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Hello guys. Currently I'm planning to get verizon contracted razr phone on amazon. But unfortunately I'm living outside of US and can't use Verizon SIM card.
As I understood there are no possiblilities to "compeletely unlock" bootloader. But, what about those safestrap\bootstrap things? Can it help to unlock SIM?
Or it's just about changing ROMs?
Is there are any possibilities to unlock a phone for use with any other operators?
Why not get an unlocked GSM Razr.
The Verizon Razr is CDMA and locked to Verizon and has nothing to do with the boot loader.
A SIM Lock and a locked bootloader are two ENTIRELY different things. None of our discussion pertains to SIM locking, which is something the carrier does to protect their subsidy, and can be unlocked by requesting the code from the carrier, usually with an associated fee.
However, unless the LTE Razr turns out to have international gsm radios like the Rezound, unlocking the Verizon model won't get you anywhere. I don't know of any compatible CDMA/LTE networks anywhere else in the world at this time. You need to buy the international GSM version of the RAZR, AFAIK there are no real differences other than the network type it uses.
I know how Verizon is with crippling their phones so even if you unlock it or purchase a phone with another carrier you can't change networks.
Any chance the international or Unlocked LG G3 will work on Verizon? hacks or mods to get it to work?
noutoo said:
I know how Verizon is with crippling their phones so even if you unlock it or purchase a phone with another carrier you can't change networks.
Any chance the international or Unlocked LG G3 will work on Verizon? hacks or mods to get it to work?
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It might work on LTE but I don't think the international models have CDMA radios... I could be wrong but if that's the case, you wouldn't be able to make voice calls until VoLTE rolls out.
Based on what I read so far, only unlocked version of AT&T will work only with GSM provider. Would like confirmation of this. Thanks!
jklny said:
Based on what I read so far, only unlocked version of AT&T will work only with GSM provider. Would like confirmation of this. Thanks!
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No, unfortunately.
Sent from my SM-G935U using Tapatalk
Uh... If it's an unlocked phone there is no reason it wont.
http://www.droid-life.com/2017/03/08/unlocked-galaxy-s8-plus-s8-fcc-smg950-smg955/
Optimumind... can you provide any explanation for your answer?
Unless something has changed, Sprint is CDMA, not GSM.
eatmeimadanish said:
Uh... If it's an unlocked phone there is no reason it wont.
http://www.droid-life.com/2017/03/08/unlocked-galaxy-s8-plus-s8-fcc-smg950-smg955/
Optimumind... can you provide any explanation for your answer?
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An unlocked AT&T GS8 will work on other GSM networks but not on Sprint b/c Sprint won't add the AT&T GS8 IMEI to their system.
Sent from my SM-G935U using Tapatalk
The hardware on all the s8's are the same so technically it will work but the imei isn't white listed so you won't be able to activate it on sprint but the sprint version can be activated on att or any other gsm provider.
Sprint galaxy s8 works with tmobile and verizon
The hardware on all the s8's are the same so technically it will work but the imei isn't white listed so you won't be able to activate it on sprint but the sprint version can be activated on att or any other gsm provider.
Hey there. I have an S7 Edge unlock from t-mobile running the unlock firmware from G935U. Sprint SIM cards are lock, I have a friend who works for sprint. I have 3 Sprint S8 and S8+, 2 unlock and running on T-Mobile network. I took 1 of the SIM card and put in my Unlock S7 Edge, the phone just keep trying to connect to network and repeating the same process. Didn't work at all, but the Sprint S8's works excellent on T-Mobile network after flashing the UNLOCK firmware.
---------- Post added at 03:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:53 AM ----------
I got 111.71 mbps download, 20 mbps upload speed from my Unlock Sprint S8+ running G955U1 unlock firmware on T-Mobile network. Couldn't ask for anything more than that.
I will provide my non Sprint S8 variant experience.....for any US S8, they all have the same hardware. I have noticed that ATT and TMO models have CDMA hardware, but are turned off in the carriers version of the firmware . Flashing the stock unlocked S8 firmware or the Sprint/VZW FW will enable the phones for use with CDMA and all LTE bands. I had an ATT version sim unlocked and attempted this on Verizon FW with a VZW sim and it worked perfect....but there is a major roadblock with Sprint. Sprint is the only carrier that I have tried that requires an update of the IMEI to the account (ie you cant just pop a sim in and the device works). VZW for example shows Unknown device on the account instead of an S8, but all the services still work. Sprint shows 3G for about 5 minutes, then you get a message that the sim is locked and to reboot or call support (not the same as the phones sim slot being locked, but more that the system cant register the sim/device combo). Sprint stores have the capability of adding IMEI's to the Sprint database, as long as the IMEI does not come back as ineligible. Well, I took the S8 to several stores and none of them could add it to the system. Several employees advised me that the IMEI's from other carrier's are blacklisted so that it can not be added and the only ones that the system would allow to add are IMEI's that were sold as unlocked or Sprint branded. If the IMEI can be white listed, then I am certain it would work.
mellojosh said:
I will provide my non Sprint S8 variant experience.....for any US S8, they all have the same hardware. I have noticed that ATT and TMO models have CDMA hardware, but are turned off in the carriers version of the firmware . Flashing the stock unlocked S8 firmware or the Sprint/VZW FW will enable the phones for use with CDMA and all LTE bands. I had an ATT version sim unlocked and attempted this on Verizon FW with a VZW sim and it worked perfect....but there is a major roadblock with Sprint. Sprint is the only carrier that I have tried that requires an update of the IMEI to the account (ie you cant just pop a sim in and the device works). VZW for example shows Unknown device on the account instead of an S8, but all the services still work. Sprint shows 3G for about 5 minutes, then you get a message that the sim is locked and to reboot or call support (not the same as the phones sim slot being locked, but more that the system cant register the sim/device combo). Sprint stores have the capability of adding IMEI's to the Sprint database, as long as the IMEI does not come back as ineligible. Well, I took the S8 to several stores and none of them could add it to the system. Several employees advised me that the IMEI's from other carrier's are blacklisted so that it can not be added and the only ones that the system would allow to add are IMEI's that were sold as unlocked or Sprint branded. If the IMEI can be white listed, then I am certain it would work.
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Yup, Sprint sucks very well in this regard.
Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk
This phones are listed among eligible phones for Sprint's BYOD 1 year free plan. Does it say something?
Samsung Galaxy S8 (Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile)
Samsung Galaxy S8+ (Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile)
Yes it will work, i put a freedom pop sim in, and it restarted with at&t logo
mellojosh said:
I will provide my non Sprint S8 variant experience.....for any US S8, they all have the same hardware. I have noticed that ATT and TMO models have CDMA hardware, but are turned off in the carriers version of the firmware . Flashing the stock unlocked S8 firmware or the Sprint/VZW FW will enable the phones for use with CDMA and all LTE bands. I had an ATT version sim unlocked and attempted this on Verizon FW with a VZW sim and it worked perfect....but there is a major roadblock with Sprint. Sprint is the only carrier that I have tried that requires an update of the IMEI to the account (ie you cant just pop a sim in and the device works). VZW for example shows Unknown device on the account instead of an S8, but all the services still work. Sprint shows 3G for about 5 minutes, then you get a message that the sim is locked and to reboot or call support (not the same as the phones sim slot being locked, but more that the system cant register the sim/device combo). Sprint stores have the capability of adding IMEI's to the Sprint database, as long as the IMEI does not come back as ineligible. Well, I took the S8 to several stores and none of them could add it to the system. Several employees advised me that the IMEI's from other carrier's are blacklisted so that it can not be added and the only ones that the system would allow to add are IMEI's that were sold as unlocked or Sprint branded. If the IMEI can be white listed, then I am certain it would work.
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I had a similar experience with an Unlocked Galaxy S7 and Sprint. I actually had to get Samsung Tech support on a conference call with a Sprint Manager, because Sprint told my customer the the phone is incompatible with the Sprint network. After embarrassing the Sprint rep, he white listed the IMEI number on Sprint's network and the phone worked.
Also, MetroPCS has the same policy. You cannot just pop in a Metro Sim card. You have to call them and register the IMEI number. After about an hour tops, the phone will complete provisioning and be able to work on Metro's T-Mobile network.
T-Mobile is instant. You cab pop a T-Mobile Sim card into any sim unlocked variant and it will work. However you will need to go into settings and follow the T-Mobile instructions on how to set up the radio frequencies. The better way is to just flash the carrier's ROM version onto the phone. This way you will get the features and updates from the carrier. Carriers seem to get the Android updates faster than Samsung. A trade off for bloatware.
tempests said:
I had a similar experience with an Unlocked Galaxy S7 and Sprint. I actually had to get Samsung Tech support on a conference call with a Sprint Manager, because Sprint told my customer the the phone is incompatible with the Sprint network. After embarrassing the Sprint rep, he white listed the IMEI number on Sprint's network and the phone worked.
Also, MetroPCS has the same policy. You cannot just pop in a Metro Sim card. You have to call them and register the IMEI number. After about an hour tops, the phone will complete provisioning and be able to work on Metro's T-Mobile network.
T-Mobile is instant. You cab pop a T-Mobile Sim card into any sim unlocked variant and it will work. However you will need to go into settings and follow the T-Mobile instructions on how to set up the radio frequencies. The better way is to just flash the carrier's ROM version onto the phone. This way you will get the features and updates from the carrier. Carriers seem to get the Android updates faster than Samsung. A trade off for bloatware.
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Maybe I should try this approach with my Galaxy S9+ (AT&T, unlocked).
Sprint is a PITA.
tempests said:
I had a similar experience with an Unlocked Galaxy S7 and Sprint. I actually had to get Samsung Tech support on a conference call with a Sprint Manager, because Sprint told my customer the the phone is incompatible with the Sprint network. After embarrassing the Sprint rep, he white listed the IMEI number on Sprint's network and the phone worked.
Also, MetroPCS has the same policy. You cannot just pop in a Metro Sim card. You have to call them and register the IMEI number. After about an hour tops, the phone will complete provisioning and be able to work on Metro's T-Mobile network.
T-Mobile is instant. You cab pop a T-Mobile Sim card into any sim unlocked variant and it will work. However you will need to go into settings and follow the T-Mobile instructions on how to set up the radio frequencies. The better way is to just flash the carrier's ROM version onto the phone. This way you will get the features and updates from the carrier. Carriers seem to get the Android updates faster than Samsung. A trade off for bloatware.
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You may have been referring to me regarding the unlocked Galaxy S7 & Sprint. Many thanks for that one. I'm going through the same crap now with Universal unlocked IPhone 7. Sprint is a PITA!
I can confirm the SM-G955U from AT&T does work. I confirmed this via Sprint site. Just Google Sprint byod eligibility and you'll find the link.
My biggest roadblock was AT&T had a network lock on my phone so the sim Sprint sent couldn't be used. I then used the services provided by gsmzambia to network unlock the device. It's currently working on Sprint network.
I have been reading a lot of different things about doing this with no definitive answer. It looks like, as of recently, it should be as simple as popping in the sprint Sim card and it should work but I want to be sure before hand. Are there any downsides at all about using tmobile Note 8 on Sprint?
Hi there, I'm not sure but Sprint SIM cards are lock. You can try and see, I had Sprint before and try using there SIM card in my unlock tmobile Galaxy S7 Edge running the unlock S7 Edge firmware, it keep reconfiguring over and over. Maybe you might get better than me.
cmdauria said:
I have been reading a lot of different things about doing this with no definitive answer. It looks like, as of recently, it should be as simple as popping in the sprint Sim card and it should work but I want to be sure before hand. Are there any downsides at all about using tmobile Note 8 on Sprint?
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Sprint doesn't allow other carriers phones on their network. Unlocked or not. T-Mobile does though...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-8/help/cdma-unlock-verizon-note-8-sprint-t3732364
First question would be: Does Sprint allow to use their SIM cards within non-Sprint devices? That I can't answer. Because I never used Sprint services.
The second question is: Would the T-Mobile radios work with Sprint? LTE radios would most likely work if Sprint allows you to use their SIM card with that device. When LTE is weak or not available the answer is: No. The active radios within T-Mobile and even AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note 8 are both LTE and GSM (Both 3G and 4G). Both Sprint and Verizon uses LTE and CDMA (each has their own CDMA) radios. You can't use GSM radios with Sprint and Verizon right now. Though that will end up changing as CDMA gets phased out.
To top things off each GSM carrier maybe using different frequencies with some (but not all) of their GSM radios. So changing a cellular device from a GSM carrier to another GSM carrier may have limits with GSM services.
Sprint and Verizon services have problems with international areas (outside of the USA) where LTE is weak or no LTE. The reason is that CDMA is very limit or doesn't exist in most international areas (outside of the USA). The areas that CDMA still works internationally (outside of the USA) will be phased out (mostly in the near future). Only a few places outside of the USA, like China, would CDMA not be phased out so quickly. But CDMA will end up completing phased out all together sometime in future (including in the US).
If you want to be truly Global then go for carriers that have both GSM and LTE, like T-Mobile, AT&T, etc. Then once you unlock the SIM then you can use your carrier's roaming (which don't need SIM unlock) or switch the SIM card with a carrier in that country to get service internationally. Just a side note: T-Mobile does have Unlimited 3G international roaming without any extra cost (this is subject to the type of plan you have with T-Mobile).
The only way this would work for you is if the CDMA radio is built into all Note 8 devices. If so then you just need to flash the correct radio firmware to active the correct carrier radios. But I don't believe this is the case. And this wouldn't solve the Sprint SIM lock issue.
The short answer is no. Read this thread. I thought you could just pop in an activated SIM, but it's not that simple.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-8/help/cdma-unlock-verizon-note-8-sprint-t3732364
JaguarXT said:
First question would be: Does Sprint allow to use their SIM cards within non-Sprint devices? That I can't answer. Because I never used Sprint services.
The second question is: Would the T-Mobile radios work with Sprint? LTE radios would most likely work if Sprint allows you to use their SIM card with that device. When LTE is weak or not available the answer is: No. The active radios within T-Mobile and even AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note 8 are both LTE and GSM (Both 3G and 4G). Both Sprint and Verizon uses LTE and CDMA (each has their own CDMA) radios. You can't use GSM radios with Sprint and Verizon right now. Though that will end up changing as CDMA gets phased out.
To top things off each GSM carrier maybe using different frequencies with some (but not all) of their GSM radios. So changing a cellular device from a GSM carrier to another GSM carrier may have limits with GSM services.
Sprint and Verizon services have problems with international areas (outside of the USA) where LTE is weak or no LTE. The reason is that CDMA is very limit or doesn't exist in most international areas (outside of the USA). The areas that CDMA still works internationally (outside of the USA) will be phased out (mostly in the near future). Only a few places outside of the USA, like China, would CDMA not be phased out so quickly. But CDMA will end up completing phased out all together sometime in future (including in the US).
If you want to be truly Global then go for carriers that have both GSM and LTE, like T-Mobile, AT&T, etc. Then once you unlock the SIM then you can use your carrier's roaming (which don't need SIM unlock) or switch the SIM card with a carrier in that country to get service internationally. Just a side note: T-Mobile does have Unlimited 3G international roaming without any extra cost (this is subject to the type of plan you have with T-Mobile).
The only way this would work for you is if the CDMA radio is built into all Note 8 devices. If so then you just need to flash the correct radio firmware to active the correct carrier radios. But I don't believe this is the case. And this wouldn't solve the Sprint SIM lock issue.
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ALL US Note 8s (N950U and N950U1) are identical. Same radios. Same hardware. Same everything. Only difference is the preloaded firmware. I actually think the Canadian Note 8s (N950W are the same, too, sonce they can run the N950U firmware).
So it's not an issue of missing a CDMA radio. It's an issue that Sprint will not accept the IMEI for another carrier branded Note 8 (or S8/+). You can only activate Sprint or Factory Unlocked devices on Sprint.
As Note 8 has both GSM and CDMA capabilities, why shouldn't an unlock T-Mobile work with Sprint?
RossTeagan said:
As Note 8 has both GSM and CDMA capabilities, why shouldn't an unlock T-Mobile work with Sprint?
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Sprint won't accept any devices on their network unlocked or not if they came from any other carrier. Sprint only allows Sprint phones and factory unlocked devices. Its Sprint, they suck.
Gizmoe said:
Sprint doesn't allow other carriers phones on their network. Unlocked or not. T-Mobile does though...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-8/help/cdma-unlock-verizon-note-8-sprint-t3732364
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Gizmoe said:
Sprint won't accept any devices on their network unlocked or not if they came from any other carrier. Sprint only allows Sprint phones and factory unlocked devices. Its Sprint, they suck.
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i just switched my tmobile note 8 to sprint today, lol..
Thread cleaned due to much spam! I remind you to follow XDA Rules and especially to respect all XDA users.
ilikebigjugs88 said:
i just switched my tmobile note 8 to sprint today, lol..
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On Sprints website it still does not list the tmo note 8 as compatible for BYOD. It says only the note 8 special edition is. However it is not unlikely they stopped blocking the other U.S. carrier versions. People have gotten devices to activate in the past, but with minimal network functionality. Is your Note 8 fully utilizing the LTE network?
Either way this thread brings trouble so its now closed
Sprint allows sprint capable devices such as clean sprint,Boost and such and subsidiaries that run on sprint only.
@cp1024 @Gizmoe
The Special Edition devices are the ones sold directly by Samsung as factory-unlocked models. Samsung over the years has used the term inconsistently across their site and marketing materials.
Only Sprint calls them "Special Edition", otherwise they are the U1 models, vs U for carrier branded.
Which means they as of the time this was printed will only accept this model
Maybe some others have managed to pull something off but this is official answer
my post above is how it has always been in the past
And it ends here
My question remains, when carrier unlocking an s9 or s9+, is there any way to make it available on different network types like say if the phone started out using a carrier that uses CDMA, is their any way to flash it to utilize t-mobile's frequency bands?
I unlocked two galaxy s9+'s that were on xfinity, which uses verizon towers. The two phones did unlock, but only for carriers utilizing CDMA. I was hoping they would be able to be used on t-mobile after unlocking, but they can't. Only messaging and data works using a t-mobile SIM card. Verizon works fine. SO my question still remains, is there a way to make it work?
I used itekimei .com to have the phones unlocked, as I found they were suggested here on XDA. And they weren't really able to answer my question either. They said it should work with t-mobile, but the conversation ended with "t-mobile is having problems with unlocked phones." This is super frustrating trying to get an answer.
Edit: I found this forum https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s9-plus/help/sim-unlocking-sprint-samsung-galaxy-s9-t3783571 which debates whether it will work or not. Also this one specifically about Xfinity https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s9-plus/help/xfinity-mobile-unlock-service-t3796349. But mine didn't work. I don't think U.S. S9's are cross compatible from CDMA to GSM. I have been searching and searching and can't find a way.
Yes, the US unit hardware is cross compatible. Heck, Verizon itself isn't all CDMA. They are phasing out CDMA soon and most of their network is LTE.
I have a US unlocked S9+ and can use any carrier in the US. You could too, all you need to do is flash the US Unlocked firmware to the device using Odin.
Your problem may be the Xfinity firmware restricting certain bands is all. Or possibly the device isn't really unlocked.
Regards,