Hey folks. I'm really tempted to get the T-Mobile S4, have it unlocked so I can take it to AT&T but I know at some point I'll be doing custom roms and probably radio upgrades since they come out once in a while. But will doing any of that break the SIM unlock? The one I fear most is probably radio upgrades but I've never moved a phone to another carrier so don't know all of the implications. Roms I doubt will be an issue but anyone know or have previous experience? At worse I have to keep calling T-Mobile to get it unlocked again if radio upgrades mess it up but I'd rather not be calling them all the time and if it is a problem then maybe I need to rethink this a bit more.
No, when you unlock it, it will be permanently unlocked, even you restore to stock rom, flash any other rom, radios, recovery or anything to OS or software related.
Before you flash a rom, make sure to try it in another provider with the factory/stock version, so you can make sure that the phone is working fine since the beginning,
T-Mobile S4 (SGH-M919) has a lot to offer in connectivity such as LTE Bands 1/2/4/5/7/17; in HSPA+/UMTS: 850/AWS/1900/2100MHz and finally GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz, so it surely will work on the AT&T network.
While the AT&T S4 (SGH-I337) only has LTE: Bands 1/4/7/17; HSPA+/UMTS: 850/1900/2100MHz; GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz.
For unlocking your T-Mobile S4, here is the link to the new T-Mobile Unlocking Policies: http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1588. I bought my new S4 recently and they declined to unlock it before the first 40 days (postpaid) and before the first 60 days (prepaid) and there are certain other requirements to comply.
Lucky for me I found a trick on this forum to unlock it without the subsidy code (since my requests were rejected), it worked flawlessly and even I restore or flash any stock or custom rom, the unlocked state stays permanently because it's based on the NV system, just don't mess up with the NV base system.
If you want a phone with full LTE bands coverage, go for the M919 and it's bootloader unlocked from factory unlike the AT&T version which is bootloader locked. So, you can't go wrong with this model.
In terms of performance, the international version I9500 (without LTE support) is faster than any other S4 with SnapDragon 600 processor, I tested it myself since I have both I9500 and M919, the I9500 is octa-core (4-core of 1.6, and 4-core of 1.2) but only 4-cores work at the same time, in order to have a better power management, but even works in 1.6, it's a little bit faster than the 1.9 from SD600, i noticed on the graphics performance too.
And custom roms and other mods will come thru time for this specific model, just be patience, I have my M919 working with a non-US carrier sim card and installed custom rom Wicked v2 and it's working fast and stable.
I hope this info help you to decide!
Cheers!
Screwbal said:
Hey folks. I'm really tempted to get the T-Mobile S4, have it unlocked so I can take it to AT&T but I know at some point I'll be doing custom roms and probably radio upgrades since they come out once in a while. But will doing any of that break the SIM unlock? The one I fear most is probably radio upgrades but I've never moved a phone to another carrier so don't know all of the implications. Roms I doubt will be an issue but anyone know or have previous experience? At worse I have to keep calling T-Mobile to get it unlocked again if radio upgrades mess it up but I'd rather not be calling them all the time and if it is a problem then maybe I need to rethink this a bit more.
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Related
Hay guys i just recently flashed my g2 ls980 with stock zve firmware. Everything us working fine except that sim is not being detected no matter what i try. I am really confused as i am a total newbie and am unable to understand technical stuff.
With stock ZVE (that's pure Sprint stock) which SIM are you referring to because with that stock ROM on the Sprint G2 the only SIM card that will ever be recognized at all will be one from Sprint to enable LTE network support.
So... I don't like to assume things, hence the question: what SIM card are you talking about?
The LS980, aka the Sprint G2 variant and the same phone I have, is network locked aka SIM locked to Sprint only if you're running a pure stock ROM which is exactly what ZVE is. The only ways to get the SIM unlocked for other network operation would be a) do a somewhat complicated set of tasks to get it to work (not worth the hassles really and certainly beyond your admitted "newbie" status with respect to this level of tech) or b) install a custom ROM like CloudyG2 (the name just changed today, prior it was known as CloudyG3 but that confused people with the LG G3 and they were trashing their phones trying to install it - it's a G2 ROM ported from the actual G3).
There are other ROMs as well that unlock the LS980 for GSM operation aka regular SIM cards, you may end up using one of them to get proper GSM functionality - LTE support is spotty depending on the networks in your area and the Sprint G2 only supports a few LTE network bands.
Thank you very much for your reply @br0adband. I was able to use my GSM (telenor) sim again but i encountered some problems. Here is the link to my post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/xda-assist/lg-g2-ls980-t3009569
Really sorry for creating a new post as i was unable to find this post in search
Had anybody been able to flash the Hong Kong T705 update to a Canadian T705? The Canadian model is SM-T705W vs SM-T705 (US and most of the world)... I haven't been able to flash ANY T705 firmware other than the Canadian firmware which is kind of old (Even the KitKat rom).
Any ideas??
EDIT: My tablet is locked, currently waiting for an unlock code. But can't seem to find any info on whether or not this will actually make a difference.
Alex338 said:
Had anybody been able to flash the Hong Kong T705 update to a Canadian T705? The Canadian model is SM-T705W vs SM-T705 (US and most of the world)... I haven't been able to flash ANY T705 firmware other than the Canadian firmware which is kind of old (Even the KitKat rom).
Any ideas??
EDIT: My tablet is locked, currently waiting for an unlock code. But can't seem to find any info on whether or not this will actually make a difference.
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Your best bet is to sell off your Canadian version for a dirt cheap price on ebay and get an International SM-T705 version instead, as firmware updates for localized versions are usually wayy too long to wait or nonexistent.
If you have any trouble with your unlock code go to cellunlocker.net
They had me my code in two hrs and it worked first try.
No BS, no runnarround.
this is how I unlocked my T705W
Cheers!
Joe Blough said:
If you have any trouble with your unlock code go to cellunlocker.net
They had me my code in two hrs and it worked first try.
No BS, no runnarround.
this is how I unlocked my T705W
Cheers!
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Joe... Did unlocking the tablet allow you to flash an international T705 firmware? Like the HK Lollipop update? Or are we still stuck with the KitKat 705W firmware?
Not the international one but I did flash the IronRom V1.1.5 T705. This broke my imei and gave me null/null.
The rom worked but radio did not. So I flashed back to stock and radio came back.
Joe Blough said:
Not the international one but I did flash the IronRom V1.1.5 T705. This broke my imei and gave me null/null.
The rom worked but radio did not. So I flashed back to stock and radio came back.
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Did you try flashing the HK firmware or just the Ironman? Appreciate the replys as this is currently driving me crazy. I bought this tablet 3 weeks ago thinking I would be able to flash Lollipop, only to find out that our Canadian LTE models seem to be locked down and will probably never receive the Lollipop update...
Alex338 said:
Did you try flashing the HK firmware or just the Ironman? Appreciate the replys as this is currently driving me crazy. I bought this tablet 3 weeks ago thinking I would be able to flash Lollipop, only to find out that our Canadian LTE models seem to be locked down and will probably never receive the Lollipop update...
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just the Ironman. Patience young grasshopper
For this device it is a bit late, but I notice curous behaviour from observed lte speeds on the SM-t705w klimtkltecan; at leatst my hardcopy of the kilmtkltecan on a t-mobile sim seems to have up/down speeds throttled at 0.5 mbps each on the ookla speed test. Another curious thing is that klimtltecan is the only klimtelte with a upgraded bootloader SW ver 2 with downgrade not possible. Another curious thing is that the kitkat modem does not beget a recognised sim (at least with upgraded lollipop bootloader). Another curous thing unique thist his post in regards to klimtltecan on xda is that it shares a mostly compatible kernel with chagallltecan (sm-t805w), whihc is reason klimtlte roms dont boot on klimtltecan. So, lots of questions there are. Most of all i can't believe the throttleing bs.
So, cna i ask what everyone's speed resutls are on this device sm-t705w klimtltecan?
thanks.
Below are teh specs fro reference.
Code:
Network/Bearer
SIM size
Micro-SIM (3FF)
Infra
3G WCDMA, 4G LTE FDD
3G UMTS
B1(2100), B2(1900), B5(850)
4G FDD LTE
B1(2100), B2(1900), B3(1800), B4(AWS), B5(850), B7(2600), B17(700), B29 (700)
http://www.samsung.com/ca/business/business-products/tablets/tablets/SM-T705WTSABMC
Well in short I have an At&t Model GS4 the i337 its currently unlocked running on stock Nj4 and of course want to root it. First of all i suspect i need to use t mobile roms now that i am on that network.
Here is a list of questions and links are also appreciated as answers anything that helps!
First and foremost how should i root this (my last device was a G3) so if things are different please tell me also, I their an app or a thread you can point me to.
Secondly how do i update it to a v5.1 or the latest so updating them rom later is not a problem if i must use odin to do this (i want to use the latest to use odin the least)
Lastly anyone who can give directions on how to root and get to the latest version of android i wold greatly appreciate the time anyone spend to respond to this this post i TYIA
So any links that will work work with NJ4 I would be so happy I have only experience with the G3 I feel i know what to do with it but the Gs4 is new to me and i appreciate any help i receive/
Thank yo for reading this and TYIA for responding thank you for your help i hope its as simple as someone posting some links so i can do this easy i again thanks for leading me through the fog and TIA
@BeatnikBandit :
Basically, you're in the wrong forum. You'll need to get support fir the ATT version i337 over in the forum for that model. I used to have one, actually. I sold it on Swappa and got a T-Mo M919 S4 so that I could take advantage of all the AOSP ROMs for the M919. At least as of a year ago, there was no way to unlock the boot loader on the i337 and the only ROMs available for it were basically just skins on the TouchWiz kernel. ROMs, such as they were, used something called SafeStrap. Not sure if things have changed for that device in the year since I gave it up.
You can only use ROMs made for your model. So, even if the locked boot loader weren't an issue with the i337, its hardware is different from the Verizon or T-Mo variants. Using a ROM for a different model will give problems. On the T-Mo M919, there's a bit of an exception in that we're hardware comparable to the international variant, so we can often use ROMs for that one (9505 I think). Oh, and the M919 never got an official lollipop upgrade from T-mo before they gave up on it, so there are some issues with using LolliPop ROMs on the M919.
I'm sorry I can't help you with how to root, but presumably you will find that answer over in the i337 forum.
As for using the i337 on T-Mo, that should be easy enough. Just go in and enter the APN information for T-Mo (probably is in the T-Mo forum somewhere) in place of the ATT APN info and you should be good to go, presuming your phone is SIM-unlocked. Instructions on SIM-unlocking it should be in the ATT i337 forum, if you're not already unlocked. For example, when I got my M919, all I had to do to get it to work on ATT was enter the APN info from ATT, and BOOM I was on the network. I bought a pre-SIM-unlocked phone to avoid having to unlock it myself.
I hope this is at least a little helpful even if it's not all the answers you were hoping for.
Marc
Hi just purchased a used Verizon m8 and i did the s-off and installed a few custom ROMs but I get dropped and weak signal every now and then. Just wondering what the best radio to use for telus/koodo. Thanks.
I am on cm 12.1 great ROM. My radio 1.12.23.1211
vhicke said:
Hi just purchased a used Verizon m8 and i did the s-off and installed a few custom ROMs but I get dropped and weak signal every now and then. Just wondering what the best radio to use for telus/koodo. Thanks.
I am on cm 12.1 great ROM. My radio 1.12.23.1211
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You did no research. You shouldn't have bought that phone.
Verizon is cdma. Telus is GSM.
I'm on Telus as well using WWE/International firmware.
Telus/koodo and bell in Canada are also a CDMA/gsm company. This phone should have no problems with telus/koodo. How is the wwe firmware do you see a difference in signal. Is your phone root and are you using any custom ROMs.
vhicke said:
Telus/koodo and bell in Canada are also a CDMA/gsm company. This phone should have no problems with telus/koodo. How is the wwe firmware do you see a difference in signal. Is your phone root and are you using any custom ROMs.
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Click this link, and scroll down to "So can I use my Android device on other networks?" (Actually you should read the whole article. It's quite informative.)
I'll quote the second paragraph from there for you here:
First off, if you have a CDMA handset (the lack of a SIM card is a sure fire indicator) from Bell/Virgin or TELUS/Koodo (that isn't a world phone) or from the US (Sprint/Verizon), it is impossible to use the phone on a Canadian network other than the one it came from as Bell and TELUS does not allow the import CDMA devices from outside their network.
I'll say it again, you didn't do proper research. If you would have bought a GSM phone, you wouldn't be having this issue.
The link also has a chart that shows the compatible carriers for the different bands/frequencies that are available.
I own the HTC One M8 16Go gold Asian version, phone is rooted with ElementalX kernel but stock rom. My phone works with 700 (b28)/900 (b8)/1800 (b3)/2100 (b1)/26000 (b7). I had the TW Mobile carrier in Taiwan. I want to add frequency bands to enable 4G LTE in Canada. Most carriers work with 1700/2100 (b4).
So how to add these frequency bands?
You need s-off ($25 by sunshine app) to change radio baseband (which changes band support).
You can flash AT&T or T-Mob US firmware to change to the corresponding baseband (both support Band 4 LTE). Or the correct Canadian carrier version's firmware; if you want to, and can find it (ATT and T-Mob are probably easier to find).
But you should also verify what bands your carrier uses for 3G, and that the new baseband supports it.
In my experience, AT&T has past or current associations with some of the Canadian carriers (still has partial ownership in some); and the networks share a lot of similarities. So AT&T firmware may be the best bet.
I installed Sunshine app but can't perform any test because it says Xposed Framework has been detected. I delete it but still the same error.
Hsuan24 said:
I installed Sunshine app but can't perform any test because it says Xposed Framework has been detected. I delete it but still the same error.
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Click to collapse
Try to restore the stock ROM, then root and run sunshine.
One thing to keep in mind, its not guaranteed that you will have LTE even with the proper baseband radio firmware. I've seen a number of folks that were not able to get LTE, even after s-off and flashing the proper radio firmware (that supports their carrier's LTE band). Don't know the reason for this, and never saw a solution. But just want you to be aware, in the event you spend the $25 on sunshine, and still can't get LTE.
But the fact that the Canadian networks seem to be very similar to AT&T, leads me to think the AT&T baseband radio will work for you. Not based on any specific/exact experience, just a hunch. So don't come and yell at me, if it doesn't work!