Access to USA mobile network from euro phone

Question

I'm currently in the US with a cheap Archos 50d Oxygen phone. I cannot get voice nor data access. I have a french plan on Free (yeah, that's the name, and no, it's not free) which normally allows for foreign use (I've used it all over Europe, and they explicitly list the US as an allowed country). I bought this phone thinking it would work in the US because its frequencies are: GSM 1800, GSM 1900, GSM 850, GSM 900, LTE 1800, LTE 2600, LTE 800, WCDMA 2100, WCDMA 900. And for data: 2G - EDGE, 2G - GPRS, 2G - GSM, 3G - W-CDMA, 4G - LTE

Now, should it work in the US or am I mistaken about the frequencies ?

When I do a network search, the only one I can find (in California) if T-Mobile 2G, but it won't let me latch onto it. Yes, I have roaming enabled.

Any advice ?

Answer 1

As Tor-Einar Jambjo notes in a comment, the Archos Elements 50d Oxygen does not support the right frequencies for 3G/4G access in the United States. Even if Free.fr has roaming partnerships with U.S. carriers, your equipment would not be able to take advantage of 3G/4G services.

• According to FrequencyCheck.com, it can use the B3 (1800), B7 (2600), and B20 (800 DD) LTE bands, none of which is used in any part of the United States.

• Its 3G (UMTS) radios can use 900 and 2100 MHz bands, but neither of those are used in the U.S, either.

T-Mobile is the only major GSM operator still offering GPRS/EDGE service in the U.S.; AT&T shut down its 2G network at the end of 2016, and neither Verizon nor Sprint nor U.S. Cellular ever operated a GSM/GPRS/EDGE service in the first place. T-Mobile has stated they will maintain their 2G network until 2019, but it has actually decommissioned most of its capacity, which was always more limited than AT&T's and only available at 1900MHz.