Has anyone used the SGH-I257M on US AT&T?
As I understand, it has the bands for multiple networks. The reason for asking is AT&T is dragging their feet.
Info I got from AT&T was that it has enough roll outs for Christmas and are not going to bring out the S4 Mini until January. My contract is up, S3 & S4 are too big for a pocket, I ditched my S3, I'm using an S2 clocked at 1.7 and gutted, nice phone, but time for a new toy to play with. I'm tired of waiting on the 'Mini', but flashable US Basebands will be unavailable for some time so I'm hoping someone has done this. More specifically meaning the 'non branded' SGH i257M and a functional LTE band 17. TIA
systwk said:
Has anyone used the SGH-I257M on US AT&T?
As I understand, it has the bands for multiple networks. The reason for asking is AT&T is dragging their feet.
Info I got from AT&T was that it has enough roll outs for Christmas and are not going to bring out the S4 Mini until January. My contract is up, S3 & S4 are too big for a pocket, I ditched my S3, I'm using an S2 clocked at 1.7 and gutted, nice phone, but time for a new toy to play with. I'm tired of waiting on the 'Mini', but flashable US Basebands will be unavailable for some time so I'm hoping someone has done this. More specifically meaning the 'non branded' SGH i257M and a functional LTE band 17. TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you get an unlocked SGH-I257M from Canada it will work for AT&T with LTE. I got one as an early Christmas gift for my girlfriend and it works no problem. I just put her 4G microSIM from her old phone (Pantech Burst) and set it up. The only thing I had to do was add the APN for AT&T 4G. Also, I believe it was the ChatON app that would not work in the US but it wasn't important.
EDIT: Also, a question I was thinking of as well is, if when the AT&T version comes out (or the firmware at least) could the AT&T I257 firmware be flashed on an I257M? That would minimize any issues from the phone's software..
wiisixtyfour said:
If you get an unlocked SGH-I257M from Canada it will work for AT&T with LTE. I got one as an early Christmas gift for my girlfriend and it works no problem. I just put her 4G microSIM from her old phone (Pantech Burst) and set it up. The only thing I had to do was add the APN for AT&T 4G. Also, I believe it was the ChatON app that would not work in the US but it wasn't important.
EDIT: Also, a question I was thinking of as well is, if when the AT&T version comes out (or the firmware at least) could the AT&T I257 firmware be flashed on an I257M? That would minimize any issues from the phone's software..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate the reply. That is good to know. Yeah, ChatON is of no interest. As for flashing, There are multiple reports that the 9195 ROM flashes OK on the M's, 9195 also adds the FM radio that is not given functionality in the M's but restored with the 9195 OS so I would assume the AT&T version should be no problem provided AT&T isn't pulling another non standard hardware version as they have in the past with some phones. (FCC filings don't indicate that) AT&T seems to have developed a phobia in recent years about their phones being retrofitted with new OS's. Also likely they are waiting for 4.3 or a Knox implementation in the deluded belief that it is secure. Thanks again for the heads up on function, looks like the price from Canada isn't too bad right now.
wiisixtyfour said:
If you get an unlocked SGH-I257M from Canada it will work for AT&T with LTE. I got one as an early Christmas gift for my girlfriend and it works no problem. I just put her 4G microSIM from her old phone (Pantech Burst) and set it up. The only thing I had to do was add the APN for AT&T 4G. Also, I believe it was the ChatON app that would not work in the US but it wasn't important.
EDIT: Also, a question I was thinking of as well is, if when the AT&T version comes out (or the firmware at least) could the AT&T I257 firmware be flashed on an I257M? That would minimize any issues from the phone's software..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi. Thank you for sharing this. I actually just bought a Canadian i257M as well and now I'm waiting for it to get shipped to me. Question; do the samsung media apps work while in the US? For example, media hub, video hub and music hub? I ask because i used to own a GS4 from att and I purchased a lot of media on those apps and would like to continue using them if possible on the GS4 mini if possible.
Much appreciated!
Eltahur said:
Hi. Thank you for sharing this. I actually just bought a Canadian i257M as well and now I'm waiting for it to get shipped to me. Question; do the samsung media apps work while in the US? For example, media hub, video hub and music hub? I ask because i used to own a GS4 from att and I purchased a lot of media on those apps and would like to continue using them if possible on the GS4 mini if possible.
Much appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may have some disappointment, Samsung has switched to 'Samsung Hub' on the new phones, replacing the older Media hubs and interoperability suffers a lot. T-Mobile offers a Media Hub for their new phones, AT&T may as well since the Sammy app's leave so much behind. It's going to be a wait and see I suspect. With luck AT&T will have Media Hub apps instead of the newer Samsung replacements and all you will have to do is wait. It seems quite a few people have money tied up in the old system and that may keep it alive.
But other than that, all you need to get on line is write your carrier APN. The phone is turn-key as it is. I just got an 'M' and after gutting the OS, dropping in an APN and editing the Build Prop a little (not needed) it works great on US AT&T.
There are more and more of the i257M's turning up recently in the States and hopefully someone will be able to clarify the Media Hub issue more for you better than this.
Where are you guys getting unlocked 257Ms? I can't find anything on ebay and the internet suggests canadagsm may not be reputable.
Hi...wondering if you can help given you are on AT&T 4G LTE. My i257M arrived today from canadagsm and it appears rooted. Surprise, but maybe good. BTW...canadagsm handled this order ok, not great and not responsive, but they did deliver. Anyway so far so good, but I am also on AT&T 4G LTE and wondering how to edit the APN? Why? Right now I am only getting H+ connectivity. So wondering if there is a way to do this voa the hardware or only via software? Also, can you post the Build Prop? Lastly, due to rooted phones being disallowed on my company network I can only use a stock ROM.
Lastly, as I write this I ended up going into the boot ROM and which is not CWM and for the last 30 minutes and selecting install the volume up, the screen shows DOWNLOADING, DO NOT TURN OFF TARGET!! However, I am not aware I am downloading anything and seeing this screen is a bit scary. I may mess with this a little more by the time anyone gets a chance to respond, so we will see.
Thanks in advance, malloy0
systwk said:
You may have some disappointment, Samsung has switched to 'Samsung Hub' on the new phones, replacing the older Media hubs and interoperability suffers a lot. T-Mobile offers a Media Hub for their new phones, AT&T may as well since the Sammy app's leave so much behind. It's going to be a wait and see I suspect. With luck AT&T will have Media Hub apps instead of the newer Samsung replacements and all you will have to do is wait. It seems quite a few people have money tied up in the old system and that may keep it alive.
But other than that, all you need to get on line is write your carrier APN. The phone is turn-key as it is. I just got an 'M' and after gutting the OS, dropping in an APN and editing the Build Prop a little (not needed) it works great on US AT&T.
There are more and more of the i257M's turning up recently in the States and hopefully someone will be able to clarify the Media Hub issue more for you better than this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
malloy0 said:
Hi...wondering if you can help given you are on AT&T 4G LTE. My i257M arrived today from canadagsm and it appears rooted. Surprise, but maybe good. BTW...canadagsm handled this order ok, not great and not responsive, but they did deliver. Anyway so far so good, but I am also on AT&T 4G LTE and wondering how to edit the APN? Why? Right now I am only getting H+ connectivity. So wondering if there is a way to do this voa the hardware or only via software? Also, can you post the Build Prop? Lastly, due to rooted phones being disallowed on my company network I can only use a stock ROM.
Lastly, as I write this I ended up going into the boot ROM and which is not CWM and for the last 30 minutes and selecting install the volume up, the screen shows DOWNLOADING, DO NOT TURN OFF TARGET!! However, I am not aware I am downloading anything and seeing this screen is a bit scary. I may mess with this a little more by the time anyone gets a chance to respond, so we will see.
Thanks in advance, malloy0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just made a thread abouu this. Just picked up a i257m and on every kind of combination of rom I'm stuck at only h+. I spent a few hours on the phone with cs to figure out why after googling a few other cases similar to ours. Turns out att doesn't support unlocked phones so the account isn't setup to push lte. What others have done, and what I'm going to try to do tomorrow is pop the sim into an att phone thss can do LTE and set it up and switch back and it should follow.
Att were assholes and wouldn't setup a device on my sim temporarily to prove to me LTE worked on my account. We popped my dim into a display g2 that was getting LTE, and got only h+. So I told him to pop the display sim in mine to see if I can get LTE, it only triggered the LTE option in the settings but never popped up saying it was getting any.. Hmm
Edit: got lte working with a new sim! All works perfect on att!
voilsb said:
Where are you guys getting unlocked 257Ms? I can't find anything on ebay and the internet suggests canadagsm may not be reputable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wanted to throw in an update, I took the risk and ordered a 257M from CanadaGSM. Minor hiccup with the webpage didn't forward my address to their credit card processor, but they sent me an e-mail and a paypal invoice, and shipped out the phone the same day I paid. Quick customer service response time via e-mail, too (as in within a few minutes). It works great on Straight Talk, but I don't live in an LTE area so I can't test that till this weekend.
It rooted easily, and now it's running PAC.
Edited to add some information.
voilsb said:
Just wanted to throw in an update, I took the risk and ordered a 257M from CanadaGSM. Minor hiccup with the webpage didn't forward my address to their credit card processor, but they sent me an e-mail and a paypal invoice, and shipped out the phone the same day I paid. Quick customer service response time via e-mail, too (as in within a few minutes). It works great on Straight Talk, but I don't live in an LTE area so I can't test that till this weekend.
It rooted easily, and now it's running PAC.
Edited to add some information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good news for CanadaGSM...I too was leery, but after a few emails and phone calls they stepped it up big time. For now I have retired the S5 mini in favor of a Nokia Lumia 520 for $65!! Woo-eeee!! It's a super smooth phone. Apps are a little limited, but still have found everything I need except "stay awake" with charging. as for the S4 mini on LTE? No luck at all and expect one of two things...1) it's a locked Rogers phone and I am on AT&T, thus they will not allow LTE or the phone is not truly LTE capable.
voilsb said:
... ordered a 257M ... It rooted easily ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you post some detail about the rooting procedure that you used? I have not yet seen a complete procedure for the SGH-I257M.
malloy0 said:
Good news for CanadaGSM...I too was leery, but after a few emails and phone calls they stepped it up big time. For now I have retired the S5 mini in favor of a Nokia Lumia 520 for $65!! Woo-eeee!! It's a super smooth phone. Apps are a little limited, but still have found everything I need except "stay awake" with charging. as for the S4 mini on LTE? No luck at all and expect one of two things...1) it's a locked Rogers phone and I am on AT&T, thus they will not allow LTE or the phone is not truly LTE capable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running the i257m on att with lte,only hiccup I had was they gave a 3g sim instead of an lte one and it took three weeks to prove it to them!
---------- Post added at 01:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:58 AM ----------
mdawdy said:
Can you post some detail about the rooting procedure that you used? I have not yet seen a complete procedure for the SGH-I257M.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use the 9195 root method and 9195 roms, same phone just different lte bands.
What I did was use Odin to flash recovery then flashed the root kit then used the unlock app from the play store to be able to run att. Then I flashed my liquidsmooth and havent looked back!
I used Odin to flash philz touch recovery, then flashed the PAC nightly. Only issues so far are ROM related, like launcher preference and battery drain
Sent from my GT-I9195 using xda app-developers app
Hi,
I just ordered an unlocked HTC One (M8) (US Version). Has anyone tried this unit on the new Cricket Wireless? (Not the old CDMA)
How is your speed, do you get LTE?
Thank you!
I'll answer my own question, and give you all (who live in the USA) an FYI, I ordered my Cricket Wireless Nano sim 2 days ago, it came in today. Super easy activation, instant access. From my house it switched to 3G, I called customer service since I am clearly in an LTE area. They said 2 towers were getting upgrades, and for my trouble, they gave me 5$ credit. Now that's service! Right down the street LTE comes in like gangbusters.
If your looking for a good non-contract place to park your unlocked HTC One (M8), take a look at Cricket wireless.
It's cheap and includes intentional features, and utilizes AT&T's great LTE network.
Hope this helps some of you!
Cheers!
wowmail said:
I'll answer my own question, and give you all (who live in the USA) an FYI, I ordered my Cricket Wireless Nano sim 2 days ago, it came in today. Super easy activation, instant access. From my house it switched to 3G, I called customer service since I am clearly in an LTE area. They said 2 towers were getting upgrades, and for my trouble, they gave me 5$ credit. Now that's service! Right down the street LTE comes in like gangbusters.
If your looking for a good non-contract place to park your unlocked HTC One (M8), take a look at Cricket wireless.
It's cheap and includes intentional features, and utilizes AT&T's great LTE network.
Hope this helps some of you!
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works and my data speed is about 6-8 mbps.
Same boat
I'm planning on buying an unlocked HTC One M8 direct from HTC. Did you have to do anything special to get the phone fully operational and is your MMS working?
First Post - AT&T HTC One M8 on Cricket
Hi all,
This is my first post. I was on AT&T for a few years, but then decided to switch to Cricket mid 2014. I bought a new HTC One M8 AT&T new and off contract from an ebay seller last year. I got it off contract so I was able to take it to AT&T to get a sim card and activate it on my service at that time. Then I used their unlock service to get it carrier unlocked since I was not on contract anymore.
After I got it carrier unlocked, I ordered my cricket sim and it was super easy to port my number and get my new phone on Cricket service. Had been working great for more than a year. However, after Lollipop came out and it was announced that the HTC One M8 would get it soon, I kept waiting.... Then I realized that I am not going to get any OTA updates. Damn, I'm stuck on 4.4.2 using my AT&T branded HTC One M8 on Cricket. What to do?
I've had some limited experience rooting, recovering, and flashing my old Nexus 7 tablet. So I decided to research what I could do with my phone.
So the short story is. I am currently running the Skydragon 5.0.2 with Sense 7 ROM. It's running great! How did I get to this point?
Ok, so I had a little trial and error on some of my steps. But basically I was able to root (unlock the bootloader successfully), flash the firmware on my phone (was necessary to do otherwise installing any of the lollipop roms would not boot afterwards), install TWRP and make backups for recovery, and then flash the custom ROM.
More details: I tried to install the Skydragon before flashing the firmware and it got stuck booting. I flashed a new lollipop firmware version (probably the most scariest part. However if you try and flash the wrong firmware, it is supposed to fail.) Then after that installed the Insertcoin ROM. It worked great. After a couple of days I was reading their site and it looked like they are not going to develop further. I really liked all the tweaks available from Insertcoin, but was kind of discouraged to keep it because of maybe not future updates (marshmallow?). So I went ahead and installed SkyDragon and it works great. Another good thing about flashing the firmware and installing a custom ROM? No AT&T branding or bloatware at all. It's great. Oh, BTW, I was able to do this with S-ON. :victory:
I also learned to use TWRP to create backups. This easily allows you to try another ROM just for fun and then just recover your last backup.
Hope this helps anyone that is interested in doing this!
wowmail said:
Hi,
I just ordered an unlocked HTC One (M8) (US Version). Has anyone tried this unit on the new Cricket Wireless? (Not the old CDMA)
How is your speed, do you get LTE?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this is an old post, but I'm picking up a m8 for cricket and was wondering if you had to change the apn settings to get everything working?
Will international version still work when AT&T drops 3G in Feb. 2022?
Yes. The WWE version supports LTE. All M8 versions support it afaik
I'm struggling with this. Tried researching it. I know the M8's all have LTE capabilities...the problem is AT&T in the US doesn't cover the same bands or frequencies to support 4G LTE that they do in Europe. So my international version doesn't get LTE. The most I get is HSPA+. I also couldn't find any info on HD Voice which I'm guessing is the same thing as VoLTE or LTE. Which is what is going to be required in order for the phone to work in any fashion on the AT&T network. Or any network for that matter when they decide to drop 3G. I know for a FACT that the US version of the M8 is on the list of phones that WILL work when they make the change. It shows the M8 on the list but it doesn't distinguish between domestic or international versions.
slidextreme said:
I'm struggling with this. Tried researching it. I know the M8's all have LTE capabilities...the problem is AT&T in the US doesn't cover the same bands or frequencies to support 4G LTE that they do in Europe. So my international version doesn't get LTE. The most I get is HSPA+. I also couldn't find any info on HD Voice which I'm guessing is the same thing as VoLTE or LTE. Which is what is going to be required in order for the phone to work in any fashion on the AT&T network. Or any network for that matter when they decide to drop 3G. I know for a FACT that the US version of the M8 is on the list of phones that WILL work when they make the change. It shows the M8 on the list but it doesn't distinguish between domestic or international versions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does it say in your bootloader menu?
Locked or unlocked?
Security on or off?
MID/Modelid?
CID?
You may be able to flash the latest AT&T RUU to get AT&T firmware on your phone.
I can tell you with that information, and give you a link to the RUU and instructions on how to flash it.
I've never accessed the boot loader menu. Never had a reason to. Thought about flashing phones before but didn't want to risk bricking it. And never really needed to change stock version for my needs.
That being said I imagine it's locked with security on. The numbers you're asking for should be standard for international version so I don't think they are relevant. I have a prepaid account through AT&T for at least 10 years. Just been flipping sim card to newer unlocked phones. Got this through Amazon. Previously had US version but after time had battery issues. But I already have access to the AT&T network. And it wouldn't matter if I switched networks. None of the US companies use the bands and frequencies that Europe does for LTE.
. My understanding of it from my research is that it's not firmware that decides that but the hardware and antenna capabilities. The phone literally won't look for those bands or frequencies. At least that's my understanding.
. Thanks for your help though. Ultimately I'm probably going to have to get a new phone. Which sucks because I love this phone. Will miss how great it sounds. Best phone I've ever had. I guess I could just turn it into a music player.
slidextreme said:
I've never accessed the boot loader menu. Never had a reason to. Thought about flashing phones before but didn't want to risk bricking it. And never really needed to change stock version for my needs.
That being said I imagine it's locked with security on. The numbers you're asking for should be standard for international version so I don't think they are relevant. I have a prepaid account through AT&T for at least 10 years. Just been flipping sim card to newer unlocked phones. Got this through Amazon. Previously had US version but after time had battery issues. But I already have access to the AT&T network. And it wouldn't matter if I switched networks. None of the US companies use the bands and frequencies that Europe does for LTE.
. My understanding of it from my research is that it's not firmware that decides that but the hardware and antenna capabilities. The phone literally won't look for those bands or frequencies. At least that's my understanding.
. Thanks for your help though. Ultimately I'm probably going to have to get a new phone. Which sucks because I love this phone. Will miss how great it sounds. Best phone I've ever had. I guess I could just turn it into a music player.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You bought it second hand? It might be S-Off. Bootloader might be locked, but with S-Off (security off) it shouldn't matter.
As far as firmware not deciding the bands, that's not entirely true. Changing the MID to AT&T's and changing the CID to either that or SuperCID would fix it. That would be a part of flashing the RUU. You'll need the AT&T or SuperCID to flash it in the first place, but the MID changes after the RUU flash iirc.
As far as getting S-Off, you can get that for $25. If you want that I can walk you through everything. I don't mind giving FULL instructions although I try to let users do a little searching of their own.
Feel free to PM me if you want to try. Flashing the RUU itself is super easy. Changing CID/MID will take you using fastboot commands from your PC
Thanks. I'll take that into consideration. I appreciate your help. I'll let you know if I'm up for that challenge...lol. I'm running on marshmallow right now. And as such am unable to access certain apps through the Play store. It's probably a good idea to upgrade anyway. I know there are flashes for that too...just makes more sense to upgrade. The phone is 7 years old.
slidextreme said:
Thanks. I'll take that into consideration. I appreciate your help. I'll let you know if I'm up for that challenge...lol. I'm running on marshmallow right now. And as such am unable to access certain apps through the Play store. It's probably a good idea to upgrade anyway. I know there are flashes for that too...just makes more sense to upgrade. The phone is 7 years old.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. 7yrs ago one of the best phones came out. I loved my M8. It's bricked now though. The screen got screwed and charging was taking forever and I tried taking it apart to fix it and I failed. lol. Doing hardware repairs isn't in my nature. No patience for that. Too small and fragile. But I still use my HTC 10 during weekdays for an mp3 player at work
Yup...Boomsound! Can't beat it. Otherwise I wouldn't have this dilemma in the first place. Thought about changing my old battery but realized how complicated it was and no guarantee it would work. And paying to get it fixed...may as well apply those funds to a new phone. Expensive! Tried to get the HTC 10 new. Wound up with the international version (Amazon...lol)with problems from the start. Had to return it before I could even hear how good it sounded. I wanted to cry. Now I'm stuck trying to find high quality sound on a reasonably priced phone that still has the damn headphone jack. Ugh.
slidextreme said:
Yup...Boomsound! Can't beat it. Otherwise I wouldn't have this dilemma in the first place. Thought about changing my old battery but realized how complicated it was and no guarantee it would work. And paying to get it fixed...may as well apply those funds to a new phone. Expensive! Tried to get the HTC 10 new. Wound up with the international version (Amazon...lol)with problems from the start. Had to return it before I could even hear how good it sounded. I wanted to cry. Now I'm stuck trying to find high quality sound on a reasonably priced phone that still has the damn headphone jack. Ugh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why I'm still rocking the 10 although I have a Pixel 2XL and Pixel 5 in full working order. 3.5mm jack AND premium audio AND expandable storage to boot.
xunholyx said:
That's why I'm still rocking the 10 although I have a Pixel 2XL and Pixel 5 in full working order. 3.5mm jack AND premium audio AND expandable storage to boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey xunholyx,
I was thinking about checking out the pixels. I heard they have decent sound. I'm going to try and get my US version M8 battery replaced for $75 and hope that's the only problem with it. On top of looking for a new phone. Just can't seem to let it go...lol. Should have done this a year ago. It will give me more time and ultimately be a music player for my car.
But I'm really contacting you about the international version. I found something and would like your opinion. It's about changing the bands.
You'll need to watch it on YouTube or rather read the description or instructions the video gives below it. The video is hard to follow. And I don't know if I need special software to do it this way.
HI all,
I'm not sure if this is possible or not, but I recently got a really good deal on a Refurbished Note 10+ 5G from Back Market. The phone I actually ordered was a Unlocked AT&T model, I received a Unlocked Verizon model (SM-976V), which doesn't really bother me. However, with the Verizon model, I am not able to go in and tweak my APN settings (on the Verizon model these settings are greyed out with no way to unlock them, at least none that I've found), so I'm wondering if it is possible to flash a more stock rom that doesn't include all the b.s. Verizon bloatware. Not sure if it matters any, but I use Visible Wireless as my phone carrier.
Thanks in advance to any insight anyone has,
Yall have a great day,
TheDudestPriest504
Let android Power Manage the unused apps to deep sleep ~ and use the verizon stock ROM because of the too many security on it. If you mess with it you risk some things. Other than that you can try revert Bin7 ROM to earlier date and do some debug things as well as some SamFw Tool things. Those should work without touching the bootloader.