AT&T VoLTE on Pixel/XL 1 - Google Pixel XL Questions & Answers

Hello -
I've done some searching online and here on XDA as well and have found some old threads on VoLTE with AT&T, but am hoping to get some more recent information. I'm currently on Verizon, but it's just not working for me in the areas I spend the most time (such as the office where I work). Got to test drive an AT&T sim card in those same locations and the difference is night and day (average download speed of 1mbps on Verizon vs 11mbps on AT&T).
According to the AT&T site, VoLTE is supported on the Pixel 2 when running a certain software version and above. But nothing about the regular Pixel (which probably means no official AT&T support).
Has anyone gotten VoLTE to work with AT&T on the Pixel 1?
And otherwise, is it really such a big deal to not have it? I don't really care about HD voice, but I do care about being able to call at any point, and being able to have a data connection while on a call (but again, is it really such a big deal? Not like I'm always on the phone, mainly want a solid data connection).
Thanks.

Related

[Q] GT-N7100 incorrectly shows roaming on T-Mobile USA

Hi,
I just received an unlocked International Galaxy Note II in the US. Ordered from Handtec in the UK, and the phone appears to be the French model. I have observed what I think is a problem when trying to use the phone on T-Mobile USA.
I put my T-Mobile USA SIM card in the phone, and the phone thinks I am roaming. Uhhhh no. It's a T-Mobile USA SIM card on the T-Mobile USA network. It is NOT roaming. Now, it probably doesn't have any impact beyond the "R" notifier, and a "Roaming" page which shows up on TouchWiz, but it DOES make me feel very uneasy. I have to enable "Data use while roaming" to be able to use data while on my home network!! It's crazy!
To those who will point out, yes, I know that T-Mobile USA has their 3G currently on the AWS 1700/2100 band, which the Note II does not support. I am therefore using EDGE with this phone. (Yes the data speeds suck, but T-Mobile's refarming will make this problem go away in the next few months). Even though I am on EDGE, I am not "roaming" unless the Note II's definition of roaming is different from mine. I am still on the home network, regardless of whether I am on 2G or 3G.
Has anyone else seen a problem like this?
If I can't figure this out in the next day or two, I may return the Note II and just wait another month or so for the T-Mobile US version. (Probably that's what I should do anyway, but I figured the GT-N7100 would get more developer support).
Hope someone can help!
Thanks!
Edit: I forgot to add - I also have and unlocked international Note 1 GT-N7000 and an unlocked iPhone 4. Neither possess the T-Mobile USA 3G band, and neither of which show roaming when I'm using T-Mobile USA. So, either T-Mobile did some funky network work today which changed something, or there is something different (and possibly a bug) about how the Galaxy Note II determines if it's roaming.
Unfortunately I cannot be of any assistance to your issue, just wanted to comment however. I find it very odd that ALL Note II's don't work on every frequency. Bear with me, I'm under the impression that they are identical hardware wise, every version. So, maybe it's a simple matter of flashing a different radio.img? Not that there are any available currently, but there will be shortly. I hope (think) it will be similar to the ATT Note on Tmo. Hopefully it works out better though. We still don't know if the Tmo Note II will be HSPA+42 or not, but it will support next years Tmo LTE.
So, as of now, this is a little bit of a disappointment for Tmo customers looking for the N7100. Hope you can find a workaround for at least HSPA+21 soon :good:
ccampbell1 said:
Hi,
I just received an unlocked International Galaxy Note II in the US. Ordered from Handtec in the UK, and the phone appears to be the French model. I have observed what I think is a problem when trying to use the phone on T-Mobile USA.
I put my T-Mobile USA SIM card in the phone, and the phone thinks I am roaming. Uhhhh no. It's a T-Mobile USA SIM card on the T-Mobile USA network. It is NOT roaming. Now, it probably doesn't have any impact beyond the "R" notifier, and a "Roaming" page which shows up on TouchWiz, but it DOES make me feel very uneasy. I have to enable "Data use while roaming" to be able to use data while on my home network!! It's crazy!
To those who will point out, yes, I know that T-Mobile USA has their 3G currently on the AWS 1700/2100 band, which the Note II does not support. I am therefore using EDGE with this phone. (Yes the data speeds suck, but T-Mobile's refarming will make this problem go away in the next few months). Even though I am on EDGE, I am not "roaming" unless the Note II's definition of roaming is different from mine. I am still on the home network, regardless of whether I am on 2G or 3G.
Has anyone else seen a problem like this?
If I can't figure this out in the next day or two, I may return the Note II and just wait another month or so for the T-Mobile US version. (Probably that's what I should do anyway, but I figured the GT-N7100 would get more developer support).
Hope someone can help!
Thanks!
Edit: I forgot to add - I also have and unlocked international Note 1 GT-N7000 and an unlocked iPhone 4. Neither possess the T-Mobile USA 3G band, and neither of which show roaming when I'm using T-Mobile USA. So, either T-Mobile did some funky network work today which changed something, or there is something different (and possibly a bug) about how the Galaxy Note II determines if it's roaming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That happened to me as well using my International Galaxy S3, I dug into it for about a month and trust me, it's something with the phone detecting that it can't connect to the HSPA+ bands it supports, and when it "defaults" down to EDGE it considers it "Roaming". Stop digging for answers, I was at it for weeks, this is the reason.
You wont get charged for roaming or anything though, so use EDGE until T-Mobile's refarming finally happens; I waited for 2 months and nothing, so I jumped ship and got Straight Talk. I use over 15 GB of data a month, no throttling, $45 bucks. :good:
Hope this helps, because NO ONE gave me a straight answer, Dont even bother calling T-Mobile, they're of absolutely no help. I flashed all sorts of custom ROMs, Kernels, Network Tools, Diagnostics, etc. trying to figure it out. It's just the way these Samsung phones (GT-I9300 and N7100 by the looks of it) work when their 3G/HSPA+ bands are not supported.
Cheers!
farfromovin said:
Unfortunately I cannot be of any assistance to your issue, just wanted to comment however. I find it very odd that ALL Note II's don't work on every frequency. Bear with me, I'm under the impression that they are identical hardware wise, every version. So, maybe it's a simple matter of flashing a different radio.img? Not that there are any available currently, but there will be shortly. I hope (think) it will be similar to the ATT Note on Tmo. Hopefully it works out better though. We still don't know if the Tmo Note II will be HSPA+42 or not, but it will support next years Tmo LTE.
So, as of now, this is a little bit of a disappointment for Tmo customers looking for the N7100. Hope you can find a workaround for at least HSPA+21 soon :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
farfromovin,
I agree it's a complete pain why one model can't work worldwide - or even between carriers in one country, the US!! I'm not sure that all the revisions are the exact same hardware though. Certainly the different revisions will support different LTE bands from one another, different 3G bands (ie T-Mobile USA) and even different technologies (VZW, Sprint, US Cellular CDMA). Whether there is one uber radio chip that's the same in all versions, with different bits enabled here and there, I don't know. I would doubt that a chip currently exists to support all GSM, UMTS, LTE and CDMA bands in the one, but you never know.
I really cannot wait (getting super sick of it) until T-Mobile's 1900MHz refarming, and finally all UMTS/HSPA phones will work on pretty much any UMTS/HSPA network worldwide. But just as we finally get 3G harmony, LTE comes along with a zillion different bands, and we're back to where we were at the start of GSM, and the start of UMTS - all over again.
As far as getting the GT-N7100 to work on T-Mobile AWS bands - unless the radio supports that band somewhere, and can be enabled by some hacky flashing, I don't think there's much chance. I followed a thread for a while which was trying to do that for the original GT-N7000 and it ended up nowhere unfortunately.
I'd be very, very surprised if the T-Mobile US official Note II did not support DC-HSPA +42. Given how TMO pushes that, I don't think they'd sell a phone without it these days. I'm kind of surprised the GT-N7100 doesn't have it, to be honest, but I guess it's not yet that widespread, and most carriers will bypass it to go to LTE.
Cheers!
Ars-Hexis said:
That happened to me as well using my International Galaxy S3, I dug into it for about a month and trust me, it's something with the phone detecting that it can't connect to the HSPA+ bands it supports, and when it "defaults" down to EDGE it considers it "Roaming". Stop digging for answers, I was at it for weeks, this is the reason.
You wont get charged for roaming or anything though, so use EDGE until T-Mobile's refarming finally happens; I waited for 2 months and nothing, so I jumped ship and got Straight Talk. I use over 15 GB of data a month, no throttling, $45 bucks. :good:
Hope this helps, because NO ONE gave me a straight answer, Dont even bother calling T-Mobile, they're of absolutely no help. I flashed all sorts of custom ROMs, Kernels, Network Tools, Diagnostics, etc. trying to figure it out. It's just the way these Samsung phones (GT-I9300 and N7100 by the looks of it) work when their 3G/HSPA+ bands are not supported.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Ars-Hexis,
Thanks so much for the reply. I googled about the same issue on the i9300 as you mentioned - and sure enough a couple of threads on androidcentral, and tmobile support - and all with pretty much a bunch of people going "what?" I think you're right, and this is either some crazy change which Samsung has made to the "S3" generation of phones, or it's an unintended bug which was introduced. I contacted Samsung support on twitter but I'm sure they'll tell me to go away since this is an international model and not sold or supported in the US.
I would love to have this properly reported to Samsung though because it is NOT correct behaviour, and I'm sure it does not meet the 3GPP standard behaviour. These phones' definition of "roaming" is frankly wrong. It's possible they know about the bug but don't care about it too much, because it only affects the minority of importers or travelers, and then only on the very few networks which use AWS band for 3G.
The phone and data works fine of course, so it's really a cosmetic annoyance. However, if I was actually outside TMO's network without knowing it (maybe camping on to some network on the Canadian border or something) then I'd never know if I was actually roaming or not. So the phone's roaming indicator, by being permanently false, is useless in the times when I'm actually roaming. Since this is not a likely scenario for me to be on the Canadian border and roaming onto an AWS-only network any time soon, I'll not worry too much about it.
Yes, I'm really sick waiting on this refarming. It's a huge undertaking of course, so I understand why. I do have a Straight Talk AT&T SIM which I got for my Galaxy Note 1, however I don't use it often for several reasons: haven't ported my number to it, am wary about data throttling or cut-off, and I find the data hit or miss on Straight Talk anyway. I heard stories about people being warned or cut off after 100MB in any day, but if you're saying 15GB and no throttling, it may be something I want to put to the test!
Thanks a lot for your reply! It's nice to know I'm not crazy!
Cheers!
ccampbell1 said:
Hey Ars-Hexis,
Thanks so much for the reply. I googled about the same issue on the i9300 as you mentioned - and sure enough a couple of threads on androidcentral, and tmobile support - and all with pretty much a bunch of people going "what?" I think you're right, and this is either some crazy change which Samsung has made to the "S3" generation of phones, or it's an unintended bug which was introduced. I contacted Samsung support on twitter but I'm sure they'll tell me to go away since this is an international model and not sold or supported in the US.
I would love to have this properly reported to Samsung though because it is NOT correct behaviour, and I'm sure it does not meet the 3GPP standard behaviour. These phones' definition of "roaming" is frankly wrong. It's possible they know about the bug but don't care about it too much, because it only affects the minority of importers or travelers, and then only on the very few networks which use AWS band for 3G.
The phone and data works fine of course, so it's really a cosmetic annoyance. However, if I was actually outside TMO's network without knowing it (maybe camping on to some network on the Canadian border or something) then I'd never know if I was actually roaming or not. So the phone's roaming indicator, by being permanently false, is useless in the times when I'm actually roaming. Since this is not a likely scenario for me to be on the Canadian border and roaming onto an AWS-only network any time soon, I'll not worry too much about it.
Yes, I'm really sick waiting on this refarming. It's a huge undertaking of course, so I understand why. I do have a Straight Talk AT&T SIM which I got for my Galaxy Note 1, however I don't use it often for several reasons: haven't ported my number to it, am wary about data throttling or cut-off, and I find the data hit or miss on Straight Talk anyway. I heard stories about people being warned or cut off after 100MB in any day, but if you're saying 15GB and no throttling, it may be something I want to put to the test!
Thanks a lot for your reply! It's nice to know I'm not crazy!
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey there! Sorry I hadn't answered in such a long time. We'll actually I've found that the S3 (sold it) and the Note 2 (own it) some how cannot be tracked for data usage correctly by straight talk. It's quite interesting... I ported my number over from T-Mobile, so if you have an S3 with a T-mobile prepaid sim... I think you have nothing to lose! I'm in Dallas and regularly get around 3-4Mbits/S during high usage hours and 6-7Mbits/S after 7 pm when network usage goes down.
There have been 2 occasions over the past 2 months where I'm throttled for like an hour and suddenly it gets uncapped on its own (?!?!?) lol. Last month I used about 25 GB... It's insane. Btw, if you if get throttled for real (happened to me once), you can just call them and say your "Internets is slow" (act technologically challenged) and they'll reset it.
Ah 1 last thing: I got the at&T ST sim card when I switched.
Cheers!
Sent from my GT-N7100 using XDA Premium HD app
I just got my International Note 2 today, and I am using it on the T-Mobile network also. I am seeing that I am roaming but my data is off and I am just using wifi. I have turned off my phone and back on again and its still showing. But after reading this whole thread I am getting that is a bug or something along those lines is that correct? Thanks.
I really need to know
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
roaming
I am on prepaid tmobile and I have Roaming sign only in areas where I used to loose signal with my old phone . Basically when I go in Garage underground my signal starts getting weaker and weaker and then roaming kiks in and signal is up all the way . T-mobile does not charges for local roaming . If you use USA tmobile and you are in usa you are fine . My texts and voice are still the same rate for me . When I had Chinese rom it was showing all the time , now I flashed German t-mobile and R shows only sometime , but it does not bother me .
Hope this helps .
I too have a Note II (GT-N7100) I purchased in Thailand in December. I use it on the T-Mobile network and have the same issues with the "R" symbol. I am located in Tampa Bay area, Florida.
T-Mobile was indicating to me in January that this was an issue in weaker signal areas for their data network as they prepare to refarm it. Don't know if this explanation is entirely accurate, but I find in my local area that the R symbol goes away in certain areas and it behaves "normally". This includes the area where my T-Mobile office is located. It seems to be somewhat of a patchwork network, and for some reasons certain areas cause it to go into the Roaming mode.
I was just on a trip with stops in Los Amgeles, San Francisco, and Philadelphia and noted the same behavior in some of those cities: Getting normal signal indications in some places, and Roaming in others.

Wifi Calling With AT&T on N900-T Unlocked...Possible or not?

As I have experienced first hand, T-Mobile's wifi calling feature works amazing on my Note 3. The problem is, where I live, work and play we do not get any T-Mobile service above 2g, and mostly nothing at all. I'm actually confused as to why local stores are even selling the service. It simply doesn't work here. Anyhow, I had purchased a month of prepaid service with them because I don't get ANY service from any provider at my home (except Verizon, who comes in at 5 bars in my basement). The wifi calling feature was amazing for this one reason. I never missed a call, or text and life was good. Of course, the moment I left the house my $800.00 Note 3 turned into a very expensive makeup mirror for my wife because, like I mentioned, we don't get T-Mobile here, at all. I still have 2 weeks of the service active, and put the sim into my i-747 S3 for testing.
I'm currently running Hyperdrive RLS3.1 (NB4) on AT&T Go-Service on my Note 3.
What I'm asking is simple, or maybe it isn't -
I would like to know where I could find info on a REAL wifi calling service. Not these 3rd party apps that give you a new free #, etc. I'd like something that integrates into the phone, like TM Wifi calling does. After searching this topic on XDA, I found a few threads on SIP VoIP. I'd even be willing to give that a shot. If I have to invest a few dollars, that is also ok. Has anyone else successfully done this? Any better idea's or suggestions? I'm tired of not being able to make calls from my cell phone at home. I have looked into repeaters, extenders, etc, but that is for another thread, I suppose.
I know that the native wifi calling on my Note 3 will not work with AT&T, but there must be something that can work....
Thanks for any info or help anyone can provide.
Real WiFi calling has to be supported on the back end by the carrier.
You are going to be limited to a 3rd party solution.
That's what I use. I have to use magic jack.
sent from a Galaxy Note 3 Far far away
Pajar0913 said:
That's what I use. I have to use magic jack.
sent from a Galaxy Note 3 Far far away
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also started using magicjack on my phone. After trying out several voip SIP services with the native android app, I realized that it would never have the sound quality I needed.
This is all null and void now though. I retired my N900T and bought the Verizon Note 3 and never drop signal or lose LTE, even in my basement.
100% not possible. It relies on servers at T-Mobile's end. Plus the settings in the Wifi Calling app are set to T-Mobile's servers on top of that.

WiFi Calling and VoLTE and AT&T

It's my understanding that these features (advanced calling, like WiFi calling and VoLTE) Doo not work on unbranded devices like Pixel and others. This was the case with my unbranded SM935F or Galaxy S7 Edge until we got some files, an appropriate CSC, and also had AT&T switch our account to an IMEI of an AT&T branded device that had working WiFi Calling (others have apparently just called AT&T and had them provision WiFi Calling)
Note: for me, I have a business account so I could just go into my business portal and put in an IMEI that I got from an S7 Edge model in an AT&T store
I am attaching the files that we needed to add to our system to get WiFi calling to work on AT&T. I think I remember all I had to do was to add them and make sure permissions were correct
Here is an IMEI that I saw on another post that may work ..... But I do know that the AT&T system needs to recognize your phone IMEI as an att branded device that has working WiFi calling. So if you aren't business customers it will require a call to customer support.
Possible working IMEI:
Mod edit: Removed
Any Pixel AT&T users that could try this and report back would be greatly appreciated!
Btw, I'm not completely sure which files are needed in the Pixel as compared to the S7 Edge .... I would have a backup available
Here's link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4qgtyu0rDEbU3dGNnhLZ0FXTWM/view?usp=drivesdk
File too late to upload here
You don't need any of that for WiFi calling or VoLTE. That all works fine on custom roms
spaceman860 said:
You don't need any of that for WiFi calling or VoLTE. That all works fine on custom roms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I obviously could be wrong ...... But I'm 99% sure that what you are saying is not true for AT&T and maybe even other USA carriers!
I KNOW that I'm right for S7 phones and ROMs .... And the problem is so pervasive that they have even been able to get unbranded S8's to obtain WiFi Calling on AT&T or other USA carriers (even though WiFi calling works great on branded S8 phones)
AT&T users a different mechanism to provision WiFi calling than other carriers
jcrompton said:
I obviously could be wrong ...... But I'm 99% sure that what you are saying is not true for AT&T and maybe even other USA carriers!
I KNOW that I'm right for S7 phones and ROMs .... And the problem is so pervasive that they have even been able to get unbranded S8's to obtain WiFi Calling on AT&T or other USA carriers (even though WiFi calling works great on branded S8 phones)
AT&T users a different mechanism to provision WiFi calling than other carriers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct that AT&T does not allow unbranded phones to use those features. It's all BS too. I have great LTE coverage but many times I will go to make a call and have crap service because they have canabalized a lot of the hsdpa towers for LTE. Then the switch back to LTE can take forever. And I don't care what they or anyone says AT&T's hspa+ is no where near as fast
None of this works, as AT&T blocks access to VoLTE on Pixel phones. Denies me the use of Numbersync for my tablet and android wear 2.0 watches. AT&T service techs keep promising to fix it and try to force it to work, but still blocked. It is simply a situation for Google to get the Pixel certified for the AT&T network, which is problematic, as AT&T uses a non-standard protocol for HD Voice that is unique to their network. So, as best I can tell, AT&T has to release the source code, for a price, I presume, to Google to add to the phones and then pay for the certification process with the FCC. Seems a stand-off as long as Google has an "exclusive" arrangement with Verizon. So for me, I'm pissed not to have numbersync for my devices, but unwilling to give up all the advantages of the Pixel phone.
That's why I switched to T-Mobile.
So there is no way to get VoLTE on the Pixel XL with AT&T then?
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
chipstien said:
So there is no way to get VoLTE on the Pixel XL with AT&T then?
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not currently
If AT&T carries the upcoming Pixel 2, is it possible Numbersync would start working on Pixel 1 devices?
jkimrey said:
If AT&T carries the upcoming Pixel 2, is it possible Numbersync would start working on Pixel 1 devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt it. They only support advanced features on devices sold by them so it's not as if older Pixels will suddenly be grandfathered in just because they start carrying newer ones.
This annoys me to no end... If I buy a phone from att, do they have to give me an unlock code when the phone is paid off? I really need WiFi calling for a trip I make multiple times a year
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
murso74 said:
This annoys me to no end... If I buy a phone from att, do they have to give me an unlock code when the phone is paid off? I really need WiFi calling for a trip I make multiple times a year
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to get the code the same day or next for the att Note 8 that was bought from Samsung. The device is paid off.
muzzy996 said:
I doubt it. They only support advanced features on devices sold by them so it's not as if older Pixels will suddenly be grandfathered in just because they start carrying newer ones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah according to a rep I spoke with, the pixel 2 will support Numbersync even though att isn't selling them. There are, however, no plans to change the restriction on the original pixels.
I'm in the same boat but I'm genuinely curious - if I don't need wifi calling - is it really a big deal not having VoLTE? I'm taking in terms of better signal or faster LTE internet speed. Or does VoLTE is just having clearer phone calls? I guess what I'm asking is what other benefits are we losing (on a technical standpoint)
keplenk said:
I'm in the same boat but I'm genuinely curious - if I don't need wifi calling - is it really a big deal not having VoLTE? I'm taking in terms of better signal or faster LTE internet speed. Or does VoLTE is just having clearer phone calls? I guess what I'm asking is what other benefits are we losing (on a technical standpoint)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Late response but as far as AT&T goes besides VoLTE what I experienced on my Pixel XL was random issues with group text (MMS) reception from certain individuals from other carriers.
In particular it seemed as though if senders of MMS texts to a group chat that I was participating in sent a text from a carrier like T-Mobile and they were using Samsung devices with VoLTE and enhanced LTE stuff enabled on their end I'd not receive the text. I would instead receive texts from others in the conversation. I could freely text any of the same individuals in a separate standard SMS conversation just fine, and they could send me an MMS text like a photo, but as soon as we were in group MMS I'd lose the ability to receive their texts and no amount of APN changes or combinations of texting apps would fix it.
I can't tell you how many times over the course of the first 5 months of owning my Pixel XL with an AT&T SIM in it I missed out on half the conversation in group MMS. Doing nothing to my phone other than porting number to T-Mobile and putting in my new T-Mobile SIM all of my group MMS issues went away (replaced with ****ty signal LOL but that's a different story). I'm now on Verizon with my XL and am a happy camper, albeit poorer having wasted money jumping around.

ATT Wifi Calling on Pixel 3 XL...shouldn't we be able to enable it on the 2/XL?

Someone has confirmed wifi calling working on the 3 XL on ATT, if that's true shouldn't we be able to get it working on the 2/XL? Is it IMEI related? Even if so, if I were on a rom that had wifi calling and swapped a sim in it from a Note 9 or something it would work at least until the system detects the imei and updates it, which isn't always the case or all that fast to happen.
Sounds like a carrier issue.
I think it's garbage that At&t ran this whole campaign "Google Pixel works on At&t" yet they won't release all their features to the users. I had to beg them for HD calling. Finally after a week they activated it. This stuff should be automatic and available to everyone. I pay the same amount as an iPhone user
This has me sitting with mixed feelings. I have really bad AT&T reception in my basement and really need WiFi calling. I don't want to spend so much money upgrading from a 2 XL to 3 just for this though.. (granted, I like the non-XL 3 form factor better..)
Seems like poor customer perception to enable this finally on the 3 phones when the 1 and 2 fully support this other than AT&T flipping a switch on the other end. I'm glad they finally are allowing the 3s.. but..

SM-G960F/DS on Verizon in the US

Hi all,
I have in my hands an unopened G960F/DS. I was considering this phone to replace an old model, it's long due. I thought I did my homework and was able to determine this phone worked on Verizon in the US, but a serious note on the box and further research suggests I may have been wrong. Although it would be nice to have new hardware, I am replacing the old one almost entirely out of a desire to flash a custom ROM on it. I was under the impression the lack of CDMA support wasn't a big issue given that Verizon (and everyone else) is phasing out CDMA and the phone still had LTE. Thus my choice of the F/DS. I am informed that opening the box and returning the phone will incur a charge, while keeping the box sealed and returning it will not. I am trying to decide to continue forward and test on Verizon's network here in the US or just return the thing, the choice lies in compatibility with this network. So now I get to play a guessing game.
I find myself in 4G LTE areas most of the time. I want to use data and make voice calls.
This 2-post thread suggests not much can be done:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s9/help/sm-g960f-verizon-network-t3856443
This guy demonstrating slower speeds, which I'm not too concerned about, but also HSPA+ in an area he usually gets LTE. In the video description he says after applying a software update it works 'fine':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkNXCK2iVO8
This site lists some band compatibility but doesn't say anything about not being able to use it with Verizon:
https://apn.gishan.net/en/apn/verizon/samsung-galaxy-s9
This site also lists band compatibility but warns about Verizon's strict device policy:
https://www.frequencycheck.com/carr...e-samsung-star/verizon-wireless-united-states
Is there any hope to use an unlocked S9 on Verizon in the US? I see this going one of several ways: 1) Everyone works out and I can make calls and use data and there are no issues and rainbows and unicorns 2) Data in certain places, no voice because something something "VoLTE" 3) Absolutely no data/voice whatsoever 4) I switch carriers I return this piece of junk and buy a phone that works. (might coincide with 2/3)
If I end up with (4), how can I avoid this issue in the future? I spent some considerable time deciding on this model, which has the features I want and an unlockable bootloader. Will the S10 have this issue? What about the Note 9? I apologize for the noobposting, and if I missed a thread that answered this question. Thanks for any help you can provide, I sincerely appreciate it.
Edit: This thread asks a similar question but isn't specific and neither are the answers:
https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Galaxy-S9/Unlocked-galaxy-S9-on-Verizon/td-p/277493
I have been using a G965f/ds on Verizon Wireless.
VoLTE, vowifi, text, and data work after rooting.
Having done a speed test with a U device and on the g965f/ds, the speed I can receive seems equal.
I haven't had issues with making LTE calls in my area.
CynicalHeight00 said:
I have been using a G965f/ds on Verizon Wireless.
VoLTE, vowifi, text, and data work after rooting.
Having done a speed test with a U device and on the g965f/ds, the speed I can receive seems equal.
I haven't had issues with making LTE calls in my area.
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Thanks for the feedback. Are you based in the US? How did you activate the phone? I found instructions on LTE activation here:
www . verizonwireless . com/businessportals/support/how_to_use/activate_4g_lte.html
And an IMEI checker, which fails when I enter what I find on the box my phone is in:
www . verizonwireless . com/od/prepaid/bring-your-own-device/#/checkDevice
Edit: It also looks like they have a second page that checks IMEI (this also fails for me). Can you tell me what either of these pages say when you enter your IMEI?
www . verizonwireless . com/onedp/byod#/
I reside in the US.
The imei of my g965d/fs failed when inputted in to their system;however, the SIM is all that's needed for Verizon wireless to work on it. Initially, though, you might need to insert the SIM card into another imei Verizon wireless compatible device only to allow the system to have that imei in the system for your number. Since, you already have vzw, I'm assuming you already are activated on it with a device, so moving sims is the next step.
Thanks for your input. Anyone else have experience with this device on Verizon's network?
I could have written this exact post.
jmtroth said:
Thanks for your input. Anyone else have experience with this device on Verizon's network?
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I am trying to do the same thing with the same model Note 9, SM-N960F/DS. I was told by Verizon Level 2 tech rep that simply installing an activated SIM would make the phone work, obviously 4gLTE only since there are no CDMA bands. He checked the 4 bands Verizon uses for their 4gLTE and the F/DS model has all 4 of them.
I am in the same boat as you though. IF I try it and it doesn't work I have to return and lose $125 or switch to GSM network (AT&T or TMO) I am also trying to decide whether to take the gamble. This Level 2 Tech guy didn't mention anything about having to root the phone.
I would also like to know about the advisability of attempting this. I thought I read somewhere that this phone won't have any warranty in US anyway but I am not 100% sure about that. Sellers seem to want to gloss over that issue.
I'm very very interested in this
to put this to bed, you cant use any F galaxy phone on verizon and get full usage. vzw is a CDMA based carrier whereby voice is transmitted primarily via CDMA and data over GSM (which includes voLTE, obviously). The F model do not have CDMA radios in them. You CAN get data to work and therefore voLTE as long as you can flash the vzw CSC to get the phone to install the voLTE app. Long story short, dont try it. Its a fruitless endeavor. I mean, do what you want, i guess, but dont expect for the F to work well, or at all on vzw. There is nothing anybody on xda or anywhere can do to alleviate that.
I had straight talk using Verizon towers on note 8, my note 8 broke, I missed flashing custom ROMs, I bought a note 9 n960f, read online it would work too. I inserted sim. Did not get data or calls. Flashed custom ROMs found a lineage is rom that worked with data for like 2 min then quit. I kept Singapore rom csc stock radios I guess from Singapore, guy on here said he flashed Singapore stock Odin flash and ended up making his work but didn't work with my straight talk Verizon sim. My buddy came over and he uses visible network on Verizon towers we popped in his sim and it worked flawlessly on stock Singapore csc/flashed custom rom from xda. I switched, it's cheaper, it works and first month was 5$ no fee to transfer my number over. Visible is great, join a group and it's 25$ a month.

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