So I'm leaving Verizon and want to go with prepaid for my new Nexus. ATT has the best coverage in my area and I like that GoPhone gives you un-throttled LTE speed. I have a brand new ATT sim card that I plan on activating, but I'm unsure about what IMEI to use. I have an old ATT Samsung Captivate that I can use the IMEI from, but if I use that will they setup my account without LTE? I've also heard that ATT does an IMEI scan every now and again and if they detect a device that isn't in their system it gets zapped and wont work any longer. Any truth to this? Maybe AIO is the better choice? Help!
myeyez said:
So I'm leaving Verizon and want to go with prepaid for my new Nexus. ATT has the best coverage in my area and I like that GoPhone gives you un-throttled LTE speed. I have a brand new ATT sim card that I plan on activating, but I'm unsure about what IMEI to use. I have an old ATT Samsung Captivate that I can use the IMEI from, but if I use that will they setup my account without LTE? I've also heard that ATT does an IMEI scan every now and again and if they detect a device that isn't in their system it gets zapped and wont work any longer. Any truth to this? Maybe AIO is the better choice? Help!
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From what I understand, the only thing they use the IMEI for is to determine a phone's capabilities. While using my N4, I went to their store, got an LTE capable phone, wrote down it's IMEI number, and called AT&T and told them that was my phone so they'd put me on an LTE plan.
But since the N5 is LTE ready, why wouldn't you give them the N5's IMEI?
I thought the IMEI had to be in ATT's system for it to work. The Nexus 5 is not officially supported by ATT.
The IMEI is just an identifier. It's mostly used to lock out stolen phones. As long as its not blacklisted you'll be able to use ATT's network. I've used plenty of other carriers phones on ATT and have never had an issue.
theesotericone said:
The IMEI is just an identifier. It's mostly used to lock out stolen phones. As long as its not blacklisted you'll be able to use ATT's network. I've used plenty of other carriers phones on ATT and have never had an issue.
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So I can use the Nexus IMEI even though its not an ATT phone?
That's what I'm planning on doing. lol If you're really that unsure you could always call ATT to verify.
Att might not have the nexus imeis yet. I remember for the nexus 4, I had to give them an s3's info. If you already have LTE on your phone, no reason to change anything with the carrier.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Related
Hey. I need to know if anyone knows how to do this.. I need some help.
When you subsidy unlock a phone or root an android, you can use a sim card from any service provider, not just the one it had been locked to.
I'll use t-mobile & AT&T for example: If I use my AT&T sim card in my t-mobile branded mytouch4g, AT&T's system cannot detect what kind of device I'm using.
I like that because AT&T's data plans for smartphones are extremely limited, with 5GB/month being the highest one. (also costs something like $50/month.)
BUT they have an unlimited data plan with no softcap for regular phones for $10/month!
I've been subscribed to it while using the mytouch4g for the last six months & used a t-mobile blackberry with it before that.
It's nice not having to worry about overages.. but as you probably know, t-mobile & AT&T use different 3g frequencies so even though my data is unlimited, it's locked to EDGE speeds.
Now finally, to the question!
I just bought a Samsung Google Nexus S for AT&T. How can I modify it so that it does NOT transmit it's IMEI or serial number or whatever it sends that lets AT&T know what kind of phone it is? I don't think just rooting will do it.
I was thinking.. Since there's a t-mobile version too, maybe there was something that could hide or rewrite its identity information. Or maybe someone knows how to manually edit it so that it can send a fake IMEI/serial/whatever.
It'd be cool to be able to use the Nexus so that I can stop waiting for EDGE lol
erinferreira said:
Hey. I need to know if anyone knows how to do this.. I need some help.
When you subsidy unlock a phone or root an android, you can use a sim card from any service provider, not just the one it had been locked to.
I'll use t-mobile & AT&T for example: If I use my AT&T sim card in my t-mobile branded mytouch4g, AT&T's system cannot detect what kind of device I'm using.
I like that because AT&T's data plans for smartphones are extremely limited, with 5GB/month being the highest one. (also costs something like $50/month.)
BUT they have an unlimited data plan with no softcap for regular phones for $10/month!
I've been subscribed to it while using the mytouch4g for the last six months & used a t-mobile blackberry with it before that.
It's nice not having to worry about overages.. but as you probably know, t-mobile & AT&T use different 3g frequencies so even though my data is unlimited, it's locked to EDGE speeds.
Now finally, to the question!
I just bought a Samsung Google Nexus S for AT&T. How can I modify it so that it does NOT transmit it's IMEI or serial number or whatever it sends that lets AT&T know what kind of phone it is? I don't think just rooting will do it.
I was thinking.. Since there's a t-mobile version too, maybe there was something that could hide or rewrite its identity information. Or maybe someone knows how to manually edit it so that it can send a fake IMEI/serial/whatever.
It'd be cool to be able to use the Nexus so that I can stop waiting for EDGE lol
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Click to collapse
you can't.
maxib123 said:
you can't.
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Click to collapse
actually it's quite possible.. almost anything you could want to do on android is. I figured out how already.
i currently have a nexus 4. i walked into a retail att store and asked for a microsim card and they handed one over free of charge. first off, i'd like to clarify if this sim will work in a nexus 5. is there an LTE specific sim that i'll need? or can i just swap from the n4 to the n5?
second, i'm currently using the $60/month gophone plan. i had to spoof an s4 imei with customer service in order to get proper hspa+ speeds. can i just leave everything as is (assuming my sim is good to go for a simple swap) and i'll get LTE speeds? well, not leave quite everything... i assume i'll need to switch from the phone to the pta apn, but other than that, will i be good to go?
i wanna be sure my transition to the n5 goes as smoothly as possible.
You should be good to go.
If they provisioned your current micro SIM for an S4 then you would already have the LTE SOC associated with that SIM.
All you need to do is pop in your SIM once you get the Nexus 5 and enter the right APN and you should be set.
What I'd watch out for though is when they do an IMEI sweep, if AT&T can read it as a Nexus 5 (or a generic smartphone) they will provision your account as such and you'll be put on a 3G data plan (which is the default for a smartphone they don't carry). This will cause you to have to get a new SIM and have customer service provision your account as an S4 again.
Full disclosure, I'm a former AT&T store manager (left a little over a year ago) and I've seen this sorta thing happen before. If you're on go phone, unfortunately you don't have as much leeway as a post paid customer when it comes to both customer service in store or over the phone. Personally, I'd tell them you had an LG G2 (D800) as the model number will be pretty similar, so that can help you get swapped back easier should they screw up your account.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Hi, I got weird issue on my hand. I activated my Nexus 5 (Google Play) on Ringplus for a month and then cancelled. After a while I tried activating with them again and I couldn't. Called CS and they told me my Nexus 5 needed to be activated on Sprint because of Sprint's Policy. Can they do that even if the phone was bought from Google instead of Sprint itself?
Call them again because that was the case but is NO LONGER. People cried foul and Sprint unblocked the Nexus 5 but other high end phones, HTC One and such are still blocked from MVNOs.
Sprint can do whatever they want especially since it's a CDMA network. They have full control over which device gets on the network.
I called Sprint's CS and they told me my phone was Blacklisted and I can only use it with them. Is there a way around this? Because that is unfair.
desudecchi said:
I called Sprint's CS and they told me my phone was Blacklisted and I can only use it with them. Is there a way around this? Because that is unfair.
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I know this is not the answer you are looking for - but you should just dump Sprint.
I started a thread a while ago about how I had been on Sprint for years, got a Nexus 5, tried a Straight Talk AT&T SIM, and was blown away by how much better the coverage and data was. Also, all of these activation woes go away when you leave Sprint and its MVNOs - you just stick a SIM card in and it works!
You might want to look at the various Tmobile and AT&T MVNOs. If you could state what your needs are (calls and data), I could make a suggestion/recommendation.
ronwi2 said:
I know this is not the answer you are looking for - but you should just dump Sprint.
I started a thread a while ago about how I had been on Sprint for years, got a Nexus 5, tried a Straight Talk AT&T SIM, and was blown away by how much better the coverage and data was. Also, all of these activation woes go away when you leave Sprint and its MVNOs - you just stick a SIM card in and it works!
You might want to look at the various Tmobile and AT&T MVNOs. If you could state what your needs are (calls and data), I could make a suggestion/recommendation.
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Click to collapse
My Bro currently has T-mobile and I might go with him. i found this online: "This puts these newly Blacklisted Devices in what we are calling a “Black Hole” Status when non-Active where Sprint where they will be unusable until manually sent to Sprint’s BYOSD Department to override the errors and manually convert back to Sprint".
I think this is the problem I am currently experiencing with my LG Nexus 5's ESN.
I broke my current phone "optimus zone" and i am looking for a new phone so i decided to get the galaxy s3 well im on verizon prepaid so i need a galaxy s3 that will work on prepaid verizonm and i need it to be rooted so i can use as a hotspot. i did some research and found that the i535 can be flashed to verizon prepaid "I Think" and it can also be rooted.
so i did some looking on ebay and found 3 things
1 i535 verizon unlocked - i looked at what a unlocked phone was and found out it just means it can be used with any compatable service provider. Can this be used with verizon and if so how?
2 i535 verizon - If i got this one can it be flashed to verizon prepaid? Can it get 4g on prepaid?
3 i710 sprint - i already ordered a sprint flashed to verizon prepaid one and found out u needed add on apps to use the sms and it cant get 4g so im woundering , if the' i535 verizon would be a better choice. i would have to learn to flash but thats no big deal.. i havent recieved the one i ordered yet but when i do i think im going to return it...
I have looked all over and can not figure out if the verizon i535 will get 4g after its flashed to verizon prepaid and i havent found out 100% that it can be flashed to verizon prepaid. Im posative it can be rooted i think lol. Or can i buy a unlocked i535 and use it on verizon prepaid somehow, easier than learning to flash???
Just sign up with Page Plus. They've been offering Verizon 4G LTE for a month now
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
I can't get survice with anyone but verizon i dout page will work in my area. And I'm not really really consurned about 4g i just hate to have a sprint phone that only gets 3g if the same phone on another carrier can get 4g... but i just need to know yes pr no can the i535 be flashed to prepaid verizon?? And if it can it be used on 4g or only 3g like the sprint one after flash... i live in a rural area and i bairley get signal as it is... i hear that this page plus provider uses verizon towers.. i don't understand does that mean it will get the exact same signal as verizon prepaid cuz that's thr ONLY provider i can use.. pleas let me knoq if the i535 can be flashed to prepaid verizon and can it get 4g yes or no please let me know I'm without a phone and really need to know what to do... i feel like i made a mistake buying the sprint one...
Sent from my LG-VS410PP using XDA Free mobile app
If they're truly Verizon towers I'd say page plus should work fine. I was told however by a guy with a local shop (I live in the boonies), that because we have so many towers around here that are owned by a regional carrier appalacian wireless that have an agreement with Big Red, that page plus would Roam more whereas Selectel wouldn't. Now, I don't know if the guy was telling the truth or not. I do know from Selectel's website that if you sign someone up to selectel and that person continues to use Selectel and re-ups through the website or whereever, the original person who signed you up gets a cut of the profits. Page Plus may not offer such a deal, so I don't actually know 100% either way. I'm looking to find something cheaper than Big Red myself. I have two phones with them at the moment with a bill of 105.00 or 107.00 but with only 250Mb of data and 1GB free for a year. I can get by with little to no data, I really don't use much, but I'd like to have it available should I need to go out of town and use the internet or use navigation which I suspect would drink the data. I know you can pre download maps with many apps these days though.
Let me know what you find out. I have the Verizon sch-i535 sgs3 with a broken power button but otherwise it's a good phone. Still does what I need it to, and development hasn't stopped yet, it's still going pretty strong on the aosp side..
Edit: I recently had my phone flashed to selectel wireless. If you have a cdma phone you can do the activation from their website. However, I think it must be a phone without a sim such as a DX or DX2. a cdma only phone. I had to take my s3 to a local selectel dealer who did the flash and got me on selectel. I went with selectel because it will roam on the regional towers in my area albiet voice and texting only not data. So, when roaming I won't have data. Pageplus from what I've read on both their site and another forum will roam but they will charge you quite a bit to do so. If you don't have the issue of roaming like I do and are near verizon towers all the time, I'd probably go with another MVNO.
I tried tracfone BYOP with my DX2 and spent a small fortune in service and gas going from here to there trying to get it activated. First they said to go to a town about 25min away from home. I did this and no dice. I called them twice using a wifi app (hangouts) and spent about 4 hours in this town trying to get the activation to work to no avail. I called again from home and was told to go to another town about an hour away. The next day I did just that. They had me dial *22891 *22801 this time activation went smooth and I was able to use data and make and receive calls perfectly. If I had known this in the closer town it would have worked there but the rep never told me that. To top things off when I got home I had no service at all. Zip None. When I called I was told that a BYOP android phone would not roam on the regional towers although a feature phone would. I was also told incorrectly I believe that if I had purchased an android tracfone from a local store that it would roam. This too from what I've read is incorrect. No android tracfone will roam on regional towers, they will only work on genuine verizon towers. I was hoping to purchase the moto e from ebay with a 400min card which tripled to 1200 min for 99 bucks. This would have been a great deal since the 400 min card alone is around 90. I never did find out the entire truth about roaming with tracfone android phones. But from what I read on the other forum and another site dedicated to tracfones, that they would not roam period. What a freaking ripoff. The same goes for a lot of other MVNO's they simply won't roam. Even Verizon perpaid phones won't work on any towers other than verizon. Again, this came from someone who supposedly had experience with this.
The bottom line is beware of MVNO's if you require roaming. Straight talk may or may not work I do not know if they roam or not. But either way selectel was cheaper. Granted it sucks that I can't get data when roaming but at least I can make and receive calls and texts. At least SMS. I haven't tried MMS and I'm guessing it won't work due to it requiring data. Remember your results may vary and I'd certainly like to hear from others who use a MVNO that is Verizon based. Or even MVNO that is ATT based ATT's coverage map says there's coverage in my area, and i know there is across the stateline where I live. A friend used to have an ATT phone a few years back and he had zero service when he crossed the line by about a half a mile, probably out of range of the ATT tower. He now has NET10 using ATT and has the same coverage.
Good luck and keep me posted please on this.
Thanks
I don't wunt page plus i need to be able to use on verizons prepayed network... can the i535 be flashed to prepayed verizon.. or is there some way to use a verizon sim to get prepayed please let me know thank you
Sent from my LG-VS410PP using XDA Free mobile app
Just received my SIM card from straight talk for the i535 all I did was go to straight talk web site activate the phone using the phone imei number then start phone with SIM card installed> Once SIM card was activated I restarted the phone and had LTE with no need to setup APN settings.
I just shut off the verizon service right before setting up the phone on ST so I do not know if thats has effected anything but hopefully it doesn't.
Also I had to contact Straight Talk using their facebook page to get the SIM card and it was shipped for free.
highspeedfelon said:
Just received my SIM card from straight talk for the i535 all I did was go to straight talk web site activate the phone using the phone imei number then start phone with SIM card installed> Once SIM card was activated I restarted the phone and had LTE with no need to setup APN settings.
I just shut off the verizon service right before setting up the phone on ST so I do not know if thats has effected anything but hopefully it doesn't.
Also I had to contact Straight Talk using their facebook page to get the SIM card and it was shipped for free.
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Click to collapse
Good to know, I get my sim card from straight talk tomorrow. I didn't imagine it was that hard to setup. You did the smart thing and went to facebook, like an idiot I called them and it took well over a week for them to send it
From my CM11 S3
ShapesBlue said:
Good to know, I get my sim card from straight talk tomorrow. I didn't imagine it was that hard to setup. You did the smart thing and went to facebook, like an idiot I called them and it took well over a week for them to send it
From my CM11 S3
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Click to collapse
Oh it took them a while to send it to me also. I had even told them to cancel it and thats when I went to Verizon. I was told at one point that the SIM cards should be in stores around December 5th,
highspeedfelon said:
Oh it took them a while to send it to me also. I had even told them to cancel it and thats when I went to Verizon. I was told at one point that the SIM cards should be in stores around December 5th,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea the kit they sell at Walmart doesn't currently include it only the T-Mobile and AT&T sims which we can't use. Mine will Thankfully be here today
From my CM11 S3
Can you explain what you mean by "shut off Verizon services*?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
A0425A said:
Can you explain what you mean by "shut off Verizon services*?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
What he's saying is he had a VZW phone on VZW and cancelled his service to go with Straight Talk I believe
canodroid15 said:
What he's saying is he had a VZW phone on VZW and cancelled his service to go with Straight Talk I believe
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Click to collapse
That's correct. I am now with straight talk with a VZW S3
All I had to do was get the sim card from straight talk and call them to activate it. It was a pretty simple process
From my CM11 S3
So you didn't have to hack the phone or anything?? Verizon is CDMA and Straight Talk is GSM, how did that work? Especially without setting up a new APN?
Oh and did you get the AT&T or TMobile sim? I think straight talk still has the option for either.
jayjr1105 said:
So you didn't have to hack the phone or anything?? Verizon is CDMA and Straight Talk is GSM, how did that work? Especially without setting up a new APN?
Oh and did you get the AT&T or TMobile sim? I think straight talk still has the option for either.
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Click to collapse
It does but straight talk told me the AT&T and T-Mobile sims won't work for this phone. They sent me a CDMA specific sim card, and cmda phones will indeed work on straight talk, not every single one but most
And no I didn't have to do anything with the phone, didn't have to edit apn settings or anything. I'm still running off the Verizon network
From my CM11 S3
ShapesBlue said:
It does but straight talk told me the AT&T and T-Mobile sims won't work for this phone. They sent me a CDMA specific sim card, and cmda phones will indeed work on straight talk, not every single one but most
And no I didn't have to do anything with the phone, didn't have to edit apn settings or anything. I'm still running off the Verizon network
From my CM11 S3
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Click to collapse
Wait, Straight Talk has Verizon SIM's now??? Meaning Verizon is one of their MVNO's? I always thought it was just TMobile and AT&T and Tracfone leased off Sprint for CDMA based phones.
jayjr1105 said:
Wait, Straight Talk has Verizon SIM's now??? Meaning Verizon is one of their MVNO's? I always thought it was just TMobile and AT&T and Tracfone leased off Sprint for CDMA based phones.
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Click to collapse
Tracphone owns straight talk for one. It's a straight talk sim... But they piggy back off all 4 networks. VZW, ATT, TMobile and sprint
From my CM11 S3
Deleted
Sent from my SGH-I747, SCH-s968c, or my Exhibit2 4g from somewhere in BAMA!
What type of speeds you getting with straight talk on the 4G LTE VZW network? Speedtest?
bigstack said:
What type of speeds you getting with straight talk on the 4G LTE VZW network? Speedtest?
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Are you referring to me?
I was. However I hooked my Old S3 up for a family member. I can confirm that the VZW S3 will get 4G LTE on the Verizon network with the CDMA Sim that comes with the starter pack. Ran a speed test at full signal strength and had an initial burst for ~9-10 mbs and stabilized at ~5mb both up and down. This is way more than the user of the phone will need but also not a bad number.
For comparison sake my personal phone on a VZW unlimited plan still gets 40+ mbs during speed tests in the same location. Appears that ST is speed limited but at 5mbs still more than 99.9% of users will ever need/notice at one time.
bigstack said:
I was. However I hooked my Old S3 up for a family member. I can confirm that the VZW S3 will get 4G LTE on the Verizon network with the CDMA Sim that comes with the starter pack. Ran a speed test at full signal strength and had an initial burst for ~9-10 mbs and stabilized at ~5mb both up and down. This is way more than the user of the phone will need but also not a bad number.
For comparison sake my personal phone on a VZW unlimited plan still gets 40+ mbs during speed tests in the same location. Appears that ST is speed limited but at 5mbs still more than 99.9% of users will ever need/notice at one time.
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Yea I'm not worried about speed as I'm 99% of the time on wifi so I could care less now. The initial starter pack didn't come with the CDMA sim. Card which is a pain but now it does
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2
Quick question for those that have done this already - I have just ordered the Galaxy S3 I535 from walmart because i'm cheap and it was on special - Would it be wise to at least activate the phone on Verizon and entering the details on ST's site to make sure it will work before getting the sim or just ordering it (they are on special right now for .99c) I'm glad they are doing the CDMA sims because i had read that folks were only getting edge for data using the AT&T sims and was prepared to limit myself to being on the Verizon prepaid plan and just sucking it up...
warlordxxx said:
Quick question for those that have done this already - I have just ordered the Galaxy S3 I535 from walmart because i'm cheap and it was on special - Would it be wise to at least activate the phone on Verizon and entering the details on ST's site to make sure it will work before getting the sim or just ordering it (they are on special right now for .99c) I'm glad they are doing the CDMA sims because i had read that folks were only getting edge for data using the AT&T sims and was prepared to limit myself to being on the Verizon prepaid plan and just sucking it up...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If its the prepaid version it may not work, the prepaid version doesn't utilize a sim card where as the contract version does
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2
Thanks Shapes it's the prepaid but i'll wait til it gets here and check it out
warlordxxx said:
Thanks Shapes it's the prepaid but i'll wait til it gets here and check it out
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Probably a good idea. I'm truly unsure if it will work or not. I have the S3 contract version and it works great on straight talk. Another user informed me the prepaid version doesn't utilize a sim which in most cases at least for VZW means no 4G
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2