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Verizon TP2 in Jamaica

Hi all,
I will be traveling to Jamaica soon and would like to be able to use my phone while there. At a minimum, I would like to at least be able to browse the web and check email. I currently have the unlimited data plan with Verizon. At first glance, it looks like they want to charge $129/mb. That's INSANE! At that rate, i'd be scared to even turn my phone on for fear it might accidently sync with exchange and download 20 meg of email. I've read some on this forum about unlocking the sim card so i can use the phone on another network. Should i consider that for this trip? What would i gain? What's involved? Just swap the sim card? Thanks in advance!

Call 611, and ask for global services. Tell them you want to unlock your phone because you want to use your phone with a different sim card in Jamaica. Then just buy a local SIM card for use with the phone. I don't know how the data works but that's probably your best bet.
FYI, VZ will only unlock if you have been a customer for 6 months or more in good standing.

i've been looking to do the same thing to avoid the $1:50/min roaming fee from sprint. i know digicel is the local service in jamaica. i've found a few vendors on the web that sell sim cards and time but still the fee for data can be still a bit high. i'm not sure if it's better to buy off the web before i get there or just hit a local provider when i hit the island. below are a few links i found to compare for buying the card and service time.
http://www.planetomni.com/SIM_INTL_passport_DTL.shtml
http://www.telestial.com/view_product.php?ID=LSIM-JM02
http://www.mrsimcard.com/s-digiceljam.html
http://www.rangeroamer.com/roaming-rates-start.aspx

Going Global

What do I need to do to make sure I have reliable voice and data for the next month while in Europe? I have a rooted D2G running Fission 2.4.3 and have grown quite fond of using the wireless tether to connect my Xoom and avoid extra data charges with another contract.
What is the best thing to do to get similar service in Europe? Do I still need to call Verizon to unlock my Sim? My company pays my Verizon bill, so I am not so price sensitive, but I use alot of data.
Should I just buy a Sim when over there and use their plan?
What the best way to do this?

I don't have a d2g, but I know gsm phones need to be unlocked with a code and then when you're in anothr country or whatever, you can just get a pre-paid sim from there until you come back.
But its verizon and motorola so I'm sure there's some hurdles to overcome
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Well - it very much depends on what you mean under 'a lot of data'. If your company is OK paying 4 figure phone bills - then don't bother - just make sure you activate the SIM card before you leave (with Verizon).
If you think money matters afterall, call Verizon, get the unlock code(s) for your phone and just buy a local provider prepaid SIM when you go there (which I am prettty sure you could expense too and company will be more than happy to pay compared to some outrageous roaming bill you can rack up).
A word of advice on unlocking: call Verizon well before you leave and make sure codes they give you are working. To try the code - simply insert any SIM in the phone (borrow firend's att/tmob sim for couple of minutes, or buy used sim for $1 from ebay for example). Inserting the foreign sim will propmt the unlocking menu where you have to enter the code. Once you do it, if phone says "successful" - you are good to go (you will not get service in US with any SIM no matter active or not or what provider - US or not - you put in. Don't be concerned about this - once you get out of the States everything will work fine.

[Q] Prepaid Infuse carrier?

Hey,
I'm recently got an infuse off contract, rooted it, etc, but I haven't been able to make myself transfer my service too it from my other phone. I'm really torn, as it is a great phone but ehhh.
Anyway.
I'm just wondering if there is some way I can use this phone on a pre paid network or something. I looked it up and saw straight talk was perhaps an option, but it seems very confusing.
Thanks.

well you could use simple mobile. (they have ads on this site alot) you could the infuse unlocking guide to unlock your phone and use it on this service. they use t mobiles towers and have 4g (hspa+) in certain areas. their plans are 40 unlimited talk and text, 50 unlimited talk text and 2g data, and 60 unlimited talk text 3g/4g data. you should check them out.hope all goes well my friend.

thank you very much! are there any cheaper options? do you know anything about straight talk?
can i use it on att month to month?

Well simple mobile is one of the cheapest prepaid gsm carriers around. And I know of straight talk. But the only straight talk smart phone is the nokia e71 I believe and that's the only straight talk phone that uses a sim card. So you would have to buy a 200+ phone JUST to get the straight talk sim card out. And yes you can use simple mobile from month to month but after 30 days of no payment they will take your number and deactivate your sim. And another good cheap prepaid option is walmarts family plan. The only thing is to start to see savings you would have to have multiple lines that's why it's good for families. Finally you could check out h20 wireless solutions they have similar rates to simple mobile but they use att towers.... Whew....that was allot of typing....lol

Itaer said:
thank you very much! are there any cheaper options? do you know anything about straight talk?
can i use it on att month to month?
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Based on conversations on IRC with a ST user:
If your SIM was taken from one of th $200 Nokias, you can use in the Infuse. ST is a Tracfone reseller, which uses AT&T's network.
SIMs from all other ST phones are specifically locked to the phone.
ALSO: If you use a SIM from one of the $200 Nokias, you MUST keep the Nokia. If that phone is ever activated with another service, ST will drop service on your SIM.
Edit: Note, I'm an AT&T contract user, all of the above are hearsay from IRC a month or two ago.

i believe you need a $200 nokia smartphone on strait talk but never sell the nokia! the sim is locked to the imei somehow and if the nokia is activated again the old sim is deactivated. also i think strait talk is a reseller of many carriers, they have cdma phones and a few of the nokia smart phones are on t-mobile sim cards from what i understand. you can try it but i think ifg the sim has a "t" on it then you cant use it, only problem is you have know way to know which sim will be in the phone you are buying.
many of those prepay services have one of a number of methods to lock the phone to their network. do as much research as posible before dropping cash on a device that might be useless

I though Att itself has a pay as you go with no contracty plain also tat works for this for for $5 data (10 mb ha) and $.010 a min talk.

Dani897 said:
i believe you need a $200 nokia smartphone on strait talk but never sell the nokia! the sim is locked to the imei somehow and if the nokia is activated again the old sim is deactivated. also i think strait talk is a reseller of many carriers, they have cdma phones and a few of the nokia smart phones are on t-mobile sim cards from what i understand. you can try it but i think ifg the sim has a "t" on it then you cant use it, only problem is you have know way to know which sim will be in the phone you are buying.
many of those prepay services have one of a number of methods to lock the phone to their network. do as much research as posible before dropping cash on a device that might be useless
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So theoretically, you could buy the 200 phone, and buy the cheap ass phone......in separate transactions, from Wal-mart and then use the expensive sim card, but put the cheap sim card in the expensive phone pkg and return the phone......only if you are evil!

I understand you could use the GoPhone plans, but you will need a new sim card, and also have to have a data plan to go with it, not sure how much the Simple Mobile plans are they talk about, but your looking at around 55-60$ for GoPhone plans with minimum data. 50$ unlimited talk and text and 5$for 10mb. Tops is 25$for 500mb, thats still not a lot of data though. I think 10mb for a phone is a joke, in my opinion. Maybe check out the Simple Mobile, you will have to unlock your phone for that though. Instructions for that are XDA.

emeralds5668 said:
So theoretically, you could buy the 200 phone, and buy the cheap ass phone......in separate transactions, from Wal-mart and then use the expensive sim card, but put the cheap sim card in the expensive phone pkg and return the phone......only if you are evil!
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No. If the expensive phone is EVER activated with another SIM, the expensive SIM you're using will get deactivated according to everything I've heard.

Entropy512 said:
No. If the expensive phone is EVER activated with another SIM, the expensive SIM you're using will get deactivated according to everything I've heard.
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Yeah but if the phone is returned, after it has been opened, then its not returned to the shelf. I think it would be considered refurb. I dont know, but they would probably reassign the imei to another sim. Dont know. I think I will just keep my edge speed in the hope that when att buys t-mobile that I will finally gtr hspda.

[Q] bad data port/suggest unlock code company?

I have a bad data port on my infuse and i wanted to unlock it and use it as a back up phone w/ straight talk.. I literally spent HOURS looking for a way to root and/or unlock using sdcard (since it is only tool i have)... If there isn't a way to unlock w/out data port, any recommendations for a reliable, quick and inexpensive unlocking service? Thx in advance...

robertjulianb said:
I have a bad data port on my infuse and i wanted to unlock it and use it as a back up phone w/ straight talk.. I literally spent HOURS looking for a way to root and/or unlock using sdcard (since it is only tool i have)... If there isn't a way to unlock w/out data port, any recommendations for a reliable, quick and inexpensive unlocking service? Thx in advance...
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There is absolutely no need to unlock phone to use with Straight Talk. Go to straighttalk.com and purchase an att compatible sim card for $15 and first months $45 service card. Works on any ATT,T-Mobile,Rogers, or unlocked phone using same tower frequency as ATT
At least theoretically it will work with phones with bad IMEI due to breaking contract etc. due to fact that tower reads new IEMI on sim card rather than one on phone.

elbscorp said:
There is absolutely no need to unlock phone to use with Straight Talk. Go to straighttalk.com and purchase an att compatible sim card for $15 and first months $45 service card. Works on any ATT,T-Mobile,Rogers, or unlocked phone using same tower frequency as ATT
At least theoretically it will work with phones with bad IMEI due to breaking contract etc. due to fact that tower reads new IEMI on sim card rather than one on phone.
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Straight Talk No Longer sells AT&T compatible cards... didn't break contract... phone was on ex-gfriend's account... rather pay money to unlock than have to deal with that biatch...
was looking at this guy:
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=321101332291&fromMakeTrack=true
he has a lot of positive reviews...
Thx for the suggestion though...

Where'd you get that info? I was on straight talks site just a couple days ago and they still offer the sim to use an at&t phone.
sent from outer space.

Straight talk definitely pulled the at&t cards the last time I checked...some kind of pressure being exerted on s/t by at&t to help keep customers with Att phones on Att contracts.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda app-developers app

[b] new m8! can i bolt to t-mobile wo being blacklisted??[/b]

I just used my upgrade to get a vzw m8 with the intention of selling it, then bolting to tmobile. I plan to be on the hook for my etf for 350, which I expect tmobile to eventually pay in 8 to 12 weeks.... Will my m8 get BLACKLISTED if I try this? I would assume not. My thinking is that's what the ETF is covering... Am I correct? I don't wanna sell a phone that has been blacklisted. Thanks

ebuechler3 said:
I just used my upgrade to get a vzw m8 with the intention of selling it, then bolting to tmobile. I plan to be on the hook for my etf for 350, which I expect tmobile to eventually pay in 8 to 12 weeks.... Will my m8 get BLACKLISTED if I try this? I would assume not. My thinking is that's what the ETF is covering... Am I correct? I don't wanna sell a phone that has been blacklisted. Thanks
Click to expand...
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You should be good. I have sold phones purchased at on contract prices prior to my contract being up and had no issues.

I have 2 lines of service that I'm terminating and was gonna pay $100 a month until etf is paid by tmobile... Hopefully that will keep my phone's from being blacklisted!!

I thought when tmobile or even sprint now for that matter, dont they make you turn in your phone from your old carrier ? I assumed that was the case, so they can sell off your old phone to pay towards your old carriers etf they are paying off ? Am I wrong here because it makes sense that you would have to turn your phone in to them in the deal ?

The ESN will only be blacklisted if it is reported to be stolen or lost.
Some companies will not accept other companies' ESN (like Sprint and Verizon,) but with advance of LTE sim cards, this might be a moot point.
In any case, there's no reason why someone else cannot use your phone, unless you report it lost/stolen.

You have to trade in the m8 to T-Mobile in order for them to pay the etf. Since its brand new, I'd just return it to Verizon and cancel your contract outright. It will save you time and money in the long run.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Free mobile app

justin94 said:
You have to trade in the m8 to T-Mobile in order for them to pay the etf. Since its brand new, I'd just return it to Verizon and cancel your contract outright. It will save you time and money in the long run.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Free mobile app
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What he said. You can't sell the phone because T-Mobile gets the phone, and you also have to buy one of theirs. Better idea - just stick with Verizon. Everyone's prices are going down these days, Verizon should be next. But even if you just stopped paying Verizon (without covering the ETF), then yes, your phone would get blacklisted. It is not just lost or stolen phones, it's unpaid bills that get your blacklisted too. Source: I deal with this stuff every day.

brandogg said:
What he said. You can't sell the phone because T-Mobile gets the phone, and you also have to buy one of theirs. Better idea - just stick with Verizon. Everyone's prices are going down these days, Verizon should be next. But even if you just stopped paying Verizon (without covering the ETF), then yes, your phone would get blacklisted. It is not just lost or stolen phones, it's unpaid bills that get your blacklisted too. Source: I deal with this stuff every day.
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Are you saying that Verizon will "blacklist" a Verizon ESN phone for not paying Verizon bills?
This is ridiculous.
How do they "blacklist" your sim slot?

nabbed said:
Are you saying that Verizon will "blacklist" a Verizon ESN phone for not paying Verizon bills?
This is ridiculous.
How do they "blacklist" your sim slot?
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Numbers

nabbed said:
Are you saying that Verizon will "blacklist" a Verizon ESN phone for not paying Verizon bills?
This is ridiculous.
How do they "blacklist" your sim slot?
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Are you serious? I don't even know what you're trying to ask about "blacklisting a SIM slot", they blacklist the IMEI of the phone (it doesn't matter if you use your Verizon HTC One M8 on AT&T or T-Mobile - regardless of what SIM is in your SIM slot, your IMEI is the same), which typically all of the major carriers share now. You go to make a call and it says "this phone has been blocked from network usage."

brandogg said:
Are you serious? I don't even know what you're trying to ask about "blacklisting a SIM slot", they blacklist the IMEI of the phone (it doesn't matter if you use your Verizon HTC One M8 on AT&T or T-Mobile - regardless of what SIM is in your SIM slot, your IMEI is the same), which typically all of the major carriers share now. You go to make a call and it says "this phone has been blocked from network usage."
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Are you saying that there's a global database of "blacklisted" phones? Which every carrier now uses? Even gsm carriers, which don't even use ESN?

nabbed said:
Are you saying that there's a global database of "blacklisted" phones? Which every carrier now uses? Even gsm carriers, which don't even use ESN?
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LTE is an evolution of GSM (more or less). LTE phones have an IMEI. Take out your M8 and go to Settings > About > Phone Identity and look at the third line, which is your IMEI (not your ESN), or look at the box and notice that you don't see an ESN (o an MEID), but you do see an IMEI. Then look at the 6th line, which is your ICC ID, AKA your SIM card number. The IMEI does not change (without flashing), no matter which SIM card you put in the phone, and it it what is used to identify your phone.
And yes, there is a global IMEI blacklist, it's even mentioned on the GSMA's website (and Verizon Wireless is a member of GSMA).
http://www.gsma.com/technicalprojects/fraud-security/imei-database

brandogg said:
LTE is an evolution of GSM (more or less). LTE phones have an IMEI. Take out your M8 and go to Settings > About > Phone Identity and look at the third line, which is your IMEI (not your ESN), or look at the box and notice that you don't see an ESN (o an MEID), but you do see an IMEI. Then look at the 6th line, which is your ICC ID, AKA your SIM card number. The IMEI does not change (without flashing), no matter which SIM card you put in the phone, and it it what is used to identify your phone.
And yes, there is a global IMEI blacklist, it's even mentioned on the GSMA's website (and Verizon Wireless is a member of GSMA).
http://www.gsma.com/technicalprojects/fraud-security/imei-database
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Click to collapse
Take an lte sim and pop it into a phone that supports it.
Are you saying that sometimes it won't work because a carrier has blacklisted your phone?

I'm saying that in order for T-Mobile to pay your Verizon etf, you need to turn in the eligible device (m8). Without it, they will jot pay the etf. Verizon will also block the phone from being used on any major carrier.
Don't try to cheat this system. It will come back on you.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Free mobile app

If verizon blacklists your imei number it wont work for basically any carrier in the USA unless the imei is repaired, but the phone blacklisted in the USA can still be used in other countries as no other countries care about an imei that is blacklisted in the USA.