I've been looking to buy a Galaxy tab, and I'm just getting around to it. I am in need of a phone, and I read that if you enable calls you lose 3g support. I'm not too into 3g though, as my 3g here sucks and I never even get 3g unless I'm 30 minutes away. So I was wondering should I buy the tab or the Galaxy S 4g phone? I can get them both brand new at the same price, and as well cheaper.
The phone is pre-unlocked, and the tab is pre-unlocked and rooted with 3g support. Which one should I go with?
If you need to make and receive calls frequently while moving around, the phone is a better choice. For the tab, you'll need a wired or bt headset for privacy since the tab doesn't have an earpiece speaker.
Related
All,
I currently own a T-Mobile Tab I purchased outright (no contract) several months ago. I am very happy with it, but I never did activate data on it because:
1. I am an AT&T voice customer
2. I usually have WiFi available
My office has provided me with a Thunderbolt for business use, so I was thinking about just using my AT&T SIM with a Tab for personal use.
What I need to know is this:
1. Does the voice "hack" actually work on an AT&T Tab? Seriously?
2. Does the T-Mobile Tab actually support a voice "hack" at all?
If so, I would be willing to sell my T-Mobile Tab and buy the AT&T version so I could use data and voice on the Tab with a headset.
Thanks, please advise.
-Rob
1. Yes; I loaded the Euro ROM onto my AT&T Tab and it was a very fluid process, after which I could make/receive calls and send/receive SMS without issue using my personal SIM card.
2. Yes, and if it's unlocked you can use your AT&T SIM, and voice will work but your data connection will be limited to EDGE/2G as the AT&T and T-Mobile 3G frequencies are incompatible.
I reloaded the stock AT&T ROM onto my Tab because frankly, it felt a bit goofy using the Tab as my phone. Perhaps if it had recognized my Bluetooth headset it would have been a different story, but trying to use the Tab as a phone really seems (to me) to turn it from a small, compact device to an oversized monstrosity. The performance as a phone, however, was perfect.
I used to use my Galaxy tab 7 3G (sold) with my other AT&T Sim cards. I used to be able to make calls from it, but now I'm planning to use a Galaxy Note instead.
However, I could also try to use an 8.9 (planning to buy a 4G one from ebay) and with root, delete the efs folder (if I really need to) and get to use the sim card from an iPad 3G for instance (or from an AT&T phone). Both would be grandfathered unlimited plans. Would that work? I suppose so, although I'd have to cut the SIM Card I believe (the 8.9 uses micro sim cards, right?).
Anybody have tried something like this?
Thanks!
RipplingHurst said:
I used to use my Galaxy tab 7 3G (sold) with my other AT&T Sim cards. I used to be able to make calls from it, but now I'm planning to use a Galaxy Note instead.
However, I could also try to use an 8.9 (planning to buy a 4G one from ebay) and with root, delete the efs folder (if I really need to) and get to use the sim card from an iPad 3G for instance (or from an AT&T phone). Both would be grandfathered unlimited plans. Would that work? I suppose so, although I'd have to cut the SIM Card I believe (the 8.9 uses micro sim cards, right?).
Anybody have tried something like this?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EFS (and carrier locking) is different on the Qualcomm MSM8660 devices than what you may be used to on Hummingbird/Exynos devices. So have a care trying to nuke the EFS folder. I'm assuming your goal is to spoof AT&T's IMEI database to keep your grandfathered plan, and I suspect you'll have disappointing results.
And just in case you didn't know, unlike the original GSM Tab, there is NO voice capability on the 8.9 (LTE or otherwise) unless you're doing some sort of SIP/VOIP.
Finally, the 8.9 LTE uses standard SIM cards.
Croak said:
EFS (and carrier locking) is different on the Qualcomm MSM8660 devices than what you may be used to on Hummingbird/Exynos devices. So have a care trying to nuke the EFS folder. I'm assuming your goal is to spoof AT&T's IMEI database to keep your grandfathered plan, and I suspect you'll have disappointing results.
And just in case you didn't know, unlike the original GSM Tab, there is NO voice capability on the 8.9 (LTE or otherwise) unless you're doing some sort of SIP/VOIP.
Finally, the 8.9 LTE uses standard SIM cards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. So it seems less likely that it's worth getting an ebay unit (since I plan to pay monthly for service anyway). I talked to a manager at an AT&T store and he couldn't set my grandfathered iPad 3G plan into the Galaxy tab 4G no matter what. He tried and couldn't do it. He could transfer my unlimited grandfathered PHONE service into a Skyrocket, but not a tablet.
I didn't want to use it for voice anyway. I just didn't want to pay for a grandfathered unlimited service for tablets (iPad) AND another plan just for the G. Tab 8.9...
I wonder if I'll brick it if I just nuke the efs folder, I'd just try it and if it didn't work I would just put the folder back on. But with no ROM available, this may be indeed too dangerous to try.
RipplingHurst said:
Thanks. So it seems less likely that it's worth getting an ebay unit (since I plan to pay monthly for service anyway). I talked to a manager at an AT&T store and he couldn't set my grandfathered iPad 3G plan into the Galaxy tab 4G no matter what. He tried and couldn't do it. He could transfer my unlimited grandfathered PHONE service into a Skyrocket, but not a tablet.
I didn't want to use it for voice anyway. I just didn't want to pay for a grandfathered unlimited service for tablets (iPad) AND another plan just for the G. Tab 8.9...
I wonder if I'll brick it if I just nuke the efs folder, I'd just try it and if it didn't work I would just put the folder back on. But with no ROM available, this may be indeed too dangerous to try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stock ROM is available on Sammobile.com. If you root the device, you can make a backup of the EFS directory. It should be safe to experiment.
If the worst happens and you lose the EFS data, it'll still work just fine as a WiFi only device, and it'll still be faster (quite a bit) than the under-powered Tegra 2 WiFi only version you were looking at.
rooting and making a copy of your efs is extremely safe if you read
Thanks guys. I ended up buying the ATt combo 8.9 tab plus skyrocket. Coulnd be any happier. I thought there weren't any LTE service heren the suburbs of ne CA, but im getting 26.9 Mbpsdown and 11.81 Mbps up. The 100-68ms png kills the experience a bit,bu I'venever seensuch speeds via mobile network.
Probably depends on what sim I know I tried to use my regular phone sim with unlimited data and in the galaxy tab 7 and it worked.
Has anyone been able to get this to work? Would love to use a Galaxy Tab 8.9 occasionally with my LTE phone data plan. I don't need voice like on the original GST.
Update.
So my usage went to 75% of my allocation in 10days. Not happy. I did a lot of streaming videos (Vevo), but nothing I hadn't done before with my iPad 3G (unlimited) or iPhone 4 (unlimited). However, I have been using Google Music A LOT these days (I have a 250GB music library, 35k songs, if I take the classics, the wife's Pearl Jam "every live performance" fan club files, I can easily squeze 20K songs with Google Music.
However, my usage went through the roof.
So today I just deleted the ESF folder in the hopes of using another SIM card with it. I popped off the iPad's 3G I still have (unlimited data plan). Got 4 backups of such folder (office, server, dropbox, mainPC) plus two in the tablet. Just to be safe.
So it turns out that it didn't work as planned. With the Galaxy Tab 7, after reboot, I would get a new EFS folder with a generic IMEI. That's how I could make call, text, with my cell phone SD card (AT&T wouldn't let me pop my SIM card into it and make it work as a phone).
Now I don't plan to use it as a phone, I just wanted to replace my iPad with the 8.9. AT&T wouldn't let me use my grandfathered plan (I even offered to pay full price, but), so here I am.
What happened is that the EFS folder is rebuilt just like the previous one. The same IMEI remains. However, I got a different "phone" number and the AT&T app shows 46MB of 9999757606912GB remaining. That is, A LOT.
However, speeds dropped considerably, even with the "4G" icon lighted up (not 4GLTE though), to about the same speeds as the iPad 5000 Kbps up, 1k down.
I'm expecting any minute a text or call from AT&T and in that case I'll cancel the iPad 3G plan and pop the LTE SIM card back and use it only for email for the rest of the month (plus tether with my skyrocket, but I have just received a txt saying now I'm top 5% (also "unlimited").
Will see what happens. Any ideas what I should try next?
Does the S6 have software that makes it a more "polite" user of the network?
I have a new S6 for work and an S4 for personal. Both are rooted.
The S4 generally has very good reception. I often carry them together, and lately (over the past week or so), I've been taking work calls on my commute home. The commute is on a commuter train that while still in the station, is probably on a cell with lots of use (everyone passing though a big train station and settling in for a long ride home messing with their smartphones). I often get dropped calls, worse reception (often the S6 shows bars but no data connection while the S4 sits happily at 3-4 bars with LTE), and sometimes no data connection while on calls. (I had to go through a big rigamarole with Verizon to get the "HD Calling" feature enabled to be able to use data while on a call, while on my S4 it just worked that way.
So I suspect that as Verizon rolls out new phones, they are intentionally making them more "polite" about how many resources they are requesting from the network, and which cell they connect to, and how.
It infuriates me that this supposedly brand new, awesome phone actually has worse performance than my 2-year-old one, in one of the most important aspects (network performance).
Is there any credence to my suspicions that you know of? I can always return the phone and get a new unit, but that's a suboptimal solution for sure.
Are there any solutions to this issue? E.g. a ROM? Has this issue been researched at all? I'd love to learn more.
Reading this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-galaxy-s6/general/talk-surf-verizon-t3080362
It looks like it's because these new phones only have one antenna, while the S4 had two. Technology is moving backward!
I am not allowed to have a phone on my job. But I CAN have a smart watch. So because it's a giant warehouse, it will be far away from my cell at all times. The cell can only be in the break room which is much too far away and my job requires me to be walking around constantly to manage associates.
SOOOOOO... What are my options within an affordable price range. I have an LG V10. I want an Android Wear watch preferred but not sure if I should get one that takes a sim card. So I can just pop my sim out and use it?
If I do get a WiFi-only smartwatch, do I just put both devices on the network and it will use that to send to my phone (the data or text) over WifI then my phone sends the message via network?
I WAS Looking at the Moto 360.
NEED:
Calls
Texts
Wifi OR GSM Connectivity
Bluetooth
NOT JUST NOTIFICATIONS! Ability to send!
Scath said:
I am not allowed to have a phone on my job. But I CAN have a smart watch. So because it's a giant warehouse, it will be far away from my cell at all times. The cell can only be in the break room which is much too far away and my job requires me to be walking around constantly to manage associates.
SOOOOOO... What are my options within an affordable price range. I have an LG V10. I want an Android Wear watch preferred but not sure if I should get one that takes a sim card. So I can just pop my sim out and use it?
If I do get a WiFi-only smartwatch, do I just put both devices on the network and it will use that to send to my phone (the data or text) over WifI then my phone sends the message via network?
I WAS Looking at the Moto 360.
NEED:
Calls
Texts
Wifi OR GSM Connectivity
Bluetooth
NOT JUST NOTIFICATIONS! Ability to send!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have been on XDA long enough to know to search,....go here..
**DEVICE SUGGESTION THREAD** -- Not sure what device to buy? Ask here!
hi everyone,
I am about to replace my galaxy watch with the GW3 and I am still undecided which version (LTE/BT) I should get.
I have a phone i use as a secondary number, so I could migrate this one to the watch, even if e-sim are not common in my country and this will result in a more expensive plan compared to the one I currently have. Anyway, I will accept it because I will keep my 2 separate numbers and I also could finally go jogging without carrying the phone.
My 2 doubts are:
1-battery life. I am worried that with LTE on all of the time the watch will not last an entire day
2-I am unsure about what will happen when the phone is connected to the watch and I receive a call on the other number on the watch. Is the watch switching in standalone mode?
I understand the ideal use of the LTE version is more like a companion sharing the same contract of the phone rather than using it as a standalone phone, and I could not find any answer on these doubts, so I hope someone here having an user experience could help me in making the right decision
Thanks in advance!
PL
atalanta1 said:
hi everyone,
I am about to replace my galaxy watch with the GW3 and I am still undecided which version (LTE/BT) I should get.
I have a phone i use as a secondary number, so I could migrate this one to the watch, even if e-sim are not common in my country and this will result in a more expensive plan compared to the one I currently have. Anyway, I will accept it because I will keep my 2 separate numbers and I also could finally go jogging without carrying the phone.
My 2 doubts are:
1-battery life. I am worried that with LTE on all of the time the watch will not last an entire day
2-I am unsure about what will happen when the phone is connected to the watch and I receive a call on the other number on the watch. Is the watch switching in standalone mode?
I understand the ideal use of the LTE version is more like a companion sharing the same contract of the phone rather than using it as a standalone phone, and I could not find any answer on these doubts, so I hope someone here having an user experience could help me in making the right decision
Thanks in advance!
PL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. When the watch is connected via BT, LTE seems to be switched off.
2. When someone calls or sends me a text on the other number it shows up as if I received it on the handset as if they did not call/text the other number (atleast with my operator, Telia)
I will do some more testing with handset in flight mode etc.
Sent from my own Galaxy via Tapatalk
1. there is a setting that will AUTO turn off the mobile network when the watch connects to the phone. you can disable this so the mobile network setting is on if that is what you prefer. for me, i leave it on all the time since the watch has its own working number separate from the phone. so even IF the watch connects to the phone, the mobile network can still stay on.
2. if you use the watch as a PHONE, then thats what it will be-- a phone. if you dont want that, get the BT only version.
when your watch line rings, the phone does not ring. conversely, if you have certain settings enabled in the galaxy wear app, the watch will sync to the phone and ring when the phone rings. this can be seen as a "companion" but make no mistake, the watch can and does stand alone on itself. ive had these lte watches for years and i spak from experience.
marctronixx said:
1. there is a setting that will AUTO turn off the mobile network when the watch connects to the phone. you can disable this so the mobile network setting is on if that is what you prefer. for me, i leave it on all the time since the watch has its own working number separate from the phone. so even IF the watch connects to the phone, the mobile network can still stay on.
2. if you use the watch as a PHONE, then thats what it will be-- a phone. if you dont want that, get the BT only version.
when your watch line rings, the phone does not ring. conversely, if you have certain settings enabled in the galaxy wear app, the watch will sync to the phone and ring when the phone rings. this can be seen as a "companion" but make no mistake, the watch can and does stand alone on itself. ive had these lte watches for years and i spak from experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just got a call on my watch and answered on my phone.
I guess this depends on your operator settings for call forwarding etc.
Sent from my own Galaxy via Tapatalk
Thank you for sharing your experience!
it is actually not easy, and the scenario is probably also different whether you have 2 numbers on the same contracts or 2 different numbers with 2 different carriers.
to recap:
by default, if BT is connected, then LTE turns off to save battery life, and this makes a lot of sense in consideration of the typical use of a smartwatch, where the cellular connection sums up to BT and wifi in ensuring the watch is always connected to the phone
but
you can turn this auto-switch off, so also when is BT connected the watch will get his own calls/SMS (plus the notification of the phone i guess)
one last question: can you turn off completely LTE ? this would be useful to save battery life when traveling...
Thanks !!
Did some testing, I have the same operator on watch and phone, watchs plan is connected to the phones plan.
1. Phone in flightmode, watch is stand alone, call the WATCH'S number - Only watch rings.
2. Phone in flightmode, watch is stand alone, call the PHONES number - Only watch rings.
3. Phone in flightmode, watch BT connected, call the watch number - Get to voicemail. (Because of LTE getting turned off while on BT)
4. Phone in flightmode, watch BT connected, call the PHONES number - Get to voicemail. (Also because of LTE getting turned off while on BT)
5. Phone using cellular network, BT off, call the watch number - Handset rings, watch stays off
6. LTE on on both Watch and Handset, call either number and both Handset and Watch rings.
So i guess that if you have 2 different operators/plans the watch would behave just as any other phone.
Sent from my own Galaxy via Tapatalk
Iv just ordered the BT version of the G3. I’m sure Iv come across something for the US where the carrier gives you a companion number so it basically the identical number as your main number to use in the watch. Trying to find the article.
Anyone know if we have anything like that in the UK.
Any thoughts or experiences from folks on three network here in the UK?
I would love to have the identical number running on both the SIM card in the phone and on the watch and you can activate which ever one is the active line.
Funny enough about 15+ years ago Vodafone Uk did actually have this service!
I have that in UK. My network is Vodafone and they have a service called "OneNumber".
The GW3 shares the same mobile plan you have on the phone and since the mobile network on the GW3 is set to Auto, GW3 will only connect to the mobile network when there is no BT connection between phone and GW3. This means that if you do not have the phone with you, you will get the calls and texts on the GW3.
This works great! No more dependency on BT connection for your watch to get calls and texts!
Trainzer said:
I have that in UK. My network is Vodafone and they have a service called "OneNumber".
The GW3 shares the same mobile plan you have on the phone and since the mobile network on the GW3 is set to Auto, GW3 will only connect to the mobile network when there is no BT connection between phone and GW3. This means that if you do not have the phone with you, you will get the calls and texts on the GW3.
This works great! No more dependency on BT connection for your watch to get calls and texts!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh wow! That’s good to know Vodafone is still offering this.
Shame in stuck in my contract would 3 or I would have
Jumped ship.
Thanks for the heads up ?