[Q] Verizon S3 and European travel - Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III

I have a completely stock Verizon S3 and am planning to travel to Europe this summer. Wondering what my options are?
When I was on ATT, it was simply a matter of unlocking the phone (called ATT to get unlock code) and inserting a local SIM card.
Can the same thing be done with Verizon? I know that they have international data plans, but they seem expensive, and I think I would prefer to just insert a local SIM card.
My needs will be mostly checking e-mails, possibly some web surfing.
I would prefer not to Root my phone if possible.
Thanks!

This article from February says you can swap the SIM for voice but Verizon blocked the ability to change the APN to allow data.
http://m.cnet.com/news/turns-out-verizons-galaxy-s3-isnt-global-ready-after-all/57569438?ds=1
There are instructions in the Development section (not the one with Original in the title) to make it fully international, but does require root.
Have a nice trip.

Related

Verizon

So are all verizon Rhodium phones CDMA with GSM only when out of country?
Which meaning at the moment have no HARD-spl and are able to flash?
I've added some custom apps to my phone which is from verizon and is not flashed. So i was just curious.
Thanks,
Alfredo
SlashX1896 said:
So are all verizon Rhodium phones CDMA with GSM only when out of country?
Which meaning at the moment have no HARD-spl and are able to flash?
I've added some custom apps to my phone which is from verizon and is not flashed. So i was just curious.
Thanks,
Alfredo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you call Verizon (and have their service for awhile, in good standing) they will guide you to unlocking the SIM slot 'for use outside of the country'. Once unlocked, it will work with TMobile, AT&T and any other GSM provider in the US that doesn't do IMEI checking, or that allow the TP2 on their network, in which IMEI checking wouldn't be a problem.
Anyways, get the unlock code for your device (specific to your device) from Verizon, scroll to SETTINGS on the homescreen, click ALL SETTINGS, click PERSONAL, click SECURITY and enter the unlock code they gave you and your phone will SIM unlock itself.
As for Hard-SPL, I haven't seen anything about it yet.. but I haven't been searching, since the phone already does what I'd like it to with simple cab installs.
I hope this helps!
-mak
Yeah ive had verizon for a good amount of years now. So i might give that a try. and yeah. I agree about hard SPL.
Are there any other advantages to unlocking the sim card other then being able to change services?
I am still new with all this, and unaware the advantages of unlocking the SIM card.
Curious for In Country and Out of country.
Like what are benefits of it while still in the states?
and what are the benefits if i go to canada? does this mean i don't have to pay extra for the plan while in canada to make phonecalls/texts/data?
.mak said:
Anyways, get the unlock code for your device (specific to your device) from Verizon, scroll to SETTINGS on the homescreen, click ALL SETTINGS, click PERSONAL, click SECURITY and enter the unlock code they gave you and your phone will SIM unlock itself.
-mak
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you may be incorrect on that, check this out, I have yet to verify this my self but from what I have read here and other places the GSM will be unlocked for use overseas. This way you can use another country's SIM card instead of Verizon's SIM (expensive rates) while overseas for an extended period of time.
There are now several threads in several forums about this.
What people often leave out when they talk about what their phone can do is what carrier they have it on.
With Verizon, when you SIM Unlock the phone you can toss in any SIM and it'll work. I personally have a UK SIM and works fine in the US on my Verizon TP2 unlocked. Others have reported using TMobile (US) or AT&T (US) SIM's just fine in their Verizon TP2's after unlocking.
Sprint TP2's come unlocked but will NOT register at all on US carriers (even with a foreign SIM).
--Chris
Oh so i have to somehow get a hold of another sim card?
nowwww i get it.
so unless i plan on actually going out of country there really is no point in unlocking my phone.
SlashX1896 said:
Oh so i have to somehow get a hold of another sim card?
nowwww i get it.
so unless i plan on actually going out of country there really is no point in unlocking my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I unlocked mine, just in case I ever decide to leave Verizon to go to Tmobile or AT&T (yeah, right lol).. or for when I upgrade, it makes it more universal when it comes time to sell it.
It costs you nothing if you're a Verizon customer in good standing, I'd unlock it just in case
-mak
Yeah good point. I was more curious on flashing purposes, but TBH i have no use to flash it. Though once the markeplace comes out, im assuming its going to be like the iphones appstore? and hoping in time we find ways to "jailbreak" or something to get them free, thats always fun lol.
Now i do travel to canada a lot. But unlocking it has no use unless i actually pay for the plan and a sim card? I know verizon offers a plan for it, but i dont got that much to where il pay extra for the plan was just curious.
SlashX1896 said:
Now i do travel to canada a lot. But unlocking it has no use unless i actually pay for the plan and a sim card? I know verizon offers a plan for it, but i dont got that much to where il pay extra for the plan was just curious.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
some folks over at PPCGeeks pointed out that in some situations, it might be cheaper to just buy a prepaid sim card when traveling abroad, as the prepaid cards could prove to be a cheaper alternative to verizon's international roaming rates through verizon's sim card, included with the Rhodium.
Alright, thanks i'll look into that.
the problem with going to canada is the sim card has nothing to do with their network. it is still CDMA in canada and while you may have an unlocked phone and different sim card, verizons network will still pick up your phone and charge you accordingly.
gt3dan said:
the problem with going to canada is the sim card has nothing to do with their network. it is still CDMA in canada and while you may have an unlocked phone and different sim card, verizons network will still pick up your phone and charge you accordingly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have an unlocked phone and a different SIM card in, if you set it to GSM mode Verizon won't/can't charge you for using it in Canada.
Hope thatyour right iamrobk, elsewise im confused.

[Q] Bell UMB with smartphone

Hey all,
I have the Bell unlimited mobile browser with my Samsung Impact. I used to have an HTC Touch that was older, but had much better capabilities with the umb but unfortunately was damaged. If I were to get, say an unlocked Samsung Galaxy and put my sim card and and enter the proper asn settings, would Bell know I'm not using my Impact and charge me data rates? Thank you
Amazing, I am literally in the exact same scenario. I had an HTC touch, it broke, bought an impact because I was told it was the highest level of phone that could still use the Unlimited Browser.
I am looking at a Samsung wave. I talked to customer service, and the woman told me that I could use my wave by simply switching the sim card, and still access the browser. She said she uses a blackberry smartphone, and it works that way. But I havent bought the wave yet, so I havent verified this. I guess I will find out once I attempt it. Have you gotten any info back on your question?
The way carriers know which phone your using, in general, is they have a database of IMEI numbers. But only the phones that they sell you directly (the ones with their branding) are in their database. So if you, for example, took an unlocked Roger's phone and put a Bell SIM card into it, they wouldn't know what phone you're using. But if you put your Bell SIM into a Bell Galaxy S (even if it's unlocked), they would know and probably alert you that you need to change your plan. This is how AT&T caught iPhone users on the cheaper feature-phone data plans over here in the states.
tl;dr: As long as the phone you want to use doesn't have Bell branding on it, they won't know.

[Q] Using an AT&T Samsung Focus with a non-Focus carrier...

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.

What current US android phones can be used with an International SIM?

I'm looking at a new phone and contract (currently on Verizon).
What are my choices for Android phones that can be used with a foreign SIM card (so not having to pay domestic carrier's foreign fees)?
I am not averse to playing around to unlock a phone - I just want to make sure that there is a method to do it for any new phone I get.
thanks!

Verizon HTC ONE M8 to work in Canada?

Hello all, I have an HTC One M8 that I bought while working in the US for a year. I am back in Canada and want to use it with Rogers or Bell doesn't matter who. I thought it was unlocked so I could use with anything but apparently I was miss-guided.
When I put in a Rogers SIM card it says SIM from Unknown Source or something along those lines. When I go into about in settings I can see that it picks up the signal for rogers and also shows my cell phone number. I'm guessing there is some sort of way I can make this thing work here?
Can I overwrite the ROM and put a Rogers ROM in? I have no clue. This is about as far as I get with phone tech.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hi!
Verizon M8 is sold "internationally unlocked", so Verizon customers can use it everywhere in the world: not just the CDMA networks (Verizon's) but also in GSM networks (most widely spread standard). I live in Spain and mine works in a GSM/LTE network perfectly and it does too in France, Germany or Italy.
For your mobile to work in Canada, you have to make sure your phone is sim unlocked. If you purchased it to verizon you can ask them to remotely unlock it, as you've paid for it, and they will. They may take some time, but they will. Once it is sim unlocked, you will be able to use it with any other operator's sim.
Note that, even when it is sim unlocked (and functional), you may be receiving a notification of "unknown sim" when the phone starts and an icon in the tray. It's just a software issue, as it will work, but to make it dissapear you have to do much more complicated things (unlock the bootloader, get root privileges) and i'm not sure it is worth if you're not familiarized with these sort of things.

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