I have a very silly question. What is the SM-G950U? is U stand for unlock or unbranded? Thank you!
Not 100% certain, but I think it stands for "US" as in United States. All carriers here have the same U designation followed by an additional code that denotes what carrier. I think they all may be the same physical hardware (radios, etc.).
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Hi guys, i have an S5 bought unlocked in belgium, europe. I had 4G in europe but in the United States it only receives H+. I checked the supported bandwidths with tmobile usa, two of the bands tmobile uses are in fact also supported by my phone (1800 & 1900) yet still it doesnt work. APN setting are already checked and confirmed correct. Sim card is brand new.
Since it still doesn't work, is there a way to flash a USA rom or upgrade something technical so i can get 4G? I would hate to have to buy a new phone again, i just bought this 4weeks ago thinking it would work globally
Thanks again for recommending the best possible option for me at this point...
Most of your questions here were posed and answered in your other thread.
Your 900F model phone is intended for use in a different country. TMobile uses a 900T model. The main difference between the two is that they support a different set of frequency bands. So just like roaming you could use your 900F phone on TMB, but there will be gaps in coverage. You will be subject to more congestion and dropped calls. And in smaller centers where a limited number of frequencies are in use, you may have no coverage at all.
If you never get LTE in a major center on your unlocked 900F, the first thing to check is that you have a LTE capable SIM and that your carrier i.e. TMB has provisioned your account for LTE. And try installing the latest version of firmware for your phone.
No, you cannot simply flash a 900T firmware onto a 900F and have it transform into the other model. By design, Samsung doesn't allow this (to sell more phones and deter carrier churn). There is a hack to add the AWS band to some models. And several threads endeavoring to expand upon that. However they are nascent and would be best described as experimental, dangerous (a good chance of damaging your phone) and with uncertain results as of this date.
Unless you want to put your phone at risk to be a guinea pig, your options are to live with the imperfect coverage or buy a 900T model.
If you want to take a risk, then have a look at this thread. And here. Basically you could use QPST or mzTools 1.21.a to format an edit NV_RF_BC_CONFIG_l to enable additional LTE bands. Enable the parameters with QXDM, then do the actual write with QPST. And /or try writing a raw image of an LTE enabled variant e.g. 900T baseband to your 900F modem partition with the dd utility. This is experimental. It may do what you want or it may brick your phone.
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ignore - double post
4G 900F in USA
Oké so turns out i am getting 4G just not LTE because of the state i am in. Thanks for trying but what i initially said was correct all S5s are global capable of 4G, just state dependant on the LTE band...
fffft said:
There is a hack to add the AWS band to some models. And several threads endeavoring to expand upon that. However they are nascent and would be best described as experimental, dangerous (a good chance of damaging your phone) and with uncertain results as of this date..
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That's not quite true. The chance of damaging the phone is extremely small if you follow the instructions.
The thread to unlock all GSM and LTE bands is here.
..
fffft said:
It is true when I'm not quoted out of context. And especially funny that you link to that particular thread to .. prove me wrong?
You didn't realize that the thread you linked to was also authored by me. Funny stuff.
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How exactly is that out of context? What important piece of information did I leave out to distort your words? Call bs on that. But yeah I didn't notice that it was your thread I linked to , good job on that thread. :good:
My brother is trying to sell his SM-G900F.
I have no experience with the S5, so I don't know anything about it. I only know everything about the Nexus 5 (better phone imho).
In anycase, I wanted to know whether the SM- G900F is an international phone and if it is factory unlocked.
If so, can it be used with every US carrier LTE bands? Can it be used in Canada with Rogers/Bell LTE Bands?
Thanks for your help and time!
iammrhappy123 said:
My brother is trying to sell his SM-G900F.
I have no experience with the S5, so I don't know anything about it. I only know everything about the Nexus 5 (better phone imho).
In anycase, I wanted to know whether the SM- G900F is an international phone and if it is factory unlocked.
If so, can it be used with every US carrier LTE bands? Can it be used in Canada with Rogers/Bell LTE Bands?
Thanks for your help and time!
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A google Search can tell you that
-PiLoT- said:
A google Search can tell you that
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Hey I understand that I can use google, and I have. I just want the experts on here to clarify/confirm
As of right now, I found that the SM-G900F is an international/unlocked version and can be used on any carrier. But I might be wrong or reading incorrect information. Can you confirm this?
Thanks
iammrhappy123 said:
Hey I understand that I can use google, and I have. I just want the experts on here to clarify/confirm
As of right now, I found that the SM-G900F is an international/unlocked version and can be used on any carrier. But I might be wrong or reading incorrect information. Can you confirm this?
Thanks
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you clearly dont, search for galaxy s5 full phone specifications, click the link at the top which is for gsmarena then read what it says in the general section
Your question on whether it will work on LTE bands in Canada can be answered by GSMArena. As far as Unlock is concerned, I don't think all G900F's are factory unlocked. So if they are indeed locked, you will have to buy an unlock code. The S5's are also region locked (which means they are to be used for about 5-10 mins for making calls in the country of origin). I would be careful about region and sim-locking if I was in your place.
I am a Verizon customer that wants a current-gen bootloader-unlocked phone. Enter the US996. It retails for $800, but there are some eBay auctions that are selling them for much less (used in excellent/mint condition). However, the auctions say that they can ONLY be used on US Cellular service. I asked one seller what the deal was, and this is the response I got:
Thank you for your question. We are not selling the phone as compatible with other carriers or carrier-unlocked. We can't guarantee that the phone will work with an another carrier. We are only saying the phone will work with the carrier US Cellular. We can only guarantee that it works with US Cellular.
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It sounds like they're just playing it safe, since they are a US Cellular authorized reseller, and they don't want to take on the responsibility (or policy ramifications) of selling a device that's advertised to work on other carriers. You know... maybe they're not allowed to sell phones that are advertised to work on anything other than USC.
I asked this question in another thread, and at least 1 user thought they had heard that there are US996s out there that are locked to a carrier. This doesn't make sense to me, because the model numbers should reflect conclusively what the capabilities are, and LG would have no reason to muddy those waters. I can, however, conceive that US Cellular could buy a bulk of US996 phones, and flash a sim lock on them somehow. Perhaps because LG didn't have a SKU for USC set aside. Or perhaps there's a process that, once a USC SIM is used on the phone, it's locked to USC until some subsequent unlock procedure is carried out. (Similar to unlocking a carrier-locked phone for use on another carrier) I don't know, this is all speculation.
So... what is the consensus? Who here is using a US996 on Verizon? Any chance you got it advertised as a US Cellular-only device and it ended up working? Was it an easy process? (ask me about my failed attempt to activate a USC Note 4 - beyond the scope of this thread, but it gives me some contextual knowledge on this topic) I know there are other threads about using the US996 on Verizon, but I'm asking specifically about the possibility that USC has somehow locked them to their service, and in spite of the model number matching the "unlocked version" I wouldn't be able to use it on Verizon.
Thanks for your time at attention.
DrPhant0m said:
I am a Verizon customer that wants a current-gen bootloader-unlocked phone. Enter the US996. It retails for $800, but there are some eBay auctions that are selling them for much less (used in excellent/mint condition). However, the auctions say that they can ONLY be used on US Cellular service. I asked one seller what the deal was, and this is the response I got:
It sounds like they're just playing it safe, since they are a US Cellular authorized reseller, and they don't want to take on the responsibility (or policy ramifications) of selling a device that's advertised to work on other carriers. You know... maybe they're not allowed to sell phones that are advertised to work on anything other than USC.
I asked this question in another thread, and at least 1 user thought they had heard that there are US996s out there that are locked to a carrier. This doesn't make sense to me, because the model numbers should reflect conclusively what the capabilities are, and LG would have no reason to muddy those waters. I can, however, conceive that US Cellular could buy a bulk of US996 phones, and flash a sim lock on them somehow. Perhaps because LG didn't have a SKU for USC set aside. Or perhaps there's a process that, once a USC SIM is used on the phone, it's locked to USC until some subsequent unlock procedure is carried out. (Similar to unlocking a carrier-locked phone for use on another carrier) I don't know, this is all speculation.
So... what is the consensus? Who here is using a US996 on Verizon? Any chance you got it advertised as a US Cellular-only device and it ended up working? Was it an easy process? (ask me about my failed attempt to activate a USC Note 4 - beyond the scope of this thread, but it gives me some contextual knowledge on this topic) I know there are other threads about using the US996 on Verizon, but I'm asking specifically about the possibility that USC has somehow locked them to their service, and in spite of the model number matching the "unlocked version" I wouldn't be able to use it on Verizon.
Thanks for your time at attention.
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Although it doesn't seem to make much sense, there are in fact 2 us996 versions. One is the unlocked US version and the other is locked to us cellular. From what I've read they are not interchangeable.
The 996 unlocked is the one that also has the official lg unlockable bootloader.
No idea why they gave 2 different phones the same number but from everything I've read since the phones came out... They did exactly that.
planetbeen said:
Although it doesn't seem to make much sense, there are in fact 2 us996 versions. One is the unlocked US version and the other is locked to us cellular. From what I've read they are not interchangeable.
The 996 unlocked is the one that also has the official lg unlockable bootloader.
No idea why they gave 2 different phones the same number but from everything I've read since the phones came out... They did exactly that.
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Ha… the only way I can fathom that this happened is that verizon got their own CDMA model number that is denied bootloader unlock, and US Cellular sim-locks the other CDMA-capable model themselves. Maybe there's a monetary cost that USC didnt want to assume associated with having an exclusive model number provided from LG.
In any case… I won't spend much more time pontificating on it if there's no way to use the USC version on Verizon.
Thanks for the response.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
DrPhant0m said:
Ha… the only way I can fathom that this happened is that verizon got their own CDMA model number that is denied bootloader unlock, and US Cellular sim-locks the other CDMA-capable model themselves. Maybe there's a monetary cost that USC didnt want to assume associated with having an exclusive model number provided from LG.
In any case… I won't spend much more time pontificating on it if there's no way to use the USC version on Verizon.
Thanks for the response.
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I can't say definitively that you can't use it on another network... Only that there's definitely 2 different versions with the same number.
Hopefully someone with more knowledge than me can give some input on that subject...
planetbeen said:
I can't say definitively that you can't use it on another network... Only that there's definitely 2 different versions with the same number.
Hopefully someone with more knowledge than me can give some input on that subject...
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Check this info:
https://www.uscellular.com/site/legal/mobile-wireless-device-unlocking.html
So V20 US Cellular it's already unlocked?
Hi all,
I lived in the US but recently came back to the UK. I got an unlocked S8 (SM-G950UZBAXAA) and I was wondering if I can change the CSC to BTU from XAA, since I haven´t got Spay to work
Cheers
august_ said:
Hi all,
I lived in the US but recently came back to the UK. I got an unlocked S8 (SM-G950UZBAXAA) and I was wondering if I can change the CSC to BTU from XAA, since I haven´t got Spay to work
Cheers
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In the guides section there is a huge thread on how to carrier switch
wildermjs8 said:
In the guides section there is a huge thread on how to carrier switch
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Cheers mate. Looks like I cannot switch my carrier due to the different radio...
august_ said:
Cheers mate. Looks like I cannot switch my carrier due to the different radio...
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What do you mean?
The SD Galaxy s8s radios support every single band they use in the uk....
wildermjs8 said:
What do you mean?
The SD Galaxy s8s radios support every single band they use in the uk....
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oh, maybe I got the name wrong. I mean that since my phone is G950U I can only use CSCs that are available for that model. THE BTU or XEU is only available for model G950F, so I cannot get them on my phone. Is that right?
august_ said:
oh, maybe I got the name wrong. I mean that since my phone is G950U I can only use CSCs that are available for that model. THE BTU or XEU is only available for model G950F, so I cannot get them on my phone. Is that right?
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So that may be true (although I'm not completely positive you couldn't ) that they do not make CSCs for you device on those networks, but a CSC is not necessary to use an unlocked phone on a different network. I have been travelling overseas with tri and quad and phones for years and the phone works just fine with a local sim in it. The CSC just makes your phone have local BRANDING and some configurations that the carrier wants. The radios all work everywhere. This may mean that you will have to do extra work to get custom carrier specific apps and stuff (like Verizon in the us has a visual voicemail app that many people who rooted have worked hard to get back) but the phone will make and receive calls just fine.
Think of it this way, many people in the carrier switch thread have made their us snapdragon devices XAA CSC which is unbranded us generic, and they all can make and receive calls just fine. The point of sim unlocked phones is that they can be used anywhere the radios can pick up signal, and yours supports every uk 3g utms and lte signal your country uses.
Maybe someday I will prove this completely by flashing an exynos CSC on my g950u and show it doesn't brick or even fail. Might put this misinformation to bed.
wildermjs8 said:
So that may be true (although I'm not completely positive you couldn't ) that they do not make CSCs for you device on those networks, but a CSC is not necessary to use an unlocked phone on a different network. I have been travelling overseas with tri and quad and phones for years and the phone works just fine with a local sim in it. The CSC just makes your phone have local BRANDING and some configurations that the carrier wants. The radios all work everywhere. This may mean that you will have to do extra work to get custom carrier specific apps and stuff (like Verizon in the us has a visual voicemail app that many people who rooted have worked hard to get back) but the phone will make and receive calls just fine.
Think of it this way, many people in the carrier switch thread have made their us snapdragon devices XAA CSC which is unbranded us generic, and they all can make and receive calls just fine. The point of sim unlocked phones is that they can be used anywhere the radios can pick up signal, and yours supports every uk 3g utms and lte signal your country uses.
Maybe someday I will prove this completely by flashing an exynos CSC on my g950u and show it doesn't brick or even fail. Might put this misinformation to bed.
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Thanks for your post, quite informative. The reason why I want to change the CSC is mainly for samsung pay, which seems to be limited to us cards on this phone. Other than that, everything works great, and it is not a big concern, I think I will just forget about samsung pay and use android pay instead (althoug it would be good to be able to get some of the promotions available, so I may pop up to a samsung store and ask if it is possible to switch)
august_ said:
Thanks for your post, quite informative. The reason why I want to change the CSC is mainly for samsung pay, which seems to be limited to us cards on this phone. Other than that, everything works great, and it is not a big concern, I think I will just forget about samsung pay and use android pay instead (althoug it would be good to be able to get some of the promotions available, so I may pop up to a samsung store and ask if it is possible to switch)
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If you are staying not rooted and stock there may be a way to do that without CSC change I don't know I haven't looked into it
I'll stick to the "official" set up for now, but I'll keep an eye in case it can be done in the future. Too much information for me! Maybe when root is finally achieved it will be possible, who knows
I'd like to understand better how OTA udpates are distributed.
The specific model I'm interested in is TA-1045, as sold by Best Buy (unlocked) in the US (TA-1045 BLACK SKU:6219312), but the principle applies more broadly.
My intention is to buy the phone and later use it in Europe with some European carriers (I do not care about 4G frequencies, but do care about security updates very much).
It seems that OTA updates have to be approved by the carrier, even for unlocked phones, and there's the risk that a given firmware/model will never be approved by a given carrier, so my question:
what are the relevant data needed to determine whether a given model of Nokia 6.1 will receive timely OTAs with a given carrier (perhaps a carrier located in a country it was not originally marketed for)?
(A small unrelated rant is that this situation, with me even asking this question, is abysmal and embarassing for whoever is responsible for the process, either the carriers or the manufacturer, etc.)
Many thanks in advance.
It's trial and error. You won't get a definitive answer on your question. Some carriers approve updates only for models marketed in their region while others approve for all (I guess that depends on specific country regulations). You can take your US sim in Europe and use it for checking for updates, just download them over WiFi.