Hi folks,
I live in a black hole of cellular signal. The only provider that has towers where I live is Verizon. I drive 45 minutes to work every day and over there both Verizon and AT&T have towers. I'm currently using a small, local carrier that uses Verizon towers and phones. I bought a Nexus 6 and want to activate it on straight talk. I thought I could use the IMEI from my existing phone, since it's a Verizon phone, but they say it's not compatible. They say they can activate it as a GSM phone, but I've read that if I activate it as a GSM device, it will not connect to Verizon towers so would basically be useless where I live. However, that doesn't really make sense to me since the Nexus 6 has both CDMA and GSM radios in it.
Does anyone know if I activate a GSM sim and pop it in my Nexus 6 if it will connect to Verizon towers? We do have LTE here, if that makes a difference Thanks for any help you can provide!.
Verizon network will only use CDMA but you could still use it in roaming
pantherdaddy27 said:
Verizon network will only use CDMA but you could still use it in roaming
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Will it roam on cdma if i activate it as gsm though?
Related
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
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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..
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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.
So I bought a sidekick 4g thinking I could use my at&t sim card for it and got it unlocked but have one problem. I can only get 2g at the most on my network and asked the service provider who provided me with the unlock code for a solution to this. They told me something about T-Mobile running a different network than at&t and how at&t was updating there network so that I could get 4g on my phone and how it was going to be ready before the end of this year... Is it possible to get 4g yet or any other way around this?
Jdramirez29 said:
So I bought a sidekick 4g thinking I could use my at&t sim card for it and got it unlocked but have one problem. I can only get 2g at the most on my network and asked the service provider who provided me with the unlock code for a solution to this. They told me something about T-Mobile running a different network than at&t and how at&t was updating there network so that I could get 4g on my phone and how it was going to be ready before the end of this year... Is it possible to get 4g yet or any other way around this?
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Nope, that person lied to you as well.
AT&T and T-Mobile have different HSPA (4G technically) bands. I think AT&T uses the 850mhz HSPA Band, while T-Mobile uses a different one. Since thats the case, your SIM Card is looking for a band that the phones modem dosent have. Thus, knocks you back to EDGE. Forever.
The phone is only $99 on Verizon. I heard you needed to use the phone for 6 months before you can use it on another carrier
Anyway to get around this or has anyone actually done this yet? Want to make sure it works.
And are you still getting Verizon coverage on Straight Talk or how does that work?
Is there a 16gb CDMA version as well? Only saw an 8gb.
kaivorth said:
The phone is only $99 on Verizon. I heard you needed to use the phone for 6 months before you can use it on another carrier
Anyway to get around this or has anyone actually done this yet? Want to make sure it works.
And are you still getting Verizon coverage on Straight Talk or how does that work?
Is there a 16gb CDMA version as well? Only saw an 8gb.
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I think that Straight Talk is a GSM network so you would have to have the GSM model of the phone. I was under the impression that Straight Talk uses the T-Mobile network. Someone correct me if I'm wrong please.
romuloxiii said:
I think that Straight Talk is a GSM network so you would have to have the GSM model of the phone. I was under the impression that Straight Talk uses the T-Mobile network. Someone correct me if I'm wrong please.
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They have a CDMA card you can buy and register your phone on their network. I think it's kind of new. I'd link you but I'm on mobile
romuloxiii said:
I think that Straight Talk is a GSM network so you would have to have the GSM model of the phone. I was under the impression that Straight Talk uses the T-Mobile network. Someone correct me if I'm wrong please.
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Straight talk uses Sprint and Verizon CDMA networks as well as T-mobile and AT&T GSM networks...
I'm really not sure how the BYOD on CDMA works, I would like more info as well.
redking117 said:
Straight talk uses Sprint and Verizon CDMA networks as well as T-mobile and AT&T GSM networks...
I'm really not sure how the BYOD on CDMA works, I would like more info as well.
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Straight Talk (Verizon Wireless - CDMA) will require an access code to their network; $15.00. This applies to phones that do not have a SIM Card which the $99 8GB Motorola Moto G CDMA variant is. However, I did put the MEID for the device as to its compatibility on Straight Talk and was told it is not which makes no sense given if you have a GSM variant, it does not require a subsidy unlock code if the device is set up with either the AT&T and/or T-Mobile radios. I have to believe that the reason has to do with those stupid clauses which carriers have with their phones and however long they are. It's always been my understanding the code is what you need to run on their network. One caveat; I have noticed that on Verizon Wireless's prepaid "Everything" plan, the devices run only on their 3G network nor am I aware they have the 4G LTE radios in them. I've tested their 3G band and at best regardless of where I have tested it between Albany, GA; Columbus, GA; Auburn-Opelika, AL; the best speed I have had is tops 1.0 meg down but normally about 0.7 megs (700 k) down...enough to run Pandora or any music app. I will say one thing about the phone, for the price, not bad! I wish it was available when I bought an HTC One M7 I paid $650.00 for but I got the DE 64GB variant; this device, you do feel the 8GB restriction though there are many cloud options.
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 ?
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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
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
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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).