Using SIM outside US - Sprint Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshoot

I'm going to Mexico on vacation at the end of the month. I rather not be without service while I'm down there so I was wondering what pre paid sims I can look into. My phone was supposedly unlocked by Sprint through chat but not sure I trust that. I am thinking about doing the other unlock method I found but was wondering what sims would be compatible that I could use with the US to make sure it works before getting to Mexico?

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T-Mobile G1 in Europe?

I live in the US and I have a trip planned to London, Paris and Rome in May. I own a T-mobile G1 and was wondering what my best option was for using my G1 in those cities. I know there are a lot of European users here on XDA so I was hoping somebody could give me some advise from experience. I do realize that the 3G won't work over there no matter what I do.
Thanks for any and all help!
NickPDX said:
I live in the US and I have a trip planned to London, Paris and Rome in May. I own a T-mobile G1 and was wondering what my best option was for using my G1 in those cities. I know there are a lot of European users here on XDA so I was hoping somebody could give me some advise from experience. I do realize that the 3G won't work over there no matter what I do.
Thanks for any and all help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3G should work fine. When you get there, buy a local prepaid simcard.
You need to unlock it first, call T-Mo and tell them what you just posted and they will give you the unlock code.
Your best bet for London (once you've got the phone unlocked) is a "pay as you go" sim from three. Just put £10 credit on it and you'll get a 150mb, 90day internet allowance. If you need to top it up again you get that allowance renewed every time.
Unless I am mistaking, the phone is rooted and is running a non stock rom, thus it is unlocked. I will look into the prepaid sim cards. Will I have to get a different one for each of the countries/cities?
@lbcoder: are you sure about the 3G? since this is a t-mobile phone I was under the impression that the bands it uses for 3G are only the N. American Bands and would only work over here.
Not unlocked for other networks, you need to get it unlocked to use other networks.
NickPDX said:
Unless I am mistaking, the phone is rooted and is running a non stock rom, thus it is unlocked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sim unlock isn't the same thing as root.. You need a code from t-mobile for that. They'll give you one if you tell them what you've told us.
NickPDX said:
I will look into the prepaid sim cards. Will I have to get a different one for each of the countries/cities?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's going to be the cheapest way to do it.. You'll get brutally raped for roaming charges otherwise. In the UK the cards are usually free, you just have to buy the calling credit.
TMO will give you your SIM unlock code for free if your account has been paid up for 90 days or longer. They take up to 7 days. I had to get this from TMO via my American friend when I bought my G1 off him. There are places online where you can pay $25 or so and get an unlock code within hours. SIM unlock is not the same thing as root.
I'm also just about to go to Europe! Vodafone turned on global roaming for free (I just pay for calls) and they sells packs of roaming data, I got 25Mb for $50, which is way cheaper than their usual rate of $10 per 1Mb! For me this is easier than stuffing round with pre-paid SIM cards, changing number and whatever, I also don't know if a pre-paid SIM gives mobile data access? Give TMO a call and see what they offer.
I will turn off Sync and use DroidWall to make sure stuff doesn't update in the background and use all my allowance. It's really only to update Facebook to let people know I am still alive
Your G1 will most definitely work and use 3G in London. You can grab a T-Mo prepaid SIM from the multiple vending machines in the airport when you arrive in London, and swap it in and start using it immediately. I did exactly this at both Gatwick and Heathrow. Do like the other posters said and call T-Mobile in the US and get the unlock code before you fly. It's free that way. I did that too, and they are cool about it. It took about 24 hours after my request and it was emailed to me. The one thing that confused me at first was my G1 kept asking for a "SIM unlock code" or something like that after I had unlocked it using the T-Mobile code. Turns out it was a security setting that I could disable, to prevent someone from using the phone if they stole it. Two totally different "SIM unlocks". Now I know.

[Q] Droid Pro on Tmobile or AT&T in the USA

i have been reading and searching for over an hour now here and on several pages and do not seem to find any answer froma real proffessional.
why i cant get signal after i insterted my Tmobile Sim card in my unlocked droid pro verizon ? i even tried and insterted my co worker AT&T sim card, same results, NO NETWORK FOUND.
Verizon told Motorola to block GSM networks inside the US. There is nothing wrong with your phone, but right now AT&T isn't going to work.
Check out the Droid 2 Global forums for more info. I believe folks over there are working on a solution.
Have you had the GSM antennas unlocked? When I bought my Pro I was told that in order to actually use it in Global mode (and use the GSM antenna) you have to either take it to a verizon store or call a number for them to unlock it. The GSM antenna is disabled by default.
jonkranked said:
Have you had the GSM antennas unlocked? When I bought my Pro I was told that in order to actually use it in Global mode (and use the GSM antenna) you have to either take it to a verizon store or call a number for them to unlock it. The GSM antenna is disabled by default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The GSM antenna is not locked by default, but the SIM card slot is. If you wanted to take the phone to Europe and buy a pre-paid SIM to use over there (instead of Verizon's SIM) then yes, you must unlock the phone.
However, entering the SIM unlock code will not help you connect to AT&T or T-Mobile, because Verizon blocked it on the radio level.
GSM antenna unlocked?
i am not trying to be Jerk, but i have been in the cell phone repair business since 2003, and never heard of that term, is that a new term?
jonkranked said:
Have you had the GSM antennas unlocked? When I bought my Pro I was told that in order to actually use it in Global mode (and use the GSM antenna) you have to either take it to a verizon store or call a number for them to unlock it. The GSM antenna is disabled by default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cprauctions said:
GSM antenna unlocked?
i am not trying to be Jerk, but i have been in the cell phone repair business since 2003, and never heard of that term, is that a new term?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's what i was told by a sales rep at the verizon store, so it came from a totally reliable source.
maybe I just got confused as to which was locked (sim card vs antenna)
DroidBandUnlocked - Droid Pro
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hgzndt8zBg
LMAO
jonkranked said:
that's what i was told by a sales rep at the verizon store, so it came from a totally reliable source.
maybe I just got confused as to which was locked (sim card vs antenna)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The sales rep is a retard. Lmao.
Man, if the unlock has truly been discovered, it's going to be real tempting not to switch over to T-Mobile if Sprint lets me out of contract. I use my Droid Pro strictly as a travel phone, but if I can use it at home, too, I'd love to.
Unlocked Droid Pro for USA GSM!
This other guy on androidforums came across an unlocked DroidPro that worked with his T-Mobile Sim Card for a while until he decided to update the phone and ended up blocking his T-Mobile sim card in the end...
I kind of hope there are some other phones like that out there so I can get my hands on one of them and figure out where to look for that piece of code that blocks the phones ability to use T-mobile/AT&T networks.
I use my droid pro overseas, but travel to the us two or three times a month. It sucks to have a global phone that i can use everywhere (roaming) but not in the US. A verizon plan is simply too expensive to afford to use 4 days a month.
I would be willing to pay, donate, contribute to find a way to activate the droid pro on a prepaid at&t plan. Or even an affordable verizon daily prepaid plan. Any ideas?
Sent from my DROID PRO using XDA App
hk9090 said:
I use my droid pro overseas, but travel to the us two or three times a month. It sucks to have a global phone that i can use everywhere (roaming) but not in the US. A verizon plan is simply too expensive to afford to use 4 days a month.
I would be willing to pay, donate, contribute to find a way to activate the droid pro on a prepaid at&t plan. Or even an affordable verizon daily prepaid plan. Any ideas?
Sent from my DROID PRO using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could have it flashed to Page Plus. They operate on the Verizon network.
anyone know if it's successfully been done? Have an XPRT and we might be migrating from Sprint to Tmob. Would love to keep using the XPRT as backup phone or primary if it takes a while to get my hands on Milestone 3.
It won't work on T-Mobile 3G, and I don't know if this works for the XPRT, but the Pro unlock has been released.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1259550
well that's a waste. Too many damn gsm bands. Thanks for the link. Might do it anyway. If I end up selling it, it'll be more valuable if it can be used on AT&T. Think getting GSM phones from Bell Canada is the way to go for Tmob phones. Think the Milestone 3 will be in my future if we do the switch.

Desperate: Is there any way to unlock a blacklisted Samsung S7 from T-Mobile?

Hello all,
Like many others, I unknowingly bought a blacklisted phone on eBay. It's a Samsung S7 with T-Mobile from the US. I live in Costa Rica, and I'm trying to use a SIM from a local service provider. Sending the phone back for an uninteresting list of various reasons is impossible at this point. So, I am attempting to unlock it.
I rooted the phone with SuperSu thinking that would work, now I know better. After hours and hours of research, I found a xda dev that can remove the lock, but with my slow internet speed, he says it's impossible.
I was suggested to use one of the paid services, but I'm concerned that if my slow connection will not work for the xda dev, why would it work for a paid unlock service? My connection is 5/1. Anyone have any luck buying the expensive @$$ service and successfully receiving the code with a slow connection?
Is there really no way around the T-Mobile Unlock App?
Is there truly no DIY process or program that I can do, being that the paid unlock services may not to work?
I really need this phone to work. I just moved to Costa Rica, and I use my phone to work. So, I am pretty damn stuck between a rock and a hard place with spikes. I'm pretty desperate, almost willingly to pay my last money to a dumb unlock service.
But some of the services say that it will not work if the phone is blacklisted.
I just don't know what my options are at this point.
Blacklisted phone
victoriaa22 said:
Hello all,
Like many others, I unknowingly bought a blacklisted phone on eBay. It's a Samsung S7 with T-Mobile from the US. I live in Costa Rica, and I'm trying to use a SIM from a local service provider. Sending the phone back for an uninteresting list of various reasons is impossible at this point. So, I am attempting to unlock it.
I rooted the phone with SuperSu thinking that would work, now I know better. After hours and hours of research, I found a xda dev that can remove the lock, but with my slow internet speed, he says it's impossible.
I was suggested to use one of the paid services, but I'm concerned that if my slow connection will not work for the xda dev, why would it work for a paid unlock service? My connection is 5/1. Anyone have any luck buying the expensive @$$ service and successfully receiving the code with a slow connection?
Is there really no way around the T-Mobile Unlock App?
Is there truly no DIY process or program that I can do, being that the paid unlock services may not to work?
I really need this phone to work. I just moved to Costa Rica, and I use my phone to work. So, I am pretty damn stuck between a rock and a hard place with spikes. I'm pretty desperate, almost willingly to pay my last money to a dumb unlock service.
But some of the services say that it will not work if the phone is blacklisted.
I just don't know what my options are at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might be able to resell the phone with a *disclaimer* that it is blacklisted, I would recommend Swappa over Ebay though, (I got a really decent chunk of change for my Galaxy S Blaze that I sold on there), and then use the proceeds from that to acquire a phone that isn't stolen.
I got mine unlocked in a repair shop at gaffar market,delhi,india for rs 3200 inr and it was blacklisted on tmobile's website, when bought it was unlocked but after few days it automatically got locked to tmobile.
I mean to say if i can get it done in india you guys can also get it done in your countries.
You would have to do a firmware swap - which you could do yourself - you just won't be able to use it on that particular carrier, even via an MVNO on that carrier. My own S7 is ex-VZW (network locked); but I could take it to T-Mobile (and did) via firmware swap. My carrier (Tracfone) uses both VZW and T-Mobile towers ; while VZW was out, T-Mobile, however, works fine. If you sell the phone post-swap, include documentation that a firmware swap was done, so the buyer does not try to take it to T-M by mistake - some folks insist on following the labelling unless expressly told not to. (My S7 still has VZW labelling.)
PGHammer said:
You would have to do a firmware swap - which you could do yourself - you just won't be able to use it on that particular carrier, even via an MVNO on that carrier. My own S7 is ex-VZW (network locked); but I could take it to T-Mobile (and did) via firmware swap. My carrier (Tracfone) uses both VZW and T-Mobile towers ; while VZW was out, T-Mobile, however, works fine. If you sell the phone post-swap, include documentation that a firmware swap was done, so the buyer does not try to take it to T-M by mistake - some folks insist on following the labelling unless expressly told not to. (My S7 still has VZW labelling.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firmware swap? So you're saying you can take a Note 4 on T-Mobile that is blacklisted and you can fix the problem just by flashing a new firmware from AT&T? Am I understanding that correctly or no? Because I have a Note 4 that is on T-Mobile that someone left at my GF's work and never came back for, so they wanted to throw it away, so I took it, I rooted it, deleted all the bloatware and have it working great as a small tablet, but I can't use it as a phone because it is blacklisted. Been trying to find a way to use it for years now with no luck, I will not dish out any money to one of those sites, I don't trust them. If there is a way I can do it myself I would surely try it.
Indeed You Can
Anthonyx82x said:
Firmware swap? So you're saying you can take a Note 4 on T-Mobile that is blacklisted and you can fix the problem just by flashing a new firmware from AT&T? Am I understanding that correctly or no? Because I have a Note 4 that is on T-Mobile that someone left at my GF's work and never came back for, so they wanted to throw it away, so I took it, I rooted it, deleted all the bloatware and have it working great as a small tablet, but I can't use it as a phone because it is blacklisted. Been trying to find a way to use it for years now with no luck, I will not dish out any money to one of those sites, I don't trust them. If there is a way I can do it myself I would surely try it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A blacklisted IMEI only affects the blacklisted carrier in question - it does not affect ALL carriers. (I cannot take my Snapdragon S7 to Verizon or that side of Tracfone due the IMEI being Verizon-blacklisted; however, it does not affect T-Mobile or the T-Mobile side of Tracfone - which is a separate network/carrier - which is why I was able to take the phone there.
. In your case, your Note 4 has a T-Mobile blacklisted IMEI; therefore, you can take it to AT&T Mobility, Verizon, the Verizon half of Tracfone, or Sprint - you simply need the apropos firmware and SIM. If the phone itself has T-Mobile labeling/branding, and you are trying to sell it, you should include documentation indicating what was done, and why (honesty). The biggest issue is sellers that DON'T do that (document what was done) or worse - don't do a firmware/ROM change for a phone with a blacklisted IMEI. So you can actually use it as a phone - you just can't take it to the original carrier.
victoriaa22 said:
Hello all,
Like many others, I unknowingly bought a blacklisted phone on eBay. It's a Samsung S7 with T-Mobile from the US. I live in Costa Rica, and I'm trying to use a SIM from a local service provider. Sending the phone back for an uninteresting list of various reasons is impossible at this point. So, I am attempting to unlock it.
I rooted the phone with SuperSu thinking that would work, now I know better. After hours and hours of research, I found a xda dev that can remove the lock, but with my slow internet speed, he says it's impossible.
I was suggested to use one of the paid services, but I'm concerned that if my slow connection will not work for the xda dev, why would it work for a paid unlock service? My connection is 5/1. Anyone have any luck buying the expensive @$$ service and successfully receiving the code with a slow connection?
Is there really no way around the T-Mobile Unlock App?
Is there truly no DIY process or program that I can do, being that the paid unlock services may not to work?
I really need this phone to work. I just moved to Costa Rica, and I use my phone to work. So, I am pretty damn stuck between a rock and a hard place with spikes. I'm pretty desperate, almost willingly to pay my last money to a dumb unlock service.
But some of the services say that it will not work if the phone is blacklisted.
I just don't know what my options are at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try https://www.gsmzambia.com/.
You need a Windows PC with Teamviewer.
Anthonyx82x said:
Firmware swap? So you're saying you can take a Note 4 on T-Mobile that is blacklisted and you can fix the problem just by flashing a new firmware from AT&T? Am I understanding that correctly or no? Because I have a Note 4 that is on T-Mobile that someone left at my GF's work and never came back for, so they wanted to throw it away, so I took it, I rooted it, deleted all the bloatware and have it working great as a small tablet, but I can't use it as a phone because it is blacklisted. Been trying to find a way to use it for years now with no luck, I will not dish out any money to one of those sites, I don't trust them. If there is a way I can do it myself I would surely try it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I am saying - that and a SIM from a carrier other than the one that blacklisted the IMEI - I took my own phone from VZW to T-Mobile (Tracfone supports both carrier networks). Because it was an internal swap (same MVNO), it cost me nothing.

Ascend xt2 AT&T Gophone to use it outside USA

I got one of these phones, i bought it today at a walmart
removed the att sim card and then I powered it on to check it out. I have not connected it to the internet yet.
My idea is to use the phone outside the US, with a carrier from another country.
I checked ebay and unlock codes are crazy, like 30dollars.
Is there any other place i can get a cheaper option to carrier unlock the phone?
if you have any tips please help me out, thank you.
ZeldaWW said:
I got one of these phones, i bought it today at a walmart
removed the att sim card and then I powered it on to check it out. I have not connected it to the internet yet.
My idea is to use the phone outside the US, with a carrier from another country.
I checked ebay and unlock codes are crazy, like 30dollars.
Is there any other place i can get a cheaper option to carrier unlock the phone?
if you have any tips please help me out, thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the Huawei Elate unlocked from Cricket over chat
I just explained to them that I'm an AT&T customer and I needed to use the Elate as a backup
on my plan. I'm pretty sure AT&T would do the same if you explained your situation.
Note: I had already signed up for the Cricket Unlimited plan when I ask for the unlock

H918 question: possible to do bootloader unlock and root work without SIM card?

Hi,
I'm wondering whether it is possible to do bootloader unlocking and root work without SIM cards in the H918's. We currently have VZW service and VZW phones that we will be dumping and porting over to T-Mobile. I am lining up some H918's that are network locked but I don't think they will come with SIM cards.
I know we will need T-Mobile SIM cards to be able to get T-Mobile service, but I am wondering if it is possible to do the root/unlock/ROM work etc. without the SIM cards in and before we bring our phones in to have our VZW service terminated and the cell numbers ported over. Seems to me like the T-Mobile store is not the place for me and our new phones to be if our phones start pulling in an OTA as soon as they are activated on the T-Mobile network... I suspect they just wouldn't understand why I don't want it updating and why I am so serious about that....
Maybe the idea of bringing rooted phones (or phones I plan to root later) in to the store to let them mess with them is a bad idea. Would I be better off to order SIM kits online and sign up for service/switch online? Is that possible?
Thanks. I just want to stop any OTA's from messing up my plans with our new phones.
VelosterM14
VelosterM14 said:
Hi,
I'm wondering whether it is possible to do bootloader unlocking and root work without SIM cards in the H918's. We currently have VZW service and VZW phones that we will be dumping and porting over to T-Mobile. I am lining up some H918's that are network locked but I don't think they will come with SIM cards.
I know we will need T-Mobile SIM cards to be able to get T-Mobile service, but I am wondering if it is possible to do the root/unlock/ROM work etc. without the SIM cards in and before we bring our phones in to have our VZW service terminated and the cell numbers ported over. Seems to me like the T-Mobile store is not the place for me and our new phones to be if our phones start pulling in an OTA as soon as they are activated on the T-Mobile network... I suspect they just wouldn't understand why I don't want it updating and why I am so serious about that....
Maybe the idea of bringing rooted phones (or phones I plan to root later) in to the store to let them mess with them is a bad idea. Would I be better off to order SIM kits online and sign up for service/switch online? Is that possible?
Thanks. I just want to stop any OTA's from messing up my plans with our new phones.
VelosterM14
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't need to worry about any OTA on the h918. Also don't need a SIM card for the phone. Just follow the noob easy guide and you will be fine.
Sent from my LG-H918 using XDA Labs
Thanks broken1981. (also used Thanks! button but not sure if it took).
Got the phones, all 3 of them were H91810U. Getting all my little duckies in a row... gonna be a long night haha.

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