Develop Bugs

S621 not working under T-Mobile anymore

Hey Guys,
Long time peruser first time poster. Heres the deal, got a HTC-S621 (on 8/15/08) with the Kavana_080408 ROM. Worked for a good while (until 8/23/08) until I used it on talkshoe.com then it simply stopped working. I can not receive a signal or on the rare occasion I do get reception, the phone can not communicate (no text, or calling service... Not even basic network communications)
but:
When I take the SIM out and put it in my old phone, the old phone worked.
When I use my wife's sim card from an alternate carrier, the S621 works.
The S621 does NOT work with SIM cards from T-Mobile.
I flashed the ROM at least 5 times (different ROMs) since the problem occurred, and the S621 still can not pick up the carrier signal.
so I'm deducing:
The radio is fine since alternate carrier sims work.
the sim is fine since it (and the recent prepaid sim i purchased) work in my previous phone.
there must be a registry entry or app that should resolve this issue.
Thanks in advanced for your helpful replies.

Reflash to 6.0 and see if the problem persists....if yes, return the phone with 6.0 on it and get a new one.

Mikey1022 said:
Reflash to 6.0 and see if the problem persists....if yes, return the phone with 6.0 on it and get a new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After the problem occurred, I installed:
The official Rogers WM6 rom
The official HTC Brightpoint rom
The official T-Mobile Dash rom
and the originally installed 080408 Kavan rom
of which an alternate carrier sim worked. The question still remains, "why do the T-Mobile sims not work". I have more affinity for the phone then I have for T-Mobile. Switching would be cheaper then buying a new phone but I would rather try to solve this issue.
Does anyone know how to force radio acceptance from the phone to the tower?

Maybe just maybe your sim is damaged?

Mikey1022 said:
Maybe just maybe your sim is damaged?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh.. Your going to love this part of the tale.
Like I mentioned before, swapping out my sim for my wife's sim makes the phone functional. So of course I can't just take her sim, so we decided to go to the T-mobile store after church this past Sunday.
SO. I walked in and store and DEMOED the whole tragedy in front of the store rep. And I purchase a new sim for 20 bucks.
Put it in... booted up.... BUBKISS!
Then the Rep. thought the new sim was faulty or something so he got another new sim.
Same results.
Got my wife's sim.... it worked.
So I went home deflated and then I thought hey... it could be a lock on my number and the IMEI number, so I went back to the store a purchased ANOTHER sim. A pre-paid sim. 7 bucks.
El' NUMERO CERO!
But my wife's sim stinking works! Uhg!
So... Recap...
3 Sim changes
T-mobile: -3 Other Carrier: 1

Ok... to be fair... as stated above, my T-Mobile sim worked for a week and some days before problems arose.

hmmm weird.
Here's an idea, give your Dash to your wife?

Mikey1022 said:
hmmm weird.
Here's an idea, give your Dash to your wife?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh we wise guy...Why I aughta...
A friend of mine thinks it might be the antenna specifically the GPRS but then I trying to figure out if thats the case, why does my wife's sim work? why would the antenna presumably not work at 850mhz and olny work at 1900mhz and why doesn't the phone tell the t-mobile tower that? All assumption though.

Installed Dash WM5 image and it didn't help. Does anyone know where the antenna is located?

its internal

i would jus tell t-mobile about it... and maybe u will get a free one.. jus go off on them til u get one he he he thats wat i did.. wen one of my buttons stopwrkin..

Mikey1022 said:
its internal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmm.. so its not likely that it can be jarred loose or is segmented physically for the individual frequencies.
Guess I'll get a sim from my wife's carrier.

swaney said:
i would jus tell t-mobile about it... and maybe u will get a free one.. jus go off on them til u get one he he he thats wat i did.. wen one of my buttons stopwrkin..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That might work if i bought the phone. It was a gift from my brother... likely from a pawn shop or off of ebay.

Which leads you back to my suggestion

I'm going to switch carriers (via a prepaid sim) for a month then merge with my wife's plan if it lasts the trial.

$15 Media Net on Touch Pro 2

Currently I have the $15 Media Net Unlimited on my WM phone. If I get a Tilt 2 from ebay will I still be able to continue unlimited internet at this rate?

Possibly. Your best bet would be to keep a non-touchscreen smartphone around in case you need to call up AT&T and complain if/when they tack on the PDA Unlimited.
I'm currently using my Tilt2 with the $20 Smartphone Connect plan, and it works just fine, but I haven't gone a full billing cycle yet.

If that EBay unit is unlocked, I think you can just slide your old SIM into it and you are good it go. I swap my SIM between my old RAZR and Tilt and Tilt2 all the time. My understanding is the SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) tells the tower who you are and not which phone you are using.
Hope that helps.

WillardZ said:
If that EBay unit is unlocked, I think you can just slide your old SIM into it and you are good it go. I swap my SIM between my old RAZR and Tilt and Tilt2 all the time. My understanding is the SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) tells the tower who you are and not which phone you are using.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong, your IMEI is transmitted to the tower as well. If AT&T sold you your phone, they'll know what device it is. They have a database of ALL of the IMEI's of all AT&T branded phones. If you got an unlocked Touch Pro 2 (not Tilt 2), you could easily get away with the $15 plan. However, the second you try sticking your SIM into a Tilt 2, it will detect your phone as a Tilt 2.

i have a tilt2 and the 15$ plan... i also had the 15$ plan on my fuze, and tilt. i had the 10$ unlimited plan on my 8525, 8125, angel, and mpx220
never had any issues.

WillardZ said:
If that EBay unit is unlocked, I think you can just slide your old SIM into it and you are good it go. I swap my SIM between my old RAZR and Tilt and Tilt2 all the time. My understanding is the SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) tells the tower who you are and not which phone you are using.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If AT&T is the same as T-Mobile than that last statement may not be true. I'm on T-Mobile and I have a G1 and I tried to cheat the system and claim that I had lost my G1 so they could send me another one under my insurance (I know, it was wrong but at least I wasn't trying to get it FREE..I was going to pay the deductible of $130) but anyways, I put the "lost phone" claim in online (which is how T-Mo makes you put in claims now) then I had to call in a few hours later to finish the claim. (o yea, I forgot to mention that my dumb ass had taken out the SIM card and put it in an old Nokia phone I had laying around and still used the phone for a few hours after putting in the claim online before thinking maybe I should turn off the phone so they don't see "traffic" on the SIM card) The rep took some info from me then put me on hold telling me he had to check the "system." He came back on the phone and told me he couldn't put the claim in on the "G1" because at the time that I put the online claim in, the SIM card for my G1 was not in my G1 so yea..I think it is possible that they can tell what phone your SIM card is installed in.

r34p3rex said:
Wrong, your IMEI is transmitted to the tower as well. If AT&T sold you your phone, they'll know what device it is. They have a database of ALL of the IMEI's of all AT&T branded phones. If you got an unlocked Touch Pro 2 (not Tilt 2), you could easily get away with the $15 plan. However, the second you try sticking your SIM into a Tilt 2, it will detect your phone as a Tilt 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what if I change the IMEI? I think i remember seeing a method to do so on this forum a long time ago

Room7 said:
what if I change the IMEI?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is illegal. I wouldn't try it.
I had been using an ebay purchased TYTN II, and had the $15 plan for almost 2 years. Never had a problem. With the purchase of my TILT 2 from ATT, they made me update the data plan.

They'll detect the Tilt 2 as your phone, but they haven't seemed to auto-update any plans that I've seen. I'm still on my Media Net plan after having the phone for a week.

Old data plans
I had a discussion with a customer service rep about this a few weeks ago. He told me explicitly that they are just looking to make sure that all new Tilt 2 users have a data plan and that people who already have a data plan (even if it's not the PDA plan) would be grandfathered in with their old plan. This is just one conversation with a customer service rep, so he may (not) have known what he was talking about. Anybody else confirm this information elsewhere?

[Q] HTC One X on Softbank (Japan)

Hello,
So I gave Softbank a chance to bring a good international handset but they are just too involved with Apple they dont have much interest in Android. 2012 summer line up is a joke.
So I decided to buy an unlocked HTC One X. Unfortuntely I need to be in Softbank because all my family is in Softbank. Also I'm a little chicken when it comes to changing APNs and all that unofficially and running the risk of paying a lot of money for data.
So I called Softbank and asked them about getting their SIM for my own handset. The rep was constantly saying that they dont recommend it and I should first bring my handset to them to check. I know they will not pass HOX because its micro sim. Softbank does not support micro sim on this service.
And now I'm stuck with two options:
1) Use my existing silver SIM contract (not pre-paid)
2) MNP to BMobile
I want to ask you guys if any of you have just plugged your SIM (after cutting it) to HOX and it worked? I know 3G data will not work but voice and SMS?
Also, if I do not put a APN and just disable 3G data, would the phone work as normal? I do not want 3G as I'm mostly in a wifi area and I carry a WiMax when I go out.
I would appreacite any information on HOX on Softbank.
Thank you.

I gave my sim card the chop-chop and It's working fine inside the HOX. Go for it man, no problems at all as long as you know where to cut.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

YabeMadu said:
Hello,
So I gave Softbank a chance to bring a good international handset but they are just too involved with Apple they dont have much interest in Android. 2012 summer line up is a joke.
So I decided to buy an unlocked HTC One X. Unfortuntely I need to be in Softbank because all my family is in Softbank. Also I'm a little chicken when it comes to changing APNs and all that unofficially and running the risk of paying a lot of money for data.
So I called Softbank and asked them about getting their SIM for my own handset. The rep was constantly saying that they dont recommend it and I should first bring my handset to them to check. I know they will not pass HOX because its micro sim. Softbank does not support micro sim on this service.
And now I'm stuck with two options:
1) Use my existing silver SIM contract (not pre-paid)
2) MNP to BMobile
I want to ask you guys if any of you have just plugged your SIM (after cutting it) to HOX and it worked? I know 3G data will not work but voice and SMS?
Also, if I do not put a APN and just disable 3G data, would the phone work as normal? I do not want 3G as I'm mostly in a wifi area and I carry a WiMax when I go out.
I would appreacite any information on HOX on Softbank.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just got my one x today. It's the international unlocked version. I just cut my sim card and put it in and it works perfectly. Don't worry just cut your sim and if you don't need wifi then disable mobile network, it will save you some battery as well.

Thanks Asavva.
If you dont mind can you give me some more details? As where you bought the phone (i'm going to buy from Expansys), and if you changed the APN settings etc.?
Also did you insert a black iphone sim or a normal silver sim?
Appreciate the information

Thank you Barondebxi.
Have you been having any issues with the phone? Wifi, screen?

YabeMadu said:
Thank you Barondebxi.
Have you been having any issues with the phone? Wifi, screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem man. I've had the phone for 5 hours now ( it came from FedEx this afternoon here in the US), no issues at all. It's a very good looking phone. Wifi works very well, screen is AMAZING! I've already installed 2 updates. My phone was on 1.26, then I installed 1.28 and now 1.29.

Thank you.
I'm evry worried after reading all the issues HOX is said to have: wifi, screen flickering, battery heating, scratches on the screen, etc.
But I just cant make up my mind to go for GS3.. this phone is just too gorgeous..

YabeMadu said:
Thank you.
I'm evry worried after reading all the issues HOX is said to have: wifi, screen flickering, battery heating, scratches on the screen, etc.
But I just cant make up my mind to go for GS3.. this phone is just too gorgeous..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it's funny cause for me, I had the galaxy s 3 preordered since yesterday morning. But they have delays because the supply is short so I bought the one x and got it delivered in 1 day. BUT personally I'm still going to buy the Galaxy S3, itt will be my main phone and this one will be my back up phone. Not to say it isn't as good but I'm more of a Samsung guy I guess. Nevertheless, this HTC one x is a beast! It's reallly the best thing HTC as ever released without a doubt.

Thank you Barondebxi.
I dont have a preference to either, its just that HOX looks better and I like the build than the GS3 plastic frame.
But I'm gonna give it a couple of weeks and see. Its very important that wifi works. Else I have no use from the phone. If the issues seems to persist I might as well go with a GS3.

YabeMadu said:
Thank you Barondebxi.
I dont have a preference to either, its just that HOX looks better and I like the build than the GS3 plastic frame.
But I'm gonna give it a couple of weeks and see. Its very important that wifi works. Else I have no use from the phone. If the issues seems to persist I might as well go with a GS3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either phone you choose you will be happy. But if you're afraid of running into some issues, I think the S3 is a better choice right now. But both are epic phones. Ok I'm going to bed. Take care!

I completely agree, SoftBank's Summer 2012 line-up was not worth waiting for. As of now, I live in Japan, but don't have a Japanese phone and was planning on going with a Galaxy S3 whenever docomo wants to release it... however, I do believe I would like the One X more. Are you certain that if I bought the international version, that it would not work with SoftBank's 3G?

Yes. Softbanks 2012 line up was crap. Just some Sharp phones.
I was originally planning on MNP'ing to Docomo and get a GS3. With the MNP discount it'd been a good deal.
But since my family are on Softbank it'd be cheaper for me to be in SB. Also I'm liking HOX more than GS3. It's one sexy phone. GS3 is more like a slightly modified GN and I'm hating "prebble blue".. what were they thinking!? And I'm not a white phone person.
I\m pretty certain that international unlocked HOX will work on SB, but you will need to have a SIM. SB will not provide you with a SIM for HOX, unless you buy a pre-paid version and use that SIM. I have seen on web that HOX works with SB network, but for 3G data you wil need to find the APN details. The one on the web are for iphone (black sim). I think the APNs are different for silver SIM. I also asked from Expansys and they said HOX works on Softbank, but I cannot guarantee whether they actually know it for a fact. But there is no reason it would not as it supports WCDMA (this will not work on AU though). Let me know if you go for it.

YabeMadu said:
Yes. Softbanks 2012 line up was crap. Just some Sharp phones.
I was originally planning on MNP'ing to Docomo and get a GS3. With the MNP discount it'd been a good deal.
But since my family are on Softbank it'd be cheaper for me to be in SB. Also I'm liking HOX more than GS3. It's one sexy phone. GS3 is more like a slightly modified GN and I'm hating "prebble blue".. what were they thinking!? And I'm not a white phone person.
I\m pretty certain that international unlocked HOX will work on SB, but you will need to have a SIM. SB will not provide you with a SIM for HOX, unless you buy a pre-paid version and use that SIM. I have seen on web that HOX works with SB network, but for 3G data you wil need to find the APN details. The one on the web are for iphone (black sim). I think the APNs are different for silver SIM. I also asked from Expansys and they said HOX works on Softbank, but I cannot guarantee whether they actually know it for a fact. But there is no reason it would not as it supports WCDMA (this will not work on AU though). Let me know if you go for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your first paragraph consists of my exact thoughts and plans, although I have no family here, it seems like my co-workers use either docomo or SoftBank. The only way I'd go with SoftBank however is if 3G on the One X works with their network.
I'm hoping one of my friends still has his SoftBank iPhone microSIM card. If he does, I'm going to ask him to mail it to me, then buy the One X from Amazon and see if it works. According to Wikipedia, SoftBank runs on 1500/2100... the 1500 band that the One X doesn't seem to support. What are your thoughts on that?

Have a look at these links Habbit.
http://www.maru-kajiri.com/2012/04/htc-one-x-softbanksim.html
http://www.maru-kajiri.com/2012/04/htc-one-x.html
I highly doubt HOX will not work on SB network. I use a Desire from SB now and the radio is the same as HOX. I doubt SB changed the baseband of HTC phones. And if the SB iPhone SIM works on HOX, there is no reason for it not to work on HOX. I doubt the frequencies are different for iPhone (black SIM) and other (real smartphones (silver SIM).
BTW, why would you buy from Amazon (Amazon Japan I suppose)? They are little expensive than Expansys and also Expansys offers extended warranty. I'm not sure the warranty of when you buy from Amazon (because I dont think its directly sold from Amazon Japan). I thought if I buy from Exapansys it'll be easier to deal with warranty and other issues (basically because my Japanese is not good).
Also, as difficult as it is, I;m going to hold off buying HOX for couple of weeks, because of the Wifi issues its been having. I'm gonna wait till Expansys get new stocks and also see how these issues turn up in next few weeks.

Actually I was going to get it from Amazon US (even cheaper than Expansys) and either have my mom ship it to me, or have my co-worker bring it back when he takes a business trip to Colorado. Haha
Are the WiFi issues that widespread?

Yes it is. Particularly with earlier models. Worst, it could be well be a hardware issue.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1688538&page=2

Interesting... I would really rather have the One X over the Galaxy S3, but that issue could be pretty annoying. How do you discover when Expansys receives new shipments of One X's?

I cut my Softbank silver SIM into Micro.
Enter open.softbank.ne.jp setting in APN.
Get 3G/H, SMS (both sending/receiving), Voice all great.
But I used WiFi most of the time cuz I dont wanna get a huge Data bill from Softbank. Heard so many stories about rumors on the forum.
Still working on MMS setting.
YabeMadu said:
Hello,
So I gave Softbank a chance to bring a good international handset but they are just too involved with Apple they dont have much interest in Android. 2012 summer line up is a joke.
So I decided to buy an unlocked HTC One X. Unfortuntely I need to be in Softbank because all my family is in Softbank. Also I'm a little chicken when it comes to changing APNs and all that unofficially and running the risk of paying a lot of money for data.
So I called Softbank and asked them about getting their SIM for my own handset. The rep was constantly saying that they dont recommend it and I should first bring my handset to them to check. I know they will not pass HOX because its micro sim. Softbank does not support micro sim on this service.
And now I'm stuck with two options:
1) Use my existing silver SIM contract (not pre-paid)
2) MNP to BMobile
I want to ask you guys if any of you have just plugged your SIM (after cutting it) to HOX and it worked? I know 3G data will not work but voice and SMS?
Also, if I do not put a APN and just disable 3G data, would the phone work as normal? I do not want 3G as I'm mostly in a wifi area and I carry a WiMax when I go out.
I would appreacite any information on HOX on Softbank.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

BrianInfo said:
I cut my Softbank silver SIM into Micro.
Enter open.softbank.ne.jp setting in APN.
Get 3G/H, SMS (both sending/receiving), Voice all great.
But I used WiFi most of the time cuz I dont wanna get a huge Data bill from Softbank. Heard so many stories about rumors on the forum.
Still working on MMS setting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much BrianInfo.
Could you please give me some more info regarding the phone.
1) I'm also very worried about getting a huge bill and I want 3G data disabled. So what if I dont put the APN address and leave it blank? Will voice/SMS still work?
2) Can you also share how you bought the phone? and also its HW version number. I'm planning on buying through Expansys but seem there service is not that good.
3) Do you have any wifi issues with the phone?
THank you very much.

How would I go about getting the SoftBank Unlimited Data (Flat-Rate?) plan if I have neither SoftBank service nor a microSIM? Should I have one of my co-workers say they broke their microSIM card or something and ask SoftBank for a replacement for me to use, or should I sign up for a cheap phone and then change my plan after I sign my contract?

[Q] GoPhone... Will a Glide work?

It seems that the Glide is only an AT&T-branded phone. Has anyone used one with GoPhone? Thought about picking up an unlocked one on eBay but I don't want to encounter the same "Invalid SIM card" issue I encounter when I put my GoPhone SIM card into my unlocked AT&T-sourced Skyrocket. Thanks for any info!

I can't say for certain, but I don't see why not. I use my phone with the T-Mobile monthly 4g plan and everything works fine. I do however, only have an EDGE/2g speed data wise due to the frequencies, but the phone was designed for AT&T so that wouldn't be a problem for you.

narume said:
I can't say for certain, but I don't see why not. I use my phone with the T-Mobile monthly 4g plan and everything works fine. I do however, only have an EDGE/2g speed data wise due to the frequencies, but the phone was designed for AT&T so that wouldn't be a problem for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appreciate the reply, narume. I think that the issue arises from this:
trinikartel said:
Let me know if you ever get that working.
What i THINK is that any phone that comes out of AT&T's clutches are in their system (both imei and with carrier iq) so once it you pop a sim into it and the information is matched to a device in their system they know what can and can't be allowed for the device. With international devices they don't have those IMEIs (which is why they always want the imei from you so they can match it in their system)
Your note is international...they can't "match or track it" so to their system it's just another random dumb phone
Your skyrocket is a known LTE/HSPA+ device to the system so it says no cheap data for you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So...assuming that this reasoning is correct, if AT&T knows that it's their phone they will have blocked its IMEI from being able to access data through GoPhone. And I would need 3G access in order to use it on my MicroCell. Anybody...?

Any at&t phones will work on go phone, and you can use a microcell as well, your phone still uses the 3/4G signal to connect for calls and texts. Also to get data to work for pictures, and mms you just need to call them and they will send you the apns, my nephew in law has an atrix 2 on a microcell with pic messaging working great. They also have a solstice 2 (dump phone) on the microcell, both go phones.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

If you're getting Invalid SIM, you may have a locked SIM card, something AT&T started doing with their prepaid a while back. New prepaid accounts have the SIM locked to the phone it was purchased with for ~3 months, after that I believe you have to either call or visit a store to have the lock removed.
Other than that, there's no reason it shouldn't work, but do remember that AT&T will see it as a smartphone. This means with their new prepaid plans, if you're using the 10 cents a minute plan you'll be unable to use data at all. If you're using one of the flat amounts per month, like the $25 or $50 plans, you'll need to purchase a data package (even though the $50 is SUPPOSED to include unlimited internet, smartphones aren't eligible).
I previously used a Motorola Flipside on AT&T's prepaid, before this change I was using the 10 cents a minute plan, with 1000 texts a month and buying a 500mb data package, then rolling over unused data each month with the 10mb package, and everything worked the same as if I was on postpaid - text, mms, internet, etc.

Thanks all! I'm 1½ months into my prepaid service. I'll check with AT&T after 3 months have passed and see if they can remove the SIM lock.

You might go ahead and call customer service anyway, who knows, you may get lucky. 3 months was what a rep told my friend a year or so ago, but that may have changed or may not have been the rule at all. Alternatively, you can go into a local store and purchase a new sim (or purchase one on ebay) and have them transfer your account over to it, just make sure they give you a regular sim and not a go-phone sim.
I just tested my captivate glide with the sim I was using in my flipside. It seems to read the sim just fine, though obviously I'm not still a prepaid customer so I can't make any real calls with it. I've also used it on a T-Mobile MyTouch 3G that was unlocked, briefly, when I was working on the flipside. Once you have the sim lock removed I expect you'll have no problems using it in any unlocked or AT&T locked phone.

If you use the 50 dollar plan and use the wap.cingular apn it will use data just set that up before you put in your sim, and do call they should unlock it for you, if not tell them you will be going to straight Talk at&t phones work locked on them since it's a part of at&t just ran by walmart.
Sent from my HTC One XL using xda premium

I have two Glides that I activated in June. NEITHER WAS SIM-LOCKED, ever.
Both are the newer 4G SIM, not the older one that says 3G on it. Got em from eBay for about $2.75 each. Both were activated online, about 3 weeks apart.
The first one, I activated with an IMEI of a Glide that broke and was able to use the SIM on a different Glide and other phones, even the Pantech Burst and got 4G. I activated it as 10c plan, then moved it to the $50 unlimited.
The second one was activated with 0000... generic IMEI with the 10c plan, and just like the first one, I was able to use the SIM on any GSM phone I have in the house (and that's quite a few).
APN: wap.cingular - only the name is needed, no userid, etc.

Difficulty of getting the LS998 to work with Verizon or ATT

This is very long and I was going to reply to the thread "Unlocked V30 & Verizon... all bands?" but I figured some people would get upset so I gave this it's own thread. If you're trying to bring an LS998 to a non-Sprint carrier this story may be of interest to you.
As expected, despite the previous Verizon agent telling me they have no problem offering me service and sending me a SIM card, I called Verizon (800 225 5499) today and they said won't do it, based on the IMEI of the LS998.
Last time I called ATT prepaid support (800 901 9878) they told me I needed to call regular sales support (888 333 6651) to get a SIM card for prepaid service, which I thought was weird. This time I called the regular number and was told they aren't allowed to send out SIM cards anymore. They said that maybe the prepaid support could do it but regular sales cannot.
So I called ATT prepaid support today and now they've suddenly changed their story too. After waiting 18 minutes to speak to someone, I was told once again that the regular sales department support is the only one who can give me help. I explained that they told me this less than a week ago and just now before I called the prepaid support and now he's telling me prepaid support can't send out SIMs. Why does it even matter by the way? Why can't they all just do it? What a ridiculous and inefficient setup. He told me he's giving me the "online support phone number" instead, since they "told me the wrong information".
As instructed by prepaid support, I called the "online support" number (866 267 4510) and the horrible voice detection failed miserably then hung up on me (I'm actually calling from the internet using a high quality mic so it's even better than what would usually come through a phone line..it even failed several times to understand the word "yes" when given the options of "yes" and "no"). I called it again and wasn't able to speak to anyone because it kept asking for all this nonsense and wouldn't actually let me speak to a real person in any way.. so yeah, that outsourced moron who could barely speak English gave me a useless number, as I expected.
So instead of calling Sales for the 2nd time today and 3rd time this week, I decided to call regular ATT wireless support (800 331 0500). I waited on hold for 17.5 minutes until I was finally able to speak to a person, who I explained to that I just want a nano SIM card. I found out she's from the prepaid support.. so despite calling the regular support number I was sent to the prepaid support, which was probably the reason I was on hold for so long once again. Anyways she told me she could send me a card and when I gave her my number and 4 digit ATT code/password she said I have to go pick it up at a store LOL.
She said I have to go to a "big" store and I asked her to explain herself because that's a subjective term and she asked for my ZIP code. I don't understand this because in 2013 when I first became their customer they were fine sending SIM cards for two phones in the mail and about 2 months ago they were fine sending one out in the mail for someone else (though this was never gone through with) and less than a week ago they told me it was fine too. All of the sudden, it's a big deal and they just can't send SIM cards in the mail? what??
I had already planned to call my local Verizon store and ATT store to see if they could handle this simple task but once she told me that I decided to just accept the SIM she wants to give me. She never asked me for the phone's IMEI but due to the course of the conversation I eventually explained the situation with the phone.
She told me to call Sprint and make sure it's unlocked, which I already planned to do actually. After suggesting I try putting my old SIM in my new phone I explained the old one is a micro and new one is a nano so I told her I might cut it if I can't get them to give me one. She actually said she had done that once; pretty funny.
I called Sprint (888 211 4727) to ask about the phone and make sure it's unlocked. They asked for my number in the automated thing but I pressed "#" as instructed since I don't have one. After speaking to someone finally, they asked for my full name and I only gave my first name and explained that I'm not a customer. I was then asked for my phone number and once again explained I'm not a customer. They asked why I was calling and I explained and after a brief moment on hold was told it's already unlocked. They didn't bother trying to keep me on their network AT ALL, which I was very surprised about. It was the fastest of any call, totaling under 5 minutes where all the others so far have taken me over an hour (mostly due to waiting on hold).
So I called Verizon again (800 922 0204) [wow they have too many support numbers at these places] to ask WHY they won't give me a sim since Sprint says it's unlocked. The sassy black lady had a terrible attitude when she realized I wasn't going to accept "the system says it won't work" because "it isn't compatible with Verizon network" as an answer...after having already explained that it's unlocked by Sprint and it supports the Verizon network. All I did was say "well there has to be a reason it isn't compatible, do you have any information?" and she got an attitude with me. Eventually she told me she'd get me over to tech support so they can look into it if I'd like and I accepted (anything to get away from her + they're probably more knowledgeable about this than the ordinary, lowest tier customer support representative). I was instead sent to an automated system asking for a phone number and got past it eventually and was put on hold once again while I await a new CSR from tech support.
Line quality was horrible and was asked for my first and last name and I explained I'm not a customer and gave my first name. I asked if it's tech support and was told it's new line support.... so that rude lady didn't even transfer me properly. What a surprise. I was given the number to their tech support (866 271 7585, option 2) and then transferred to it by the lady with the poor line quality.
At this point I've been talking with the carriers and waiting on hold for at least 2 hours and on this call with Verizon for 28 minutes... most of it on hold. I heard random voices come through the hold music a few times and just now it happened again and the call was disconnected. Thanks for hanging up on me again, Verizon.
So now I'm calling the Verizon tech support number I was given (866 271 7585) by the last person I spoke with, since I was hung up on. Option 2, which I was told to press is for SPANISH, not anything related to my call... so I pressed 1 (also it makes no sense for an American company to do that. We speak English here). The automated system asked for a phone number and I didn't have one so I just waited and they said the usual about call being monitored/recorded and I'm once again on hold...
This lady was VERY friendly (she sounded a little older) but this was NOT tech support. I explained the entire ordeal to her after she asked what problem I'm experiencing. After I got to the part about why I was trying to reach tech support (their agent told me to) she told me she would actually get me there. So I'm on hold again...
...She came back and asked which phone it is then told me she'd get me straight over to tech support and put me back on hold. She came back once again and asked me for clarification or something and I explained the situation with the LS998 and that it DOES work on the network and Sprint says it IS unlocked so there's no reason for it not to work. It's a matter of it being cheaper than the unlocked one and me choosing to put software on that allows it to take advantage of the available hardware in the phone. She said she was thinking of transferring me to tele-sales but she will bring me to tech support (what? she already said at least two times she would transfer me to tech support... if I ask for tech support - give me tech support. I didn't ask for her opinion on where to transfer me). She's very nice but not very good at transferring customers to where they try to go, it seems.
So I actually got tech support this time. I explained the situation. He seemed from the start like he did have more of an idea what he's talking about. He seemed like he was capable of following along with what I was saying. His initial suggestion was to have a friend or family member on Verizon let me try their SIM in the phone to make sure it works. I explained that's not an option and we had a bit more of a discussion about the topic.
I asked about a real tech support number because the one I was given didn't get me to tech support and he told me it's a queue system and that's why I got customer service instead of real tech support. He said they can only send me a SIM if I have a live account but at the store they can sell one for $10-15 (like Walmart or Sam's Club). A corporate/official store would give it for free. This must be what the ATT lady was referring to earlier...
He said the store would setup the SIM with a dummy phone number to make sure it works then I can port my ATT number over later.
I asked him to check the IMEI to make sure there are no other issues with it (since he may have some kind of superior access or information compared to a tier 1 CSR) and he was checking on it and kept coming back to let me know he's still there and it's taking a moment. Very professional... very satisfied with his attitude.
He said it didn't come up in the system but it should work since the V30 (non-plus) does and reiterated his statement about going to the store and making sure the employee doesn't test it while WiFi is enabled.
It was so refreshing to speak to someone with a powerful enough mind and who was well-spoken and polite.. didn't waste any time and helped me out. It's always better talking to tier 2 and above support with these phone and internet companies...
To sum up these companies:
I don't like T-Mobile and Sprint is merging with them (Sprint wasn't too great for me in the past either). However, when calling to ask about unlock status of the device it was the call with the best line quality and quickest resolution.
ATT's regular numbers have decent line quality usually, but the prepaid line quality is always bad.
Verizon's support often has bad line quality.
The outsourced people who barely speak English at ATT are either useless wastes of my time or incredibly friendly and somewhat helpful.
Verizon has a mixed bag when it comes to politeness of agents.
All of the above companies seem to be convoluted when it comes to giving out SIM cards as well as the system they've setup for contacting them via phone. There's no reason for this to be so complicated.
As expected, Verizon and ATT assured me there'd be no issue with this and there are issues with it.
So far, this entire thing has taken me at least 3 hours of speaking on the phone with mostly ATT and Verizon and I haven't even gone to a store to pick up a SIM yet... more as the story develops...
So now I need to go to my local "big store" (ATT) to get an ATT sim OR just cut my old sim and take the risk of something going wrong. I really want to switch to Verizon but I just paid for ATT a few days ago so I have a month left of that.
For now, I'm waiting on the phone to arrive so I can convert it to a US998. Also considering staying on ATT and just knowing that I can use Verizon later if something goes wrong.
If it doesn't work out I either have to argue with the carriers until they give me what I want, or use an unlocking service (though I'm not sure those are legit/worth it)... or return the phone, which I really don't want to do.

sneak310 said:
A corporate/official store would give it for free. This must be what the ATT lady was referring to earlier...
He said the store would setup the SIM with a dummy phone number to make sure it works then I can port my ATT number over later.
If it doesn't work out I either have to argue with the carriers until they give me what I want, or use an unlocking service (though I'm not sure those are legit/worth it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing to unlock. When you convert LS998 to US998 firmware the phone is carrier unlocked, even if Sprint never unlocked it.
You just need a SIM card.
The only problem you would have is if the IMEI is blacklisted for some reason.
____
I warned you about Verizon -- that you would need something like an original US998, original VS996, or an already-activated Verizon SIM card. . They are very finnicky about phones with Sprint IMEI.
By the way, all AT&T SIM cards are the same. The only difference is internal accounting, whether it's Prepaid or Postpaid. Even with a Prepaid logo on it, it's STILL just a regular AT&T SIM card. You can switch from one to the other without actually changing SIM cards.
Had a friend who bought new Samsung Galaxy phone and they made him sign up with AT&T Postpaid to buy the phone. They wouldn't let him pay in full upfront. Once he signed the contract, he pulled out his credit card, made the full payment to pay off the phone -- then IMMEDIATELY switched to AT&T Prepaid (which is what he really wanted). They never touched his SIM card when they switched him over from Postpaid to Prepaid. And this was back when Prepaid division was confusingly called "GoPhone". STILL the same SIM card.
I have AT&T Prepaid, as do several friends, family members.

ChazzMatt said:
Nothing to unlock. When you convert to US998 firmware the phone is carrier unlocked, even if Sprint never unlocked it.
You just need a SIM card.
The only problem you would have is if the IMEI is blacklisted for some reason.
____
I warned you about Verizon.
By the way, all AT&T SIM cards are the same. The difference is internal accounting, whether it's Prepaid or Postpaid. You can switch from one to the other without changing SIM cards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I only asked him to check the IMEI for that reason you stated.. the blacklisting. They won't just send me a SIM... I have to go physically to a store for some reason instead of having them just mail me one like how I got my SIM from ATT in 2013.
Both Verizon and ATT are giving me identical trouble. They both require me to go to a store to get a SIM card and won't just send me a SIM card and give me service.
Due to the "if it ain't broke" thing, I'll probably just stick with ATT for now so I don't have to end up trying Verizon and liking it less than I used to/less than ATT then ultimately switching back to ATT... plus it should be easier to just get a new SIM instead of having to setup a whole new line of service with a new company... and finally I'm already pretty familiar with how ATT does things.
Phone should arrive on Thursday but Type C cable on Friday so I can probably go to an ATT store over the weekend.
PS - $238 is an amazing price ;D

sneak310 said:
Yeah I only asked him to check the IMEI for that reason you stated.. the blacklisting. They won't just send me a SIM... I have to go physically to a store for some reason instead of having them just mail me one like how I got my SIM from ATT in 2013.
Both Verizon and ATT are giving me identical trouble. They both require me to go to a store to get a SIM card and won't just send me a SIM card and give me service.
Due to the "if it ain't broke" thing, I'll probably just stick with ATT for now so I don't have to end up trying Verizon and liking it less than I used to/less than ATT then ultimately switching back to ATT... plus it should be easier to just get a new SIM instead of having to setup a whole new line of service with a new company... and finally I'm already pretty familiar with how ATT does things.
Phone should arrive on Thursday but Type C cable on Friday so I can probably go to an ATT store over the weekend.
PS - $238 is an amazing price ;D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wal-Mart also has AT&T Prepaid SIMs.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/AT-T-PREPAID-SIM-Starter-Kit/44938608
https://www.walmart.com/ip/AT-T-PREPAID-SIM-Kit/129539926
Sent via open market LG US998 V30/V30+

ChazzMatt said:
Wal-Mart also has AT&T Prepaid SIMs.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v30/development/us998-lg-v30-us998-us99820a040330-kdz-t3786337
Sent via open market LG US998 V30/V30+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah and according to these carriers they charge you for it. I'd also rather deal directly with the carrier than some random person at Walmart AND get it for free.

sneak310 said:
Yeah and according to these carriers they charge you for it. I'd also rather deal directly with the carrier than some random person at Walmart AND get it for free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, I understand. I also edited to put in the correct link.
You need to go to "corporate" owned AT&T store to get free SIM card. "Franchise" stores, which look almost identical, will charge you.

ChazzMatt said:
Sure, I understand. I also edited to put in the correct link.
You need to go to "corporate" owned AT &T store to get free SIM card. "Franchise" stores, which look almost identical, will charge you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hah, yea.. I was wondering why you sent me that original link. And yeah, they told me specifically which store is corporate.

So I'm curious to see if you switch to Verizon and your results. I'm currently on Verizon and I'm trying to get a V30+ so if you go with them I'd like to know how it worked out.

Hyperbomb64 said:
So I'm curious to see if you switch to Verizon and your results. I'm currently on Verizon and I'm trying to get a V30+ so if you go with them I'd like to know how it worked out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will have no issues since you have an already-activated Verizon SIM card. Just take your SIM card out, put it in new phone.

ChazzMatt said:
You will have no issues since you have an already-activated Verizon SIM card. Just take your SIM card out, put it in new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. Now I just have to actually get the phone and I should be good to go.

ChazzMatt said:
You will have no issues since you have an already-activated Verizon SIM card. Just take your SIM card out, put it in new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im also on verizon and just got this model online brand new it says its unlocked. do i need to avoid updating it when i get it?

Bamaboi89 said:
im also on verizon and just got this model online brand new it says its unlocked. do i need to avoid updating it when i get it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, don't update when you first get it, as you will possibly making your life harder, by having to downgrade to what you need for bootloader unlock and rooting. You can update after that.

Hyperbomb64 said:
So I'm curious to see if you switch to Verizon and your results. I'm currently on Verizon and I'm trying to get a V30+ so if you go with them I'd like to know how it worked out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ended up just sticking with ATT for now. Mostly one of those "if it ain't broke" things. I also realized (once I got to the ATT store) that I actually already HAD a nano SIM in my Nexus 5 with a converter. It was 2013 when I put that SIM in and I haven't messed with it so I completely forgot.