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Was the article that the S7 will lock to the first Sim inserted true?

http://www.sammobile.com/2016/02/25...-will-carrier-lock-to-the-first-inserted-sim/
I know some t-mobile customers already have devices in hand (or will be getting it within a few days). Has anyone checked if the above article is true? Would be awesome to know for all US who aren't on T-mo or any major carrier (I'm on Cricket, No preorders, and no edge listed so far.)
Would be awesome to preorder the ATT version from a place like target, get those preorder bonuses (target has $100 GC + standard 5% off for target card members, so its probably the cheapest place to get it), and then use it on Cricket.
Note: This is primarily meant for US carriers and devices. not other countries, which has different laws and networks.

Yes I'm also wondering how this will work. When I spoke to sales team at CPW they said it would be completely unlocked but knew nothing about the so called locking feature which may happen to us. Uk

Good question, I'm surprised no one has posted the answer yet considering how many people are getting them.
I'm on cricket as well, and planning to get the tmobile s7 due to the unlocked bootloader (at&t is bootloader locked)... It would be nice not to have to pay some company to remotely Sim unlock it

I would like to know too. Thank you!

I'd also like to know whether the phone will download carrier software specific everytime a different SIM is inserted

Im buying mine from samsung direct so id be annoyed if they have the sim region lock in place. im sure they are selling it unlocked and this sim lock is carrier requested.

sonhy said:
Im buying mine from samsung direct so id be annoyed if they have the sim region lock in place. im sure they are selling it unlocked and this sim lock is carrier requested.
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Are you in canada? If so there is a sim lock when you put in your sim, but you're given an unlock code with the phone if you get it from a samsung store.

no not canada, well thats good to hear about unlock code, as said im pretty sure the sim lock is only for carrier bought gs7 phones.

Work for a carrier: it will lock upon first sim. If you put in a sim after initial Set up it wipes and reboots. Unlock codes are available like any other phone

CPW never lock their android phones. This feature is for carriers to lock if they want and helps Sammy to sell phones to multiple suppliers using the same SKU code rather than different variants. Anyone buying sim free won't have to worry about this and I'm 99℅ sure shops like cpw won't use this. Buying from an operator however is a different story
Sent from my XT1580 using Tapatalk

Seems like this SIM lock applies to carrier phones only and not Global/International aka Unlocked.

My guess is they do this so Samsung can provide everyone with the same standard S7 model to save hassle on carrier specific phones that are locked from the factory so the carrier can pick up any S7 and provide the sim that then locks to that network.

False.. i have 2 phones.. i just got my S7 and i have an iPhone as well ... just switched the sims and works fine...

bradbutter said:
False.. i have 2 phones.. i just got my S7 and i have an iPhone as well ... just switched the sims and works fine...
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Cool thanks for reporting.

bradbutter said:
False.. i have 2 phones.. i just got my S7 and i have an iPhone as well ... just switched the sims and works fine...
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I dont understand what you are saying...if you stuck a tmobile sim from your iphone and stuck it in your tmobile s7, its still possibly carrier locked to tmobile.
we want to know if you stick a cricket or at&t in your tmobile s7 first, will it lock to those carriers even though your on tmobile or will it require a remote unlock

I'd be curious to know that if id DOES lock, would a ODIN/reflash of stock reset it?

I would love it buying a AT&T version would work on Verizon or T-Mobile.
All this of course with the phone having access to all bands set on initial carrier SIM card boot up.

Is it possible to just flash a different version's os? Example, could i just flash the t-mo fw onto an att phone?

el7145 said:
I dont understand what you are saying...if you stuck a tmobile sim from your iphone and stuck it in your tmobile s7, its still possibly carrier locked to tmobile.
we want to know if you stick a cricket or at&t in your tmobile s7 first, will it lock to those carriers even though your on tmobile or will it require a remote unlock
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Oh well yeah in that case I'm not sure because I know my phone should be locked to T-Mobile from the start unless I pay it off in full. I highly doubt if I would have put a non T-Mobile Sim in it first that it would of even got service. You would have to ask someone with an unlocked device if another sim works because most devices from carriers are locked from the start.
Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

bradbutter said:
Oh well yeah in that case I'm not sure because I know my phone should be locked to T-Mobile from the start unless I pay it off in full. I highly doubt if I would have put a non T-Mobile Sim in it first that it would of even got service. You would have to ask someone with an unlocked device if another sim works because most devices from carriers are locked from the start.
Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
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Best answer here. I'm not sure what the confusion is here. A phone from T Mobile IS locked to T Mobile unless one removes the carrier lock. Its always been this way (sans int. phones). The carrier unlock app is in the S7 as well and by law all US carriers must provide the unlock if requested by a customer.
So if the OP buys an S7 outright then they can request and will receive the unlock for the phone. Otherwise its business as usual.

Network unlocking

My Sprint variant arrives tomorrow and I'll need to network unlock it to use with my carrier (wanted the unlocked bootloader).
Am I going to have to go on say eBay and do the IMEI method or will the first sim inserted feature work?
If the IMEI way, are there 3rd parties currently that support the S7?
note: I don't know how generating the code works so I don't know if it's model dependent when generating it.
EDIT: Can confirm first sim inserted does not work. Prompted with "Invalid SIM card" with an AT&T sim in Sprint variant.

I can tell you, as far as I know no one has tried the 1st Sim inserted locks to that network theory...I hope you give it a shot, as it could confirm or deny this theory.
Sprint has unlocked bootloaders?
Good questions btw, I'd like answers to these questions as well

el7145 said:
Sprint has unlocked bootloaders?
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I was surprised too. I asked a rep before purchasing and they said they did; as well as a couple others stating it. But rather that's true or not, I'll find out soon enough

I can confirm that the AT&T s7 was sim unlocked. Bought outright at Bestbuy and picked up tonight, I put my cricket sim in and it worked perfectly. I can not verify if it is locked to cricket or not since I don't have another carrier sim to try. I received no notifications that I had a cricket sim or anything it just worked.

Jtate1729 said:
I can confirm that the AT&T s7 was sim unlocked. Bought outright at Bestbuy and picked up tonight, I put my cricket sim in and it worked perfectly. I can not verify if it is locked to cricket or not since I don't have another carrier sim to try. I received no notifications that I had a cricket sim or anything it just worked.
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Cricket works on all? AT&T phones because Cricket uses the AT&T network. I have an AT&T S5 using cricket with no changes needed but APN settings. I'll confirm tomorrow, unless someone else does before hand, if the first sim feature works with a Sprint variant.

Unless I'm mistaken even on AT&T phones you still had to unlock then to us a cricket Sim

Jtate1729 said:
Unless I'm mistaken even on AT&T phones you still had to unlock then to us a cricket Sim
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I didn't with my S5, unless something changed.

The OEM unlock option is in the developer options of the att s7. I only have an att sim though, so i can't test it. I didn't buy mine outright.

Cricket Sims work on AT&T SIM locked phones.

Crewville96 said:
The OEM unlock option is in the developer options of the att s7. I only have an att sim though, so i can't test it. I didn't buy mine outright.
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Same for T-Mobile. There is also a "Device Unlock" app in the T-Mobile folder/

I will try a different sim today...
My phone arrives later this week - no next day shipping for me I guess I will try my Vodafone SIM first when it arrives and see what happens.
Will post the results if no one beats me to it.

FYI... The OEM unlock option in developer options has absolutely nothing to do with Sim unlock.

el7145 said:
FYI... The OEM unlock option in developer options has absolutely nothing to do with Sim unlock.
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What is it then?

Can confirm first sim inserted does not work. Prompted with "Invalid SIM card" with an AT&T sim in Sprint variant.

Crewville96 said:
What is it then?
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it begins the process of allowing you to unlock your bootloader, if your bootloader is unlockable.

Ah ha

The reason its because of this phonearena dot com/news/Certain-versions-of-the-Galaxy-S7Galaxy-S7-edge-lock-to-the-carrier-of-the-first-SIM-inserted_id78809

Jtate1729 said:
I can confirm that the AT&T s7 was sim unlocked. Bought outright at Bestbuy and picked up tonight, I put my cricket sim in and it worked perfectly. I can not verify if it is locked to cricket or not since I don't have another carrier sim to try. I received no notifications that I had a cricket sim or anything it just worked.
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Since you bought the phone outright, can you still get on the GearVR promotion bandwagon?
I am on the ATT Prepaid (GoPhone) plan and don't want to change over to post-paid. But I was told I can't actually pre-order and still retain my plans with GoPhone.

Hey TehPirate_,
Unfortunately the Sprint S7 and S7 edge can't be unlocked by code
you can however contact sprint to request the to unlock it
The other GSM networks can all be unlocked by code such as AT&T, MetroPCS, T-Mobile(by Unlock app confirmed unlocked today Rogers, Fido, Telus, Bell, Vodafone, etc

SamsungCodeSource said:
Hey TehPirate_,
Unfortunately the Sprint S7 and S7 edge can't be unlocked by code
you can however contact sprint to request the to unlock it
The other GSM networks can all be unlocked by code such as AT&T, MetroPCS, T-Mobile(by Unlock app confirmed unlocked today Rogers, Fido, Telus, Bell, Vodafone, etc
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Took me half a day of phone calls and emails but managed to get sprint to unlock it for me.

Works with all carriers out of box?

I was recently informed by a mobile carrier rep that all models of the S8 are already unlocked and I have been reading around that it supports both GSM and CDMA on a single device. I am using AT&T (a GSM carrier) but their service around my location in near no existent and I am trying to switch over to Verizon or US Cellular which are CDMA carrier. I'm looking for some confirmation on this and the steps i would need to take to switch providers and keep the same phone. I have. I know that the United States models can be flashed to a different carriers official software but would this be necessary?

They are all the same hardware and all support the same radio bands. Depending on your carrier and which firmware you're running, some features may or may not work on all carriers. I'm not sure about your AT&T version, but the T-Mobile versions come carrier locked. They must be paid off and activated on T-Mo for 40 days before they will unlock it. I believe Sprint is also carrier locked. From what I understand Verizon is unlocked out of the box, as have all VZW LTE devices been for a few years now. AT&T is the one carrier I'm unsure of. Easiest way to find out is to put a different carriers SIM card in and see if it works. If it is carrier locked, AT&T will unlock it for free as long as it is paid off. Just request it through the AT&T website.
Once you switch to Verizon, I HIGHLY recommend flashing either the XAA unlocked firmware, which will detect your SIM automatically and optimize it for VZW. It will be bloatfree, but may be missing VOLTE, WiFi Calling, etc. If you want all the VZW features, flash the VZW Carrier firmware, and be ready for the VZW bloat as well.

Mr. Orange 645 said:
They are all the same hardware and all support the same radio bands. Depending on your carrier and which firmware you're running, some features may or may not work on all carriers. I'm not sure about your AT&T version, but the T-Mobile versions come carrier locked. They must be paid off and activated on T-Mo for 40 days before they will unlock it. I believe Sprint is also carrier locked. From what I understand Verizon is unlocked out of the box, as have all VZW LTE devices been for a few years now. AT&T is the one carrier I'm unsure of. Easiest way to find out is to put a different carriers SIM card in and see if it works. If it is carrier locked, AT&T will unlock it for free as long as it is paid off. Just request it through the AT&T website.
Once you switch to Verizon, I HIGHLY recommend flashing either the XAA unlocked firmware, which will detect your SIM automatically and optimize it for VZW. It will be bloatfree, but may be missing VOLTE, WiFi Calling, etc. If you want all the VZW features, flash the VZW Carrier firmware, and be ready for the VZW bloat as well.
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Thank you I went ahead and I am using an unlock service and I will be switching to some sort of carrier and flashing to that carrier's firmware.

I have a Verizon S8+ and popped in my tmobile sim and it works perfectly. I made no apn changes. I looked in the apn settings and all the settings for various vendors were already in there.

Oyeve said:
I have a Verizon S8+ and popped in my tmobile sim and it works perfectly. I made no apn changes. I looked in the apn settings and all the settings for various vendors were already in there.
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If I read correctly, he's going the other way, from ATT to VZW, so I don't think all the features will work without the VZW firmware.

i've flashed the phone over to the unlocked fw and unlocked carrier following the Snap+ Flashing Guide on these forums so now i'm waiting for my carrier unlock to be completely free. Will provide and update once i recieve my code and use it.

Unlocked S8+ on AT&T?

Hello all,
A friend of mine is on AT&T and thinking of getting an US unlocked S8+ to use. He asked me what he might miss out on by not getting the AT&T version. I'm thinking VOLTE, maybe wifi calling. Idk. Can anyone enlighten us?
Thanks.
-evilhunter101
P.S. I swear this is really for a friend, I'm using a Verizon S8+ on Verizon :good:

I had bought an AT&T version of the S8 plus and unlocked it, then i switched the fw to the unlocked version and now i am able to use it on any carrier i want. The only problem is that i have to activate my service on one of my older phone that used the carrier i wanted.
Honestly, won't be missing out on much

alspaugh.william said:
I had bought an AT&T version of the S8 plus and unlocked it, then i switched the fw to the unlocked version and now i am able to use it on any carrier i want. The only problem is that i have to activate my service on one of my older phone that used the carrier i wanted.
Honestly, won't be missing out on much
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So basically nothing missing. That's good to hear. He's already on AT&T but I don't know the sim card size of his current phone. We'll deal with that when we get there.
Thanks, appreciate the information.

I think you're right about WiFi calling unless there is some other way to add it. I'm looking for a solution for that. I just switched my AT&T S8+ to an unlocked ROM and that is the thing I miss the most. Not sure about volte.

Need to switch stock AT&T f/w over to T-Mobile

I was part of my sisters AT&T family plan and I had recently traded my S8+ in for the AT&T version of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra SM-N986U. Well sis got fed up with AT&T pricing and wanted to switch. So I was forced into paying off my phone & the 4 of us switched to T-Mobile . Me & my wife have our own plan and no longer part of my sisters. So after unlocking the phone the port went fine but I want to switch my f/w to T-mobiles. Will there be any problem in doing so?

SuddenImpact58 said:
I was part of my sisters AT&T family plan and I had recently traded my S8+ in for the AT&T version of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra SM-N986U. Well sis got fed up with AT&T pricing and wanted to switch. So I was forced into paying off my phone & the 4 of us switched to T-Mobile . Me & my wife have our own plan and no longer part of my sisters. So after unlocking the phone the port went fine but I want to switch my f/w to T-mobiles. Will there be any problem in doing so?
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If the phone is unlocked, you should be fine. Both use the same base firmware.
You may or may not get all the T-Mobile features. There is a fix for that if you don't get all the T-Mobile features, but it typically involves wiping/resetting your phone.

rjohnstone said:
If the phone is unlocked, you should be fine. Both use the same base firmware.
You may or may not get all the T-Mobile features. There is a fix for that if you don't get all the T-Mobile features, but it typically involves wiping/resetting your phone.
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No doubt that is what I need to do. I just tried SamMoble stock USA T Mobile f/w with Android 11 using Odin & the phone still see's that it is a AT&T purchased phone at boot.

SuddenImpact58 said:
No doubt that is what I need to do. I just tried SamMoble stock USA T Mobile f/w with Android 11 using Odin & the phone still see's that it is a AT&T purchased phone at boot.
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Did you have the T-Mobile SIM card in it?
If not, it will revert to it's initial build CSC. AT&T in this case.
The other option is to manually change your CSC from ATT to TMB. There are threads here on how to do it.

rjohnstone said:
Did you have the T-Mobile SIM card in it?
If not, it will revert to it's initial build CSC. AT&T in this case.
The other option is to manually change your CSC from ATT to TMB. There are threads here on how to do it.
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I guess since its a USA based Snapdragon I cant even root it. Yes I did have the T-Mobile SIM card in it. I have tried 2x with stock T-Mobile fw & it still thinks its AT&T. The working network does show T-Mobile, but I would like to get the AT&T f/w off of it. So I will research how to manually change your CSC.