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There has been a some chatter going around a new practice that samsung seems to have adopted for region locking their Note and Galaxy line of phones (and what not) produced after July 2013.
Basically what it means that you can't just buy phone in say Europe and use that in US or vice versa. (it's not a carrier unlock but rather a regional one using MCC, for whatever their reasons might be).
Basically the phone will only accept sims for the regions it was factory whitelisted for.However Samsung Service Centers may be able to unlock that for you on case by case basis. (seems that sooner or later some exploit could take care of it).
Will it also apply to note 8 N5100/or other phone based models) remains to be seen, however, anyone planning to buy the phone version from another country just may need to check on this before putting into it and if case be true, might get lucky to find a unit manufactured prior to this.
Samsung Germany issued an official statement, which shines some light on the new policy. Only devices produced afterthe end of July 2013*are SIM locked to their region and it refers to the*Samsung Galaxy S III, S II, S4, S4 mini, Note and Note 3.
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http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_simlocking_droids_built_after_072013_to_continent-news-6866.php
CafeKampuchia said:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_simlocking_droids_built_after_072013_to_continent-news-6866.php
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Thanks, However it gets a bit more interesting.
www.androidcentral.com/galaxy-note-3-region-lock-more-details-emerge
intelliriffer said:
Thanks, However it gets a bit more interesting.
www.androidcentral.com/galaxy-note-3-region-lock-more-details-emerge
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Still nothing about the Note 8.0:
The regional SIM lock has been applied to the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S4 devices through a software update in selective markets.
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It seems like the regional SIM lock Samsung has put on the Galaxy Note 3 in Europe and the U.S. is an issue that isn’t going away any time soon. After initial outrage from users, Samsung recently issued a statement that the SIM lock only comes into effect if you turn on the device for the first time with a foreign SIM card, and that the handset can be used anywhere in the world after it has been activated with a local SIM card.
However, that doesn’t seem to be the case for many users out there, and a Samsung official has reportedly confirmed to an XDA user that the Note 3 cannot be used with SIM cards from a region that it wasn’t bought in. The company rep, after being asked several times, said that the region lock means that you simply cannot use a European Note 3 with a SIM card from the USA, even if the device has been turned on with a local SIM for the first time.
Basically, the region lock cannot be bypassed and is final, with many users over at the XDA forums complaining of incidents such as a Note 3 bought in Germany not working with a SIM from Thailand. Moreover, what’s worrying is that the aforementioned company rep said that the region lock will be extended to current devices like the S3 and Note II with the Android 4.4 KitKat update, meaning international roaming would become impossible unless you continue to use a SIM from the home country of the device.
Now, usually we’d rejoice at hearing that the rep could have unintentionally confirmed that an Android 4.4 update is coming, but the gravity of the region lock situation is a serious one. The region locking is being done to supposedly curtail grey imports, but really, how many grey importers import devices that have been in use for more than a year or so? It’s clear that despite Samsung’s attempts to clear the air and try to talk down the commotion over its rather stupid region locking stunt, the problem isn’t going away and could cause major backlash in the coming weeks.
But hey, maybe that backlash will cause them to backtrack on their plans to region lock old devices, and perhaps remove the limitation from the Note 3 through a software update as well. Fingers crossed that the Korean manufacturer does what’s in the best interest of consumers, instead of troubling them just to stop a few grey importers from making a quick buck.
It's fully copy paste from Sammobile
Just wanna let it know :good:
If Samsung definitely keeps to that route and it happens xda members can't unlock it, I'll get a nexus as my next phone.
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Here I come Sony, I really regret getting a Galaxy S3, lack of Exynos drivers ruined AOSP and Touchwiz ruins Samsung stock. I personally like the look of Xperia's UI.
I will never buy a Samsung again if future devices have a region lock, I travel over seas a lot and this is a deal breaker for me. By November my phone will be on eBay.
so thats what it was.
i went to pakistan recently with my uk i9300 which i bought sim free.
he sim there wouldnt work so i went to a shop there and the guy rooted it for it to work.
he said something like country lock.
have they removed this in the s4 or the latest 4.1.2 s3 update?
gunner786 said:
so thats what it was.
i went to pakistan recently with my uk i9300 which i bought sim free.
he sim there wouldnt work so i went to a shop there and the guy rooted it for it to work.
he said something like country lock.
have they removed this in the s4 or the latest 4.1.2 s3 update?
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don't know what you're talking about dude... it hasn't been implemented yet
gunner786 said:
so thats what it was.
i went to pakistan recently with my uk i9300 which i bought sim free.
he sim there wouldnt work so i went to a shop there and the guy rooted it for it to work.
he said something like country lock.
have they removed this in the s4 or the latest 4.1.2 s3 update?
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Not implemented for S3 yet. Might have been some other issue.
As for S4, I'm not sure.
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Oomahey said:
Not implemented for S3 yet. Might have been some other issue.
As for S4, I'm not sure.
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I bought i9300 S3 on 16 sept 2013 in switzerland, and its REGION LOCKED similar like note 3
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2450728
it comes with jb 4.1.2 mg4 from the factory...
i bought this phone for my girlfriend in indonesia as a gift, but until this moment, it cannot be use....F*CK SAMSH*T, never ever samsung anymore.
But if I buy one in Germany, I can still use it in Belgium? It is Europe right?
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dajumper said:
But if I buy one in Germany, I can still use it in Belgium? It is Europe right?
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its not about the roaming, but about the sim card, actually yes, if you bought the phone from german, you can use belgian sim card without any problem, i also tried my switzerland s3 with italian sim card, it works very well.....
SGS3 - Bought in march 2013, region locked by update?
Oomahey said:
Not implemented for S3 yet. Might have been some other issue.
As for S4, I'm not sure.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
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I'm not entirely sure whether or not you are right about this
When I checked my own S3 I was somewhat perplexed that a phone I bought in march 2013 has a 38 country long list of NetworkLock-entries in it's customer.xml-file. The extracted information, incl. device information, can be found in the attached PDF.
It appears that the official Samsung ROM is being shipped with region locks. Even to those who bought their phone before (!) Samsung implemented this infuriating "feature".
tqgia2 said:
don't know what you're talking about dude... it hasn't been implemented yet
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oh hasnt it.
weird. cant be coincidence that what happened to me is very similar to this.
r_ween said:
I bought i9300 S3 on 16 sept 2013 in switzerland, and its REGION LOCKED similar like note 3
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2450728
it comes with jb 4.1.2 mg4 from the factory...
i bought this phone for my girlfriend in indonesia as a gift, but until this moment, it cannot be use....F*CK SAMSH*T, never ever samsung anymore.
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UPDATE.....my gf bring that phone to samsung authorized service center in jakarta, Indonesia.......and they reject that phone, they say it can be unlocked only by samsung authorized service center in switzerland.....
im really angry with samsung...really....
At the moment only the Note 3 is confirmed to have this region lock, the S3 is a much older model and may or may not gain this 'feature', as far as the S3 is concerned this is currently speculation.
Even if it turns out true that Samsung will retroactively region lock existing handsets, without a major backlash in mainstream (i.e. not just XDA and tech websites) media Samsung are likely to get away with it. What concerns me is if other handset makers follow suit, and based on who I perceive to have the most to gain from such a move, I'd say mobile networks are behind this.
The only thing I certainly take away from this issue/question is to not buy another Samsung handset when I move on from my S3, as it appears that they are definitely taking the region locking route going forward.
kenyw said:
At the moment only the Note 3 is confirmed to have this region lock, the S3 is a much older model and may or may not gain this 'feature', as far as the S3 is concerned this is currently speculation.
Even if it turns out true that Samsung will retroactively region lock existing handsets, without a major backlash in mainstream (i.e. not just XDA and tech websites) media Samsung are likely to get away with it. What concerns me is if other handset makers follow suit, and based on who I perceive to have the most to gain from such a move, I'd say mobile networks are behind this.
The only thing I certainly take away from this issue/question is to not buy another Samsung handset when I move on from my S3, as it appears that they are definitely taking the region locking route going forward.
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please read this:
http://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-note-3-region-lock-statement-277346/
its happen for note3, note2, s3, s4, s4mini that produced since end of july 2013
including on my s3 i9300 phone that bought on 16 sept 2013 in switzerland
r_ween said:
UPDATE.....my gf bring that phone to samsung authorized service center in jakarta, Indonesia.......and they reject that phone, they say it can be unlocked only by samsung authorized service center in switzerland.....
im really angry with samsung...really....
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Samsung warranty is not transferable between all countries anyway .
Clove have received new stocks of region locked S4/S4 mini so it would not surprise me if it happens to newer S3/Note 2 too.
check this out http://omegadroid.co/chainfire-intro...egionlock-app/
Your link is broken, here is the thread from Chainfire: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2470551
It seems the region lock is only in the software and not very deeply hidden (so it might be possible to remove it without root in the future).
And for the people here using custom roms, this won't be an issue anyways.
TheCraig said:
Here I come Sony, I really regret getting a Galaxy S3, lack of Exynos drivers ruined AOSP and Touchwiz ruins Samsung stock. I personally like the look of Xperia's UI.
I will never buy a Samsung again if future devices have a region lock, I travel over seas a lot and this is a deal breaker for me. By November my phone will be on eBay.
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Same.... Unless Nexus 5
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r_ween said:
please read this:
http://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-note-3-region-lock-statement-277346/
its happen for note3, note2, s3, s4, s4mini that produced since end of july 2013
including on my s3 i9300 phone that bought on 16 sept 2013 in switzerland
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I got mixed up, when I wrote that I was thinking about how Samsung might put the region lock on Galaxy S3 units sold before this whole region lock came about. You're right about newly sold phones carrying the region lock already.
Below is a copy of an email I sent to Samsung through their contact us link. It is my (perhaps naive) hope that this will bring some clarity to Region Lock issue in the Australasian region.
Dear Samsung Australia,
My question is two fold:
(Redacted first part of question- not pertinent to this issue)
Secondly, my next question refers to Region Lock. Does the new region lock measure implemented by Samsung influence the Australasian Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy series in general? As a student (and Samsung fan who is influencing those around me to purchase Samsung products, such as my parents two Galaxy S3 devices and most likely impending Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition) I plan to use the Note 3 for as long as it will last me and would like to take comfort in the knowledge that if I purchase a 64GB variant from sources such as Kogan or a Samsung Experience store, that when I travel I won't have a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 "BRICK" but a phone that is able to use what ever sim card a region I visit may have. As a student I will be required to travel in the upcoming two years and the device I purchase, as a single father on low income, must be able to provide reliable communication from wherever I am in what ever countrry I might be so that I may keep in contact with my daughter in this period of time where I am away from her. Region locking a device that I have paid over 800 dollars for would be very counter productive to the whole notion of GSM.
On the note of Region locking I understand two things about it so far:
1. That it may be unlocked by a local Samsung Service center (for free I hope- but am unsure if it will cost)
2. That the impending update of Android 4.4 Kit Kat will implement Region Locking on Galaxy devices receiving the update.
What I would like to know is:
1. If the Australasion Note 3 (3G or 4G Variants) are Region Locked.?
2. If they are, is unlocking them at a service center free?
3. Will the roll out of Kit Kat Android 4.4 Relock a Region unlokced device ( because assuming unlocking an outright device is not free, I as a customer would then need to pay again to unlock the device again.)?
I desperately need to upgrade my device. The battery life is starting to die on me ( it is over 3 years old) and I desperately want to buy the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 as a Samsung loyalist who appreciates the innovation that Samsung provides. If you could provide me with the above information it will greatly help my decision as to whether I continue to support Samsung both personally as a customer and in an advisory role (which is quite strong willed and at constant countenance to those who have Apple products looking to upgrade- I can be quite persuasive) within my social (at University and College) and familial circles.
I sincerely hope that my questions can be answered as Samsung's Customer Focus and willingness to listen has played such a pivotal role in its great success and meteoric rise over the last few years.
Thank you for your time.
Hopefully this will bare some answer to the questions regarding Region Lock in Australia. I will keep the community posted.
I bought my OG NOTE from Hong Kong.
I think I might get the N3 from there aswell.
Why?
HK is the capital city of the travelling world.
Majority of businessmen need devices that work on many bands, and with ease.
Region Lock would mean a "no sale" for these businessmen. And HK's full of them (both local and Int).
As long as the HK version has the superior SD800 model, I'd say go for that one.
The only thing you need to check for are the GSM bands for 4G.
3G is covered, 4G *may* not be with what Telstra/Optus have in store.
http://ausdroid.net/2013/10/01/52838/
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Is anyone else stuck on the May 1st patch that has the U1 (Unlocked by Sammy)?
Screenshot below
OregonInfidel said:
Screenshot below
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Yes and it's utterly pathetic and ridiculous!
Rooted users have July 1 update FFS!
I just want the damn night mode!
My Exynos Note 9 is on June 1 and has it.
It's intolerable, I'm about to throw it in the trash.
My non rooted s10+ has june sp
Mines U2
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Still May...
Everyone that has u1 model is still on may security patch unless they manually flashed one of the U firmwares.
Agreed it's totally asinine, I thought in the past unlocked phones were the first to get updates and carriers push them out late. Now it appears to be the other way around which makes no sense.
---------- Post added at 10:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:48 PM ----------
adie1234 said:
My non rooted s10+ has june sp
Mines U2
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That would be because you don't have the U1 model which is what op was asking about. Or if you do, then you must have updated via Odin
Swimguy14 said:
Everyone that has u1 model is still on may security patch unless they manually flashed one of the U firmwares.
Agreed it's totally asinine, I thought in the past unlocked phones were the first to get updates and carriers push them out late. Now it appears to be the other way around which makes no sense.
---------- Post added at 10:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:48 PM ----------
That would be because you don't have the U1 model which is what op was asking about. Or if you do, then you must have updated via Odin
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Samsung does update their unlocked phones last after all of the carriers have signed off on updates. I've been reading complaints about this since Samsung started selling unlocked phones in North America but it's completely deliberate if frustrating.
In the past it was Unlocked then carrier. My understanding was that the carrier models took longer because of all of the bloat they pushed the update had to not interfere with that and it not interfere with the update. Now it has become a pay to play type field where the carriers seem to be saying hey who's more valuable, our 50,000 units or the independents and their 1,200 units?
Anyway on an up note, for those who don't have the update... I know how can that be an up note, but for those who don't have it, there were several articles about glitches with the update. After the phones last reboot it was asking users to input a password, even if none had been set. If one was set it didn't work anymore and I believe the only resolution was a factory reset. No big deal if that was something you planed on doing anyway or if factory resetting worked, which I'm not 100% it did. They quickly halted the roll out and were supposed to be recoding it.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...assword.html&usg=AOvVaw18ttx3BV1WntrRqHvO_NMZ
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...reset-to-fix&usg=AOvVaw1YVbq3TlZLuJP_2nvam-EH
So maybe it's a lucky thing we haven't gotten it yet.
Yep still stuck in May here too. I agree it's frustrating that we're usually months behind on getting new features and always last getting security updates. But I am happy that we didn't get that last update that made people factory reset to get into their phones.
Same here
I actually called Samsung yesterday. Sure enough, they blame it on the carrier.....sad.
VidJunky said:
In the past it was Unlocked then carrier. My understanding was that the carrier models took longer because of all of the bloat they pushed the update had to not interfere with that and it not interfere with the update. Now it has become a pay to play type field where the carriers seem to be saying hey who's more valuable, our 50,000 units or the independents and their 1,200 units?
Anyway on an up note, for those who don't have the update... I know how can that be an up note, but for those who don't have it, there were several articles about glitches with the update. After the phones last reboot it was asking users to input a password, even if none had been set. If one was set it didn't work anymore and I believe the only resolution was a factory reset. No big deal if that was something you planed on doing anyway or if factory resetting worked, which I'm not 100% it did. They quickly halted the roll out and were supposed to be recoding it.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...assword.html&usg=AOvVaw18ttx3BV1WntrRqHvO_NMZ
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...reset-to-fix&usg=AOvVaw1YVbq3TlZLuJP_2nvam-EH
So maybe it's a lucky thing we haven't gotten it yet.
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You might be thinking of international unlocked models that were purchased for use in the US when you say that in the past Samsung provided updates for unlocked models before carrier updates.
Samsung didn't officially start selling unlocked phones in the United States until a couple years ago (I think with the S8) and it has always been Samsung's policy to update the US unlocked phones after all of the carriers have approved the update.
The unlocked international S10 phones are on the July security patch.
Here in the UK the unlocked models get updated first, then around a week or two later the carriers get it. That's been my experience with my Vodafone version S10+, atm the BTU CSC has the July update but still waiting on mine, doesn't bother me too much tho.
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jadaress1 said:
Here in the UK the unlocked models get updated first, then around a week or two later the carriers get it. That's been my experience with my Vodafone version S10+, atm the BTU CSC has the July update but still waiting on mine, doesn't bother me too much tho.
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In the US Samsung and Apple have a virtual duopoly thanks to the carriers which might be why those carriers are given priority here--unlocked phones are a tiny segment of the market in this country. Phones from Xiaomi, Huawei and Honor aren't available here except as unlocked imports through the mail with no warranty or support.
jhs39 said:
In the US Samsung and Apple have a virtual duopoly thanks to the carriers which might be why those carriers are given priority here--unlocked phones are a tiny segment of the market in this country. Phones from Xiaomi, Huawei and Honor aren't available here except as unlocked imports through the mail with no warranty or support.
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Yeh thats a bummer. And some in the US still being on the May update when it's August in a few days isn't good.
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Sprint got the june update today
I'm definitely tempted to update to a U firmware instead of using the default unlocked firmware. It is super disappointing to get updates last. It used to be the reason to get unlocked phones...
I am on AT&T and I got the June update either the last week of June or the first week of July I want to say.
My wife's unlocked s8 + already got the July update! My unlocked s10 plus is still on may.
How is this a carrier issue? Samsung seriously needs to address this void.
It's seriously pisses me off that I spent almost $900 on a phone and it hasn't been updated now in over two months. I just checked the settings and it says the phone was last updated on May 29th. That's over two months. if there was a clear guide to follow I would have updated to the AT&t firmware by now but it's been many years since I did anything with Odin and I don't want to risk screwing up my phone....ugh
We need to contact Samsung
Sorry in advance if this question has already been asked, but I couldn't find anything on my own.
A few months ago I bought a refurbished S10+ (SM-P975U) on Newegg, which I later learned was originally from AT&T. I was a little spooked that it didn't have any updates to install when I got it, but I didn't get concerned until recently when I learned that AT&T branded phones only receive updates when they're on the AT&T network. The last update I have is from August 2021. As of writing this, I believe there is a November update.
I have some experience using TWRP to flash custom ROMS, so my first thought was just to flash the stock OS without the AT&T branding. Thing is, I'm hesitant to mess with my S10+ because it's my main phone, let alone the fact that I don't even know if this is possible.
Is there anything else I can do? Connecting to AT&T isn't really an option since I live in Canada, and I'd really rather not trip Knox or risk bricking my main phone.
Updates tend to break AT&T phones especially older ones. My AT&T Note 10+ hasn't been updated in 2 years. It's current OS load is over 1.5 yo, still fast and stable.
With Pie and above security isn't an issue unless you do something stupid.
If your firmware is fulfilling its mission, let it be.