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[Q] Switching to a GMS phone.

Edit* I meant GSM not GMS.
OK here is my full question. I currently have a HTC EVO 4G LTE, and I am on a two (2) year contract. If I were to sell this phone and purchase an Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S III, would I be able to have that phone activated on my contract until it's over with? Is this even possible or would I just have to terminate the contract and do something else? I really want to get an unlocked phone instead of being locked into a two year contract on a terrible network. Which now I regret extending the contract I'm on now. I have never owned an unlocked phone so I really am not sure how they operate other than you can use any SIM card in it. Can you even purchase SIM cards for major network carriers here in the states?

.torrented said:
Edit* I meant GSM not GMS.
OK here is my full question. I currently have a HTC EVO 4G LTE, and I am on a two (2) year contract. If I were to sell this phone and purchase an Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S III, would I be able to have that phone activated on my contract until it's over with? Is this even possible or would I just have to terminate the contract and do something else? I really want to get an unlocked phone instead of being locked into a two year contract on a terrible network. Which now I regret extending the contract I'm on now. I have never owned an unlocked phone so I really am not sure how they operate other than you can use any SIM card in it. Can you even purchase SIM cards for major network carriers here in the states?
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Yes the unlocked galaxy would work,but activating it would defeat the purpose of it being unlocked. Your contract should continue as signed just by swapping your sim in your HTC into the unlocked Samsung. Think of it like if you were to break your HTC and they give you a PAYG phone to keep the sim working, only it's not a crap $100 phone it's a galaxy s3.
Sent from my U8150 using XDA

Allanitomwesh said:
Yes the unlocked galaxy would work,but activating it would defeat the purpose of it being unlocked. Your contract should continue as signed just by swapping your sim in your HTC into the unlocked Samsung. Think of it like if you were to break your HTC and they give you a PAYG phone to keep the sim working, only it's not a crap $100 phone it's a galaxy s3.
Sent from my U8150 using XDA
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The reason I want to do this is cause I would rather just sell this phone and buy an Unlocked phone and not pay an ETF right away and or when my contract is up I can switch and keep the same phone.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium

.torrented said:
The reason I want to do this is cause I would rather just sell this phone and buy an Unlocked phone and not pay an ETF right away and or when my contract is up I can switch and keep the same phone.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
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Or just stick to prepay after your contract. It's way cheaper. I'd say transfer your contract to whoever buys the HTC and get a prepaid sim and the Samsung. There's no fees for transferring you contract.It'll take like 15 minutes at a store if you go together.
Sent from my U8150 using XDA

[Q] GSIII Sprint to ATT?

So xmas coming around I'm getting asked what I want. I have been wanting a new phone as I've had my OG Evo for over 2 years and my contract is up in March. I was thinking of getting the GSIII but my question is, I've also been thinking of going over to ATT once my contract is up... can I swap the phone over to ATT or do I have to get another again?

Naturesretard said:
So xmas coming around I'm getting asked what I want. I have been wanting a new phone as I've had my OG Evo for over 2 years and my contract is up in March. I was thinking of getting the GSIII but my question is, I've also been thinking of going over to ATT once my contract is up... can I swap the phone over to ATT or do I have to get another again?
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Yes you can but then it will be like taking another data plan so you might have to pay extra

I'd really look into this before doing this because everything I see after doing a quick Google search says that no, you can't - the Sprint GS3 has an embedded SIM for LTE that's soldered into the phone. So you can't just pop an ATT or T-Mobile SIM in there.
There might be a way to hack it to work, but, really, I wouldn't waste my time with it outside of "let's do this for a fun hobby" - not "let's do this to use as our daily use phone". For all the work you'd have to do completely taking the phone apart and replacing parts and doing who knows what to get it to work - you'd be better off selling the Sprint phone and buying an ATT one especially if you're not good with that sort of hardware and hacking thing.

I'm going to cut to the chase, and tell you as someone who used to be a Sprint and a Verizon technician, and also someone with common sense (no offense to anyone) that, no you can't make a CDMA phone with no accessible SIM card slot work on a GSM network. The Verizon works with some hacking around, but that's because the SIM card slot is accessible and the phone has the necessary internal hardware. You'd need either the T-Mobile version (it gets AT&T HSPA+, but not LTE), the International i9300, which I use (It gets AT&T HSPA+ but not LTE), or the AT&T version (it does LTE).

Thank you for the quick replies.... So it's safe to assume that any phone I would get on sprint would follow the same course of actions as they're all CDMA. Any advice on whether I could sell my sprint one for the same price or would ATT do an in store trade in for their GSM version????

Naturesretard said:
Thank you for the quick replies.... So it's safe to assume that any phone I would get on sprint would follow the same course of actions as they're all CDMA. Any advice on whether I could sell my sprint one for the same price or would ATT do an in store trade in for their GSM version????
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I'd guess so.
You could try to sell the Sprint one used and buy a comparable used one and maybe break even or only lose a bit to the tune of eBay fees - if you're lucky and patient. And are aware of the risks of buying used and make sure eBay has you covered.
I don't know about in-store trade-ins. Do that do that with phones from other networks ? If they're going to recover costs, I'd think they're probably not going to give you the best deal. I mean, Sprint told me my old phone had a $5 trade-in value, but it's going for $40-50 on eBay (it was an old dumb-phone, so I wasn't expecting much - but $40 is still a lot more than $5).
Personally, I would check out the ETF you have left at this point and probably just pay it if you're sure you want out instead of waiting until March and having a phone that will deprecate in value that you were never intending to keep.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda app-developers app

Anyone else upgrading in next few months?

Anyone else upgrading to a different phone within the next few months? If so which phone? Ill be upgrading to the galaxy s4 once its released
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I'm downgrading actually to the iPhone 6 lol jk I want Note 3 figured if I save a dollar a day from here til it comes out I'll still be like $400 short lol
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Haha, the note 2 is already like $700, the note 3 going to be like $900? I may acquire an s4 or something new like it, but not sure whats going to be out in 5-6 months as im going army reserves and will be gone for some time
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idk my contract ends on September but i asked on t-mobile and they said the earliest i can renew my contract with full discount and everything will be in march on my b-day but i might just wait till a holiday so i can get those juicy specials so maybe the s4 or note 3 on the 4th of july
anybody wanna make a new holiday?:laugh::laugh: lol

So... by the time you're renewing your contract, will T-Mo have scrapped their classic plans and phone subsidies completely yet?

My contract is due next week. I want a Nexus 4 and use it with a prepaid service. Here in PR, TMo signal is not good or maybe is this phone not being able to pick 3G. I don't know. My mom has AT&T and she has signal everywhere with her Samsung Focus. So, I think Nexus 4 with one of those minor carriers that uses AT&T network. Won't go back to a two year contract hopefully never in my life. It's been a pain in the...
My gf got a Note 2 and it's great, but without contract is too expensive, worth 2 N4. So Nexus it shall be.

Im waiting on my N4 to get here. Ive already bought the sim from straight talk. I advise any of you guys that plan on using straight talk to goto walmart.com and buy the att micro sim while its in stock. After they are gone no more att straight talk byod sims. Apparently they lost a contract with att to sell just the sims. Ill be picking up two more in the coming weeks if they are still available just because.
Chris if you are going to goto a att mvno make sure you can bring your own phone. Most of them restrict you to their phones. Atleast in the states they do.

My contract expired over a month ago and as always it will depend on $$$. I want my next device to be LTE capable. It's great that T-Mobile is finally implementing LTE yet it's only in a few markets right now. last time I looked the Note 2 was the only LTE device T-Mobile had. I heard they'll be getting the LTE capable Galaxy S3 soon. Until T-Mobile steps up with adequate devices it's pointless to upgrade yet. Just my opinion.

I'm on Chris' s same track. I also live in PR and Tmo's signal is unpredictable. My contract expired 3 weeks ago, and my wife bought me the Note 2. I can't complain, I'm in love again with my device as i was with my SGS4G. Battery life is amazing, considering the 3100mAh and running pure stock, with some bloat removed. :thumbup:
I still lurk around this community and test some of the Roms here, as I gave my SGS4 to my son.
Sent from my Die Hard Galaxy Note II

eollie said:
Im waiting on my N4 to get here. Ive already bought the sim from straight talk. I advise any of you guys that plan on using straight talk to goto walmart.com and buy the att micro sim while its in stock. After they are gone no more att straight talk byod sims. Apparently they lost a contract with att to sell just the sims.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can buy a SIM cutter for a few dollars that will punch a micro out of a standard one.
For example, http://www.amazon.com/Noosy-Generation-Micro-Cutter-adapters/dp/B005EMS1YG/ or http://www.amazon.com/QQ-Tech®-Cutter-Standard-iPhone-Adapters/dp/B009P16FKY/
(I have not used one of these, but the reviews seem good)
Posted from my SGS4G, thanks to Team Acid development

jeffsf said:
You can buy a SIM cutter for a few dollars that will punch a micro out of a standard one.
Posted from my SGS4G, thanks to Team Acid development
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Or download templates online or borrow a micro one and line it up and cut it with scissors or just wing it. lol. I have an old prepaid card that I use for unlocking iPhones with (still legal in Canada) and I just winged it and cut it and it works.

jeffsf said:
You can buy a SIM cutter for a few dollars that will punch a micro out of a standard one.
Posted from my SGS4G, thanks to Team Acid development
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not a matter of the sim size. They are going to stop selling the att brand sims. It will be only T-Mobile brand sim cards.

eollie said:
Its not a matter of the sim size. They are going to stop selling the att brand sims. It will be only T-Mobile brand sim cards.
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Click to collapse
Does that mean that they'll also loose the tower contract with ATT? I haven't looked into it at all but isn't the tower contract part of anti monopoly law? If so is this ATT's way of finding a workaround?

I've got to say that getting off the subsidy-based plan makes far too much sense to me now, especially with T-Mobile re-farming the spectrum in the US. With better alignment of the bands, I find it hard to consider a T-Mobile-crippled phone (both hardware and firmware). When you take into account the difference in price in the plans over a two-year period, even if it is only $20 a month (and it is significantly more for me), that is $480 -- which is probably more than the subsidy would "buy" you anyways.

jeffsf said:
I've got to say that getting off the subsidy-based plan makes far too much sense to me now, especially with T-Mobile re-farming the spectrum in the US. With better alignment of the bands, I find it hard to consider a T-Mobile-crippled phone (both hardware and firmware). When you take into account the difference in price in the plans over a two-year period, even if it is only $20 a month (and it is significantly more for me), that is $480 -- which is probably more than the subsidy would "buy" you anyways.
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Yep. Add to that that unlocking a carrier based phone is "illegal" and I'll only be buying non branded phones. Plus the international versions always have better specs than the US versions anyway. I don't live in an LTE area so that is far from a deal breaker for me.

hechoen said:
Does that mean that they'll also loose the tower contract with ATT? I haven't looked into it at all but isn't the tower contract part of anti monopoly law? If so is this ATT's way of finding a workaround?
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Click to collapse
No just the sims for the byod plans. I just ported my number to straight talk today. It was a pain in the ass but ugh finally. From the limited info given out straight talk just lost sim card contracts. Tower usage is still the same. But if you get the t-mobile sim you CANT connect to the att towers.
Unlocking your phone is not illegal as long as you get permission. I am on the fence on that as I think people shouldnt buy phones subsidized then unlock pay etf and change carriers. But if you have been a customer long enough for them to give the code it shouldnt be a issue.

Is the note 3 and s4 going to be LTE? I live in Tennessee and im sure theres no LTE out here but it wont bother me any.
And isnt it only illegal to unlock a phone if it was bought after a certain date? Or is it legal if you buy it straight out or from another owner
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I will probably get the s4 when it comes out in April. I like the Note, but it is kinda big.
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gizmoscoop said:
I will probably get the s4 when it comes out in April. I like the Note, but it is kinda big.
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The note is big, i agree, so im probably getting the s4 as well, the specs are amazing
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Sprint nexus works on att???

I see that bestbuy only carries the nexus 5 for sprint will it work on att??

SuperMiguel said:
I see that bestbuy only carries the nexus 5 for sprint will it work on att??
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Yes

Exact same phone, the one at Best Buy just comes with an $100 SIM card.

This is one of the most appealing features of this phone that has so far gone pretty much unrecognized. You can take this single model and jump to most major and prepaid carriers.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Directed to the two posters above who say it will work on AT&T - how do you know? Do you have confirmation from someone who bought the phone at Best Buy? The listings on Bestbuy.com both say (Sprint) after the name of the phone.

I have the nexus from Sprint and can personally verify it works with a prepaid att straight talk Sim card. FYI the sprint sold phone does not include the Sim tray key.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Can i just walk into bestbuy and buy one? or i actually need a sprint account?

ronwi2 said:
Directed to the two posters above who say it will work on AT&T - how do you know? Do you have confirmation from someone who bought the phone at Best Buy?
Click to expand...
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Yes
SuperMiguel said:
Can i just walk into bestbuy and buy one? or i actually need a sprint account?
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Click to collapse
As long as you are paying full price, you should be able to get it without a Sprint account. It will of course depend on whether the sales person you deal with decides to be a jerk or not.

uh60james said:
Exact same phone, the one at Best Buy just comes with an $100 SIM card.
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If we don't want the SIM card can we get $100 off?
haha jk, I bought mine at best buy and was able to get them to match the play store.

ktt4510 said:
I have the nexus from Sprint and can personally verify it works with a prepaid att straight talk Sim card. FYI the sprint sold phone does not include the Sim tray key.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Click to collapse
So you just stick an AT&T SIM card in there and it'll automatically switch to it? Was your phone already activated on the Sprint network? I'm curious since Sprint would tie in with the ESN activation for CDMA. If it's just as simple as putting in an AT&T or Tmobile SIM, then I'm sure getting it!

scoliosis said:
So you just stick an AT&T SIM card in there and it'll automatically switch to it? Was your phone already activated on the Sprint network? I'm curious since Sprint would tie in with the ESN activation for CDMA. If it's just as simple as putting in an AT&T or Tmobile SIM, then I'm sure getting it!
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Click to collapse
Yeah it really was that simple. Just put the Sim card in reboot the phone and your good. I had to change a couple settings in the connections menu to go back to sprint but it was relatively painless
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

scoliosis said:
So you just stick an AT&T SIM card in there and it'll automatically switch to it? Was your phone already activated on the Sprint network? I'm curious since Sprint would tie in with the ESN activation for CDMA. If it's just as simple as putting in an AT&T or Tmobile SIM, then I'm sure getting it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought a Nexus 5 from Best Buy and I'm an AT&T customer. Yes, the phone will automatically connect to AT&T's network. It took a few minutes to convince the BB employee that the phone would work on AT&T. They also insisted it was store policy that they activate every phone they sell, so I had to pay the $30 activation fee.

ktt4510 said:
Yeah it really was that simple. Just put the Sim card in reboot the phone and your good. I had to change a couple settings in the connections menu to go back to sprint but it was relatively painless
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Thanks! If you can detail out the settings you had to change to go back, that would be much appreciated!

I can't remember specifics but I had to change the settings here back to LTE a couple of times. For some reason it wouldn't stick after the first reboot. I can't retest it because my straight talk Sim is not active right now. I can assure you it works relatively easily though.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

ronwi2 said:
Directed to the two posters above who say it will work on AT&T - how do you know? Do you have confirmation from someone who bought the phone at Best Buy? The listings on Bestbuy.com both say (Sprint) after the name of the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
because all N5's sold in North America are the same model, with the same frequencies (D820), the only thing that may have to be changed is the APN.
this is not like other Sprint specific devices like the G2 (LS980) vs the AT&T G2 (D800)
AT&T - D800
GSM 850/900/1800/1900
UMTS 850/1900/2100
LTE 1900(2)/1700(4)/850(5)/700(17)
Sprint - LS980
GSM 850/1900
CDMA 800/850/1900
UMTS 850/1900
LTE 1900(25)/800(26)/2500(41)

brooksyx said:
If we don't want the SIM card can we get $100 off?
haha jk, I bought mine at best buy and was able to get them to match the play store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would have been awesome, I don't understand why everybody charges $100 more unless Google really is taking a hit on each one they sell.
Glad you got them to price match, they wouldn't budge for me. Brought them a few receipts where other people did it, brought them the price printed. They just kept telling me it's not the same phone, got to the point where I was just tired of wasting my time with them and didn't want to wait on the Play Store so I just got it at full price.

uh60james said:
That would have been awesome, I don't understand why everybody charges $100 more unless Google really is taking a hit on each one they sell.
Glad you got them to price match, they wouldn't budge for me. Brought them a few receipts where other people did it, brought them the price printed. They just kept telling me it's not the same phone, got to the point where I was just tired of wasting my time with them and didn't want to wait on the Play Store so I just got it at full price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think Google is necessarily taking a hit but I do think they are selling them just slightly above cost. You have to remember that Google isnt a electronic sales company like Apple, they make all of their profits from there data mining and advertising business. Android is just another medium to collect data and deliver ads. So they could give these away for free and still benefit. However companies like best buy and sprint make their money off of retail sales and cell phone plans. So they are trying to maximize profits that way.
Anyways bummer that they didn't match for you. I guess I just got luck. I walked in not feeling to confident with my play store ad. They were cool but hesitant. After the guy asked his manager he said that they normally wouldn't match the play store but were will to make an exception.

I am in the same boat but for T Mobile. Anyone know if this phone will work for T Mobile as well? I would believe so but I want to make especially if BB is going to charge me an activation fee.

How to get a Note 5 for only $300!

Note: I take no responsibility if you try this and it doesn't work for you...
So this was totally accidental. But I essentially bought my Note 5 for $300 after trading in two other devices for it. I ordered the note 5 on the edge plan so I could take advantage of the $200 device trade-in. As soon as I got the phone, I paid off the remaining balance so that my monthly fee essentially stayed the same (actually, it somehow got cheaper). In essence, I bought the phone outright for $496 plus tax.
But then about a week or so later, I received a text message saying "Congratulations on buying a new Note 5, you are now eligible for a $200 trade-in" along with a promo code to enter at their website. Mind you, I was skeptical at first since I already traded a phone in, but I went ahead and gave it a shot anyway figuring I've got nothing to lose. I went to the website and put in the promo code (the value of my trade-in device jumped from $1 to $200 lol), received the packaging material in the mail, sent in a pos phone, and received a $200 verizon gift card. This brought my total out of pocket with tax down to $330 for a brand new Note 5. My next step is convincing them to unlock it as I will be doing a lot of international travelling and if they think I'm going to be paying Verizon international roaming fees they are out of their damn minds.
So while I hate Verizon for locking bootloaders, disabling features, and blocking Samsung pay, along with all of their other gimmicks, I am at least a little internally satisfied that I DID get my money's worth on this particular phone. Thank you Verizon. You still suck!
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I did something similar. About to send in my m7 and s3
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Verizon phones are globally unlocked now I believe. Has been that way for a while now.

This has been true for the past few releases since the note 2. However nobody I have talked to at Verizon has been able to give me a straight answer on whether or not the note 5 is factory unlocked which raises my suspicion. In the past, that information was readily available and was actually used as a selling point.
Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

I got the same text. I wish I had a junk smartphone laying around. I thought about buying a phone on ebay, but didn't want to take the risk.

toskabab said:
This has been true for the past few releases since the note 2. However nobody I have talked to at Verizon has been able to give me a straight answer on whether or not the note 5 is factory unlocked which raises my suspicion. In the past, that information was readily available and was actually used as a selling point.
Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
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It is def unlocked. Verizon was forced to unlock all LTE phones. It was part of an agreement for frequencies or bands.

Due to Lte 700 Mhz C block rules, the Verizon LTE phones have been sim/carrier unlocked.
That doesn't mean it supports all LTE bands though. You have to check the bands the phones support if you want to use them on another carrier.

I found this cool website willmyphonework.net. to check for frequencies in various countries.
Verizon Note 5 is sim unlocked but i believe they have Knox locked. Meaning you cant root the device and install custom ROMs.

This worked for me!
Thanks!

If you are on one of old's Verizon plan, I am on 1400 family plan, then I upgraded my wife's and my sister in law's phones to note 5 through Costco in California and they signed 2 years contract and got the phones subsidized at $277 including tax with free external charger. I didn't lose my unlimited data either when they upgraded.
I have edge plus that I bought at full price from best buy
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