Kellen
“Does this unlocked phone work with my carrier?” or “What are the US wireless carrier bands?” How many times have you asked that over the last several of years? I know we ask it often about Verizon or AT&T or T-Mobile networks. In a time where prepaid services are very attractive, and more and more phones are available as unlocked models that work on a variety of 5G, 4G LTE, and 3G GSM/CDMA bands, this a question you should be able to easily find an answer to.
And now in 2022, with 5G in so many places and the 5G race heating up, you need to know about carrier low-band 5G, mid-band 5G, C-Band 5G, and mmW 5G. Because not all 5G is created equal, confirming a phone has the best 5G coverage in your city is important.
So since there doesn’t seem to be a quick reference guide for figuring out if a particular unlocked phone will work on a specific carrier’s network (trust me, I’ve looked), we decided to throw one together.
Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, US Cellular, Dish (Boost) network bands
Below, we have given you a quick chart that shows each of the four major US carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Boost (Dish)), along with 3G, 4G LTE, and 5G bands and frequencies. By no means is this the most in-depth wireless carrier band and frequency chart, but it should help when you go to buy that next unlocked phone from Samsung, Google, OnePlus, Apple, or Motorola.
US 5G Bands (by carrier)
| CARRIER | BANDS | FREQUENCIES |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T | n2, n5, n77, n66, n260 | 1900MHz (low), 850MHz (low), 3.7GHz (mid), 1700-2100MHz (low), 39GHz (mmW) |
| VERIZON | n2, n5, n77, n66, n261, n260 | 1900MHz (low), 850MHz (low), 3.7GHz (mid), 1700-2100MHz (low), 28GHz (mmW), 39GHz (mmW) |
| T-MOBILE | n25, n41, n71, n261, n260 | 1900 MHz (low), 2.5GHz (mid), 600MHz (low), 28GHz (mmW), 39GHz (mmW) |
| SPRINT | n41 | 2.5GHz (mid) |
| US CELLULAR | n71, n77, n261, n260 | 600MHz (low), 3.7GHz (mid), 28GHz (mmW), 39GHz (mmW) |
| BOOST (DISH) | n29, n66-n70, n71 | 700MHz (low), 1700-2100MHz (low), 600MHz (low) |
US 4G LTE Bands (by carrier)
| CARRIER | 4G LTE BANDS | 4G LTE FREQUENCIES |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T | 2, 4, 5, 12, 14, 17, 29, 30, 66 | 1900, 1700/2100, 850, 700, 2300 |
| VERIZON | 2, 4, 5, 13, 66 | 1900, 1700/2100, 850, 700 |
| T-MOBILE | 2, 4, 12, 66, 71 | 1900, 1700/2100, 700, 600 |
| SPRINT | 25, 26, 41 | 1900, 850, 2500 |
| US CELLULAR | 2, 4, 5, 12 | 1900, 1700/2100, 850, 700 |
US 3G Bands (by carrier)
| CARRIER | NETWORK | 3G BANDS | 3G FREQUENCIES |
|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T | GSM/HSPA+ | 2, 5 | 1900, 850 |
| VERIZON | CDMA | 0, 1 | 850, 1900 |
| T-MOBILE | GSM/HSPA+ | 2, 4 | 1900, 1700/2100 |
| SPRINT | CDMA | 2, 10 | 1900, 800 |
| US CELLULAR | CDMA | 2, 5 | 850, 1900 |
UPDATED OCTOBER 30, 2024. – Added US Cellular and Boost (Dish) to 5G chart, plus updated AT&T networks.
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