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I bought an AT&T Samsung Focus on eBay with no contract and will probably be getting a plan for it in the future, but I am in Canada. Rogers has Samsung Focuses, but I really hate Rogers, so I would rather get a plan with Bell or Telus.
My question is: If I were to put in a SIM card from Bell or Telus and get a smartphone plan, both of which do not have Samsung Focuses, would I be able to fully utilize all of the features that either company would offer with their smartphone plans even though I would not be able to have a ROM for my phone from them?
In particular, I do not know if the ROMs that they have for the Windows Phones that they offer have any special software that enables certain features to be used. For instance, Bell plans are supposed to come with tethering, but there is no built-in way to handle tethering in Windows Phone 7.
My phone came with some preinstalled AT&T apps, but they all required extra subscriptions for them anyway. If those are the only unique things that ROMs from Bell or Telus would provide, I can do without those.
Thanks.
Well, you won't be able to access Bell/Telus exclusive apps (mostly paid services), but nothing else is really missing.
Further advice.
Make sure your Samsung Focus is unlocked. If not, call AT&T and have your phone's IMEI number in hand.
Go to Marketplace > Samsung Zone and install the Network Profile application.
Hi,
Am in a bit of a quandary. Am considering Nexus 4 or Samsung GS4 for next upgrade. I like the idea that I will get timely updates of the OS should I go with the google phone. But as I will be buying either phone sim free, would a phone such as the GS4 (or any sim free phone for that matter) receive OS updates quicker than the same phone on a contract?
Correct, I do mean though a dealer rather than a carrier. So assuming I get a SGS4 sim free, I guess this will come with touchwiz, but without any of the cruft that carriers like to put on top. So, in this case, I'm still unsure whether I could expect android updates before someone who buys the same phone on contract from vodafone/t-mobile et al.
I'm guessing that I could, as I would only be waiting for the phone manufacturer to issue the update, and not also the carrier to have to OK it. However, probably not as quick as the update would be available on a nexus.
I have a noob question regarding this issue. It's very common today for providers (networks) to offer upgrade phones to subscribed members. That has the benefit for people to grab latest devices at lower prices, compared to buying the phone 'undranded', directly from the manufacturer. Under certain circumstances, those contract bound, 'locked' phones could be 'unlocked' for use anywhere.
As far as I understood, 'locked' or 'unlocked' is facilitated by the use of IMEI, right? Or is there any additional mechanism providers use to allow/restrict use of a particular device in their network? Are there any hardware differences whatsoever between a contract phone and a non-contract phone?
jstoner said:
I have a noob question regarding this issue. Its very common today for providers (networks) to offer upgrade phones to subscribed members. That has the benefit for people to grab latest devices at lower prices, compared to buying the phone undranded, directly from the manufacturer. Under certain circumstances, those contract bound, locked phones could be unlocked for use anywhere.
As far as I understood, locked or unlocked is facilitated by the use of IMEI, right? Or is there any additional mechanism providers use to allow/restrict use of a particular device in their network? Are there any hardware differences whatsoever between a contract phone and a non-contract phone?
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AFAIK the Simlock is in the Software of the Device.
Unlocking them is possible AFAIK.
But some Providers lock the bootloader of the Device permanent, so that it cant be unlocked.
As far I picture it in my mind, the software of the device (branded or not) doesn't have to do with the 'lock'. At least not according to this thread. That guy tried flashing with the different ROM, but the lock was still there. So there must be something else that does it. Possibly IMEI (or maybe something else?)
adi2500 said:
AFAIK the Simlock is in the Software of the Device.
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Click to collapse
jstoner said:
As far I picture it in my mind, the software of the device (branded or not) doesnt have to do with the lock. At least not according to this thread. That guy tried flashing with the different ROM, but the lock was still there. So there must be something else that does it. Possibly IMEI (or maybe something else?)
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I didnt mean ROM with Software, i meant the Ril software
Oh, right, cheers for that. Haven't even head of RIL before
So you mean that contract phones come out with a modified RIL (compared to that of the unbranded version of the phone)?
So that's the part that get's locked. OK, thanks!
adi2500 said:
I didnt mean ROM with Software, i meant the Ril software
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What I also trying to figure the 'path' that units go through, till they reach the end customer.
For a unbranded phone, that would look like this:
1) Manufactured, put in retail box, sealed
2) Distribution to wholesale
3) Distribution to retailers
4) Customer picks it up (prepaid, pay-as-you-go)
This is phone is 'naturally' sim-free and unlocked to use with any network, worldwide.
Now, how about a contract phone?
1) A network provider, requests 1000 units of a paricular phone model from the manufacturer for use as a contract device
2) Manufactured with whatever options the provider requested. E.g. different firmware, modified RIL (network lock), branding (sticker at the back cover), put in box, sealed
3) Distributed to providers telecom shops
4) Customer picks it up as part of a contract
(Did I got all of this right?)
I am more interested in (2) above. Because I am curious - some of those initially-designated contract phones, somehow become unlocked and offered as unbranded, pay-as-you-go devices. But how all of a sudden do they become unlocked. I have also read somewhere, that even those phones are unlocked, they might be lacking certain features compared to the 'truly' unbranded phones that come directly from the manufacturer. Like for instance been limited to certain bands or traffic classes - which results to a lower QoS under certain conditions (roaming). That's why I m asking if there are any other differences in (2). Hope I clarified things up and not made things more blurry!
Does anyone know what happens if a unit that is destined as an upgrade phone (e.g. EE) gets unlocked to be sim free (therefore breaking the rules of the contract that state that this phone needs to be used for at least a period of 6 months prior unlocking becomes an option)? Is the provider taking any action? Like locking the phone again or any other potential consequences?
Otherwise, any phone is sim-free for like 10-20 quid...?
Hey friends I got a new Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime as a gift, but the problem is that it is network locked. I have Rooted the phone successfully. I want to know that if I flash suitable firmware will the network lock go away.
P.S. - I have downloaded the firmware via SAMSUNG PHONE INFO App.
Carrier locking typically isn't something that can be bypassed by hacking via root/ROMs/recovery/etc. That info is stored in a different "part" of the phone. You have 2 options:
If the phone is paid for (ie: not on a contract that hasn't been fulfilled by the purchaser), the carrier can give you an unlock code based on the IMEI. I don't know how things are done in Canada, but in the US the device usually has to be used on their network for a certain period of time, like 40 days.
You can also try one of those services that give you unlock codes, but they charge (typically $15-40, depending on age and quality of the device). I've never used one, so I can't comment on how reliable they are. However, I can tell you that if the device is not paid for, and the contract is broken (ie: the purchaser/subscriber stops making payments), the carrier can and in all likelihood eventually will blacklist the IMEI number. This is to prevent fraud/theft (like buying a $1100 iPhone on contract then ditching them).
I own an SM-S908E/DS that apparently is loaded with the firmware from Chile. The global S22U supports a lot of the AT&T bands, though there are some differences.
When I went to the AT&T store to activate the S22U, they told me that they can't register the phone's IMEI.
For now, they registered my S22U phone's new SIM with my previous OnePlus 7 Pro's IMEI. I suspect that I may not get full features (like, connection to 5G) using my old IMEI.
Has anybody experienced this with AT&T? I can't believe I would be the first person to experience this.
Is there a way to get my SM-908E/DS properly registered on AT&T as an S22U?
Did you buy it new or used?
If you were actually able to get your device activated on AT&T they WILL end up kicking your phone off the network at some point. AT&T has blocked international S22/+/U models on their network for basically no reason. This version is not on their weird whitelist of devices which means that they will not allow it on their network.
Maybe when S23 line releases in about a month, they will allow these models since it seems that international versions of the S10-S21 line are allowed on their network. It could also already be on the list but not on that outdated document.
If it is not on that list, you will find out soon enough when your line gets suspended and you have to call to reactivate it.
gernerttl said:
Did you buy it new or used?
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I bought it brand new, off of a eBay reseller who had very high ratings.
The Samsung box was sealed, and looked totally new (identical to my wife's US version), so I know it should be legit.
nnighthawk said:
If you were actually able to get your device activated on AT&T they WILL end up kicking your phone off the network at some point. AT&T has blocked international S22/+/U models on their network for basically no reason. This version is not on their weird whitelist of devices which means that they will not allow it on their network.
Maybe when S23 line releases in about a month, they will allow these models since it seems that international versions of the S10-S21 line are allowed on their network. It could also already be on the list but not on that outdated document.
If it is not on that list, you will find out soon enough when your line gets suspended and you have to call to reactivate it.
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Well ... This sounds depressing. I'm assuming this happened to you? It sounds like the voice of experience.
¿GotJazz? said:
I bought it brand new, off of a eBay reseller who had very high ratings.
The Samsung box was sealed, and looked totally new (identical to my wife's US version), so I know it should be legit.
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It should be legitimate then. Even so, buying off of Ebay can still be hit or miss.
If they activated the new SIM, then you should be fine for the most part.
The list that nnighthawk posted is AT&T's list of devices that were tested and approved for support purposes. That doesn't mean it won't work. However, if you have connection or service issues, they will tell you that you are using an unsupported device and therefore they can't help you.
Also, from a network security perspective, US carriers (and many non-US) don't like it when people want to use devices that are not tested on their respective networks. Untested models with firmware that is untested/unapproved are potential security risks. Carriers don't make money by selling devices; they make it by selling services. Any potential network breach could cost them billions of dollars in revenue and customer trust. The latter can lead to litigation and government investigations, which costs even more money.