Hi XDA,
First post in a looooong time, will try to not be too stupid. I have an unbranded, purchased from AT&T, G955U S8+. I'm on totally stock AT&T firmware and have not rooted, just SIM unlocked from AT&T after paying the phone off. AT&T continues to frustrate me as a provider, so I thought I'd check out MintSim, which I know uses T-Mobile. While the service was a bit better than AT&T, I'm not getting coverage in a lot of areas where both T-Mobile and MintSim say I should be rocking out on LTE. I know that some of T-Mobile's frequencies are different than AT&T, is it possible that because I'm using stock AT&T software I can't access the T-Mobile specific bands? Is there a generic or T-Mobile firmware that might perform better? Or is this just likely a product of both carriers being lousy in my problem areas and I need to look at Verizon which works fine but costs an arm and leg?
Deets from Phone INFO:
Device Type and Product Name: dream2qltesq
Product Code: SM-G955UZKAATT
Active CSC Code: ATT
Bootloader / PDA / Baseband: G955USQU4CRE9
CSC: G955UOYN4CRE9
Longer story if interested, I left ATT post-paid for pre-paid. Call quality and signal strength actually improved and my bill dropped about 100 bucks a month. I'd be okay, BUT ATT doesn't give WiFi calling to pre-paid customers. This was a key feature for me as service right at my desk at work and in my home office and bedroom were atrocious. I was about to leave after I got fed up with their BS microcells, but just then they rolled out WiFi calling to older phones (was still on my S5) and I stayed. I'm open to picking up a new phone and even dual-simming based on some articles I've looked at with OnePlusOne's, really more focused on *always* having signal here, but I do like my S8+ and want to see what problems I might not be aware of.
Thanks!
Related
I have T-mobile service, but a friend of mine gave me a Note Edge for Verizon, because my phone died on me. I couldn't turn down a free phone even if it isn't originally for my carrier. Being that the Verizon phone is unlocked it will work on T-mobile's network however it comes with all of their software, and lacks some of the features the T-mobile version would else wise come with. This may be a silly question, but has anyone found a way to root and change maybe the rom or software boot sequence of a verizon phone to flash it to T-mobile software? Is that possible?
Hey guys im going to be pre-ordering tomorrow and want to know your thoughts on which carrier variant to go with. I have AT&T where I live but I have heard that tmobiles phone are usually easier to get bootloader unlocked, or they come pre unlock. Which one do you think is a better choice?
I'm sure the tmobile one will have all. The band's requires for att.. Or at least the main ones. If you're looking at modding, go the tmobile route. But Idk how easy it will be to get the tmobile one and have them unlock it for you. I went through hell with my s6 edge and getting them to unlock it
Sent from my SM-N920G using Tapatalk
I am debating the same thing. Last time I got a TMOB, and paid for a 3rd party unlock which took a week. Then canceled the TMOB service before the 30 days were up.
TMOB won't unlock phones until they are on plan after two payment cycles and the phone is fully paid off.
Now TMOB unlocks via app and I understand there is a 3rd party vendor that might be able to get them unlocked, but might be troublesome. I asked my sister who is a TMOB customer if she could just outright buy the phone for me but she said under her plan they require her to surrender her old phone so I have to put it on their stupid plan.
Not sure if you can get the phone via MetroPCS as a pre-paid plan and avoid this nonsense but it seems their phone choices are severely limited.
Definitely looking for a better way to get an unlocked bootloader.
I'm in the same boat. Have an AT&T S4 and finally looking to upgrade but after the hell AT&T gave with the S4 locked bootloader I think T-mobile is the way to go. Just hope unlocking it for AT&T will be a straight forward process.
The guy that unlocked an S6 for me emailed me back that he was not sure yet if he could unlock a TMOB S7.
I believe AT&T has more bands than T-Mobile.
Will get the AT&T model as will use with prepaid carriers and AT&T supports most T-Mobile bands. T-Mobile does not support all AT&T bands.
Nextstep said:
I believe AT&T has more bands than T-Mobile.
Will get the AT&T model as will use with prepaid carriers and AT&T supports most T-Mobile bands. T-Mobile does not support all AT&T bands.
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The only bands that are missing from the 930T (t-mobile version) versus the 930A (AT&T) are bands 29 and 30 which don't appear to be used in the US at all. I found the bands on the product pages on both sites. You are better off getting the t-mobile one and hope for an unlocked bootloader. AT&T will be locked down for sure.
zcubed said:
The only bands that are missing from the 930T (t-mobile version) versus the 930A (AT&T) are bands 29 and 30 which don't appear to be used in the US at all. I found the bands on the product pages on both sites. You are better off getting the t-mobile one and hope for an unlocked bootloader. AT&T will be locked down for sure.
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That's great news, thanks for checking.
What I'm currently debating is preordering the AT&T S7 from Best Buy to get in on the VR and MicroSD, then just selling once an unlocked T-Mobile variant becomes available No other way to preorder a 930T without an account right?
The TMOB preorder is up. You need to subscribe to a plan to order it. It does not let you pre-order it on a post paid or prepaid plan.
I am really hesitant to preorder it since TMOB sucks and won't unlock until after 2 billing cycles. And you have to unlock it using their app verses typing in a code provided by a 3rd party unlocker after you turn the phone on when a non-TMOB sim is inserted.
Guess I'll have to wait until some unlocked ones appear on Swappa or Fleabay. Hate doing that as I was just burned with a phone that that eventually popped up with a blacklisted IMEI.
Like Flame Red said, there's no way to get the T-Mobile one without signing up for a plan but you also get a year of Netflix with the t-mobile one that's worth WAY more than the microSD from Best Buy. You can cancel the plan immediately though and hope for a third party unlocking service to unlock the phone for a fee.
---------- Post added at 10:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:02 AM ----------
Bands detail links:
https://support.t-mobile.com/community/phones-tablets-devices/android/samsung_galaxy_s_7#id_1299991
https://www.att.com/cellphones/samsung/galaxy-s7.html#sku=sku7840239 (Click Details)
Is there a place to order the 930F Global version? Will that have all the bands required for ATT & TMO?
Are there any Galaxy S7 that will support CDMA and GSM.
I looking to go prepaid route and Sprint prepaid MVNO and T-Mobile prepaid MVNO with maybe some AT&T prepaid.
Any assistance greatly appreciated.
According to this thread, the underlying hardware is the same for all S7 variants and the bands are turned on/off via the radio files. http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s7/how-to/finally-single-hardware-variant-carriers-t3308040
Should be interesting if I decide to get a t-mobile S7 and possibly being able to "turn on" the extra bands at a later date.
Looks like it doesn't matter which one you get anymore: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Cert...the-carrier-of-the-first-SIM-inserted_id78809
The S7 should "lock" to the first carrier's sim you insert. Would love confirmation of this if someone gets the T-Mobile one and puts in an AT&T sim.
Will see, hoping some users will get the phone soon, and confirm before I purchase.
clove.co.uk is now showing pre-orders for the unlocked international s7 (and edge). Interestingly enough, they're showing it having the SD820 whereas I thought EU was getting the Exynos!?
zcubed said:
Looks like it doesn't matter which one you get anymore: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Cert...the-carrier-of-the-first-SIM-inserted_id78809
The S7 should "lock" to the first carrier's sim you insert. Would love confirmation of this if someone gets the T-Mobile one and puts in an AT&T sim.
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So technically speaking, no matter what version ill get it will be locked to att after I put in that sim card?
I wonder if that means the bootloaders will be the same on all the models, since they are all the same except for the radio differences?
Neither for me. International versions only
As far as unlocking goes, I've been in that scene for about 6 months. If it's an app unlock, no biggie, it'll just cost about $30 more than without the app unlock. You should expect to pay about $20-50 for the unlock once the phone comes out. No sweat!
The big difference between att and tmobile is not the sim lock, but the fact that att phones come with locked bootloaders thereby severely limiting their attractiveness to the mod community.
Simple right? I have a factory Verizon Samsung galaxy S5 now I have T-Mobile service, can't I just wipe the Verizon software and replace it with the T-mobile software? ..... but I just don't know how and of course T-mobile isn't going to help me they want me to buy a phone, but the super nice lady tech was smitten that another lady was talking "geek" to her so she sent me to the experts. YOU!! Point me in the right direction or something I can figure out the rest. I don't worry about make-up before I leave me house I spend time on making sure my brain can carry me through, so help me work out my greatest asset by handing over some more knowledge. If you have any questions about auto mechanics I could answer those in return.
AZConfusion said:
Simple right? I have a factory Verizon Samsung galaxy S5 now I have T-Mobile service, can't I just wipe the Verizon software and replace it with the T-mobile software? ..... but I just don't know how and of course T-mobile isn't going to help me they want me to buy a phone, but the super nice lady tech was smitten that another lady was talking "geek" to her so she sent me to the experts. YOU!! Point me in the right direction or something I can figure out the rest. I don't worry about make-up before I leave me house I spend time on making sure my brain can carry me through, so help me work out my greatest asset by handing over some more knowledge. If you have any questions about auto mechanics I could answer those in return.
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The Verizon S5's bootloader is locked. If you don't know what that means, it means non-official software/firmware/OS/etc cannot be flashed to the device. Even if the bootloader wasn't locked, the phones (afaik) are physically different (modems/radios/etc) to work on different network technologies.
I know some Verizon phones will work on T-Mobile's (and AT&T's network) simply by popping in the proper SIM. From a quick google search, it seems that the Galaxy S5 is one of them. You just have to change the APN settings or you won't get texts. Follow the directions here (they're for the Note 3, but it's the same process). If there's an update from Verizon, you might have to pop in a Verizon SIM card (and download it off of wi-fi obviously). The SIM doesn't need to be active (use your old one), the phone just has to recognize a Verizon SIM. LTE will work (with the proper APN) because Verizon and T-Mobile both use band 4.
Apart from the T-Mobile account app, there's really nothing about the T-Mobile version that you'd really care about. Different company, different useless bloatware. And as long as there's a T-Mobile SIM, you can still download the account app. If you just don't want anything "Verizon" about it, just google up a guide on what bloatware to disable and how to do it.
FYI, if you're in/around Tucson or Phoenix, supposedly this year we're finally going to get band 12. It's a 700MHz band (like Verizon's band 13), which, being a lower frequency travels further and penetrates buildings better. The Galaxy S5 does not support band 12 - it's not new enough. So if you're boiling your butt off in saguaro country like me, it might behoove you to get a newer phone. The reason we're waiting on band 12 is that there's a UHF TV station in Phoenix that conflicts with that frequency (and the broadcast radius clips the northern Tucson suburbs), but I guess the TV station is going to switch (probably with financial motivation from T-Mo).
If you're not in Tucson or Phoenix (I can't speak for Flagstaff), but in a more rural area, or just where there's poor LTE coverage, it still might behoove you to get a different phone rather than use your Verizon one. The problem is that it doesn't support T-Mobiles better/faster GSM bands, so you would get slower data speeds if not on LTE, even in an area with good HSPA+ or EDGE coverage.
Of course, the other option is simply to buy a T-Mobile phone (like a used S5 off of Swappa) then sell the Verizon one. Or find someone to trade with. An AT&T one would work as well as long as it's carrier unlocked (but not Sprint).
I don't have a car.
Planterz said:
The Verizon S5's bootloader is locked. If you don't know what that means, it means non-official software/firmware/OS/etc cannot be flashed to the device. Even if the bootloader wasn't locked, the phones (afaik) are physically different (modems/radios/etc) to work on different network technologies.
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Just saying, VZW s5 bootloader has been unlocked lately!
Won't make a difference for this user anyways....
Newyork! said:
Just saying, VZW s5 bootloader has been unlocked lately!
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No kidding?
Planterz said:
No kidding?
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There's already 201 pages on the unlocking thread!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/ver...t/rd-unlocking-galaxys-s5-bootloader-t3337909
Hello
I recently bought an S7 off Ebay. The seller had already sold over 900 units and had good feedback, so I went ahead and bought one. I'm very suspicious of something though. The IMEI on the back cover matches what Android is reporting, however the back cover shows model SM-G930V, not SM-G930U(which is what the listing stated). This leads me to believe it's actually a G930V that has been flashed to G930U.
Here's the thing. I have Cricket, which uses the AT&T network. However, when I'm sitting in the break room at work, I have one coworker with AT&T, one with Cricket(AT&T), and they both get 2 bars on their phone(one has an Iphone 7 and the other a Huawei Honor 6X). I however get no signal at all, and they're sitting right next to me.
So if the seller flashed the G930V to G930U, would it behave like a true G930U with regard to its AT&T network signal strength, or will there be some limitations? The seller offers free return shipping and I'm kind of tempted to return it if it doesn't behave like a true G930U, but I don't want to if it's not necessary. I appreciate all the feedback.
AndroidTerry said:
Hello
I recently bought an S7 off Ebay. The seller had already sold over 900 units and had good feedback, so I went ahead and bought one. I'm very suspicious of something though. The IMEI on the back cover matches what Android is reporting, however the back cover shows model SM-G930V, not SM-G930U(which is what the listing stated). This leads me to believe it's actually a G930V that has been flashed to G930U.
Here's the thing. I have Cricket, which uses the AT&T network. However, when I'm sitting in the break room at work, I have one coworker with AT&T, one with Cricket(AT&T), and they both get 2 bars on their phone(one has an Iphone 7 and the other a Huawei Honor 6X). I however get no signal at all, and they're sitting right next to me.
So if the seller flashed the G930V to G930U, would it behave like a true G930U with regard to its AT&T network signal strength, or will there be some limitations? The seller offers free return shipping and I'm kind of tempted to return it if it doesn't behave like a true G930U, but I don't want to if it's not necessary. I appreciate all the feedback.
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The phone was originally for the Verizon network and been flashed to be Unbranded to take any SIM BUT Verizon and AT&T use different network connection standards, different radio hardware. I'm surprised it working at all on Cricket.
This happens alot on Ebay in the US, you have to understand the difference in connection stands before you buy. Your mobile will never work correctly on Cricket (AT&T). ...AT&T= GSM. Verizon = CDMA. The phone has the hardware to work on CDMA.
Send it back and get a G930W
cooltt said:
The phone was originally for the Verizon network and been flashed to be Unbranded to take any SIM BUT Verizon and AT&T use different network connection standards, different radio hardware. I'm surprised it working at all on Cricket.
This happens alot on Ebay in the US, you have to understand the difference in connection stands before you buy. Your mobile will never work correctly on Cricket (AT&T). ...AT&T= GSM. Verizon = CDMA. The phone has the hardware to work on CDMA.
Send it back and get a G930W
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Thanks man. I won't lie, this kind of makes me angry. I don't think this Ebay seller should be selling a factory G930V phone that have been flashed to G930U, as a G930U. It doesn't say this anywhere in the listing. I feel like this item was misrepresented.
AndroidTerry said:
Thanks man. I won't lie, this kind of makes me angry. I don't think this Ebay seller should be selling a factory G930V phone that have been flashed to G930U, as a G930U. It doesn't say this anywhere in the listing. I feel like this item was misrepresented.
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It was since you guys in the US are nailed to a network. In Europe all phones work on all networks.
So it gets out there....
Apparently AT&T (possibly/probably others) are taking advantage of their network upgrades to force phone sales. I'm currently using an LG V30+ which from what I see of it's specifications is fully compatible with 4G LTE and even 5G NSA and I can see that VoLTE is currently configured too. I've been using it on an AT&T MVNO for years without much issue. When I paid my bill this month, bam! No more data! Over 3 hours with technical support and multiple agents to get my data working again and when asked what the issue was I was told "It's nothing sir just a little update." Last week my MMS suddenly stopped working and nobody has been able to fix it it, the best (only) answer I've received is that my "sim card is too old, it's from 2014, you need a new sim card." Mind you I've had service through this MVNO since 2014 but have since changed the sim card. So obviously I'm tired of this mess right? So I'm switching MVNOs right? Wrong! I go to port my number to another MVNO (Straight Talk) and my "IMEI shows that my phone is not compatible with the new AT&T network". Comment and share.
Edit: Screenshot attached.
I'm also interested in hearing of any comparable phones that are rootable and have TWRP available that show they are compatible this year on an AT&T MVNO. I checked a T-Mobile MVNO and it showed compatible with Mint.
Edit: Look what I found:
These phones will still work on our network after we phase out ... - ATT
https://www.att.com/idpassets/images/support/wireless/Devices-Working-on-ATT-Network.pdf
Confirmed? See the only LG V30 listed is the AT&T version.
been getting this on Verizon both with my LG G6 and even my V50 (which also has 5g but they claim it doesn't)
b1n4ry said:
been getting this on Verizon both with my LG G6 and even my V50 (which also has 5g but they claim it doesn't)
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Verizon uses a different method and they are all CDMA, so I think first they deny anything that can use a sim, I did some research on this once and came across the information...
Basically only two types of phones are compatible with the Verizon Network...
1. iphones
2. Androids that were made for the Verizon Network.
So if it's not an iphone or a Verizon phone it is not compatible for their network because they say so. But you're not missing anything as they seem to have the worst coverage of the big 3.
1. AT&T
2. T-Mobile
3. Verizon
According to their own coverage maps.
But now AT&T is starting to play the same game? My LG V30+ is a US998. Maybe they allow the AT&T versions?
Edit: Typo and additional info as follows...
Allegedly Apple pays for this privilege if you want to call it that.