Carrier and Phone advice - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello, I am on T-mobile right now with a Vibrant. My service is spotty in wilderness areas when I need it while my friend with Verizon always had service. I am on a family plan and want to switch to either Sprint or Verizon and get a new Android phone for myself and iphones for my parents.
Which carrier gets better service in wilderness areas, Sprint or Verizon?
Based on that answer, which Android phone do you recommend for the carrier? I want a device as open and custom ROM friendly as possible.

Related

Verizon/Alltel compatibility?

I posted in the xda unlocking forum also but thought maybe this is a better place.
My friend is still with alltel and needs a new phone so I am wondering if my xtra Eris would somehow work for her?
Thanks in advance!
Sent from my GSBERIS using XDA App
Will it work? Absolutely Yes! Verizon has been roaming with Alltel in the areas where they do not overlap for years.
The question is will Alltel activate it. Depends on where they are with integration/replacement of the Alltel activation system(s). Carriers check ESN ranges so that only phones they sell/allow distributors to sell get on their network.
So, if your friend is in an Alltel area that is going to end up as part of Verizon Wireless I would definitely try to get the Eris activated.
My understanding is that Verizon has completed the Alltel conversion. The only Alltels that are around are now owned by AT&T, who is in the middle of converting that user base and i expect they will push Alltel customers to upgrade to AT&T Phones, Plans and services.
When Verizon was converting Alltel any Alltel customers that wanted to activate a Verizon phone HAD to switch to Verizon Plans & Services. They couldn't keep their Alltel plans & services with Verizon phones.
These remaining Alltels owned by AT&T will NOT activate a Verizon phone. That much i can tell you for sure. Your best best if your friend wants to use an Android Phone on Alltel is to buy one outright from Alltel or search eBay. If he wants to use the Droid Eris and is willing to dump Alltel i believe there are guides here in the Eris forums to make the phone work on MetroPCS or Cricket (which requires special flashing).
Good luck!
My family is still on a Alltel family plan (4 of us) and a year and a half ago I was able to stay on that plan and get a Droid Eris as long as we bought the data plan
Sent from my Droid Eris ♥ (running Tazz GB v19 [eat your heart out Jobs])
gersto said:
My understanding is that Verizon has completed the Alltel conversion. The only Alltels that are around are now owned by AT&T, who is in the middle of converting that user base and i expect they will push Alltel customers to upgrade to AT&T Phones, Plans and services.
When Verizon was converting Alltel any Alltel customers that wanted to activate a Verizon phone HAD to switch to Verizon Plans & Services. They couldn't keep their Alltel plans & services with Verizon phones.
These remaining Alltels owned by AT&T will NOT activate a Verizon phone. That much i can tell you for sure. Your best best if your friend wants to use an Android Phone on Alltel is to buy one outright from Alltel or search eBay. If he wants to use the Droid Eris and is willing to dump Alltel i believe there are guides here in the Eris forums to make the phone work on MetroPCS or Cricket (which requires special flashing).
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to burst you on this one but you are incorrect. I have had a storm 2 and now an Eris on a Verizon contract but keeping my Alltel plan pricing.
I have a LG Rhythm I gave my granddaughter but when I changed over to a verizon plan from alltel I had to get verizon phones so the Rhythm was turned off. She really liked playing with that phone. Can it be activated on verizon by doing #228 or is there another way or can't do it at all?
You are caught in limbo.
In order to activate the Rhythm you are going to have to move it to a plan that can be activated through the Alltel activation system(s). The Rhythm is recognized by the Alltel activation system(s), but is NOT recognized by the Verizon activation system(s).
I would imagine that Verizon will only allow Alltel-only phones on its network through the contract period of the phones (2 years?). Get ready for all Alltel-only phones to not be allowed by Verizon.
Actually there are three areas that are still Alltel that are still waiting to be converted to Verizon. Nebraska, Michigan, and Minnesota. These areas are where Verizon sold their market to AT&T and kept the Alltel customers and towers. Once the old Verizon customers and towers have been completely converted to AT&T in these areas, then Verizon can begin the process to convert those Alltel markets into the "new" Verizon.

[Q] AT&T 4G Speed on GS2 (HSPA+)

I am new and I could not post this as a reply to this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1109983 in the Developers section so I created a new thread here.
I called AT&T CS and the rep told me that I needed a new sim card to access the 4g network and to call when I receive it in a few days to call back and change my iphone unlimited plan to the smartphone unlimited plan. He said to only speak to a supervisor in order to keep my unlimited plan. Just feels risky. I live in San Antonio TX and he assured me that HSPA+ is defintitley working here and LTE is actually working although I don't think there are any devices available from AT&T right now that support LTE. I currently get 3-5mbs on Speedtest and I am wondering if i will even see a difference with new sim card. Is it worth even switching to smartphone plan? I don't wanna risk loosing my unlimited plan if i am not going to see any difference in speed anyway. Any thoughts?
I have the unlimited data plan with at&t , Im getting H+ with my old 3g sim card. with up to 6mbp Supposed to be getting 7 . I dont think you need a new card for 4g? Not sure tho dont take that for fact It might be true! Most Att store employes Dont know what the hell there talking about. They do more screwing you then helping you. Keep your sim and dont tell them you are switching phones. Wate for more info from people here before you decide
Bump.. Any info?
If you search, you'll find several topics on this. Short story, you do not need a new SIM card, but in order to get the full speeds of HSPA+, you will need to provide AT&T with an IMEI number from a AT&T 4G phone. You can't use the Galaxy S2 IMEI because it's not a USA based phone, and it's not in their database. Just look up an IMEI for an Atrix or some other 4G phone (you can go to the AT&T store and look up the number on the floor model if you want) and give it to them. It doesn't need to be unique. Tell them you got an Atrix, not a Galaxy S2.
You should speak with a supervisor to retain your unlimited plan, or else they might switch you to a limited plan.
Otherwise, you can stay as you are, and you can access HSPA+, but not the full speed (assuming you're in an area that has the full speeds available).

[Q] Newb needs new device (and possible carrier) advice...

I really need some advice. I'm looking to purchase the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and I want to know what version has the least amount of issues to root ( I have been in a world of hurt with my note 2 sch-i605 having its boot-loader locked after it updated) and i would like to not have future issues with ota updates. I'm buying the phone flat out without any two year contracts. My preferred carrier is Verizon because it works well in the Chicago suburbs but I am NOT married to them and if another carrier has good coverage in my area I open with going with them. I am also open to an international phone version that is factory unlocked but I need to know which version would work with what carrier in my area (provided they have good data coverage, i almost never make voice calls). any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Any Sprint users?

I've been a loyal HTC user for a very long time (12 years). Well I bit the Samsung bullet and went to the S7 edge. But it's locked up pretty good. So I took it back yesterday.
Now I'm wanting to try the V10. But I'm on Sprint. And Verizon is the best choice to use. Can anyone dummy this down for me?
I understand the Verizon version is SIM unlocked. So it seems like I can drop in a Sprint SIM card. Change the APN settings and I should be good, right?
Verizon and Sprint both use CDMA+GSM(for Data), but as far as I know you won't be able to activate Verizon's phone on Sprint network. Both company has their CDMA inventory table and if the ESN is not registered in their inventory table, it won't activate for you.

LG V60 5G UW (Verizon Version) on T-Mobile 5G

Howdy, y'all!
I was looking at a good deal locally to get an LG V60 UW 5G, but I'm on T-mobile. I was wondering if I could get it working for T-mobile's 5G bands (71, 66, 2, etc); or if there would be some issues as it's a Verizon phone originally (that's unlocked). From what I can tell is that it should work as it does have the correct bands. Any help or further info would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Loubar
5G may not work. I think the Verizon version of 5G uses an mm wave radio that is different from T-Mobile.
Best of luck to you though.
Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk
It doesn't work
Don't try this as I am currently stuck in this situation. I thought it would work so I bought a Verizon LG v60 and connected to T-Mobile network. Now I only have 4G and it drops to 3G to make phone calls. ? The only hope is for T-Mobile to go mm wave soon.
I have a Verizon LG-V60 UW on T-Mobile and it worked perfect on 5G in the Missouri area. I'm almost in Arkansas and I'm still getting 5-G. It used to do the shuffle where it would go from 5G down to 3G or HSPA when I would make a call which means I wasn't getting VOLTE because if I were, then it would not need to drop to 3G or anything less than 4G LTE to make phone calls. I could be wrong, but I think it's a slim chance, I suspect the deficiency is not with the hardware, i.e., the Verizon model has enough bands to support VOLTE even on T-Mobile's Sprint-T-Mobile combination of towers, (hence the ability to receive consistent 5G) but Verizon has found a way to defy the deal they signed onto when the FCC let them come in before the doors were open to bid on spectrum privately and Verizon promised to make phones that were SIM unlocked for...ever. They have been bucking that clause in the agreement ever since, but of lately they are REALLY pushing back at the FCC by locking SIMs, and the FCC has capitulated a few times IMHO by allowing Verizon to lock them under certain circumstances such as if a device is not paid off or not on their network long enough- which begs the question, what did they get from Verizon that's any different from the rest of the carriers? That is the industry standard, but I digress. Point is they want to tether their phones to their network and they have started to decide some more thoughtful ways as opposed to just defying the FCC outright by locking the SIMs, and one of them is to deny WIFI calling if you are not on their network with the V60 at least. You are directed every time the phone powers up to put in your address for 911 purposes since WIFI calling doesn't always transmit the address to the police like the E911 would on a cellular call. This is NOT a requirement, by the way, there is no law that says you can't make phone calls over wifi without appraising the police as to where to send the cops if you ever dial 911 over WiFi. But, there is no way around Verizon's interface on the LG-V60, and, as you can guess from my rant, you will never be able to successfully update your address with Verizon if you are on TMobile, or anybody else that I've seen because it will just bounce around for a few minutes of pointless waiting to come back and tell you that something went wrong and you can try again... But don't. There isn't any purpose and they know it. You won't be able to update Verizon's databases from another carrier unless maybe you still have an account with Verizon, and that's still debatable from another carrier. So no WiFi calling on other networks. Ever. Same thing goes for VoLTE. It never provisions if you are on T-Mobile. Can't, Verizon has locked the door. It did work when I first got the phone. Then, I reset the phone and since I did not have initial access to Verizon's network, it did not provision (unlock the VoLTE). Unfortunate for me, I bought my device from the internet swap site and I checked the company's IMEI checker which green-lighted the sale by giving me the false impression that the device had no blacklists for theft or financial non-payment. Then, when I tried to circumvent the new way to prevent their Verizon customers from escaping by putting in my girlfriend's Verizon SIM in long enough to provision all the barriers aforementioned, and it locked her SIM up simply because the guy sold me a phone and Verizon told me that they can say that the IMEI is good quite a while after a person sells an unpaid phone before changing their report that the phone is clear and free to it is black listed, meaning that it is almost pointless to rely on their IMEI check because anyone can sell the phone while they owe a thousand dollars on it still and then, after you give them $900, they simply quit paying and you have all the problems of a blacklisted phone even though you were told it was a-ok when you checked with them and ran the IMEI before buying the phone. It was hell trying to get my girlfriend's phone working again after they unceremoniously shut it down for punishment of putting her Verizon SIM into a Verizon phone that someone had stopped making the payments. It wasn't stolen mind you; do not put your SIM in anybody's phone if you have a Verizon SIM because they won't tell you that it offends them, they just **** your service off and now you have to contact them and if it's on s holiday weekend like it was for me, you are screwed for a couple days. I was, and I was lost- no gps and running out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Long explanation, but it could be critical if someone owns a Verizon phone or attempts to buy one and puts their SIM in it to see if it works- God can't help you if you do.
Jeesh, all that and I forgot to mention this: I now use the 5G on CDMA, but cannot make calls. I just switch the mobile network to CDMA LTE and instantly I have 5G service but only emergency calls because VoLTE is not working. Nor video calling. But when I want to make a cellular call or see my text messages I switch back to Global mode and it goes right to 3G or HSPA (most time it flips constantly between the two over and over and over) and I get my texts and am able to make non-emergency calls. It's a hassle, but what am I going to do? Verizon is the biggest bully on the block, not even the FCC can push them around, and LG bit the bullet as far as phones are concerned. SMH...
I purchased a Verizon V60 (LM-V600VM) on ebay in late December 2021 and was told by Verizon customer service this phone's IMEI will not work on Verizon's network (likely due to original account holder's non-payment fulfillment, but that private info I'm not allowed to know). I never planned to us this V60 on Verizon's network and was 99% sure it would work on both T-mobile and AT&Ts network even though it's blacklisted on Verizon's network. Well it does work on both T-mobile and AT&T networks (on Consumer Cellular plans) until just a few days ago. It now will no longer allow incoming or outgoing calls. It still does get 4GLTE data and receives/sends text messages (with photo's too). I turned on all settings I could think of but with no luck getting calls to work. I suspect calls are no longer working due to the 3G phase out requirements by the FCC to retire this frequently to make room for 5G. I also think this Verizon V60 phone does not have built-in VoLTE capability but instead uses Verizon's built-in HD voice (as a voice over network) technology to place calls when 3G is not available and used only on the Verizon network. Since this V60 is blacklisted and can never be used on Verizon's network and it looks like the 3G frequency has been retired (dropped off the face of the earth never to be resurrected again), I'm asking if anyone knows a way around my problem with not being able to place cellular calls now. I know about Google voice but that seems like a clunky patch alternative. Does anyone know if an AT&T or T-MOBILE V60 main board (motherboard) swap into a LM-V600VM Verizon phone would work in this situation???
AndyGumpp said:
I have a Verizon LG-V60 UW on T-Mobile and it worked perfect on 5G in the Missouri area. I'm almost in Arkansas and I'm still getting 5-G. It used to do the shuffle where it would go from 5G down to 3G or HSPA when I would make a call which means I wasn't getting VOLTE because if I were, then it would not need to drop to 3G or anything less than 4G LTE to make phone calls. I could be wrong, but I think it's a slim chance, I suspect the deficiency is not with the hardware, i.e., the Verizon model has enough bands to support VOLTE even on T-Mobile's Sprint-T-Mobile combination of towers, (hence the ability to receive consistent 5G) but Verizon has found a way to defy the deal they signed onto when the FCC let them come in before the doors were open to bid on spectrum privately and Verizon promised to make phones that were SIM unlocked for...ever. They have been bucking that clause in the agreement ever since, but of lately they are REALLY pushing back at the FCC by locking SIMs, and the FCC has capitulated a few times IMHO by allowing Verizon to lock them under certain circumstances such as if a device is not paid off or not on their network long enough- which begs the question, what did they get from Verizon that's any different from the rest of the carriers? That is the industry standard, but I digress. Point is they want to tether their phones to their network and they have started to decide some more thoughtful ways as opposed to just defying the FCC outright by locking the SIMs, and one of them is to deny WIFI calling if you are not on their network with the V60 at least. You are directed every time the phone powers up to put in your address for 911 purposes since WIFI calling doesn't always transmit the address to the police like the E911 would on a cellular call. This is NOT a requirement, by the way, there is no law that says you can't make phone calls over wifi without appraising the police as to where to send the cops if you ever dial 911 over WiFi. But, there is no way around Verizon's interface on the LG-V60, and, as you can guess from my rant, you will never be able to successfully update your address with Verizon if you are on TMobile, or anybody else that I've seen because it will just bounce around for a few minutes of pointless waiting to come back and tell you that something went wrong and you can try again... But don't. There isn't any purpose and they know it. You won't be able to update Verizon's databases from another carrier unless maybe you still have an account with Verizon, and that's still debatable from another carrier. So no WiFi calling on other networks. Ever. Same thing goes for VoLTE. It never provisions if you are on T-Mobile. Can't, Verizon has locked the door. It did work when I first got the phone. Then, I reset the phone and since I did not have initial access to Verizon's network, it did not provision (unlock the VoLTE). Unfortunate for me, I bought my device from the internet swap site and I checked the company's IMEI checker which green-lighted the sale by giving me the false impression that the device had no blacklists for theft or financial non-payment. Then, when I tried to circumvent the new way to prevent their Verizon customers from escaping by putting in my girlfriend's Verizon SIM in long enough to provision all the barriers aforementioned, and it locked her SIM up simply because the guy sold me a phone and Verizon told me that they can say that the IMEI is good quite a while after a person sells an unpaid phone before changing their report that the phone is clear and free to it is black listed, meaning that it is almost pointless to rely on their IMEI check because anyone can sell the phone while they owe a thousand dollars on it still and then, after you give them $900, they simply quit paying and you have all the problems of a blacklisted phone even though you were told it was a-ok when you checked with them and ran the IMEI before buying the phone. It was hell trying to get my girlfriend's phone working again after they unceremoniously shut it down for punishment of putting her Verizon SIM into a Verizon phone that someone had stopped making the payments. It wasn't stolen mind you; do not put your SIM in anybody's phone if you have a Verizon SIM because they won't tell you that it offends them, they just **** your service off and now you have to contact them and if it's on s holiday weekend like it was for me, you are screwed for a couple days. I was, and I was lost- no gps and running out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Long explanation, but it could be critical if someone owns a Verizon phone or attempts to buy one and puts their SIM in it to see if it works- God can't help you if you do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you confirm if your Verizon LG-V60 UW is still able to make and receive calls while on T-mobiles network? My Verizon LG-V60 UW for some reason can not make calls now (on AT&T network). It use to without any problems about a couple of weeks ago. It now only gets 4GLTE data and receives/sends text, but calls can't go thru anymore
KeepCodeBreakingFree said:
Can you confirm if your Verizon LG-V60 UW is still able to make and receive calls while on T-mobiles network? My Verizon LG-V60 UW for some reason can not make calls now (on AT&T network). It use to without any problems about a couple of weeks ago. It now only gets 4GLTE data and receives/sends text, but calls can't go thru anymore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's because the V60 doesn't support VoLTE anymore if you use a version of the phone not from your carrier, even then it might not work. If you use an LG v60 T-Mobile version on T-Mobile it might work, but I would count on it.
Pls LG v60 uw has; 2, 25, 41, 66, 71 SA/NSA/Sub6?
Is LG v60 uw has only 5g 260 and 261 mmwave?
AndyGumpp said:
I have a Verizon LG-V60 UW on T-Mobile and it worked perfect on 5G in the Missouri area. I'm almost in Arkansas and I'm still getting 5-G. It used to do the shuffle where it would go from 5G down to 3G or HSPA when I would make a call which means I wasn't getting VOLTE because if I were, then it would not need to drop to 3G or anything less than 4G LTE to make phone calls. I could be wrong, but I think it's a slim chance, I suspect the deficiency is not with the hardware, i.e., the Verizon model has enough bands to support VOLTE even on T-Mobile's Sprint-T-Mobile combination of towers, (hence the ability to receive consistent 5G) but Verizon has found a way to defy the deal they signed onto when the FCC let them come in before the doors were open to bid on spectrum privately and Verizon promised to make phones that were SIM unlocked for...ever. They have been bucking that clause in the agreement ever since, but of lately they are REALLY pushing back at the FCC by locking SIMs, and the FCC has capitulated a few times IMHO by allowing Verizon to lock them under certain circumstances such as if a device is not paid off or not on their network long enough- which begs the question, what did they get from Verizon that's any different from the rest of the carriers? That is the industry standard, but I digress. Point is they want to tether their phones to their network and they have started to decide some more thoughtful ways as opposed to just defying the FCC outright by locking the SIMs, and one of them is to deny WIFI calling if you are not on their network with the V60 at least. You are directed every time the phone powers up to put in your address for 911 purposes since WIFI calling doesn't always transmit the address to the police like the E911 would on a cellular call. This is NOT a requirement, by the way, there is no law that says you can't make phone calls over wifi without appraising the police as to where to send the cops if you ever dial 911 over WiFi. But, there is no way around Verizon's interface on the LG-V60, and, as you can guess from my rant, you will never be able to successfully update your address with Verizon if you are on TMobile, or anybody else that I've seen because it will just bounce around for a few minutes of pointless waiting to come back and tell you that something went wrong and you can try again... But don't. There isn't any purpose and they know it. You won't be able to update Verizon's databases from another carrier unless maybe you still have an account with Verizon, and that's still debatable from another carrier. So no WiFi calling on other networks. Ever. Same thing goes for VoLTE. It never provisions if you are on T-Mobile. Can't, Verizon has locked the door. It did work when I first got the phone. Then, I reset the phone and since I did not have initial access to Verizon's network, it did not provision (unlock the VoLTE). Unfortunate for me, I bought my device from the internet swap site and I checked the company's IMEI checker which green-lighted the sale by giving me the false impression that the device had no blacklists for theft or financial non-payment. Then, when I tried to circumvent the new way to prevent their Verizon customers from escaping by putting in my girlfriend's Verizon SIM in long enough to provision all the barriers aforementioned, and it locked her SIM up simply because the guy sold me a phone and Verizon told me that they can say that the IMEI is good quite a while after a person sells an unpaid phone before changing their report that the phone is clear and free to it is black listed, meaning that it is almost pointless to rely on their IMEI check because anyone can sell the phone while they owe a thousand dollars on it still and then, after you give them $900, they simply quit paying and you have all the problems of a blacklisted phone even though you were told it was a-ok when you checked with them and ran the IMEI before buying the phone. It was hell trying to get my girlfriend's phone working again after they unceremoniously shut it down for punishment of putting her Verizon SIM into a Verizon phone that someone had stopped making the payments. It wasn't stolen mind you; do not put your SIM in anybody's phone if you have a Verizon SIM because they won't tell you that it offends them, they just **** your service off and now you have to contact them and if it's on s holiday weekend like it was for me, you are screwed for a couple days. I was, and I was lost- no gps and running out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Long explanation, but it could be critical if someone owns a Verizon phone or attempts to buy one and puts their SIM in it to see if it works- God can't help you if you do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an LG V60 from Verizon it worked awesome I got it when it first came out it always read 5G UW constantly never even saw 4G I lost that phone it got replaced and that phone worked perfectly fine as well now all of a sudden that phone got ran over and I'm on another replacement phone and it only reads 4G and it won't update my phone to Android 11 they told me something's wrong with my phone and I need to have the insurance company issue me another phone so the insurance company told me we can't send you another phone Verizon does not authorize replacement phones for Network signal or software issues. I talked to several texts from Verizon they had me reset the phone plug it into my laptop try to update the software that way none of it works it's stuck on Android 10 and they won't help me at all. And finally they telling me well your phone's going to search for the best signal it can get from the tires and that's all they can tell me so basically they're telling me it's getting the best signal it can which is only 4G I've had this LG V60 replacement phone for 6 months now and it hasn't read 5G once I'm so angry it sound real now I literally have to buy another one and make sure 5G UW works and make sure it can upgrade to 11 Android. Right now I don't know what to do other than at some point to buy another LG V60 it's the most unfair issue I've ever had with a smartphone device and Verizon is like the evil empire of carriers if you're not a business or corporate and y'all just a single person with an account take a care less in fact all they ever do is send me emails and texts to upgrade to a new phone so they can get more monthly payments out of me. I forgot to mention I bought the LG V60 when it first came out and I paid for it fully in cash. I swear because I'm not making phone payments did not quick to help at all

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