[General Questions and Answers] IT_Architect:
1. I will be living in the US and Colombia in an orphanage. I am currently in the US and my latest phone is a Note 3 and Verizon (CDMA). Colombia doesn't have CDMA. My Verizon Note 3 will work there, but not well. The closest spectrum match from a US carrier AT&T and I like anything in the Note series. I would like the Note 4 because it has a replaceable battery, a back that comes off so I can add a dual SIM adapter, the price, and if it comes up missing, it won't cost much to replace. However, Claro and Movistar are the two most popular networks in the country, and it appears that I see that the Note 4 and Note 5 do not support Movistar's UMTS B4, so it appears that the Note 8 is the only option if I want to support both. I've never been a band expert, so I organized the information below for your comment. The red in the Note 5 and Note 8 show the differences between them and the Note 4.

Colombian Mobile Service Providers

Claro (48%), Movistar(24%), Tigo(18%), remaining 10% are MVNOs of these.

Colombian Bands

GSM (2G) 850, 1900 (PCS) - Claro, Movistar, Tigo

UMTS B2 (1900 PCS) - Claro, Tigo

UMTS B4 (1700/2100 AWS 1) - Movistar

LTE (4G): Band 2/1900 - Movistar

LTE (4G): B4 (1700/2100 AWS 1) - Movistar, Tigo

LTE (4G): B7 (2600) - Claro, Tigo

LTE (4G): Band 38/2600 - DirectTV data

LTE (4G): Future - Colombia will "real soon" (when pigs fly) be auctioning in the 700 range 2x 15MHz blocks (Block A/B12), 2x 10MHz blocks (Block B/B12) and two 2x 5MHz blocks (Blocks C/B12&orB13, and D/B14). A supplementary 2x 2.5MHz block of 1900MHz spectrum will also be auctioned, comprising frequencies in the 1865MHz-1867.5MHz/1945MHz-1947.5MHz bands (Block E/B25).

AT&T Bands (as near as I can find)

https://www.frequencycheck.com/carriers/at-t-united-states

GSM Supported Protocols: GPRS, EDGE

GSM (2G) 850, 1900 (PCS)

UMTS Supported Protocols: UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+

UMTS (3G) B2 (1900 PCS), B5 (850)

LTE Supported Protocols: LTE, LTE-A

LTE (4G) B2 (1900 PCS), B4 (1700/2100 AWS 1), B5 (850 CLR), B12 (700 ac), B14 (700 public safety), B17 (700 bc), B30 (2300 WCS), B40 (TDD 2300 implementing), B66 (1700 AWS)

Note 4 N910A (AT&T)

https://www.frequencycheck.com/models/GLDb7/samsung-sm-n910a-galaxy-note-4-lte-a-samsung-muscat

GSM Supported Protocols GPRS, EDGE

GSM (2G) 850, 900 (E-GSM), 1800 (DCS), 1900 (PCS)

UMTS (3G) B1 (2100), B2 (1900 PCS), B5 (850), B8 (900 GSM)

UMTS Supported Protocols UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+

LTE (4G) B2 (1900 PCS), B4 (1700/2100 AWS 1), B5 (850), B7 (2600), B12 (700 bc), B17 (700 bc)

Supported LTE Protocols LTE, LTE-A

Note 5 N920A (AT&T)

https://www.frequencycheck.com/models/A1aaA/samsung-galaxy-note-5-sm-n920a

GSM Supported Protocols GPRS, EDGE

GSM (2G) 850, 900 (E-GSM), 1800 (DCS), 1900 (PCS)

UMTS Supported Protocols UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+

UMTS (3G) B1 (2100), B2 (1900 PCS), B5 (850), B8 (900 GSM)

LTE Supported Protocols LTE, LTE-A

LTE (4G) B1 (2100), B2 (1900 PCS), B3 (1800 +), B4 (1700/2100 AWS 1), B5 (850), B7 (2600), B7 (2600), B12 (700 ac), B17 (700 bc), B20 (800 DD), B29 (700 de)

Note 8 N950U (AT&T)

https://www.frequencycheck.com/mode...axy-note-8-td-lte-us-sm-n950u1-samsung-baikal

https://www.techwalls.com/samsung-galaxy-note-8-sm-n950-model-number-differences/

GSM Supported Protocols GPRS, EDGE

GSM (2G) 850, 900 (E-GSM), 1800 (DCS), 1900 (PCS)

UMTS Supported Protocols UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+

UMTS (3G) B1 (2100), B2 (1900 PCS), B4 (1700/2100 AWS 1), B5 (850), B8 (900 GSM)

LTE Supported Protocols LTE, LTE-A

LTE (4G) B1 (2100), B2 (1900 PCS), B3 (1800 +), B4 (1700/2100 AWS 1), B5 (850), B7 (2600), B8 (900), B12 (700 ac), B13 (700 c), B17 (700 bc), B18 (800 Lower), B20 (800 DD), B25 (1900 +), B26 (850 +), B28 (700 APT), B29 (700 de), B30 (2300 WCS), B38 (TD 2600), B39 (TD 1900 +), B40 (TD 2300), B41 (TD 2500)

2. Another entirely different subject is how good the AT&T network is these days? (Southwest Michigan mostly with some rural.) On Verizon pre-paid I'm always connected and get 13.9 down and 9.23 up in the worst part of the day on 3 bars. How well does it do inside buildings as I'm often buried in basements and wire closets with my IT work. Any advice appreciated.

Thanks TONS!!!