T-Mobile unlocked phones - General Questions and Answers

Does anyone have a list of phones that support Band 12 and/or VoLTE on T-Mobile not sold by the carrier?

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Is the North American Note 5 all-bands universal LTE?

I'm asking this because I'm thinking of the upcoming Moto X Pure which will support "all" North American LTE bands, making it a universal carrier phone. If I could buy any unlocked North American Note 5 and bring it to Verizon, that would get around the locked bootloader on the Verizon version of the device. Has anyone checked what LTE bands the NA N5 supports yet?
doubt it
FMXP said:
I'm asking this because I'm thinking of the upcoming Moto X Pure which will support "all" North American LTE bands, making it a universal carrier phone. If I could buy any unlocked North American Note 5 and bring it to Verizon, that would get around the locked bootloader on the Verizon version of the device. Has anyone checked what LTE bands the NA N5 supports yet?
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No they are not universal. Different carriers use different frequencies. Sounds like the Moto plans are being capable of all those frequencies.

Unlocked US model on Verizon

I know that the phone isn't OFFICIALLY supported by Verizon, but I wonder if it is like the Nexus 5x and 6p where if you put in an activated Verizon sim, it will work. Looking at the specs from HTC site, it looks like the phone's hardware supports Verizon's cdma bands.
Or what about a Verizon MVNO to get on Verizon's cdma network?

Verizon Model LTE Bands same as Unlocked Model?

Do you guys think the Verizon unit will have the same LTE bands as the Play Store model? I can get these st 2yr contract pricing on my Verizon business account and would like to use one on AT&T service, but need to be sure Band 12/17 is unlocked and ready for use.
The answer is yes, there are only different frequency bands for the intl and US versions. The US version, which Verizon is selling, supports all major carriers, according to Google.
alexjzim said:
The answer is yes, there are only different frequency bands for the intl and US versions. The US version, which Verizon is selling, supports all major carriers, according to Google.
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My only concern is that the Verizon website does not list all US LTE bands such as Band 12 or Band 17. This was an issue with my Note 7 also. Band 12/17 were capable and supported by the hardware, but Verizon locked these from being used. It wasn't until I flashed AT&T Note 7 firmware onto my Verizon Note 7 unit that I was able to use those 2 LTE bands.
alright I take it back. According to google, it is carrier locked to verizon http://i.imgur.com/Jc9eV9E.png
alexjzim said:
alright I take it back. According to google, it is carrier locked to verizon http://i.imgur.com/Jc9eV9E.png
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This is 100% wrong. No Verizon phone's have been locked to the carrier for a few years now.
mdmogren said:
This is 100% wrong. No Verizon phone's have been locked to the carrier for a few years now.
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Correct they have been carrier unlocked since the iPhone 5 came out. Verizon still locks the LTE bands for data, however. The only phones that have unlocked LTE bands on Verizon are iPhones, because Verizon does not/cannot tamper with the firmware before boxing the phones up.
MrBaltazar said:
Correct they have been carrier unlocked since the iPhone 5 came out. Verizon still locks the LTE bands for data, however. The only phones that have unlocked LTE bands on Verizon are iPhones, because Verizon does not/cannot tamper with the firmware before boxing the phones up.
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Evidence? I've had no problem using several verizon phones on T-Mobile LTE bands.
mdmogren said:
Evidence? I've had no problem using several verizon phones on T-Mobile LTE bands.
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That is because Verizon uses the same bands as TMobile in many areas of the country, so those bands are unlocked. Verizon does not use AT&T's primary bands at all, so they lock it out. (Band 17)
As a quick example, AT&T uses Band 3 in more rural areas and I was able to catch a bar or two of LTE here and there on a 100% stock Verizon Note 7 with AT&T sim card in it since Verizon also uses Band 3, , but it would quickly fall back to HSPA because it lost band 3 signal. I verified this with LTE Discovery app. At my office I only have Band 17 from ATT, so I was only getting HSPA. As soon as I flashed AT&T Note 7 firmware onto the Verizon Note 7, I had full LTE signal on Band 17.
Since Verizon cannot legally carrier SIM lock their devices anymore, they still do what they can to make the phones as unusable as possible on other carriers with their firmware, including a message that pops up every time you start the phone saying "this sim is not from Verizon"
I'm trying to figure out if the Pixel will be the same story as my Note 7, in which Verizon locks out a majority of LTE bands. And if so, can the Play Store version firmware be flashed onto thr Verizon version of the Pixel to unlock these bands?
The Snapdragon 821 supports all LTE bands so I know it won't be hardware limited, only firmware limited.
MrBaltazar said:
That is because Verizon uses the same bands as TMobile in many areas of the country, so those bands are unlocked. Verizon does not use AT&T's primary bands at all, so they lock it out. (Band 17)
As a quick example, AT&T uses Band 3 in more rural areas and I was able to catch a bar or two of LTE here and there on a 100% stock Verizon Note 7 with AT&T sim card in it since Verizon also uses Band 3, , but it would quickly fall back to HSPA because it lost band 3 signal. I verified this with LTE Discovery app. At my office I only have Band 17 from ATT, so I was only getting HSPA. As soon as I flashed AT&T Note 7 firmware onto the Verizon Note 7, I had full LTE signal on Band 17.
Since Verizon cannot legally carrier SIM lock their devices anymore, they still do what they can to make the phones as unusable as possible on other carriers with their firmware, including a message that pops up every time you start the phone saying "this sim is not from Verizon"
I'm trying to figure out if the Pixel will be the same story as my Note 7, in which Verizon locks out a majority of LTE bands. And if so, can the Play Store version firmware be flashed onto thr Verizon version of the Pixel to unlock these bands?
The Snapdragon 821 supports all LTE bands so I know it won't be hardware limited, only firmware limited.
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The only reason LTE won't work on at&t is because at&t won't provision it unless it's an At&t branded phone. You can get around this by having them activte your sim in an at&t store phone. My brother used to have at&t and I gave him my old S7E from Verizon which had full LTE after doing that.
cadcamaro said:
The only reason LTE won't work on at&t is because at&t won't provision it unless it's an At&t branded phone. You can get around this by having them activte your sim in an at&t store phone. My brother used to have at&t and I gave him my old S7E from Verizon which had full LTE after doing that.
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That is correct IF there isn't a LTE capable IMEI on your AT&T account, you would need to have them add the LTE capable IMEI and provision LTE. This issue is based on Verizon's firmware and their lockdown, however. I have thoroughly tested this and even entered service mode to see what bands are available with Verizon firmware vs AT&T firmware.
not good news for the verizon pixel with att. Some guy on the pixel xl xda reported he is getting only H+ with the verizon pixel xl. Definitely need more people to check it out. Donr believe PC mag one bit. They said bootloader was unlocked but it turned out to be LOCKED.
zboy2 said:
not good news for the verizon pixel with att. Some guy on the pixel xl xda reported he is getting only H+ with the verizon pixel xl. Definitely need more people to check it out. Donr believe PC mag one bit. They said bootloader was unlocked but it turned out to be LOCKED.
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I'm using a VZW Pixel XL on AT&T and I have the best reception I have ever had. I don't know why he's not getting LTE coverage, but that's not my experience whatsoever.
hollowlog said:
I'm using a VZW Pixel XL on AT&T and I have the best reception I have ever had. I don't know why he's not getting LTE coverage, but that's not my experience whatsoever.
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If you install LTE Discovery you can see the band you're connected do. If the phone can connect to band 12 or 17, I would say the Verizon version most likely supports all LTE bands.
I am using a Verizon Pixel currently on a 850Mhz/1.9Ghz GSM and Band 4 (2.1Ghz) and I am experiencing no issues. I used my carrier's SIM, and the only thing I had to do differently was update the SCMS in the *#*#3646#*#* to match my carrier's Service Center ID. This allowed my SMS to work. I experience no issues here as the phone operates as though it were unlocked.
I've even used the VZW pixel on T-Mobile and had band 12 carrier aggregation with band 2. Definitely not a problem and same bands.
I believe the only difference is the imei disallows bootloader unlocking. And the post boot Verizon three app install (which is an easy uninstall)
Doesn't att require the imei added for LTE? They audit accounts on the regular and if they find an unknown imei they disallow LTE.
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
smgrimes said:
I've even used the VZW pixel on T-Mobile and had band 12 carrier aggregation with band 2. Definitely not a problem and same bands.
I believe the only difference is the imei disallows bootloader unlocking. And the post boot Verizon three app install (which is an easy uninstall)
Doesn't att require the imei added for LTE? They audit accounts on the regular and if they find an unknown imei they disallow LTE.
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
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Thanks for posting, VZW wouldn't lock certain frequencies (12 and 17) on the Pixels like others have stated since their phones have been fully unlocked for years. This phone works with all US carriers.
jawmail said:
Thanks for posting, VZW wouldn't lock certain frequencies (12 and 17) on the Pixels like others have stated since their phones have been fully unlocked for years. This phone works with all US carriers.
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Yup and on top of that they seem 100% feature parity. I've even seen (on my Verizon sim) the option for volte video calling. And volte voice definitely works on T-Mobile as well as wifi calling.
Just the locked bootloader is the only downside.
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
alexjzim said:
alright I take it back. According to google, it is carrier locked to verizon http://i.imgur.com/Jc9eV9E.png
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This is 100% incorrect. It is NOT locked to a carrier, and does support all bands. I have been using my VZW Pixel on other carriers.
TCPDump said:
This is 100% incorrect. It is NOT locked to a carrier, and does support all bands. I have been using my VZW Pixel on other carriers.
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Agreed, those customer service reps. need more training.
jawmail said:
Agreed, those customer service reps. need more training.
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The misinformation and confusion about this phone in general all the way around astounds me. It's actually rather simple. The only major difference in the Verizon variant from the play is that the bootloader is locked.

SM-J727R4 GSM unlocking question

hello friends. i just bought J7 for US CELLULAR on ebay, i live in europe and using gsm carrier. SM-J727R4 supports all gsm bands for my carrier but is it unlocked for gsm or nor? if not, how can it be unlocked?
I bought a Galaxy J727R4 also and been trying for 2 months to get it unlocked and no one can seem to generate an unlock code no matter how much I pay

Question ASUS_1005DC best carrier compatibility

Between T-mobile and AT&T, which of the two is more suitable for the US ROG Phone 5s?
bhagiratha said:
Between T-mobile and AT&T, which of the two is more suitable for the US ROG Phone 5s?
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Is the phone a USA version?
If its indeed the USA version, You will have similar service on both ATT and TMobile but you will be missing band 14 on ATT which might effect your service. Also, you are unlikely to have much 5G coverage if that matters to you as this phone only has 3 of 5 ATT 5G bands and 2 of 4 TMobile 5G bands. The missing 5G bands are of the mmWave veriety so the only 5G you can get is 5G Nationwide which might actually be slower than 4G/LTE depending on the area.

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