Sprint/Boost XT1526 GSM working - E 2015 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi all,
I got my sprint Moto E a few weeks ago. Its working international, but the problem is that its locked to 2G only.
I think its the radio that is locked.
I had a smilar issue with my HTC one E8 sprint when it was updated to Lollipop where the #G part of the radio was disabled. I used this method here to unlock the UMTS900/UMTS2100 portion.
to do this with the Moto E, I need the SPC code to program the baseband. I have had little success with the SPC. If anyone can assist, maybe we can make it a global phone

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briankariu said:
Hi all,
I got my sprint Moto E a few weeks ago. Its working international, but the problem is that its locked to 2G only.
I think its the radio that is locked.
I had a smilar issue with my HTC one E8 sprint when it was updated to Lollipop where the #G part of the radio was disabled. I used this method here to unlock the UMTS900/UMTS2100 portion.
to do this with the Moto E, I need the SPC code to program the baseband. I have had little success with the SPC. If anyone can assist, maybe we can make it a global phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try this to get the SPC code:
Mod edit: removed link to malicious site to download SPCutility apk

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briankariu said:
Hi all,
I got my sprint Moto E a few weeks ago. Its working international, but the problem is that its locked to 2G only.
I think its the radio that is locked.
I had a smilar issue with my HTC one E8 sprint when it was updated to Lollipop where the #G part of the radio was disabled. I used this method here to unlock the UMTS900/UMTS2100 portion.
to do this with the Moto E, I need the SPC code to program the baseband. I have had little success with the SPC. If anyone can assist, maybe we can make it a global phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the spc code was obtained, would following those steps allow it to be used with any carrier?

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The spc code is unique to each phone. If I can get spc code for the device I currently have, a solution is possible
Sent from my XT1526 using Tapatalk

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The spc toll doesn't work with lollipop

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briankariu said:
The spc toll doesn't work with lollipop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is how i got my msl: i called my provider and asked them, when they asked why, i told them it was for development purposes.

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Unfortunately, I am outside the US, so I cannot call sprint
Sent from my XT1526 using Tapatalk

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did you have to do anything to get it sim unlocked internationally or did it work out of box?

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briankariu said:
Hi all,
I got my sprint Moto E a few weeks ago. Its working international, but the problem is that its locked to 2G only.
I think its the radio that is locked.
I had a smilar issue with my HTC one E8 sprint when it was updated to Lollipop where the #G part of the radio was disabled. I used this method here to unlock the UMTS900/UMTS2100 portion.
to do this with the Moto E, I need the SPC code to program the baseband. I have had little success with the SPC. If anyone can assist, maybe we can make it a global phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you let know if you had to do something special to get it unlocked for gsm use internationally or is it unlocked out of the box.
Also would you recommend this phone or lumia 640?

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You have to change the network mode to automatic in the settings instead of 4G/cdma

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briankariu said:
You have to change the network mode to automatic in the settings instead of 4G/cdma
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was that all you had to do? Doesn't seem to work for me

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Based on my experience with this phone, (Moto E 2015 Surnia xt1526,) I think that the lock on this thing is in the modem. Im not 100 percent sure though.

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hydroman202 said:
Based on my experience with this phone, (Moto E 2015 Surnia xt1526,) I think that the lock on this thing is in the modem. Im not 100 percent sure though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't been around here long enough to have come across it - do you know if the modem files are typically flashed with ROMs on this device? If so, can we swap out modems between custom builds with little or no issues? I don't recall seeing a modems thread, so I'm assuming they aren't typically flashed separately.
I still don't plan to get a CDMA sim card, but I do have sim adapters coming, so I can see what I can get working with my AT&T sim.
Maybe I will be chasing LTE issues after all - really having fun messing with this device.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

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dandrumheller said:
I haven't been around here long enough to have come across it - do you know if the modem files are typically flashed with ROMs on this device? If so, can we swap out modems between custom builds with little or no issues? I don't recall seeing a modems thread, so I'm assuming they aren't typically flashed separately.
I still don't plan to get a CDMA sim card, but I do have sim adapters coming, so I can see what I can get working with my AT&T sim.
Maybe I will be chasing LTE issues after all - really having fun messing with this device.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that it does use modems, as far as I'm aware, it has 2 parts, fsg and the Helios h.bin thing. As for switching them out in a custom build, I'm probably going to test it.

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hydroman202 said:
I know that it does use modems, as far as I'm aware, it has 2 parts, fsg and the Helios h.bin thing. As for switching them out in a custom build, I'm probably going to test it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, those are both new to me (this is my first Moto smart phone) but gives me a place to start looking. Sounds like from what you said that all these ROMs include modems (some devices I've been on ROMs typically did not, modems were flashed separately as needed).
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

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Custom ROMs do not come with their own modem's, they utilize the modem that was present in stock before you flashed. The carrier lock is definitely in the modem though

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sirhc said:
Custom ROMs do not come with their own modem's, they utilize the modem that was present in stock before you flashed. The carrier lock is definitely in the modem though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK thanks, that's the info I was looking for. Still haven't had time to dig into older info/posts - are you aware of any discussion regarding modem changes? Are we capable of flashing modems separately? Has anyone compiled a list of modem firmwares?
Sent from my XT1526 using Tapatalk

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dandrumheller said:
OK thanks, that's the info I was looking for. Still haven't had time to dig into older info/posts - are you aware of any discussion regarding modem changes? Are we capable of flashing modems separately? Has anyone compiled a list of modem firmwares?
Sent from my XT1526 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I might add, i am wondering if we could flash a modem from the us retail version or other and maybe remove the lock? I don't know if it would work, but there is always a small chance it might. Another option might be to have someone on a gsm variant to pull the modem files and maybe we could flash that in fastboot? I don't know for certain, but i think it might work. If it doesn't, then the lock must be elsewhere.

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hydroman202 said:
If I might add, i am wondering if we could flash a modem from the us retail version or other and maybe remove the lock? I don't know if it would work, but there is always a small chance it might. Another option might be to have someone on a gsm variant to pull the modem files and maybe we could flash that in fastboot? I don't know for certain, but i think it might work. If it doesn't, then the lock must be elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do the GSM variants have hardware support for the same radio bands as the CDMA models? If not, I'd guess flashing GSM radio on CDMA device won't be a good idea
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

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dandrumheller said:
Do the GSM variants have hardware support for the same radio bands as the CDMA models? If not, I'd guess flashing GSM radio on CDMA device won't be a good idea
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I found regarding bands:
Specs Compare side-by-side vs...
Modes
less detail
LTE (4G)
band 2 / 1900 MHz PCS (Americas)
band 4 / 1700 MHz AWS (Americas)
band 5 / 850 MHz Cellular (Americas, Oceania, Brazil, Israel)
band 12 / 700 MHz Lower 700 (USA (T-Mobile, regional))
band 17 / 700 MHz Lower 700 (USA (AT&T))
band 25 / 1900 MHz PCS+G (USA (Sprint))
band 26 / 850 MHz Extended Cellular (USA (Sprint))
band 41 / 2500 MHz BRS / EBS (USA (Sprint))
WCDMA (3G / 4G)
band 2 (II) / 1900 MHz PCS (Americas)
band 4 (IV) / 1700 MHz AWS (Americas)
band 5 (V) / 850 MHz Cellular (Americas, Oceania, Brazil, Israel)
CDMA (2G / 3G)
800 MHz / band 27 / BC10 ESMR (Americas (Sprint))
850 MHz / band 5 / BC0 Cellular (Americas, Oceania, Brazil, Israel)
1900 MHz / band 2 / BC1 PCS (Americas)
GSM (2G)
850 MHz / band 5 Cellular (Americas, Oceania, Brazil, Israel)
900 MHz / band 8 (Europe, Asia, Africa)
1800 MHz / band 3 DCS (Europe, Asia, Africa)
1900 MHz / band 2 PCS (Americas)
Sprint version / Verizon version supports LTE 2/4/5/13