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torontob
join:2012-08-12
North York, ON

torontob

Member

LTE 2600Mhz vs 2100Mhz for Fido / Rogers. Why either or?

Hi everyone,

I see that 2600Mhz gives better speed according to Rogers. I am on Fido network and want to get a Galaxy Note II which only support 2100Mhz. What is it with 2600Mhz (technically) that makes it faster than the 2100Mhz?

Also, what Android phone options are available today that support 2600Mhz LTE? with latest Android version?

There are bad reviews on LG Optimus G from Rogers. So, staying away from that.

I am in market for a phone.

Thanks
yyzlhr
join:2012-09-03
Scarborough, ON

yyzlhr

Member

I don't know about the technical aspects of why 2600mhz offers faster speeds, but the Optimus G is the only phone in the North American market that supports the 2600mhz band as Bell and Rogers are the only ones who use that spectrum right now. There are several rocket stick/rocket hub products in the North American market that support it as well.
torontob
join:2012-08-12
North York, ON

torontob

Member

Thanks for the feedback. It's annoying that there are no 2600Mhz Android phones out there. I am also wondering if it's worth search more for a 2600Mhz phone vs a 2100Mhz. Though I would definitely enjoy the double speed
yyzlhr
join:2012-09-03
Scarborough, ON

yyzlhr

Member

Phones from other nations will likely support 2600mhz as there are a handful of other countries that have deployed LTE on the 2600mhz band, however those phones likely will not support the AWS LTE bands. Therefore your LTE coverage will cut in and out a lot as 2600mhz footprint is not the same as the whole LTE footprint and it also does not fare as well with indoor signal pentration.

TLS2000
Premium Member
join:2004-02-24
Elmsdale, NS
Ubiquiti UDM-Pro
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TLS2000 to torontob

Premium Member

to torontob
It's not that 2600mhz is faster. When you use 2600mhz, you're also using 2100mhz, so you can effectively double your bandwidth.

Rogers et. all will probably start deploying 700mhz in the next year or so for better building penetration as well.
howi
join:2005-07-27
Mississauga, ON

4 edits

howi

Member

TLS2000,

First, there is NO "inter-band, dual-carrier" FDD-LTE in operation. Secondly, the variant of LG Optimus G, E971, from Rogers ONLY supports LTE Band 7 (2600) BUT NOT LTE Band 4 (AWS) that Rogers LTE is currently using.

Though Rogers has 20+20MHz paired in the BRS spectrum for the LTE service i.e. LTE Band 7 (2600), there is NO LTE UE Category 4 device on the market that would make use of the 20MHz bandwidth that will bring the full potential of LTE Category 4 with the downlink up to 150Mbps. All current UE Category 3 devices can only deal with 10MHz of bandwidth.

As for the 700MHz spectrum... if Industry Canada follows the steps of FCC in the US, it will be chaotic with different blocks of 6-12MHz!!! »www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/sm ··· 960.html If IC decides to go with other options, then we pray that there will be compatible devices on the market for us!!!

Right now in the US, there are different 700MHz bands... Band 12, 13, 14, 17... Qualcomm and other chipset / baseband vendors have yet to offer interoperability in mobile devices that can support all of the 700MHz bands. I hope that they are not just talking on papers but commercially available in volume to handset makers... »www.fiercewireless.com/s ··· 12-06-05
howi

4 edits

howi to torontob

Member

to torontob
torontob,

Actually, "2100MHz" is just half of the AWS spectrum...




In Canada, the AWS spectrum has been used in UMTS (by WIND, Mobilicity and Videotron) and LTE networks (by the Big-3). The 2110-2155MHz range channels are for the "downlink" (from the cellsite to the mobile subscriber device) while the 1710-1755MHz channels are the "uplink" (from the mobile subscriber device to the cellsite).

It is quite confusing to call AWS specturm as "2100MHz", "2GHz range" because another spectrum allocated in many countries is also called "2100MHz", just the uplink is not in the 1700MHz range. Look up the UMTS Band I (2100) or LTE Band 1 (2100) for more. So some would refer AWS spectrum as "1700MHz" or "1700/2100MHz" rather. To me, it is still equally confusing.

Back in Canada, as you can see in the AWS band plan, the bigger blocks are 10+10MHz paired spectrum. Meaning, the current allocation can only offer 10MHz of bandwidth unless the licensee has got 2 contiguous / adjacent blocks in a particular service area.

»www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/sm ··· 303.html

As for the "2600MHz" for the LTE i.e. LTE Band 7 (2600), it lies in the 2500-2700MHz BRS spectrum...




Currently among the Big-3, only Rogers and Bell have got the BRS spectrum licenses through their Inukshuk Wireless Partnership. Together, they are holding 40+40MHz BRS paired spectrum in many regions. So Rogers and Bell are each entitled half of the BRS spectrum that Inukshuk holds, i.e. 20+20MHz. Then earlier this year, both Bell and Rogers have terminated the WiMAX service and begin to deploy LTE in some areas with their respective 20+20MHz paired spectrum.

The real potential here is about the 20MHz bandwidth that can be utilized for LTE UE Categroy 4 performance with downlink up to 150Mbps. However, there is no LTE UE Category 4 device supporting LTE Band 7 (2600) available yet. All the current devices, mostly modems / hotspots / "smart hubs" which support LTE Band 7 (2600) are still LTE UE Category 3.

jmck
formerly 'shaded'
join:2010-10-02
Ottawa, ON

jmck

Member

i've been reading on various news sites that the Nexus 4 which has a disabled LTE chip actually works in Canada on Rogers as LTE but not in the US.

»arstechnica.com/gadgets/ ··· sort-of/

TLS2000
Premium Member
join:2004-02-24
Elmsdale, NS

TLS2000

Premium Member

That's true. It can be enabled on AWS frequencies. Won't work on AT&T since it doesn't have 700mhz enabled.