Develop Bugs

No 3g service, faulty verizon SIM card

Curious if anyone else had experienced this.
Over the weekend I could not connect to Verizon's 3g network. When I was in a 3g only area, I would have grayed out bars and no 3g icon. I was able to connect to the 1x network and make phone calls. When I was in a 4g area, I could connect to the LTE network and use data fine. I first re-flashed the 4.0.2 factory radios (I had the 4.0.3 leaked radios) to no avail. Then re-flashed the entire factory image and that didn't change anything either.
I brought the phone to my local Verizon store and they swapped out the SIM card. I was under the impression that the SIM card was only used to connect to the LTE network, so i didn't think it would have any effect. To my surprise, the phone was able to connect to the 3g network again.

bairdi said:
Curious if anyone else had experienced this.
Over the weekend I could not connect to Verizon's 3g network. When I was in a 3g only area, I would have grayed out bars and no 3g icon. I was able to connect to the 1x network and make phone calls. When I was in a 4g area, I could connect to the LTE network and use data fine. I first re-flashed the 4.0.2 factory radios (I had the 4.0.3 leaked radios) to no avail. Then re-flashed the entire factory image and that didn't change anything either.
I brought the phone to my local Verizon store and they swapped out the SIM card. I was under the impression that the SIM card was only used to connect to the LTE network, so i didn't think it would have any effect. To my surprise, the phone was able to connect to the 3g network again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to a friend of mine, the SIM card actually holds the CDMA data in it now, so having a bad SIM card will actually mess up your CDMA.
Guess VZW is GSM now.

Yes, over the weekend my sim died as well. Same exact problem. It happened to a friend as well. For us, it happened Friday.

Longcat14 said:
According to a friend of mine, the SIM card actually holds the CDMA data in it now, so having a bad SIM card will actually mess up your CDMA.
Guess VZW is GSM now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
<yoda> A sim, GSM does not make. </yoda>

Longcat14 said:
According to a friend of mine, the SIM card actually holds the CDMA data in it now, so having a bad SIM card will actually mess up your CDMA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verizon validates LTE subscribers via the SIM, like a GSM carrier. There is no ESN, as found in CDMA carriers. This is part of their eHRPD bridge from CDMA to LTE. It is also why people couldn't get 3G when the LTE network crapped out last month.
On the plus side, you can swap phones by inserting the SIM now. Welcome to 1995.

The kid at the Verizon tried to tell me that It probably happened from toggling the preferred network mode from LTE/CDMA to CDMA. I hope that the design isn't so poor that this would be the case.

ATnTdude said:
Verizon validates LTE subscribers via the SIM, like a GSM carrier. There is no ESN, as found in CDMA carriers. This is part of their eHRPD bridge from CDMA to LTE. It is also why people couldn't get 3G when the LTE network crapped out last month.
On the plus side, you can swap phones by inserting the SIM now. Welcome to 1995.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohh, so thats why when your SIM craps out, you lose CDMA too.
And @ adrynalyne, that's funny, but you know I was just joking? xD
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

bairdi said:
The kid at the Verizon tried to tell me that It probably happened from toggling the preferred network mode from LTE/CDMA to CDMA. I hope that the design isn't so poor that this would be the case.
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Click to collapse
I really doubt that.

ATnTdude said:
On the plus side, you can swap phones by inserting the SIM now. Welcome to 1995.
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Click to collapse
Sooo if somebody steals my phone now they can just use it? I can't call and report the ESN stolen and blacklist it?

Longcat14 said:
Ohh, so thats why when your SIM craps out, you lose CDMA too.
And @ adrynalyne, that's funny, but you know I was just joking? xD
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My comment was pretty much tongue in cheek
I can't do a <yoda> and keep a straight face

[Q] Captivate unlocking not totally succesful

Hi,
I bought a Samsung Galaxy S in the states tha was unlocked. Everything worked fine, but I only used the original provider who was at&t. Now I'm in Spain, and Ingot a data plan with Movistar. Calls and messages work fine, as well as the internet as long as I have wifi. The 3g doesn't work, and it is a problem of the phone because I've tried the SIM card on other phones and it works fine. I've tried unlocking the phone again and nothing changes, I need help pleaseeeee! Idk what to do and I can't afford to buy a new phone right now.:crying:
Thanks for your help!!!!!!!!

Felixsanz said:
Hi,
I bought a Samsung Galaxy S in the states tha was unlocked. Everything worked fine, but I only used the original provider who was at&t. Now I'm in Spain, and Ingot a data plan with Movistar. Calls and messages work fine, as well as the internet as long as I have wifi. The 3g doesn't work, and it is a problem of the phone because I've tried the SIM card on other phones and it works fine. I've tried unlocking the phone again and nothing changes, I need help pleaseeeee! Idk what to do and I can't afford to buy a new phone right now.:crying:
Thanks for your help!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure its a GSM network? As far as I know, the galaxy s is incompatible with cdma networks. I could be wrong tho.
Sent from my LG-P930

Movistar in Spain uses GSM, not CDMA, but the bands are not the same for 3G, that'e your problem. You won't get 3G on Europe, only in the US with AT&T, Canada with almost any carrier, and any country from Mexico to Argentina.
Maybe in Australia/India you can have 3G, I don't know, but there are some members with a Glide from India, they can answer this better than me.

Thank you, I'm stupid, I should havechecked that before buying the phone

rani9990 said:
Are you sure its a GSM network? As far as I know, the galaxy s is incompatible with cdma networks. I could be wrong tho.
Sent from my LG-P930
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the samsung galaxy s captivate it says:
Network Technology EDGE, GSM, HSDPA, UMTS
Does that change anything?

Felixsanz said:
On the samsung galaxy s captivate it says:
Network Technology EDGE, GSM, HSDPA, UMTS
Does that change anything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I may have good news for you, check this:
http://www.unlockit.co.nz/mobilesettings/settings.php?id=27
There's a good chance you have to set the APN settings manually, the above link shows you how to do this. These are the settings that tell your phone how to get onto the data network, if those are not already in the phone or set automatically. Give it a try, your problem has occurred more often and this was the solution!

Setting the APN manually should get internet working, but since the phone doesn't support the bands needed for 3G in Spain, that won't solve the 2G only problem. Still, working 2G data should make it at least fairly usable until you acquire a phone that supports your local bands.

Perhaps not in Spain then, but it works elsewhere in Europe. I live in The Netherlands and I get 3G. Haven't looked into the frequency bands, but it all works perfectly here. There are several other European users here, and I've never read anything about not having 3G because of frequency band issues.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I927R using xda app-developers app

Evil Alex said:
I think I may have good news for you, check this:
There's a good chance you have to set the APN settings manually, the above link shows you how to do this. These are the settings that tell your phone how to get onto the data network, if those are not already in the phone or set automatically. Give it a try, your problem has occurred more often and this was the solution!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that was awesom man I did exactly what you told me and the 3g started working right away! I wish I could hit the thanks button more than once!

You're welcome, enjoy your awesome phone
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I927R using xda app-developers app

Unlocking T-Mobile for AT&T service

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

Tmobile note 2 on AT&T?

My wife and I are considering taking our tmobile phones over to AT&T. There both unlocked... Note 2 & sg3. Question I have is would I have to flash AT&T modems and roms to be able to fully utilize the new network? Just don't want to end up with bricks. AT&T already told me both devices unlocked will work fine on the network.

Wat I'm asking is if I can utilize the lte on the t-889 if I put it on AT&T? I found a bunch of threads with mixed responses.

fix-this! said:
My wife and I are considering taking our tmobile phones over to AT&T. There both unlocked... Note 2 & sg3. Question I have is would I have to flash AT&T modems and roms to be able to fully utilize the new network? Just don't want to end up with bricks. AT&T already told me both devices unlocked will work fine on the network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should work fine but the only problem is you wont have LTE

chousayz said:
It should work fine but the only problem is you wont have LTE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why's that? AT&T says I will be able to use lte since my area has it. If not I probably won't do this. As I've said I've read mixed responses. Could I flash AT&T radios to utilize it?

It will give you weak service because att and t mobile run on different bands which is hardware related not software
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda premium

Android The Greek said:
It will give you weak service because att and t mobile run on different bands which is hardware related not software
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dunno about that as many said everything works but LTE. I have also read a few that says they have LTE enabled. That's what's confusing. I may go to AT&T tomorrow and have them test a sim before I decide to switch. I assume if I change to AT&T apn ill get better 4g speed at least. The limitation your speaking to its a locked radio for the t-889 that prevents LTE from being enabled currently.

I can't quickly tell, but if it has LTE support on band 17 (700MHz) then it will work. It's a T-Mobile phone so it has support on band 4 which AT&T only uses for a very small part of its LTE network.
Like you said the radio it comes with might be locked to not allow LTE. If you can flash an AT&T radio without issue then you'd be able to see if it works.
If I were to guess I'd say it would have the right band since it's basically the same phone that AT&T sells.

Does it at least get hspa+ and 3G? I can wait for lte.

fix-this! said:
Does it at least get hspa+ and 3G? I can wait for lte.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should. Just put an AT&T SIM in and see.

petard said:
It should. Just put an AT&T SIM in and see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll be going to AT&T tomorrow to test before I switch carriers.

fix-this! said:
Why's that? AT&T says I will be able to use lte since my area has it. If not I probably won't do this. As I've said I've read mixed responses. Could I flash AT&T radios to utilize it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The AT&T rep you spoke to definitely isnt informed on the hardware issue.
If you are switching over you should just sell those two phones you have and just buy new ones since its new activation Im sure you can get a good price on the phones

chousayz said:
The AT&T rep you spoke to definitely isnt informed on the hardware issue.
If you are switching over you should just sell those two phones you have and just buy new ones since its new activation Im sure you can get a good price on the phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I understand its not hardware, it's because of a radio limitation currently. Lte isn't enabled yet on the t-889. That's why I asked if I could flash a AT&T radio. As long as I get 4g and 3G ill switch. The whole point was to save $$ on buying new devices.

fix-this! said:
From what I understand its not hardware, it's because of a radio limitation currently. Lte isn't enabled yet on the t-889. That's why I asked if I could flash a AT&T radio. As long as I get 4g and 3G ill switch. The whole point was to save $$ on buying new devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well please understand it's hardware. Been that way forever
Sent from my SGH-I777 running AOKP

brandonarev said:
Well please understand it's hardware. Been that way forever
Sent from my SGH-I777 running AOKP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well as long as I get 3G and decent hspa+ speeds ill be happy. I'll be getting the s4 anyways when it comes out. I don't have lte anyways with tmobile lol.

[Q] No Tmobile Towers In Iowa. Help!!!

i bought my note 3 in sc and came back to iowa to work til thanksgiving. Problem is i have no data signal no 4g 3g or any g. tech support says that tmobile has a contract with iowa wireless to allow text and talk but no data. i was wondering if there was a way to unlock the phone so that it can use other cell towers in the area to allow me to get data. will rooting help this or am i just stuck until i leave iowa. Please help really sucks to have so much phone and not be able to use it to its potential. Sorry if i am in the wrong section please move to the correct one. Thanks. Also my friend has 2g on his tmobile phone tech support says that he may not have it all the time though.

Rooting won't make a tower show up. The best you can possibly do would be to try to get activated on a different provide (AT&T for example). But you would have to do some work, and buy an AT&T account to use.
Otherwise, you are stuck with what you got. Coverage maps give you a rough idea of what is available.
http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/pcc.aspx/

krelvinaz said:
Rooting won't make a tower show up. The best you can possibly do would be to try to get activated on a different provide (AT&T for example). But you would have to do some work, and buy an AT&T account to use.
Otherwise, you are stuck with what you got. Coverage maps give you a rough idea of what is available.
http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/pcc.aspx/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what i would probably do is try to pickup a wifi hotspot from a different carrier with good coverage and use wifi calling on the phone, not ideal by far though $

If it's SIM unlocked you could try getting a straight talk SIM as those use AT&T's network. It's prepaid so you don't need to sign a contract and can end it after a month.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app

CalcProgrammer1 said:
If it's SIM unlocked you could try getting a straight talk SIM as those use AT&T's network. It's prepaid so you don't need to sign a contract and can end it after a month.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I was thinking. Buy a prepaid SIM, stick it in your phone and see if it works.

Go to that unlock site, and yes, the unlock code for mine came in about 20 minutes. Then head over to the att thread. There is a page for Tmobile on att with setting for the MMS etc.