Not too long ago, I had heard that the Verizon Galaxy S3 would support global roaming in a future update. With the Verizon Galaxy S3 release imminent, I was wondering if this was still the case.
I recently ordered a Galaxy S3 for my Dad, considering his contract with Verizon was up and the data plans were changing. Now, my dad often travels back and forth between the US and South Korea; so often in that he carries two different Android phones for each country (DROID Incredible on Verizon and Nexus S on KT).
Would it be possible for him to dump both the Incredible and Nexus S phones and use only Verizon Galaxy S3 on both of the carriers (if unlocked), by just swapping out the SIM card when traveling between Korea and the US? He will be keeping KT as his cell provider in Korea and from what I've heard, KT does allow foreign phones to be registered on their network, as long as they're unlocked. Both Verizon and KT support CDMA & LTE, but I'm not sure if their frequency bands overlap and if the Verizon S3 would be able to hook onto both without having to flash the radio.
I see that there's already a Voodoo S3 SIM Unlock app on Google Play (probably not compatible with Verizon S3 yet, but maybe eventually possible?).
Either way, it'd be awesome to be able to use the S3 as his main phone on both carriers with a simple SIM card swap! Does anyone have any insight on this, whether it would be possible or not?
CKTurbo128 said:
Not too long ago, I had heard that the Verizon Galaxy S3 would support global roaming in a future update. With the Verizon Galaxy S3 release imminent, I was wondering if this was still the case.
I recently ordered a Galaxy S3 for my Dad, considering his contract with Verizon was up and the data plans were changing. Now, my dad often travels back and forth between the US and South Korea; so often in that he carries two different Android phones for each country (DROID Incredible on Verizon and Nexus S on KT).
Would it be possible for him to dump both the Incredible and Nexus S phones and use only Verizon Galaxy S3 on both of the carriers (if unlocked), by just swapping out the SIM card when traveling between Korea and the US? He will be keeping KT as his cell provider in Korea and from what I've heard, KT does allow foreign phones to be registered on their network, as long as they're unlocked. Both Verizon and KT support CDMA & LTE, but I'm not sure if their frequency bands overlap and if the Verizon S3 would be able to hook onto both without having to flash the radio.
I see that there's already a Voodoo S3 SIM Unlock app on Google Play (probably not compatible with Verizon S3 yet, but maybe eventually possible?).
Either way, it'd be awesome to be able to use the S3 as his main phone on both carriers with a simple SIM card swap! Does anyone have any insight on this, whether it would be possible or not?
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As far as I understand it, the Verizon S3 needs a software update to unlock the GSM bands within the radio, which currently is not available...Also the LTE Bands are Not Compatible, according to my research Verizon uses 700/750 KT uses 1800. The Verizon S3 has 700/750 LTE Support...Also note while the Verizon S3 likely will have GSM support via a software update it will be Edge bands not WCDMA/HSPA+...as for the CDMA side out of luck there too according to KT they use the 1800 band and the Verizon S3 only has 850/1900 band for CDMA...in short getting the Verizon S3 will in no way help your father ditch his second phone...If your father is an international traveler he would be better suited to using a GSM carrier then buying a phone like the Galaxy Nexus which is pentaband WCDMA, this will work in any country that has WCDMA, I can vouch personally that my GNex (GSM Unlocked) works in S. Korea with HSPA+ Data Speeds as I was just there this past February.
So though the GS3 would most likely not be able to use 4G (through HSPA+, I may also be misunderstanding...) would it be able to have 3G overseas? I ask since I will be traveling to China later this year and being able to use 3G over there would be more convenient than getting another phone...
Besides the US (and probably South Korea), does anyone know where the Gear S3 Frontier LTE is available?
Hard to locate
rodrigobarg said:
Besides the US (and probably South Korea), does anyone know where the Gear S3 Frontier LTE is available?
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I got mine at T-Mobile. Had to open an account with them. I have all my other stuff at Verizon. But I think I can get a better price from the T. Looking into that. VZW is not carrying the S3 at this time, but it's my birthday and that is what I wanted.....
ishore99 said:
I got mine at T-Mobile. Had to open an account with them. I have all my other stuff at Verizon. But I think I can get a better price from the T. Looking into that. VZW is not carrying the S3 at this time, but it's my birthday and that is what I wanted.....
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I was just looking into getting one at t-mobile but the maximum data speed is 512kbs which isnt LTE so whats the point of the watch being lte capable if tmobile will restrict it to 3g speed.
saulc1981 said:
I was just looking into getting one at t-mobile but the maximum data speed is 512kbs which isnt LTE so whats the point of the watch being lte capable if tmobile will restrict it to 3g speed.
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That's plenty fast enough to do whatever task that'd be performed on a smartwatch. Heck, that's even fast enough for most smartphone duties.
T-Mobile charges $15/mo to those who don't have a smartphone line. If speed is that important to you, pay 3x more for 1 GB of high speed data to AT&T.
afblangley said:
That's plenty fast enough to do whatever task that'd be performed on a smartwatch. Heck, that's even fast enough for most smartphone duties.
T-Mobile charges $15/mo to those who don't have a smartphone line. If speed is that important to you, pay 3x more for 1 GB of high speed data to AT&T.
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That is isnt fast enough for a smartphone especially when you are streaming full hd videos and what not. Thats why ive stuck with sprint they dont throttle my data or have to pay extra for full hd videos or have a hd day pass like tmobile does where you have to use an app to start hd streaming thats a joke. And the issue wasnt the price of the plan its the principal of the point that the full potential of the watch is not being used. You must have a flip phone if you think that speed is enough for a smartphone of today. Buffering most of the day.
rodrigobarg said:
Besides the US (and probably South Korea), does anyone know where the Gear S3 Frontier LTE is available?
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Hey,you asking about the countries where the LTE is available? If you are wondering about where to buy in the US.
I just bought an ATT version from Best Buy for full retail (349). And plan on using it as non lte.
saulc1981 said:
That is isnt fast enough for a smartphone especially when you are streaming full hd videos and what not. Thats why ive stuck with sprint they dont throttle my data or have to pay extra for full hd videos or have a hd day pass like tmobile does where you have to use an app to start hd streaming thats a joke. And the issue wasnt the price of the plan its the principal of the point that the full potential of the watch is not being used. You must have a flip phone if you think that speed is enough for a smartphone of today. Buffering most of the day.
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But Sprint doesn't have the gear S3. And either way my T-Mobile plan is unlimited no throttling and it's $5 to add the data plan to the Gear S3 and will you be really watching HD video on a smartwatch? I wonder if the throttle is for all TMobile plans or just their new unlimited one plan
Guys, I know it's available in the US, but it's not unlocked and not the same bands, but I was wondering if the gear s3 was available in the LTE version in other countries, and maybe even unlocked like you can find the S2 now.
rodrigobarg said:
Guys, I know it's available in the US, but it's not unlocked and not the same bands, but I was wondering if the gear s3 was available in the LTE version in other countries, and maybe even unlocked like you can find the S2 now.
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It's more complicated than that. The S3 uses an embedded SIM, so the carriers activate it electronically. Therefore it won't work with other wireless providers even on the same network, like MVNOs. So the AT&T version won't work on Cricket, for example. I'm not even sure they'll activate it on a GoPhone plan.
afblangley said:
It's more complicated than that. The S3 uses an embedded SIM, so the carriers activate it electronically. Therefore it won't work with other wireless providers even on the same network, like MVNOs. So the AT&T version won't work on Cricket, for example. I'm not even sure they'll activate it on a GoPhone plan.
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But if the watch is not locked to a carrier, could we not just take the watch to our carrier and ask them to activate the eSIM on the network?
I'm in the same boat as the OP but I'm thinking of ordering the LTE version from eBay which comes from South Korea. Apparently it is not carrier locked but I have no idea if I will be able to connect to the network of my local carrier.
Byte_76 said:
But if the watch is not locked to a carrier, could we not just take the watch to our carrier and ask them to activate the eSIM on the network?
I'm in the same boat as the OP but I'm thinking of ordering the LTE version from eBay which comes from South Korea. Apparently it is not carrier locked but I have no idea if I will be able to connect to the network of my local carrier.
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Exactly, right now I only know the south Korean version is unlocked, but it seems to only support one band (b5 - 850 lte), so it doesn't even work on 3G networks here in brazil. The us versions from att and tmobile do support our 3g networks (850 and 2100), but they are not unlocked... Tough decision
According to the info that the eBay seller has listed, the Korean version supports the following bands:
LTE, 3G WCDMA, 3G UMTS: B1(2100), 4G LTE: B1(2100), B3(1800), B5(850)
Byte_76 said:
But if the watch is not locked to a carrier, could we not just take the watch to our carrier and ask them to activate the eSIM on the network?
I'm in the same boat as the OP but I'm thinking of ordering the LTE version from eBay which comes from South Korea. Apparently it is not carrier locked but I have no idea if I will be able to connect to the network of my local carrier.
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I'm late to the party and see there have been no posts in here for awhile. I didn't want to be an early adopter so I waited, I went through the Note 7 fiasco. Anyway, in order to save $50.00 I ordered the T-Mobile LTE version directly from Samsung and it's been on back-order for days!!! It's been out for months, I don't get it!! Most displeased!!!!
rodrigobarg said:
Guys, I know it's available in the US, but it's not unlocked and not the same bands, but I was wondering if the gear s3 was available in the LTE version in other countries, and maybe even unlocked like you can find the S2 now.
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Rodrigo, I live in Argentina and purchased the AT&T LTE version from Best Buy in the USA.
Traditionally AT&T phones work well with the local LTE bands, so I imagine that if and when local carriers can work with embedded sim devices that they will be able to program mine.
By the way, I successfully unlocked my device by contacting AT&T.
So if in your country any local carrier works with the same LTE bands as AT&T, you can just get one from AT&T in the USA and unlock it.
Saludos
Are the T-mobile and AT&T Gear S3 devices the same model?
Well, the AT&T watch is model #SM-R765ADAAATT and the T-Mobile watch is model #SM-R765TDAATMB. Makes me think that they are not the same.
Pretty sure they're the exact same internally, but just programmed with respective carrier settings.
OK, thanks. Found a deal on a T-Mobile version. Not going to use the 3g part so I threw an offer on the T-Mobile version.
So, an ATT Samsung Gear S3 (Frontier, LTE version) device can perform flawless on TMobile network? can someone confirm this?
Thanks
Since the S3 uses an eSIM, I think they are restricted to their respective networks, regardless of hardware specifications.
But the phone and watch do not have to be on the same network.
A little over a 3months ago I was tricked into getting a the Frontier version of Verizon's Gear S3 from Best buy. I later learn that this model will never have 4G LTE like the S2 and I'll never be able to add an independent line outside Bluetooth. I'm also told I can can't refund on it. Does anyone one know a way I can add a separate phone line to this device or if it's possible to add 4G LTE to it? Thanks E
The Frontier comes in two versions, a Bluetooth only model and an LTE model. Only the latter has the requisite hardware that allows it to have cellular service. The LTE radio is built in, it cannot be added after manufacture.
Verizon doesn't sale the Gear S3, although there are rumours that it will sometime in the future. All the Frontier LTE models operate on AT&T or T-Mobile.
I have a USA an UK LTE galaxy 4. I am trying to get LTE Esim card working in Israel. Ive been told it wont work if the watch is from abroad. I saw on the Samsung USA site they say that the watches only work esim in USA and not abroad. I cant find info about UK.
Is there any way to use these watches as esim foreign countries.
No issues using any of the apps - Google pay etc as have seen on other threads. There I see I can change CSC. Would that even help for Esim compatability?