[Q] Going from one carrier to another - X Style (Pure) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

The company I work for is changing carriers - VZW to AT&T.
That should be a simple matter - just change the nano-sim since our phone is unlocked and all network capable.
My boss is trying to tell me that AT&T has had problems with this phone. Can anyone here confirm problems?

No problems here.

I run this on AT&T with zero issues. AT&T fully recognizes the IMEI of the device and it's capabilities, including LTE and Visual Voicemail.

This seems already answered, but for the future: willmyphonework.net answers these sort of questions

Thanks to all!
I appreciate the replies! There's a story behind this but that's to be discussed in private.

Related

AT&T on the Wing?

Noob here. I just got an unlocked Wing. I am an AT&T subscriber. Phone works great, but is there a way to use the AT&T media net features on the T-Mobile device? Can I make the AT&T network see the device as an AT&T device? I found an old thread with the same kind of question, but no real answers.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I believe you have to go to at&t website and configure the options manually unless somebody creates an at&t rom, otherwise everything must be done manually
I'm completely making this up right now ... BUT:
Did you just pop your ATT sim card into the Tmobile Wing? And that's it?
I think for any other features to work, you would need to call ATT up and give them the IMEI and other information from your phone which would make it work, since that's how they detect what type of phone you have server-side and return the information they think is pertinent to your phone...
If youre phone isn't "regsitering" ... or its trying to send your phone the info that should have gone to your old phone that's on the account ... or it may not be sending anything at all.
I suggest, call ATT and explain the situation. I seriously doubt they're going to say anything... since you're still paying THEM every month.
Once they have the necessary info from ur phone, it should take 15 min to provision or something and boom ... everything should work.
Have someone made a cab with those ATT features you are trying to use? Maybe over in the kaiser forum who are mainly all ATT users bc of the Tilt

[Q] A few questions about the MyTouch and GSM in general.

Okay, first off, I will preface this thread and questions by stating that I come from cdma phone world. This glacier is my first GSM android and I find them absolutely facinating. Secondly, I am advanced in the tech sector, so I am asking these questions from a professional standpoint and any help or input is welcomed.
So on with the questions.
1.) For GSM phones, is there a utility application like CDMAworkshop and QPST that I can use to see the settings (radio and network settings is mostly what I am after).
Currently, I am aware of an app called SIM TOOLKIT but it only asks for a 8 digit unlock code for the SIM itself, not for the phone. I would like to change the settings of the quality of the calls, and just play around with stuff I am familiar with, or become familiar with.
2.) What is a IMSI, IMEI, and what does the GSM phone send to the carrier (provider network)? I know with CDMA phones, we just can read the memory and change serial numbers. But I have a tracfone sim card and a mytouch tmob phone. I want the mytouch to be able to use the phone portion but they keep disconnecting me, so I have to match my info to the other phone. I got it to work successfully time and time again, but I keep getting disconnected, and it looks like its by a human cause its not at all in sync with a timer or a pattern, at least I haven't noticed it. I know they can dc phones at will and I was just wondering what information they get when making that decision.
3.) Has anyone done a tracfone sim on a glacier (t-mobile mytouch 4g) before? I have the sim unlocked, s-off, root, and custom recovery. I have also changed the IMEI number. I know the process of opening it up in a binary program, using the command 'dd' to modify /dev/block/mmcblk0p7 cause thats where its located. Also there is a T-MOB010 carrier id in that file, should I be changing this to tracfone's CID (carrier ID) and if so, does anyone know that?
I know this is a bit advanced, hopefully someone out there will help me out. There is no funny business going on here, I am just trying to use my tracfone sim in my droid, both are my phones, one i bought from someone for cheap.
I get it to work but random times it will get Disconnected seems like a person. Talk and Text only is needed, not mobile network or 3g or 4g.
ALSO, concerning /dev/block/mmcblk0p7 that is where the IMEI is located... does anyone know any other locations of IMSI or IMEI numbers? I find this fascinating and would like to know what mmcblk0p7 stands for, and what part of the radio and firmware this makes up as well of other locations similiar to this.
birdisthewordfella said:
Okay, first off, I will preface this thread and questions by stating that I come from cdma phone world. This glacier is my first GSM android and I find them absolutely facinating. Secondly, I am advanced in the tech sector, so I am asking these questions from a professional standpoint and any help or input is welcomed.
So on with the questions.
1.) For GSM phones, is there a utility application like CDMAworkshop and QPST that I can use to see the settings (radio and network settings is mostly what I am after).
In the GSM world we just flash various radios. Those can be found the development forum.
Currently, I am aware of an app called SIM TOOLKIT but it only asks for a 8 digit unlock code for the SIM itself, not for the phone. I would like to change the settings of the quality of the calls, and just play around with stuff I am familiar with, or become familiar with.
2.) What is a IMSI, IMEI, and what does the GSM phone send to the carrier (provider network)? I know with CDMA phones, we just can read the memory and change serial numbers. But I have a tracfone sim card and a mytouch tmob phone. I want the mytouch to be able to use the phone portion but they keep disconnecting me, so I have to match my info to the other phone. I got it to work successfully time and time again, but I keep getting disconnected, and it looks like its by a human cause its not at all in sync with a timer or a pattern, at least I haven't noticed it. I know they can dc phones at will and I was just wondering what information they get when making that decision.
The IMEI is the serial number of the phone. Used for warranty purposes, and verification. [IIRC] The IMSI is the serial number of SIM card. IT is the serial number that T-Mobile would approve to allow your phone to connect to their network. I believe that Tracfone is a CDMA carrier. If that is the case the two different radio technologies are preventing you from using a GSM phone, on a CDMA network. Sort of like trying to get FM to play on a AM only radio.
3.) Has anyone done a tracfone sim on a glacier (t-mobile mytouch 4g) before? I have the sim unlocked, s-off, root, and custom recovery. I have also changed the IMEI number. I know the process of opening it up in a binary program, using the command 'dd' to modify /dev/block/mmcblk0p7 cause thats where its located. Also there is a T-MOB010 carrier id in that file, should I be changing this to tracfone's CID (carrier ID) and if so, does anyone know that?
If you are messing with the IMEI of the phone you are messing with stuff that can get you in a lot of trouble. And is punishable by law. You are not allowed to copy IMEI according to FCC standards.
I know this is a bit advanced, hopefully someone out there will help me out. There is no funny business going on here, I am just trying to use my tracfone sim in my droid, both are my phones, one i bought from someone for cheap.
I get it to work but random times it will get Disconnected seems like a person. Talk and Text only is needed, not mobile network or 3g or 4g.
ALSO, concerning /dev/block/mmcblk0p7 that is where the IMEI is located... does anyone know any other locations of IMSI or IMEI numbers? I find this fascinating and would like to know what mmcblk0p7 stands for, and what part of the radio and firmware this makes up as well of other locations similiar to this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've answered to the best of my ability.
Your questions might be better addressed to the Tracfone subforum on HowardForums.
Tracfone locks the SIM to the phone. If you wanted to use your own phone, why in the world did you go with Tracfone?
If you want to get pay-by-the-minute service on your MT4G, go with T-Mobile prepaid or AT&T GoPhone. There are also other MVNOs of both T-Mo and AT&T that do allow you to bring your own device.
If you plan on using data, your best speeds will be found on T-Mobile or its MVNO Simple Mobile due to hardware radio compatibility.
neidlinger said:
I believe that Tracfone is a CDMA carrier. If that is the case the two different radio technologies are preventing you from using a GSM phone, on a CDMA network. Sort of like trying to get FM to play on a AM only radio.
I've answered to the best of my ability.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, thank you very much. As far as tracfone goes, its both a CDMA and GSM carrier, I do believe if you get a leased number from them you will get either verizon (which will be a cdma phone) or you will get AT&T (which I currently have) one and that will even display AT&T when porting it over.
I don't have a lot of money and the job market is dry so until I save enough up to move then I just research the tech that I can get my hands on, this is a good way to learn, which brings me to my next question to your reply...
HAS ANYONE EVER GOT IN TROUBLE FOR THIS??? I'm not selling or distributing or even trying to access anything i'm not supposed to to benefit or gain by taking away so I'm just curious if there have been any cases where they show up from someone just tinkering... by 'they' i mean the fuzz.
And for the AT&T go phone, their sims are better? could I just pull that out and put it in my glacier?
Thanks guys.
birdisthewordfella said:
And for the AT&T go phone, their sims are better? could I just pull that out and put it in my glacier?
Thanks guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you go with AT&T GoPhone, the key is to just buy a SIM - not a GoPhone itself. The phones that come with airtime bonuses are locked to the SIM for some number of months. If you buy just a SIM you can use it in any phone. Voice calls are 10¢/min. If you buy $100 in airtime you get a 1-year expiry, but all other denominations are shorter and would lead to a higher annual spend if you stick with them.
If you go with T-Mobile prepaid, get a SIM activation kit (both a SIM and an activation code included). If you buy a full $100 in airtime right off the bat, you get a 10¢/minute rate, 1-year expiry, *and* every top-up you make from that point onwards will have a 1-year expiry (even a $10 top-up). Or you can top up as little as $10 and get a 90-day expiry but a much higher per-minute rate.
It all really depends on your usage pattern - how many minutes and texts would you use? Do you have any interest in getting data?
If you end up switching and you have a balance left to burn in your TracFone account, you can always do so using SMS donation (look up Mobile Giving Foundation for a list of charities).
Yeh, i found what I am going to do, the go phone is .10c a min, or $2 a day for unlimited. That's not bad at all. They even have unlimited for $50 /mo. So I'm definitely doing that. Thanks for the suggestion. Btw, that unlimited is voice text and DATA!
birdisthewordfella said:
Yeh, i found what I am going to do, the go phone is .10c a min, or $2 a day for unlimited. That's not bad at all. They even have unlimited for $50 /mo. So I'm definitely doing that. Thanks for the suggestion. Btw, that unlimited is voice text and DATA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
t-Mobile?
It's a 2Gb cap then they throttle your speed back to "EDGE" speeds... don't get to happy.
they don't sell gophone cards online, so I'm taking my phone to the at&t store, wish me luck
birdisthewordfella said:
they don't sell gophone cards online, so I'm taking my phone to the at&t store, wish me luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you'll only get EDGE speeds all the time then.
AT&T Prepaid Go Phone Sim Cards are available online.
Use the ebay link. You Can also activate it online.
Check out this one
This is much better, 2 bucks.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ONWGMC

[Q] region locked? sim locked?

Hey guys!
first i would like to say thank you.
i'm following this forums for a long time. I may not have anything to contribute, but i do read and learn here a lot. keep it up, you rock!
Secondly, i would like to ask for a little help, i tried to look for an answer here but i get a little confused - can't understand which problem i have:
i'm from Israel, and 2 weeks ago, i was at the US. I bought a brand new S5 from Best-Buy, and i specifically asked for an unlocked one - for use OUTSIDE the US.
and it has a verizon sim card inside (new i guess), and verizon logo on the back and as a splash screen.
when i got back to Israel, i inserted a local sim card and unfortunately - it doesn't work.
* i do get signal of my local carrier, but no cellular data can be used (wifi works fine)
* i get an error at the notifications center - that the sim card is unsupported
* i do not get the "enter unlock code" message
* at the settings-> more networks-> mobile networks ->global data roaming access menu, i get something about roaming outside the US (which might give a hint about the unlock state of the phone i think)
would be very glad to have your help, guys!
thanks a lot!
Tomer.
**** edit: i got the cellular data working (updated APN), but still have the: "Phone Activation: The SIM card is from an unknown source" message...)
ToMeRhh said:
i'm following this forums for a long time. I may not have anything to contribute, but i do read and learn here a lot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the forum.
Samsung region locks phones to discourage buying a phone for use in a different part of the world. Your phone is also intended for use with the US carrier Verizon, hence the setup message about not having activated a Verizon account.
Less soluble is your apparent intent to use this phone in Israel. You've apparently bought a 900V model which is not well suited to the frequency bands there. Samsung sells the 900F model in Israel. You would have done well with something like a US 900T, if not a 900F but the 900V model that you bought is intended for Verizon's CDMA network, not the GSM system in the middle east.
As a result you probably will have no coverage whatsoever in the 4G or LTE bands. Also, the Verizon model is one of the few that has a locked bootloader which will prevent you from using custom kernels or a conventional custom recovery.
A simple search of the forum will tell you how to resolve the Verizon error message and your other questions. Or look in my post history as I have answered these questions at length in previous threads.
It's a good habit to search the forum for an answer before posting. There is a wealth of information in existing threads and you could have easily found immediate answers to all of your questions. And remove the need for us to answer the same questions over and over. These are questions that have been asked and answered dozens of times.
.

[Q] unlocking s4 SM-S975L - help please

hi,
couldn't find a solution anywhere, so i'm trying here, apologies if i misplaced my post.
i bought a s4 SM-S975L from wallmart (straightalk) in the US, but got relocated by my employer to israel.
now im stationed in israel/malta (rotating).
the s4 SM-S975L is locked apparently for any sim. tried to contact the company - they blew me off.
now im stuck with a phone which i cant use.
does anyone know how to "sim unlock" this one?
please?
thank you
You might want to remove your email unless you want to get harvested by a spambot.
Straight Talk Unlocking Policy
It's no surprise that Straight Talk blew you off. Your situation doesn't meet their terms and conditions in that you haven't had the phone active for one year. As to unlocking your phone, you can use either of the two methods that have already been discussed on these forums. Either going through the service menu to unlock, or using RegionLock Away and praying it works. Otherwise, you're out of luck and should send the phone to someone you know in the US so they can return it to WalMart.
thanks, but
thanks, but the mentioned dont fit.
they are not suitable for the model i have.
any other ideas? anyone?
If the methods mentioned didn't work, you'll have to purchase an unlock code from a third party. You could always put the phone on eBay and sell it, if you're not able to return it and don't want to spend any further money.
Be aware that even if you do get the phone unlocked LTE will not work in Israel as the phone doesn't have the correct bands. 3G and HSPA+ should still function.
thanks, can
thank you.
can you perhpas guide me to where i can get such a code?
3G and HSPA+ should still function - thats ok
http://www.sammobile.com/unlock/
Sam mobile doesn't support this model in the unlocking site, :/
Search the Internet as there are other places besides them. If no one can unlock it, then you have to use Straight Talk for a year and get the unlock code that way.

Unlocking Sprint S7 for non-Sprint customer - 3rd party only option?

Hi guys. Long time reader, been fortunate, but finally have to post a question.
Thanks up front, this forum is very awesome.
We are Verizon customers. I recently bought an SM-930P from a local guy. He's had his phone stolen, he got another, then it was recovered so he sold the replacement to me.
He called and made sure all was good and deactivated it before the sale.
Well from what I can tell, Sprint didn't push the unlock to the phone before he took it offline. From what I've gathered, the 930P is unusual in that it can't be manually unlocked via a code. Correct?
I called Sprint - (aside - boy it is very hard to get to a human being to talk to you if you aren't a customer) - the rep said, oh yes, the EMEI is OK, phone was paid off, we'll unlock it for you.
Yet it does not work.
Symptoms: My Verizon SIM won't work (just says invalid SIM), and when I tried a friend's SIM from their Spring S7 it also didn't work, said it was invalid.
Today I called Sprint back again, and this time the rep - this time it was somebody from the S7 tech group - said that the phone was still associated w/ the other guy's account. Since I didn't have authorization on the account she wouldn't do anything else. So now I have heard 2 different stories from Sprint.
Well, that guy is in the Army and can't be reached now to call himself.
So, I need to have it unlocked, but I'm stuck. I don't care about Sprint b/c I want to use it on Verizon.
Am I correct that the only option is to do a USB direct-connect unlock, like some people are offering as services (through eBay etc)? My understanding is that they manually update the phone so it thinks it's getting the unlock from the carrier?
And although I don't intend to use Sprint - what happens if, later, I or somebody else wants to put it back on Sprint if it has been unlocked this way? Will there be a whitelist issue with their records?
Thanks
RatLabGuy said:
Hi guys. Long time reader, been fortunate, but finally have to post a question.
Thanks up front, this forum is very awesome.
We are Verizon customers. I recently bought an SM-930P from a local guy. He's had his phone stolen, he got another, then it was recovered so he sold the replacement to me.
He called and made sure all was good and deactivated it before the sale.
Well from what I can tell, Sprint didn't push the unlock to the phone before he took it offline. From what I've gathered, the 930P is unusual in that it can't be manually unlocked via a code. Correct?
I called Sprint - (aside - boy it is very hard to get to a human being to talk to you if you aren't a customer) - the rep said, oh yes, the EMEI is OK, phone was paid off, we'll unlock it for you.
Yet it does not work.
Symptoms: My Verizon SIM won't work (just says invalid SIM), and when I tried a friend's SIM from their Spring S7 it also didn't work, said it was invalid.
Today I called Sprint back again, and this time the rep - this time it was somebody from the S7 tech group - said that the phone was still associated w/ the other guy's account. Since I didn't have authorization on the account she wouldn't do anything else. So now I have heard 2 different stories from Sprint.
Well, that guy is in the Army and can't be reached now to call himself.
So, I need to have it unlocked, but I'm stuck. I don't care about Sprint b/c I want to use it on Verizon.
Am I correct that the only option is to do a USB direct-connect unlock, like some people are offering as services (through eBay etc)? My understanding is that they manually update the phone so it thinks it's getting the unlock from the carrier?
And although I don't intend to use Sprint - what happens if, later, I or somebody else wants to put it back on Sprint if it has been unlocked this way? Will there be a whitelist issue with their records?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used the Android Doctor, a quick Google search will find it. Super easy, remote unlock...they will stay in contact with you and make sure your phone works before they charge you. Reasonable price. I've done my s7 and s7 edge. Both work flawlessly. I'm on Straight Talk/AT&T.
Just as an update - yes, after more reading what I learned was that the USB-key approach is the only solution to this.
I went through GSM-Zambia.com - pretty much the same as Android Doctor but slightly cheaper.
That did the trick.
Also FYI - once it was unlocked, I flashed the based G930u version firmware - the one intended for unlocked, non-carrier specific phones - instead of the G930p as intended for Sprint. No problems w/ it whatsoever, seems to have all the radio bands active AND no bloatware.
Only hitch was that I still had to call Verizon and work w/ a tech to activate it on their network b/c if you give the IMEI online to do it manually yourself it just complains that they don't recognize it as compatible.

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