Using Manual Band Selection to Prefer a Specific Band on Your Carrier or to Prefer a Roaming Partner

[sms]

I was looking at global eSIMs and was surprised to see that one
provider, Silent Link <https://silent.link>, lists both AT&T and
T-Mobile as carriers that they use in the U.S.. Silent.Link offers
non-expiring data for 0.57¢/MB ($5.70/GB) if it connects to AT&T's
network but 1.25¢/MB ($12.50/GB) if it connects to T-Mobile's network.
This is especially odd since T-Mobile sells bulk data to MVNOs at
significantly lower prices than AT&T.

On my Samsung phones I can select specific LTE bands to use
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ray.samsungbandselection>
(and supposedly LG also offered this capability) so I could
theoretically choose a band that T-Mobile doesn’t support (14, 17, 19,
29, 30) and be sure to connect to AT&T.

There are significant cost differences in other countries as well, for
example in Taiwan, the price per MB can be anywhere from 0.63¢ on
Chunghwa Telecom (bands 1, 3, 7, 8) to 2.1¢ on Fareastone (bands 1, 3,
7, 28), more than 3x the cost per MB on the Fareastone network. If I
chose only band 8 then the phone could not connect to Fareastone and I
would get the lower price per MB.

There are also times when the band on your own carrier that you
automatically connect to may not be the fastest band available so you
might want to specify which frequency your phone uses. As one user wrote
“Often I'm in an area where the default band is congested, but switching
to another band makes my data usable. Thank you for making this app and
keeping it compatible ...”

Note that band selection capability is not available on all Android
devices and is not available on the iPhone. Apparently band selection is
available on all rooted Android phones that use Qualcomm Snapdragon
chipsets
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qtrun.QuickTest>, but
root is not needed on Samsung phones

I added this to the document < https://tinyurl.com/iOS-Android-Features>
as 171a on page 73.

[Andy Burnelli]

sms wrote:

> I was looking at global eSIMs and was surprised to see that one
> provider, Silent Link <https://silent.link>, lists both AT&T and
> T-Mobile as carriers that they use in the U.S.. Silent.Link offers
> non-expiring data for 0.57¢/MB ($5.70/GB) if it connects to AT&T's
> network but 1.25¢/MB ($12.50/GB) if it connects to T-Mobile's network.
> This is especially odd since T-Mobile sells bulk data to MVNOs at
> significantly lower prices than AT&T.
>
> On my Samsung phones I can select specific LTE bands to use
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ray.samsungbandselection>
> (and supposedly LG also offered this capability) so I could

> theoretically choose a band that T-Mobile doesnÿt support (14, 17, 19,

> 29, 30) and be sure to connect to AT&T.

For Samsung, I've always used this free app to see & select network bands.
*Network Mode Samsung* by JunHyung Lee
Free, ad free, gsf free, google free, rated 3.7, 100K+ installs
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ljh.networkmodesamsung>

Dunno why there's a second app for _all_ phones (including Samsung?)
*Network Mode Universal* by JunHyung Lee
Free, ad free, gsf free, google free, rated 3.1, also 100K+ installs
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ljh.networkmode>

> There are significant cost differences in other countries as well, for
> example in Taiwan, the price per MB can be anywhere from 0.63¢ on
> Chunghwa Telecom (bands 1, 3, 7, 8) to 2.1¢ on Fareastone (bands 1, 3,
> 7, 28), more than 3x the cost per MB on the Fareastone network. If I
> chose only band 8 then the phone could not connect to Fareastone and I
> would get the lower price per MB.
>
> There are also times when the band on your own carrier that you
> automatically connect to may not be the fastest band available so you
> might want to specify which frequency your phone uses. As one user wrote
> ´Often I'm in an area where the default band is congested, but switching
> to another band makes my data usable. Thank you for making this app and
> keeping it compatible ...¡

Note that my free Android phone doesn't have a lot of bands to choose from.
<https://i.postimg.cc/ZKnwPGQ0/bands02.jpg> Choose desired bands
I'm sure phones more expensive than free would have a better selection.
<https://i.postimg.cc/FFByv7Ps/bands01.jpg> Network Mode freeware

> Note that band selection capability is not available on all Android
> devices and is not available on the iPhone. Apparently band selection is
> available on all rooted Android phones that use Qualcomm Snapdragon
> chipsets
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qtrun.QuickTest>, but
> root is not needed on Samsung phones
>
> I added this to the document < https://tinyurl.com/iOS-Android-Features>
> as 171a on page 73.

I'm surprised the iPhone can't choose the network band if you add an app.
Why would that be anything Apple would want to restrict the user doing?
--
On Usenet, kind-hearted purposefully helpful people carry on polite
discussions which benefit everyone who participates in the conversation.

[Alan]

On 2022-05-05 7:04 p.m., Andy Burnelli wrote:
> sms wrote:
>
>> I was looking at global eSIMs and was surprised to see that one
>> provider, Silent Link <https://silent.link>, lists both AT&T and
>> T-Mobile as carriers that they use in the U.S.. Silent.Link offers
>> non-expiring data for 0.57�/MB ($5.70/GB) if it connects to AT&T's
>> network but 1.25�/MB ($12.50/GB) if it connects to T-Mobile's network.
>> This is especially odd since T-Mobile sells bulk data to MVNOs at
>> significantly lower prices than AT&T.
>>
>> On my Samsung phones I can select specific LTE bands to use
>> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ray.samsungbandselection>
>> (and supposedly LG also offered this capability) so I could

>> theoretically choose a band that T-Mobile doesn�t support (14, 17, 19,

Better question:

Why would the user EVER want to do it...

...as opposed letting the system choose the best band at any given moment?

[nospam]

In article <t523j3$7n6$1...@dont-email.me>, Alan <nuh...@nope.com> wrote:

> > I'm surprised the iPhone can't choose the network band if you add an app.
> > Why would that be anything Apple would want to restrict the user doing?
>
> Better question:
>
> Why would the user EVER want to do it...

they wouldn't.

> ...as opposed letting the system choose the best band at any given moment?

that's far more effective.

the phone continuously scans all available bands and chooses the best
one for a given location and network capacity, which will change as
they move about. users have *no* way to do that on their own.

[Joerg Lorenz]

Am 05.05.22 um 22:19 schrieb sms:

Why should a user ever do such stupid things at all?
Once more kindergarten stuff without any relevance in real life.

--
De gustibus non est disputandum

[nospam]

In article <t53399$n1$1...@dont-email.me>, Joerg Lorenz <hugy...@gmx.ch>
wrote:

> Am 05.05.22 um 22:19 schrieb sms:

> > Note that band selection capability is not available on all Android
> > devices and is not available on the iPhone.

..

> Why should a user ever do such stupid things at all?

they shouldn't, nor do they have the necessary information to even make
the proper choice.

> Once more kindergarten stuff without any relevance in real life.

yep. it's nothing more than trolling.

[Andy Burnelli]

nospam wrote:

>> Why would the user EVER want to do it...
>
> they wouldn't.
>> ...as opposed letting the system choose the best band at any given moment?
>
> that's far more effective.
> the phone continuously scans all available bands and chooses the best
> one for a given location and network capacity, which will change as
> they move about. users have *no* way to do that on their own.

What you're clearly stating is you believe the iPhone is less functional.
Why is it that the iPhone _always_ lacks basic functionality, nospam?

What is interesting is how much the iKooks _hate_ all basic functionality.
<https://i.postimg.cc/L5CZHt2k/bands03.jpg> Smart phones for smart users
--
Why do iKooks _hate_ when "smart" phones give "smart" users a choice?

[Andy Burnelli]

nospam wrote:

>> Why should a user ever do such stupid things at all?
>
> they shouldn't, nor do they have the necessary information to even make
> the proper choice.
>
>> Once more kindergarten stuff without any relevance in real life.
>
> yep. it's nothing more than trolling.

You never stop defending what _always_ is lack of iPhone functionality.

In fact, whenever it's pointed out how many times the iPhone lacks even the
simplest of the most bsaic of functionality, you call it a troll.

Why do iKooks _hate_ when a (smart!) phone provides _choice_ to the user?
<https://i.postimg.cc/FFByv7Ps/bands01.jpg> Smart apps to select bands
--
Usenet is where kind-hearted people daily gather to voluntarily help.
Usenet is where friendly people daily gather to discuss topics of interest.
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to help others & to learn from them.

[Andy Burnelli]

Joerg Lorenz wrote:

> Why should a user ever do such stupid things at all?
> Once more kindergarten stuff without any relevance in real life.

It's always the same with you iKooks.

You never stop defending what _always_ is lack of iPhone functionality.

What always remains is the iKook are _desperate_ to defend what is, in
effect, their _dumb phone_ since it never has the options _smart phones_
should have (why? Because Apple considers its users too dumb, that's why).
<https://i.postimg.cc/ZKnwPGQ0/bands02.jpg> Smart === choice
--
iKooks _hate_ Apple considers its users too dumb to be allowed any choice.

[Alan]

I notice you've not addressed your reply to the point.

[Alan]

On 2022-05-06 8:20 a.m., Andy Burnelli wrote:

> Joerg Lorenz wrote:
>
>> Why should a user ever do such stupid things at all?
>> Once more kindergarten stuff without any relevance in real life.
>
> It's always the same with you iKooks.
> You never stop defending what _always_ is lack of iPhone functionality.
>
> What always remains is the iKook are _desperate_ to defend what is, in
> effect, their _dumb phone_ since it never has the options _smart phones_
> should have (why? Because Apple considers its users too dumb, that's why).
> <https://i.postimg.cc/ZKnwPGQ0/bands02.jpg> Smart === choice

Do you want to pick which particular processor core runs a particular
process on your phone, too?

How about being allowed to pick which cell tower you connect to?