hi everyone:
I have been looking via numerous thread online on many Android forums especially here and have been unsuccessful for the past 2 days now. So I figured I would need to create a thread and finally give in and ask for some help. I have a T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy 3 phone and I need to unlock it so that it will work on my AT&T service. Now i understand about rooting the phone and being able to play with themes etc, but its not that great if I can't use the phone itself.
Now without coming up with some kind of answer I must have watched about 40 youtube video's hoping to find out some kind of information. Mostly what I got out of it was numerous website that offer unlocking for phones at a certain price.
unlockcodesource(.)com
unlock2go(.)com
mobileunlockcodes(.)co.uk
Has anyone ever used any of these website or can someone give me some good advise on how I can get this phone unlocked please/
~Aqua
I think the toolkit stickied in the development forum has an option to SIM unlock the GS3. I have not tried this, and do not know if it works, but if the option is there, you might want to give it a shot.
If you're on contract with t mobile and your account is in good standing with them. Call them tell them you're going over seas and need to unlock your phone so you can use it. They will send you unlock code ... then pop in an att sim card and it will prompt you to enter the unlock code t Mobil gave you. Done
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
thanks _
Crisisx1 said:
If you're on contract with t mobile and your account is in good standing with them. Call them tell them you're going over seas and need to unlock your phone so you can use it. They will send you unlock code ... then pop in an att sim card and it will prompt you to enter the unlock code t Mobil gave you. Done
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK thank you. I followed your instructions and they said it would take up to maybe 24 hrs for the phone to be unlocked. If it isn't unlocked than she said to call back with the conformation number she gave me. If that doesn't work than they would have to give Samsung my info and could take up to 14 days. She said when you buy phones almost all stands and corp stores have already unlocked phones.
she also said it would be auto unlocked for good. Can they lock the phone back up once it is be unlocked?
~Aqua
edited: Once I have it unlocked ( if all goes good ) do i use the same APN settings that I needed to put into the phone in order for my phone to work on the AT&T network as I did with my S2 that I got unlocked ?
Don't they use different frequencies for HSPA+
You would be relegated to edge speeds, correct me if I'm wrong
speed issue
five40 said:
Don't they use different frequencies for HSPA+
You would be relegated to edge speeds, correct me if I'm wrong
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really don't know. That would be a great question if someone would be nice enough to help me with this information? Again i have a T mobile S3 hopefully its unlocked would I be losing speeds by being on the AT&T network?
thanks
~Aqua
AquaWater said:
I really don't know. That would be a great question if someone would be nice enough to help me with this information? Again i have a T mobile S3 hopefully its unlocked would I be losing speeds by being on the AT&T network?
thanks
~Aqua
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The T-Mobile S3 has the 850/1900 3G bands so it will work on AT&T's 3G network. It will not get LTE though.
You can unlock either by paying for a code from the various resellers online or requesting an unlock code from T-Mobile if you have an account in good standing with them. If you can't get the code from T-Mobile I suggest searching 'T999 unlock' on eBay and you'll find some good options.
The tmobile galaxy s3 will work on the ATnT HSPA+21 frequency. Same frequency the International version runs on for that network.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Edge network and 3/4G Question
I found an excellent place so far on eBay for buying unlock codes. they have almost 3800 sells with a 99% positive feedback. Great customer service. The guy answered numerous questions of mine and made sure i did everything correctly. Payment was $24.95 US, so hopefullly everything will go good.
He was talking about being on something called an " Edge " network which is a little slower, but he said you won't notice a difference between your unlocked S2 and the unlocked S3 now. Right now my S2 says I have 3G service when I use it. I dont understand how i had a inspire4G, what is the 4G for if AT&T only gives you 3G service? And where I am in United States I should have 4G service no matter what. I'm confused on that.,
AquaWater said:
I found an excellent place so far on eBay for buying unlock codes. they have almost 3800 sells with a 99% positive feedback. Great customer service. The guy answered numerous questions of mine and made sure i did everything correctly. Payment was $24.95 US, so hopefullly everything will go good.
He was talking about being on something called an " Edge " network which is a little slower, but he said you won't notice a difference between your unlocked S2 and the unlocked S3 now. Right now my S2 says I have 3G service when I use it. I dont understand how i had a inspire4G, what is the 4G for if AT&T only gives you 3G service? And where I am in United States I should have 4G service no matter what. I'm confused on that.,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edge is 2G speeds, which are substantially slower than 3G speeds. IMHO, 3G speeds are livable, 2G/Edge is not.
Different phones have different radios which work on different frequencies. Some phones are not compatible with other services at all, and some will work on other carriers but often not at optimal speeds.
Darmokk said:
Edge is 2G speeds, which are substantially slower than 3G speeds. IMHO, 3G speeds are livable, 2G/Edge is not.
Different phones have different radios which work on different frequencies. Some phones are not compatible with other services at all, and some will work on other carriers but often not at optimal speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So than why would someone suggest that I would get "edge" instead of what i have now? I'm getting 3G now with my T-Mobile S2 unlocked on AT&T, but now I'm going to have an unlocked S3, why wouldn't it be the same?
Because the radios in the devices are different.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
So than why would someone suggest that I would get "edge" instead of what i have now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because he/she doesn't know what he/she is talking about. You will be fine with a T-Mobile S3 on AT&T.
That's what I said earlier in not so many words.
Voice willl work fine you will not see HSPA+ speeds on At&t with a T-Mobile Galaxy SIII.
If the T-Mobile SIII has the hardware capability to support the At&t HSPA+ bands you would need modified radio software to unlock this ability.
I believe this was done on the Galaxy Note to tun on T-Mobile HSPA+ network before it was officially launched on T-Mobile.
kmdub I believe your the one that's wrong.
five40 said:
That's what I said earlier in not so many words.
Voice willl work fine you will not see HSPA+ speeds on At&t with a T-Mobile Galaxy SIII.
If the T-Mobile SIII has the hardware capability to support the At&t HSPA+ bands you would need modified radio software to unlock this ability.
I believe this was done on the Galaxy Note to tun on T-Mobile HSPA+ network before it was officially launched on T-Mobile.
kmdub I believe your the one that's wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I unlocked my t999 and am using an att straight talk sim getting HSPA speeds. Going to switch back to tmobile prepay because it is way faster than att HSPA with better latency. Although coverage may be lacking, i may just switch to an att ST sim.
To answer your question, a Tmobile S3 will work on ATT HSPA+ network with the HSPA+ Speeds of up to 6-7mbps in NYC area. The average I've been getting is around 2-3.5 mbps. With the tmobile prepay sim I have, it's usually around 2-18mbps down in NYC area.
The T-mobile S3 will not work on the ATT LTE network because it lacks that radio (or so they say for now); there have been other threads suspecting it's just a matter of flashing the right radio to "turn on" the ATT LTE radio. However, if all you want is HSPA+ speeds, rest assured it will work fine.
The ATT S3 is lacking the AWS bands for TMobile so it will not get the HSPA+ on Tmobile.
Best regards.
radio issue
First off, I would like to thank everyone who has been helping me along with my issues with my phone. I appreciate it a lot and I'm picking up more knowledge more and more everyday from you guys and reading heavily on the forums.
if the hardware in the phone doesn't support HSPA+ 1) will i have to root the phone and 2) change the radio? And 3 ) if I change the radio does that mean I would need to install a custom ROM i order for it to work properly?
Also, from one of the post they said "The T-Mobile S3 has the 850/1900 3G bands " - of that is true will than I should be able to have the 3G speeds correct?
I really hope I am not making some people angry, I'm new to this and trying my hardest to understand everything so I don't make mistakes. Please bare with me. Again, thank you so much everyone who has contributed so far. I still have a lot to learn. The reason why is because I just don't want it to work ( I do, want it to work ) but I want to understand why everything is working they way it is and I've over the past almost month have been picking up a lot of knowledge. Can't wait to hear from you guys
kmdub I believe your the one that's wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, actually, you are wrong. The T-Mobile S3 does not need any modification to work properly on AT&T's HSPA network. Seems you are confusing something else with frequency. Quit spreading bad information.
OP: Don't worry about it. Some are making this way more complicated than it needs to be. As said before, if you have the T999, you will be fine on AT&T's HSPA network without any modifications (other than an account...lol). Just get the phone SIM-unlocked, pop in the right SIM, you are good to go. Seriously, it is that easy.
Well there it is, I stand corrected!
I had no idea the T-Mobile SIII supports At&t HSPA+ bands.
Is the same true to all T-Mobile HSPA+ phones?
Sorry for any issues, just learning
Hi everyone,
thanks so much for the info. Will the S2 I needed to put in certain APN settings inorder to receive MMS ( picture ) via texts. Do i use the same settings for the Samsung Galaxy 3?
kmdub said:
No, actually, you are wrong. The T-Mobile S3 does not need any modification to work properly on AT&T's HSPA network. Seems you are confusing something else with frequency. Quit spreading bad information.
OP: Don't worry about it. Some are making this way more complicated than it needs to be. As said before, if you have the T999, you will be fine on AT&T's HSPA network without any modifications (other than an account...lol). Just get the phone SIM-unlocked, pop in the right SIM, you are good to go. Seriously, it is that easy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too have learned from this thread
Hello all.
I am getting some woeful download speeds on my new unlocked GSM Nexus which I am using on ATT in San Diego. I was previously using a GS2 on ATT and getting on average 5-7 Mbps download which I was fine with and so I decided to go with a Nexus and try prepaid GSM service rather than be on a contract and upgrade to an ATT 4G LTE phone. However using my Nexus in the same areas as I used my GS2 I am only getting .5 - 2 Mbps download and it's noticeably slow when not on WiFi trying to use Tapatalk or other apps which use data.
I have tried flashing different radio's but no luck still the same woeful speeds. Any ideas??
So which prepaid service did you switch to? Important to know.
Likely either the area is just saturated, your radio isn't the best for your situation, or you have an APN or provisioning problem with the SIM.
No actually I haven't gone prepaid just yet, I am still on ATT and I've tried a couple of different radio's but all seem about the same.
evodon84 said:
No actually I haven't gone prepaid just yet, I am still on ATT and I've tried a couple of different radio's but all seem about the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're still on AT&T postpaid, its quite likely an APN or provisioning problem then.
I just sold my skyrocket and got a real good deal on an unlocked tmobile s3. I changed my apn and it is showing 3g but my speeds ar 150kbps at best. I did alot of research (i am not saying there is something out there i could have missed) but all i could find is people saying they are getting 4-5 mbps, but nothing about what they did to get them. Some people are saying they are flashing att radios and roms but then other people are saying not to do that. How do i get hspa speed, should i or can i flash att radios and roms?
I remember on my S2 that you are able to flash both ROMs and Radios from ATT. I havent heard anything about the Tmo S3. Not being a ****, but have you tried google? I mean thats where i would have gone.
Yes i did google, like i said, some people were saying they did and some people were saying not to do it or my phone will brick. Just looking for someone in here to confirm that they did it and if it works. My biggest issue is with the data speeds and hoping someone can tell me how they are getting hspa speeds
xallinvaynex said:
Yes i did google, like i said, some people were saying they did and some people were saying not to do it or my phone will brick. Just looking for someone in here to confirm that they did it and if it works. My biggest issue is with the data speeds and hoping someone can tell me how they are getting hspa speeds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's someone on here that uses the go phone on their t999 let me see if I can find him and direct them here
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
xallinvaynex said:
Yes i did google, like i said, some people were saying they did and some people were saying not to do it or my phone will brick. Just looking for someone in here to confirm that they did it and if it works. My biggest issue is with the data speeds and hoping someone can tell me how they are getting hspa speeds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get speeds around 4-5 on T-Mobile s3 Rom an kernel. All I did was make a new apn for att.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
Thanks for the info, I'm using red pocket and was being throttled. Going to switch to straight talk
xallinvaynex said:
I just sold my skyrocket and got a real good deal on an unlocked tmobile s3. I changed my apn and it is showing 3g but my speeds ar 150kbps at best. I did alot of research (i am not saying there is something out there i could have missed) but all i could find is people saying they are getting 4-5 mbps, but nothing about what they did to get them. Some people are saying they are flashing att radios and roms but then other people are saying not to do that. How do i get hspa speed, should i or can i flash att radios and roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Hey All,
I've placed a Tmobile sim in my Att unlocked GS3. Ive seen many posts stating that the Att version wont get 4g on tmobile but 4g works fine for me; regularly I can get 5 to 10mb downloads. My issue though is that Im sometimes dropping from 4g to 2g/Edge then back to 4g. Should my phone be dropping to 3g instead ? Im quite shocked when it happens since I usually had strong 4g not far away at all.
Is the general consensus to to simply get a Tmobile device instead of bringing something from at&t? I really dont want to root the phone or flash roms at this point since Im just testing out the service.
goon3r said:
Hey All,
I've placed a Tmobile sim in my Att unlocked GS3. Ive seen many posts stating that the Att version wont get 4g on tmobile but 4g works fine for me; regularly I can get 5 to 10mb downloads. My issue though is that Im sometimes dropping from 4g to 2g/Edge then back to 4g. Should my phone be dropping to 3g instead ? Im quite shocked when it happens since I usually had strong 4g not far away at all.
Is the general consensus to to simply get a Tmobile device instead of bringing something from at&t? I really dont want to root the phone or flash roms at this point since Im just testing out the service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are in a refarmed market from the sound of it. The reason you go from 4g to EDGE is because the refarmed spectrum is most likely not through your entire coverage area.
T-Mobile uses the 1700 band, which at&t does not support, as their primary 4G deployment. This is why it is always recommended to get a T-Mobile S3.
That said, there is a firmware image for at&t's GS3 that unlocks T-Mobiles AWS band not just for 4G but for LTE as well. It is in the at&t forum - you will have to read the entire thread to get the relevant files and information on how to do it. Note that this CAN brick your phone permanently so only attempt it if you are willing to take that chance and you are familiar with download mode and ODIN.
The upside of using that hack is that the T-Mobile S3 doesn't support LTE at all.
Sent from my SGH-T999
Thanks for the clarification and info about the hack. Assuming I get a Tmobile device, should I expect to see a 3g icon instead or would it still say 4g?
goon3r said:
Thanks for the clarification and info about the hack. Assuming I get a Tmobile device, should I expect to see a 3g icon instead or would it still say 4g?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It'll say 4g.. A 4g icon really means 3g/h+ and a 4g lte icon means lte
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Thanks!
Here is the link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1771021&page=25 Start reading from post #246