topic Re: Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network in Get Support

Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network

DL00 — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 21:13:44 GMT

I'm trying to help my Dad get all setup. He has an old Nokia C3.

From what I can tell the phone is not capable of working on 3G and as a result will not work on Public Mobile.

Can anyone confirm that this is in fact the case?

Re: Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network

Fenix — Sat, 05 May 2018 13:57:05 GMT

From what I can see, the Nokia C3 is uses the GSM frequency band and Public Mobile uses HSPA. I'm no pro with phone hardware and the specific knowledge required but I would guess it's just too old a phone to work with Public Mobile.

Quoted from the Getting Started page

Public Mobile utilizes the following frequency bands:
4G LTE and LTE Advanced 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 1900 MHz and 2100 MHz downlink and 1700 MHz uplink (AWS) HSPA 850 MHz 1900 MHz (UMTS)

HSPA:

850 MHz
1900 MHz (UMTS)

The Nokia C3 uses GSM : 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Re: Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network

DL00 — Sat, 05 May 2018 14:26:26 GMT

Thank you for the reply. This is what I was thinking, but just wanted some confirmation.

Re: Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network

computergeek541 — Sat, 05 May 2018 19:19:13 GMT

When most people speak of the Nokia C3, they're usually talking about the Nokia C3-00. They is the model with the full QWERTY keypad.

I can confirm fully that the Nokia C3-00 will never work at Public Mobile. This phone was most recently (maybe as recent as 5 years ago) by Chatr/Rogers in Canada, but it does not have any 3g connectivity capabilities.

However, Telus did sell a model called the Nokia C3-01. This model will work, but it's a completely differently designed phone model.

Re: Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network

DL00 — Sat, 05 May 2018 22:58:36 GMT

Thanks. It is a C3-00.

Re: Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network

makkahn28 — Sat, 05 May 2018 23:37:01 GMT

Checked on GSMArena. THIS is NOT Compatible

Re: Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network

DL00 — Sun, 06 May 2018 00:05:51 GMT

Thanks.

Time to find a new phone for him.

Re: Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network

DL00 — Sun, 06 May 2018 01:59:47 GMT

Trying to make sure that I'm using GSM arena correctly.

Are these the lines I'm interested in?

HSDPA 850 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100

LTE band 2(1900), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 17(700)

If so how do these relate to:

Public Mobile utilizes the following frequency bands:
4G LTE and LTE Advanced 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 1900 MHz and 2100 MHz downlink and 1700 MHz uplink (AWS) HSPA 850 MHz 1900 MHz (UMTS)

HSPA:

850 MHz
1900 MHz (UMTS)

Are HSPA and HSDPA the same? Similar?

How do AWS and UMTS play into this?

Sorry about all the questions. I'm just trying to figure this stuff out.

Thanks.

Re: Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network

Anonymous — Sun, 06 May 2018 02:11:31 GMT

@DL00 - I believe that LTE bandsyou indicate will give you everything you need for Data coverage with Public mobile. Rest of that stuff is way beyond me, but there are many around here that can fill in all the blanks for you.

Re: Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network

Anonymous — Sun, 06 May 2018 02:30:02 GMT

@DL00, did you see this topic? Lots of info on network stuff.

Re: Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network

srlawren — Mon, 07 May 2018 05:35:48 GMT

@DL00 it can be a bit confusing. What you're looking for is 850MHz and 1900MHz 3G network support. These may also be described as B2 (Band 2) or B5 (Band 5) on some models. These 3G bands are different from 4G/LTE bands, so try not to confuse the two (just a tip, not saying you have). 3G can be called W-CDMA, UMTS, HSDPA, HSPA, or HSPA+. Any of those are fine as long as the two frequences listed above are present. AWS is not used for 3G at Public Mobile. If you want to make and receive calls, you must have these two 3G frequencies. Having these 3G frequencies also gives you support for texting, and data at the HSPA+ speed (which is still pretty good, but slower than LTE).

4G / LTE is only for data (though I understand text messages can also be delivered over 4G). It's frustrating when spec sheets list a frequency for 4G, because many of those frequencies can mean more than 1 possible band, which makes it really tough. What you're looking for are band 4 at a minimum (which I believe uses the AWS frequencies, ie. a combination of both 1700MHz and 2100MHz). Other bands such as 2, 5, 7 can definitely be helpful in most urban or suburban areas, but band 4 is the primary band to look for if you want full speed LTE data.

Re: Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network

DL00 — Mon, 07 May 2018 00:04:19 GMT

Thanks. This is exactly what I was looking for.

I knew there was a difference between 3G and LTE but I wasn't sure which frequencies Public Mobile needed for each. Thanks for laying it all out.

Thanks for taking the time.

Re: Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network

srlawren — Mon, 07 May 2018 05:36:01 GMT

@DL00 glad it helped 🙂