Getting Tmobile 3G on unlocked Rogers BB 9700
 

Hi guys, I just got an unlocked Rogers 9700, and I'm using it on the T-Mobile network. So far, everything works like a champ. But I should be able to access the Tmobile 3G network, right? So far is been an uppercase EDGE, like my other BB's. Thanks.

T-Mobile uses different 3G frequencies. You also won't be able to get UMA to work (voice of WiFi).

There are 2 models.
T-mobile's model only works for 3G on t-mobile.
AT&T, Rogers etc, work on those 3g networks.
A rogers 9700 won't work on t-mobile for 3G.

You should have researched before buying.

How about the reverse (TMo --> Rogers)?
 

Will an unlocked T-Mobile 9700 work with Rogers 3G?

No.

To quote JSanders:

9700 Rogers: GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
HSPA: 850/1900/2100 Mhz

9700 AT&T: GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
UMTS/HSDPA: 800/850/1900/2100 MHz

9700 T-Mobile: GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz;UMTS: Band IV 1700/2100 MHz

So it can be seen that a Rogers 9700 will work on at&t 3G, but not on T-Mobile 3G. In the same way an at&t 9700 will work on rogers, but not on T-mobile 3G. T-mobile 9700 wont work on either Rogers 3G or At&t 3G. T-mobile uses AWS 3G, which uses 2 separate frequency bands to transfer data. As described here: Advanced Wireless Services - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Are these physically different radios or is this changeable in escreens? It seems strange that Rogers wouldn't have 800 like Telus/Bell/ATT which is why I'm supposing that at least Rogers should be changeable even if TMO has a physically different radio inside.

Someone else posted that this was changeable, but when challenged for more information they disappeared.

If it is changeable, I'm all ears.

Which one is faster? My experience is that Rogers 3G is barely faster than EDGE for basic web browsing.

Technically, any 3G is faster than EDGE. However, it is going to depend on your signal strength and tower bandwidth as to exactly how fast your connection is.

instructions:
go to the engineering menu - press alt shift and H at the same time
go to mobile network engineering screens, utilities, radio capabilities, umts band, set umts supported bands, <choose bands>

obviously the hardest part is getting into the engineering menu ;)

And does it work?
Have you tried this?

I have no reason to try it, but the options are in there... I honestly doubt it would work unless they have certain pieces of hardware in there. I am willing to bet that the chips differ on the two boards between carriers.

One way to check this theory out would be to see the FCC filings for the 9700 and see if there is a separate one for the AT&T and T-Mobile versions.

Also, beware in that menu, there doesn't seem to be an option to go back to 1,4,8 that t-mobile uses. There's (1) (2) (5) (1,2) (1,5) (2,5) (1,2,5) (1,2,5,6) for choices, nothing in the 4 or 8 band listed. Not going to change mine to see if it updates the "UMTS Bands Supported" line above it as I don't want to "fix" what isn't broken!

Willing to bet a few people with T-Mobile 9700s have tried this already......

If you get to the engineering screen it's under:
Mobile Network Engineering Screens -> Utilities -> Radio Capabilities -> UMTS Band

Tread with caution!!

Alt + Shift + H = Help Me! screen, not engineering menu.

Alt + Shift + H is where you get into the engineering screen. You need some of the information on that page to get the "access / unlock" code.

Correct you are...(y)

That's right! I have the code generator. I forgot all about that. I'm going to mess around with it and see if I can get my AT&T 9700 on T-Mobile's 3G.

Good luck!

It's going to take more than luck....The hardware will not support Bands 4 and 8, so there's no way to make it work. But it was worth looking into.

Like I mentioned on my 9700, the screens don't show bands 4 & 8 as being an option. Not sure what would happen if you tried different bands on a T-Mobile phone to get the phone to work on Rodgers or AT&T...

If anyone in here has a T-Mobile unlocked phone they're using on another carrier, would be nice to hear your results or even if the screen updates with the new band selection. Like I said before, I don't want to break what's currently working on my phone. :)