[Q] Nexus S SIM unlock? - Nexus S Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey NSers.
I bought a Nexus S just about the week it came out from Best Buy, but I've decided to move on to another phone. I had thought that purchasing it from Best Buy meant that it shipped unlocked, with no specific carrier, but I just tried an AT&T SIM card in the phone, and it gets no service.
I called T-Mobile, but the woman I spoke to informed me that they couldn't request an unlock code because it's not a phone they actually support.
So I'm wondering how I can unlock it.
Right now, its bootloader is unlocked and it's rooted, if that makes any difference (I'm hoping there will be something easy I can do that doesn't involve contacting either Google or Samsung).
Thanks in advance for any guidance.

your nexus s IS unlocked as of google phones.
the problem is that the nexus s does not support (hardware) AT&T cellular bands.
there is a specific model of the nexus s (I9020A if i'm not wrong) that support those AT&T bands.. sorry.

Gonizahavy said:
your nexus s IS unlocked as of google phones.
the problem is that the nexus s does not support (hardware) AT&T cellular bands.
there is a specific model of the nexus s (I9020A if i'm not wrong) that support those AT&T bands.. sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, really? I thought it supported AT&T GSM bands, but not the 3G bands.
And no worries. It's an i9020T, so maybe it's unlocked but still works only with TMo. Darn.

willentrekin said:
Oh, really? I thought it supported AT&T GSM bands, but not the 3G bands.
And no worries. It's an i9020T, so maybe it's unlocked but still works only with TMo. Darn.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think he meant to say it does not support at&t 3g bands. It should work on any GSM carrier, but may not work on 3g.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

OuncE718 said:
I think he meant to say it does not support at&t 3g bands. It should work on any GSM carrier, but may not work on 3g.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right. But if I put in an AT&T SIM, it should work with AT&T's GSM frequencies, right? I'm really not looking forward to calling Samsung tomorrow.

I should go to best buy and ask if you can swap it for a i9020A.

avili said:
I should go to best buy and ask if you can swap it for a i9020A.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I9029A isn't sold in best buy. I'd go to AT&T and get a new sim card. Your phone should work just fine on AT&T, u just won't have 3G.

I've had a similar experience with the Canadian carriers, however if the carrier supports GSM bands it will work (like previously said) it's when the carrier only supports HSDPA (like Koodo in Canada does) then you need the specific Nexus S (i9020A in your case).
You could also try adding the APN to see if that will allow you to connect (Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Mobile Networks -> Access Point Names (APN)) - the details can be found on the forums / your carriers website.

Works for me.
willentrekin said:
Right. But if I put in an AT&T SIM, it should work with AT&T's GSM frequencies, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works for me. I live in NYC, and I picked up a Nexus S at Best Buy over the Easter break as a quick temp phone till I got my Captivate fixed.
No 3g, but it certainly works on Edge. Makes calls, data works, syncs with google apps, etc.
Maybe you're just in a poor reception spot for ATT...

Thanks for the advice. Will retry. I'd wanted to confirm AT&T would work before I put it on eBay.

Related

[Q] i9020A on AWS = no 3G? And is "carrier locked" possible?

Will the i9020A version of the Nexus S (which is I think the model sold by Koodo Mobile in Canada) get 3G connection on the AWS spectrum used by Mobilicity? (I believe this should be the same as TMobile)?
Also, is there such a thing as a carrier locked Nexus S? I want to buy the Koodo Mobile Nexus S for $425 off contract (cheapest I can find), but I want to use it on the Mobilicity network. Will I need to carrier unlock the device somehow? I can't seem to find any "unlock Nexus S" sources, so I assume this is unnecessary?
The more I look into this issue, the more confused I get. A lot of places say the Nexus S is quad-band GSM + AWS, so doesn't that mean I should be able to get 3G from anywhere? The FAQ on this forum states that the original Nexus S can only get 3G speeds on TMobile's AWS band--conversely, does that then mean that the new "AT&T" Nexus S phones can't get 3G speeds on AWS? i.e. Do I need to buy a phone from an AWS carrier to get 3G?
Blindsight51 said:
Will the i9020A version of the Nexus S (which is I think the model sold by Koodo Mobile in Canada) get 3G connection on the AWS spectrum used by Mobilicity? (I believe this should be the same as TMobile)?
Also, is there such a thing as a carrier locked Nexus S? I want to buy the Koodo Mobile Nexus S for $425 off contract (cheapest I can find), but I want to use it on the Mobilicity network. Will I need to carrier unlock the device somehow? I can't seem to find any "unlock Nexus S" sources, so I assume this is unnecessary?
The more I look into this issue, the more confused I get. A lot of places say the Nexus S is quad-band GSM + AWS, so doesn't that mean I should be able to get 3G from anywhere? The FAQ on this forum states that the original Nexus S can only get 3G speeds on TMobile's AWS band--conversely, does that then mean that the new "AT&T" Nexus S phones can't get 3G speeds on AWS? i.e. Do I need to buy a phone from an AWS carrier to get 3G?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in canada, just bought NS finally, that too from Koodo, and it is an Unlocked Rogers/AT&T/Bell/Telus/Fido compatible version. Not to mention it will work with any other bands in the world except the situation Wind/Mobilicity have.
Their phone system is not backwards compatible, they came out in the market just about 2 years ago, they started off with 3G/3.5G straight where Rogers initially started with Standard, moved on to Edge/2G/2.5G and upgraded themselves to 3G and eventually 3.5G, same goes for Telus/Bell/Fido.
If you purchase any of Wind/Mobilicity phone, they will be compatible with any other careers in the world, but you will not get 3G if tried on UMTS. Their phones will only work on the AWS 3G frequency. Which in case means if you bought wind/mobilicity compatible phone, you will get 2G/Edge on Rogers.
Other way around - Koodo phone with Wind/Mobilicity SIM - will give you Wind/Mobilicity Away network only, means it is useless for you. The only phone in canadian market works with Rogers and Wind 3G frequency is Nokia N8 which is a Pentaband phone. Nexus S on the other hand is a Quadband phone, and is made specifically for the career, thats why we have 3/4 different versions, AWS, UMTS, 4G to work with Sprint in US and i guess there is one other model for India and China as well.
All the Nexus S variants come unlocked, outright or on contract, as its a Google's own baby and they don't lock it except the bootloader.
I bought mine with Koodo from Future Shop as it is listed as not an outright sale on Koodo's website, but FS and BBY do sell them outright. It is unlocked out of the box, just pop your SIM in and you are good to go assuming you are going to go with Rogers/Bell/Telus/Koodo/Fido.
My two cents, go with Wind, they offer you wind tab, pay 350 + tax and use the phone to pay the rest of the money with wind tab and you are set if you really want Wind compatible phone.
I had the same problem and dilemma like you as I had a Desire Z with Bell and wanted to use it on Wind, ended up trading it with G2 from T-Mobile and used Wind mobile 3G network and Rogers 2G/Edge network up until now(I am with Rogers and have got a better deal with them for data, so no need to carry two phones on me anymore )
Hope this helps.
CreativeDevil
Blindsight51 said:
Will the i9020A version of the Nexus S (which is I think the model sold by Koodo Mobile in Canada) get 3G connection on the AWS spectrum used by Mobilicity? (I believe this should be the same as TMobile)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it will not work
you need i9020T not A
AWS only comes on the i9020T
creativedevil said:
I am in canada, just bought NS finally, that too from Koodo, and it is ...
...
Hope this helps.
CreativeDevil
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much. That explains it very clearly. I guess I'll need to shell out a bit extra and get a phone from Wind or Mobilicity.
+Thanks
Go for it bud... u wont regret...
Creativedevil
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Use XL on T-Mobile USA?

Can we get the ATT HTC One XL unlocked to use it on T-Mobile USA? If yeah, whats the procedure?
Thanks.
Check out my thread on getting this phone to work on WIND (similar to T-Mobile, but in Canada). http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1610323
madhad said:
Can we get the ATT HTC One XL unlocked to use it on T-Mobile USA? If yeah, whats the procedure?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a ton of posts on the One X forum where people got it working using EDGE for data. Folks on this forum are trying to get the XL working for 3G data on Wind. If they do, it'll work on T-Mobile U.S. also.
The AT&T model does not have the correct bands to work on 3G/4G TMo. All you will get is Edge.
Red5 said:
The AT&T model does not have the correct bands to work on 3G/4G TMo. All you will get is Edge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a huge conversation going on about what's published and what the radio's capable of. There's a hack for the G-Note that folks are going to try and make work on the One X (assuming the h/w supports the bands). With the hack, the G-Note lost a bunch of signal strength and battery life so it's far from perfect.
Red5 said:
The AT&T model does not have the correct bands to work on 3G/4G TMo. All you will get is Edge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hardware-wise it has.
If you go to HTC USA website you see that it does. The Tegra 3 based international version doesn't, but Rogers/AT&T version does. There is another thread where someone purchased the Rogers version and tried to use it on WIND (which uses the same band as tmobile usa), and got no data (phone is unlocked, but no edge no 3G). If the problem is due to the lack of WIND/tmobile 3G bands, he would have at least get EDGE data. He contacted HTC Canada and HTC verified that the phone hardware indeed support those band, and the issue has to do with Rogers implementation of the software.
The same happened with AT&T Galaxy Note. It supports tmobile 3G band, but was disabled in software. People here are able to open up those bands by flashing new radio on it.
It is still not know whether the AT&T One X has T-Mobile 3G bands disabled in software or not, and if it does, whether it can be easily re-enabled. But the hardware support is there.
So if I buy the att one XL outright (and dont do nothing else) and pop in the tmobile micro sim will it work..meaning make phone calls and all? And it'll just get edge right?
k87 said:
So if I buy the att one XL outright (and dont do nothing else) and pop in the tmobile micro sim will it work..meaning make phone calls and all? And it'll just get edge right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no
10char
I am using my Rogers HTC One XL on Tmobile right now and yes all you get is Edge + voice.
k87 said:
So if I buy the att one XL outright (and dont do nothing else) and pop in the tmobile micro sim will it work..meaning make phone calls and all? And it'll just get edge right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's locked to AT&T man.
cmaxwe said:
I am using my Rogers HTC One XL on Tmobile right now and yes all you get is Edge + voice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as you purchase an unlock code and unlock the phone then it will give you edge + voice on Tmobile.
cmaxwe said:
I am using my Rogers HTC One XL on Tmobile right now and yes all you get is Edge + voice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This sucks. I'm on Tmobile and was holding out for the AT&T One X to use on Tmobile. Didnt want the One S because of the small screen. May have to go with the Galaxy Nexus for 400.00.
Sent from my HTC Incredible S using xda premium
Well assuming you unlock it and live in a refarmed 1900 hsdpa area from tmobile can you get 3G that way?
methodz said:
Well assuming you unlock it and live in a refarmed 1900 hsdpa area from tmobile can you get 3G that way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1900 hasn't been refarmed in my area but that would be the only option for somebody to use the One X on 3g/4g.
Sent from my HTC Incredible S using xda premium
Is there or will there be an unlock for the one x so we can use it (phone calls, edge etc) on the tmobile network?
madhad said:
Is there or will there be an unlock for the one x so we can use it (phone calls, edge etc) on the tmobile network?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes...most definitely. Once the AT&T version is officially released, you'll likely see numerous posts on how to unlock. There are some threads already starting if you search...
Here is an unlock site the says they can unlock the ONE X (AT&T Version) phone already. It costs in the neighborhood of $15, but that is a small price to pay to carrier unlock. If you live in a TMobile area that has reassigned their HSPA+ to the same 1900MHz Band AT&T uses it should be well worth being able to grab a tmobile sim for back up data or switching over completely. From what I have read, TMobile will be moving most of their markets HSPA+ to the 1900 MHz band in the not too distant future so this could be win win. I am going to give this a shot on May 4th when my phone is supposed to show up, I will post back with my success or failure.
Just a random thought that came into my head.
T-mobile is getting the One S, which also uses the S4. Given that the radio is integrated in the S4 chipset, and both the One X(AT&T) and One S are using the same SoC, they probably have the same capabilities with regards to the networks. In that case, it may "simply" be a matter of producing a modem driver with support for the T-mobile bands.
Disclaimer: This is all conjecture on my part, as I'm not entirely sure what is involved with cell phone radios and the more modern technologies.
mesasone said:
Just a random thought that came into my head.
T-mobile is getting the One S, which also uses the S4. Given that the radio is integrated in the S4 chipset, and both the One X(AT&T) and One S are using the same SoC, they probably have the same capabilities with regards to the networks. In that case, it may "simply" be a matter of producing a modem driver with support for the T-mobile bands.
Disclaimer: This is all conjecture on my part, as I'm not entirely sure what is involved with cell phone radios and the more modern technologies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, that's a negative.
There are several variations of the Snapdragon S4. Some with LTE, some without.
In this case, the One X LTE has the S4 MSM8960 with LTE. The One S has the S4 MSM8260A, without LTE.
What exactly is WCDMA AWS band? Because on the HTC website it says the One XL has that. I thought that is both bands for tmobile 4G.

Will the T-mobile version work on AT&T?

The Tmobile version looks like it has the 850/1900 bands to work on ATT's network? Does it in practice?
I know one problem might be the micro sim card idk if att uses those at all. I guesse u could probably just cut a regular one
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium
I think it will work but you will only get Edge data. But why go through the hassle when they are releasing the One X on May 6th?
Thongvilay said:
I think it will work but you will only get Edge data. But why go through the hassle when they are releasing the One X on May 6th?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree the att one x will have the same awesome krait prossecor and it might have the same internals maybe making it possible to flash one s roms with the art one x. Because the att one x and international one x won't be able to flash each others Roms
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium
ATT uses micro sim, that's not an issue.
Frankly I find these LTE just getting to be ridiculously big. The HTC One S is the perfect size imo.
According to the FCC document for the t-mobile version, it's supports WCDMA 850 (ATT), 1700 (T-mobile) and 1900 (ATT,T-mobile). So I should fine on ATT's network as long as I put in the correct APN right?
Also looking for clarification on this...
It probably will, but it has to be unlocked and for that to happen, we need S-Off which could very well be a few months away. Why don't you buy the international, unlocked version outright? You also get your choice of colors (red/black as well instead of just blue/grey).
Wow, not a straight answer yet, YES and unlocked HTC One S will work on ATT 3G (1900mhz). No ATT LTE support. Contrary to above micro-sim is not a problem, att iphones use them and of course you can always cut it as well.
jamesgg said:
Wow, not a straight answer yet, YES and unlocked HTC One S will work on ATT 3G (1900mhz). No ATT LTE support. Contrary to above micro-sim is not a problem, att iphones use them and of course you can always cut it as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is mine not a straight answer? It will when it is unlocked. Which requires S-Off.
Sent from my HTC VLE_U using xda premium
joshnichols189 said:
How is mine not a straight answer? It will when it is unlocked. Which requires S-Off.
Sent from my HTC VLE_U using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol u mean unlocking phone to use it on att requires s off? NOOO. DOESN'T NEED TO BE S OFF. Just get unlock key and done.
Sent from my HTC VLE_U using Tapatalk 2
i am sure it works with att hspa plus. i have persoanlly tried unlocking and using it and it works plus check this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odaS8tcxa0A this dude does the same thing and you can see it working on att along with the galaxy note
p.s. that band might not be available on some areas and 4g might not work, but works where i live (boulder,co)
Ok so... the T-mobile version will work with AT&T... will the international version work any less? As far as I can tell they both use the same bands (with exception to AWS of course).. but I very well could be missing something.
mmceorange said:
Ok so... the T-mobile version will work with AT&T... will the international version work any less? As far as I can tell they both use the same bands (with exception to AWS of course).. but I very well could be missing something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so do you know if the t-mobile version has both 850/1900 bands? or just one of them?
ksubedi said:
i am sure it works with att hspa plus. i have persoanlly tried unlocking and using it and it works plus check this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odaS8tcxa0A this dude does the same thing and you can see it working on att along with the galaxy note
p.s. that band might not be available on some areas and 4g might not work, but works where i live (boulder,co)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you unlock it
please tell me
hskharkunwar said:
How did you unlock it
please tell me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I unlocked it through ebay. just search in ebay "htc one s unlock" its about 8USD. you pay and then you leave a message with your IMEI number
I unlocked mine by calling T Mobile and asking nicely. I popped in my ATT SIM and got HSPA plus nicely. It works perfectly on ATT
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium
Brooose said:
I unlocked mine by calling T Mobile and asking nicely. I popped in my ATT SIM and got HSPA plus nicely. It works perfectly on ATT
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in India where I can't get it
Can I try Cellunlocker.net
There it is for $10
I thought it had the 850 band for 3G only. I don't see any specs that say it has the 1900 band for 3G. This tells me it will only work in places that AT&T has 3G on the 850 band. Does ATT use 1900 at all for 3G?
motionUS said:
I thought it had the 850 band for 3G only. I don't see any specs that say it has the 1900 band for 3G. This tells me it will only work in places that AT&T has 3G on the 850 band. Does ATT use 1900 at all for 3G?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ATT uses 1900, in some markets, ATT uses the mixture of both, 850 has better penetration in urban areas (tall buildings ...)
I'm interested in the phone, but i'm going to be using it on ATT. Can somebody that has the device tell us what is the FCC ID?
Quick trip to Phone Scoop website, i can see that there are two FCC ID's associated with the phone. NM8PJ40110 passed the tests using ATT WCDMA bands (band II 1900 and band V 850) and T-Mobile bands (band IV 1700/2100). NM8PJ40100 passed only ATT bands. Both doesn't show any reference to any test on WCDMA 2100 (band I), which probably means that the phone doesn't support the international 3G band.
In short, theoretically, the T-Mobile's version of HTC One S should work on ATT 3G bands (WCDMA band II and WCDMA band V), however, the phone would not support ATT LTE.
Since the hardware is there (FCC website proves it, unless if the official T-Mobile USA version got pushed with different FCC ID that i do not know), the phone should work on ATT 3G, but nothing prevents T-Mobile to disable the ATT 3G radios in their ROM. I think that S-OFF would give opportunity to enable the ATT radios (if they are blocked)
We will see ...
Take care,
From my experience, the ATT radio is not blocked and works fine.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium

[Q] How to Switch to Verzion with T-Mobile's myTouch 4G Slide

Hi guys I have a question hopefully someone can help me with. I have the myTouch 4G Slide from T-Mobile but I want to use it on Verizons network. I know how to root and unlock the boot-loader but are there any other steps I need to take before this is functional? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Version uses sim cards right? If so just search the threads here on how to sim unlock your phone, I believe I read one or two here before. You can also have it unlocked by tmo if your on contract with them or you can buy sim unlock codes
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Verizon uses CDMA. The MT4GS is a GSM phone, so there is no way to use it on Verizon's service. It doesn't have a radio that is compatible with Verizon's towers.
HappyKhicken said:
Verizon uses CDMA. The MT4GS is a GSM phone, so there is no way to use it on Verizon's service. It doesn't have a radio that is compatible with Verizon's towers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly! There is absolutely no way to get this phone, or any GSM phone that I know of, to work on Verizon's system. Even T-Mobile's new LTE service is different than the LTE from Verizon (not that this phone can work on either of those, either).
Haha, couldn't remember myself, hence the foggy reply! CDMA is such a pain, makes me wonder why anyone uses a carrier with it, I mean unless you never travel or want your phone to only ever work with one carrier....
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
demkantor said:
Haha, couldn't remember myself, hence the foggy reply! CDMA is such a pain, makes me wonder why anyone uses a carrier with it, I mean unless you never travel or want your phone to only ever work with one carrier....
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a few Verizon and Sprint (both CDMA carriers) that have GSM backup. They market them as their "World Phones". The iPhone5 is one of them. If the phones have the GSM portion unlocked (Verizon automatically unlocks theirs, Sprint will unlock on request after a certain amount of time), you can use a foreign SIM and the GSM radio of those phones. But, you have to be careful, the phones default to the CDMA and if you have roaming turned on, in some countries that could be a VERY expensive oversight with roaming charges.

can not get 4g(at&t) on verizon galaxy s3!!!

ok, i got some problem with the verizon galaxy s3. I use at&t simcard on this phone and it seems working just fine. Here's a thing, after set apn setting on the phone i just only get edge speed(2g), i need someone helps me to figure out how to get the 3g/4g speed on this phone or give me a right apn setting for this. i really appreciated. thanks very much!
The bands for AT&T 3G/4G are locked on the handset, you are going to have stick on edge sadly!!
djteotancolis said:
The bands for AT&T 3G/4G are locked on the handset, you are going to have stick on edge sadly!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
really? so there's no way to unlock these bands? I might consider to resell this phone again. Anyways, thanks for your reply!
hunbemylover said:
really? so there's no way to unlock these bands? I might consider to resell this phone again. Anyways, thanks for your reply!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Till now no one figured out how to unlock the bands! so your outta luck..would suggest trading it in for a AT&T phone!
djteotancolis said:
Till now no one figured out how to unlock the bands! so your outta luck..would suggest trading it in for a AT&T phone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a worst thing though. I got this one for only 100$ off craiglist and it works just fine. It just does not work right with a data, remind me of few years back when 2g was a fastest data service lol. Thanks again for let me know this issue.
AT&T runs on GSM band while Verizon runs on a CDMA network. I'm surprised your SIM even works. What other said is correct though, you are restricted to the slow 2G Edge speeds.
DarkMenace said:
AT&T runs on GSM band while Verizon runs on a CDMA network. I'm surprised your SIM even works. What other said is correct though, you are restricted to the slow 2G Edge speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the S3 is a World phone, hence it comes with GSM bands too! if you hit Europe or Asia you will get 3G
djteotancolis said:
Well the S3 is a World phone, hence it comes with GSM bands too! if you hit Europe or Asia you will get 3G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right it does. But they use different bands in other countries. Our phone isn't capable of using any and all bands. Only certain ones. If somehow these bands were unlocked, then you could get 3g here.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

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