PSA: Nexus 5 USA model doesn't support NZ 4G

Forums › Android › PSA: Nexus 5 USA model doesn't support NZ 4G

eXDee

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#133748 1-Nov-2013 08:55

Came here to post this, I see @kyhwana is onto it in the N5 thread but thought it deserves it's own thread so it doesn't get missed.

If you buy the USA Nexus 5 model (D820) it will not work on NZ 4G, on any current or future network. It will however work with DC-HSPA+ on all 3G networks.

The D821 is required as this has Band 3 LTE (1800mhz) that is used here. Additionally band 7 (2600mhz) is also supported, that is likely to be used for additional capacity by NZ providers.

Via Anandtech, frequencies added:

(D820) North America: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
CDMA: Band Class: 0/1/10
WCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/6/8/19 (2100/1900/1700/850/800/900mhz)
LTE: Bands: 1/2/4/5/17/19/25/26/41 (2100/1900/AWS/850/700bc/800u/1900+/850+/tdd2600 mhz)

(D821) Rest of World: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
WCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/6/8 (2100/1900/1700/850/800/900mhz)
LTE: Bands: 1/3/5/7/8/20 (2100/1800/850/2600/900/800dd mhz)

And for future reference, this is largely the case for every other USA device unless it has these bands. The iPad Air is one example of this with a single model that works worldwide.

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#925349 1-Nov-2013 08:58

And as we have no access to Google Play for NZ or AU hardware we are screwed and doubly screwed if a carrier brings it into NZ as it will retail for about $1000

Regards,

Old3eyes

eXDee

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#925354 1-Nov-2013 09:04

old3eyes: And as we have no access to Google Play for NZ or AU hardware we are screwed and doubly screwed if a carrier brings it into NZ as it will retail for about $1000

If there is a mail forwarding service from Australia -> NZ (or from almost any other market) that's one option.

And for local pricing, it'll be at most the same as the $799 Nexus 4 launch price, likely less. If you waited for a retailer to do a 20% off sale it might even be had for under $600.

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#925398 1-Nov-2013 09:27

DC HSPA+ should be quick enough.

I'm on voda.

Does voda have DC HSPA+ , if so what's the speed ? anything higher than 1mbps i'm happy.

kiwijunglist

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#925412 1-Nov-2013 09:29

My brother bought 2 this morning, I think the final cost will probably be around NZ $550ish each, or less if it doesn't attract GST. I would imagine this would retail in NZ for $899.

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coolcat21

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#925415 1-Nov-2013 09:31

kiwijunglist: My brother bought 2 this morning, I think the final cost will probably be around NZ $550ish each, or less if it doesn't attract GST. I would imagine this would retail in NZ for $899.

It'll likely attract GST if you dont' lie to customs.

$349 USD is already 430+ NZD ...more than the 400 threshold.

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#925423 1-Nov-2013 09:34

coolcat21: DC HSPA+ should be quick enough.

I'm on voda. Does voda have DC HSPA+ , if so what's the speed ? anything higher than 1mbps i'm happy.

Yeah as I said in the other thread I get 15Mb down and 2.5Mb up on vodafone HSPA which is plenty fast enough for me.

I wonder what people do with LTE/4G speeds on their mobiles or are they just worried about future proofing?

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#925583 1-Nov-2013 12:10

coolcat21: DC HSPA+ should be quick enough.

I'm on voda. Does voda have DC HSPA+ , if so what's the speed ? anything higher than 1mbps i'm happy.

Vodafone sure does. Dual Carrier HSPA+ is up to 42.2Mbps down. Real-world in good coverage areas, expect speeds ~20Mbps. See the Dual Carrier section here.

BigMal:

Yeah as I said in the other thread I get 15Mb down and 2.5Mb up on vodafone HSPA which is plenty fast enough for me.

I wonder what people do with LTE/4G speeds on their mobiles or are they just worried about future proofing?

Lots of speed tests. ;)

I find 4G LTE absolutely fantastic, and not just because I'm a mobile geek. Everything internet-related that I use my phone for on the go happens so much faster, from refreshing Twitter to uploading photos to buffering high quality YouTube & Spotify. Worth the wait for it in NZ, IMHO, 150Mbps in my pocket (On Cat4) is truly glorious tech.

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#925585 1-Nov-2013 12:11

Vodafone NZ starting deploying Dual carrier a few years back 28.8 and over the last 18 - 24 months as above

We also have many Tri carrier and quad carrier sites on 2100Mhz band but these carriers are not bonded but add ample more capacity to the serving cell

tripp

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#925608 1-Nov-2013 12:37

NikT:
coolcat21: DC HSPA+ should be quick enough.

I'm on voda. Does voda have DC HSPA+ , if so what's the speed ? anything higher than 1mbps i'm happy.

Vodafone sure does. Dual Carrier HSPA+ is up to 42.2Mbps down. Real-world in good coverage areas, expect speeds ~20Mbps. See the Dual Carrier section here.

BigMal:

Yeah as I said in the other thread I get 15Mb down and 2.5Mb up on vodafone HSPA which is plenty fast enough for me.

I wonder what people do with LTE/4G speeds on their mobiles or are they just worried about future proofing?

Lots of speed tests. ;)

I find 4G LTE absolutely fantastic, and not just because I'm a mobile geek. Everything internet-related that I use my phone for on the go happens so much faster, from refreshing Twitter to uploading photos to buffering high quality YouTube & Spotify. Worth the wait for it in NZ, IMHO, 150Mbps in my pocket (On Cat4) is truly glorious tech.

Yes but some of us have to pay for data so we can't all go around watching high quality on youtube and stream more than a few hours of spotify on the go before blowing out our data amounts.
Telco's are good at upping speed while lowering data amounts.

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#925652 1-Nov-2013 13:27

Yes but some of us have to pay for data so we can't all go around watching high quality on youtube and stream more than a few hours of spotify on the go before blowing out our data amounts.
Telco's are good at upping speed while lowering data amounts.

I couldn't agree more. The cost of mobile data is so high that it devalues the benefits of LTE.

LTE for refreshing my twitter feed isn't worth the expense ;-)

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#925701 1-Nov-2013 14:24

I disagree, doing the same stuff at higher speed just seems so right :P

If you actively use cloud storage then it gives you a far more cohesive experience without the inherent delays of a slow connection

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#926008 1-Nov-2013 20:26

coolcat21: DC HSPA+ should be quick enough.

I'm on voda. Does voda have DC HSPA+ , if so what's the speed ? anything higher than 1mbps i'm happy.

Not once you get use to 4G. It's not so much the fast speeds you can get on 4G; the big plus is the lower latency. General web browsing is just some much more snappier!

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eXDee

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#926041 1-Nov-2013 22:18

One thing a lot of people don't keep in mind as well is congestion. HSPA gets congested far easier than 4G LTE, so for long term as more people use more data on their phones, we're going to see speeds drop. While i also find HSPA great when its not under load, when it is, it can easily be sub 1 megabit, and in extreme load cases you see the data session drop entirely.

Also for those that care about resale value it's important there too.

I think it's just important for future proofing overall on any high end handset.

lchiu7

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#926170 2-Nov-2013 09:32

eXDee:
old3eyes: And as we have no access to Google Play for NZ or AU hardware we are screwed and doubly screwed if a carrier brings it into NZ as it will retail for about $1000

If there is a mail forwarding service from Australia -> NZ (or from almost any other market) that's one option.

And for local pricing, it'll be at most the same as the $799 Nexus 4 launch price, likely less. If you waited for a retailer to do a 20% off sale it might even be had for under $600.

Check the main N5 thread. 2D has announced $699 pricing with 24 months warranty. Soon.

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#926220 2-Nov-2013 12:12

The irony being that 2degrees don't support lte. So the likelihood of these phones being used on their competitors' networks is high.

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