Hello! I have been at this for a week now.
This is my situation, I bought a fully unlocked dual sim wcdma phone (Mpie 909T) running 4.4.2 KitKat.
I want to use this phone on my straight talk plan, but I only get service from Verizon wireless where I live.
I did some searching and found that I could use a R-UIM card to pick up signal from Verizon BUT I can not find where to buy one at (unless I buy bulk for a couple hundo). So I'm at a loss. I didn't realize that I didn't get service from at&t or T-Mobile till I got the phone and went to the straight talk site and it told me to buy a sim card activation kit, (checked on AT&T site to make sure I would have service and it showed that I would)... so I went and bought the kit only to find out that they actually don't have service out here. ? so if there is no way to find a r-uim card, would there be a way to change the radio frequencies in the phone? But I would also need a MEID # to activate on straight talk CDMA (Verizon towers). Or can I get one of those sim read/writer kits on eBay and program it to work?
I have not rooted the phone yet.
PLEASE HELP!!! I love this phone!!
I've been using the phone via WiFi from my old dx2 that's currently active.
Sadly, you cannot access a CDMA2000 network like Verizon's from a device that does not have a CDMA2000 transceiver. CDMA2000 is technologically incompatible with GSM and UMTS (sometimes called WCDMA). There are some dual mode devices, but Verizon explicitly forbids non-Verizon devices on their network. Even if you could somehow get a RUIM for Verizon, and their blessing to use it, your phone would not work unless it specifically has a CDMA transceiver in it. (remember, CDMA and WCDMA are not the same)
You need a device that supports not only the right technologies, but also the right frequencies. Most Dual-SIM phones are based exclusively on GSM and UMTS/WCDMA, and often operate on frequencies that are not comparable with US GSM operators. AT&T operates on GSM850, GSM1900, UMTS850, UMTS1900, and several bands of LTE. T-mobile operates on GSM1900, UMTS1700, UMTS1900, and several bands of LTE as well. However, most networks outside the Americas use GSM900, GSM1800, UMTS2100, and LTE800, 1800, and 2600.
You can use a site called GSMArena to check which bands your device has. If you want to use a CDMA carrier (Verizon, Sprint, and many rural operators in the US), you generally have to buy a phone with their branding or one of their partners.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news
I have similar question. Since I am currently using ST with a Verizon phone ( CDMA) could I buy a new phone to replace current one ? And does it need to be another CDMA phone? And what is LOCKED/UNLOCKED have to do with it ?
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Free mobile app
This is a very large problem. I am in the same boat. Up here, we have Verizon,and ATT. that's it. My first phone here was ATT. worked great in town. As soon as I got to my house dead.,... I bought a Nexus 6 popped the Verizon SIM in it called straight talk they registered me on Verizon's network and boom Full LTE, and VoLTE. My issue now though is I want to try other devices and it seems that the N6 is literally the only non branded phone I can use. There are some awesome new Chinese devices I would love to try and on paper have the correct signals but still claim no Verizon. I am frustrated and stumped after weeks of research and conflicting reports. Does anyone know what is going on? Thanks in advance
Related
Hello,
I am a noob at this so please bear with me.
I have a Telus TP2 and I have unlocked it using the software provided by Olipro.
My objective is to switch my network over to Telus' new UMTS network, using one of their sim cards. Right now it is functioning on Telus' CDMA network.
My question is: Do I need to flash a new Radio to accomplish this? My phone still has the 2.05.00 WV radio on it now. I just need to know if I need to go get a WU radio in order to use Telus' new network.
Thanks in advance.
Hedake said:
Hello,
I am a noob at this so please bear with me.
I have a Telus TP2 and I have unlocked it using the software provided by Olipro.
My objective is to switch my network over to Telus' new UMTS network, using one of their sim cards. Right now it is functioning on Telus' CDMA network.
My question is: Do I need to flash a new Radio to accomplish this? My phone still has the 2.05.00 WV radio on it now. I just need to know if I need to go get a WU radio in order to use Telus' new network.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Telus TP2 supports UMTS 2100.
Telus uses UMTS 850/1900 for its 3G network.
In order to get the TP2 running on the UMTS network you'll want to grab a ATT GSM variant from the states and unlock that.
IIRC, Telus is jumping straight to WCDMA/UMTS so it won't be supporting the standard GSM bands. If that's the case, then your Telus TP2 variant won't have anything to lock onto when it is in "GSM Mode."
Ah dang, I guess I didn't really need to unlock the sim on my phone then because it won't work on Telus' UMTS network...
Oh well, if I decide to go back to Rogers I believe that the Telus TP2 will operate on their GSM network.
Follow up question:
Do I need to get an unlocked Radio to use the Telus TP2 on Rogers' GSM network or will the 2.05.00WV one that I have on now work?
yes, you'll need a WU unlocked radio in order to access GSM radios in the states, and canada as well, i believe.
You can find the link here:
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=578659
Hedake said:
Ah dang, I guess I didn't really need to unlock the sim on my phone then because it won't work on Telus' UMTS network...
Oh well, if I decide to go back to Rogers I believe that the Telus TP2 will operate on their GSM network.
Follow up question:
Do I need to get an unlocked Radio to use the Telus TP2 on Rogers' GSM network or will the 2.05.00WV one that I have on now work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on the specific radio firmware in the device.
If it is like the Sprint TP2, then yes, you would need a separate radio. Sprint does not SIM lock its TP2, however it ships them with crippled radio software which has the 850/1900 GSM bands disabled so that it won't work with US GSM carriers (it simply doesn't see the network).
If it is like the Verizon TP2, then no, you would not need a separate radio, though you would need a SIM unlock. Verizon doesn't cripple the radio software in its TP2. It simply uses a traditional SIM lock.
I've heard that the Telus TP2 is like the Sprint model, but I've not seen one to verify.
If you're not sure, then you can always flash the unlocked radio (assuming you're using the unlock software from Oli) and it'll work.
Hey thanks for the information gamescan. I scoured the Telus Mobility website and tried to find information about their new netowork but they just call it HSPA+. No where does it mention that it is UMTS or GSM. Oh well, now I know a little bit more about cell phone tech.
I don't even know if theres any real benefit to being on Telus' UMTS network compared to their CDMA. Im sure there has to be something....
Hedake said:
Hey thanks for the information gamescan. I scoured the Telus Mobility website and tried to find information about their new netowork but they just call it HSPA+. No where does it mention that it is UMTS or GSM. Oh well, now I know a little bit more about cell phone tech.
I don't even know if theres any real benefit to being on Telus' UMTS network compared to their CDMA. Im sure there has to be something....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quick 3G primer:
W-CDMA and UMTS are the name of the tech. It's also referred to as FOMA in Japan. Phones generally standardize on the UMTS name, so when you're poking around in your phone and see UMTS followed by a number, that indicates the frequency band that the phone will run on in 3G.
HSDPA, HSUPA and HSPA+ are all further revisions to UMTS. They allow for greater speeds on existing infrastructure so long as both the handset and tower support it.
A rough CDMA equivalent would be EVDO and EVDO Rev A. Older UMTS handsets will still work on a HSPA+ network, they just won't run on HSPA+ speeds the same as a EVDO handset will work on a Rev A network, just not at Rev A speeds.
UMTS is often referred to as "GSM" though that is a misnomer. GSM and UMTS are two separate (but concurrent) technologies. While they often exist together on networks that have been GSM and upgraded, they do not have to exist together. You can have a situation where a UMTS network exists but an underlying GSM "2G" network does not.
The most well known example of this is in Japan where GSM never rolled out, but in your case, where Telus is adding UMTS to an existing CDMA2000 network, is similar.
From a user perspective, there is no real reason for you to want to run UMTS over EVDO on Telus. Telus should have greater EVDO coverage so that's what you'll be wanting.
If you really want to run on the Telus UMTS network, look for an ATT branded Touch Pro 2 and get that. Of course that will not run on the Telus EVDO network.
Thank you again sir! I appreciate the replies.
Just curious about one thing, if Telus' new UMTS network isn't really any better than their CDMA right now, then why do they promote it as such a big deal?
I think I read that in order to evolve into the next big cellphone phase (forget the name) that this UTMS network was necessary but why would anyone care what network they are on as of today?
Also, do you know why CDMA is not the "way of the future" so to speak? I know Telus spent millions upgrading and putting in new towers all over...maybe I should go google this stuff lol.
The future is LTE (which is neither CDMA or GSM).
As for why Telus made a hop to UMTS before going to LTE, I couldn't tell you.
All I can envision is that Telus is looking to be more compatible globally with Europe and Japanese business travellers. It may also be a strategic decision to open up compatibility with more possible phone manufacturers.
Putting 1XRTT CDMA + EVDO + UMTS into a phone is an engineering pain. Adding in multiple frequency support (and properly tuning the antenna) is also a pain. HTC aside, many manufacturers are supporting GSM/UMTS because that's what carriers have. The biggest CDMA markets are the US, Canda and South Korea. While it is a lot of people, it also requires another phone variant.
By overlaying a UMTS network, Telus can suddenly work with any handset that supports UMTS 850/1900. That's what's used by ATT in the US. UMTS 850 is also popular in Australia while Europe and Japan use UMTS 2100. T-Mobile US uses UMTS 1700. Many UMTS phones offer tri-band UMTS 850/1900/2100 support. With one of those phones you can run on just about any current UMTS network in the world (excepting T-Mobile US).
Again, this is just conjecture on my part, but they are possible reasons.
I know how At&t are gonna have HSPA+ 4g, I'm confused about the new devices they're gonna have that support HSPA+. Are they going to be able to connect to HSPA+ on T-Mobile's network.
So for example, I buy an unlocked HSPA+ tablet from AT&T, straight from their store. Is it going to be able to use T-Mobile's HSPA+ network if I put a T-Mobile SIM card inside?
Also, one last question, if I use T-Mobile's SIM card, do I have to do some special stuff to get it to work on their cell network? Like how you have to unlock an iPhone for it to work on T-Mobile?
Thanks
xAliceNine said:
I know how At&t are gonna have HSPA+ 4g, I'm confused about the new devices they're gonna have that support HSPA+. Are they going to be able to connect to HSPA+ on T-Mobile's network.
So for example, I buy an unlocked HSPA+ tablet from AT&T, straight from their store. Is it going to be able to use T-Mobile's HSPA+ network if I put a T-Mobile SIM card inside?
Also, one last question, if I use T-Mobile's SIM card, do I have to do some special stuff to get it to work on their cell network? Like how you have to unlock an iPhone for it to work on T-Mobile?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
Unfortunately you will not be able to use HSPA+. HSPA+ is just an extension/revision of the current 3G. Effectively it is also called 3.5G/3.75G in some reports. They use the same 3G band of each respective company. The At&t tablet would work on 850/1900 band and T-mobile will work on their AWS (1700) band. So if you bought an At&t tablet, you may need to get it unlocked, not sure if they lock the sim on tablets. At best you would get Edge service with a T-mobile sim.
thanks man, argg
do you think it's worth it to change to at&t because I just heard of the Motorola Atrix and it sound PRETTY BAD ASS!
I don't know since people I know are always angry at AT&T for their service either..
xAliceNine said:
thanks man, argg
do you think it's worth it to change to at&t because I just heard of the Motorola Atrix and it sound PRETTY BAD ASS!
I don't know since people I know are always angry at AT&T for their service either..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NP. I have had every major carrier offered in the US. I have had at&t, t-mobile, and sprint within the last year. I had verizon a while ago and dropped them because they could never get my bill right. Honestly, the service is about the same. The question is how is the service in your area. I mainly stay in my area about 90-98% of the time. I live in a major city so all carries have great service. But I have stayed with At&t for the last few years. Every time I go to another carrier I kept my at&t service, go figure. So I would just look at coverage to where you travel the most and go with a carrier that will give you the best coverage for the best price. Do i prefer a carrier over another, yeah. I like GSM carriers better because I do like to surf and talk at the same time. Sprint can do this if your in a 4G coverage area and have a 4G phone. Verizon is a no go with this feature until they release their LTE phones. But At&t has a better coverage footprint than T-mobile that is why I stick with them. Hope it helps.
Wondering a bit about this too.
I have service through Bendbroadband using a HSPA+ SIM with USB modem Dongle by bandluxe. The service is stellar on the speed, but I can't use the dongle with everything (iPad), so looking for alternate routes before i decide to move to a different provider.
I noticed that the CTO of the company said in a comment regarding their service that any unlocked UE that supports HSPA/HSPA+ in the AWS band could be used, but also had an unclear reponse on cell phones with HSPA+.
I have a Huawei Comet (unlocked), it lists the same AWS Bands compatible, but says HSDPA (which I thought HSDPA + HSUPA = HSPA+ but at higher speeds, correct me if I am wrong), and has hotspot tether that works with tmobile web service no problem.
I plugged the SIM in, and it updates the bar with BendBroadband but I get no data. (might need to provide the IMEI or something)..
Curious if you think it should work, before i go knocking on their doors.
Some other specs:
the mytouch 4g (HSPA+) lists the bands as:850 MHz;900 MHz;1800 MHz;1900 MHz;UMTS: Band IV (1700/2100)
The comet is listed as: 850 MHz;900 MHz;1800 MHz;1900 MHz;UMTS: Band I (2100);UMTS: Band IV (1700/2100)
I am fairly sure the comet is HSPA+ but not advertised that way.
According to comments on the site, Bendbroadband technicians do not actually support moving of the SIMs. Bummer.. trying to keep my business local.. Bumping and moving to Tmobile once the month is up.
Ok, so I've searched all over and haven't had much luck. I have no experience with cdma phones, as t mobile is all I've ever had.
I was given a new US Cellular HTC Hero s. I opened it up and saw the sim slot and though, sweet I can replace my sensation with it (I smashed the screen pretty bad). Well, that was a no go, as the phone is cdma. Looking online though, I see it can run in gsm (options global mode, cdma mode, gsm / umts mode. I unlocked the bootloader using the htc site (not sure it matters) and popped in my sim card again, and tried both global and gsm mode, though neither got signal or would dial out. (under networks, it had the tmo apn info.)
So, is the GSM mode offered on this phone only for non US bands? Would a custom rom (now or down the road) allow it to work on tmo? I read something about the HTC Merge and someone being able to switch out the modem in the rom that allowed it to work in the US, but that is well beyond me. I can follow instructions, work ADB and flash roms.. but thats about it.
Is it possible, or will it soon be, to have this phone work on GSM or am I just stuck trying to sell it as a us cellular phone (or perhaps another cdma carrier.. like I said, I don't know anything about cdma)
As a Canadian I'm not sure about who owns US cellular or if they are their own company but I'm guessing they work like Verizon world phones. They have sim card slots but will work only outside of the US. If those verizon phones are used within the States, they will only pick up Verizon's frequency, as opposed to T-Mobile or AT&T where you can unlock them and use them with any GSM carrier within the States. But yeah, you can unlock it and it will work with any GSM carrier outside the States but within the States I think it will only work under US Cellular CDMA network...please correct me if I'm wrong.
That's right, u.s. cdma "world phones" have gsm radios but are locked down from connecting to gsm networks in the u.s. This is not just the normal sim lock found on gsm phones but they are hard coded to ignore u.s. gsm networks.
Some have been unlocked to work on any network through various methods including flashing a modem from a non-us varient of the same phone and other hacks. I can't comment specifically on this phone however.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Well, that points me in the right direction, and confirms what I read about swapping modems (on the other phone mentioned).
So basically it's software telling it not use a certain frequency, and not that the phone itself is incapable of picking it up (had my doubts about that)
Pretty shady the way phone companies are allowed to operate (don't get me started on my unlimited internet in my contract [pre data caps in tmo]. "Hey! check it out, this phone uses data 5 times faster than your old one, oh, and you get half as much too) sorry, end of rant.
I'll keep searching, and post if I find something..
On a side note, can cdma phones be flashed to another cdma carrier like verizon or sprint, or is it the same deal, coded to only use a certain frequency range?
only thing I've heard of is flashing sprint and verizon phones to cricket, metro pcs and boost.
Based on what I have read, given that the Rogers XT925 operates on the following bands:
Rogers version is GSM/UMTS - 850/900/1800/1900 and LTE : BAND 4 (700) and BAND 17 AWS (1700)
It is therefore impossible for it to work in the USA on Verizons network on either CDMA (which the phone does not support) or LTE (which it supports but the wrong band, Verizon supports 700 Band 13)
Can anyone confirm this? If it is possible to operate this phone on Verizon please let me know. I have a Verizon account and an AT&T account and the phone works on the AT&T account, but not the Verizon. My problem is that AT&T has recently blocked the IMEI on TWO of my Rogers phones that I travel with, with no explanation other than that they are being recognized as 2G phones and cannot get service on AT&T (which is BS, because I can roam with my Rogers SIM from my Galaxy S3 onto AT&T just fine), so AT&T is clearly blocking IMEI's of phones that come from other providers and are unlocked. I cannot see how this is good business for AT&T, or even legal, and I imagine one day there will be a class action suit to stop this practice.
My two cents...
BluePlanetMan said:
Based on what I have read, given that the Rogers XT925 operates on the following bands:
Rogers version is GSM/UMTS - 850/900/1800/1900 and LTE : BAND 4 (700) and BAND 17 AWS (1700)
It is therefore impossible for it to work in the USA on Verizons network on either CDMA (which the phone does not support) or LTE (which it supports but the wrong band, Verizon supports 700 Band 13)
Can anyone confirm this? If it is possible to operate this phone on Verizon please let me know. I have a Verizon account and an AT&T account and the phone works on the AT&T account, but not the Verizon. My problem is that AT&T has recently blocked the IMEI on TWO of my Rogers phones that I travel with, with no explanation other than that they are being recognized as 2G phones and cannot get service on AT&T (which is BS, because I can roam with my Rogers SIM from my Galaxy S3 onto AT&T just fine), so AT&T is clearly blocking IMEI's of phones that come from other providers and are unlocked. I cannot see how this is good business for AT&T, or even legal, and I imagine one day there will be a class action suit to stop this practice.
My two cents...
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Click to collapse
No the rogers hd never work on Verizon ... the rogers don't have CDMA ... and LTE is on the wrong band ... There are no solution...
Yes some friend have same problem as you ... have a rogers simcard ... use a little on the ATT network ... switch to ATT simcard ... and phone don't work ... really a strange issue ...
guys
just a general question on how cdma networks and phones work. Today, verizon 4g phones come with a sim card. If that's the case, why are there two editions of most phones - one for verizon and another for sprint? Are the two carriers still using cdma?
Thx
GSM & CDMA Explanation
sam008 said:
guys
just a general question on how cdma networks and phones work. Today, verizon 4g phones come with a sim card. If that's the case, why are there two editions of most phones - one for verizon and another for sprint? Are the two carriers still using cdma?
Thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are two types of mobile cell phone communication technology, GSM and CDMA. CDMA phones cannot run on GSM networks and visa versa. While there are few advantages, GSM is considered to be better because it has LTE support, and used internationally.
Carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM, while Verizon and Sprint use CDMA. GSM uses SIM cards, and CDMA phones have a programmable radio inside of the phone.
But, Verizon and Sprint use SIM cards in there newer phones. They use GSM IN ADDITION to CDMA. The SIM card only gives the phone LTE though, because CDMA does not support it.
So, yes Verizon and Sprint use CDMA, for call, text, data, internet, 4G and they use GSM for LTE only.
GSM carriers (AT&T and T-Mobile), use only a SIM card, and the GSM technology for call, text, data, internet, 4G, AND LTE.
I hope this answered your question and heightened your knowledge!
can a nexus 6 purchased from verizon be used on the sprint network - thx
Yes, if unlocked
Yes, they will usually work but only if they are unlocked. Different carriers have different policies and requirements that you must meet before they give you the unlock code to bring the phone to another carrier.
You're at an advantage using the Nexus 6, unlocking solutions are plentiful. Go to the N6 forum for more. If you plan on going from CDMA to CDMA you should be gold (per the carriers you mentioned).