't exactly buddies and a lack of Band 12 use by pretty much every other carrier in Canada and USA sure doesn't show a pressing need to include it in their products. I guess I was thinking it was a mistake but I have now reconsidered.
My guess is that if T-Mobile and BlackBerry rekindle their business relationship and you start to see the Big 3 in Canada utilizing Band 12 within the next 2 years (rather than the 5 as per the licensing agreement), you will see BlackBerry roll out a device with focus on using Band 12 (amongst other bands, of course).
I cannot help but wonder if the new BlackBerry slider will include Band 12 LTE capability or not. My bet is on no, but then again, we all could be surprised.04-15-15 08:26 PMLike 2 - Above this post are some of the most informative that I have ever read. Well done to all. What surprises me the most about this whole discussion is the lack of LTE bands in the Blackberry Z30 offerings. Apple's iPhone 6 offered by AT&T includes 16 different LTE bands covering just about every carrier that I know. Why not the same for the former flagship Z30? If Blackberry had been more generous with the LTE bands included in their phones, we would not have to be having conversations about which Z30 model might be good for a given city. Certainly one phone model could cover all possibilities, Blackberry just needs to go there with their offerings.
Last edited by Mozdony; 04-16-15 at 05:07 AM.
04-15-15 09:40 PMLike 0 - Above this post are some of the most informative that I have ever read. Well done to all. What surprises me the most about this whole discussion is the lack of LTE bands in the Blackberry Z30 offerings. Apple's iPhone 6 offered by AT&T includes 16 different LTE bands covering just about every carrier that I know. Why not the same for the former flagship Z30? If Blackberry had been more generous with the LTE bands included in their phones, we would not have to be having conversations about which Z30 model might be good for a given city. Certainly one phone model could cover all possibilities, Blackberry just needs to go their with their offerings.Mozdony likes this.04-15-15 10:18 PMLike 1
- Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the STA100-1 supposedly going to have Band 2 LTE support, but was never released? As far as I can tell this model never really made it to the hands of the public, which really leaves me scratching my head.
Posted via CB10Mozdony likes this.04-15-15 10:19 PMLike 1 - So what if AT&T or T-Mobile didn't officially supply or support the Z30. If BlackBerry wasn't so stupid and made a Z30 model that covered all the AT&T and T-mobile LTE and HSPA+ bands anyway and sold it unlocked, they would have sold like crazy. The Z30 is almost a perfect phone except for it's absolute ridiculous lack of LTE bands.Mozdony likes this.04-15-15 10:25 PMLike 1
- You are absolutely correct. There is no good reason I can think of as to why the Z30 was not packed with LTE bands like even some of the cheap android and Windows phones are. The Apple example is spot on also. If Blackberry put more useful bands in their Z30 then I would be using one right now without a doubt. But as it stands now, the STA100-5 is so LTE limited that it is useless in the USA in my opinion.04-15-15 10:43 PMLike 0
- Just wanted to throw this out there, and forgive me as this list appears to be somewhat out of date, but an effort was being made to keep track of cities and areas where the STA100-5 had LTE compatibility on the AT&T network here.
I may have to fire the OP in that thread a PM to see if we can revive that thread with some updates and perhaps clean it up a bit. Anyone here willing to offer some info up on their experiences if this is a go?Last edited by Smitty13; 04-15-15 at 11:16 PM. Reason: Spelling
Mozdony likes this.04-15-15 11:16 PMLike 1 - My guess is that if T-Mobile and BlackBerry rekindle their business relationship and you start to see the Big 3 in Canada utilizing Band 12 within the next 2 years (rather than the 5 as per the licensing agreement), you will see BlackBerry roll out a device with focus on using Band 12 (amongst other bands, of course).
If Blackberry had been more generous with the LTE bands included in their phones, we would not have to be having conversations about which Z30 model might be good for a given city. Certainly one phone model could cover all possibilities, Blackberry just needs to go their with their offerings.
Even after accounting for the "please the carriers" trend, the Z30 is a weird phone. We're discussing US/Canada models here, but two other models (-2 and -6) differ by one LTE band. Some odd band combination choices, for sure.04-16-15 12:23 AMLike 2 - So what if AT&T or T-Mobile didn't officially supply or support the Z30. If BlackBerry wasn't so stupid and made a Z30 model that covered all the AT&T and T-mobile LTE and HSPA+ bands anyway and sold it unlocked, they would have sold like crazy. The Z30 is almost a perfect phone except for it's absolute ridiculous lack of LTE bands.
Posted via CB1004-16-15 12:29 AMLike 2 - I agree. But at that time I don't think they had the direct to consumer sales thing in mind. Plus I think they had already committed to build so many units and knew the device wasn't going to be a huge success and just did what they did. Chen killed off some devices when he took the helm, STA100-1 was likely one of those he killed.04-16-15 12:34 AMLike 2
- I think if the Big 3 start using it, band 12 will come to BBs regardless of TMO being on-board or not. I mean, they've started putting band 13 in GSM phones and according to the wiki page you linked to, Telus just has it in trial right now (with others not even there yet.)
Bell appears to have the obligatory "planned" stage for Band 13 roll out, while Telus appears to be the only one of the Big 3 actually putting any plans into motion. And while they are not major players in comparison to Robellus, MTS, Vid�otron, and SaskTel appear to have plans for Band 13 as well. (Source for anyone who wishes to have a look: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...d_LTE_networks)
Posted via CB10Mozdony likes this.04-16-15 12:55 AMLike 1 - Absolutely spot on raino. That would have allowed the Z30 to provide LTE coverage to virtually every major city in North America. If Blackberry released such a model, I would happily buy it even though I already have a -5 model for my wife and I. Chen, if you read this post, please take Note!lift likes this.04-16-15 05:21 AMLike 1
- We are talking about LTE bands, but different BB10 devices may not even get 3G if used in the wrong country. I have had to buy 2-Z10s and 2-Q10s just to be able to get half descent speeds when traveling to Europe from USA. My Nexus 5 doesn't seem to have much problem, but the BB10 devices do!04-16-15 05:37 AMLike 0
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Posted via CB1004-16-15 08:20 AMLike 0 - Well you have to remember that they likely had this thing designed a year out. We were hearing leaks of the Aristo around the BB10 launch and maybe even before. Every NA Device now will likely have the Passport and Leap's capabilities and cover most bands. AT&T also seems to like to keep their BlackBerry devices without the competitor bands on it, or differentiate other ways like the Passport. They don't want you to easily be able to go to a competitors network.
Posted via CB1004-16-15 08:53 AMLike 2 -
Posted via CB1004-16-15 09:09 AMLike 0 - Looking at the Passport and Classic (North America model,) I think they might have. And I haven't looked at the Leap yet, but I've heard it too has one NA and one ROW model. That's it.
We are talking about LTE bands, but different BB10 devices may not even get 3G if used in the wrong country. I have had to buy 2-Z10s and 2-Q10s just to be able to get half descent speeds when traveling to Europe from USA. My Nexus 5 doesn't seem to have much problem, but the BB10 devices do!
So if carriers keep picking up BB phones (which is hope they do!) I think BB's going to keep leaving bands out of the carrier models. Therefore I hope they keep putting out all-NA models like they did with the Classic -4, Passport -1 and I guess the Leap (which last I read, had not been picked up by any US carriers.)
This is so true.04-16-15 10:17 AMLike 2 -
Posted via CB10raino likes this.04-16-15 07:45 PMLike 1 - The screen shot from LTE Discovery shows no LTE signal is available for your Z10 in your area for TMobile. The Z10 STL 100-3 should be able to get LTE on bands 2, 4, 5 and 17. TMobile is on band 4 in most cities and band 2 after their upgrade in others. Does your Z10 show 4GLTE when you look at the upper right corner on your home screen? If not, TMobile may not be offering LTE data in your area or they are operating on a band not supported by your Z10.
Posted via CB1004-16-15 10:24 PMLike 0 - Just be aware that T-Mobile is in the middle of a giant LTE nationwide upgrade. They are now using Band 2 LTE in many areas nationwide. No GSM Z30 has band 2 LTE. The Z10 STL100-3 is still the best between the Z30 and the Z10 for LTE compatibility on T-Mobile and AT&T.
I'm not dumping on the Z30 but it is quickly becoming obsolete frequency wise in the USA. In raino's sig there are links to Models and supported frequencies. Have a look.
Posted via CB1004-16-15 10:33 PMLike 0 - Well that's not good then. Not sure if I want to purchase the Z30, which by the way is still inexplicably more expensive than the brand new Leap, if it will no longer work after only a few months of owning it. The idea was to get a nice, cheap BlackBerry upgrade to my Z10 Until a premium all touch BlackBerry device comes out. But now I'm concerned and having second thoughts. Does the Leap have Band 2 LTE?
Posted via CB10
Here is the frequency information directly from BlackBerry's website:
North America
FD-LTE: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 13, 17 (2100/1900/AWS/850/2600/700 MHz)
HSPA+ 1, 2, 4, 5/6 (2100/1900/AWS/850 MHz)
Dual Carrier 42 HSPA support
Quad Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2, 3, 5, 8 (1900,1800,850,900 MHz)04-16-15 10:40 PMLike 3 - GEO1ER:
Your screen shot is certainly definitive for receipt of 4GLTE coverage in your area! This makes me think that something was interfering with LTE Discovery being able to tell you the right LTE band for your area before it shut down. I saw this shut down scenario on my old Z10 when I had installed the Google Play Store. This in turn caused LTE Discovery to look for Google Play Services and shut down as you described. It did that for other apps also so I removed it and began using Snap exclusively to download my android apps. Once I moved back to just using Snap, LTE Discovery worked fine and was able to show me that my Z10 used LTE band 17 for AT&T and band 4 when I tried a TMobile SIM in the phone for a couple of days. This was for the Portland, Oregon area. So, are you using the Google Play Store? Just wondering. That could keep LTE Discovery from giving the information that you need. However, given that your STL100-3 is clearly getting 4GLTE data on TMobile, I would think TMobile is using band 4 in your area as it is here in Portland. If I am right, the STA100-5 Z30 model should work just fine. However, if they are now using band 2, there is no model that will give you LTE data on TMobile in your city. The Z30 would then still work as a 4G phone which is what I get here in Portland. Again, not as fast for data downloads if not on wifi but still awesome! Try calling TMobile or speaking with one of their reps to see if they know the operating band for LTE in your city. I hope this helps.04-17-15 05:21 AMLike 0 - GEO1ER:
Your screen shot is certainly definitive for receipt of 4GLTE coverage in your area! This makes me think that something was interfering with LTE Discovery being able to tell you the right LTE band for your area before it shut down. I saw this shut down scenario on my old Z10 when I had installed the Google Play Store. This in turn caused LTE Discovery to look for Google Play Services and shut down as you described. It did that for other apps also so I removed it and began using Snap exclusively to download my android apps. Once I moved back to just using Snap, LTE Discovery worked fine and was able to show me that my Z10 used LTE band 17 for AT&T and band 4 when I tried a TMobile SIM in the phone for a couple of days. This was for the Portland, Oregon area. So, are you using the Google Play Store? Just wondering. That could keep LTE Discovery from giving the information that you need. However, given that your STL100-3 is clearly getting 4GLTE data on TMobile, I would think TMobile is using band 4 in your area as it is here in Portland. If I am right, the STA100-5 Z30 model should work just fine. However, if they are now using band 2, there is no model that will give you LTE data on TMobile in your city. The Z30 would then still work as a 4G phone which is what I get here in Portland. Again, not as fast for data downloads if not on wifi but still awesome! Try calling TMobile or speaking with one of their reps to see if they know the operating band for LTE in your city. I hope this helps.
Posted via CB1004-17-15 05:31 AMLike 0 - The leap has far more LTE bands than the Z30. And yes, it has band 2 LTE.
Here is the frequency information directly from BlackBerry's website:
North America
FD-LTE: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 13, 17 (2100/1900/AWS/850/2600/700 MHz)
HSPA+ 1, 2, 4, 5/6 (2100/1900/AWS/850 MHz)
Dual Carrier 42 HSPA support
Quad Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2, 3, 5, 8 (1900,1800,850,900 MHz)
Posted via CB10Mozdony likes this.04-17-15 05:32 AMLike 1
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