*Mods, please move if there is a better place. I normally hang out on the development forums so I'm not exactly sure where to post*
I have a phone that I bought from Verizon and I have kept the unlimited data. I know all about my phone but next to nothing about my service.
My question is specifically about phablets (for example, this) which is basically a big ass phone, or a tablet with cell service, however you want to word it. I'd use it exclusively with bluetooth instead of holding the thing up to my head, don't worry.
I travel internationally and see them A LOT in other countries (they cannot help me though since I need one to use in the US). I am under the impression that VZ will not activate anything I did not buy from them. I don't know how solid this is but every VZ employee I have asked has confirmed this so far. I know in the past that it used to be as simple as switching out the SIM card but doubt this is still the case.
I'm sure there are some hardware specs that I need to look at that would determine the LTE/3G whatever compatibility, but I don't know the terminology. Can you help me out?
Also, I am hesitant to leave VZ because of the unlimited data and the service coverage. I live in mildly populated CT, USA and would welcome a prepaid plan if it was comparable but don't even know where to begin looking.
Thank you in advance - I really don't have anyone else to ask about this stuff.
You will want to look for international versions of the devices you are looking for. These versions carry multiple antennas that allows them to be used in different countries. As far as I know, these phones use SIM cards, which allows you to purchase an international SIM or a SIM in the country you are in, and it should work when you plug it into your device.
Is there a way to check for the antennas in the specifications instead of relying on the seller to accurately sell me the int'l version? How would you go about buying a SIM card?
Related
i have boon looking around and havent seen this brought up (hopefully not just because it is a stupid question)but it appears from all he phone sites that the spint touch pro will have a faster processor than the verizon version. if i was to purchase the sprint release could it be used on verizons network?
dont laugh at me if the question is a ridiculous one. at least just answer it out of pity.
spanks
i think they are different network technologies so I serisouly doubt it but I could be wrong. Wiat on someone to confirm but doubtful in my limited knowledge. Even if it could, it would have to be SIM unlocked for sure
The Sprint and Verizon networks are both CDMA, which means that SIM cards are not used (and that their radio networks are compatible). Instead, the phones have unique IDs that need to be activated by the carrier. The problem is, most carriers (Sprint is one, I believe), will not activate a phone they did not sell. Verizon has an open policy (supposedly), so you might get them to activate a Sprint phone.
I'm sure there are ways around this with the right connections (and cost), but I'm not familiar with them. They are probably the same ways that phones are cloned for illegal use of others' cell plans, so I don't think you want to go that route. Try calling the carrier you want to switch to and ask. They'll probably say "no", but it can't hurt to check.
bugdeyez said:
i have boon looking around and havent seen this brought up (hopefully not just because it is a stupid question)but it appears from all he phone sites that the spint touch pro will have a faster processor than the verizon version. if i was to purchase the sprint release could it be used on verizons network?
dont laugh at me if the question is a ridiculous one. at least just answer it out of pity.
spanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to this article you should be able to and its right from the horses mouth!
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2277399,00.asp
a fast way to do it is to say your having issues with the internet on sprint and thaat 6 digit code they give u will be the Subsidy lock
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.
I have a HTC Pro Touch phone that was my company phone for about two months before Verison took over Alltel in my area. My company switched to ATT iphones at that time. I have recently decided that maybe I could use this nice phone with ATT. Much to my disappointment I found through a little research that Alltel and ATT networks are not compatible and the phone and can't be unlocked for use with ATT.
Its seems that my only option now is to find someone with a nice phone that would like to trade hoping that they might be in the same situation in reverse. Have I missed something that can still make this phone work somehow? If not does anyone have a good idea, of how I could make a fair trade?
Thank you and I hope this post is ok for this section.
racing5k said:
I have a HTC Pro Touch phone that was my company phone for about two months before Verison took over Alltel in my area. My company switched to ATT iphones at that time. I have recently decided that maybe I could use this nice phone with ATT. Much to my disappointment I found through a little research that Alltel and ATT networks are not compatible and the phone and can't be unlocked for use with ATT.
Its seems that my only option now is to find someone with a nice phone that would like to trade hoping that they might be in the same situation in reverse. Have I missed something that can still make this phone work somehow? If not does anyone have a good idea, of how I could make a fair trade?
Thank you and I hope this post is ok for this section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could SIM unlock it, but it's not very cheap. There are some nice links in the Raph Wiki that points to SIM unlocking services.
@racing5k
You can try putting it up for sale onbay.com or amazon.com. If you want to avoid registering a selller account on any of those two site (which is free to do), you put a free listing on craigslist.com, always deal local and accept payments in cash and in person. Amazon and ebay will charge you seller/listing fees, there are no fees to list and sell on craigslist. You have a CDMA version of this phone. What you need is the GSM version, which for ATT was branded the HTC Fuze. I have the Fuze but am having a issue with it (battery indicator says it is fully charged at 34%) which I have yer to resolve.
@ZoneBlaze
sim unlock will not work, Alltel uses CDMA technology and ATT uses GSM. racing5k has a CDMA version of the phone, the two technologies are not compatible with each other.
I actually already a Meizu M9 (Android device) since I found it really cheap online($180) I knew the 3G wasn't going to work when I bought it which is fine. I only get EDGE speed which is fine for me since I only occasionally lookup stuff on google and EDGE speed is fine to do that. Also I have WiFi at both home and school and so I can use that to get me the faster speeds if I want.
What I really was wondering about was would I be forced to upgrade to the ATT smartphone plan? I have the $15unlmimted Medianet right now and since my phone only gets EDGE anyways I really don't want to have be upgraded. How does ATT detect the IEMI # on phones? The Meizu M9 is a Chinese branded phone and there are only a handful in the USA currently. Will they be able to tell I am using this phone and will they upgrade me?
Another thing I was wondering was that what are the typical APN codes for Android Smartphones? I am not sure if I have the right ones entered or not.
Here's a video showing you how to set up the APN's for unlocked phones.
Also i'm pretty sure you are ok with your data plan. AT&T has a list of IMEI (Identifiers) from all the phones they sell and if one shows up in their system as a smartphone then they change it but they wouldn't have yours
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A
Good question, but I think you should talk to ATT.
Can you let us know how you like the Meizu phone? I heard that they make decent phones, but I've never used one myself.
Follow up
Following up on this one. I am also considering buying an ebay M9 instead of a new mtk6575 based china clone. Would love to know if AT&T triggered the smartphone plan or not.
If I get no answer, then I'll come back when I get one of the two and let everyone else know my experience.
Hello, everyone. Thanks for having me.
I'm interested in acquiring some cellphones. I live outside the U.S, and I just want the phones for multimedia, internet and apps related usages, so I don't really need any carriers for the phones, not even in my country, that's why I find these No-Contract offers very good budget-wise.
But then there surge some questions,
*Are these No-Contract phones locked so you can't use them without activating them with a carrier? I mean, maybe something like not going past the start screen if they don't have a valid sim card on, or requiring one-time-activation or something?
*Can I use wi-fi with them with them, or is it subjected to activation with the carrier?
*What about rooting? Are the carriers selling the phones relative to the rooting/ jailbreaking process?
I know my questions might be noobish, but I'm just making sure before buying. You see, I've seen questions like these on Amazon with different answers, which has led me to this confusion and lack of assurance. I myself own (and even jailbroke) a phone from another country I use without carrier, though there are still specifics I'm not sure about yet.
Thanks in advance.
Android 5.1 offers an option to bypass SIM activation for sure ^^
I think it can be bypassed even on stock software!