[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] DocHoliday77:
Look, lets not escalate this further. I don't believe anyone had that intent in the beginning. I do owe you an apology for sounding harsh in response to your first post. I think it would have been a lot easier to swallow if you didn't lead it all into that conspiracy theory of yours. Anyway, I do hope it can be brought back down a level before it resorts to name calling and more personal insults. Nothing productive comes from that.

Now, while I do apologize for the tone of my post, I also have to stand by my conclusions there.

First, you keep bringing up that the T779 was never certified for LTE by the FCC, and you want documents that show otherwise. Here is the only one you should need.

https://apps.fcc.gov/eas/GetApplicationAttachment.html?id=1792197

This what is called a "Change of ID Request". Basically, they never had to submit the T779 for FCC approval. As is stated in this letter, it is electronically Identical to the SGH-I497 and the test results for that device are 100% applicable to the T779 as the only things that change between the two are Model name, Trade name and FCC ID.

So because the I497 was already approved/certified, those results directly apply to the T779.

Please note that the I497 was in fact submitted and approved as an LTE device. Here is a link to one of several reports for the I497.

https://apps.fcc.gov/eas/GetApplicationAttachment.html?id=1755749

So since the I497 was approved for LTE use, and everything related to that device also applies to the T779, this makes the T779 approved by the FCC for LTE. And when it was released it had already been tested and approved for such use. Only at the time, T-Mobile did not have LTE available. I believe this should satisfy your insistence that you be shown the papwerwork.

Now, just a quick response to your 'conspiracy theory'. The update you are talking about was released with one purpose. To let the T779 make use of its LTE capabilities. T-Mobile did not just do this to sell off their new devices, though I am sure it helped. They have a capable device that people recently bought. By providing the update to enable LTE they are providing better service to their current customers helping to ensure many will not jump ship, so to speak. It is capable, and required a simple update, why wouldnt they provide this?

As to the update itself, UVTMF4. I said before that I could not find where it existed. I admit I was wrong. I was able to find it and this is how I verified that the only feature being touted was the upgrade to LTE. The firmware can be found at Sammobile.com. I didn't see it at Samsung-updates.com and had never run into anything that one had and the other did not, so I assumed incorrectly that Sammobile would not have it either. Sorry about that part.

Keeping in mind how they did the Tab2, (They simply applied the I497 tests and approval to the identical T779) And knowing that the T779 was actually certified all along for LTE, it seems to me that it backs up my claims that the T999 is NOT capable of LTE. If it were, it seems logical to me that it would be identical to the SGH-I747 (which we already know it is not), and they would have been able to simply apply the I747 tests and approvals to the T999.

While I do appreciate your trying to inspire and help out, you did admit that you are very new to this stuff. Just the way you went about applying another devices OTA to the T999 does not make sense. I wont get into all of that again as I would just be repeating myself. But I do want to stress that I still believe this to be impossible!

I am sorry that you got such push back, but we were not trying to ridicule you. What you were proposing people do could cause them to really screw something up and be at a loss of $600! There are a lot of noobs here who will see a post saying they have proven LTE on the T999 and will just flash away anything they are told. I say this because either you were seeing things wrong or you did not do it right. If the OTA had applied, it would have stayed applied. If it reverted as you claim, then I dont believe anything ever changed to begin with. I have no idea what you were seeing, but again, it just makes no sense and I do not believe it is possible this could have happened as you claim. Being a noob yourself, you should have posed this as a question and ask us to help you figure it out. Instead you posted like you had figured out all of T-Mobile dirty secrets!

I am not trying to beat you down, or ridicule or anything like that. I am trying to help you to understand why I so strongly disagree with what you are trying to do. Yes, I do get a little annoyed at this LTE issue, but I do not try to intentionally take anything out on you. I have researched this extensively and I truly do believe the T999 is not LTE capable. It has the same chipset as your Tab, the I747, and a host of other devices. But having the same chipset does not equal having the same radio capabilities. I have given what I feel to be concrete evidence of everything I claim, and I do hope that you will at least be open enough to consider these things.

I did take the time to do more research on your device, the T999, the T999L and the I747, still with the same conclusions. I do my research trying to prove it can be done, not prove it cannot be done. Believe me, I would love to have LTE on my phone! And if at some point I am proven wrong, I will be happily making what ever modifications are needed and thanking whoever proved it to me! But it will take screenshots, extremely detailed information and multiple claims of it working for me to be convinced.

I do hope this clears things up between all of us. And I do hope you take something constructive from this all. I know this was quite the long reply, but I hope you can take the time to read it all. I will gladly answer any questions you may have, but please be respectful when doing so.

Just trying to share my findings!

Take it easy man!

Doc