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Hi,
I just bought a T-Mobile Pocket PC. It is locked onto T-Mobile and I want to use it on Cingular Wireless for a couple of days till my number is ported to T-Mobile in the next 5-6 days as I have been told.
Any solutions will be most appreciated but please understand it is a brand new unit I have bought after cooking the ROM on the old Siemens SX-56 still lying with me; and I really really don't want to mess this one up. It has Windows Mobile 2003 edition on it.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Before trying to unlock it, I would check that Cingular are NOT operating on the 850Mhz band in your area as they are in mine (Atlanta) As the XDA is only tri band, it will not work on Cingular's 850 network. Even if there are roaming options in your area, I have found that the Cingular SIM prevents roaming on 1900Mhz, when a native Cingular 850Mhz band is present.
Thanks for the reply. Yups, u're right but I wanted to use the phone in London and its ok since they have a 900Mhz bank there. Also, I spoke to T-Mobile and they will be sending me the unlocking code in 4-5 days, they are more helpful than Cingular in that way.
Ah, London!, my home town!! You may know this already, but in case not, here goes...
Before you go, make sure that T-Mobile USA have your account set up to make international calls. When you get there, you will have to manually change the band on your phone to pick up the 900Mhz band. Once you do that, the phone will probably connect to either the O2 or the Vodaphone network, as T-Mobile operates only on the 800 band over there.... You will of course be hit for some pretty hefty call charges, as all your calls (even to UK numbers) will be treated as international calls. It took me a couple of trips and a couple of $400 - $500 monthly invoices to get wise to what was going on. Then, once I had the phone unlocked, I switched to using an O2 Pay and Go SIM card whenever I am in the UK, leaving a message on my US TMO voice mail with the UK number if someone wanted to reach me. It saved me a lot of money when I finally figured it out.
Re:
Well my friend you saved me the trouble of figuring it out on myself and of course the huge amounts of un-justified spend dollars!!!
Thanks a bundle! I will take your advice and use the pay-to-go cards instead of my T-Mobile service, and leave the voice mail and I can as it is extract the voicemail from anywhere, unlike the Cingular voicemail which you cannot except just from your phone.
Great! glad to help A couple of other things spring to mind...
When you go into the O2 store to get the 'Pay and Go', see if they can also set you up for international calls. Its about a $3.00 one time activation fee. That way you will be able to dial back to the US with the Pay and Go SIM. Rates are about $1.50c a minute. You may have to phone O2 custmer service to activate it, buts its worth the trouble.
O2 will also give you a top up card that you can use at pretty much any gas, sorry, petrol station to top up your pay and go account. Just give the attendant the top up card, a credit card and tell them how much you want to add to your pay and go account. Its pretty slick!
Also, if you need to pull e-mail down from your US e-mail account, you can always just put the T-Mobile SIM back in and connect via GPRS through O2. I believe that there is a data option available with O2 Pay and Go as what they call one of their "bolt ons", but I never managed to get that done on my last trip. Anyway, have a good trip!!
Re:
Thanks a million!
Hi All
I have just ordered a orange spv m3100 to be used unlocked on t-mobile. I just phoned up t-mobile to ask if i need a new sim to use in a 3g phone, but the woman i spoke to seemed to think that there is no such thing as a 3g sim, is this correct?
Will my old sim from my wizzard work in the m3100 and will i get 3g?
Thanks
you can use a 2g sim in the m3100 but you wouldnt be able to get any 3g services out of it.
best thing to do is just pop your sim into it and it will tell you if you have a 3g signal.
hope this helps
thats what i thought, thanks. i will have to phone up t-mobile again and explain i want a 3g sim.
have you asked to receive the m3100 unlocked or are you having it unlocked after you get it?
as far as i'm aware the m3100 comes locked to orange as standard so you won't be able to use a t-mobile sim...
I've spoke to T-mobile previously about 3g services and they've told me that the chip that I got off them (Bought a MDA vario) would be able to use 3g.
I popped it into my Nokia N70 and it worked a treat.
So, you might not need a different type of Sim card
nice tread i was literally going to ask this exact sme question. i just posted in another thread, asking almost the same thing, only i'm getting a new contract on t-mob and extending my misses contracting then gonna pay for them to both be unlocked and then swap the sims,
hope they send me a 3G sim
Strangely enough, I've ordered a Orange SPV 3100 today and depending on if I like it I'm going to get it unlocked and use my t-mobile chip with it.
Don't fancy paying £20 to get it unlocked to test though, So if anyone can get me a free unlocking solution by tomorrow, that would be appreciated
Even T-Mobile pay as you go sim cards seem to be fine for 3g data - just not enabled for video calling.
My vodafone sim card is a standard one, I haven't changed it in 3 or 4 years and 3g works fine.
thanks for the replys guys, this is all sounding good
I have a mate who had a MDA Vario. He bought an unbranded TyTN and asked me what he had to do to get the internet working.
I said call T and ask for 1) 3g sim 2) connection settings.
He called T and they said he didn't need a 3g sim... I have to say I though they were talking bollocks. So he popped his old sim in and we had a video call - no problems at all.
So you may be ok...
It depends on when you got your device/SIM. If bought over the last year it should be OK, if the SP supports 3G anyway. Older SIMs may need to be replaced.
So...the networks have been shipping USims instead of Sims....interesting. I didn't know that.
Quite useful to know.
thats very interesting, although I have had my sim for some time so not sure if it is a usim. Mine came with my Magician just over a year and a half ago. When I got my wizzard, I just swpped the sim over.
My M3100 should be here today, so I will test it and see what happens.
I dont think there will be a free unlocking tool for a few weeks at least, so Im just going to pay the £20 and get the code.
TheBrit said:
So...the networks have been shipping USims instead of Sims....interesting. I didn't know that.
My voda sim is a sim (not a usim) and is about 3 years old and has worked in every voda 3g phone I've tried it in (v980, 6680, sharp 902, sharp 903, v3x and xda exec).
Gives 1.2mb on hsdpa.
I just had to ask for it to be enabled when voda launched 3g.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a MyTouch 3G w/3.5mm headphone jack that I bought from Craigslist. I just use T-Mobile ToGo Prepaid, so I had to get the phone unlocked (got unlock code through T-Mobile for free) and I used my mom's AT&T SIM Card to activate the phone.
After doing that with stock firmware, my T-Mobile SIM card still won't work in the phone. I got zero bars and with a small "X". I thought maybe T-Mobile purposely blocked non data plan SIM cards in their stock ROM, so I rooted and installed Cyanogenmod 6 RC2. Everything went fine with the rooting and upgrade, but I'm still having the same problem with my T-Mobile SIM. It always says "No Service". If I try to dial a number, I get "Mobile network not available." In Settings->Mobile network settings->Network Operators, it shows both AT&T and T-Mobile as available networks. If I touch T-Mobile, I get "Unable to connect to this network at this time. Please try again later". The strange thing, is everything works fine with an AT&T SIM card! I'm at a loss to figure this out. Are these symptoms of a blacklisted IMEI? Or do these symptoms indicate something else?
UPDATE: Talked to T-Mobile chat, IMEI is NOT blocked which is good, but it's still not working.
had the same issue...I used my friend's AT&T sim with data plan to sign-in to google. I had to enter AT&T APN settings and choose AT&T network in the menu.
Everything went well and I put my prepaid togo sim card. Got no service message and no bars. I went then to menu-settings-wireless controls-mobile neworks-network operators. It scanned networks for a minute and found t-mobile which I chose. Right after that it connected to network and I was able to make my first call from prepaid card
Unfortunately, that doesn't work on mine. When I touch T-Mobile, I get "Unable to connect to this network at this time. Please try again later."
GnatGoSplat said:
Unfortunately, that doesn't work on mine. When I touch T-Mobile, I get "Unable to connect to this network at this time. Please try again later."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you sure your t-mobile sim card still work fine? i did research quite a bit this issue yesterday and many people confirmed that prepaid card works fine for them. check your network settings again and reset them to default
Yeah, it's the SIM card I use in my iPhone daily. My wife's SIM doesn't work in it either. I've reset everything to defaults, wiped everything, and even installed Cynanogenmod with no luck.
GnatGoSplat said:
Yeah, it's the SIM card I use in my iPhone daily. My wife's SIM doesn't work in it either. I've reset everything to defaults, wiped everything, and even installed Cynanogenmod with no luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry to hear that...maybe you should try to call t-mobile or visit a store
I did talk to T-Mobile, but they only suggested a full wipe (hard reset) which didn't work. I guess it's probably broken, and since I bought it second-hand, not covered under warranty. It's unlocked so I guess I could try to recoup my losses by selling it to someone w/AT&T.
New information:
It turns out that my initial enthusiasm was unfounded.
I can confirm that Rebel firmware versions 1.1 and 1.2 produce an "invalid SIM" error. Version 1.3 beta and 1.0 work initially on 2G, but further testing reveals the following problems:
- incoming calls not always received, sometimes they go straight to voicemail
- call display shows "Unknown" for certain out-of-network callers
- phone will be connected to network for several hours, anywhere from 2 to 18, but once it loses signal it can't get back on until you pop out the SIM, put it in another phone WITHOUT the Rebel SIM, make a call, send a text, leave it for 15 minutes, and then try all over again
- based on my limited testing, you can't connect AT ALL to a 3G-only network (that is, Wind and Mobilicity in Canada)... this is consistent with reports about the Rebel SIM on Android devices having issues with 3G and needing to connect on 2G first
I am sorry to anyone who jumped at any purchases as a result of my previous test results. Personally, it is with great disappointment that I'm returning my Venue Pro to Dell.
I can now confirm the only method for SIM unlock of the Dell Venue Pro (locked to T-mobile US): buy the Rebel SIM II. You can use it with your non-Tmobile SIM to send and receive calls, SMS and data! But no MMS
You will need:
Rebel SIM II (http://rebelsimcard.com/virtu/index...s&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=445&Itemid=1)
Rebel Compact Programmer (http://rebelsimcard.com/virtu/index...ategory_id=243&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1)
You may also want to get the SIM cutter, which is just a fancy hole puncher - and if you're getting that, maybe one of the bundled options is best. But I used an exacto-knife to cut a notch in my SIM card.
Buy these and get them shipped to your house. (Mine took exactly one week to arrive from UK to Canada using Royal Mail, but I'm pretty close to a customs point of entry.) DHL and FedEx shipping options will be faster but more expensive.
The Rebel SIM II comes preloaded with firmware v1.2 - you will need to downgrade the firmware to v1 (http://rebelsimcard.com/virtu/images/downloads/rebel-II_v1.cardfm) using the USB compact programmer. Follow the instructions on Rebel SIM's site.
Go to cellular settings and manually select your network - it will take time to find it. Once that is connected, test out the calling and texting with a friend.
Now go back into cellular settings and click Add APN, filling in the data APN address, username and password for your carrier. After that, enable data roaming, and then enable the data connection.
EDIT: if you get booted off the network after a while, try reprogramming the Rebel SIM with firmware beta v1.3 - it worked for me after making one outgoing call and sending one text message
My experience
I'm on Rogers Canada - a network with 850/1900 MHz EDGE, and 850/1900 MHz UMTS/HSPA. Obviously I am stuck on 2G with the Venue Pro, but that's okay for now.
I ordered the above-listed products from Rebel SIM last week. I used an exacto-knife to cut a notch in the plastic end of my SIM card where the Rebel chip sticks up. Then I tried the whole thing with firmware v1.2 which comes pre-programmed on the phone, but I got an "Invalid SIM" message.
I programmed the Rebel SIM with firmware v1, and it has unlocked my Venue Pro. Now I can send/receive calls, texts, and data. I used the APN settings APN: internet.com , username: wapuser1 , password: wap . As soon as I enabled data roaming, a little "E" popped up beside my signal bars. Now I have cellular data. (EDIT: I had to switch the Rebel to beta firmware v1.3 after getting kicked off the network 18 hours later)
I'm not going to bother bugging T-mobile and Dell for an unlock code, like so many others have. Do you know why? Just look at the Dell Streak for AT&T - there are no unlock codes, and only one user (ONE!) was able to get it by talking to a string of different managers and escalating the problem through a lucky combination of people. Dell went on to sell the Streak through other global carriers and those people have been able to get unlock codes... but as far as I can tell, the only solution available for the AT&T-locked Dell Streak is Rebel SIM II. That, plus a mail-in service the same company has just started... basically they've found a way to crack the unlock code over USB.
I predict the same thing will happen with the Venue Pro. The European devices will eventually get unlock codes, either through their carriers or through third-party sites. But those of us who bought the first batch from Dell.com will be stuck with the Rebel SIM... until somebody finds a way to hack the Venue Pro into giving up its own unlock code directly.
Meantime, we can hope that the Euro-made DVP comes with some useful new software bits that we can extract as XAP files and sideload onto our devices... like an Auto Device Config (ADC) and/or MMS settings app. I can live without MMS until then.
Don't get me wrong - I think Dell's behaviour is totally wrong here. But they're a tough nut to crack, and plenty of Dell Streak users have come before us and faced the same disappointments. We're lucky the Rebel SIM works.
I am using a sim hack similar to RebelSim from my previous phone, (Sharp 904sh), and it works fine with Fido sim card. I'm able to make calls and all that on DVP. However, once I put the sim hack on Mobilicity's Sim card, it won't find the network. Under Network Selection, I can manually choose Mobilicity and CDN Roaming, but the Active Network always shows No Network no matter what I do, I am wondering if RebelSim works with Mobilicity Sim, or my Sim hack is not good enough
Thanks a lot dude
I'm ordering my Rebel SIM II right now
Will this work from t-mobile to ATT ?
I have the samsung but want to use the dell venue pro ?
and if so what bad could happen ? could I damage my sim that is in my Focus ?
if I try this and it does not work will tmobile stop working
gibbyhome said:
Will this work from t-mobile to ATT ?
I have the samsung but want to use the dell venue pro ?
and if so what bad could happen ? could I damage my sim that is in my Focus ?
if I try this and it does not work will tmobile stop working
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm it works on ATT. For some reason my data isn't working properly, but it might just be my shoddy coverage right now. I will test it in other areas (non-residential) where the signal is better. APN settings are correct.
gibbyhome said:
Will this work from t-mobile to ATT ?
I have the samsung but want to use the dell venue pro ?
and if so what bad could happen ? could I damage my sim that is in my Focus ?
if I try this and it does not work will tmobile stop working
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea - I'm no psychic and I don't work for Rebel SIM! If you follow all instructions correctly (especially those on YouTube regarding the use of the USB SIM programmer; don't try to reprogram your AT&T SIM card) I don't see how anything bad could happen.
The whole point of the Rebel SIM is that it does absolutely nothing permanent or destructive to your phone or your SIM - it just interferes with the communication between the two of them.
benjaminries: Do you think you'll be able to test your RebelSim with Mobilicity Sim card?
EDGE works on ATT, no 3g obviously due to band differences.
astranagan said:
benjaminries: Do you think you'll be able to test your RebelSim with Mobilicity Sim card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If somebody in Toronto gives me a Mobilicy SIM and lets me cut a hole in the plastic part, sure.
Just to let everyone know: after about 18 hours working with the new Rebel SIM, my phone all of a sudden wouldn't connect to the network. Apparently this is a problem with the STK-based firmware.
So I troubleshooted for a while, and eventually decided to try the v1.3 beta firmware. It works for me - after I make an outgoing call and outgoing text, I can get incoming calls/texts... and data works too.
Go figure.
I've had continued problems with both v1 and v1.3 - and I tried out a Wind SIM card in-store, with utterly disasterous results (no connection). See first post for details.
Sucks to hear that I'll still be keeping mine if anything just for dev purposes and then getting an android phone with WIND if I have to.
No 3G even with Rogers?
fathamburger said:
Sucks to hear that I'll still be keeping mine if anything just for dev purposes and then getting an android phone with WIND if I have to.
No 3G even with Rogers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There wouldn't be 3G with Rogers because Rogers uses 850/1900 for UMTS/HSPA. I think the underlying issue is that the Rebel SIM can't just jump straight onto a 3G network - it needs to try underlying 2G first.
I've still got a contract with Rogers that is up in December of this year, at which point I'd probably switch to Wind regardless. Dell tried to convince me that T-mobile would give me an unlock code after 90 days of service with them, but... I don't believe it enough to risk it. It is hard to even really get excited about the other WP7 devices... the HD7 is the only other AWS option, and the Samsung Focus seems like the only other half-decent WP7 available in North America.
Well I just got back to Canuckistan with mine, if anything I'm more pissed about the blurry camera/broken autofocus since it's ruined most of my shots while I was down in NYC.
If I didn't need it for dev purposes as well I'd be about as pissed as you are. No dice for me with the unlock code at Tmo for me either, although the staff were quite impressed by it and had never seen one before. Contrary to the many negative store clerk stories towards WP7 I've read elsewhere.
What is this 90 days of service thing, 90 days of a monthly plan? or just after 90 days if you've activated a TMo SIM, because I did do that while I was in NYC. Even my lowly $10 of credit went a lot further than any paygo plan in Canada, espec by Rogers' standards
Yeah it's a sad thing about the other WP7's as well, I'd have gotten a Focus if it was AWS compatible, at least the camera would work
So does the Rebel SIM work that way for all phones? it has to try 2G first? sadly the order for mine has just gone through
fathamburger said:
Well I just got back to Canuckistan with mine, if anything I'm more pissed about the blurry camera/broken autofocus since it's ruined most of my shots while I was down in NYC.
If I didn't need it for dev purposes as well I'd be about as pissed as you are. No dice for me with the unlock code at Tmo for me either, although the staff were quite impressed by it and had never seen one before. Contrary to the many negative store clerk stories towards WP7 I've read elsewhere.
What is this 90 days of service thing, 90 days of a monthly plan? or just after 90 days if you've activated a TMo SIM, because I did do that while I was in NYC. Even my lowly $10 of credit went a lot further than any paygo plan in Canada, espec by Rogers' standards
Yeah it's a sad thing about the other WP7's as well, I'd have gotten a Focus if it was AWS compatible, at least the camera would work
So does the Rebel SIM work that way for all phones? it has to try 2G first? sadly the order for mine has just gone through
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dunno. I was only able to test the WIND SIM in-store with the Rebel loaded up on v1.3 - it may have worked with v1 in one of the 12 STK modes, but even then, the whole thing doesn't inspire much confidence. Even "working" meant that some people's calls to me didn't go through, some of the call display stuff didn't work, and getting booted off the cellular network after 12-18 hours was something I wasn't going to be able to test in-store either. In the end, I'm not willing to keep a phone with such problems.
If I hear of a way to properly unlock the Venue Pro, I will buy it back in a heartbeat. No other phone delivers what I grew to love about the DVP: portrait keyboard, gorilla glass screen, and WP7.
I've had Tmobile unlock 2 phones for me in the past without issue. As others have mentioned all that is required is that the phone remain active for at least 90 days. After the 90 days, they'll unlock the phone for you.
Now who knows if they have access to unlock codes for Dell phones.
First thing first, I have sent the unlocked S8 (bought unlocked directly from Samsung) back to repair center for the issue. The phone was returned to me, claimed to be repaired, with the same issue. While I submitted another ticket to send it back again, I believe the devs here may have better solutions than the incompetent technicians at Samsung repair center. I need help!
Description of Issue
Before routine phone reboot
• AT&T compatible SIM (Cricket) worked on the S8.
• Verizon compatible SIM (Red Pocket) worked on the S8.
After routine phone reboot
• AT&T compatible SIM still worked on the S8.
• Verizon compatible SIM couldn’t register on Verizon’s network on the S8. However, the SIM could register on Verizon and make phone calls on another two phones.
• Verizon SIM worked on the S8.
I was instructed by a Samsung technician through chat to
a) do a network reset
b) enter safe mode
c) do a factory reset
None of the above worked. No setting (APN or whatnot) is required for the AT&T compatible or Verizon compatible SIM to work. In short, the Verizon compatible SIM is working properly and the S8 is not blacklisted by Verizon. The S8 just doesn’t work with the Verizon compatible SIM after a reboot.
After the repair
I just received the S8 from the repair center from the previous ticket. I inserted the Red Pocket SIM to S8 and the phone still couldn’t register it on Verizon’s network. I inserted the same SIM to another phone and the phone received messages from Red Pocket right away and showed it was on Verizon’s network. In short, the same issue remained.
Even though I'm sending the S8 back to Samsung for repair, given my first repair experience, I don't have much confidence in their technicians in fixing this. Any input is much appreciated!
Did you figure this out? I am having the exact identical issue and ready to go nuts trying to figure it out. Any help would be great!
willjob said:
Did you figure this out? I am having the exact identical issue and ready to go nuts trying to figure it out. Any help would be great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, I haven't. But I do have updates. I sent the phone back for a second repair. The phone came back with the same problem. No surprise at all. One thing I noticed though, from the service record, the technician replaced a third component (the other two were the same as that of the first service). Not sure if this made a difference, I did see "Verizon Wireless" on the status bar when I turned the phone on with the Red Pocket SIM. This was the first time I saw the "Verizon Wireless" after the reboot. However, while I was turning it on, the S8 mandated a reboot to "get the SIM card ready." And man... that reboot just reverted everything to before.
I was on the phone with a Samsung representative and a supervisor after I discovered the phone was not fixed for the second time. While he promised to make a note to the repair center about my situation, the supervisor said the option of a replacement phone wouldn't kick in until 3 or 4 unsuccessful repairs. Frustrated as I was, I've got no choice but to send it back for a third repair.
Hope you have better luck with yours.
willjob said:
Did you figure this out? I am having the exact identical issue and ready to go nuts trying to figure it out. Any help would be great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, I haven't. But I do have updates. I sent the phone back for a second repair. The phone came back with the same problem. No surprise at all. One thing I noticed though, from the service record, the technician replaced a third component (the other two were the same as that of the first service). Not sure if this made a difference, I did see "Verizon Wireless" on the status bar when I turned the phone on with the Red Pocket SIM. This was the first time I saw the "Verizon Wireless" after the reboot. However, while I was turning it on, the S8 mandated a reboot to "get the SIM card ready." And man... that reboot just reverted everything to before.
I was on the phone with a Samsung representative and a supervisor after I discovered the phone was not fixed for the second time. While he promised to make a note to the repair center about my situation, the supervisor said the option of a replacement phone wouldn't kick in until 3 or 4 unsuccessful repairs. Frustrated as I was, I've got no choice but to send it back for a third repair.
Hope you have better luck with yours.
Thanks for the reply. The phone I was having problems with was an S8+. My wife's phone is an s8. I didn't have any problems on Red Pocket CDMA for the first week of service. That was until this morning. Exact same thing on my S8+ and what you describe above. On another forum someone said this is a problem with Samsung devices on Verizon MVNOs.
I just switched both to GSMA for now until I figure out to switch from Red Pocket.
willjob said:
Thanks for the reply. The phone I was having problems with was an S8+. My wife's phone is an s8. I didn't have any problems on Red Pocket CDMA for the first week of service. That was until this morning. Exact same thing on my S8+ and what you describe above. On another forum someone said this is a problem with Samsung devices on Verizon MVNOs.
I just switched both to GSMA for now until I figure out to switch from Red Pocket.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for sharing, especially on Verizon MVNOs. GSM (Cricket) has no signal at all in many locations around where I live and work. If Samsung still couldn't fix my S8 after a couple more tries or even with a replacement phone, I will have to opt for the Verizon MVNO theory and buy a different phone. Heck, my $40 Moto E4 works just fine on both Cricket and CDMA Red Pocket.
I have the same issue my believe is red pocket does not have LTE/CDMA in their sim they have LTE/2g/3g 2g/3g and 2g only they should have LTE/CDMA instead of LTE/2g/3g to work,
xike17 said:
First thing first, I have sent the unlocked S8 (bought unlocked directly from Samsung) back to repair center for the issue. The phone was returned to me, claimed to be repaired, with the same issue. While I submitted another ticket to send it back again, I believe the devs here may have better solutions than the incompetent technicians at Samsung repair center. I need help!
Description of Issue
Before routine phone reboot
• AT&T compatible SIM (Cricket) worked on the S8.
• Verizon compatible SIM (Red Pocket) worked on the S8.
After routine phone reboot
• AT&T compatible SIM still worked on the S8.
• Verizon compatible SIM couldn’t register on Verizon’s network on the S8. However, the SIM could register on Verizon and make phone calls on another two phones.
• Verizon SIM worked on the S8.
I was instructed by a Samsung technician through chat to
a) do a network reset
b) enter safe mode
c) do a factory reset
None of the above worked. No setting (APN or whatnot) is required for the AT&T compatible or Verizon compatible SIM to work. In short, the Verizon compatible SIM is working properly and the S8 is not blacklisted by Verizon. The S8 just doesn’t work with the Verizon compatible SIM after a reboot.
After the repair
I just received the S8 from the repair center from the previous ticket. I inserted the Red Pocket SIM to S8 and the phone still couldn’t register it on Verizon’s network. I inserted the same SIM to another phone and the phone received messages from Red Pocket right away and showed it was on Verizon’s network. In short, the same issue remained.
Even though I'm sending the S8 back to Samsung for repair, given my first repair experience, I don't have much confidence in their technicians in fixing this. Any input is much appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update:
No. This problem was not fixed by Samsung after three repairs.
I ordered a new Verizon SIM from Red Pocket during the third repair. Samsung didn't replace anything in the third. I received the phone and popped in the new SIM and the phone could register the SIM on Verizon! I even tried a couple of restarts (which caused the problem in the first place) and everything seemed fine. I even blamed myself for bashing Samsung technicians' incompetence. How stupid was I to blame myself and how naive was I to believe Samsung technician had actually delivered...
It's the fourth or fifth day I've been using the phone and the new SIM. The battery died after a long day. When I returned home and charged the phone, the S8 needed to "reconfigure" the SIM, which prompted for an automatic reboot. Voila! The same pesky unable-to-register-on-Verizon issue came right back. The phone is now in the process of a replacement. I honestly don't hold much hope for the replacement that I'm awaiting. Perhaps I should consider selling off the phone or asking Samsung for a refund.
Confirmed s8 doesn't work on the budget Verizon mnvo's
I just switched from the att sim on red pocket to the Verizon sim with no luck. I found a temporary fix. When prompt to restart to configure network, press the power button and go into emergency mode. Then restart from there. May take a couple of tries but the prompt disappeared. Then switch back to regular mode. I was able to use the phone on Verizon but can only get 3g speeds. This all goes away the moment you restart the phone as the moment the confirmation takes it won't recognize the Verizon networks. This is a cheap Verizon service. You can see your options for network mode are lte/3g/2g. Not the typical lte/cdma. Also tried boom mobile, and that sort of worked but my texts would not go out and again no fix. I'm convinced this is purely Verizon restricting needed services that the s8 requires. The att sim works perfectly. Most phones are fine, not the newer Galaxy.
nytq said:
I just switched from the att sim on red pocket to the Verizon sim with no luck. I found a temporary fix. When prompt to restart to configure network, press the power button and go into emergency mode. Then restart from there. May take a couple of tries but the prompt disappeared. Then switch back to regular mode. I was able to use the phone on Verizon but can only get 3g speeds. This all goes away the moment you restart the phone as the moment the confirmation takes it won't recognize the Verizon networks. This is a cheap Verizon service. You can see your options for network mode are lte/3g/2g. Not the typical lte/cdma. Also tried boom mobile, and that sort of worked but my texts would not go out and again no fix. I'm convinced this is purely Verizon restricting needed services that the s8 requires. The att sim works perfectly. Most phones are fine, not the newer Galaxy.
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Thanks for the workaround. I'll give a shot when I receive the replacement. Meanwhile, I have been using an unlocked prepaid Verizon Moto E4 and everything works fine. I have 4G with the E4. I can also receive multimedia text. A $40 budget phone works better for my needs than a $700 factory unlocked premium phone. How ironic!
I have the same problem
I have a fully-paid-for Galaxy S8 from a Verizon account with good standing, and service on this particular line is ended. It worked on Redpocket until I took the sim out to insert an SD card. Afterwards it reconfigured the sim and lost network access. The sim works in my iPhone and the original Verizon sim works in the S8 and the phone states its ready to set up a Verizon account.
The third Redpocket support agent I contacted sent me a screenshot listing an error "DISCOUNT_4_ACCESS". He stated that means Verizon is blocking it for some reason but he doesn't have access to the reason. Two Verizon agents couldn't even tell if they were blocking it or not - but as far as they could tell everything was good.
According to an article on Whistleout, Verizon MVNO requirements are that the "phone must be network compatible, financially unencumbered, and not less than 12 months old (though this last policy changes from time to time)" Could our phones be blocked because they were sold less than 12 months ago?
Leecewest said:
I have a fully-paid-for Galaxy S8 from a Verizon account with good standing, and service on this particular line is ended. It worked on Redpocket until I took the sim out to insert an SD card. Afterwards it reconfigured the sim and lost network access. The sim works in my iPhone and the original Verizon sim works in the S8 and the phone states its ready to set up a Verizon account.
The third Redpocket support agent I contacted sent me a screenshot listing an error "DISCOUNT_4_ACCESS". He stated that means Verizon is blocking it for some reason but he doesn't have access to the reason. Two Verizon agents couldn't even tell if they were blocking it or not - but as far as they could tell everything was good.
According to an article on Whistleout, Verizon MVNO requirements are that the "phone must be network compatible, financially unencumbered, and not less than 12 months old (though this last policy changes from time to time)" Could our phones be blocked because they were sold less than 12 months ago?
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Thanks for sharing this. I bought a Moto E4 around February, a Verizon postpaid (or prepaid?) from Walmart and got it unlocked through eBay. This is the phone I'm using with Red Pocket now. The phone is of course less than 12 months old. One thing to mention is when I asked Red Pocket support to activate a new SIM with the E4, I was told because the phone was Verizon branded (post/prepaid) they could not activate the phone with the SIM. Then I told them I had success before. The rep further said the service would be deactivated once their system detected the phone was Verizon branded. Well, it turned out this rep knew nothing. I ended up using IMEI of another phone to activate the line then inserted the SIM in the E4. And I have been using the E4 ever since without a single issue (network-wise).
Wow, so i wasn't the only one. Had the exact same problem. Ported my number from Red Pocket Verizon to Red Pocket AT&T. Now everything is fine.
When I switch from a Verizon SIM to my Red Pocket-Verizon SIM the phone comes up with "SIM card changed" but the phone receives incoming calls and notifications (wi-fi is off). Unfortunately, the only thing that I can do with the "SIM card changed" message showing is answer phone calls - I cant even turn "Emergency mode" on. Could it be that Red Pocket SIM messes up the configuration? One of the first things Red Pocket support wants to check is if the phone is in CDMA mode, but with the Red Pocket sim inserted modes are limited to LTE/3G/2G. The Verizon SIM gives CDMA options.
With the Verizon SIM in and configured, switch to "Emergency Mode". Replace the Verizon SIM with the Red Pocket SIM without turning the phone off. Turn "Emergency Mode" off. The phone doesn't detect the SIM change, but it shows the ICCID of the Red Pocket SIM and correct phone number. Data works, 4G LTE. Of course, the first power cycle it detects the SIM change and messes up the configuration.
Another update: Received an unlocked S9 (yes, because Samsung is out of unlocked S8 inventory) two days ago. Inserted Red Pocket Verizon... the phone couldn't register the SIM on Verizon at all in my first try. This is the end of my journey with Samsung phones. I hope one day this issue can be addressed and solved.
Am having the same red-pocket/Verizon/S8 problem. Too bad I did not see this first.
I have tried almost everything (barring having a different network Sim Card) to have my phone request me to restart the phone on inserting new sim. It appears the last network is saved somewhere and my unlocked/unbrand S8 does not seem to forget it.
Is there a way where I can force the phone to request a restart if I re-insert the Sim card. Thanks
fnkhan said:
Am having the same red-pocket/Verizon/S8 problem. Too bad I did not see this first.
I have tried almost everything (barring having a different network Sim Card) to have my phone request me to restart the phone on inserting new sim. It appears the last network is saved somewhere and my unlocked/unbrand S8 does not seem to forget it.
Is there a way where I can force the phone to request a restart if I re-insert the Sim card. Thanks
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My understanding is that Galaxy S8s are configured wrong when Red-Pocket (and other Verizon MVNO) SIMs are inserted - they aren't fully set to the Verizon network and if your phone had, for example, and AT&T SIM, the phone stays AT&T branded when a Red-Pocket Verizon SIM is inserted.
The work-around:
1) Insert a Verizon SIM and let it setup everything and reboot when it wants.
2)Turn on "Emergency mode" (Hold down the power button and select "Emergency mode")
3)Insert Red-Rocket SIM
4)Turn "Emergency mode" off
*If you reboot after inserting the Red-Pocket SIM the phone will become wrongly-configured and you'll need to do the work-around again.
Leecewest said:
My understanding is that Galaxy S8s are configured wrong when Red-Pocket (and other Verizon MVNO) SIMs are inserted - they aren't fully set to the Verizon network and if your phone had, for example, and AT&T SIM, the phone stays AT&T branded when a Red-Pocket Verizon SIM is inserted.
The work-around:
1) Insert a Verizon SIM and let it setup everything and reboot when it wants.
2)Turn on "Emergency mode" (Hold down the power button and select "Emergency mode")
3)Insert Red-Rocket SIM
4)Turn "Emergency mode" off
*If you reboot after inserting the Red-Pocket SIM the phone will become wrongly-configured and you'll need to do the work-around again.
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Thanks for the update. Yes - if I can only get hold of a non Red-pocket Sim, this can work. Since I don't have Verizon (or any other) Sim card, I was wondering if there is some other workaround to have the phone request me to restart. I suppose I would still need Verizon Sim since it uses that to configure the network.
Looking at another thread - it appears the 'configuration' that Verizon sim card does has to do with CSC codes. My phone is unbranded, so the codes are XAA (Firmware) and XAA (Network). I believe the latter has to be VZW and a Verizon Sim fixes that. Someone who has successfully used the workaround can confirm what codes are being displayed at their end. I am using 'phone info' app. Then maybe we can work to find another workaround ....
My S8 is Verizon branded. It CSC is currently VZW. Under "Service provider SW ver." its VZW/VZW/VZW.