[Galaxy Note 3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] StarTAC Fan:
Short answer: I said get N9005 last time. With the new information you provided about Softbank, don't do that just yet until Softbank provides more information particularly about the band #. You have to contact their technical support engineers, not regular customer service. There are no issues with using the N9005 for Vodofone.

The more relevant question is which BAND do they support,not frequency. Remember, a "frequency" may consist of more than 1 incompatible bands.

I am unable to answer this with 100% certainty. You said you called Softbank and Vodofone so you know more than I do. If they said Wikipedia is incorrect, then I would be inclined to believe them. The responsibility falls on them to provide accurate information about their network.

It would help if they were able to tell you which band because, as I wrote in the bottom of my previous post, there can be more than 1 band in any frequency. For example, in the 700 MHz frequency, there are bands 12, 13 and 17, none of which are compatible with each other. The problem is that client support people at carriers are usually not technically literate people. If you already haven't done so, I would suggest you contact their technical support people (not the usual customer service). You may want to do it by email since that will give them more time to research the band #.

There is little doubt that in Europe, 800 MHz refers to band 20. There are only a few other carriers that use 800 MHz but not band 20; for example KDDI runs band 18 and NTT Dococo band 19 according to Wikipedia. There is also little doubt that when a carrier says they support ONLY 1700/2100 MHz, they are referring to band 4 (sometimes referred to as AWS) which uses these widely distant frequencies as a pair, one for uplink, the other for down (ususually the exact up and down frequencies are much closer to each other so only 1 number is used). In band 4, they cannot be separated. There is no such thing as ONLY 1700 for up/down. There is, however, such a thing as 2100 for both up/down (it's called band 1). If Softphone does run band 4, they are using a model like the the N900T (T-Mobile in the US) or N900W8 (Canada, Puerto Rico and elsewhere with the appropriate modem file).

The problem here is that Note 3 N900T supports band 4 and not band 20 while N9005 supports band 20 and not band 4. No flashing of the modem file will change this radio (hardware) limitation. So if you want a Galaxy Note 3, then you can't do it with just 1 phone. The other alternative is to switch to, say, NTT Dococo if that is possible and that will solve your problem by getting the N9005.

Softbank is the ambiguity here, not Vodofone. As you may have deduced, it would be best to check with Softbank's technical support engineers (not the regular customer service) to make sure their network supports band 4 and band 1. Again, band 4 uses 1700/2100 for up/down, while band 1 uses 2100 MHz for both up/down (actually it's closer to 2000 up). If Softbank says they support band 1 (or BOTH bands 1 AND band 4), then you're okay with the N9005 for use in Japan, Italy and many other countries. If they say they support ONLY band 4, then you're out of luck.

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Don't you mean Softbank runs 1700 and 2100? But does their network support BOTH band 4 AND band 1 or ONLY band 4?

That's true. But T-Mobile's phone does not support band 20 for Vodofone.

I wrote this yesterday quoting from Wikipedia:

Softbank LTE:

- 900 MHz Band 8 <The International Galaxy Note 3 will support this.

- 1500 MHz Band 11

- 2100 MHz Band 1 <Supported by both the American and International Galaxy Note 3.

EMOBILE (Softbank) LTE:

- 700 MHz Band 28 (note this is not the same as 700 MHz Band 17 and 29 with AT&T nor Verizon Band 13 in the US)

- 1700 MHz Band 9 (note this is not the same as 1700 MHz Band 4 used by T-Mobile)

You said Softbank claims that is information is incorrect. Someone should update that Wikipedia page.

Band 9 is actually 1800 MHz. See http://niviuk.free.fr/lte_band.php . Indeed, that Wikipedia page is inaccurate for at least the Japanese carriers.

As usual, regular customer service are not technical people. That's okay, that's not their job. But there is little doubt it's band 20. You're safe with the N9005 for Vodofone.

IMPORTANT: Have to correct myself. Band 4 uses 1700/2100 for up/down. Band 1 uses 2100 for up/down.

It doesn't change the next action step to contact Softbank technical support to find the band numbers supported. Explain to them you have a phone that is capable of supporting band 1 but not band 4.

If a seller says their phone is unlocked, they have to take responsibility that it is so. If they originally obtained it locked from a carrier, they will have had to manually unlock it. So technically it is not "new". There are such things as factory unlocked phones.

See above for "EMOBILE (Softbank)" from the Wikipedia List of LTE Networks page...unless someone knowledge needs to update this as well.