Old Phone Seems Incompatible with PM Network

[DL00]

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?

[srlawren]

@DL00 glad it helped 🙂

[DL00]

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.

[srlawren]

@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.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

@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.

[DL00]

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.

[DL00]

Thanks.

Time to find a new phone for him.

[makkahn28]

Checked on GSMArena. THIS is NOT Compatible

[DL00]

Thanks. It is a C3-00.

[computergeek541]

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. 

[DL00]

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

[Fenix · Accepted solution]

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