Saturday, July 13, 2024
Tuesday, July 9, 2024
Do you need a C-band phone?
Support C-band
For a phone
to support the US C-band, it needs three things: its hardware must support it,
it must be approved by the FCC to work on it, and it must have the right
software. The latter has caused some delays, for example in Verizon's Pixel 6.
Pixel 6 has hardware and FCC certification, but C-band support is delayed for a
short time due to missing firmware. (This has now been fixed.)
AT&T's
C-band list is similar, but there is an additional addition, as not all
AT&T C-band phones support 3.45 GHz. Currently, the only phones we know
of that will support the new 3.45GHz for AT&T are the Samsung Galaxy
S22 series and the Google Pixel 6a, but AT&T has promised more details
on that later this year. The iPhone 14 series will be the first 3.45GHz
iPhones.
Do you need a C-band phone?
Now,
deciding whether you need a c band phone comes down to trying to figure out if
your carrier will launch a C-band network before you get a new phone. •
AT&T users should think about their current data usage. Hopefully, the
C band isn't too fast. If you're disappointed with your AT&T
performance, get a phone compatible with the upcoming 3.45 GHz network. For now
this list is limited, so wait for a better list. • Verizon launches into C-band
If you live in one of the carrier's C-band markets and data performance is
important to you, you should get a C-band phone. • T-Mobile does not have
C-band airwaves until 2024. T-Mobile users should not worry about C-band only.
• US Cellular is in the same boat as T-Mobile.
We'll be
monitoring C-band development and let you know if it's available on every phone
we review, so make sure you buy a model that supports the wave you want to use.

