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Sprint or Verizon TP2 on AT&T

Hi there, guys. I've never been to the CDMA forum, but a query over in the GSM thread got me a'thinking; from what I've researched, it appears that the Verizon and Sprint TP2's ARE capable of running on AT&T's 2G and 3.5G networks if I use Oli's unlock. Is this so? If it is, I'd love to be able to have a TP2 with a frickin' headphone jack and work with my AT&T, and be able to get bits of Verizon service for road trips through my friend that works for them. I'd love to be able to stream FLAC's over EV-DO from my apartment to the car... AT&T's 3G network only works for that in densely populated areas. I've been searching XDA and Google for about 20 minutes, and I can't find anybody that spells it out that it's possible to unlock the CDMA variant of the TP2 and use it successfully on AT&T for 850/1900 MHz operation.
y0' dudes, c'mon with it. I read somewhere that it'll work albeit without 3G, but I'm not inclined to believe this because the hardware spec sheet says the Sprint's capable of utilizing AT&T's 3G bands of 850 and 1900MHz...

i've read that you don't get 3g in the states, only overseas.

Correct you can unlock and us carriers like at&t but you will NOT have 3g

[Q] Us Cellular phone cdma with sim slot (gsm option)

Ok, so I've searched all over and haven't had much luck. I have no experience with cdma phones, as t mobile is all I've ever had.
I was given a new US Cellular HTC Hero s. I opened it up and saw the sim slot and though, sweet I can replace my sensation with it (I smashed the screen pretty bad). Well, that was a no go, as the phone is cdma. Looking online though, I see it can run in gsm (options global mode, cdma mode, gsm / umts mode. I unlocked the bootloader using the htc site (not sure it matters) and popped in my sim card again, and tried both global and gsm mode, though neither got signal or would dial out. (under networks, it had the tmo apn info.)
So, is the GSM mode offered on this phone only for non US bands? Would a custom rom (now or down the road) allow it to work on tmo? I read something about the HTC Merge and someone being able to switch out the modem in the rom that allowed it to work in the US, but that is well beyond me. I can follow instructions, work ADB and flash roms.. but thats about it.
Is it possible, or will it soon be, to have this phone work on GSM or am I just stuck trying to sell it as a us cellular phone (or perhaps another cdma carrier.. like I said, I don't know anything about cdma)

As a Canadian I'm not sure about who owns US cellular or if they are their own company but I'm guessing they work like Verizon world phones. They have sim card slots but will work only outside of the US. If those verizon phones are used within the States, they will only pick up Verizon's frequency, as opposed to T-Mobile or AT&T where you can unlock them and use them with any GSM carrier within the States. But yeah, you can unlock it and it will work with any GSM carrier outside the States but within the States I think it will only work under US Cellular CDMA network...please correct me if I'm wrong.

That's right, u.s. cdma "world phones" have gsm radios but are locked down from connecting to gsm networks in the u.s. This is not just the normal sim lock found on gsm phones but they are hard coded to ignore u.s. gsm networks.
Some have been unlocked to work on any network through various methods including flashing a modem from a non-us varient of the same phone and other hacks. I can't comment specifically on this phone however.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Well, that points me in the right direction, and confirms what I read about swapping modems (on the other phone mentioned).
So basically it's software telling it not use a certain frequency, and not that the phone itself is incapable of picking it up (had my doubts about that)
Pretty shady the way phone companies are allowed to operate (don't get me started on my unlimited internet in my contract [pre data caps in tmo]. "Hey! check it out, this phone uses data 5 times faster than your old one, oh, and you get half as much too) sorry, end of rant.
I'll keep searching, and post if I find something..
On a side note, can cdma phones be flashed to another cdma carrier like verizon or sprint, or is it the same deal, coded to only use a certain frequency range?

only thing I've heard of is flashing sprint and verizon phones to cricket, metro pcs and boost.

How to make a GSM Radio for Thunderbolt

Hello
It sucks being an european and to have a 4g/cdma phone because in my country (Romania) you dont have a cdma network
So as we all know the Thunderbolt has the same chipset as the Rezound so in theory it should be able to transform into a Global Phone.
My question is why didn't anyone do that and how i can make one myself if a dev dosent bother.
I feel it in my guts that this will work but i need some guidelines, or someone with actual knowledge to help me.

charris said:
Hello
It sucks being an european and to have a 4g/cdma phone because in my country (Romania) you dont have a cdma network
So as we all know the Thunderbolt has the same chipset as the Rezound so in theory it should be able to transform into a Global Phone.
My question is why didn't anyone do that and how i can make one myself if a dev dosent bother.
I feel it in my guts that this will work but i need some guidelines, or someone with actual knowledge to help me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thunderbolt doesn't have the hardware. Not possible.

and what hardware are you talking about?

Thunderbolt has a CDMA radio and an LTE radio. Global phones need a separate GSM radio to work in Europe. If it has an unlocked SIM, the Thunderbolt should work on any 700mhz band LTE network, but is incompatible with GSM on all levels.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

MDM 9600
Actually, the Thunderbolt has an MDM 9600 baseband chipset that supports Hspa and Hspa+ which is a technology that At&t and T-mobile uses for their data connections. So, I believe that if the LTE radio is backwards compatible with those frequencies of At&t or T-mobile that it might work. The thunderbolt has two antennas: one for strictly CDMA and the other for lte and backwards compatibility to gsm/hspa(+) from what I understand. From what I have read Verizon has just opted to not install the drivers to support the GSM/HSPA(+) side of things. That, and the MSM 8650 processor or other hardware in the Thunderbolt may not support it. Just because the modem supports GSM/HSPA(+) doesn't mean the phone will, but I do think that if someone really wanted to they could modify the thunderbolt to work on GSM. The may need more hardware, but I do not know.
I would post the link about the chipset I have, but sadly as a noob it will not let me.
P.S. Verizon allows you to log-in to your account and view the unlock code for the thunderbolts SIM yourself. You do not have to call them. I have not used another Carriers SIM in my Thunderbolt, but HAVE read about people who have in other threads. Verizon from what I understand and have read on other forums does not allow you to use USA SIM cards other than VERIZON'S own SIM. From what I have read, it only unlocks the phone to use foreign country SIMs only. From what I had read, once you use VERIZON'S SIM unlock procedures a NEW menu pops up in your network settings giving you the option to select to use GSM only. The same thread was speaking about the iphone 4s and the Thunderbolt and said that Verizon allows for both to be unlocked and used as World Phones. I will not know for sure until I see proof, but I do know that Verizon allows you to unlock the Thunderbolt's SIM to use on Foreign Networks.

The MDM9600 baseband definitely supports quad-band GSM. However, the RF transceiver in the Thunderbolt may or may not, and the power amplifiers definitely do not. You need all three in order for a mode & band to actually work on a device.

Not possible from a hardware point of view.

Verizon S GS3 on Straight Talk

Hi all,
With Verizon releasing officially, the update making its SGS3 Global ready atleast for voice as of now, a lot of discussion is happening right now about the Global capabilities.
FYI. I'm a good reader and explorer on hofo,androidforums and xda. So any guidance is highly appreciated
So here is my question.
I have a Verizon S GS3. It is brand new.
1. Can I use it with Straight Talk T-Mobile SIM ( T-Mobile has good coverage near my house ) after doing the rooting, unlocking, etc. etc all the technical stuff
2. If I unlock the phone, will it be truly global capable, I mean, can I use my S GS3 on any GSM Network in the World, even in the USA, with 3G Speeds? Did anyone use it in any Country with 4G LTE Speeds?
3. I know this is really a very very strange question. But after unlocking the S GS3, will it be working on the AT&T LTE Netowrk in the USA? My thinking is, if it working in the LTE Network in the USA, then it will work in other countries as well, where LTE Network is going to be available in the future. Sorry, I know this is a bit weird.
If You can please refer and threads or links, it is fine with me. I'm also looking and not depending only on the answers that I get from this thread. But looking for replies/guidance/links though.
Thank You.

hope this is the answers you are looking for
qzmpal said:
Hi all,
With Verizon releasing officially, the update making its SGS3 Global ready atleast for voice as of now, a lot of discussion is happening right now about the Global capabilities.
FYI. I'm a good reader and explorer on hofo,androidforums and xda. So any guidance is highly appreciated
So here is my question.
I have a Verizon S GS3. It is brand new.
1. Can I use it with Straight Talk T-Mobile SIM ( T-Mobile has good coverage near my house ) after doing the rooting, unlocking, etc. etc all the technical stuff
2. If I unlock the phone, will it be truly global capable, I mean, can I use my S GS3 on any GSM Network in the World, even in the USA, with 3G Speeds? Did anyone use it in any Country with 4G LTE Speeds?
3. I know this is really a very very strange question. But after unlocking the S GS3, will it be working on the AT&T LTE Netowrk in the USA? My thinking is, if it working in the LTE Network in the USA, then it will work in other countries as well, where LTE Network is going to be available in the future. Sorry, I know this is a bit weird.
If You can please refer and threads or links, it is fine with me. I'm also looking and not depending only on the answers that I get from this thread. But looking for replies/guidance/links though.
Thank You.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for Q1:yes you well be able to use any network... install any mod now most of them are already rooted and unlocked
for Q2:yes you can... all you need to ddo is to download a program called hiapn.. wipe the existing apn settings.. then auto detect and you are good to go 3g and hspa
Q3: yes it works thanks to the magic of hiapn software... but not many countrys use LTE .. usa canada japan and maybe few others

Verizon SGS3 on any GSM Carrier
Hi experts,
I have a small doubt here.
If the Verizon SGS3 can be used with any GSM Carrier around the world, then that means, the Verizon SGS3 can be used with AT&T or T-Mobile as well along with Verizon Network.
But the T-Mobile or AT&T Versions cannot be used on the Verizon's Network. Is that true?
I'm have got a traveling assignment coming up to Europe this Summer and I need to know what is the best possible solution out there before I leave.
Thank You.

Verizon's GS3 uses CDMA technology for the phone calling and data, as far as I know the SIM in the verizon version is only used for LTE.
From what I have read in forum posts, (this one in particular http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2013647) if you pop in a SIM card, calling and texting should work. If you want data to work then you need to change some APNs around. Stock touchwiz does not allow this so you would need an app to do that. AOSP ROMs should have a way for you to edit APNs.
On the topic of getting 4G on any other network besides Verizon, that is fairly unlikely as they all use different technologies/ bands. Verizon has LTE, T-Mobile has HSPA+, not entirely sure what AT&T has but I think its also LTE.

This phone will take any SIM card cut to micro-size.
3G+ speeds depends on the frequency the carrier uses. The VZW GS3 uses the following radio frequencies after the JB update: GPRS/EDGE/GSM (850/900/1800/1900); HSPA/UMTS (2100) [I had to search high and low to find this for my trip to China]
Each LTE carrier uses different radio frequencies, and global countries also use LTE frequencies different than the US ones. 4G is a very varied standard at the moment.
If you want fast internet on a non VZW carrier, it better have HSPA+, otherwise you are on 3G at best.
Right now, the only truely global phone is the iPhone5 on VZW, which supports 5 different LTE frequencies. Sad but true.
The US based SG3's dont even have the FM radio that the international versions have

Edge
Mix3d said:
This phone will take any SIM card cut to micro-size.
3G+ speeds depends on the frequency the carrier uses. The VZW GS3 uses the following radio frequencies after the JB update: GPRS/EDGE/GSM (850/900/1800/1900); HSPA/UMTS (2100) [I had to search high and low to find this for my trip to China]
Each LTE carrier uses different radio frequencies, and global countries also use LTE frequencies different than the US ones. 4G is a very varied standard at the moment.
If you want fast internet on a non VZW carrier, it better have HSPA+, otherwise you are on 3G at best.
Right now, the only truely global phone is the iPhone5 on VZW, which supports 5 different LTE frequencies. Sad but true.
The US based SG3's dont even have the FM radio that the international versions have
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, my girlfriend has a verizon s3 and with straight talk she is only on edge it never changes. It makes the phone nearly useless. Ive tried to talk her into letting me flash and unlock it but she isnt real interested in it. I dont even know forsure if unlocking the bootloader downgrading to 4.1.1 and using the att sim unlock method would work but I would assume that flashing it would allow you to at least get 3-4g. not?

[Q] wcdma phone on straight talk cdma network. please help!!

Hello! I have been at this for a week now.
This is my situation, I bought a fully unlocked dual sim wcdma phone (Mpie 909T) running 4.4.2 KitKat.
I want to use this phone on my straight talk plan, but I only get service from Verizon wireless where I live.
I did some searching and found that I could use a R-UIM card to pick up signal from Verizon BUT I can not find where to buy one at (unless I buy bulk for a couple hundo). So I'm at a loss. I didn't realize that I didn't get service from at&t or T-Mobile till I got the phone and went to the straight talk site and it told me to buy a sim card activation kit, (checked on AT&T site to make sure I would have service and it showed that I would)... so I went and bought the kit only to find out that they actually don't have service out here. ? so if there is no way to find a r-uim card, would there be a way to change the radio frequencies in the phone? But I would also need a MEID # to activate on straight talk CDMA (Verizon towers). Or can I get one of those sim read/writer kits on eBay and program it to work?
I have not rooted the phone yet.
PLEASE HELP!!! I love this phone!!
I've been using the phone via WiFi from my old dx2 that's currently active.

Sadly, you cannot access a CDMA2000 network like Verizon's from a device that does not have a CDMA2000 transceiver. CDMA2000 is technologically incompatible with GSM and UMTS (sometimes called WCDMA). There are some dual mode devices, but Verizon explicitly forbids non-Verizon devices on their network. Even if you could somehow get a RUIM for Verizon, and their blessing to use it, your phone would not work unless it specifically has a CDMA transceiver in it. (remember, CDMA and WCDMA are not the same)
You need a device that supports not only the right technologies, but also the right frequencies. Most Dual-SIM phones are based exclusively on GSM and UMTS/WCDMA, and often operate on frequencies that are not comparable with US GSM operators. AT&T operates on GSM850, GSM1900, UMTS850, UMTS1900, and several bands of LTE. T-mobile operates on GSM1900, UMTS1700, UMTS1900, and several bands of LTE as well. However, most networks outside the Americas use GSM900, GSM1800, UMTS2100, and LTE800, 1800, and 2600.
You can use a site called GSMArena to check which bands your device has. If you want to use a CDMA carrier (Verizon, Sprint, and many rural operators in the US), you generally have to buy a phone with their branding or one of their partners.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

I have similar question. Since I am currently using ST with a Verizon phone ( CDMA) could I buy a new phone to replace current one ? And does it need to be another CDMA phone? And what is LOCKED/UNLOCKED have to do with it ?
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Free mobile app

This is a very large problem. I am in the same boat. Up here, we have Verizon,and ATT. that's it. My first phone here was ATT. worked great in town. As soon as I got to my house dead.,... I bought a Nexus 6 popped the Verizon SIM in it called straight talk they registered me on Verizon's network and boom Full LTE, and VoLTE. My issue now though is I want to try other devices and it seems that the N6 is literally the only non branded phone I can use. There are some awesome new Chinese devices I would love to try and on paper have the correct signals but still claim no Verizon. I am frustrated and stumped after weeks of research and conflicting reports. Does anyone know what is going on? Thanks in advance