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I am by far no where near the caliber of technology that lie within this web site, however, I am simply trying to get some direction regarding my S3.
I purchased it from Verizon-2 yrs ago, contract expired 7/8/13; did not renew. I went with Consumer Cellular (more fitting for the older generation) but my S3 WON'T WORK ON THEIR NETWORK!
I have spent the last 3 weeks doing research on this phone to see if it can be 'unlocked' to work with a another carrier. The phone is like brand new and I don't want to get rid of it, I'd prefer to use it with the new carrier.
Is there anyone who can give me some direction to this issue? Can the phone infact be "unlocked' to work with Consumer, it has the Verizon SIM card in it, I was able to root it, successfully, now if I can just get it unlocked. Had to purchase another phone so that I would not be without phone service while I work on trying to get this one unlocked.
I've been told it can't because Verizon is a CDMA carrier and Consumer is a GSM..if this in fact true than I've no options but to sell the phone.
I do have "Preferred Network Mode' and it gives me the following options, Global, LTE/CDMA & GSM/UMTS.
Any help, directions or information would be greatly appreciated. With my thanks to all those who have taken the time to read this post.
Southern66 said:
I am by far no where near the caliber of technology that lie within this web site, however, I am simply trying to get some direction regarding my S3.
I purchased it from Verizon-2 yrs ago, contract expired 7/8/13; did not renew. I went with Consumer Cellular (more fitting for the older generation) but my S3 WON'T WORK ON THEIR NETWORK!
I have spent the last 3 weeks doing research on this phone to see if it can be 'unlocked' to work with a another carrier. The phone is like brand new and I don't want to get rid of it, I'd prefer to use it with the new carrier.
Is there anyone who can give me some direction to this issue? Can the phone infact be "unlocked' to work with Consumer, it has the Verizon SIM card in it, I was able to root it, successfully, now if I can just get it unlocked. Had to purchase another phone so that I would not be without phone service while I work on trying to get this one unlocked.
I've been told it can't because Verizon is a CDMA carrier and Consumer is a GSM..if this in fact true than I've no options but to sell the phone.
I do have "Preferred Network Mode' and it gives me the following options, Global, LTE/CDMA & GSM/UMTS.
Any help, directions or information would be greatly appreciated. With my thanks to all those who have taken the time to read this post.
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Click to collapse
How did you get this phone 2 years ago? It barely came out a little more than a year ago.
Next, you can unlock it, but only if you pay for the full retail for the phone and then contact Verizon about what you want to do and then get an unlock code. After that, you're going to need a SIM card from Consumer Cellular.
There shouldn't be a problem with radio frequencies since the Verizon GS3 is a global phone. So the SIM card should work after you get it set up.
If I'm wrong in some aspect, someone feel free to correct me.
sent from my Infected Bonestock GS3
david_hume said:
How did you get this phone 2 years ago? It barely came out a little more than a year ago.
Next, you can unlock it, but only if you pay for the full retail for the phone and then contact Verizon about what you want to do and then get an unlock code. After that, you're going to need a SIM card from Consumer Cellular.
There shouldn't be a problem with radio frequencies since the Verizon GS3 is a global phone. So the SIM card should work after you get it set up.
If I'm wrong in some aspect, someone feel free to correct me.
sent from my Infected Bonestock GS3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In regards to Unlocking the phone, the phone is unlocked out of the box, you just pop in your sim and select GSM mode! you have to set the APN for DATA yourself tho!
Galaxy s3 sCH-I535
david_hume said:
How did you get this phone 2 years ago? It barely came out a little more than a year ago.
Next, you can unlock it, but only if you pay for the full retail for the phone and then contact Verizon about what you want to do and then get an unlock code. After that, you're going to need a SIM card from Consumer Cellular.
There shouldn't be a problem with radio frequencies since the Verizon GS3 is a global phone. So the SIM card should work after you get it set up.
If I'm wrong in some aspect, someone feel free to correct me.
sent from my Infected Bonestock GS3
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Click to collapse
Hi:
I do not recall the date of purchase but know that when I purchased it I had to sign for a 2 yr contract with Verizon..that contract was up July 8,2013.
That is not important, what is important is to find out if in fact the phone can be unlocked, VERIZON swears it is unlocked so they are not going to be of any use to me to get their help. It is up to me to find someone who can unlock this phone via a cable. The code places I have contacted can't come up with a code, they have instructed me that it needs to be done with a cable.
As I stated, I am simply trying to get the phone unlocked to use on Consumer Celluar, of which I am already a memeber and have the SIM card activated on another SAMSUNG phone of which I had to buy.
I do not have to buy the phone outright, as the phone is paid for, thus the 2 yr contract. the phone is mine, but as long as it is in the state it is now, I can only use it on VERIZON.
The I535 has a sim card in it from Verizon, when I take out the Verizon SIM card and put in the Consumer SIM card I get the message, "this is a non verizon SIM card.
I am researching this everyday to find out if IT CAN BE UNLOCKED, AND #2 WHO CAN I GET TO UNLOCK IT? Verizon went so far as to tell me that all the person needs is a USB cable and PC...how true this is, I don't know.
Thank You
Southern66 said:
Hi:
I do not recall the date of purchase but know that when I purchased it I had to sign for a 2 yr contract with Verizon..that contract was up July 8,2013.
That is not important, what is important is to find out if in fact the phone can be unlocked, VERIZON swears it is unlocked so they are not going to be of any use to me to get their help. It is up to me to find someone who can unlock this phone via a cable. The code places I have contacted can't come up with a code, they have instructed me that it needs to be done with a cable.
As I stated, I am simply trying to get the phone unlocked to use on Consumer Celluar, of which I am already a memeber and have the SIM card activated on another SAMSUNG phone of which I had to buy.
I do not have to buy the phone outright, as the phone is paid for, thus the 2 yr contract. the phone is mine, but as long as it is in the state it is now, I can only use it on VERIZON.
The I535 has a sim card in it from Verizon, when I take out the Verizon SIM card and put in the Consumer SIM card I get the message, "this is a non verizon SIM card.
I am researching this everyday to find out if IT CAN BE UNLOCKED, AND #2 WHO CAN I GET TO UNLOCK IT? Verizon went so far as to tell me that all the person needs is a USB cable and PC...how true this is, I don't know.
Thank You
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verizon is right by saying its unlocked, and thats the most anyone can help you, if you are going to try unlocking the phone by cable, you might as well throw money down the drain! and 2 you need to update to the MF1 software! as MB1 and MD3 would tell you its non verizon sim card, but even on that update if you put the phone in GSM mode in Network settings the phone should work fine for calling and texting!
having the same issue, if you find out anything will you please let me know how to do this too. i would greatly appriciate it
SIM
Did you get the free Consumer Cellular SIM yet? Your post said you have rooted and have the Verizon SIM, and you can't get on CC network without their SIM card.
The phone is already "unlocked" for global/GSM use with the JB update, so you should be able to just pop in a SIM card from CC and change settings (they should provide you with this info).
A lot of ppl are saying the Verizon GS3 is already unlocked, but when i pop in my metro pcs sim card and switch network to cdma, nothing happens. What would I have to do to make it work with this metro carrier?
No Data, No Voice, No SMS
Hi. Im also having the same issue. I have a Verizon GS3 that was originally running 4.0.4, VRALHE. I rooted, updated the baseband to MF1, and installed RLS16 of Hyperdrive, so I now am on 4.1.2. I have the option to go GSM or Global, but when I put in my MetroPCS sim, I get nothing. It prompts me for Global, but I cant make calls or send sms. I also put in the APN and no data as well. Anyone know whatbI should do next? I have an IMEI, it doesnt appear to be lost, and I have tried the phone info app, as well as trying to go through the secret menu, the network lock menu is blank.
Hey, I got the same problem, and considering how it's been a while since the last post I wonder if there is any new news on this front. Thanx!
P.s: It came preinstalled with 4.3 stock, not rooted yet. I have the option to instal 4.4.2 via Kies {PDA:NE1 / PHONE:NE1 / CSC:NE1 (VZW)}.
Update here:
I digged into some settings and found that switching it into either Global or GSM seems to make the phone capable of voice calls.
Idk about 3G, I did manually type in the APN settings, but I never use anything other than wifi because internet here is expensive unless you go with one of their plans.
So if you haven't tried it, on 4.3 go to settings, under wireless and networks select 'More Settings', Mobile Networks, Network Mode.
Worked for me, although I still get "Non-Verizon SIM" in the notifications bar and it looks like my signal is a bit weaker than before. But still works.
guys you are wrong
guys there is no way metropcs, Boost mobile or sprint networks Work cause these are CDMA carriers and verizon and the other CDMA Carriers has a different activation way on Verizon smartphones the GSM module(gsm networks as well) come unlocked for foreigner carriers even the GSM US carriers(AT&T or TMOBILE) sometimes doesnt work hope that info help
Hello whats up everyone, I'm in a need of help this evening!
After doing much heavy research i still have not been found a 100% concrete wat to unlock my verizon SGS3 so that i can use it with other sim cards such as MetroPCS or T-Mobile
I currently have it running EZ-Unlocked and rooted with CleanRom 4.1.2 when i put in a non verizon sim such as a non-activated T-Mobile card, it doesn't say "sorry, this SIM is not supported. please....." but says simply no service. Is my phone already SIM unlocked?
I also saw this handy method:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cmiEZcw1z8
but when the NETWORK LOCK option came up..it just said NETWORK LOCK and no 3 options I could choose..hmmm
EDIT: heard that 4.1.1 HAS the option to get rid of the NETWORK LOCK option and this feature was apparently removed on purpose with 4.1.2? But i'm running CleanROM?
BTW: i've tried "galaxsim unlock" but it's not compatible with the US Variant yet.
MetroPCS will get my phone working on their network and do all the trickery...I just need to know if my phone is SIM unlocked.
BUMP: Look Guys, I've seen quite a few people view this with nothing to say...It's URGENT. i can't afford a new handset and verizon is cutting us off for good because my girlfriends cousin who was also on the plan that her mom was on the name for...went over on data twice. Her Cousin doesn't live with us but was on the plan...he was suppose to be grounded for going over the FIRST time but fooled his mom into giving her the MicroSD card and lied and said that was the SIM card. so he went over another month probably downloading porn and ****.
verizon said there is no rush to pay the overages....as we will not be turning back on service. We use our cell phones as the priority communication tool..no home phone....right now we have no provider. I need an answer please
stanleyopar2000 said:
BUMP: Look Guys, I've seen quite a few people view this with nothing to say...It's URGENT. i can't afford a new handset and verizon is cutting us off for good because my girlfriends cousin who was also on the plan that her mom was on the name for...went over on data twice. Her Cousin doesn't live with us but was on the plan...he was suppose to be grounded for going over the FIRST time but fooled his mom into giving her the MicroSD card and lied and said that was the SIM card. so he went over another month probably downloading porn and ****.
verizon said there is no rush to pay the overages....as we will not be turning back on service. We use our cell phones as the priority communication tool..no home phone....right now we have no provider. I need an answer please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Drag...
I activated my phone (an unlocked GS3) on Net10 then a week later ported my old phone number to it. In that process they said they had to mail me a new SIM card so the one I had just bought/activated was deactivated and my old number was also cancelled.
When I called to complain about being left with no phone over Christmas they reactivated the store-bought phone number.
Now...2 weeks later my wife wants to get on board so I bought her an unlocked GS3 and put the deactivated SIM card in it to see if I could get to their apps instead of AT&T's store and was surprised to find that the phone number is still active. When I called to activate/port the new line they told me the SIM card number I read them didn't exist.
SO now I'm wondering how this is, and how long it will work? I tried to get it set right but Net10 is adamant I need to buy yet another SIM card. It's kinda hard to take this seriously when I have a working phone that makes calls and gets full data.
Interested in how this turned out...
guy48065 said:
I activated my phone (an unlocked GS3) on Net10 then a week later ported my old phone number to it. In that process they said they had to mail me a new SIM card so the one I had just bought/activated was deactivated and my old number was also cancelled.
When I called to complain about being left with no phone over Christmas they reactivated the store-bought phone number.
Now...2 weeks later my wife wants to get on board so I bought her an unlocked GS3 and put the deactivated SIM card in it to see if I could get to their apps instead of AT&T's store and was surprised to find that the phone number is still active. When I called to activate/port the new line they told me the SIM card number I read them didn't exist.
SO now I'm wondering how this is, and how long it will work? I tried to get it set right but Net10 is adamant I need to buy yet another SIM card. It's kinda hard to take this seriously when I have a working phone that makes calls and gets full data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'd just milk the cow til it ran out, lol just use the AT&T until it finally deactivates service....if it ever does
guy48065 said:
I activated my phone (an unlocked GS3) on Net10 then a week later ported my old phone number to it. In that process they said they had to mail me a new SIM card so the one I had just bought/activated was deactivated and my old number was also cancelled.
When I called to complain about being left with no phone over Christmas they reactivated the store-bought phone number.
Now...2 weeks later my wife wants to get on board so I bought her an unlocked GS3 and put the deactivated SIM card in it to see if I could get to their apps instead of AT&T's store and was surprised to find that the phone number is still active. When I called to activate/port the new line they told me the SIM card number I read them didn't exist.
SO now I'm wondering how this is, and how long it will work? I tried to get it set right but Net10 is adamant I need to buy yet another SIM card. It's kinda hard to take this seriously when I have a working phone that makes calls and gets full data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tracfone (Parent company of Net10) always seems to make a mess out of the simplest things. In your case, it was to your benefit. You already tired to make things right, so I say use the SIM until it gets deactivated. I'd assume you'll get a month out of the SIM. As they can't find the SIM number in their database, I'm sure you wouldn't be able to continue using that SIM once it does become derivative.
Must have gotten flagged right away...it was dead in two days :-/
So I am looking to buy a new phone. I am looking on ebay and there are TONS of bad imei phones for at&t! I want to buy one since they are cheaper. Only issue is that I want to be sure that they will work on straight talk, since that is my current carrier. I have read lots of people's pinions about if they will work or not because of blacklists, and I don't know if there is any one steady answer. I am hoping to get someone with some real knowledge to shed some light on this because I am stumped on if I should take the risk and buy one.
I did call straight talk today and ask if I can bring a phone with a bad IMEI number over and the response I got was strange... They said that all I have to do is buy a BYOP package and give them my sim card number and it will work. I said I know that it will work because i am on a BYOP already, but I wanted to know if my sim would get kicked off for using a blacklisted phone on the at&t network even though it was through straight talk. She said, that they only need the digits from the straight talk sim and it would work. So I tried one more time and explained everything fully... I again received the same response that they needed the sim card numbers only. So I said, does that mean that the IMEI doesn't matter for your service at all and I can have a blacklisted phone on it? and again the response was, (besically) yes, you just need a straight talk sim.
So all in all I understand that to mean that AT&T has nothing to do with straight talk when it comes to blacklisting phones! That's a wonderful thing since there are so many blacklist phones out there right now, but I was hoping someone else could drop a little knowledge on me if they knew something about it, or if they knew that straight talk was lying, so I don't waste my time/money on this phone.
I haven't looked into this since last year, but the FCC was advising on a shared blacklist to be implemented in the future back then.
Also beware that the phone might be stolen, which could lead to more problems in the future.
I've never used Straight Talk, but if they use AT&T towers maybe call AT&T. Honestly, it might be hard to get a real answer from them because most of the reps (true for all companies) don't have a clue how their own blacklists even work - heck, some don't even seem to know they *exist*.
They might not be "lying", it just might not be part of their training is information base.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk
w4rped said:
So I am looking to buy a new phone. I am looking on ebay and there are TONS of bad imei phones for at&t! I want to buy one since they are cheaper. Only issue is that I want to be sure that they will work on straight talk, since that is my current carrier. I have read lots of people's pinions about if they will work or not because of blacklists, and I don't know if there is any one steady answer. I am hoping to get someone with some real knowledge to shed some light on this because I am stumped on if I should take the risk and buy one.
I did call straight talk today and ask if I can bring a phone with a bad IMEI number over and the response I got was strange... They said that all I have to do is buy a BYOP package and give them my sim card number and it will work. I said I know that it will work because i am on a BYOP already, but I wanted to know if my sim would get kicked off for using a blacklisted phone on the at&t network even though it was through straight talk. She said, that they only need the digits from the straight talk sim and it would work. So I tried one more time and explained everything fully... I again received the same response that they needed the sim card numbers only. So I said, does that mean that the IMEI doesn't matter for your service at all and I can have a blacklisted phone on it? and again the response was, (besically) yes, you just need a straight talk sim.
So all in all I understand that to mean that AT&T has nothing to do with straight talk when it comes to blacklisting phones! That's a wonderful thing since there are so many blacklist phones out there right now, but I was hoping someone else could drop a little knowledge on me if they knew something about it, or if they knew that straight talk was lying, so I don't waste my time/money on this phone.
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Click to collapse
StraightTalk SIM cards can either use AT&T or T-mobile (Tracfone {parent company for StraghtTalk} leases several carrier's networks). If you buy and AT&T phone with a bad ESN and put a StraghtTalk AT&T SIM into it, the likelihood of it working is low. The reason for this is the you would still be using AT&T's network, and the ESN has a high chance of being picked up by AT&T's black-list.
If I were you, I'd get a factory unlocked phone, or a newer Verizon 4G LTE phone that has a bad (or clean) ESN. The reason I say the later is that most Verizon 4G LTE phones are also world phones and work with GSM. Now, you'll have to remove the radio band block, but that's very easy, and I know XDA has several tutorials for this. I removed the block on my RAZR M and it works just fine with an AT&T SIM inserted.
Hikikomori-Otaku said:
StraightTalk SIM cards can either use AT&T or T-mobile (Tracfone {parent company for StraghtTalk} leases several carrier's networks). If you buy and AT&T phone with a bad ESN and put a StraghtTalk AT&T SIM into it, the likelihood of it working is low. The reason for this is the you would still be using AT&T's network, and the ESN has a high chance of being picked up by AT&T's black-list.
If I were you, I'd get a factory unlocked phone, or a newer Verizon 4G LTE phone that has a bad (or clean) ESN. The reason I say the later is that most Verizon 4G LTE phones are also world phones and work with GSM. Now, you'll have to remove the radio band block, but that's very easy, and I know XDA has several tutorials for this. I removed the block on my RAZR M and it works just fine with an AT&T SIM inserted.
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Click to collapse
I think the reason i might believe them is because they dont even know my imei number for the phone i have right now! And if my number is not tied to my imei number then it would be impossible for them to find it out. Or at least i would think it is. Every other service that is tied to an esn or imei number, you have to tell them the number and let them register it. With straight talk you register the sim and can use that sim in any unlocked phone.
I am currently running a note 2 from verizon on straight talk. It is a world phone but i cant seem to get 4g on it. Is this because i have to unlock the bands? If so, how do i do that? I thought it was just because of the apn i was using. I tried a bunch but only got one to work on h+/h/3g (it flickers).
w4rped said:
I think the reason i might believe them is because they dont even know my imei number for the phone i have right now! And if my number is not tied to my imei number then it would be impossible for them to find it out. Or at least i would think it is. Every other service that is tied to an esn or imei number, you have to tell them the number and let them register it. With straight talk you register the sim and can use that sim in any unlocked phone.
I am currently running a note 2 from verizon on straight talk. It is a world phone but i cant seem to get 4g on it. Is this because i have to unlock the bands? If so, how do i do that? I thought it was just because of the apn i was using. I tried a bunch but only got one to work on h+/h/3g (it flickers).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're half-right. You don't have to give StrraightTalk you ESN (MEID/IMEI). The problem comes when you connect to the network. When you connect, your device will be identified by it's ICCID (SIM #) and it's ESN (so it knows what type of device it is and what service it needs). Because it would be an old AT&T phone, reconnecting to AT&T, there's a high chance it will be matched on the black-list.
As for your Note II, if it's already working, the radio it has may not support the higher GSM 4G/LTE bands. You may be able to unlock them, but I wouldn't know how with a Samsung device. The APN may help, but I'd first check the radio.
Ok I have a question so I have a T-Mobile contract and iPhone 7 Plus for a little over a. Year now but I haven’t paid it off in full and my bill got out of hand so I can’t afford to pay the balance so is there anyway I can use this for any prepaid plans of any company
Yesterday, I received a new StraightTalk MicroSIM (ATT compatible) for my new Nexus 5. I have been using a StraightTalk T-Mobile compatible one that I used in my old phone. I activated the new SIM, using the automated phone system. This morning I saw that my phone still had no service. That is, zero bars, I cannot make calls or text. Of course data doesn't work either. I logged into my account and it said that the transfer to the new SIM is complete. So I called StraightTalk and was transferred 5 times to people who did the same trouble shooting with me every time. Their trouble shooting: power off your phone, take out your SIM and then start it back up. Then they said they need to send me a new SIM card.... Here is my issue, I feel like they don't know what they are doing so their answer is just to send me another SIM.
My question: Did anyone else have this experience or ideas on getting the phone to work? I've tried different APNs with no different results.
Okay, this is odd. I figured, since I won't have phone service for a while, I would root my phone. After I rooted my phone, everything works. I can make calls and data works. Not sure what changed but when the device was rooted, it also did a factory reset. After 50 minutes of crappy customer service, I think I'll just take the new SIM card they are sending.
Takes a while for them to activate it sometimes. I was with customer services for 2 hours trying to activate my Sim card because it wouldn't let me online.
Their customer service, signal penetration might suck, but it's way cheaper, which I'm good with.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
I wonder if maybe that is what happened but I think it probably had to do with the factory reset.
I do want to post one final thing since everything has played out today... On the phone I asked them to expedite the package since this is my work phone and ONLY phone. Today, FedEx delivered a new SIM card... it was the card only. No other packaging or information. It was the wrong SIM... I needed a micro and they sent a regular SIM... but at least they tried. After receiving the SIM today, I don't feel so bad about the situation. Things may have been different if my phone didn't miraculously start working. I would have had to cut down the regular sized SIM... to find out if it is an ATT or Tmobile version... it's probably the Tmobile versions, since I ordered the ATT version. Thats how things go... have a good day!
READ THE NEXT POST FOR CONTINUED ISSUES
*** I'm going to keep posting my experience, in case anyone else can find the information useful. ***
My service should have Auto-Refilled today. However, when I went to make a call, I found out my service was deactivated. I thought maybe Auto-Refill was disabled when I transferred to the new microSIM. Unfortunately, after spending another 45 minutes on the phone with customer service, I found out that they activated the replacement SIM that they sent me... the one that doesn't fit my phone and appears to be a Tmobile SIM. So, instead of just re-activating the microSIM that was working yesterday, they have to send me another one. I confirmed with them that they will be sending an AT&T compatible microSIM. We will see what I receive.