I received my Le max 2 (x829) about 5 days ago hoping my carrier would "support" it. Turns out US Cellulars bring your own phone style plan is incredibly limited, and after about 3 hours on the phone I was told that based on the IMEI number I had given them, US Cellular's (USC) system wouldn't be able to support the phone.
Side note right there - I did notice that part of the "rules" given to me on this were already broken on my Current USC phone and that Both the x829 and current phone share some similarity in IMEI number rhythm (maybe nothing but wanted to note it) IE *405033* on one, and 454050** on the other.
Found some time to research today and have found several XDA members noting that they have their x829's working on T-mobile, even T-mobile through Straight Talk. However, when checking "phone comparability" with either one using the IMEI # that all companies want to know atm I'm given an error.
So My question is thus: How did you; a X829 owner get your phone to work on your desired carrier? It seems AT&T and T-mobile seem to be the go to on this which I'm fine with.
A side question would also be: could I use "xposed" to change the IMEI to something my current carrier would "recognize" / was this what every one else has done?
Isn't US Cellular CDMA? For the Le Max 2 you'll need a GSM network.
I just received my x829. Out of the box VoLTE and WIFI calling worked with T-Mobile (on all official EUI 16s roms). I currently use the MADSURFER and both wifi calling and VoLTE are working.
All I had to do was pick up a nano sim which I activated via phone. I bought the Fire HDX 8.9 SIM from amazon for $4.00.
*Edit MADSURFER ROM link is here https://forum.xda-developers.com/le-max-2/development/madsurfers-21s-eui-5-9-rom-t3497125
try this menu *#*#9439#*#*
xlcashlx said:
Isn't US Cellular CDMA? For the Le Max 2 you'll need a GSM network.
I just received my x829. Out of the box VoLTE and WIFI calling worked with T-Mobile (on all official EUI roms). I currently use the MADSURFER and both wifi calling and VoLTE are working.
All I had to do was pick up a nano sim which I activated via phone. I bought the Fire HDX 8.9 SIM from amazon for $4.00.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
US Cellular is listed as CDMA, but all the research I've done before going with the Le Max showed that other GSM only phones like the ONE plus 3t would work on the network based sole on the phones bands support by the phones hardware.
I have plenty of Nano sims thanks to the Straight Talk "phone kit", infact both the At&T and T-mobile ones are in the phone atm. I do appriciate you re-enforcing the notion that VoLTE and Wifi calling work (which would be to my benefit where I live) my fear is that calling and trying to activate the sim will lead the "rep" to ask for the IMEI and again tell me wont work.
@leptdre i'm very leery to try things with out a further explanation, kind of a side effect of the college days.
D4B3N said:
US Cellular is listed as CDMA, but all the research I've done before going with the Le Max showed that other GSM only phones like the ONE plus 3t would work on the network based sole on the phones bands support by the phones hardware.
I have plenty of Nano sims thanks to the Straight Talk "phone kit", infact both the At&T and T-mobile ones are in the phone atm. I do appriciate you re-enforcing the notion that VoLTE and Wifi calling work (which would be to my benefit where I live) my fear is that calling and trying to activate the sim will lead the "rep" to ask for the IMEI and again tell me wont work.
PS: I got the Chinese translation from this thread
https://forum.xda-developers.com/le-max-2/how-to/activate-band-20-lte-x829-t3590010
@leptdre i'm very leery to try things with out a further explanation, kind of a side effect of the college days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
US Cellular uses the CDMA band 20 (3G) 800MHZ. see: https://www.frequencycheck.com/carriers/u-s-cellular-united-states
I was thinking that the menu was for enabling Band 20 for LTE, but I was wrong. In fact it says: China Telecom's CDMA , china telecom uses CDMA band 20 (3G) like US Cellular.
https://www.frequencycheck.com/carriers/china-telecom-china
I think if you can get US Cellular to activate the service, with this option checked : *#*#9439#*#*, you can get your phone up and running.
I activated mine on Tmobile. Bought a sim from them and activated it online, used the 1st imei number on box, there's 2 imei numbers I assume 1 for each sim slot. After punching it in it knew I was on a LeEco Le Max 2. Rebooted phone and wifi calling appears. Also wife and son have same phone on T-mobile but already had nano sims so they just moved sim to their X829 and that was all they needed to do.
castuis said:
I activated mine on Tmobile. Bought a sim from them and activated it online, used the 1st imei number on box, there's 2 imei numbers I assume 1 for each sim slot. After punching it in it knew I was on a LeEco Le Max 2. Rebooted phone and wifi calling appears. Also wife and son have same phone on T-mobile but already had nano sims so they just moved sim to their X829 and that was all they needed to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
T-Mobile and AT&T are GSM carriers, which means that the sim is the only identification module.
US Cellular, Verizon, Sprint are CDMA carrier, the identification must come from the phone it self. The sim is only use for 4G LTE because 4G uses a standard relying on GSM to identify the customer.
You should see this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OrNuAf6C3I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTgxp7WTnKw
Thanks guys, sorry I work nights so I'm just getting all this... I'll take a look at the videos first.
Will SMS and MMS work over the wifi as well or just calling?
xlcashlx said:
Isn't US Cellular CDMA? For the Le Max 2 you'll need a GSM network.
I just received my x829. Out of the box VoLTE and WIFI calling worked with T-Mobile (on all official EUI roms). I currently use the MADSURFER and both wifi calling and VoLTE are working.
All I had to do was pick up a nano sim which I activated via phone. I bought the Fire HDX 8.9 SIM from amazon for $4.00.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you mean you use MADSURFER custom rom and wifi calling is working on T-Mobile US? Can you point to the rom page? Thanks.
castuis said:
I activated mine on Tmobile. Bought a sim from them and activated it online, used the 1st imei number on box, there's 2 imei numbers I assume 1 for each sim slot. After punching it in it knew I was on a LeEco Le Max 2. Rebooted phone and wifi calling appears. Also wife and son have same phone on T-mobile but already had nano sims so they just moved sim to their X829 and that was all they needed to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a Straight Talk kit from an earlier attempt to use a Zenfone 2... the rep with strait talk wouldn't "force" activate the sim for my area because "no coverage". Apparently my city/town where I will use it the most doesn't have enough coverage From At&T or T-mobile to warrant being able to transfer my number from USC. Going to try "re-upping" the AT&T sim A user on another thread has noted that @ stock on EUI rom wifi calling was still available with At&t.
Edit:
https://www.amazon.com/Fire-HDX-8-9-Activation-T-Mobile/dp/B00L8BYGJQ - decided to go with that as xlCashlx did and try t-mobile... so far out of all the reps I've delt with over the last couple of days, t-mobile's has been more forth coming with information than any of the others.
jeeradej said:
Did you mean you use MADSURFER custom rom and wifi calling is working on T-Mobile US? Can you point to the rom page? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://forum.xda-developers.com/le-max-2/development/madsurfers-21s-eui-5-9-rom-t3497125
OP Good luck with T-Mobile
So did anyone tried to use it with Verizon? According to willitwork site should be a go, but someone needs to confirm. For example I am using the Zuk Z2 from China and the 4G on VZN is working like a champ.
T-mobile here. When my x829 arrived, I simply pulled out the sim in my Moto G4 and immediately had service on the le max 2. Didn't even contact T-mobile.
orangepowerpokes said:
T-mobile here. When my x829 arrived, I simply pulled out the sim in my Moto G4 and immediately had service on the le max 2. Didn't even contact T-mobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did it came with the stock rom or some sort of custom one when you bought it, thanks?
It came with the EUI factory rom by letv. Now that I think about it, I never actually tested TMO on that factory ROM. My wife has the x820 and I have the x829, both on TMO and both on different roms.
However, I have flashed the small EUI rom with no problems, plus you can find other user's experiences with TMO on stock EUI and everything I've seen points to good compatibility.
I'd recommend looking thru some of the threads on slickdeals for this phone. There has been a lot of discussion on different experiences with US carriers, mainly from a budget/value perspective. I'm on the walmart TMO $30/mo 5GB LTE plan (pay as you go) and really like it.
https://slickdeals.net/newsearch.php?src=SearchBarV2&q=le+max+2&searcharea=deals&searchin=first
To answer my own question and to advise everyone else that lives in the US and is planning to use the phone on Verizon network, you need to look elsewhere. Let me elaborate, I am getting LTE on the phone right after inserting the SIM card, but voice is not working no matter what, I even made a trip to my nearby VZN store to make sure that they dont have to go and white-list my IMEI or something. To put it in a more polite words, they declined to do anything, even after the fact that I have a corporate SIM that my company pays hundreds of thousands of $ per year to VZN for all the subscribers we have internally, on top of that I had my Zuk Z2 to prove them that, other phones that are not VZN "approved" can work with no problem with both LTE and voice. The last comment from the representative was that there are loopholes and some not approved phones can work, duh, I had the evidence with me, and again they refused to add the LeMax 2 IMEI to their "good" list.
So if you are planning to buy this phone, consider the fact that you will only be able to use it on ATT, T-Mobile and the rest of the GSM providers in the US.
Related
Hello, I recently visited the USA (Las Vegas) and discovered that my UK bought (UNLOCKED) Samsung Galaxy S3 could not make nor receive calls in the USA. Roaming WAS enabled and I had an R symbol over the signal strength indicator. I have a Vodafone pay as you go sim card which I have used (as my main sim) over numerous years now. I have used it in other phones previously (HTC, Samsung, LG, etc.) over the years and they have all made and received calls in the USA (roaming) no problem. I did get a text message (eventually) when I was in the USA saying welcome to USA and calls cost £1.50, etc, etc. Yet when I tried making a call, I had an automated voice message asking me to contact my operator for some reason (can't remember the specifics). I've never had a problem using my Vodafone sim roaming in the USA and with previous phones, always made and received calls without any hassle (i.e. found a network automatically, e.g. AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.). Also, I visited Las Vegas last year with the same sim card but a different phone (HTC Desire HD) and was able to make and receive calls. I recall my brother saying that he had read something on the internet about the UK spec. S3 having hardware differences with the rest of the world versions, including not being able to work in the USA for calls. However, he could not find the site again. Has anybody else had this problem or know about it?
Yee1 said:
Hello, I recently visited the USA (Las Vegas) and discovered that my UK bought (UNLOCKED) Samsung Galaxy S3 could not make nor receive calls in the USA. Roaming WAS enabled and I had an R symbol over the signal strength indicator. I have a Vodafone pay as you go sim card which I have used (as my main sim) over numerous years now. I have used it in other phones previously (HTC, Samsung, LG, etc.) over the years and they have all made and received calls in the USA (roaming) no problem. I did get a text message (eventually) when I was in the USA saying welcome to USA and calls cost £1.50, etc, etc. Yet when I tried making a call, I had an automated voice message asking me to contact my operator for some reason (can't remember the specifics). I've never had a problem using my Vodafone sim roaming in the USA and with previous phones, always made and received calls without any hassle (i.e. found a network automatically, e.g. AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.). Also, I visited Las Vegas last year with the same sim card but a different phone (HTC Desire HD) and was able to make and receive calls. I recall my brother saying that he had read something on the internet about the UK spec. S3 having hardware differences with the rest of the world versions, including not being able to work in the USA for calls. However, he could not find the site again. Has anybody else had this problem or know about it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea about roaming in the USA...
However, I do know that the phone works on AT&Ts network, because I live in the USA & use the I9300 on AT&Ts network. The I9300 will not work on T-Mobile's data network, but should work on T-Mo's voice network.
That probably wasn't much help to you. I just wanted to confirm for you that the phone does work on AT&Ts network here.
brkshr said:
I have no idea about roaming in the USA...
However, I do know that the phone works on AT&Ts network, because I live in the USA & use the I9300 on AT&Ts network. The I9300 will not work on T-Mobile's data network, but should work on T-Mo's voice network.
That probably wasn't much help to you. I just wanted to confirm for you that the phone does work on AT&Ts network here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks brkshr, that was helpful. Good to know that a GT-I9300 does work in the USA.
I thought the USA had different models (SGH-T999 and SGH-I747). What made you decide to get a GT-I9300?
I may try again (next time I go back to USA) and if still the same, will try an AT&T sim. I must admit, I don't know anything about the different networks in the USA. Can I get a pay as you go sim for free? In England, you can get sim cards for different networks free and then obviously pay to top up.
Yee1 said:
Thanks brkshr, that was helpful. Good to know that a GT-I9300 does work in the USA.
I thought the USA had different models (SGH-T999 and SGH-I747). What made you decide to get a GT-I9300?
I may try again (next time I go back to USA) and if still the same, will try an AT&T sim. I must admit, I don't know anything about the different networks in the USA. Can I get a pay as you go sim for free? In England, you can get sim cards for different networks free and then obviously pay to top up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct. The U.S. does have it's own variations. I decided to buy the I9300 for the quad-core & I was hoping that Samsung would be more likely to release sources for it & update it faster. They do update the I9300 faster, but I prefer AOSP (Google's stock Android) over Samsungs TouchWiz & that's where sources come in to play. So now I wish I would have gone with a U.S. variant, because sources for the US variant are released. Oh well! (Sorry for the rant)
Unfortunately, we don't get free SIM cards here. The best thing to do is buy an AT&T SIM card online ahead of time. Then activate it on a prepaid plan when you get here. You need a Micro SIM card. They should cost anywhere from $5 to $15. Otherwise, you have to go into an AT&T store & buy their 'SIM Starter Kit' for $25... Complete BS.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=at&t+sim+card
Thanks again, the link (to Amazon) is very useful. I think I will get an AT&T pre-paid sim card as suggested. At least that way I can use mobile data (when wi-fi is not available) and not have to pay extortionate data roaming charges. Especially useful for mobile data assisted GPS.
One last question though. In the UK, you can keep your number even if you don't top up for ages. In the US, can you buy a pre-paid sim card, use it once, not top up for say a year and still be able to use the sim again, i.e. it won't be deactivated will it? That way I can have it as a holiday sim (I visit the US every year).
Yee1 said:
Thanks again, the link (to Amazon) is very useful. I think I will get an AT&T pre-paid sim card as suggested. At least that way I can use mobile data (when wi-fi is not available) and not have to pay extortionate data roaming charges. Especially useful for mobile data assisted GPS.
One last question though. In the UK, you can keep your number even if you don't top up for ages. In the US, can you buy a pre-paid sim card, use it once, not top up for say a year and still be able to use the sim again, i.e. it won't be deactivated will it? That way I can have it as a holiday sim (I visit the US every year).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know the answer to that question. Sorry.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Question!!
I bought an unlocked i9300 the quad core international galaxy s3.. i'm using Simple Mobile micro simcard.. i wanted to use AT&T prepaid simcard the one amazon sell.. i 'm asking if anyone used the AT&T with this phone and make it work.. i went to AT&T store and they told me the simcard will never work on my phone so don't buy it..i live in Texas USA.
PS: i'm sorry if this question been asked before and thank you all for your time and help
Have you seen this thread?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1696025
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Is it possible to unlock the Verizon version of the S4? I'm deploying in 4 weeks and would like to use my phone with international carriers. I have an SCH-I545 build and I'm still running on stock. Thanks
I think ATT has begun to unlock phones internationally when asked.
Verizon? Not sure... one think to check is if the Verizon GS4 supports a carrier in the country you travel to.
Take a look at Leo Laporte's Tech Guy show... he has callers ask this quetion on average every other week... I think he has show notes on his site now days... techguylabs.com
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
PetrichorXFi said:
I think ATT has begun to unlock phones internationally when asked.
Verizon? Not sure... one think to check is if the Verizon GS4 supports a carrier in the country you travel to.
Take a look at Leo Laporte's Tech Guy show... he has callers ask this quetion on average every other week... I think he has show notes on his site now days... techguylabs.com
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verizon phones are unlocked out of the box, but you have to make sure that the country you are going to has a GSM network.
After a lot of searching, I decided to ask this here:
I have a Verizon S4, but I was wondering if it was actually unlocked out-of-box or if there is something I have to do in order to use it with, for instance, Cricket, or U.S. Cellular. I have done lots of rooting/developing for Android, but have never tried to use an Android phone with a differing carrier. Can anyone help or point me to a thread that helps? (Again, did lots of Googling and XDA-searching)
furballbeethoven said:
After a lot of searching, I decided to ask this here:
I have a Verizon S4, but I was wondering if it was actually unlocked out-of-box or if there is something I have to do in order to use it with, for instance, Cricket, or U.S. Cellular. I have done lots of rooting/developing for Android, but have never tried to use an Android phone with a differing carrier. Can anyone help or point me to a thread that helps? (Again, did lots of Googling and XDA-searching)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone is GSM-unlocked. This means that you buy a SIM, plug it in, then add the proper APN to enable data. (Settings, Connections, More networks, Mobile networks, Access Point Names). The "+" (Add APN) button is disabled if you have a VZ SIM installed but will be enabled if you insert a non-VZ SIM.
Whoever you get the SIM from will tell you what to enter for the APN.
Whether or not it'll work and how fast a network you'll get depends on the bands that the local carrier uses.
k1mu said:
The phone is GSM-unlocked. This means that you buy a SIM, plug it in, then add the proper APN to enable data. (Settings, Connections, More networks, Mobile networks, Access Point Names). The "+" (Add APN) button is disabled if you have a VZ SIM installed but will be enabled if you insert a non-VZ SIM.
Whoever you get the SIM from will tell you what to enter for the APN.
Whether or not it'll work and how fast a network you'll get depends on the bands that the local carrier uses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HI k1mu,
So do you mean to say if I purchase this device with full price from VZW ~$400 (month to month plan),
the next thing I can do is take off VZW SIM and would it work on my AT&T GSM SIM in US?
malhotra.aakash said:
HI k1mu,
So do you mean to say if I purchase this device with full price from VZW ~$400 (month to month plan),
the next thing I can do is take off VZW SIM and would it work on my AT&T GSM SIM in US?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe. While the VZW version is GSM-unlocked for international use, it is unclear how well it works with US GSM carriers. Some people say they can get it to work, some say they can't. Theoretically, it should only take you putting in an AT&T SIM then plugging in the APN data for it to work, but some people still say it won't.
So, you should be able to, but going by the accounts of XDA members, it doesn't always work, which may or may not come down to user error.
joshm.1219 said:
Maybe. While the VZW version is GSM-unlocked for international use, it is unclear how well it works with US GSM carriers. Some people say they can get it to work, some say they can't. Theoretically, it should only take you putting in an AT&T SIM then plugging in the APN data for it to work, but some people still say it won't.
So, you should be able to, but going by the accounts of XDA members, it doesn't always work, which may or may not come down to user error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks joshm.1219,
It still leaves me in a dilemma.. I do really want to get a "S4 mini" model but don't want to stuck up with CDMA providers to be true. Might want to use with ATT or Tmobile or H2O.. I visited the VZW store and the model has option under networks as
1. Global
2. LTE/CDMA
3. GSM/UTMS
Now the Qs are,
1. If this model does have a SIM card slot, how at the first point VZW has lock on it
2. When i asked the VZW associate, he was not sure whether they ever do unlock the device or not
3. If I am ready to pay off complete price of the device which is ~400, what else I would need from them to really 'UNLOCK' it?
4. Is there any means by root/flashing to make such model work for US GSM carriers like H2O or even T-mobile.
Sorry to be so annoying but m new to all these things and quite confused :crying:
many Thx in advance..
malhotra.aakash said:
Thanks joshm.1219,
It still leaves me in a dilemma.. I do really want to get a "S4 mini" model but don't want to stuck up with CDMA providers to be true. Might want to use with ATT or Tmobile or H2O.. I visited the VZW store and the model has option under networks as
1. Global
2. LTE/CDMA
3. GSM/UTMS
Now the Qs are,
1. If this model does have a SIM card slot, how at the first point VZW has lock on it
2. When i asked the VZW associate, he was not sure whether they ever do unlock the device or not
3. If I am ready to pay off complete price of the device which is ~400, what else I would need from them to really 'UNLOCK' it?
4. Is there any means by root/flashing to make such model work for US GSM carriers like H2O or even T-mobile.
Sorry to be so annoying but m new to all these things and quite confused :crying:
many Thx in advance..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I can't be of more help, I've been on Verizon for 10 years now, but it is by all intents & purposes, fully SIM-unlocked. It's simply unclear as to why some people report problems of using Verizon phones on US GSM carriers. If you really don't want to worry about it & are willing to pay full price, purchase a device through the carrier you want to use it on.
here is the code to choose network
you might need to change the network frequency to gsm if you wanna use it on att or tmobile and when you wanna switch back to verizon choose wcdma try dialing *#*#4636#*#*:good:
joshm.1219 said:
Sorry I can't be of more help, I've been on Verizon for 10 years now, but it is by all intents & purposes, fully SIM-unlocked. It's simply unclear as to why some people report problems of using Verizon phones on US GSM carriers. If you really don't want to worry about it & are willing to pay full price, purchase a device through the carrier you want to use it on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had people argue with me over this, but the fact is that NO Verizon LTE phone is SIM-locked. None. Nada.
People who claim differently are simply misinformed. (My I545 comes up on AT&T when I plug in my UK SIM and switch to GSM.)
Not to say that all VZ phones are unlocked - my Inc2 had to be unlocked before it would work with that same SIM. If I remember right, it wouldn't connect in the US, either, even after being unlocked. Not so for the GS4.
I appreciate the posts here from people who know. As for me, I am switching to tmobile and will attempt to use this there. If it doesnt work out, I will sell it on swappa and get a nexus 5!
Hi,
Verizon S4 with 4.3 is international unlocked by default.
You just need to select network mode 'GLOBAL'. Then add the right APN.
I am using Indian GSM SIM with the GLOBAL mode selected. All is well for me.
I can provide screenshots if anybody wanna see.
Verizon phones are unlocked out of the box and they DO work fine on US carriers I'm running my Verizon S4 right now on AT&T and I also ran it on tmobile for short time,
even works with Walmart straight talk and Net10 as those are just subsidies of T Mobile and AT&T anyway.
so don't sweat it if you have a verizon phone that uses a sim card, you can run it on any network that uses a SIM card US or international.
baseband issue
Doesn't the MK2 baseband with jb 4.3 block US Sim cards?
Or do I just have a weird s4?
kendonsh said:
Doesn't the MK2 baseband with jb 4.3 block US Sim cards?
Or do I just have a weird s4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine dont? Im on mk2,
soon as I got my verizon s4 replacement from a damaged model that I turned in,
I threw a net10/att sim card in it.
completely stock phone not even rooted nothin, and it works fine, I did get a popup that said non Verizon SIM card but it works fine
calls in and out MMS works fine
---------- Post added at 01:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:53 PM ----------
CafeAdrutico said:
The S4 is supposed to work globally right out of the box, as long as you've called Verizon to enable International roaming on your account. But, used that way, you'll be paying Verizon for International roaming and it's bloody expensive.
The question is, can you remove the SIM and put in a SIM for a local carrier in the foreign country where you are and use the phone on that carrier? That is what being unlocked would allow you to do. Past Verizon phones have not been unlocked to allow this. But, if you called Tech Support and told them you were going to, for example, Europe and wanted to use a local SIM, they would walk you through unlocking (at no charge).
I read a report that the S4 is not locked and that you can use a SIM for a local carrier in Europe, as it comes out of the box. But, I would not trust that. I would call VZW Tech Support and tell them exactly what you want to do - i.e. don't say "can I use my phone in Europe?" The answer to that is yes, you can, at about $1/minute. What you should ask them is, "can I travel to Europe and purchase a SIM from a local carrier and use that in my phone?" If not, they should be able to walk you through unlocking the phone, so you can do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to answer your question simply yes.
let's say I take my phone to Spain are somewhere in the UK, I'll go to store buy a SIM card for local network and BAM local phone number in Europe making phone calls, you can even get Data to work if you have that local carrier's APN settings
no unlocking is required because it is not locked.
other companies AT&T, Sprint, t-mobile, yes you have to get The phone sim unlocked.
k1mu said:
I've had people argue with me over this, but the fact is that NO Verizon LTE phone is SIM-locked. None. Nada.
People who claim differently are simply misinformed. (My I545 comes up on AT&T when I plug in my UK SIM and switch to GSM.)
Not to say that all VZ phones are unlocked - my Inc2 had to be unlocked before it would work with that same SIM. If I remember right, it wouldn't connect in the US, either, even after being unlocked. Not so for the GS4.
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This is 100% correct. NO LTE phones on verizon are sim locked. They are REQUIRED to keep them unlocked because of their agreement with the FCC for their use of the spectrum they lease. NO OTHER CARRIER must abide by these rules. Only VZW. Sprint I've heard will unlock ANY phone that is capable if you ask them too, and AT&T will NOT unlock any of their phones unless it 2 years old and out of contract (which makes no sense if you have to pay them while under contract anyway). There was a big deal about the Iphone 5 when it came out with LTE for verizon. If you bought a Verizon Iphone, you could put an ATT sim in it and it works, but not an ATT on VZW because ATT keeps them locked.
The Dinc 2 above was NOT an LTE device. Therefore no sim card....and it wouldn't work on most overseas networks anyway as it was a CDMA only phone. I believe VZW tested the limits of the "unlocked" SIM with their first few LTE phones. My Rezound worked with a GSM network sim....but voice and SMS only. It took some unlocking of the bootloader and rooting to run a special Rom to get Data to work on it.
I am heading to the Caribbean in a few weeks, and I will be using a rented SIM card to be able to message back and forth with my wife (with a data based messenger service as data rates are far cheaper than SMS rate there)
318sugarhill said:
This is 100% correct. NO LTE phones on verizon are sim locked. They are REQUIRED to keep them unlocked because of their agreement with the FCC for their use of the spectrum they lease. NO OTHER CARRIER must abide by these rules. Only VZW. Sprint I've heard will unlock ANY phone that is capable if you ask them too, and AT&T will NOT unlock any of their phones unless it 2 years old and out of contract (which makes no sense if you have to pay them while under contract anyway). There was a big deal about the Iphone 5 when it came out with LTE for verizon. If you bought a Verizon Iphone, you could put an ATT sim in it and it works, but not an ATT on VZW because ATT keeps them locked.
The Dinc 2 above was NOT an LTE device. Therefore no sim card....and it wouldn't work on most overseas networks anyway as it was a CDMA only phone. I believe VZW tested the limits of the "unlocked" SIM with their first few LTE phones. My Rezound worked with a GSM network sim....but voice and SMS only. It took some unlocking of the bootloader and rooting to run a special Rom to get Data to work on it.
I am heading to the Caribbean in a few weeks, and I will be using a rented SIM card to be able to message back and forth with my wife (with a data based messenger service as data rates are far cheaper than SMS rate there)
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I just spent a week in the UK with an ekit.com SIM in my Verizon GS4 - no problem with getting service, no Verizon charge (even though I was on the Vodaphone network for at least some times.)
And the dinc 2, while not LTE, was CDMA/GSM - not just CDMA (yes, the dinc was CDMA-only), so it did accept a SIM card. I'm using that in the GS4 now that it's cut down to micro SIM.
That phone WAS SIM-locked, but VZ happily unlocked it. For the GS4, I didn't have to do anything with VZ to use it off their network.
bickin said:
Is it possible to unlock the Verizon version of the S4? I'm deploying in 4 weeks and would like to use my phone with international carriers. I have an SCH-I545 build and I'm still running on stock. Thanks
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DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO
UNLFOK s4 UK VERSION sorry I'm new to the website
furballbeethoven said:
After a lot of searching, I decided to ask this here:
I have a Verizon S4, but I was wondering if it was actually unlocked out-of-box or if there is something I have to do in order to use it with, for instance, Cricket, or U.S. Cellular. I have done lots of rooting/developing for Android, but have never tried to use an Android phone with a differing carrier. Can anyone help or point me to a thread that helps? (Again, did lots of Googling and XDA-searching)
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The phone is already unlocked for SIM and other carriers, all you need is the correct APN for the carrier. I currently have T-Mobile on my i545 and everything works on it.
Looked into Sprints Community Forum to see if they will support this device and it looks like they will not. I am getting this phone and it looks like I'll be leaving Spint.
Here is the thread to the forum. https://community.sprint.com/baw/message/1052157#1052157 Wanted to share in case anyone else is getting it in hopes that Sprint would support it.
Sprint generally tries to avoid factory unlocked phones so their bloatware stays in place.
Yep, Sprint has strict control over what is allowed access to their network. While the A7 has all the bands for Sprint usage, ZTE has said that they're working with Sprint (and Verizon) to get it approved for their networks.
I wouldn't bother too much with what Sprint_Jeffrey & co. said, they are probably in a similar position to the people within ZTE who claimed just days before the boot-loader unlock announcement that they would not be allowing unlocking of the boot-loader. Until an announcement is made by the Sprint people responsible for such things reps like Sprint_Jeffrey & co. are as much in the dark as the rest of us.
What I've heard about this phone and other unlocked phones with Verizon and Sprint support built into the hardware is.
From official channels you will get no support for the device and you can't go to the store and activate the phone.
But most of the time if you take an existing sim from your current phone and pop it in the new unlocked phone it will work just fine. It's worth a shot before leaving sprint if you like the existing service you have.
Unless you were already planning to leave for the greener pasture of GSM service, so many more device options available which is why i only consider GSM carriers myself.
Don' t know about Sprint but swapping in an active SIM from Verizon does NOT work. Been trying for three weeks. I am going to AT&T.
jaseman said:
Don' t know about Sprint but swapping in an active SIM from Verizon does NOT work. Been trying for three weeks. I am going to AT&T.
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So you are disagreeing with the, probably, 50 posts I've seen with Verizon working on the Axon 7? I'm getting mine delivered today and will be trying it out tonight. I'm expecting it to work.
Eh, you won't miss Sprint. You could probably go with a cheaper service like Cricket and have better coverage, anyway. Verizon is the only CDMA carrier worth using, but you pay out the bum for the pleasure.
jaseman said:
Don' t know about Sprint but swapping in an active SIM from Verizon does NOT work. Been trying for three weeks. I am going to AT&T.
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Works with my active Verizon SIM fine. Full bars Band 4 LTE, full bars CDMA, no roaming indicator (yet).
xtermmin said:
Works with my active Verizon SIM fine. Full bars Band 4 LTE, full bars CDMA, no roaming indicator (yet).
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I tried again with Verizon and it is a no go. I hope those of you who are stuck with Verizon can get things worked out. I suppose Verizon will start to play nice in due time. I, however, have moved on to AT&T pre-paid. Took about 10 minutes for them to get my Axon 7 working properly. There were other ZTE devices in the store also. At least one other cell phone and a couple of other items. So they are already familiar with ZTE and had no trouble getting things setup correctly. Bye-Bye Verizon!
jaseman said:
I tried again with Verizon and it is a no go. I hope those of you who are stuck with Verizon can get things worked out. I suppose Verizon will start to play nice in due time. I, however, have moved on to AT&T pre-paid. Took about 10 minutes for them to get my Axon 7 working properly. There were other ZTE devices in the store also. At least one other cell phone and a couple of other items. So they are already familiar with ZTE and had no trouble getting things setup correctly. Bye-Bye Verizon!
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Did you make sure to use the SIM1 slot instead of the SIM2/microSD slot? Only SIM1 is CDMA enabled.
I don't know why Sprint and Verizon are dicking around. Moto G4 and Google Nexus phones can run on their networks why not ZTE Avon?
rczrider said:
Eh, you won't miss Sprint. You could probably go with a cheaper service like Cricket and have better coverage, anyway. Verizon is the only CDMA carrier worth using, but you pay out the bum for the pleasure.
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Not if you have RingPlus. I have 5 RingPlus free monthly lines each having 6000 mins/ text/ MB waiting to be ESN swapped out to better equipments
ultrasoul said:
Not if you have RingPlus. I have 5 RingPlus free monthly lines each having 6000 mins/ text/ MB waiting to be ESN swapped out to better equipments
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I have RingPlus with a "free" ($15 initial top-up) 1400 plan. And it's great that you have 5 nice plans, but let's be honest, R+ isn't the same as it was last year. Plans like that don't come up much (if ever) anymore and when they do, the hoops make it a real PITA. I'll be surprised if R+ is even around in another year.
And in any case, it's still Sprint and Sprint's network is literally the worst you can use. It's great if you never travel and don't need service outside of cities, but "free" is the only case in which I would use their network. I use R+ with my Moto E as a streaming music player when I'm on the beach or out mowing or doing something else where the phone might get trashed.
xtermmin said:
Did you make sure to use the SIM1 slot instead of the SIM2/microSD slot? Only SIM1 is CDMA enabled.
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Yes, all attempts were in SIM slot number 1 only. Constant roaming. On AT&T now and all is working great for less money. No brainer if you can do it.
jaseman said:
Yes, all attempts were in SIM slot number 1 only. Constant roaming. On AT&T now and all is working great for less money. No brainer if you can do it.
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Er, constant roaming is normal... it's one of the many bugs that the A7 has on Verizon right now. Just had to check "data when roaming" and you would have been good to go.
xtermmin said:
Yep, Sprint has strict control over what is allowed access to their network. While the A7 has all the bands for Sprint usage, ZTE has said that they're working with Sprint (and Verizon) to get it approved for their networks.
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Sprint locks their RUIM/SIM cards to the MEID of the device. Verizon does not engage in this 'anti-consumer' practice.
So can I just put a Sprint Note 4 sim in the Axon 7 and it will work?
I switched from sprint to cricket when I bought the axon 7. Got a good deal for signing up for auto pay and the signal has been wayyy better (in Pittsburgh). I drive all around town for work and only ran into one (almost) dead spot.
Active iPhone Sprint SIM doesn't work in Axon 7
sounreal said:
So can I just put a Sprint Note 4 sim in the Axon 7 and it will work?
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No this almost surely won't work. Though it's hard to be 100% sure as Sprint is so finicky with their different SIM card types...my Sprint phone is an iPhone 6S so perhaps the SIM isn't as friendly to Android phones (which is ridiculous but Sprint really does differentiate Android vs. iOS SIMs, which I found out the hard way)...
But I tried anyway with my FreedomPop Sprint SIM...below are some pictures of what happened. The Axon 7 showed a signal and a 4G/LTE icon, but the internet connection didn't work (it just shows a constant upload indication) and there was no 1X signal either when I checked LTE Discovery. So it seems that Sprint is effectively blocking the Axon 7 (as it would any non-Sprint MEID'd phone I believe) from making a data connection or making calls/texts.
It's a shame...Verizon doesn't do this...my Verizon SIM works great in the Axon 7...this is purely a Sprint limitation it seems, which is funny as they're the most desperate of the four major carriers and yet make it nearly impossible to do business with them even though we have a perfectly viable Sprint phone in the Axon 7.
Sprint binds the imei, icc id and phone number to the account. Everything has to match or you get no service.
Sprint is dead, move to a different carrier.
Hello from Japan.
I bought the s9+ online. It does support my carriers signal LTE. I`m with KDDI AU
what happens though is i cannot get signal. Though the sim is read and it knows the number attached. I cannot attach to the network.
There are 2 choices in manual search. i choose 1 it says I am not allowed on. the other just says registering for a long while then it fails.
I have found japanese forums blogs etc That AU are a bunch of turd munching ass bandits. I think they purposely try to stop anyone from BYOD by making it difficult.
In the case of VOLTE I have a s7 edge right now. It is on a VOLTE plan and has a sim that AU calls "AU ic lte card 06"
It seems that this sim only works in an VOLTE enabled device. (perhaps running firmware that add software to authenticate to network too) I.e. that sim will not attach in a non volte handset and some non au sold phones may not work either VOLTE support or not.
There is another sim coded 04 i think that works on lte/cdma hybrid. Since the galaxy s9+ does not work the cdma even if i changed the sim ( they charge about $30 and changed the plan from a volte plan to an lte plan another $30 charge) i could only use data anyway.
So I had thought this device would work since it was meant to be volte. but my device does not let me enable it. (some error like not supported by your current software version)
Anyone got any idea how to enable the volte is.
I don`t want to root it or load another rom etc.
So if there is not other way I may just cut my losses and switch providers.
I want to because I hate AU but at he same time i dont want to because they make it incredibly hard to change providers.
So I bought the XQ-BC72 model and flashed US firmware. Earlier this year I was able to do this on the Xperia 5 II and it worked perfectly. The 5 II was also the Chinese/Asian model that I flashed to US firmware.
So has anyone managed to use the asian model on verizon with or without flashing US firmware?
UPDATE: I called verizon tech support and got them to add the IMEI number to my phone line. This along with a 4G sim card has allowed me to get LTE on this phone and sending/receiving texts works too. Sweet. Will try getting VoLTE or VoWIFI to work, but I highly doubt it.
UPDATE 2: LTE/4G only worked where I originally set it up (at work, within their WiFi range). Very odd behavior. As soon as I left work, service was gone. Connecting to any other WiFi did not bring back service. As soon as I got back to the office, the service came back. This is so weird. I did all this on a 4G sim card. Will try using a 5G sim card before giving up and getting a US version or staying on the OnePlus 8T.
UPDATE 3: I got Verizon to work on the XQ-BC72. I flashed from the US Firmware to Taiwan Firmware (TW). You will still need a sim card that is provisioned as CDMA-less by verizon (you can do this over the phone or chat on their website) while inserted into a phone that verizon supports (such as your currently phone most likely if you already use Verizon). Then just switch out the sim card into the Sony and should be good to go.
You're brave to be a guinea pig here, and it's much appreciated. I'd love to purchase the bc72 but am too worried about compatibility with Verizon. Please update us on your progress or lack thereof, I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in the outcome
delfuhd said:
You're brave to be a guinea pig here, and it's much appreciated. I'd love to purchase the bc72 but am too worried about compatibility with Verizon. Please update us on your progress or lack thereof, I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in the outcome
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Well I got it to work for a little bit. Basically, it only worked while I was at work within the range of my works WiFi (this is where I set up the phone by chatting with verizon). As soon as I left work, I lost LTE and it would not return until I went back inside the building (yes I was still in range of the service signal). Its very odd. Connecting to any other WiFi outside of work did not bring back LTE/service.
I will attempt to get a 5g sim card and try again but I doubt I will get better results. I am currently using a verizon 4G sim card which works perfectly in OnePlus 8T (which was converted from TMobile to Global)
See update 3 above if anyone is interested in using the international model (XQ-BC72) on Verizon. Benefits of this route is you can use the Gray color model as well (not just black and purple that the US model allows) and you can also get the one with 512gb storage (internal storage is almost always faster than SD cards). Downsides are warranty is probably gone, no 5G or VoLTE support most likely.