Some awesome folks have posted tutorials for replacing the ROM on the tab to enable voice calling. Carrier info on actually using this "new" feature is a little sketchy, though. Will it work on CDMA? Can you still get the discounted price? All sorts of non-technical questions related to carrier are posted but generally buried so deep in threads that the info is hard to find and often there's conflicting info on carriers in different threads. So I am starting this thread in an attempt to collect data on carrier-specific info related to voice calling on the Tab enabled by custom ROMs found here on XDA. Here are two threads to choose from for updating the ROM:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=929479
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=847273
So please don't talk about ROMs here - this is about carriers, calling plans, etc. At first this post will have lots of questions, but as they are answered in the thread I will update the original post with the info. Don't follow the data here until the thread has had some responses! So here goes...
Disclaimer: I haven't done this yet and haven't verified any of this info.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Currently the "upgrade" does not work with CDMA because it requires tricking the carrier into not knowing you have a voice-enabled Tab by using a SIM card from another phone. No carrier will sell you a voice plan for the Tab. So the process goes like this:
1. Purchase a Tab, but do NOT activate it! The activation would be data-only and that's no good. The SIM card it comes with will be useless.
2. Activate an old phone or used phone you bought on ebay on a GSM carrier. Currently AT&T seems to produce the best results, but please post carrier details in the thread and I'll compile them here. Activate the phone with the voice and data plans of your choice.
3. Follow instructions from one of the links above to upgrade your ROM.
4. Install different modem software (also instructions in above links).
5. Take the SIM card out of the activated phone and put it in the Tab.
6. That's it! Now you can make calls on your Tab! (is that really it or is there more to it?)
PROS:
Voice on the Tab!
By activating an old/used phone you aren't stuck in a contract.
Cons:
You don't get the discount that comes with activation since activating the data plan without voice does you no good.
At some point the carrier could get wise and cut us off, but this hasn't happened yet.
QUESTIONS:
1. What have I missed (likely a lot)?
2. What is WRONG and needs to be corrected?
3. What carrier-specific details are different (like AT&T vs T-Mobile)?
4. Will CDMA always be out in the cold due to no SIM card or is that being worked on?
5. Which GSM carrier has the best plan for the voice Tab (that it thinks is a smartphone)?
CDMA phones do not use SIM cards, so it's not possible to do the same kind of swapping you can do with them. CDMA phones are provisioned by the ESN/MEID linked to an entry in the carrier's database. So unless you hack their corporate data or have a employee contact who will change something in the database, the entry is already linked to the device type. For example, if you have a feature phone and buy an Android phone on eBay, when you go to activate it, it knows it's an Android phone and will prompt you to call a service representative to change your plan, because that phone requires a data plan. It's also why you can't just take a VZW phone over to Sprint. I've actually heard of people getting clear ESN phones added to the other carrier, but it was always by having a friend who could do it from the inside. I'm not saying there aren't alternatives programs or ways to make voice calls on the CDMA Tabs, but it'll never be possible to do anything remotely like the SIM switching solution.
This is only for the GSM Tabs (at&t Tmobile) usa and yes u need a modem switch to hav 3G and voice but they will not work together u hav to switch from 3g to voice please becareful and read everything, the only person who will be responsable for ur tablet being bricked is you
So far I havent seen anyone that has voice and data with a normal phone sim card on T-Mobile Tab due to the fact that they have the IMEI block set up but if your going to do it you have to but one from AT&T will work with a T-Mobile sim and vice versa due to the system not really caring what the device is for the most part (at least on T-Mobile). Removing the IMEI block is illegal so your best bet is if you go with the opposite carrier from what your already using to avoid contract extentions or if you have a friend with other carrier get them to buy it at a discount while you do the same at your carrier. Then switch the two and use the modem switcher andyou should be able to do all you want.
countkakula said:
So far I havent seen anyone that has voice and data with a normal phone sim card on T-Mobile Tab due to the fact that they have the IMEI block set up but if your going to do it you have to but one from AT&T will work with a T-Mobile sim and vice versa due to the system not really caring what the device is for the most part (at least on T-Mobile). Removing the IMEI block is illegal so your best bet is if you go with the opposite carrier from what your already using to avoid contract extentions or if you have a friend with other carrier get them to buy it at a discount while you do the same at your carrier. Then switch the two and use the modem switcher andyou should be able to do all you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
idk , i have tmobile and i had to use my tab as a phone , waiting for a replacement vibrant, all i did was stick my vibrant sim, modem switcher. and poof i have tabphone
Are you saying you changed out the modem software without having to flash the ROM and it worked?
b0ricuaguerrero said:
idk , i have tmobile and i had to use my tab as a phone , waiting for a replacement vibrant, all i did was stick my vibrant sim, modem switcher. and poof i have tabphone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you have internet and phone without using wifi cause i get wifi easy but get redirected when i use 2G or modem switch to 3G
Related
I just got the email from Tmo with my unlock code and unlocked the phone...what i want to know is i am rooted but just deleted boatware...i have not gone with a custom rom...if i start changing roms will it effect my unlock...would samsung firmware pushes effect it either?
You'll be fine. I've been unlocked since say one and have changed ROMs almost weekly without impacting my unlock. Once you're unlocked you're unlocked. Enjoy!
SIM Unlocking, Tmo's specifics and difference between SIM Unlock and Phone Root
calimove said:
I just got the email from Tmo with my unlock code and unlocked the phone...what i want to know is i am rooted but just deleted boatware...i have not gone with a custom rom...if i start changing roms will it effect my unlock...would samsung firmware pushes effect it either?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are fine no matter what you do after unlock. What this is is it is telling the phone that it can use any SIM card [GSM] and it does nto have to be a Tmobile type and is stored in such a way changing anything else will not affect it [JUST DONT DELETE YOUR /EFS OR FORMAT INTERNAL USB STORAGE YOU ARE ASKING FOR INSTA-BRICK!!].
T-Mobile's policy is thus:
After 3 months of FULL bill pays after purchasing a phone [90 days in case someone buys in feb or counts exact days LoL] you may request a SIM Unlock code [NOT SAME AS ROOTING THE PHONE]
After that you can use the phone with ANY GSM SIM [as long as carrier in question supports your 4G freqs or you get what iPhones get on Tmo 2G and not 4G service].
SIM Unlocks are especially handy in several cases...
If you travel to another country and rent or purchase just a SIM card you dont have to pay intl call rates when calling
Your family uses ATT and you have Tmo and your family memeber broke their phone and would like to use their SIM in your phone to make calls on their number
You want to move to ATT but like the better CPU and GPU in the TMo Galaxy S2 and would like to keep the T989 [again you may or may not get 4G service but you could use 2G and make calls no problem]
Otherwise unlocking your SIM is not a HUGE deal [unless above scenarios are what you are after]
Most Newbs confuse a SIM unlock with Rooting their phones
ROOTING: Basically logs you in as an admin account when phone boots instead of a restricted User account
SIM UNLOCKING allows you to use another GSM service with your TMobile phone and/or allows you to purchase Foreign Country SIM Cards and make local calls when travelling in that country [again you may or may not [most likely NOT] get 4G but you would get 2G data and could make calls no problem.
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.
Apologies if Answered somewhere else..
I have a Sprint LG G2 Flashed to Page Plus where I bought it but I lose Data Service and Have to Disable then Re-Enable Data on a Regular Basis..
My Question is : Could a Genuine Verizon G2 Flash be put onto a Sprint G2 Phone to make the Phone True Verizon ?..
I would like to Make this Phone as True as Possible and realise I would lose all Sprint Stock Firmware which I don't really use anyway..
If this would be Possible would the Phone then Work out of the Box on Page Plus or would I have to Reflash to Allow Page Plus to work..
I am assuming that as long as the ESN number stays the same the Phone will just work and Hopefully Fix my Data Issues..
Does anyone think this would also fix the GSM Lock Issue ?..
Any Comments would be welcomed..
Thanks
El..
el_bizarro said:
Apologies if Answered somewhere else..
I have a Sprint LG G2 Flashed to Page Plus where I bought it but I lose Data Service and Have to Disable then Re-Enable Data on a Regular Basis..
My Question is : Could a Genuine Verizon G2 Flash be put onto a Sprint G2 Phone to make the Phone True Verizon ?..
I would like to Make this Phone as True as Possible and realise I would lose all Sprint Stock Firmware which I don't really use anyway..
If this would be Possible would the Phone then Work out of the Box on Page Plus or would I have to Reflash to Allow Page Plus to work..
I am assuming that as long as the ESN number stays the same the Phone will just work and Hopefully Fix my Data Issues..
Does anyone think this would also fix the GSM Lock Issue ?..
Any Comments would be welcomed..
Thanks
El..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thing is, unless the phone was made for Verizon or Sprint specifically those carriers will not allow each other's or other CDMA carriers on their network because the ESN won't be white-listed and they wont do it, unlike in other countries, you will have to buy a new phone.
Also LTE bands are incompatible and Verizon has wireless charging which Sprint version does not, even if you did manage to flash, there is a chance you may soft/hard brick, espescially if you take an OTA from the carrier. So since your Phone is Sprint variant, that is what you are stuck with, granted the ESN is still valid.
I have a Samsung Galaxy Edge 6 with T-Mobile from T-mobile, love the phone, but I lost my job and the bill got out of control so I have not paid in like 3 months I think now.
It was not too big of a deal since my main number is a Google Voice number and I use Google Hangouts to make phone calls and text messages by default.
Its perfect when I am at home on wi-fi but as soon as I leave and not within wi-fi of course I get no internet functionality.
For a while I saw the carrier logo at the top of my phone "T-Mobile" but now it just says "searching" where it used to say that in the upper part of the screen on every screen. (I may have switched a setting causing this or they may have blacklisted my phone I am not sure how to tell).
The phone is not carrier unlocked however if I was to go to Walmart or even a T-Mobile store, tell them I don't have the phone on me but I just want to purchase a pre-paid SIM, could I do that and would it work on my phone to get back on the T-mobile or other carriers network?
Since I use Google Hangouts for my texts and calls it is very important for me to have data. I am sure 5GB would be fine but I want to purchase the cheapest SIM which has any kind of data to see if it even works first. I do not care what number it gives me since I will not be using it for outgoing or incoming calls.
My concern is that if I go with T-Mobile pre-pay, when I put SIM in, it may reject it automatically because they may have sent some kind of SIM lock command since it is not showing carrier anymore OR they may look up my IMEI and see that I have an outstanding bill with them and not allow the SIM.
Any suggestions besides the obvious "pay your bill" would be greatly appreciated! When I can afford to pay the bill I will :cyclops:
Short answer, yes it will work.
Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk
Ok great thank you! Will go in and get a T-mob SIM tomorrow. Or actually, does anyone have advice of where to get the cheapest SIM so I can try this to make sure it works first? I think for $30 you can get 5GB data and a little talk from T-Mob is there anything cheaper? I am super-broke right now lol. I just need the data no talk.
Actually it depends on if the phone was part of the bill. If it wasnt payed off and you didnt pay them it will get blacklisted and it wont work with any carrier in the us. But if the phone was paid outright then you should be fine.
See that is what I am talking about. The phone AND Galaxy Gear S with activated SIM both were not paid off and bill is at $600 and it used to say "T-mobile" for carrier on top of phone screen now it just says "Searching" thus I am pretty sure that is a sign of being blacklisted. Even if phone is blacklisted cant I do something to make it use a prepaid SIM? Can I spoof the IMEI? Is that how they blacklist it?
Alex9090 said:
Short answer, yes it will work.
Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got around to trying this and no, it did not work. In fact I went to one of those third party T-mobile places which is an authorized dealer but he was still cool to talk about it with and had access to the T-mobile database.
He asked for my phone, went to the dialer app on the phone, put in a code with the numeric keypad, and it pulled up two bar codes and numbers (I think the IMEI).
He then went on his computer and put in my IMEI or whatever number was there and sure enough it said it was blacklisted.
I had a feeling this was the case when my phone went from showing the carrier logo on the top of the screen they it said "searching" after about 3 months on non payment.
So when I tried to purchase a new prepaid SIM and put it in the phone and phone restarted, instead of saying "searching" it now says "no service".
There has to be a work around for this. Maybe changing the phones IMEI is the only way but if there are other alternatives I would like to know. I can program and have been writing code since I was 12 years old but not sure if I need special hardware to flash and internal EEPROM or something like that. Any hep is greatly appreciated!
I hear there are people that I can pay to do it but I enjoying learning things like this on my own so I would really like to do it myself if possible?
Changing the imei might be possible but for legal and policy reasons that can not be discussed here
I see tons of ways to do it with a Google search super easy. But it seems TWRP might do it or at least let me backup everything including the system partition so I dont lose anything and can always go back?
Where can I get and learn more about TWRP and must I be rooted?
Can we currently root Samsung GS6 with Android OS 5.1.1 ?
So, the main issue is that I need to get it away from Tracfone T-Mobile because their service is terrible in my area. I can't seem to get either a Tracfone AT&T or Tracfone Verizon SIM to work yet the phone is compatible (according to the websites respectively) with Cricket wireless (AT&T) and US Cellular (cdma). I don't understand... That is why I brought this question to all of you. I live and work in a rural area and it may sound crazy but all I want to do is make stinking phone calls. Oh and I checked the IMEI and it is not locked by any carrier.
You guys suck...
I know most of you on here probably don't care about my problem cause I'm not looking to root or flash or whatever cause I'm not into that. I JUST WANT A PHONE THAT HAS SERVICE. From what I've read it was probably one of you on these forums that "sim unlocked" this phone in the first place back before you really knew the right way and then when you moved on you sold it as "new in box" to a sucker like me. And now for some reason it will only work with a Tracfone Tmobile sim in it which according to them isn't going to work at all come 01/2021 because they are upgrading the network. Well I also know from wasting endless hours trying to figure out how to [email protected]$ck this phone that it is capable of everything I need it to do, like simply switch it to a different "brand" of sim so I can get better service or operate on VoLTE because apparently that's what most carriers are going to switch to and convince most of the general public to buy a new phone based on the misguided notion that their phone has somehow become obsolete when in fact it isn't.
So if you all would stop passing over my post because my technology knowledge level is down there with an 75-year-old and help me I would appreciate it.
I will pay to send this to someone to "fix" or whatever but I refuse to replace a perfectly good phone because some yutz who didn't know what they were doing when they sim unlocked this phone messed it up and somehow turned a US Cellular version (VMX) into a who knows what that only works on Tmobile, and maybe Cricket (we'll see, the sim is in the mail).
No nead to start two threds about the same thing.
NO your phone will mot stop working... Just chill
Turnhoo said:
I know most of you on here probably don't care about my problem cause I'm not looking to root or flash or whatever cause I'm not into that. I JUST WANT A PHONE THAT HAS SERVICE. From what I've read it was probably one of you on these forums that "sim unlocked" this phone in the first place back before you really knew the right way and then when you moved on you sold it as "new in box" to a sucker like me. And now for some reason it will only work with a Tracfone Tmobile sim in it which according to them isn't going to work at all come 01/2021 because they are upgrading the network. Well I also know from wasting endless hours trying to figure out how to [email protected]$ck this phone that it is capable of everything I need it to do, like simply switch it to a different "brand" of sim so I can get better service or operate on VoLTE because apparently that's what most carriers are going to switch to and convince most of the general public to buy a new phone based on the misguided notion that their phone has somehow become obsolete when in fact it isn't.
So if you all would stop passing over my post because my technology knowledge level is down there with an 75-year-old and help me I would appreciate it.
I will pay to send this to someone to "fix" or whatever but I refuse to replace a perfectly good phone because some yutz who didn't know what they were doing when they sim unlocked this phone messed it up and somehow turned a US Cellular version (VMX) into a who knows what that only works on Tmobile, and maybe Cricket (we'll see, the sim is in the mail).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maydayind said:
No nead to start two threds about the same thing.
NO your phone will mot stop working... Just chill
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is correct. Read my post I wrote in the other thread about the VOLTE issue.
If the phone supports VOLTE, you need a SIM that is compatible with it!
----------
I have some information that might make all of you guys happy.
I was told by Safelink Wireless that VOTLE is a function of BOTH the phone *AND* the sim card.
Basically, if the phone itself is VOLTE compatible but the sim card is not, then the phone will be reported on their system as not compatible, and will ask you to upgrade your phone.
However if a VOLTE compatible SIM is inserted, if the phone does in fact support VOLTE, it will then work. That's because it's provisioned on the carrier via the sim card itself.
If you purchased a sim via the "Buy your own sim" package, e.g. online or from Best Buy, etc, awhile ago, then that sim is not compatible. You simply need to call Tracphone/Safelink and ask to buy a VOLTE compatible SIM (which costs 99 cents). Then when you get it, call their tech department to have them transfer the phone service and phone number to the new SIM.
You can dial the phone's service menu and go to the VOLTE/GPRI menu and if the options are there, then the phone supports it.
Turnhoo said:
I know most of you on here probably don't care about my problem cause I'm not looking to root or flash or whatever cause I'm not into that. I JUST WANT A PHONE THAT HAS SERVICE. From what I've read it was probably one of you on these forums that "sim unlocked" this phone in the first place back before you really knew the right way and then when you moved on you sold it as "new in box" to a sucker like me. And now for some reason it will only work with a Tracfone Tmobile sim in it which according to them isn't going to work at all come 01/2021 because they are upgrading the network. Well I also know from wasting endless hours trying to figure out how to [email protected]$ck this phone that it is capable of everything I need it to do, like simply switch it to a different "brand" of sim so I can get better service or operate on VoLTE because apparently that's what most carriers are going to switch to and convince most of the general public to buy a new phone based on the misguided notion that their phone has somehow become obsolete when in fact it isn't.
So if you all would stop passing over my post because my technology knowledge level is down there with an 75-year-old and help me I would appreciate it.
I will pay to send this to someone to "fix" or whatever but I refuse to replace a perfectly good phone because some yutz who didn't know what they were doing when they sim unlocked this phone messed it up and somehow turned a US Cellular version (VMX) into a who knows what that only works on Tmobile, and maybe Cricket (we'll see, the sim is in the mail).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey buddy, xda forum does not allow unlocking sims related stuff. You are complaining in the wrong forum.... There are other forums that do that.