Questions about useability of ZTE Z432 AT&T Go Phone on Fido Network

[doyleja]

I will have access to a ZTE Z432 AT&T Go Phone, (not here yet) which uses UMTS/HSPA: 850 MHz, 1900 MHz GSM/EDGE: 850 MHz 1900 MHz HSDPA: 3.6 MBps, so technically it is compatible with FIDO, right? But I see in the manual online nothing about LTE. Do I need to access LTE to use the phone? All I do is talk and text; I don't care about data. As long as I can access 4g or a band that allows talk and text, I will be fine. Is there any reason I should not be able to do this with this phone?

Sorry if this info is posted elsewhere -- I did not find it. 

Thanks!

[FidoClaudia]

Hey @doyleja,

That's right! Since the phone uses HSPA and HSPA+ at 850 MHz and 1900 MH, it will be compatible with our network. 

After doing a quick search, I found that this phone model is built for 3G networks only and it won't run on LTE, nor will it connect to Wi-Fi. It should work fine if you're planning to use it mostly for calls and texts, although your data connexion will run at 3G speeds.

Hope this helps!

[Cawtau · Accepted solution]

Hello Doyleja,

  Welcome to the community!

  To clarify slightly on what FidoClaudia mentioned above, that phone does have both of the compatible bands/frequencies for the 2G and 3G networks and no LTE compatible bands/frequencies. You can view the compatible bands/frequencies here. However, as far as I can tell, that phone is only capable of the HSPA protocol and not HSPA+ protocol. What's the difference? While the Evolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) protocol uses the same UMTS or WCDMA network, it is faster and can achieve speeds similar to LTE. That's the reason why many providers consider that protocol 4G, and why I often refer to that network as '3G'. However, since you're not interested in data, it should not affect your usability of the device.

  As FidoClaudia noted, you should be able to use that phone for voice and text messages and your data would be at 3G speeds.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers