[Q] Enable Verizon band 13 on the Nexus 5 - Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

We were able to get LTE working on the Nexus 4, abit crudely though, I read something about the Nexus 5 having an adjustable tuner, or something like that. Any chance somebody can "adjust" it to work on band 13 for Verizon?
I currently have a Galaxy Nexus, what would happen if I put my SIM card into the Nexus 5? Would it work with CDMA? It has the right CDMA bands and frequencies that Verizon uses. And if I was in an AWS band 4 area, I suppose LTE could work as well.
I know that I can pop my SIM card in any other Verizon phone, and it will work, CDMA and LTE. I don't need to go to Verizon to activate the CDMA part of the phone. So let's say I got a G2 and put my Galaxy Nexus SIM in it, it would work just like my Galaxy Nexus. So if I put my SIM card into a Nexus 5, wouldn't the CDMA just work because my SIM is there and it has the correct CDMA bands? If it does, I guess all we would have to do is get band 13 working so we can get full LTE support on Verizon.
I'm almost compelled to buy a Nexus 5 now and try this out, and hope somebody figures out how to get band 13 working.
Am I just dreaming or what?

jack584 said:
We were able to get LTE working on the Nexus 4, abit crudely though, I read something about the Nexus 5 having an adjustable tuner, or something like that. Any chance somebody can "adjust" it to work on band 13 for Verizon?
I currently have a Galaxy Nexus, what would happen if I put my SIM card into the Nexus 5? Would it work with CDMA? It has the right CDMA bands and frequencies that Verizon uses. And if I was in an AWS band 4 area, I suppose LTE could work as well.
I know that I can pop my SIM card in any other Verizon phone, and it will work, CDMA and LTE. I don't need to go to Verizon to activate the CDMA part of the phone. So let's say I got a G2 and put my Galaxy Nexus SIM in it, it would work just like my Galaxy Nexus. So if I put my SIM card into a Nexus 5, wouldn't the CDMA just work because my SIM is there and it has the correct CDMA bands? If it does, I guess all we would have to do is get band 13 working so we can get full LTE support on Verizon.
I'm almost compelled to buy a Nexus 5 now and try this out, and hope somebody figures out how to get band 13 working.
Am I just dreaming or what?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say it's easier to leave VZW.

Can you just do hacks and get the band to work?
And secondly it won't work. There have been countless posts about this. When you pop your Sim in it may take a while for service because Verizon is checking the imei on the phone to either grant it access or deny it access to the network.
I'm sure many people have ordered one and hope it will work (I have seen comments on dlife about them).

If the actual hardware components (Transceiver, Power Amplifier, Filters, Duplexers, etc..) on Nexus 5 support Band 13, maybe.
But you can't magically software enable something that doesn't physically exist.

How are you going to add the ESN to Verizons network???
Sent from my GT-I9505G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Yes the actual hardware supports Band 13, this phone hardware wise is a G2 dressed in a different set of clothing and that's it. My Nexus 7 LTE works just fine on Verizon's Band 13 and my IMEI is not in Verizon's database. Now Verizon wont activate a sim in a device that isn't in their database and Verizon CDMA has always been unlocked. I am betting money if you take a sim out of an iPhone 5 and live/visit a market where Verizon is doing LTE on AWS and pop that nano into a Nexus 5 your gonna auth on the LTE network and your gonna be working 100%

ricecake2000 said:
And secondly it won't work. There have been countless posts about this. When you pop your Sim in it may take a while for service because Verizon is checking the imei on the phone to either grant it access or deny it access to the network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I currently have the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 LTE. The Nexus 7 LTE's IMEI is not in Verizon's database and it still works when I put my Verizon SIM into it, and it does not take it a while to get service.
I understand things are different with CDMA, but I still have a sliver of hope that somebody will get this working on Verizon.

longshot94 said:
Yes the actual hardware supports Band 13, this phone hardware wise is a G2 dressed in a different set of clothing and that's it. My Nexus 7 LTE works just fine on Verizon's Band 13 and my IMEI is not in Verizon's database. Now Verizon wont activate a sim in a device that isn't in their database and Verizon CDMA has always been unlocked. I am betting money if you take a sim out of an iPhone 5 and live/visit a market where Verizon is doing LTE on AWS and pop that nano into a Nexus 5 your gonna auth on the LTE network and your gonna be working 100%
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same sentiments except the Nexus is micro sim so you would need a converter. Band 13 is controversial because VZ has a consent decree to allow open device access but other bands are not covered. Since Band 13 is not enabled a hacked modem FW need to be installed to enable as such. The Nex 7 LTE does not support CDMA nor Voice so that is not exactly the same.
BTW my S4 now shows Band 17/20 support with the new MJ7 Modem update.

longshot94 said:
Yes the actual hardware supports Band 13, this phone hardware wise is a G2 dressed in a different set of clothing and that's it. My Nexus 7 LTE works just fine on Verizon's Band 13 and my IMEI is not in Verizon's database. Now Verizon wont activate a sim in a device that isn't in their database and Verizon CDMA has always been unlocked. I am betting money if you take a sim out of an iPhone 5 and live/visit a market where Verizon is doing LTE on AWS and pop that nano into a Nexus 5 your gonna auth on the LTE network and your gonna be working 100%
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMEI can be activated by Verizon
from google forums:
http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/nexus/Jv9FAwucMWM/7pIfTKxY5yUJ
sconosciute on Dec 1 said:
Okay so non-vzw device is actually a common issue. It is completely possible to activate a non Verizon device on the Verizon Wireless network, thought it's not something we advertise, and chances are you if you ask us if it's possible we will give you the blanket answer of no because many phones designed for other carriers are locked to that carrier, it is possible to unlock it for activation on another network (eg AT&T iPhone on Verizon network) but it's not something we do. When we receive something that the system does not recognize (it can only be done by placing an active sim into a new device) we have to fill out an e911 compliance form and manually add the MEID/IMEI to the system, tech support is capable of doing all of this upon request.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Please ignore

FYI: I have a Nexus 5 on latest Marshmallow update and it runs great on the Project Fi network after I activated the SIM in my Nexus 6.
Thought I would try this to answer your questions.
I have an activated VZW SIM which I swap out to many other devices, including the Project Fi version of the Nexus 6 (Non-VZW device), a Droid MAXX, GPE HTC One... and many unlocked tablets and MiFi hotspots without issues (so long as the bands are supported).
I popped the VZW SIM into the Nexus 5 and it recognized the SIM but showed no network service. I attempted the pre-configured VZW APN settings to no success. I then manually entered all APN settings from the Nexus 6 which works fine. Nothing... no service.
While you may be able to get VZW to manually add your IMEI to their E911 database, I doubt it's worth the effort.
In Short and to re-confirm all of the previous posts... NO, you cannot use a Nexus 5 on Verizon wireless.
I recommend you go pick up a 5X and it'll work straight up out of the box.... or sign up for Project Fi. I love Fi but keep my VZW for the unlimited data.

Related

[Q] Nexus 5 on Verizon

Does the Nexus 5 support the correct Verizon bands? I have read and cannot find a definite answer. Any help would be awesome!
sk8boy204 said:
Does the Nexus 5 support the correct Verizon bands? I have read and cannot find a definite answer. Any help would be awesome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Officially the N5 does not support Verizon explicitly, it may work but that is dependent on Verizon allowing you to activate the phone on their network. you can try but there are no guarantees. Personally i wouldn't hold my breath in anticipation.
- Cheers
sk8boy204 said:
Does the Nexus 5 support the correct Verizon bands? I have read and cannot find a definite answer. Any help would be awesome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CDMA bands, which is used for voice capabilites and 3G data: No. The Nexus 5 supports CDMA bands 0, 1, and 10. Verizon uses 2 and 5.
EDIT: It looks like my cross-referencing led me astray. Verizon and Sprint use the same 3G frequencies, Band 0 and 1, at 850 MHz and 1900 MHz, respectively. The Nexus 5 supports CDMA bands 0, 1, and 10. In theory, assuming you can get Verizon to sign off on it, it might actually be possible.
LTE bands, which is used for....LTE data: Yes, but it's very very limited. The Nexus 5 supports bands 1, 2, 4, 5, 17, 19, 25, 26 , and 41. Verizon mainly uses band 13, but is slowly rolling out band 4 support, but the odds are it won't be in your area right now, and the roll-out is slow.
EDIT: Again, more research suggests that through firmware editing, it might be possible to enable band 13 LTE on the Nexus 5. This is due to the Snapdragon 800 having band 13 support. It would be along the lines of enabling band 4 LTE support on the Nexus 4 (although we had official legacy radios that supported it, so we had something to go off of).
Besides: look at how Verizon is handling the activations of the Nexus 7 deb ("mobile version," if you will). They won't officially activate them, so you have to activate another device on their network and plug that SIM card into the N7, essentially working around them.
So, in short, no it's possible I would not buy this phone if you are locked to Verizon. My advice? Ditch Verizon ASAP. Not just for the phone, but because they are a shady company that blocks competition, among other things.
Johmama said:
CDMA bands, which is used for voice capabilites and 3G data: No. The Nexus 5 supports CDMA bands 0, 1, and 10. Verizon uses 2 and 5.
LTE bands, which is used for....LTE data: Yes, but it's very very limited. The Nexus 5 supports bands 1, 2, 4, 5, 17, 19, 25, 26 , and 41. Verizon mainly uses band 13, but is slowly rolling out band 4 support, but the odds are it won't be in your area right now, and the roll-out is slow.
Besides: look at how Verizon is handling the activations of the Nexus 7 deb ("mobile version," if you will). They won't officially activate them, so you have to activate another device on their network and plug that SIM card into the N7, essentially working around them.
So, in short, no. I would not buy this phone if you are locked to Verizon. My advice? Ditch Verizon ASAP. Not just for the phone, but because they are a shady company that blocks competition, among other things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you find info about cdma bands for Verizon? Thx
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
equake said:
Where do you find info about cdma bands for Verizon? Thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My good ol' friend Wikipedia:
Cellular frequencies by company
Cross-referenced with UMTS frequency bands to get the operating band
And finally, the LTE bands by company
And here for the specs on the Nexus 5
I am sad.
Damn, thank you for the reply!
Johmama said:
My good ol' friend Wikipedia:
Cellular frequencies by company
Cross-referenced with UMTS frequency bands to get the operating band
And finally, the LTE bands by company
And here for the specs on the Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From the chart Both Sprint and VZW uses the same 3G FRQ only different Voice FRQ but each carrier can ride the Voice on the 3G bands so conceivably it can still work.
My 2 cents
Johmama said:
CDMA bands, which is used for voice capabilites and 3G data: No. The Nexus 5 supports CDMA bands 0, 1, and 10. Verizon uses 2 and 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought that Verizon uses bands 0 and 1 for CDMA. Well I got the information from Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verizon_Wireless#Radio_Frequency_Summary so I guess it could be wrong.
But Sprint devices can roam on Verizon's network, so that means that the Nexus 5 will be able to connect to a Verizon CDMA tower. The only problem is getting it to comemct to Verizon, and we still don't know what will happen when we pop an already active Verizon SIM card into the Nexus 5 yet.
equake said:
From the chart Both Sprint and VZW uses the same 3G FRQ only different Voice FRQ but each carrier can ride the Voice on the 3G bands so conceivably it can still work.
My 2 cents
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my understanding as well. you should be able to roam on verizon through sprint.
jack584 said:
I thought that Verizon uses bands 0 and 1 for CDMA. Well I got the information from Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verizon_Wireless#Radio_Frequency_Summary so I guess it could be wrong.
But Sprint devices can roam on Verizon's network, so that means that the Nexus 5 will be able to connect to a Verizon CDMA tower. The only problem is getting it to comemct to Verizon, and we still don't know what will happen when we pop an already active Verizon SIM card into the Nexus 5 yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because some sprint devices can roam on Verizon, doesn't mean ALL can. Every phone doesn't have the exact same frequency bands. That said, I would Imagine any newer cdma phone will be able to ride both verizon and sprint CDMA networks.
^^^ this. And for all we know band 13 LTE is supported by the hardware, just not by a Google that has a soured relationship with big red.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk HD
geebdroid said:
^^^ this. And for all we know band 13 LTE is supported by the hardware, just not by a Google that has a soured relationship with big red.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All LTE bands are supported by the baseband IP in the Snapdragon but it depends on the FW.
Activation of course is another story ie Nexus 7 LTE. Preactive SIMs should work but its up to VZW to accept it on their towers.
Well I can still hope. I'm on contact with Verizon until February and I'm about ready to kill my GNex. And I can't just go pay full price for a phone. Too much money, but the Nexus 5 is actually reasonable without contract. That's why I want it so bad.
And even when my contract is up, I can't switch, because everybody else is on my family plan. And I can't just go to T-Mobile $30 unlimited prepaid because there is no T-Mobile coverage at my house. (So frustrating, my housing development has towers for all the other three carriers, but when T-Mobile got their tower approved, the STUPID school people and parents got it blocked because it was within 1500 ft of the school. Like seriously I hate those people who appealed that, but that's another argument) And AT&T is too expensive for a single line. And Sprint just flat out sucks.
So I'll be on Verizon for a while, unless they can fight off those school people and get their tower built.
jack584 said:
Well I can still hope. I'm on contact with Verizon until February and I'm about ready to kill my GNex. And I can't just go pay full price for a phone. Too much money, but the Nexus 5 is actually reasonable without contract. That's why I want it so bad.
And even when my contract is up, I can't switch, because everybody else is on my family plan. And I can't just go to T-Mobile $30 unlimited prepaid because there is no T-Mobile coverage at my house. (So frustrating, my housing development has towers for all the other three carriers, but when T-Mobile got their tower approved, the STUPID school people and parents got it blocked because it was within 1500 ft of the school. Like seriously I hate those people who appealed that, but that's another argument) And AT&T is too expensive for a single line. And Sprint just flat out sucks.
So I'll be on Verizon for a while, unless they can fight off those school people and get their tower built.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you want other options, I've had lots of luck buying phones on Swappa.
If Verizon said yes, how would the non-LTE part of the phone know which network to hook up with? WithSprint and Verizon phones, they go automatically to their own network when activating. Would different CDMA networks pop up like with a GSM phone?

Unlocked Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge from other Carriers

Here is confirmation for anyone wonder if the Galaxy S6 unlocked from ATT or Tmoibile will work on Verizon just like the iPhones 6 6+ or Nexus 6
I have both ATT and Tmobile Galaxy S6 in hands, unlocked, inserted Verizon sim card in and there is no signal
However, when I check "About Device" it shows my phone number
Mobile Network Type: LTE
Service State: Out of Service
and LTE came up for a second and never came back on
I think they blocked the LTE bands or so to stop people unlock their phones using on another carrier
T33H00 said:
Here is confirmation for anyone wonder if the Galaxy S6 unlocked from ATT or Tmoibile will work on Verizon just like the iPhones 6 6+ or Nexus 6
I have both ATT and Tmobile Galaxy S6 in hands, unlocked, inserted Verizon sim card in and there is no signal
However, when I check "About Device" it shows my phone number
Mobile Network Type: LTE
Service State: Out of Service
and LTE came up for a second and never came back on
I think they blocked the LTE bands or so to stop people unlock their phones using on another carrier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess is the AT&T and T-Mobile variants don't have CDMA radios.
T33H00 said:
Here is confirmation for anyone wonder if the Galaxy S6 unlocked from ATT or Tmoibile will work on Verizon just like the iPhones 6 6+ or Nexus 6
I have both ATT and Tmobile Galaxy S6 in hands, unlocked, inserted Verizon sim card in and there is no signal
However, when I check "About Device" it shows my phone number
Mobile Network Type: LTE
Service State: Out of Service
and LTE came up for a second and never came back on
I think they blocked the LTE bands or so to stop people unlock their phones using on another carrier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They didn't block the bands. According to pdadb, the 920A and 920T don't have CDMA.
Unlocking att s6
Hi was it easy to get the att version unlocked from a 3rd party website or did you get it unlocked from ATT?
thats why i prefer buying unlocked phones from Amazon and use on any network on my choice. i wonder if this locking phones is cant be investigated for being anti competitive or messing with our rights somehow
zboy2 said:
Hi was it easy to get the att version unlocked from a 3rd party website or did you get it unlocked from ATT?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
musakilimanjaro said:
thats why i prefer buying unlocked phones from Amazon and use on any network on my choice. i wonder if this locking phones is cant be investigated for being anti competitive or messing with our rights somehow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You guys are confusing "unlocked" terms. There's a carrier unlock and a bootloader unlock. VZW phones are carrier unlocked and work on any network as long as the radio has the proper frequency support. But VZW phones are bootloader locked, meaning you can't flash unsigned packages to the device i..e. no root yet.
S6 att unlock
hi was it easy to get the att s6 unlocked. Thanks.
Mostly correct except root does not necessarily depend on unlocked bootloader, which you somewhat implied by the end of your statement.
I'm thinking about purchasing a unlocked Sprint Galaxy S6 on craigslist and bringing it to Verizon. Does anyone know if this will work?
Thanks
~Tom
I want the S6 but not if the bootloader is locked. I know that Verizon and ATT are the two carriers who will lock the bootloader. I'm not sure if a T-Mobile line would work due to their using GSM rather than CDMA, but doesn't Sprint use CDMA? Would we be able to purchase a Sprint variant that doesn't have a locked bootloader and then use that phone on Verizon?
Would a Vzw version work on GSM carriers including LTE? I am thinking of buying one off contract for the wife, but want it to be able to go to a cheaper prepaid service later once our contract expires.
t mobile phone on Verizon network
Would the T mobile S6 work with Verizon LTE data only? Did you try to surf the Internet?
Will a Verizon S6 work on T-Mobile? LTE as well?
It should work fine but be aware that VZW uses different LTE bands than TMO. VZW uses Bands 13/4 with 13 as Primary and TMO uses primarily Band 4 but will enable band 12 soon.
geoff5093 said:
My guess is the AT&T and T-Mobile variants don't have CDMA radios.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, when carriers started putting up powers that supported LTE, the phone manufacturers were releasing phones that supported CDMA and LTE because LTE wasn't widespread enough to get an LTE signal. CDMA technology will eventually be replaced by LTE. Qualcomm owns all the parents for CDMA, so whenever anyone makes a call using CDMA, QCOM collects their revenue checks, which used to represent 51% of total revenues. It's cheaper for the carriers to run LTE because QCOM doesn't own the entire technology and they won't have to pay the royalties to QCOM for using their technology (kind of like using H.265 vs VP9 for 4K video compression. Royalties using the older H.265 compression maxed out at $5 million a year. H. 265 maxes out at $25 million vs Google's VP9 free open-source technology for video compression.
Once enough towers are up that support LTE, handsets won't come with the availability to use CDMA technology anymore. Next thing we'll see are cable providers putting up hotspot all around the city (I've already seen it with Comcast, but this could really hurt the phone companies since people won't even be using LTE anymore, just like when people had to use much slower data connections in rural areas on their cell phones because they didn't have towers. VOIP will also hurt the carriers.
So, to answer that, I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't built to support CDMA anymore. These balloons that just started being launched by Google to provide Internet access to everyone in the world will be interesting to see how functional it is. It would be nice top have a high speed connection anywhere in the world.
Sprint and Verizon uses CDMA while AT&T and T-Mobile uses GSM. So trying to use an unlocked S6 for Verizon won't work since unlocked versions are usually GSM. So nope.
T33H00 said:
Here is confirmation for anyone wonder if the Galaxy S6 unlocked from ATT or Tmoibile will work on Verizon just like the iPhones 6 6+ or Nexus 6
I have both ATT and Tmobile Galaxy S6 in hands, unlocked, inserted Verizon sim card in and there is no signal
However, when I check "About Device" it shows my phone number
Mobile Network Type: LTE
Service State: Out of Service
and LTE came up for a second and never came back on
I think they blocked the LTE bands or so to stop people unlock their phones using on another carrier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the exact same problem with my one plus one. I'm 99% certain it's not about the bands being blocked in the phone but about verizon network non-verizon phones. The fact that you can select verizon if you search for a network means the bands are compatible.
Verizon is being evil by blocking the phones. I'm just not sure how (could be that any phone not wishlisted cannot be activated i.e. s13 interface )
---------- Post added at 11:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:08 PM ----------
T33H00 said:
Here is confirmation for anyone wonder if the Galaxy S6 unlocked from ATT or Tmoibile will work on Verizon just like the iPhones 6 6+ or Nexus 6
I have both ATT and Tmobile Galaxy S6 in hands, unlocked, inserted Verizon sim card in and there is no signal
However, when I check "About Device" it shows my phone number
Mobile Network Type: LTE
Service State: Out of Service
and LTE came up for a second and never came back on
I think they blocked the LTE bands or so to stop people unlock their phones using on another carrier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pembertj said:
I'm thinking about purchasing a unlocked Sprint Galaxy S6 on craigslist and bringing it to Verizon. Does anyone know if this will work?
Thanks
~Tom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
99% sure it wont work, see my post above
---------- Post added at 11:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:09 PM ----------
Droid_Evo_8 said:
Sprint and Verizon uses CDMA while AT&T and T-Mobile uses GSM. So trying to use an unlocked S6 for Verizon won't work since unlocked versions are usually GSM. So nope.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to 2007 or 08...
phone has lte and is trying to connect to an lte network
SDRebel said:
I had the exact same problem with my one plus one. I'm 99% certain it's not about the bands being blocked in the phone but about verizon network non-verizon phones. The fact that you can select verizon if you search for a network means the bands are compatible.
Verizon is being evil by blocking the phones. I'm just not sure how (could be that any phone not wishlisted cannot be activated i.e. s13 interface )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Problem is Verizon whitelists all IMEIs for phones that they'll "support." Even if you get it working, it 1) doesn't have CDMA, so you can't make calls unless you're strictly in VoLTE areas, and 2) you won't be able to make any plan changes or get a M2M discount since the phone would be a "Non-VZW Device."
SDRebel said:
Welcome to 2007 or 08...
phone has lte and is trying to connect to an lte network
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah? Well then, how do you explain how come my Verizon S5 didn't work on T-Mobile when we tried it, huh?
Droid_Evo_8 said:
Sprint and Verizon uses CDMA while AT&T and T-Mobile uses GSM. So trying to use an unlocked S6 for Verizon won't work since unlocked versions are usually GSM. So nope.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Berzerker7 said:
Problem is Verizon whitelists all IMEIs for phones that they'll "support." Even if you get it working, it 1) doesn't have CDMA, so you can't make calls unless you're strictly in VoLTE areas, and 2) you won't be able to make any plan changes or get a M2M discount since the phone would be a "Non-VZW Device."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, that's been my speculation for a while, but i have no inside info. Whitelisting every device would be a major PITA though...unless they bulk-whitelist then using data from the manufacturers. ..that also doesnt explain why people report being able to bring an iphone 6 or a nexus 6 over from other nwtworks (not sure if rhey have only gotten lte working and not the cdma part)
I do know the cdma functionality wouldn't be available, but tthe discussion was more along the lines of why it attached to lte ans then nothing.
The strange part is that both OP and I saw LTE eveb if for a split second. ..i would expect N attach reject if it's due to the Whitelisting.
---------- Post added at 07:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:01 AM ----------
Droid_Evo_8 said:
Oh yeah? Well then, how do you explain how come my Verizon S5 didn't work on T-Mobile when we tried it, huh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The most likely reason is that you did something wrong. I have personally used verizon s3, verizon s4 and htc rezound in tmobile and other gsm networks. (I will test my s6 soon for t-mobile and cricket)
it's well known that most verizon lte phones are unlocked and have gsm functionality.
My most logical guess is that you didn't set up something like the APN.
Your anecdotal experience does not a rule make. (most common fallacy i see in real life: it didnt work for me so it doesnt work!)

Is LTE CDMA and GSM?

Hi folks,
I live in a black hole of cellular signal. The only provider that has towers where I live is Verizon. I drive 45 minutes to work every day and over there both Verizon and AT&T have towers. I'm currently using a small, local carrier that uses Verizon towers and phones. I bought a Nexus 6 and want to activate it on straight talk. I thought I could use the IMEI from my existing phone, since it's a Verizon phone, but they say it's not compatible. They say they can activate it as a GSM phone, but I've read that if I activate it as a GSM device, it will not connect to Verizon towers so would basically be useless where I live. However, that doesn't really make sense to me since the Nexus 6 has both CDMA and GSM radios in it.
Does anyone know if I activate a GSM sim and pop it in my Nexus 6 if it will connect to Verizon towers? We do have LTE here, if that makes a difference Thanks for any help you can provide!.
Verizon network will only use CDMA but you could still use it in roaming
pantherdaddy27 said:
Verizon network will only use CDMA but you could still use it in roaming
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will it roam on cdma if i activate it as gsm though?

Do dual network Phones Exist?

Hello, I currently have Sprint in the USA and locked into a contract but when travelling, the service is spotty. I have to take a 2nd phone that I have with tmobile. I understand I can buy like a new Sprint iphone or the new nexus and just swap sim cards and that will work? That is one option. I was also wondering if there is like a single phone that will work with both sprint and tmobile at the same time. Kinda like the samsung duos phones but those only work with 2 gsm carriers. Tried a search but didnt get anywhere. Thanks. Just weighing my options here.
stephenjones007 said:
Hello, I currently have Sprint in the USA and locked into a contract but when travelling, the service is spotty. I have to take a 2nd phone that I have with tmobile. I understand I can buy like a new Sprint iphone or the new nexus and just swap sim cards and that will work? That is one option. I was also wondering if there is like a single phone that will work with both sprint and tmobile at the same time. Kinda like the samsung duos phones but those only work with 2 gsm carriers. Tried a search but didnt get anywhere. Thanks. Just weighing my options here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not with Sprint. As you've no doubt seen, dual SIM phones aren't exactly common in the US. The few that are are imports, and fewer still will even support North American GSM bands. And of course, Sprint uses CDMA for telephony, and only Sprint phones work on their own network. Your only option would be to switch to AT&T and/or T-Mobile or their MVNOs that work on those networks, and find the rare phone that has LTE for both. But if you're sticking with Sprint, you'll either have to swap SIMs on a device that works with any (as you said, iPhone, Nexus...I think the Moto X Pure does too), or carry a 2nd phone for a different carrier.

Verizon Model LTE Bands same as Unlocked Model?

Do you guys think the Verizon unit will have the same LTE bands as the Play Store model? I can get these st 2yr contract pricing on my Verizon business account and would like to use one on AT&T service, but need to be sure Band 12/17 is unlocked and ready for use.
The answer is yes, there are only different frequency bands for the intl and US versions. The US version, which Verizon is selling, supports all major carriers, according to Google.
alexjzim said:
The answer is yes, there are only different frequency bands for the intl and US versions. The US version, which Verizon is selling, supports all major carriers, according to Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My only concern is that the Verizon website does not list all US LTE bands such as Band 12 or Band 17. This was an issue with my Note 7 also. Band 12/17 were capable and supported by the hardware, but Verizon locked these from being used. It wasn't until I flashed AT&T Note 7 firmware onto my Verizon Note 7 unit that I was able to use those 2 LTE bands.
alright I take it back. According to google, it is carrier locked to verizon http://i.imgur.com/Jc9eV9E.png
alexjzim said:
alright I take it back. According to google, it is carrier locked to verizon http://i.imgur.com/Jc9eV9E.png
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This is 100% wrong. No Verizon phone's have been locked to the carrier for a few years now.
mdmogren said:
This is 100% wrong. No Verizon phone's have been locked to the carrier for a few years now.
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Correct they have been carrier unlocked since the iPhone 5 came out. Verizon still locks the LTE bands for data, however. The only phones that have unlocked LTE bands on Verizon are iPhones, because Verizon does not/cannot tamper with the firmware before boxing the phones up.
MrBaltazar said:
Correct they have been carrier unlocked since the iPhone 5 came out. Verizon still locks the LTE bands for data, however. The only phones that have unlocked LTE bands on Verizon are iPhones, because Verizon does not/cannot tamper with the firmware before boxing the phones up.
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Evidence? I've had no problem using several verizon phones on T-Mobile LTE bands.
mdmogren said:
Evidence? I've had no problem using several verizon phones on T-Mobile LTE bands.
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That is because Verizon uses the same bands as TMobile in many areas of the country, so those bands are unlocked. Verizon does not use AT&T's primary bands at all, so they lock it out. (Band 17)
As a quick example, AT&T uses Band 3 in more rural areas and I was able to catch a bar or two of LTE here and there on a 100% stock Verizon Note 7 with AT&T sim card in it since Verizon also uses Band 3, , but it would quickly fall back to HSPA because it lost band 3 signal. I verified this with LTE Discovery app. At my office I only have Band 17 from ATT, so I was only getting HSPA. As soon as I flashed AT&T Note 7 firmware onto the Verizon Note 7, I had full LTE signal on Band 17.
Since Verizon cannot legally carrier SIM lock their devices anymore, they still do what they can to make the phones as unusable as possible on other carriers with their firmware, including a message that pops up every time you start the phone saying "this sim is not from Verizon"
I'm trying to figure out if the Pixel will be the same story as my Note 7, in which Verizon locks out a majority of LTE bands. And if so, can the Play Store version firmware be flashed onto thr Verizon version of the Pixel to unlock these bands?
The Snapdragon 821 supports all LTE bands so I know it won't be hardware limited, only firmware limited.
MrBaltazar said:
That is because Verizon uses the same bands as TMobile in many areas of the country, so those bands are unlocked. Verizon does not use AT&T's primary bands at all, so they lock it out. (Band 17)
As a quick example, AT&T uses Band 3 in more rural areas and I was able to catch a bar or two of LTE here and there on a 100% stock Verizon Note 7 with AT&T sim card in it since Verizon also uses Band 3, , but it would quickly fall back to HSPA because it lost band 3 signal. I verified this with LTE Discovery app. At my office I only have Band 17 from ATT, so I was only getting HSPA. As soon as I flashed AT&T Note 7 firmware onto the Verizon Note 7, I had full LTE signal on Band 17.
Since Verizon cannot legally carrier SIM lock their devices anymore, they still do what they can to make the phones as unusable as possible on other carriers with their firmware, including a message that pops up every time you start the phone saying "this sim is not from Verizon"
I'm trying to figure out if the Pixel will be the same story as my Note 7, in which Verizon locks out a majority of LTE bands. And if so, can the Play Store version firmware be flashed onto thr Verizon version of the Pixel to unlock these bands?
The Snapdragon 821 supports all LTE bands so I know it won't be hardware limited, only firmware limited.
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The only reason LTE won't work on at&t is because at&t won't provision it unless it's an At&t branded phone. You can get around this by having them activte your sim in an at&t store phone. My brother used to have at&t and I gave him my old S7E from Verizon which had full LTE after doing that.
cadcamaro said:
The only reason LTE won't work on at&t is because at&t won't provision it unless it's an At&t branded phone. You can get around this by having them activte your sim in an at&t store phone. My brother used to have at&t and I gave him my old S7E from Verizon which had full LTE after doing that.
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That is correct IF there isn't a LTE capable IMEI on your AT&T account, you would need to have them add the LTE capable IMEI and provision LTE. This issue is based on Verizon's firmware and their lockdown, however. I have thoroughly tested this and even entered service mode to see what bands are available with Verizon firmware vs AT&T firmware.
not good news for the verizon pixel with att. Some guy on the pixel xl xda reported he is getting only H+ with the verizon pixel xl. Definitely need more people to check it out. Donr believe PC mag one bit. They said bootloader was unlocked but it turned out to be LOCKED.
zboy2 said:
not good news for the verizon pixel with att. Some guy on the pixel xl xda reported he is getting only H+ with the verizon pixel xl. Definitely need more people to check it out. Donr believe PC mag one bit. They said bootloader was unlocked but it turned out to be LOCKED.
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I'm using a VZW Pixel XL on AT&T and I have the best reception I have ever had. I don't know why he's not getting LTE coverage, but that's not my experience whatsoever.
hollowlog said:
I'm using a VZW Pixel XL on AT&T and I have the best reception I have ever had. I don't know why he's not getting LTE coverage, but that's not my experience whatsoever.
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If you install LTE Discovery you can see the band you're connected do. If the phone can connect to band 12 or 17, I would say the Verizon version most likely supports all LTE bands.
I am using a Verizon Pixel currently on a 850Mhz/1.9Ghz GSM and Band 4 (2.1Ghz) and I am experiencing no issues. I used my carrier's SIM, and the only thing I had to do differently was update the SCMS in the *#*#3646#*#* to match my carrier's Service Center ID. This allowed my SMS to work. I experience no issues here as the phone operates as though it were unlocked.
I've even used the VZW pixel on T-Mobile and had band 12 carrier aggregation with band 2. Definitely not a problem and same bands.
I believe the only difference is the imei disallows bootloader unlocking. And the post boot Verizon three app install (which is an easy uninstall)
Doesn't att require the imei added for LTE? They audit accounts on the regular and if they find an unknown imei they disallow LTE.
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
smgrimes said:
I've even used the VZW pixel on T-Mobile and had band 12 carrier aggregation with band 2. Definitely not a problem and same bands.
I believe the only difference is the imei disallows bootloader unlocking. And the post boot Verizon three app install (which is an easy uninstall)
Doesn't att require the imei added for LTE? They audit accounts on the regular and if they find an unknown imei they disallow LTE.
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
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Thanks for posting, VZW wouldn't lock certain frequencies (12 and 17) on the Pixels like others have stated since their phones have been fully unlocked for years. This phone works with all US carriers.
jawmail said:
Thanks for posting, VZW wouldn't lock certain frequencies (12 and 17) on the Pixels like others have stated since their phones have been fully unlocked for years. This phone works with all US carriers.
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Yup and on top of that they seem 100% feature parity. I've even seen (on my Verizon sim) the option for volte video calling. And volte voice definitely works on T-Mobile as well as wifi calling.
Just the locked bootloader is the only downside.
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
alexjzim said:
alright I take it back. According to google, it is carrier locked to verizon http://i.imgur.com/Jc9eV9E.png
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This is 100% incorrect. It is NOT locked to a carrier, and does support all bands. I have been using my VZW Pixel on other carriers.
TCPDump said:
This is 100% incorrect. It is NOT locked to a carrier, and does support all bands. I have been using my VZW Pixel on other carriers.
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Agreed, those customer service reps. need more training.
jawmail said:
Agreed, those customer service reps. need more training.
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The misinformation and confusion about this phone in general all the way around astounds me. It's actually rather simple. The only major difference in the Verizon variant from the play is that the bootloader is locked.

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