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4G on an imported phone?

Hi! I've been a T-Mobile customer forever - since they were Voicestream - because they offered quad-band phones and let you use anything you could buy in Europe.

I've had my first Android for a year now, and I'm ready to pass it on to my mother and treat myself to an even more gorgeous new one. As always, I'm tempted by imports. How exactly does T-Mobile's 3G/4G thing work? If a phone has both the 1700 and 2100 data bands, I believe I can get 3G speeds. But what about 4G? Does it require more bands, or is it just a software thing (and can I hack my phone to do it)?
 
T-Mobile technically doesn't have 4G. What T-Mobile calls 4G is really HSPA+, an improved version of the 3G (HSPA) technology. This is different from LTE, what Verizon is calling 4G. Pretty much T-Mobile is bringing 3G closer to its theoretical limits. 3G normally maxes out at 7Mbps download and 5Mbps upload. HSPA+ maxes out at higher speeds, currently between 14-42Mbps download, depending on which phone you have.

To answer your question, not all phones have HSPA+ and even less have T-Mobile 3G/4G frequencies. Before you buy a phone look at the specs to see if it has (AWS) 1700/2100Mhz frequencies and what the upload and download speeds are. You do not need more bands and software hacking can't improve your speeds because it is a hardware issue.
 
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