Kompakt 4G Band support

Mudita Products
1

Hi there,
I noticed that the Kompakt doesn’t support Band 28 (based on the Kickstarter “Global Optimized” supported band image). Band 28 is used heavily in Australia and that’s stopping me from backing the device.
Are there plans to add additional bands?

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2

How did you find out what bands work in Australia? I was confused by how they were written out on the Kickstarter as I thought our bands usually looked like “700/800/900” etc – I just crossed my fingers when I backed it originally :joy:

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3

haha! There are a few sites that list them, such as Ausdroid and Wikipedia. I’ve just had phones from Asia that don’t support band 28 and they were usable, but the signal wasn’t great and I dropped a fair amount of calls.

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4

Welcome to the Forum @lancerabbit ! :tada:
I checked with our team and it turns out that, based on our research so far, we shouldn’t experience any coverage issues in Australia despite the lack of B28.

However, we will conduct tests before shipping the devices and will inform you of the results. If it turns out that the coverage is inadequate, you will, of course, have the option to request a refund before shipment.

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5

Hey @lancerabbit and @grilledcheesebb , I’m also in Aus!
I also find the difference in tech speak confusing.
I found the info about bands on the network providers websites. They use pretty severe speech and I wonder how much of it is true and how much is marketing, especially regarding the necessity of B28 supported devices. As such I’m very curious to see what Mudita’s testing will discover…

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6

I wonder why the LP3 includes this band if it’s not required (even though most telcos use it). In the old days, when I had a phone missing Band 28, it would drop down to 3G in certain areas where Band 28 was used. I wonder what will happen now since 3G is shut down for all networks here.

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7

@aleksander Just on the topic of phones working in Australia – with these kinds of custom phones I know that some only work with certain networks – for example the Light Phone 2 only works on Optus (our two primary networks here are Optus and Telstra). Might be worth looking into and specifying for Aus customers as some parts of the country (like where I am! Are pretty much Optus-only coverage whereas other places can be Telstra-only, etc).

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8

I hope Australian operators can have more European bands, that would solve the thing with many phones being unusable, not other way around.

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9

Me too, I feel like we’re being pushed in a certain direction by the telecos here and don’t really like it much at all.

@grilledcheesebb Great idea!

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10

Kompakt 4G/LTE vs. USA, Canada, Germany, UK, and India

Per this page (updated 1 November 2024) and this page, here are the 4G/LTE bands supported by carriers across USA, Canada, Germany, UK, and India.

USA and Canada

For USA and Canada, I emphasized with underlining those bands that match the 4G/LTE bands supported by the ‘North-America optimized’ version of the Kompakt (2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 18, 19, 26, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 71).

USA:
  • AT&T: 2, 4, 5, 12, 14, 17, 29, 30, 66
  • T-Mobile USA: 2, 4, 5, 12, 66, 71
  • Verizon Wireless: 2, 4, 5, 13, 46, 48, 66
Canada:
  • Bell: 2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 17, 29
  • Chatr: 4, 7, 12
  • Eastlink: 4, 13
  • Fido: 4, 7, 17
  • Freedom: 4, 7, 66
  • Rogers: 4, 7, 17
  • Sasktel: 4, 13, 41
  • Shaw: 4, 13, 66
  • Tbaytel: 7
  • Telus: 2, 7, 12, 13, 17, 29, 45
  • Videotron: 4, 17

Germany, UK, and India

For Germany, UK, and India, I emphasized with underlining those bands that match the 4G/LTE bands supported by the ‘Global optimized’ version of the Kompakt (1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 26, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41).

Germany:
  • O2: 1, 3, 7, 20
  • Telekom: 3, 7, 8, 20
  • Vodafone: 1, 3, 7, 20
UK:
  • 3: 1, 3, 20
  • EE: 1, 3, 7, 20
  • O2: 1, 3, 20, 40
  • Vodafone: 1, 7, 20
India:
  • Airtel: 1, 3, 8, 40
  • BSNL Mobile: 1, 3, 5, 40
  • Jio: 1, 3, 5
  • Vodafone Idea: 1, 3, 8, 40, 41

Conclusions:

  1. Mudita Kompakt supports many available 4G/LTE bands in the USA and Canada with the ‘North-America optimized’ version.
  2. Mudita Kompakt supports all available 4G/LTE bands in Germany, UK, and India with the ‘Global optimized’ version.

I will leave it to others to research other countries.

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11

Thanks, but band 28 is still missing, meaning the phone isn’t compatible for use in Australia and will be blocked from registering on some of networks here:

“To connect to our mobile network, you’ll need a device compatible with 4G frequency Band 28 (700Mhz) and Voice over LTE (VoLTE) including VoLTE Emergency Calling.” https://www.telstra.com.au/support/mobiles-devices/3g-closure. and https://www.optus.com.au/enterprise/accelerate/communications/important-news-for-all-optus-customers-still-using-3g-devices

It’s a shame…

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12

Thanks for your own update about Australia! As I wrote, I leave it to others to research other countries.

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13

You might want to look at the privacy-oriented smartphone BraX3, which just launched today on IndieGoGo and supports 4G/LTE band 28.

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14

@lancerabbit @grilledcheesebb and others in Aus… I’ve backed the Kompakt on Kickstarter so will post on this thread when I’ve received it and have used it for a short while with Optus (whose website has a similar spiel about Band 28, to the Telstra website) :grinning:

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15

Updated Review of Kompakt 4G/LTE vs. T-Mobile USA

My earlier post titled “Kompakt 4G/LTE vs. USA, Canada, Germany, UK, and India” listed T-Mobile USA 4G/LTE bands as 2, 4, 5, 12, 66, and 71. I found today on Wikipedia a larger set of T-Mobile USA 4G/LTE bands: 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 25, 26, 41, 46, 48, 66, 71.

Assuming that Wikipedia has the latest information, here with underlining emphasis are those T-Mobile USA bands that match the 4G/LTE bands supported by the ‘North-America optimized’ version of the Kompakt (2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 18, 19, 26, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 71).

  • T-Mobile USA: 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 25, 26, 41, 46, 48, 66, 71

Out of curiosity, here with underlining emphasis are those T-Mobile USA bands that match the 4G/LTE bands supported by the ‘Global optimized’ version of the Kompakt (1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 26, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41).

  • T-Mobile USA: 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 25, 26, 41, 46, 48, 66, 71

Conclusions:

  1. ‘North-America optimized’ version of the Kompakt supports eight 4G/LTE bands on T-Mobile USA: 2, 4, 5, 12, 13 26, 41, 71.
  2. ‘Global optimized’ version of the Kompakt supports five 4G/LTE bands on T-Mobile USA: 5, 12, 13, 26, 41.
  3. If one ignores T-Mobile USA’s band 13, which Wikipedia says is limited to Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, then the ‘North-America optimized’ version supports seven bands, and the ‘Global optimized’ version supports four bands, used by T-Mobile USA.
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16

Thanks for this. Very helpful. Do you know if a North America optimized version will be usable in Europe at all? Mostly concerned about Germany, the UK, and Eastern Europe.

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SO based on all this would you recommend getting the global version if you live in north america? Would get the phone a month earlier here in Canada and the states

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18

I ordered the “North-American optimized” version for use in the USA, for which I am willing to wait an extra month.

My cellular carrier can use eight 4G/LTE bands on the “North-American optimized” Kompakt in the USA vs. five 4G/LTE bands on the “Global optimized” Kompakt in the USA.

As I just posted elsewhere, if I need more 4G/LTE band coverage when traveling internationally than what the “North-American optimized” Kompakt can provide, then I will use my otherwise-SIM-less, CalyxOS-deGoogled Google Pixel 6 on those travels.

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19

You must compare the 4G/LTE bands of the ‘North-America optimized’ Kompakt (2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 18, 19, 26, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 71) with your carrier.

For example, here are the ‘North-America optimized’ Kompakt’s 4G/LTE bands supported in Germany and the UK:

Germany:

  • O2: 7
  • Telekom: 7, 8
  • Vodafone: 7

UK:

  • 3: None!
  • EE: 7
  • O2: 40
  • Vodafone: 7

Based on this analysis, I personally would not get the ‘North-America optimized’ Kompakt for my “daily driver” if I were not living in North America. For example, that version of the Kompakt would be useless with the carrier “3” in the UK!

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20

Have there been any changes to the supported bands for the Kompakt? It seems all band information has been removed from the Mudita website and the historical Kickstarter campaign :thinking:

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