[Galaxy S6 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] UrbanstormT7:
Hey guys i hope maybe someone here can shed some light on this problem for me.

I bought a sm-g920i international unlocked s6 used lovally here in Alberta Canada. This sm-g920i says its compatible with LTE bands1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 26, 28, 40

And my carrier is Bell Mobillity which has bands 4, 7, and 17.

So i noticed that my LTE usually only has 0-1 bars but if i put my sim in my s4 or s5 it always had way more. So i then went and got a new sim and tbis did nothing, i tried a feiends sim from his s6 that had full bars and as soon as he put in in mine it went to 1.

So i then starded doing speed tests using the speedtest.net app and noticed my s6 was getting about half the speeds or less than my s5 on same network and same area and same time. The odd thing is every now and then it will get to full bars and i got a 53mb download speed on LTE. But most of the time it shows 0-1 bars and less than normal speeds.

So the i figured out that when i turned off LTE the bars went up instantly to normal like my other phones.

So i contacted samsung support and we have been emailing back and fourth and they wanted screenshots of the rf debug screen and all that stuff and they came to the conclusion that because i get full bars on h or h+ there is nothing wrong with my device and jt is a carrier issue or the device is not compatible. But the calling bell and doing all the research shows that it should be fully compatible with bell?

So me paying attention to the rf debug screen now i notice it goes from band 2 to band 4 and back and fourth but always with 1 or 0 bars untill i get to a certain spot and it skyrockets and then drops right off again. All the while my note 5 had 4 and 5 bars the whole time.

So i took a tonne of screen shots of the rf debug screen so they can see what its doing and emailed it back to them also with some from my note 5 to compare too and thats where i am now.

He seemed to think because i was connected to band 2 that was my problem but then it connected to band 4 and same problem.

Also i noticed my note 5 connects to band 2 when it shows LTE+, it shows band 4 but then on the bottom a few more lines pop up and it shows band 2 in there.

But bell only has bands 4, 7 and 17 so now im really confused and i dont know what to do with this phone.

I already bought this note 5 which i love and it works perfect on my network just like my s5 and my s4 did, but id like to solve the problem with this s6 or at least know there is nothing wrong with it and i just need tk sell it to soneone who has the proper network for it.

I can provide any of the screen shots if needed and ill paste his last email below here. Any help would be appreciated thanks

Email:

Dear Mr. Scott,

After reviewing this case very detained in order to provide you the more clear explanation I have issue this conclusion base on the evidences you have provided and the research we did perform base on your mobile carrier technology.

The Model SM-G920i is the Galaxy S6 version specific for LATAM (Latin America). Its SW embed the LATAM Carrier singularities to optimize and guarantee customers the best experience. The Differentiation letter in this model indicates the specific marked is has been programed for.

Your unit is not an exception. It is a LATAM version of Galaxy S6.

Based on our research this is Bell Mobility LTW Specs:

**picture of bell network info from wikipedia**

https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Mobile_country_code

This is your phone LTE Service reading while signal is low:

**my screenshot of rfdebug screen showing band 2**

Your Galaxy S6 Edge is connecting to Band 2 (1900 MHz) which is probably not even supported by your service provider on this area as per the chart since it stated Bell Mobility supports only LTE B4 (1700 MHz) and B7 (2600 MHz).

Also, you may be probably roaming with a 3rd Mobile carrier which (for LTE) which its MCC / MNC (Mobile Country Code / Mobile Network Code) is not registered on GS6 Edge MCC / MNC database.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge supports the following Bands:

2.5G (EDGE, GSM/GPRS ) MHz:800, 900, 1800, 1900

3.5G (HSPA+, UMTS/WCDMA ) MHz:850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100

4G (LTE ) Bands:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 26, 28, 40

As you can see, Band2 is fully supported by the mobile unit but RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) -89 which is the number for 1 bar on signal indicator (Full Bars <-60 and No Bars > -95). This is, if phone is getting the full signal for 3G (H, H+) phone antenna circuitry is properly working but when switches to LTE signal goes low. This absolutely discards is a phone issue.

Your actual network uses IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) to roam across the nation with carrier 302 / 880. This is why it is very important where are you using your S6 Edge since carrier 302 / 880 only provide 3G services. This is also another important thing to consider since, IMSI validates your MCC/MNC and phone number to roam across the nation. This is, if your IMSI is not registered on LTE sharing partner database you will be rejected whenever the units negotiates access to the external/shared network, thus, an alternative LTE network need to be camped for (B2) which is not the main. This is probably reason why your friends SIM operates OK when uses your galaxy S6 edge. This is not a mobile units negotiation. This is IMSI / Carrier1 / Carrier 2 negotiation.

This is carrier2 info (the secondary operator that provide the shared service (NOT LTE).

As you can see on the chart, 302 / 880 is only 3G (UMTS 850 / UMTS 1900). This is, if you are operating in an area where services is provided by Carrier 302 / 880 (shared service) you will be able to get the 3G service only. Even though your LTE service is turned ON on the phone.

I expect this is information remains useful for you.

My regards,

Jabaar Anglin

Samsung Electronics

***** im not sure i understand what he is sayibg in this email totally. But part of it he is talking about telus which is who bell shares towers with. He thibks they only have 3g but just to be clear twlus mobillity has 4g LTE