The official Motorola specs. on this phone (Motorola Mobility, Inc. - Media Center - Fact Sheets - Motorola PHOTON? 4G Fact Sheet) indicate that it doesn't have the GSM1800 band. If that is not a typo, that's pretty unfortuate since that could significantly impact its usefulness for roaming overseas. It does have GSM1900 but in most instances, where there's GSM1900 coverage there's also CDMA coverage.
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Hmmm you are right it would limit the usage overseas.
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Since the Photon uses quad band GSM frequencies (850, 900, 1800 and 1900 Mhz), would it be possible use AT&T prepaid services as a backup to CDMA service domestically, by using the SIM card for a prepaid service?
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Actually, if you look at the official phone specs from Motorola, they indicate that the phone is not quad-band, rather it is triband (850/900/1900); I really hope that's a typo.
As for whether you could you could use it as prepaid (or even postpaid) - if the GSM portion on it is sim-unlocked (haven't heard any official confirmation from Sprint whether it is or not) or if it is sim-locked and you managed to sim-unlock it, then yes, you could use it with a GSM provider. That said, if you wanted fast data you won't want to use it on T-Mobile USA since it doesn't support the WCDMA AWS 3G/4G band. Should work ok for data on AT&T though.
If it is like other recent Sprint world phones (and there is no reason to suspect otherwise) the Photon will be sim-unlocked out of the box for overseas GSM use but will not work on GSM in the U.S., and Sprint will not unlock it to do so. There might be third party ways to do this though.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JPSmith
If it is like other recent Sprint world phones (and there is no reason to suspect otherwise) the Photon will be sim-unlocked out of the box for overseas GSM use but will not work on GSM in the U.S., and Sprint will not unlock it to do so. There might be third party ways to do this though.
Thanks for that info. I always wondered how it was with the Touch Pro 2 (since I didn't get that phone).
That'd definitely be a huge bonus, if/when i travel to the Philippines and/or Europe.
If it is like other recent Sprint world phones (and there is no reason to suspect otherwise) the Photon will be sim-unlocked out of the box for overseas GSM use but will not work on GSM in the U.S., and Sprint will not unlock it to do so. There might be third party ways to do this though.
Technically, how are they achieving that? Usually once you SIM unlock a device it is good on any carrier. Perhaps those other phones you are talking about didn't have the US GSM bands (i.e. they didn't have GSM-850 and GSM-1900), which at least according to the official Motorola specs, the photon specifically does include.
Technically, how are they achieving that? Usually once you SIM unlock a device it is good on any carrier. Perhaps those other phones you are talking about didn't have the US GSM bands (i.e. they didn't have GSM-850 and GSM-1900), which at least according to the official Motorola specs, the photon specifically does include.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KnowProblem
Technically, how are they achieving that? Usually once you SIM unlock a device it is good on any carrier. Perhaps those other phones you are talking about didn't have the US GSM bands (i.e. they didn't have GSM-850 and GSM-1900), which at least according to the official Motorola specs, the photon specifically does include.
So it might be possible to hack the Photon in the future to work in the US GSM networks...although with the Motorola encrypted bootloader it would be a lot harder.
Technically, how are they achieving that? Usually once you SIM unlock a device it is good on any carrier. Perhaps those other phones you are talking about didn't have the US GSM bands (i.e. they didn't have GSM-850 and GSM-1900), which at least according to the official Motorola specs, the photon specifically does include.
It's not a matter of bands, the recent Sprint world phones including the TP2 (my current phone) are all quad band GSM. There is programming in the radio firmware that prevents them from registering on GSM towers within the U.S. In the case of the TP2 at least, it is apparently possible to hack the radio to circumvent this restriction, but it's not something I'm interested in doing.
It's not a matter of bands, the recent Sprint world phones including the TP2 (my current phone) are all quad band GSM. There is programming in the radio firmware that prevents them from registering on GSM towers within the U.S. In the case of the TP2 at least, it is apparently possible to hack the radio to circumvent this restriction, but it's not something I'm interested in doing.
Either that or the device is programmed to not to accept any SIM cards from networks with NPIs starting with 310- (i.e. the United States), except perhaps for Sprint's own NPI (for SIM cards they give to users who wish to roam overseas with their Sprint number). I doubt they would block registration on towers because that could prevent a person from dialing an emergency number in area there was no CDMA coverage in but there was GSM. Anyway, just a guess.
Yeah, I would assume if the phone gets rooted, someone would figure out how to enable GSM operation in the US. At the end of the day I don't know why Sprint would care anyway because if they sold the phone with their subsidy, the person would have had to sign up for Sprint service anyway.
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I guess we will have to wait and see once we get the phone in our hands and/or test it overseas to see if its locked for Sprint international. I'm curious about this myself. But if you mean to just use GSM here in the states only, no I think it will be locked and you can only use it on Sprints network.
I did some research on GSM bands used around the world and according to Wikipedia its the least used GSM band.
GSM frequency usage across the world:
The Americas
In North America, GSM operates on the primary mobile communication bands 850 MHz and 1900 MHz. In Canada, GSM-1900 is the primary band used in urban areas with 850 as a backup, and GSM-850 being the primary rural band. In the United States, regulatory requirements determine which area can use which band.
GSM-1900 and GSM-850 are also used in most of South and Central America, and both Ecuador and Panama use GSM-850 exclusively (Note: Since November 2008, a Panamanian operator has begun to offer GSM-1900 service). Venezuela and Brazil use GSM-850 and GSM-900/1800 mixing the European and American bands. Some countries in the Americas use GSM-900 or GSM-1800, some others use 3, GSM-850/900/1900, GSM-850/1800/1900, GSM-900/1800/1900 or GSM-850/900/1800. Soon some countries will use GSM-850/900/1800/1900 MHz like the Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela.
In Brazil, the 1900 MHz band is paired with 2100 MHz to form the IMT-compliant 2100 MHz band for 3G services.
The result is a mixture of usage in the Americas that requires travelers to confirm that the phones they have are compatible with the band of the networks at their destinations. Frequency compatibility problems can be avoided through the use of multi-band (tri-band or, especially, quad-band), phones.
Africa, Europe, Middle East and Asia
In Africa, Europe, Middle East and Asia most of the providers use 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands. GSM-900 is most widely used. Fewer operators use DCS-1800 and GSM-1800. A dual-band 900/1800 phone is required to be compatible with almost all operators. At least the GSM-900 band must be supported in order to be compatible with many operators.
yikes. I'm mostly planning to use this phone in Asia. (hong kong and china) but only three times a year..... I've been trying to decide between waiting for the Galaxy S II and just keeping my blackberry for those trips.... or getting the Photon.... Sounds like I'll be OK with the Photon, but I'd hate to get there and find out that I am SOL.... I'm not worried about Hong Kong, but most of the cities I visit in China are somewhat remote.... it's unfortunate that this is not a true Quad band phone. Although - maybe it doesnt matter?
yikes. I'm mostly planning to use this phone in Asia. (hong kong and china) but only three times a year..... I've been trying to decide between waiting for the Galaxy S II and just keeping my blackberry for those trips.... or getting the Photon.... Sounds like I'll be OK with the Photon, but I'd hate to get there and find out that I am SOL.... I'm not worried about Hong Kong, but most of the cities I visit in China are somewhat remote.... it's unfortunate that this is not a true Quad band phone. Although - maybe it doesnt matter?
Keep in mind that many of the places that use the GSM1800 bands have functioning (compatible with sprint) cdma networks, such as china, japan and south korea
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What makes it more odd is that the other world phones in the Sprint lineup have that frequency.
Besides the Motorola spec sheet above not showing the 1800 band.
Yet, we do have it listed in Phone arena and in the gsmareana websites.
yikes. I'm mostly planning to use this phone in Asia. (hong kong and china) but only three times a year..... I've been trying to decide between waiting for the Galaxy S II and just keeping my blackberry for those trips.... or getting the Photon.... Sounds like I'll be OK with the Photon, but I'd hate to get there and find out that I am SOL.... I'm not worried about Hong Kong, but most of the cities I visit in China are somewhat remote.... it's unfortunate that this is not a true Quad band phone. Although - maybe it doesnt matter?
If you don't have GSM1800, in most instances, you'll still get some sort of coverage, however, it may not be with your particular desired carrier.
Keep in mind that many of the places that use the GSM1800 bands have functioning (compatible with sprint) cdma networks, such as china, japan and south korea
Take note that cdma data roaming is ridiculously cheaper than gsm data roaming
I never plan on 'roaming' via Sprint again since they got rid of the unlimited data roaming package. It's on a per kb usage now and I am just not going that route.
That leaves me with local sim cards. Hong Kong is no problem. China shouldn't be but I guess I need to check with the biggest carrier throughout china (China Mobile I think) and see what their band is.
Ok! Every one! Yes! Motorola does have GSM: 1800 for the Photon! These's are the spec's from Motorola. Which I taked to a rep from motorola!
Network technology:
CDMA:
800, 1900
GSM:
850, 900, 1800, 1900
UMTS:
850, 1900, 2100
This phone sounds more and more bad ass every day. It's also UMTS compatible? Wow, OK. That's expanding the options... Now if only Sprint had reasonable international roaming rates...
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Now if only Sprint had reasonable international roaming rates...
Don't use Sprint's roaming(unless you can talk them into the now defunct Unlimited International DATA Roaming plan which was 40.00/mnth PRO RATED to your actual time usage.) Get a local SIM card. Trust me it's much cheaper and actually quite nice to have a local number. Especially considering the Google Voice integration, just set your # to forward to the local sim #.
And if you are like me, and only worried primarily about data, there are typically good options for unlimited data... at least in the regions I travel.
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i was somewhat worried about the missing 1800 freq, but am glad you posted that. Just wish that they would update their spec sheet so it looks official.
can we just put a gsm sim card to get gsm service
or must via sprint or have sim lock?
I don't think there's a GSM lock, but the phone is useless without a CDMA carrier. There's no ability for "data roaming" onto GSM networks, essentially taking the smart out of the smart phone without some CDMA carrier. If your idea was to buy the phone and use your AT&T or T-Mobile sim on it, all you'd be able to do (if it's GSM unlocked) is make phone calls.
Motorola Atrix might be a good alternative for you, though it's not quite as good as the Photon.
I don't think there's a GSM lock, but the phone is useless without a CDMA carrier. There's no ability for "data roaming" onto GSM networks, essentially taking the smart out of the smart phone without some CDMA carrier. If your idea was to buy the phone and use your AT&T or T-Mobile sim on it, all you'd be able to do (if it's GSM unlocked) is make phone calls.
Motorola Atrix might be a good alternative for you, though it's not quite as good as the Photon.
I don't think there's a GSM lock, but the phone is useless without a CDMA carrier. There's no ability for "data roaming" onto GSM networks, essentially taking the smart out of the smart phone without some CDMA carrier. If your idea was to buy the phone and use your AT&T or T-Mobile sim on it, all you'd be able to do (if it's GSM unlocked) is make phone calls
Wi-fi would still work too wouldn't it? Its better than nothing, but it takes the mobility factor away.
UMTS is GSM 3G right? However, no HSPA so no GSM 4G.
HSPA is a subset of UMTS and I believe the Tegra does it so it probably does have "GSM 4G" (though from a formal definition perspective HSPA is actually 3.5G, HSPA+ would be 3.75G, and LTE and WiMAX would be considered "true" 4G).
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I don't think there's a GSM lock, but the phone is useless without a CDMA carrier. There's no ability for "data roaming" onto GSM networks, essentially taking the smart out of the smart phone without some CDMA carrier. If your idea was to buy the phone and use your AT&T or T-Mobile sim on it, all you'd be able to do (if it's GSM unlocked) is make phone calls.
Motorola Atrix might be a good alternative for you, though it's not quite as good as the Photon.
Have you tried this yet?
Previous implementations of Sprint World Phones worked like this:
1. Use of GSM radio not possible in US.... Voice, Data, period. If you activated the GSM radio TP2 could not find GSM towers in the us.
2. GSM outside of the US was unlocked. You could use the Sprint Sim for the convenience of having your number world wide, but you also had the option of inserting any other sim card. Data, Voice, Texting, etc
This of course was bypassed with a Radio unlock, which eventually allowed the phone to use GSM radio in the US.
I just put the phone into GSM only mode with a US T-mobile Sim. Confirmed.... no GSM lock to be found in the US.
I chatted with Sprint World Wide services, the phone is GSM unlocked, so it will read any sim.... the Radio is just specially programmed so that it won't lock onto US GSM towers.
Oh and it will Data roam as well. If you are using a SWW Sim you will have to activate that option. It is disabled to prevent costly accidental data consumption.
Oh and it will Data roam as well. If you are using a SWW Sim you will have to activate that option. It is disabled to prevent costly accidental data consumption.
I most strongly recommend not trying to data roam with Sprint's SIM. In most instances you're looking at costs of about $17/MB which is insane. Using a local SIM in most instances would be much, much cheaper.
Hopefully this phone will be rooted someday and someone will figure out how to disable the US GSM radio lock. The phone otherwise contains all the necessary hardware to work as a GSM phone in the US.
I most strongly recommend not trying to data roam with Sprint's SIM. In most instances you're looking at costs of about $17/MB which is insane. Using a local SIM in most instances would be much, much cheaper.
Hopefully this phone will be rooted someday and someone will figure out how to disable the US GSM radio lock. The phone otherwise contains all the necessary hardware to work as a GSM phone in the US.
As I re-call the TP2 wasn't locked at all. The radio was just programmed to ignore US based GSM radios. So a custom radio had to be written and flashed.
As I re-call the TP2 wasn't locked at all. The radio was just programmed to ignore US based GSM radios. So a custom radio had to be written and flashed.
UMTS is GSM 3G right? However, no HSPA so no GSM 4G.
Photon already confirmed as "triband" GSM, not "quadband".
Quote:
Originally Posted by PyroSporker
Wi-fi would still work too wouldn't it? Its better than nothing, but it takes the mobility factor away.
Eh, might as well get an iPod Touch?
Quote:
Originally Posted by SporkLover
Update:
I just put the phone into GSM only mode with a US T-mobile Sim. Confirmed.... no GSM lock to be found in the US.
I chatted with Sprint World Wide services, the phone is GSM unlocked, so it will read any sim.... the Radio is just specially programmed so that it won't lock onto US GSM towers.
Oh and it will Data roam as well. If you are using a SWW Sim you will have to activate that option. It is disabled to prevent costly accidental data consumption.
You beat me to it! I just found that there is no GSM lock too.
The sprint representative I spoke with said it wouldn't data roam at all, but upon further consideration maybe they meant that the Sprint SIM card wouldn't allow data roaming in the US. I can certainly understand GSM data roaming in Europe. But I guess it has to be enabled to do so.
Purchase unlocked Photon for Europe Use Only (no Sprint service)
Hi all,
The Photon is one of the few Android hearing aid compatible phones rated at M4T4 (which is really good) -- so I'm very interested in it.
I'm American but I live in Prague and can use either Vodafone or O2 as my carrier. I'm not worried about using this phone in the US. I just want to stick a Czech SIM card in the Photon and use it all over Europe. There wouldn't be any Sprint US based service.
I need voice, web data, and the ability to run a small program which synchs my Domino mail / contact / calendar to the Photon.
If I buy an unlocked Photon somewhere, should I be able to do the above. Again, I won't have any US Sprint service. I just want to use the phone for voice and data.
Right now this is probably not a good idea because while the device is SIM lock free, Sprint appears to have locked the APN settings on it, meaning you could use it for voice with another company's SIM but not for data.
In the long run though, given that this phone has been rooted and bootloader unlocked, someone will probably figure out some method of disabling this silly restriction. Until then, while on paper the device looks like a good one for using foreign SIMs (quadband GSM, triband HSPA+), the APN restriction probably means that practically it is useless for this purpose as a smartphone.
Thanks folks for the great answers above. I think I'm starting to understand the situation better and appreciated being steered away from a voice only solution.
Another US CDMA phone that also has a sim slot and good hearing aid compatibility (M4/T4) is the Incredible 2 from Verizon. Do you know if I could buy an Incredible 2, NOT purchase any Verizon service, and just run European sim cards in it to get voice and data?
(I do realize that the Incredible S is gsm only phone for Europe and is similar to the Incredible 2 but, unfortunately (for reason I don't understand), its hearing aid compatibility rating is lower).
If I were you and could wait a little bit to see how things develop with the Photon and ways of getting around the APN restriction I would.
I say this because in my opinion the Photon is superior to the Incredible 2 (bigger screen, higher resolution, dual core processor, a lot more memory, etc...). I guess you could say that the Photon is like a Cadillac while the Incredible 2 is a Chevy.
Last edited by KnowProblem; August 16th, 2011 at 08:10 AM.
I want to use the photon on on walmarts family plan.. they sell the sim card on the shelf. However the phone needs to be unlocked from carrier sprint. Can this be done?
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I've merged multiple threads discussing the Sim Card and GSM use, as it's been asked several times.
As of right now, it has been mentioned that the phone will not work on domestic U.S. carriers (e.g. you can't use a sim card from a different provider). It is supposed to be unlocked so that people traveling outside the US can use a SIM card from the country that they're in at that time.
So Sprint CSA's don't seem to be helpful at all... via phone or chat.
I took it to their forums, both the normal Motorola Photon and the Sprint Premier forums.
Usually get good answers from the Premier team.
I just talked to the Sprint Elevation Tech Support Team. They are stumped by the issue as well. They suggested I take the phone back to the store and swap it out and try it on a new phone.
I am hesitant because other folks are having the same issue.
Last edited by SporkLover; August 16th, 2011 at 08:44 PM.
Spoke with another department in Sprint. She said according to her notes the phone is GSM unlocked for Voice Only. Data is locked. So the only way to get mobile data abroad overseas is via Sprint SIM.... $17-20 a MB...... what a bummer and a let down....
Hello guys, I look for someone to help me.
I brought my 4g photon in Italy, I used a vodafone sim card.
work if I put the network settings du "only GSM / UMTS."
but 'when I turn off and power back up the phone loses the settings and returns to CDMA (loses settings made by me). There 'someone who knows how to do?
thanks
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lodisax
Hello guys, I look for someone to help me.
I brought my 4g photon in Italy, I used a vodafone sim card.
work if I put the network settings du "only GSM / UMTS."
but 'when I turn off and power back up the phone loses the settings and returns to CDMA (loses settings made by me). There 'someone who knows how to do?
thanks
Wish I had an answer for you. Majority of the users on here are domestic US on Sprint, but I'm glad that you posted that information on here that the Vodaphone sim card worked in Italy! that's great!.
I'm assuming that because the phone's primary purpose is to serve as a domestic US phone for Sprint, that's why it goes back to CDMA settings after you power down and back up.
When you go in and select "only GSM/UMTS," are you saying that everything that you've set up on the phone previously does not come back? And I'm assuming that means how you've set up the homescreens and other things of that nature, correct?
Sprint and Motorola have teamed up to bring us the Motorola Photon 4G, the carrier's first international handset with Android. It's a 4.3 inch powerhouse with its dual-core Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and more.
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***Official GSM/World Phone/Sim Card Discussion Thread***
