Did I waste my money on buying a LG Volt if I don't want their paid plans? - General Questions and Answers

I bought the LG Volt from Virgin Mobile when it was on sale for really cheap, but all their plans are too expensive for me.
$20 for their cheapest plan for what amounts to a tiny bit of minutes to use a month & that's it.
Is there any way to get this phone to work on another companies plan?
One preferably with a pay-as-you-go plan?
Can this be done with a CDMA phone?
Will flashing or adding a different sim card or anything work or am I out of luck?
I know nothing about these things.

SIM Unlock
noobtubeguy77 said:
I bought the LG Volt from Virgin Mobile when it was on sale for really cheap, but all their plans are too expensive for me.
$20 for their cheapest plan for what amounts to a tiny bit of minutes to use a month & that's it.
Is there any way to get this phone to work on another companies plan?
One preferably with a pay-as-you-go plan?
Can this be done with a CDMA phone?
Will flashing or adding a different sim card or anything work or am I out of luck?
I know nothing about these things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because you have a CDMA phone using it on a GSM network (AT&T, T-Mobile etc.) is not possible. However you can unlock it and use it on other CDMA network providers.
Just Google CDMA phone unlocking or something similar.
Also there are stores/people that to do this stuff. You bring them your phone and they unlock it, however this isn't free.

U can unlock to other carrier however u will not ever get 4g to work because the phone is locked and no way to unlock the sim at this time
Sent from my LGLS665 using XDA Free mobile app

Related

Using the Fuze abroad?

Hello all!
I can't seem to get my fuze working here in the philippines..
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
Is you Fuze unlocked or are you using you ATT Sim Card? If you are using ATT you needed to tell ATT before you went to the PI. If it's unlocked and you have a PI SIM are you using he original ATT ROM. If you are you need to hand jam the connection settings or get your hands on the HTC connections program.
You will need to unlock your Fuze in order to use a non-AT&T SIM card. Otherwise, you will need to roam on one of the carriers in the Philippines that has a roaming agreement with AT&T. Contact AT&T to enable roaming on your account (roaming charges will apply).
Fortunately there appears to be good GSM and 3G coverage in Philippines. Links for more information:
http://www.wireless.att.com/travelguide/coverage/coverage_details.jsp?CIDL=608&MNC=CING
http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/cou_ph.shtml
Phone is still locked and still using the ATT sim card. I guess im outta luck while I'm here then?
J.Dee.M said:
Phone is still locked and still using the ATT sim card. I guess im outta luck while I'm here then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're not out of luck at all. Just call AT&T and tell them you can't use AT&T while you are down there and you need to use a local SIM. If all goes according to plan they will give you the unlock code.
To unlock your phone all you have to do is get a local SIM card pop it in and enter the unlock code you just got from AT&T. Your phone will now work at a fraction of the cost to make local calls.
Definitely get the unlock code and local sim card. "Charges will apply" is a real understatement. I was out of the country earlier this year and went with AT&T international roaming rather than a local sim. I came back to a $2000 bill. My fault completely - I wasn't paying attention to my usage. You can check rates on AT&T's site.
emesbe said:
Definitely get the unlock code and local sim card. "Charges will apply" is a real understatement. I was out of the country earlier this year and went with AT&T international roaming rather than a local sim. I came back to a $2000 bill. My fault completely - I wasn't paying attention to my usage. You can check rates on AT&T's site.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While it's not like being at home, ATT will sell you international data plans (iPhone) of 24 mb, 100 mb or 200 mb per month at a rate much lower than just roaming without a plan.
J.Dee.M said:
Phone is still locked and still using the ATT sim card. I guess im outta luck while I'm here then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everyone is correct, call ATT and see if they will give you the unlock code. If not, it is worth it to purchase a code on ebay or spend the extra for the software here on XDA developers to unlock. The ATT charge is $2.49/minute. A local card is really cheap as I remember from the last time I was in the PI.
So do I just call the customer service # from a landline in the PI? Or will I be able to call cust.serv. from the fuze?
Better to play it safe and use a calling card with rates you know you can monitor.

AT&T doesn't sell prepaid data plans for non-contract phones?

I am a USA visitor, am in Washington now. I was in the AT&T store today, was going to buy Captivate off contract and buy AT&T sim with data plan only and use until the end of this summer and then waiting for unlock to use in Russia, but AT&T guys said that they don't sell prepaid sim card with data plans for non-contract PDA phones which is Captivate for $500. I find it absolutely crazy, why then they sell smartphones off contract in this way? For whom? If this phone is full prices when buying it without contract, it is locked with AT&T and it's not even possible to use the internet with an AT&T sim. Well, does T-mobile provide data plans when buying prepaid sim card? Should I wait for unlock and then buy this phone and then connect to T-mobile until this summer? And, well, it's possible for unlock not to arrive so soon
And I heard that there is a Captivate coming to Rogers in the 20th of August, is there any info if it'll come off contract and unlocked(able)? And in this case it is possible for Rogers to send this phone to the New York's hotel, for example?
for data plan only say you have a ipad they will give you a prepaid data plan and you can use it by adjusting some settings
i just got the $20 100MB data plan to use in my captivate. the gophone sim and data work fine.
Don't get the captivate. ATT won't have unlock codes available for a long time.
jromeo350 said:
i just got the $20 100MB data plan to use in my captivate. the gophone sim and data work fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep that's what I was going to suggest. That's your best option. Buy a go phone sim card. Tell them you want the 100mb worth of data and that's it. Pop it into the phone and you will be good to go.
100 mb is probably not enough for me, is it possible to get more with this go plan?
and about captivate, if Rogers starts selling it soon, this phone won't be exclusive and I think there is a great chance to get an unlock code in september for example
If a buy a data plan for iPad, will they give me a micro sim or normal sim? Will it work with captivate for sure?
DarkVasyaK said:
100 mb is probably not enough for me, is it possible to get more with this go plan?
and about captivate, if Rogers starts selling it soon, this phone won't be exclusive and I think there is a great chance to get an unlock code in september for example
If a buy a data plan for iPad, will they give me a micro sim or normal sim? Will it work with captivate for sure?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes... spend $20 more and get 200MB Also, you can get a sim adaptor if you recieve a micro sim. If you go the ore-paid route, make sure you get the sim from a retail store and not from a gophone kit. I did this and had to get them to swap the sim (for free) to one that works in my new phone. Hope this helps!
DarkVasyaK said:
I am a USA visitor, am in Washington now. I was in the AT&T store today, was going to buy Captivate off contract and buy AT&T sim with data plan only and use until the end of this summer and then waiting for unlock to use in Russia, but AT&T guys said that they don't sell prepaid sim card with data plans for non-contract PDA phones which is Captivate for $500. I find it absolutely crazy, why then they sell smartphones off contract in this way? For whom? If this phone is full prices when buying it without contract, it is locked with AT&T and it's not even possible to use the internet with an AT&T sim. Well, does T-mobile provide data plans when buying prepaid sim card? Should I wait for unlock and then buy this phone and then connect to T-mobile until this summer? And, well, it's possible for unlock not to arrive so soon
And I heard that there is a Captivate coming to Rogers in the 20th of August, is there any info if it'll come off contract and unlocked(able)? And in this case it is possible for Rogers to send this phone to the New York's hotel, for example?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could get the T-Mobile Vibrant at full price (supports Euro 3G on the 2100mhz band for when you go back to Europe, needs unlocking though) and sign up for the Even More Plus Smartphone Unlimited Web & E-mail, no contract, $39.99. Should work.
http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/...ven-More-Plus-Smartphone-Unlimited-Web-E-mail
I hate the look of Samsung Vibrant...
Captivate is far better
Is it possible for Rogers to send phone outside Canada? In USA or Russia?
From everything I've seen, they won't ship outside of Canada. Though if you or a friend can go yo Canada, they will sell you one.
Another option is to find someone in Canada willing to buy and ship the phone.
Sent from my Samsung Captivate.
ok, I'll wait 2 weeks in this case and then decide what and when to buy
100 mb data plan suks
hope rogers' captivate will be easy unlockable

[Q] Phone's not in ATT's IMEI bank

Greetings!
First time poster, long time reader.
I have been using a SE Xperia X1a that I bought off Ebay since Sept. 2009. I have stuck with this phone because I have an unlimited Medianet HSDPA service that costs $10/Mo. I frequently tether as a wireless router for either my laptop or Ipod Touch 4g. ATT still has not recognized this despite using 2gb+/mo.
The hardware in the phone is breaking down. I am looking for a replacement device that can do a similar service for me- $10/mo/unlimited internet. Are there any foreign branded Androids that can do this?
I did do a search for about an hour before giving up and asking this. Thanks are coming your way for responding
I'm really not sure why you think your plan is tied to your phone? Just get whatever phone tickles your fancy and put your sim card in it.
I don't think my plan is tied to my phone. I'm sorry if that's how it came across.
I am able to capitalize on unlimited MediaNet data because ATT doesn't recognize my Xperia's IMEI- they think I have a dumbphone.
The hardware is failing on my Xperia, and I am looking into a replacement. I'm fully willing to buy an foreign phone out of contract if it's known that ATT can't recognize the IMEI.
If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated :-D
They dont think you have a dunb phone(Non Smart Phone) They just havent cared to check. In my experience they only check what style of phone when upgrading services, such as data plans and such. As deathsled said, get any phone that makes you happy and insert yoour sim card. P.S. Make sure phone is able to accept a sim card, and if unlocked make sure its able to listen to the carries specific signal.
Well they do think I have a dumbphone. That's what I had to tell them when I signed up for MediaNet after purchasing the phone.
I don't want to buy a phone that they their system will instantly recognize and upgrade me from my MediaNet to a smartphone plan.
Is there a resource to check the phones that they know of? I could always just purchase the same model and continue doing what I'm doing if not.
Is the problem that nobody knows, or that nobody has seen this thread that does know?
Bamp 10char
Is there another forum I should be trying?
Donteventrii said:
Well they do think I have a dumbphone. That's what I had to tell them when I signed up for MediaNet after purchasing the phone.
I don't want to buy a phone that they their system will instantly recognize and upgrade me from my MediaNet to a smartphone plan.
Is there a resource to check the phones that they know of? I could always just purchase the same model and continue doing what I'm doing if not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm rather puzzled, why can't you just buy an unlocked phone from (say) Amazon? They do sell nice Nexus One units there...
I know exactly what you are talking about Donteventrii
I can give you a list of phones that might be suitable for you, that are unlocked and use AT&T 3G but their IMEI will still not be recognizable and therefore, you get to keep your $10 unlimited MEdiaNet data plan
Amazon: Any Nokia Phone - E72, N8, E7, E6 etc
NExus S - the one for AT&T which will have the 850/1900 3G bands - http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Googl..._1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1310519566&sr=1-1
T-mobile Galaxy S vibrant - Unlocked. It has AT&T's 3G 1900 band so you will be able to get 3G speeds in many areas since 1900 is the more widespread one.
Any Rogers (Canadian telephone service provider) smartphone unlocked since it uses the same bands as AT&T for it's 3G. I'm using a Rogers unlocked Xperia Play that I bought off a guy who'd bought it off Ebay.
That's just the ones I can think off the top of my head. I'll post again if I remember some more
Thank you very much Abudabu!
I may have some follow ups, but I'm heading to bed.
I would just get another phone like tmobile
Abudabu, do you also use MediaNet for your Xperia Play? I see that ATT is getting Xperia play, do you think this will cause problems for you?
The Nexus S is quite costly still, though 2.3 has me drooling. I believe the Galaxy S may be my best option. I might buy it online and unlock it myself.
Any thoughts?
I don't use MediaNet actually. I'm on the $30 unlimited data plan that I opted for when I went with the iPhone 3GS.
You can swap your SIM card out of your current phne to any phone that does not have an AT&T logo on it and you should be fine. AT&T has the IMEI's of all the phones that IT sells, in it's database. So if you put your sim in an Unlocked Xperia Play from Rogers or from United Kingdom, you can continue using the MediaNet without any hassle. If however, you put your SIM card in a AT&T Xperia Play, the SIM recognizes the IMEI of the phone, and will transmit this data back to AT&T indicating you need to upgrade your plan since you are on a smartphone
Any reason you don't switch back to MediaNet?
I'm aware of the 10$ Medianet plan. But for those that use it with unlocked smartphones, how do you get around the texting?
I see a $30 unlimited data and messaging plan which defeats the purpose of the thread. Are you combining this with the 1000 messages for $10?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Donteventrii said:
Any reason you don't switch back to MediaNet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well couple of reasons:
1) I wasn't sure if they even offer it anymore. I was under the impression they have tiered data plans now. $15 for 200 mb, $25 for 2GB, etc.
2) I switch phones quite a bit. So I prefer to just have the $30 unlimited data plan standard and I switch sim's in and out irregardless.
Ah if you switch phones that makes sense.
But yes, they do indeed offer MediaNet unlimited for 10/month. I am sitting at 2.5gb this month with a week left in my billing cycle.
I mainly use it to tether my laptop while at work. We don't have wifi, and I don't want to use my work computer for personal business. In fact, I'm tethering it right now from work
so where can I find a list of smartphones, compatible with AT&T, not in the IMEI database?
Just to be clear, I can purchase a dumbphone with:
$30 unlimited messaging/mobile to mobile
+
$15 unlimited data
with no voice plan (like the $39.99 for 450 minutes), go home and pop the SIM card to one of these unlisted phones and done.
$45 + tax for unlimited everything on a smartphone.
I can use Google Voice for landlines and international without incurring call forwarding fees and such.
I don't think there is a list other than what's been provided already. I use the Unlimited family messaging and 10/mo unlimited internet.

[Q] Prepaid Infuse carrier?

Hey,
I'm recently got an infuse off contract, rooted it, etc, but I haven't been able to make myself transfer my service too it from my other phone. I'm really torn, as it is a great phone but ehhh.
Anyway.
I'm just wondering if there is some way I can use this phone on a pre paid network or something. I looked it up and saw straight talk was perhaps an option, but it seems very confusing.
Thanks.
well you could use simple mobile. (they have ads on this site alot) you could the infuse unlocking guide to unlock your phone and use it on this service. they use t mobiles towers and have 4g (hspa+) in certain areas. their plans are 40 unlimited talk and text, 50 unlimited talk text and 2g data, and 60 unlimited talk text 3g/4g data. you should check them out.hope all goes well my friend.
thank you very much! are there any cheaper options? do you know anything about straight talk?
can i use it on att month to month?
Well simple mobile is one of the cheapest prepaid gsm carriers around. And I know of straight talk. But the only straight talk smart phone is the nokia e71 I believe and that's the only straight talk phone that uses a sim card. So you would have to buy a 200+ phone JUST to get the straight talk sim card out. And yes you can use simple mobile from month to month but after 30 days of no payment they will take your number and deactivate your sim. And another good cheap prepaid option is walmarts family plan. The only thing is to start to see savings you would have to have multiple lines that's why it's good for families. Finally you could check out h20 wireless solutions they have similar rates to simple mobile but they use att towers.... Whew....that was allot of typing....lol
Itaer said:
thank you very much! are there any cheaper options? do you know anything about straight talk?
can i use it on att month to month?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on conversations on IRC with a ST user:
If your SIM was taken from one of th $200 Nokias, you can use in the Infuse. ST is a Tracfone reseller, which uses AT&T's network.
SIMs from all other ST phones are specifically locked to the phone.
ALSO: If you use a SIM from one of the $200 Nokias, you MUST keep the Nokia. If that phone is ever activated with another service, ST will drop service on your SIM.
Edit: Note, I'm an AT&T contract user, all of the above are hearsay from IRC a month or two ago.
i believe you need a $200 nokia smartphone on strait talk but never sell the nokia! the sim is locked to the imei somehow and if the nokia is activated again the old sim is deactivated. also i think strait talk is a reseller of many carriers, they have cdma phones and a few of the nokia smart phones are on t-mobile sim cards from what i understand. you can try it but i think ifg the sim has a "t" on it then you cant use it, only problem is you have know way to know which sim will be in the phone you are buying.
many of those prepay services have one of a number of methods to lock the phone to their network. do as much research as posible before dropping cash on a device that might be useless
I though Att itself has a pay as you go with no contracty plain also tat works for this for for $5 data (10 mb ha) and $.010 a min talk.
Dani897 said:
i believe you need a $200 nokia smartphone on strait talk but never sell the nokia! the sim is locked to the imei somehow and if the nokia is activated again the old sim is deactivated. also i think strait talk is a reseller of many carriers, they have cdma phones and a few of the nokia smart phones are on t-mobile sim cards from what i understand. you can try it but i think ifg the sim has a "t" on it then you cant use it, only problem is you have know way to know which sim will be in the phone you are buying.
many of those prepay services have one of a number of methods to lock the phone to their network. do as much research as posible before dropping cash on a device that might be useless
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So theoretically, you could buy the 200 phone, and buy the cheap ass phone......in separate transactions, from Wal-mart and then use the expensive sim card, but put the cheap sim card in the expensive phone pkg and return the phone......only if you are evil!
I understand you could use the GoPhone plans, but you will need a new sim card, and also have to have a data plan to go with it, not sure how much the Simple Mobile plans are they talk about, but your looking at around 55-60$ for GoPhone plans with minimum data. 50$ unlimited talk and text and 5$for 10mb. Tops is 25$for 500mb, thats still not a lot of data though. I think 10mb for a phone is a joke, in my opinion. Maybe check out the Simple Mobile, you will have to unlock your phone for that though. Instructions for that are XDA.
emeralds5668 said:
So theoretically, you could buy the 200 phone, and buy the cheap ass phone......in separate transactions, from Wal-mart and then use the expensive sim card, but put the cheap sim card in the expensive phone pkg and return the phone......only if you are evil!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. If the expensive phone is EVER activated with another SIM, the expensive SIM you're using will get deactivated according to everything I've heard.
Entropy512 said:
No. If the expensive phone is EVER activated with another SIM, the expensive SIM you're using will get deactivated according to everything I've heard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but if the phone is returned, after it has been opened, then its not returned to the shelf. I think it would be considered refurb. I dont know, but they would probably reassign the imei to another sim. Dont know. I think I will just keep my edge speed in the hope that when att buys t-mobile that I will finally gtr hspda.

[Q] bad data port/suggest unlock code company?

I have a bad data port on my infuse and i wanted to unlock it and use it as a back up phone w/ straight talk.. I literally spent HOURS looking for a way to root and/or unlock using sdcard (since it is only tool i have)... If there isn't a way to unlock w/out data port, any recommendations for a reliable, quick and inexpensive unlocking service? Thx in advance...
robertjulianb said:
I have a bad data port on my infuse and i wanted to unlock it and use it as a back up phone w/ straight talk.. I literally spent HOURS looking for a way to root and/or unlock using sdcard (since it is only tool i have)... If there isn't a way to unlock w/out data port, any recommendations for a reliable, quick and inexpensive unlocking service? Thx in advance...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is absolutely no need to unlock phone to use with Straight Talk. Go to straighttalk.com and purchase an att compatible sim card for $15 and first months $45 service card. Works on any ATT,T-Mobile,Rogers, or unlocked phone using same tower frequency as ATT
At least theoretically it will work with phones with bad IMEI due to breaking contract etc. due to fact that tower reads new IEMI on sim card rather than one on phone.
elbscorp said:
There is absolutely no need to unlock phone to use with Straight Talk. Go to straighttalk.com and purchase an att compatible sim card for $15 and first months $45 service card. Works on any ATT,T-Mobile,Rogers, or unlocked phone using same tower frequency as ATT
At least theoretically it will work with phones with bad IMEI due to breaking contract etc. due to fact that tower reads new IEMI on sim card rather than one on phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Straight Talk No Longer sells AT&T compatible cards... didn't break contract... phone was on ex-gfriend's account... rather pay money to unlock than have to deal with that biatch...
was looking at this guy:
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=321101332291&fromMakeTrack=true
he has a lot of positive reviews...
Thx for the suggestion though...
Where'd you get that info? I was on straight talks site just a couple days ago and they still offer the sim to use an at&t phone.
sent from outer space.
Straight talk definitely pulled the at&t cards the last time I checked...some kind of pressure being exerted on s/t by at&t to help keep customers with Att phones on Att contracts.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda app-developers app

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