I'm heading to Europe in a month and plan on using a European sim as I don't want to deal with Sprints free slow internet and $25 a week is more than I want to spend. Sprint is telling me my phone is unlocked (and I was under that impression years ago) but I want to be absolutely sure before I leave due to issues I've heard people have with Sprint phones. When I do the UICC unlock (with the Sprint sim still in), the phone tells me it can only be used with Sprint and to contact them. I called Sprint and they told me it is saying that because the Sprint sim is in the phone and the phone will work when another sim is added. I want to test my phone with my friend's at&t sim card. I really don't know squat about sim cards considering I've been a Sprint user my entire life. Therefore, I'm wondering:
1. Can I just turn off my phone, put the at&t sim in, reboot, and see if things work to test that the phone is truly unlocked?
2. After I'm done testing, can I put the at&t sim back in my friend's phone, and my Sprint sim back in mine, and have things go back to normal, or will this somehow screw things up with his phone or mine?
Related
Need a replacement phone since mine crapped out and not up for form VZW. Found an unlocked phone that I like and would allow me to upgrade to LTE. The phone doesn't have a SIM card but I assume I can get one from VZW and/or Amazon. Is anything needed to get an unlocked phone onto VZW network?
Since Sprint has a deal to get GS7/edge get second GS7/edge 50% off. I am on Verizon and, I have a friend on Sprint who is upgrading to new S7 edge, but if I took the second phone 50% off to take to Verizon would it work if I put Verizon sim in it?
anrichardson said:
Since Sprint has a deal to get GS7/edge get second GS7/edge 50% off. I am on Verizon and, I have a friend on Sprint who is upgrading to new S7 edge, but if I took the second phone 50% off to take to Verizon would it work if I put Verizon sim in it?
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Click to collapse
According to what I read, as long as the first sim in the phone is the one you want to use (in your case verizon) the phone will lock as a verizon phone instead of sprint. if a sprint sim is in it first, its all over.
Theoretically you can, the thing might be dealing with Horizon with giving you the phone brand new in the box without the SIM in it, that could be the tricky part but I wouldn't know since I've never dealt with Verizon.
Let us know what you find please.
Hi everyone
I’m kinda puzzled with this note 8 and need some advice. Recently got a note 8 from AT&T and since I was traveling I had it unlocked to use by a third party company ( since att doesn’t unlock until Device payment is complete)
I got the code, unlocked the phone successfully. Before I left USA I put a working T-Mobile sim to test if connectivity, no luck, it doesn’t work, I tried a Verizon sim, nothing works....
Note... this T-Mobile sim and Verizon sim if I put it on a different device it will work...
any reason why this is happening
jmathew86 said:
Hi everyone
I’m kinda puzzled with this note 8 and need some advice. Recently got a note 8 from AT&T and since I was traveling I had it unlocked to use by a third party company ( since att doesn’t unlock until Device payment is complete)
I got the code, unlocked the phone successfully. Before I left USA I put a working T-Mobile sim to test if connectivity, no luck, it doesn’t work, I tried a Verizon sim, nothing works....
Note... this T-Mobile sim and Verizon sim if I put it on a different device it will work...
any reason why this is happening
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Click to collapse
The phone is not unlocked. Seems like an error happened when you got the unlock code. I'd try again.
Did you use this device on the att network? I mean, do you have it activated?
If you unlocked it by codes and the message after inserting the code is something like "unlock successfull" then your device must accept other GSM SIM cards.
Also, I would recommend you place a 5 min call with your device, with the att sim card and then insert again the tmob card.
What is the message when you insert the tmobile card in this device?
I did the same thing by using a Tmobile SIM during the unlocking process, and it worked on TMobile right after I unlocked it. It sounded like you did not unlock it using a different network SIM but using some other method. I am not sure if that mattered or not.
I then traveled to Asia, and I bought and used a local SIM card with zero issues. The 4G LTE was faster in that country than AT&T... LOL
Need to go overseas for a few weeks and need to unlock an S8 plus so I can use the phone over there. I'm still under installment plan for another year so they refused to unlock my phones.
I don't want to root the phone since I use samsung pay a lot. Any other way to unlock the phone but keeping it as stock as possible?
Global roaming works well and is free! It is in many countries. Free 2G data as well as .20 per call. Log into your account and see if it's enabled, if not enable it and profit.
https://www.sprint.com/en/shop/services/global-roaming.html
Dave
Talk with Sprint directly and tell them what you need. They should be able to understand that you need your phone unlocked to use it with a local SIM card.
Moreover, I recommend you also check if you can use other (foreign) GSM SIM card with your phone that is from Sprint (CDMA). These are two different technologies, but your new Samsung should be able to accept both GSM and CDMA.
RossTeagan said:
Talk with Sprint directly and tell them what you need. They should be able to understand that you need your phone unlocked to use it with a local SIM card.
Moreover, I recommend you also check if you can use other (foreign) GSM SIM card with your phone that is from Sprint (CDMA). These are two different technologies, but your new Samsung should be able to accept both GSM and CDMA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would think it's that easy right? Spoke to 3 reps and a manager and all shot me down. Said they changed their policy a few months ago and can no longer do so.
The S8 is a CDMA/GSM phone....
dannieboiz said:
You would think it's that easy right? Spoke to 3 reps and a manager and all shot me down. Said they changed their policy a few months ago and can no longer do so.
The S8 is a CDMA/GSM phone....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't aware of this policy shift.
I suggest you insert a GSM SIM card in your phone and check if it's asking/prompting for something, anything and if recognizes the SIM card.
If uou still need help msg me
So I'm an idiot. When I went to pre-order, I selected T-Mobile since they didn't have a Sprint option and I figured they were "merged" by now. Apparently that's not the case. I was reluctant to get the Unlocked model.
When I got the phone yesterday, I spent 4 hours on the phone (Note 8) and a worthless trip to one of the "Sprint/T-Mobile" stores. On the last call, a guy from Sprint said my IMEI number was not in the database yet -- I'm guessing because it shipped about 5 days earlier than expected. He would elevate the issue so it would and he'd call me back once it was added, then I could transfer my Sprint SIM from my Note to my T-Mobile Fold 2. He didn't call back.
The guy at the store said I'd have to call T-Mobile to get them to unlock it so I could put it on Sprint. But they won't talk to me if I don't have an account with them and that I'd have to talk to Sprint.
I want to keep my cell phone number, so now I'm wondering if I just open a new T-Mobile account and get my number ported to T-Mobile. I've been with Sprint for 22 years so I'm reluctant to do that even though they're going to be one network -- but probably not for a while.
Recommendations?
Wade
File an FCC Complaint. It's kind of the nuclear option but in my experience when it comes to cell phone and working with wireless providers (as well as internet) that's really the only thing that seems to get them to treat the customer as a customer. Even if the phone isn't compatible that will at least get someone from the Executive Offices on the phone with you to lay out what is happening and how to fix it.
https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us
I got my phone Tmobile variant Wed paid in full and tried to unlock it in the phone settings. Didn't work. So called up Tmobile. He told me to do what i already tried. Told him it didn't work. He took my IMEI and he put me on hold. Then he came back and said to try again in 3 days and if i still can't unlock it to call back. I too think maybe it's because the phone isn't technically out yet. I'm using Fi which will only be using Tmobile anyway so i went ahead and flashed unlocked firmware. Then i downloaded the Fi app and was able transfer my number. But of course being on unlocked firmware the unlock option is now gone. So i may flash the carrier firmware this weekend and try unlocking again.
I'm currently in the same predicament. I was going to get the unlocked version but it was going to take another month to ship so I went ahead with the T-mobile version. After being unable to activate the phone, after 2+ hours working with CS the answer I finally ended up with from a T-Mobile rep (Sprint was useless) was to go into a store today and they can transfer my account over to T-Mobile and then I'd be able to activate the new one. The process will also unlock the rest of my phones so that they can accept a new SIM card from T-Mobile. Not what I wanted to do but since I can't get an unlocked version it may be the only option I have because after playing with this phone there is no way I'm getting rid of it.
Last night, I finally got my situation RESOLVED!
I went to another Sprint/T-Mobile store and found someone who knew how to transfer my Sprint account and Phone Number over to T-Mobile using the same SIM card! I chose the Magenta Plus plan -- and am even saving $20 a month for being "Over 55"! I'm now a VERY happy camper who's now getting 150Mbps downloads (so far). The Manager said he noticed the Model Number of my Z Fold 2 and thinks it was the Verizon model which may have caused some of the problems.