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[Q] Droid 2 Global 3G Bands outside the US

Hi all. I've just found out about this brilliant phone. Had no idea it existed. I've always liked the Motorola Milestone (qwerty physical keyboards are a must to me) however i ended up getting the wrong version of the milestone (european) with the wrong 3G bands for my carrier so i could only get Edge speeds.
Anyways, it seems like the Droid 2 Global version uses simcards. I live in the Dominican Republic, Claro (my carrier) runs on the 850/1900 bands and it seems like the D2G can work with them, in theory. I've been reading a couple of threads regarding this though, it seems like those bands have been locked out by verizon so people don't use it on other US carriers such as AT&T which happens to run on the same bands i need (850/1900). But others say its the carrier ID that has been locked out. I read something about a user being able to get 3G speeds on Chile, but i've no idea what bands he was using.
What i want to know is, if i ordered a Droid 2 Global phone, would i be getting 3G speeds using my Claro simcard here after having it sim-unlocked?
There's also the Milestone 2 of course, but they seem to cost $500+ plus they dont specify which bands the phone works with. I dont want to end up buying the wrong phone version again. Also, It seemsl ike the droid 2 global is being sold for a less ($300-400).

XtriFe said:
Hi all. I've just found out about this brilliant phone. Had no idea it existed. I've always liked the Motorola Milestone (qwerty physical keyboards are a must to me) however i ended up getting the wrong version of the milestone (european) with the wrong 3G bands for my carrier so i could only get Edge speeds.
Anyways, it seems like the Droid 2 Global version uses simcards. I live in the Dominican Republic, Claro (my carrier) runs on the 850/1900 bands and it seems like the D2G can work with them, in theory. I've been reading a couple of threads regarding this though, it seems like those bands have been locked out by verizon so people don't use it on other US carriers such as AT&T which happens to run on the same bands i need (850/1900). But others say its the carrier ID that has been locked out. I read something about a user being able to get 3G speeds on Chile, but i've no idea what bands he was using.
What i want to know is, if i ordered a Droid 2 Global phone, would i be getting 3G speeds using my Claro simcard here after having it sim-unlocked?
There's also the Milestone 2 of course, but they seem to cost $500+ plus they dont specify which bands the phone works with. I dont want to end up buying the wrong phone version again. Also, It seemsl ike the droid 2 global is being sold for a less ($300-400).
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http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_droid_2_global-3636.php
read the spec

I am using my SIM-unlocked D2G fine here, on a carrier that uses 850MHz UMTS.
The Milestone 2, as far as I know, is still only available in a 900/2100 UMTS variant so far.
From what I gather, the lock Verizon put on the radio to prevent use on US GSM carriers is based on the MCC (mobile country code) number associated with networks based in the USA, and not the frequencies themselves. In effect, once unlocked the phone will work with any GSM provider (on a supported frequency), except those based in the U.S. This would explain why the AT&T 850MHz network (MCC 301) doesn't work, whereas the Telstra 850MHz network I use (MCC 505) does.
One complication about buying a Droid 2 Global now, is that from various reports on this forum, some devices don't respond to their SIM unlock codes (!) and are effectively unlockable. If I were buying a D2G now for use on a GSM carrier, I'd only buy one that has already been unlocked - wouldn't want to take the chance on getting a phone that is unlockable. This might be why some are being listed for dirt cheap!

helmutiffe said:
I am using my SIM-unlocked D2G fine here, on a carrier that uses 850MHz UMTS.
From what I gather, the lock Verizon put on the radio to prevent use on US GSM carriers is based on the MCC (mobile country code) number associated with networks based in the USA, and not the frequencies themselves. In effect, once unlocked the phone will work with any GSM provider (on a supported frequency), except those based in the U.S. This would explain why the AT&T 850MHz network (MCC 301) doesn't work, whereas the Telstra 850MHz network I use (MCC 505) does.
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Brilliant, thats what i wanted to know, many thanks !
helmutiffe said:
One complication about buying a Droid 2 Global now, is that from various reports on this forum, some devices don't respond to their SIM unlock codes (!) and are effectively unlockable. If I were buying a D2G now for use on a GSM carrier, I'd only buy one that has already been unlocked - wouldn't want to take the chance on getting a phone that is unlockable. This might be why some are being listed for dirt cheap!
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Click to collapse
Wow thats not good is it. Thanks for the advice, i'll make sure the phone is unlocked. I've never really understood how phones are unlocked by third party anyways. But I understand you can have them unlocked by giving verizon a call and under certain conditions, they'll provide the unlock code for free.

I was in the Dominican Republic last week with my D2G and it worked perfectly (unlocked using Rogers Canada service). Claro service sucked a bit (coverage wise) but worked fine (3G), Orange (EDGE) seemed a bit better where I was.
I am pretty sure you will be fine AS LONG AS you get unlockable/unlocked D2G.

ok one last question,
does anyone know if a droid with bad esn will work ok with a different carrier's simcard if unlocked?
I would assume droids with bad esn will be going for cheaper on ebay

bas esn mean d phone could be stolen so it will b a hassle to clear the esn

How can one know if the phone has a bad ESN? Just wondering.

TripleMPower said:
How can one know if the phone has a bad ESN? Just wondering.
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Obtain the esn from whomever you are purchasing from. Then ask Verizon regarding the esn you were provided.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk

but wouldnt you only need a clear ESN if you're going to use the phone with CDMA? or would that affect GSM usage as well ? (simcards)

According to the eBay listing I bought mine from, it has a bad ESN (at least, it explicitly stated "will not activate on Verizon") - but the GSM/UMTS radio works fine.

helmutiffe said:
According to the eBay listing I bought mine from, it has a bad ESN (at least, it explicitly stated "will not activate on Verizon") - but the GSM/UMTS radio works fine.
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Click to collapse
Bad ESN will only affect use on Verizon and its MNVOs (possibly). GSM networks will work fine. Just remember though if it's not already unlocked, and the ebay unlocker codes don't work, it will probably be near impossible getting verizon to give you the code for a phone with bad esn.

thanks for the info. I''ll look for unlocked plus bad ESN phones on ebay and see if theyre any cheaper

[Q] Nexus S (i9023) not working with AT&T in the US?

That's what wikipedia said:
but noted that the device can only be used with T-Mobile in the U.S. and is not 4G compatible.
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Can anybody confirm this?
Why should it only work with t-mobile?
I got my phone from amazon, no branding whatsoever, carrier info EUR.
Asides from the display, 9020 and 9023 are the same right, so it wouldn't matter which one I own?
The thing is, I'll be in the US for several weeks and I was hoping I could use my phone for navigation. And at&t has a prepaid offer where you get 500 MB for $25, I couldn't really find anything like that from t-mobile, maybe they don't have a good mobile data offer on prepaid, maybe I just can't find it because their homepage sucks so much..
Would be really great if somebody could tell me with which networks you can definitely use the Nexus S in the States!
Oh, and if you happen to know any better/superior prepaid offers, I'll be happy to hear..

royalmitkaese said:
That's what wikipedia said:
Can anybody confirm this?
Why should it only work with t-mobile?
I got my phone from amazon, no branding whatsoever, carrier info EUR.
Asides from the display, 9020 and 9023 are the same right, so it wouldn't matter which one I own?
The thing is, I'll be in the US for several weeks and I was hoping I could use my phone for navigation. And at&t has a prepaid offer where you get 500 MB for $25, I couldn't really find anything like that from t-mobile, maybe they don't have a good mobile data offer on prepaid, maybe I just can't find it because their homepage sucks so much..
Would be really great if somebody could tell me with which networks you can definitely use the Nexus S in the States!
Oh, and if you happen to know any better/superior prepaid offers, I'll be happy to hear..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The i9023 will support the GSM bands only (Edge) not the HSPA bands for AT&T. You'll get Edge/GPRS with an AT&T Sim, but not 3G.
There are 2 versions of the i9020 - the i9020 for the AWS 3G bands (T-Mobile US and most of the world) and the i9020a (850/1900 HSPA bands) for AT&T and some Canadian carriers.
The i9023 should work fine with T-Mobile in the US for 3G data.

Actually, we are in China, there is 9020A for Canada ROGERS, the phone can support china 3G 2100 HSPA bands.

[Q] Factory unlocks, ebay and international carriers.

Hello gents, I'll start with a short story to get you into the thread:
Me and my girlfriend live in Venezuela, our service providers are not up to par with american or european carriers in terms of available devices, so we bought an HTC Magic for each of us last year to try out Android, everything was fine, I learned how to root it, install roms and such, and we had a pretty good run with the phone and the OS.
Last week we got robbed and they took away our phones, I decided to get a Nexus S for her and I found one at a good price on eBay(270$+shipping) however this one is branded for Sprint, will I be able to go to my service provider and just tell them to attach my account to the phone I bought on ebay? or are the Sprint and Verizon Nexus S locked to those carriers exclusively?
If the answer to the second question is yes, then a third question is raised, can I in any way unlock this phone to use it on my non-american service provider?
I have seen other threads and the replies are always "the Nexus S is factory unlocked." but I dont know if this refers exclusively to the ones sold in the UK or retail stores in the US.
I apologize for any noobish behaviour, I'm a big fan of devices and gadgets yet I lack a lot of the technical skills you all seem to demonstrate.
Thanks in advance.
-Gaash

There is no such thing as a Verizon Nexus S. Sprint Nexus S have different radio bands than the regular Nexus S (I9020T/I9020A/I9023) and features a 4G radio with it. You have to make sure that the phone is compatible with your carrier's bands. Another thing to note is that the Sprint Nexus S is CDMA (No SIM card) as well.
All Nexus S models come unlocked regardless if you're on the contract or not. Sorry to hear about your incident

The model I bought is GT-I9020T, according to people on the internet(random links on google) this model works on GSM frequencies of 850, 900, 1800, & 1900. It supports UMTS 900, 1700, and 2100 frequencies.
My current provider works on 850 and 1900 for GSM and 850 for CDMA.
Do you think I will have trouble using the phone I bought for my girl?
I feel terribly dumb when I ask this, I cant explain why, hehe.

Oh, I think I figured it out, I bought for her the non branded GSM version, so yes, it will probably work on my provider.
But what happens if I buy a Sprint CDMA one for myself? Those are definitely cheaper, and CDMA seems to be better down here, at least more stable.
Thanks for your replies, and simpathy, it's been a rough week without a smartphone for both of us.

Gaash said:
Oh, I think I figured it out, I bought for her the non branded GSM version, so yes, it will probably work on my provider.
But what happens if I buy a Sprint CDMA one for myself? Those are definitely cheaper, and CDMA seems to be better down here, at least more stable.
Thanks for your replies, and simpathy, it's been a rough week without a smartphone for both of us.
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I'm not sure and I wouldn't say the CDMA version is more stable. I personally never used the Nexus S 4G but from what I can tell from threads is that there are problems with WiFi or something of that sort.
You might want to ask the carrier yourself via phone to see if it would be compatible or so. Just let them know about the bands the phone supports.
And that's interesting if your carrier supports CDMA and GSM.
CDMA = No SIM card
GSM = SIM card
GSM is more popular around the world. Just including that just incase!

Alright, so I talked to my carrier they said the following:
-If I buy a CDMA phone with no contract on the US I will be able to register it on their network.
-If I buy an unlocked GSM phone I can register it on their network.
I guess I'll have to buy a couple of GSMs just to be sure... even tho they are about 100$ more expensive.
Thanks for all the replies, catch you later!

Mobile phone for italy

Xda Dear friends, I want to understand something, I would buy a phone from the states, the problem of the consignment through baipassato very useful website (viaddress) I find myself having to choose between the various types of cell present them with the board, without board, t-mobile, verizon, unlooked, etc., which can also be used in Italy?

Anything unlocked GSM with 850/1900 HSPA frequencies (aka AT&T frequencies).
But why are you ordering from the US? Surely the unlocked prices are much better from elsewhere in Europe.

so long as it's unlooked, because of the vast majority unlooked not report if they are at & t or verizon or t-moblile, says only unloked

ulkika said:
so long as it's unlooked, because of the vast majority unlooked not report if they are at & t or verizon or t-moblile, says only unloked
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Click to collapse
Sorry having trouble understanding...
Phones in the US are rarely unlocked. They're almost always carrier locked devices.
Not to mention that ordering from the US severely cuts your choices down. The only phones that'll work in Italy are from AT&T. Verizon and Sprint are CDMA, and T-Mobile operates on different frequencies.
If you're in Italy looking for a device, the US is the wrong place to look.

I apologize but I had a t-mobile htc hd2 and it worked well but not great compared all'hd2 I've had since, as you said?

Also, several people in Italy are selling t-mobile, if as you say they work on different bands why we find them for sale.

not 'not true that mobile phones are cheaper in Europe, especially for used here in Italy is still a well spent money.

T-Mobile in Europe (run by Deutsche Telekom) is different from T-Mobile US.
Every carrier in Europe (with few exceptions) are running on 850/1900 HSPA+ (or within normal quadband UMTS). Buying a T-Mobile branded phone from the US means that it will not get 3G on your networks in Europe. T-Mo US branded phones in the US have AWS for HSPA+ (that's 1700/2100).
As I've said earlier and said in my reply to your PM, buying from the US market will not save you any money, and it will cause more problems for you. Retailers do not sell unlocked phones in the US. They're locked, and you will have even less of a selection because only AT&T has compatible bands for you. T-Mobile US, Sprint, and Verizon phones will not work for you in Italy.
As I said before and in my PM, just buy from Europe. You'll get an unlocked device that will work for your networks, and won't have to deal with hassles of importing form outside the EU. There are tons of quality importers, such as www.handtec.com, www.clove.com, www.expansys.com, and others. There's a reason why people who want cheaper unlocked phones for the US buy from Europe....
Prices are not lower in the US.

European smartphone in USA (3G/LTE)

Hello.
Like in 2013, I'm going to spend summer in USA and I need help with solving one problem. I'm living in Poland and we are using 1900/2100 UMTS. Of course I bought my GT-I9100 here and it works really well in all European countries, but not in USA. Last summer, I bought prepaid card from SimpleMobile (T-Mobile) and I had to use EDGE (2G) for two months. I wasn't prepere for that. But I want to be smarter this year and get some informations from you What should I do to have 3G/LTE in USA as well as in Poland? I was thinking about changing phone to Lumia 920. If I'll buy this phone in Poland, will it works in USA? I mean 3G/LTE of course. Or maybe I should buy american version of this phone, but I'm not sure if it will work with Polish 1900/2100? Or maybe I just chose wrong prepaid plan and that's why it didn't work?
I depend upon to you guys and I would be very grateful for your help
Sorry for my english