[Q] Is it possible to use a Sprint s4 on AT&T? - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I'm thinking about purchasing a Sprint Galaxy s4 (what can I say, it's purple). However my provider is AT&T. If the owner gets it unlocked, is it compatible with use on AT&T? I'm thinking I could flash an AT&T ROM on it, but if I can't do that without bricking it, maybe I can still use it stock and rooted. If I use this on AT&T are there any features I might lose, for instance LTE? Thanks for any help on this.

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[Q] Using an AT&T S4 with Verizon

Hey guys, I'm getting my hands on my friend's Galaxy S4. He is on an AT&T plan and got then phone from them through an upgrade. I personally prefer Verizon. I was wondering if I could get some help on making his phone work for me. I have a SIM card and everything, currently using a RAZR MAXX. I've done a little looking around, and from what I gathered, the phone is capable of working with verizon, but I'll have to load a different kernel and ROM onto it. I've looked through http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2295557 that thread and found some nice info, but I'm not yet confident enough in my knowledge to go through with it. I've decided on the http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2305781 CLEANROM 1.6.5, but I don't know what else I'm going to need to have in order to make this phone work for me. I also don't know if I'll need to download the Verizion or the AT&T version of this. Thanks for all the help, I'm really wanting to make this work for me so I can actually get a powerhouse of a phone.
Xray55 said:
Hey guys, I'm getting my hands on my friend's Galaxy S4. He is on an AT&T plan and got then phone from them through an upgrade. I personally prefer Verizon. I was wondering if I could get some help on making his phone work for me. I have a SIM card and everything, currently using a RAZR MAXX. I've done a little looking around, and from what I gathered, the phone is capable of working with verizon, but I'll have to load a different kernel and ROM onto it. I've looked through http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2295557 that thread and found some nice info, but I'm not yet confident enough in my knowledge to go through with it. I've decided on the http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2305781 CLEANROM 1.6.5, but I don't know what else I'm going to need to have in order to make this phone work for me. I also don't know if I'll need to download the Verizion or the AT&T version of this. Thanks for all the help, I'm really wanting to make this work for me so I can actually get a powerhouse of a phone.
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Nope. it won't work.
xuanphucn said:
Nope. it won't work.
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Click to collapse
Is what I read about on the post I linked not true then?
Xray55 said:
Is what I read about on the post I linked not true then?
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Click to collapse
Your link is to a thread regarding other variants of S4 roms. Although you can use other S4 roms on the i337, the phone wont work on verizon carrier.
Kaze105 said:
Your link is to a thread regarding other variants of S4 roms. Although you can use other S4 roms on the i337, the phone wont work on verizon carrier.
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I'm not sure about that. ROM shouldn't matter too much, you just have to have it SIM unlocked and I believe it won't work too well due to the different frequencies between carriers and so you may not get LTE or something. Maybe someone can correct me though.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app
Verizon/Sprint phones use CDMA.
ATT/T-Mobile use GSM
I don't think you can use a CDMA phone on a GSM network and vice versa.
EDIT:
Per the replies below, it looks like it ispossible.
Here is a thread from the Verizon forums.
Also, if this WIKI page is correct, the Verizon S4 has both CDMA and GSM radio's where the ATT S4 only has a GSM radio.
The first thing to identify on the phone is whether or not it is on the stock AT&T ROM and what version that ROM is. If it is I337UCUAMF3 then changing the bootloader/kernal/rom is not even an option to begin with which means there would be no way to change out the modem to support other carrier bands (such as those used by Verizon). On top of that, although I have heard that the modem hardware is the same on all versions of the S4 I have not heard anyone confirm that they have successfully enabled CDMA services on the I337.
rayburne said:
Verizon/Sprint phones use CDMA.
ATT/T-Mobile use GSM
I don't think you can use a CDMA phone on a GSM network and vice versa.
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There are some that work on other networks without the need for modem changes. I read about some using the Verizon on AT&T, and I used the droid Bionic, a Verizon exclusive with a locked boot loader, on AT&T.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
The strange thing is you can use a Verizon S4 on AT&T but you can't do it the other way around. Verizon phones all come unlocked, allowing you to use the phone anywhere around the world.
The AT&T S4 does not contain the CDMA chip allowing you to use it on the Verizon network, plus it has to do something with IMEI. If you give the IMEI to Verizon, they won't be able to locate which device you are trying to activate because it's not in the system. But if you use a Verizon S4 and put in a AT&T SIM card, you don't have to register the IMEI with AT&T or T-Mobile.
emckai said:
The strange thing is you can use a Verizon S4 on AT&T b.
you can't do it the other way around. Verizon phones all come unlocked, allowing you to use the phone anywhere around the world.
The AT&T S4 does not contain the CDMA chip allowing you to use it on the Verizon network, plus it has to do something with IMEI. If you give the IMEI to Verizon, they won't be able to locate which device you are trying to activate because it's not in the system. But if you use a Verizon S4 and put in a AT&T SIM card, you don't have to register the IMEI with AT&T or T-Mobile.
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I can confirm that this is true about the verizon s4. I have a Verizon s4 and have used AT&T and straight talk on it. My brother uses that phone daily on his AT&T account.
I will test my AT&T s4 when I get around to finding my sim card.
sundigen said:
I can confirm that this is true about the verizon s4. I have a Verizon s4 and have used AT&T and straight talk on it. My brother uses that phone daily on his AT&T account.
I will test my AT&T s4 when I get around to finding my sim card.
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I'm pretty sure you won't be able to use an AT&T S4 on Verizon because the AT&T S4 doesn't have the CDMA capabilities.
emckai said:
I'm pretty sure you won't be able to use an AT&T S4 on Verizon because the AT&T S4 doesn't have the CDMA capabilities.
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Yea I noticed that the ATT S4 doesn't have everything that the Verizon S4 has in the service menu. Like I can turn on all the different bands in the service menu, but on my ATT S4 I get restrictions on wcdma.
I'm new to all this. I traded a iPhone for the ATT version because I couldn't figure out how to make the Verizon version work on straight talk..
Not two days after I have the ATT I somehow got it working... Lol. So now I have two with unlocked bootloaders and sum unlocked...
sundigen said:
Yea I noticed that the ATT S4 doesn't have everything that the Verizon S4 has in the service menu. Like I can turn on all the different bands in the service menu, but on my ATT S4 I get restrictions on wcdma.
I'm new to all this. I traded a iPhone for the ATT version because I couldn't figure out how to make the Verizon version work on straight talk..
Not two days after I have the ATT I somehow got it working... Lol. So now I have two with unlocked bootloaders and sum unlocked...
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Click to collapse
Methods used to obtain this?
I am I believe sim unlocked because I no longer see the prompt for password apon boot but the verizon doesn't connect.
Thank you in advance!

[Q] Installing a stock rom on a verizon UNLOCKED s5

Hi everyone!
So during my trip in the US, I decided to buy a brand new Galaxy S5. I was going to use it outside US so I wanted an unlocked version (since they don't sell international versions in us)
So I got a verizon version of the S5.
Model: SM-G900V
The problem
The problem is that i am getting notifications like. Non Verizon sim inserted. Loads of verizon bloatware. and I cant use my mobile hotspot. Similar to this
I absolutely hate this. I paid $800 for this phone and I'm bombarded with verizon's nonsense and restricted for no reason
My question
The question is, can I install a stock rom on my S5? more specifically can I flash the SM-G900f ?? So that I can get rid of this custom verizon software.
vidhu1911 said:
The question is, can I install a stock rom on my S5? more specifically can I flash the SM-G900f ?? So that I can get rid of this custom verizon software.
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Well it's complicated and you have some reading to do if you really want to understand your options. But broadly speaking, the answer is yes. Since you were (or are?) planning to use the phone elsewhere, you'd have been happier had you bought a different S5 variant e.g. a TMobile S5 rather than the Verizon one because you would find it a lot less restrictive, give you more choices and options. And even access to a larger palette of frequency bands should you end up roaming somewhere that uses unusual frequency bands.
Note that there is a dedicated Verizon S5 forum here where you'll find most of what you are looking for. What you are thinking of as a stock ROM would be more accurately called a custom ROM. A stock ROM is.. well what you currently have, with all of the included carrier /Verizon applications that are annoying you. You'll probably want to root your phone and flash a custom ROM to get rid of a lot of superfluous Verizon stuff. That may have warranty implications and you should do some reading about warranty and locked bootloaders (something extra nice that Verizon and ATT do to make it harder to flash your phone).
.

Non-ATT phone works as ATT I337 with custom ROM?

Hi folks,
Sorry for the somewhat cryptic title. My question is simple:
Can I just buy a non-ATT/Verizon S4 without locked bootloader, ROM it up with any ROM I like without having to stick to safestrap-compatible ones, then apply the I337 build.prop APN flash, and have it work on ATT and identify itself to the Google Play store as an I337?
The reason I ask is I'm getting tired of the limitations on my I337 for use with various ROMs, and it might be worth it for me to buy an unlocked variant of the S4 on Swappa, then sell mine off. Sure, it would cost a few bucks, but then I could play with any ROM I want.
I just want to make sure that I'll be able to download the specific Apps I use from ATT etc. that seem to require the I337 model...
Am I missing anything?
Marc
I haven't even researched that. But, Verizon is CDMA. Maybe an unlocked TMobile phone would work. I know you can run their roms on att S4.
Right. I was looking at a T-Mobile device most likely, or an international unlocked version.
I understand the challenges working with Verizon devices... I just returned to ATT from Verizon and had to give up my RAZR MAXX HD due to poor compatibility between the networks.
But, if I understand correctly, I can get a T-Mobile or pretty much any other carrier phone with bootloader unlocked (other than Verizon, which wouldn't be unlocked and is CDMA-specific), and it should work on ATT once the APN info is entered. I'm just looking for explicit confirmation it works, and that the phone can pretend to be an I337 so my software will install properly...
Thanks all!
Marc
not sure on specifics as i haven't tried. i know some here have and will reply--:good:
Frankenscript said:
Hi folks,
Sorry for the somewhat cryptic title. My question is simple:
Can I just buy a non-ATT/Verizon S4 without locked bootloader, ROM it up with any ROM I like without having to stick to safestrap-compatible ones, then apply the I337 build.prop APN flash, and have it work on ATT and identify itself to the Google Play store as an I337?
The reason I ask is I'm getting tired of the limitations on my I337 for use with various ROMs, and it might be worth it for me to buy an unlocked variant of the S4 on Swappa, then sell mine off. Sure, it would cost a few bucks, but then I could play with any ROM I want.
I just want to make sure that I'll be able to download the specific Apps I use from ATT etc. that seem to require the I337 model...
Am I missing anything?
Marc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The rom of 337 might work on other variants; however, if you ever want to flash an rom, the pure samsung rom of I9505 might be a better choice; And also, if you buy a non-att variant s4, you might loose 4G data connection, even 3G, because they are simply not compatible with att network (hardware limitation), so please be careful before you make the buy; The other question, by now, I couldn't find a way to 'cheat' google play to identify a phone to att i337. If you really like those apps from att, you can always download them from other app sources other from google play.
Godd luck!
wzhao14 said:
The rom of 337 might work on other variants; however, if you ever want to flash an rom, the pure samsung rom of I9505 might be a better choice; And also, if you buy a non-att variant s4, you might loose 4G data connection, even 3G, because they are simply not compatible with att network (hardware limitation), so please be careful before you make the buy; The other question, by now, I couldn't find a way to 'cheat' google play to identify a phone to att i337. If you really like those apps from att, you can always download them from other app sources other from google play.
Godd luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Wzhao.
My intent would be to be able to flash non-Samsung ROMS (like AOSP etc.), non-touchwiz ROMs.
And definitely I would have to buy a phone with ATT-style hardware in terms of antennas/frequency. I believe the T-Mobile ones meet this requirement but it's unclear whether I would need to get the phone SIM-unlocked to use it on ATT.
As for identifying a phone as the ATT I337: My experience using Hyperdrive (briefly) was that it identified the phone as a Verizon phone... Google play wouldn't let me install apps that were ATT specific. I believe that flashing the ATT build.prop settings fix this, but doing so messed up Hyperdrive because it interfered with the Hyperdrive Tweaks utility. There are several build.prop settings that identify the phone... the simplest of them SHG-I337 in some particular location isn't enough, but there's a hidden identifier and several others that can be set.
If you are interested in testing it, you can flash the ATT build.prop found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=51112381&postcount=9
which links to here: http://d-h.st/6tN
I believe it sets all the right things, because flashing it over GoldenEye makes the phone recognized by Google Play for ATT apps. I'd be interested to hear experiences of someone using a T-Mobile or other variant S4, and if it works as well on that hardware...
Marc

[Q] Your opinion of GSM Nation?

Hi,
I am on AT&T using a T-Mobile S5 because it's a better device to run RoMs on. Someone suggested GSM nation as a place to purchase a Galaxy S6 unlocked. I am looking for folks who have tried that, and am curious how the experience went for them. It would seem that they sold the 9000M version of the S5.
Was it updated faster then Carrier versions?
Was it limited at all by not have Carrier bloat?
How was your warrantee experience, if you had to use it?
Any other thoughts?
I suppose I can buy an S6 outright from T-Mobile and just put my Sim in it, but I thought I would explore all my options.
Thanks!

Verizon vs T-Mobile S5 for TING?

Hello all,
I will need some UberGeek advice for this one...lol
I use TING as my MVNO provider. They offer CDMA and GSM networks backboning on Sprint and T-Mobile. I had to get a new phone and ordered a Sprint CDMA version G900P but received a Verizon model G900V. It works perfectly fine on the TING network.
I am just wondering if there is any reason not to get this phone and to go with a T-Mobile model instead? I normally would go Sprint/CDMA but wanted to try out GSM this time. Both have excellent coverage in my area. I also know about the ATT/Verizon bootloader being locked. I have already rooted this and it's running Lollipop just fine a sper the instructions found in threads here.
TING told me the phone is no different essentially and there should be no problems. As always their cust, svc. was excellent and informative. This phone apparently has dual radios...CDMA and GSM. I don't have to worry about warranties, KNOW tripping or Verizon's bs. As I said, I am rooted and running fine. I will either debloat this sucker or go with another ROM. Right now THE only bugaboo I see is that there are so few ROMs for the Verizon model. I am not into switching ROMs. If I ditch a debloated stock setup, it would have to be very something very clean and stable based on Lollipop. Seems like CM 12.1 could be nice but right now slightly risky and they don't have the Fingerprint feature working either.
Does anyone feel it would be smarter to return this and get a T-Mobile model? Any food for thought or advice or "Here is why you'll regret the Verizon model 6 months from now" kind of advice?
Thanks in advance!!!!!!!!
Besides the locked bootloader, the G900V is the same phone as the rest of the S5's (of course with different radios for CDMA). If you're cool with just running stock firmware forever then keep the Verizon model. The T-Mobile model would allow you to do whatever you like with it though, as the bootloader is unlocked. Virtually no possibility of losing root.
Sean89us said:
Besides the locked bootloader, the G900V is the same phone as the rest of the S5's (of course with different radios for CDMA). If you're cool with just running stock firmware forever then keep the Verizon model. The T-Mobile model would allow you to do whatever you like with it though, as the bootloader is unlocked. Virtually no possibility of losing root.
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Thanks for the response. Pretty much what I figured. I have it rooted and using Safe Strap and MIGHT toy with CM 12.1 since there are many out there with the Verizon model that seem to like it. Plenty of YouTube videos too.

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