Database Develop

Unlocking your N1 for any service.

Hey gang,
If anyone can help I will donate via paypal...anyone have a good sticky or tutorial on unlocking your N1 for any service provider? Do I just need to root it or is there more steps involvled? Thank you for helping a novice N1 user!
::rayman::

odd request
rayman,
The nexus one is already unlocked, but there are two types of N1s.
Here is a link explaining more in detail:
http://www.google.com/support/android/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=166507
Jason

Thanks buddy a lot! My brother bought his N1 through t-mobile about 3 weeks ago off google.com/phone...and is already wanting to sale it for the iPhone 4G. So I guess its already unlocked he will just have to pay the cancellation fee to t-mobile when he sales it and switches over.
Thanks so much buddy.

I'm guessing that fee will not be insignificant.... And then to throw down $300 on a new phone, AND switch to AT&T in the process?
Ouch.

codesplice said:
I'm guessing that fee will not be insignificant.... And then to throw down $300 on a new phone, AND switch to AT&T in the process?
Ouch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some people just have money to waste and I think Apple targets people like that.
I love my N1. I don't think anyone could, reasonably, pay me enough to use an iphone 4 over my N1.
OP, you should show your brother how to put on Froyo 2.2 or root it and put on something like Cyanogen Mod. Soooo many more possibility than the icrap.

Dont forget that you will also have to pay the T-Mobile ETF and you also have to pay Google an ERF. So you have to Fee's to pay..

That is why iphone is the #1 selling phone out there...their targeted customers?
DUMB IGNORANT LAZY RICH PEOPLE...and a few poor ones that just want to look rich.

Lol we are no way rich...but if sold on ebay for $500.00 like some of the others won't you break even? Didn't know google had an etf...thought it was just t-mobile?
In your opionion since we are discussing what do you think N1 has over iPhone 4G? I have to admit I love the video chat thing on iPhone...only thing AT&T sucks...I think T-mobile probably has better service.

did you buy the phone unsubsidized or off contract? I
If you got it subsidized you have a T-mo ETF and the google ERF (equipment recovery fee). If you are withing the 14 days (which i dont think you are) you can send the phone back to HTC and cancel the T-Mo account with no fees.
If you are past 14 days, be prepared to drop some dough.

Yeah I told him that...hes not gonna switch now lol...I guess you gotta wait 4 months before you can get outta of googles etf...him and I both love the N1 just wish it had more games like iPhone...but theres so many things I like about the N1 that the iPhone doesn't have.

Dont change your contract. Just keep your tmobile account connected and buy an iphone outright when they are released and Jailbrek / unlock it to work with your tmobile sim (altho the simcard itself will need to be converted to Mini sim)

Thats a great idea...hopefully they won't go over $500 in price.

rayman121985 said:
Thats a great idea...hopefully they won't go over $500 in price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iPhones (including the new iPhone 4) are $599 and $699 full retail price (16gb/32gb).
They're $199/$299 on 2 year contract with AT&T.

Samsung gets Galaxy phone on all 4 carriers... WTF Google why not the N1?!

Just saw on Engadget how Samsung accomplished the goal that Google failed at: Getting its Galaxy phone line on all 4 carriers
Why again didnt Google just play nice and be flexible to the carriers demands?
Why not allow Verizon and Sprint to have a little control over their versions of the N1 in order to ensure the N1 becomes a national success?
If Samsung can accomplish this, why couldnt Google?
Seems like such a waste of a perfect opportunity
Verizon ropes in Samsung Fascinate, US Cellular gets a Galaxy S too -- Engadget

Because the entire point of the Nexus One was to prove that customers wanted a phone that was not bound by "carrier demands" thats why all the Droids have the pay for tethering, while the Nexus One supports it freely.

Why not just be flexible?
Let the T-Mobile and Att versions be completely free of carrier control and be flexible with the Verizon/Sprint versions. I'd much rather have a non-tethering N1 on Sprint and Verizon as options than nothing at all...
If Samsung could do it, why not Google?

Because each version of the Galaxy is a totally different version, because this carrier didnt like this option on the phone, they took it out and renamed the phone. There are 4 versions of this phone each one less of a total package then the one before it. The Nexus One didn't want to be "flexible" it wanted to be allowed at the party as it designed to be. Plus the Nexus One was originally planned to be on Sprint and Version, it was the carriers who then dropped support for it. Also i was just throwing tehtering out there as an example there are many other things that the Nexus One can do that other phones have had stripped because of carrier control.

Those phones are gonna be hindered by carrier approval for updates.
The main thing that will be gimped is the native tethering option of android.
Samsung is in the game for $$$ with a guaranteed business plan.
Google was attempting to change the typical business plan. It was always an gamble.

Blueman101 said:
Because each version of the Galaxy is a totally different version, because this carrier didnt like this option on the phone, they took it out and renamed the phone. There are 4 versions of this phone each one less of a total package then the one before it. The Nexus One didn't want to be "flexible" it wanted to be allowed at the party as it designed to be. Plus the Nexus One was originally planned to be on Sprint and Version, it was the carriers who then dropped support for it. Also i was just throwing tehtering out there as an example there are many other things that the Nexus One can do that other phones have had stripped because of carrier control.
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Verizon publicly came out and said they wanted the nexus but it was Google that did not come thru for unknown reasons. Who are we to believe, I agree I don't trust any of them. But its definitely weird that Verizon went on record saying that. Why would they lie? And the next question is if that was the truth, why would Google have backed out?

RogerPodacter said:
Verizon publicly came out and said they wanted the nexus but it was Google that did not come thru for unknown reasons. Who are we to believe, I agree I don't trust any of them. But its definitely weird that Verizon went on record saying that. Why would they lie? And the next question is if that was the truth, why would Google have backed out?
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Thats true, no one really knows who was at fault. Google isnt know for their Dev phones coming to CDMA. Its also possible that Google turned it down when the CDMA carriers refused to offer the Nexus One full freedom.

ap3604 said:
Just saw on Engadget how Samsung accomplished the goal that Google failed at: Getting its Galaxy phone line on all 4 carriers
Why again didnt Google just play nice and be flexible to the carriers demands?
Why not allow Verizon and Sprint to have a little control over their versions of the N1 in order to ensure the N1 becomes a national success?
If Samsung can accomplish this, why couldnt Google?
Seems like such a waste of a perfect opportunity
Samsung is not the first! The touch pro 2s for example existed on all 4 networks!
Verizon ropes in Samsung Fascinate, US Cellular gets a Galaxy S too -- Engadget
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Click to collapse
Most of the normal customers will have no idea the phones are related directly. They are all a little different and have different names. Each carrier has say with software unlike the n1. That means no tethering etc. I dont see why US carries like to cripple phones and brand them... I get that they want their own image or to not look like just a network provider but customized phones blow... My htc pure has no front facing cam and all the td2s tp2s needed different skins/cases and that also means more expensive repairs and ****. Carriers around the world just stamp their logo and inject some crapware (sometimes) and leave everything else the same!

JCopernicus said:
Those phones are gonna be hindered by carrier approval for updates.
The main thing that will be gimped is the native tethering option of android.
Samsung is in the game for $$$ with a guaranteed business plan.
Google was attempting to change the typical business plan. It was always an gamble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe someone will figure how to make a vanilla android rom for it.

I think the problem with the N1 is that the only carrier that subsidized it is T-Mobile. The two largest carriers are At&t and Verizon. Verizon doesn't carry it. For At&t, how many ppl are gonna shell out $529 for a phone, when you can get an iphone for like $199. All of us in this forum would, but for others it's too big of a difference.

well especially these days with this economy, $530 is a lot to swallow.

When did "US Cellular" become one of "the 4" carriers??? They're #7 according to here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_network_operators_of_the_Americas#United_States

Verizon got the HTC Desire
Sprint got the HTC EVO
If they got those phones, why would they want the N1 for? Those HTC phones are, in the carrier's eyes, better than the N1 and they aren't restricted to the plans that Google made T-Mobile customers switch over to in order to get the N1 for a lower price.
If those two phones came to Tmobile, I wouldn't have a N1 to be honest.

Blueman101 said:
well especially these days with this economy, $530 is a lot to swallow.
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Quite ironically that's only true in western developed countries. And the major reason is that people are just too dependent on the whole contract and credit system. In India, we always pay for unlocked phone. There are no contracts. Therefore if we buy a smartphone we know what we are buying and how much that is worth. And in return we get cheap phone service (2 cents per minute). US carriers will give you "free" cheap phone and then charge you $45 for 450 minutes. That is $36 extra per month or $864 extra for the two year contract period.
$530 for a phone seems to be a reasonable price for us... even if we are still a developing country.

This is just the announcement right? In mid March 2010, Sprint and Verizon announced they were getting the N1, until they changed their mind. Like you guys said earlier something about the "Evo" and the "Moto shadow". Shadow is pretty sweet, 4.3 inch display plus QWERTY!
Wikipedia that **** "nexus one"

arkavat said:
Quite ironically that's only true in western developed countries. And the major reason is that people are just too dependent on the whole contract and credit system. In India, we always pay for unlocked phone. Their are no contracts. Therefore if we buy a smartphone we know what we are buying and how much that is worth. And in return we get cheap phone service (2 cents per minute). US carriers will give you "free" cheap phone and then charge you $45 for 450 minutes. That is $36 extra per month or $864 extra for the two year contract period.
$530 for a phone seems to be a reasonable price for us... even if we are still a developing country.
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Excellent point. I much prefer that system to ours.
Sent from my Sexy Nexy, courtesy of the fine developers of Tapatalk

let me finance that sammich for you ...
Blueman101 said:
well especially these days with this economy, $530 is a lot to swallow.
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Click to collapse
$530 is too much? ok buy a g1 for 279. or a flip phone for 35 at a pawn shop. remember, this is something you OWN, not something that you lease with heavily financed contracts and etc s to mess with.
a potato chip is rediculously expensive if you compare it to the price of potatoes. cmon, find a logical argument folks or would you rather a company NOT profit, fail and leave you with no. support?

ohgood said:
$530 is too much? ok buy a g1 for 279. or a flip phone for 35 at a pawn shop. remember, this is something you OWN, not something that you lease with heavily financed contracts and etc s to mess with.
a potato chip is rediculously expensive if you compare it to the price of potatoes. cmon, find a logical argument folks or would you rather a company NOT profit, fail and leave you with no. support?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you missed his point a bit.
Google was attempting to do a few things with the N1. First, they wanted to offer a completely raw phone, free of all carrier branding and bloatware and crippling. To do so meant selling it themselves, or in stores like Best Buy or whatever. This would push the second item: showing those in the states how a lot of other countries operate, buying unlocked phones without a carrier subsidy and contract. I love this idea. Both ideas.
However, the timing was rather unfortunate. $530 in this economy is rough for a lot of people. Doesn't mean the idea is horrible, doesn't mean anyone is blaming Google. It simply means that there are a lot of people that won't buy the N1 (or any brand new completely unlocked phone) right now because of the economy. I personally have several friends that love my N1. They wish they could buy one but are either unemployed or under-employed (took jobs making much less than they're used to, simply to get a check coming in).
I love Google's approach on this. I think it's great that they (supposedly) told Verizon and Sprint go suck an egg, and that the N1 was not to be messed with. This is my first truly unlocked, unbranded phone and I don't think I'll ever go back to buying them from the carrier.

Plain and simple most carriers were not thrilled with the idea of a totally unbranded/un-carrier approved handset being activated on their network.
With the GSM variant, there is little that any carrier can do, but CDMA is a different animal and I am really not surprised that VZW/SPRINT said heck no.
Dan

arkavat said:
Quite ironically that's only true in western developed countries. And the major reason is that people are just too dependent on the whole contract and credit system. In India, we always pay for unlocked phone. There are no contracts. Therefore if we buy a smartphone we know what we are buying and how much that is worth. And in return we get cheap phone service (2 cents per minute). US carriers will give you "free" cheap phone and then charge you $45 for 450 minutes. That is $36 extra per month or $864 extra for the two year contract period.
$530 for a phone seems to be a reasonable price for us... even if we are still a developing country.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same as in the UK, I have a cheap sim-only with unlimited data and just buy phones unlocked sim-free (no carrier restrictions) from the hundreds of stores (Play, Amazon etc). The money I save over the normal 18 months is enough to buy a Nexus One and have money left over.
But still some people in UK see the 'free phone' and sign up to a stupid long-term contract.

Verizon and Motorola

So Verizon will no longer offer unlimited data plans to customers, but you can keep yours. When getting a new phone however you must purchase it in full. THat means around 500dollars per phone usually.
Motorola is also releasing updates now to their unlocked devices and locking them.
**** Verizon and Motorola.
My next phone will be a HTC or Samsung on (insert network name here that offers best data plan). i wont be bullied anymore. This is beyond ridiculous.

Just buy phones locally then. Plus, off contract phones are better then being locked down.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Dri94 said:
So Verizon will no longer offer unlimited data plans to customers, but you can keep yours. When getting a new phone however you must purchase it in full. THat means around 500dollars per phone usually.
Motorola is also releasing updates now to their unlocked devices and locking them.
**** Verizon and Motorola.
My next phone will be a HTC or Samsung on (insert network name here that offers best data plan). i wont be bullied anymore. This is beyond ridiculous.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will it looks like after that happens if i need a new phone and have to buy it out right then i will just swich to straight talk because 45 a mouth unlimited talk text and web that beats ne paying the BIG V 400 mouth any ways so i think i will unlock my droid 3 now thanks for the info man
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA

KayxGee1 said:
Just buy phones locally then. Plus, off contract phones are better then being locked down.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea i know, i used to live in europe and thats the way my parents bought them for me. but im a college student, i dont have half a G to spend on a nice phone :/ i wish these big corporations would stop tryin to mess us over. They have all the coverage so they can do what they want now.
leerpsp said:
Will it looks like after that happens if i need a new phone and have to buy it out right then i will just swich to straight talk because 45 a mouth unlimited talk text and web that beats ne paying the BIG V 400 mouth any ways so i think i will unlock my droid 3 now thanks for the info man
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how is the coverage with straighttalk though? the plans seem to much of a great deal to not have some drawback somewhere. otherwise why are they not leading the market lol

Dri94 said:
So Verizon will no longer offer unlimited data plans to customers, but you can keep yours. When getting a new phone however you must purchase it in full. THat means around 500dollars per phone usually.
Motorola is also releasing updates now to their unlocked devices and locking them.
**** Verizon and Motorola.
My next phone will be a HTC or Samsung on (insert network name here that offers best data plan). i wont be bullied anymore. This is beyond ridiculous.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you have a couple of misconceptions going on there. You are confusing the brand of phone and the carrier. It's verizon billing you for data. Motorola has nothing to do with that. Buy an HTC or Samsung phone on Verizon and the price for data is the same as if you bought a Motorola phone. Buy a Motorola phone on a different carrier and the price for data on that phone will be the same as any other phone on that carrier.
Also how do you figure $500 per phone? Currently I'm one of the people grandfathered in on an unlimited data plan. That's $30 per month for unlimited data. So over the course of a 24 month contract, I'll actually pay $720 for data. People who are not grandfathered are still paying the same $720 over 24 months but are only getting 2 GB per month. Since 2 GB is plenty for me, it doesn't much matter.
The only difference with the new plans coming out this summer is that data is charged per account rather than per phone. If you add a tablet for example, you don't necessarily have to pay for any more data if both devices together stay within the cap. The thing is everyone is panicking and complaining before we even know what the caps will be and what the price will be for each tier.
For example if it were still $30 for two gigabytes I could actually save $30 per month. currently my wife has her $30 and I have my $30 for a total of $60 between us. But we each on our own have never exceeded 900 MB so we could switch to a pool of 2 GB total to share between us and end up paying half as much total. but we need to know the facts and figures to make those comparisons...
And right now, everyone complaining doesn't have any more idea than I do.

I'm just done with Verizon. I'm going with prepaid now. :|

Lol ratman you read my post wrong. Ill explain
Motorola sent a update locking an unlocked phone. Im assuming the trend dwill continue as they havent started unlocking phones they said they would. But instead doing the opposite and locking unlocked phones..
Seperately, verizon is getting rid of unlimited or 2gb data plan. You can keep it if you already have it but if you want to get a new phone (using it for your unlimited) you must buy it completely. Meaning around 500 dollars. Thats how much phones actually cost if you dont buy with a plan.
I believe you still can upgrade for free however on your plan

Dri94 said:
yea i know, i used to live in europe and thats the way my parents bought them for me. but im a college student, i dont have half a G to spend on a nice phone :/ i wish these big corporations would stop tryin to mess us over. They have all the coverage so they can do what they want now.
how is the coverage with straighttalk though? the plans seem to much of a great deal to not have some drawback somewhere. otherwise why are they not leading the market lol[/QUOTED
Straight talk has good coverage there is one drawback after you go over 2 gb of net they slow your speed down but its still fast as hell even when they do my bro has it and uses it for the net with his laptop with his droid 3 and same speed as me if not faster and so its a good deal but to get good phones like the razer droid 3 and iphone you have to buy them out right and also somthing cool you can have any att phone and you do not have to get it unlocked they have a sim that works with it!
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA
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Click to collapse

Lol throttling is alot better than having a cap. Honestly that is not an issue to me. But thanks man your a god for that info, im going to look more into it and see if that is a good alternative. Sounds great so far :]
Sent from my XT862 using Tapatalk 2

Dri94 said:
yea i know, i used to live in europe and thats the way my parents bought them for me. but im a college student, i dont have half a G to spend on a nice phone :/ i wish these big corporations would stop tryin to mess us over. They have all the coverage so they can do what they want now.
how is the coverage with straighttalk though? the plans seem to much of a great deal to not have some drawback somewhere. otherwise why are they not leading the market lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I currently use straight talk service with my droid 3 and it is awesome. With the droid 3 you get the option to get an att or a tmobile based sim card and you get all their normal coverage.

Looks like straight talk just earned a new customer :] well once i get my job lmao

When the time comes, I'll probably pay full price for my next phone. I just won't purchase it from Verizon. I'll buy something that'll work on their network, but without the stupid locked bootloader or bloatware.

What's your thoughts on Sprint considering doing away with contract plans?

Me personally I rather have the contract plan and pay $100 - $200 for a phone then have to pay full price.

Here's the source material since it wasn't included in the OP:
http://www.androidcentral.com/sprint-may-go-un-carrier-and-ditch-phone-subsidies-and-contracts-2015

I was afraid this would happen... I too rather pay a discounted price for a phone than have to pay full price...

Nooooo! I don't mind my contract phone. At least I bought it for a good price, not full retail. ?
Sent from my 831C using XDA Free mobile app

I certainly would not mind it. Sprint has terrible coverage in my area but T-Mobile has awesome coverage. I would probably switch given the chance.

Phrostbite said:
I certainly would not mind it. Sprint has terrible coverage in my area but T-Mobile has awesome coverage. I would probably switch given the chance.
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Click to collapse
Well I read somewhere that T-Mobile is paying off early term fees if you switch to them. Just a thought....
Sent from my 831C using XDA Free mobile app

Yeah we did the math and if we did that then after phone costs and what not we wouldn't break even until about two years in anyways.
But yeah T-Mobile is paying. Up to 350 dollars a line. They send it to you in the form of a gift card.

Good to know. Thanks for the update. Looks like it's not even worth checking into for our family. ?
Sent from my 831C using XDA Free mobile app

Sprint can't ever get away from the contracts or they would go under. They are hands down the worst provider of all the cell services and pretty much everyone I know including myself would leave them in a heartbeat if they could right away. I am just biding my time until I can be free from this god awful 2 year contract of pure **** service.
We got a call in January stating they are finally putting LTE in our service area (Detroit) and there are only 3-4 places I actually get it. I finally went into the store yesterday to talk to a rep and they told me my problem was that I need to disable 4G LTE for another 6 months until they have completed the roll out, and to just stick with 3G for the time being.
I can barely stream music, can't load video, and web pages crawl at best.
"Disable your LTE to get better service" was their official reply. They should be ashamed of themselves. I the last 6 months of having them my TOTAL DATA consumed is 1.8GB. I want to be using 1.8GB a week, not every 6 freaking months.

It wouldn't be so bad if retail for a phone wasn't so darn expensive. Could never figure out why a phone costs $500 - $700 typically out of contract. For that price, I could buy a notebook (and possibility a tablet too). The price of a higher end tablet with a larger screen is in the $200 price range - and that is pretty much a phone minus the radio. So my deduction is they charge $400-500 for just the radio.
That is why I tend to get a new phone and sign a 2 year contract or else I am leaving money on the table by not upgrading at a subsidized rate.

weidnerj said:
It wouldn't be so bad if retail for a phone wasn't so darn expensive. Could never figure out why a phone costs $500 - $700 typically out of contract. For that price, I could buy a notebook (and possibility a tablet too). The price of a higher end tablet with a larger screen is in the $200 price range - and that is pretty much a phone minus the radio. So my deduction is they charge $400-500 for just the radio.
That is why I tend to get a new phone and sign a 2 year contract or else I am leaving money on the table by not upgrading at a subsidized rate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The idea is that the plans where you have to buy your device are going to be cheaper than the ones with the subsidy built in. You won't be leaving any money on the table if it's implemented correctly.

I'm on Sprint no contract no credit check option with an HTC m8. I love this option the m8 was only $325 off craigslist brand-new and I'm not tied down for two years. $60 unlimited everything plan and I have no credit this is awesome!

Will a more reputable company buy out my contract with Sprint? Like say, Verizon or AT&T?

PhallusOfGod said:
Will a more reputable company buy out my contract with Sprint? Like say, Verizon or AT&T?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe only T-Mobile it's the only one offering this right now.
Sent from my 831C using XDA Free mobile app

Toyeboy said:
I'm on Sprint no contract no credit check option with an HTC m8. I love this option the m8 was only $325 off craigslist brand-new and I'm not tied down for two years. $60 unlimited everything plan and I have no credit this is awesome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you're new to sprint. I joined sprint with same idea $60 unlimited plan. I got the bill for first month, it's $132. When I asked them, they told me $40 is the activation fee and rest are government taxes, etc. That means going forward my bill will be $92.
I asked them to add international calling add on for $15, they told me I need to do the credit check for that and after that they asked me to keep a deposit of $100 for 1 year, though the device is my own.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Free mobile app

Cashreedhar said:
I believe you're new to sprint. I joined sprint with same idea $60 unlimited plan. I got the bill for first month, it's $132. When I asked them, they told me $40 is the activation fee and rest are government taxes, etc. That means going forward my bill will be $92.
I asked them to add international calling add on for $15, they told me I need to do the credit check for that and after that they asked me to keep a deposit of $100 for 1 year, though the device is my own.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Free mobile app
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I knew all that about the first month being $130. But Sprint employees told me $70 a month with fees and taxes after the initial activation month. I don't need international anything.
---------- Post added at 08:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:40 PM ----------
Cashreedhar said:
I believe you're new to sprint. I joined sprint with same idea $60 unlimited plan. I got the bill for first month, it's $132. When I asked them, they told me $40 is the activation fee and rest are government taxes, etc. That means going forward my bill will be $92.
I asked them to add international calling add on for $15, they told me I need to do the credit check for that and after that they asked me to keep a deposit of $100 for 1 year, though the device is my own.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must be paying for the optional phone insurance it's an extra $11.00 every month. Check your account options and opt out. There's no reason for that to be $92 a month

I finally said F Sprint, and opened an account with Verizon. I can hardly make calls on Sprint let alone look something up online. On Verizon I have fast LTE 99.9% of the time, and I couldn't be happier. Trying to pick up a nexus 6 unlocked.

I will never understand people who cry and complain about a service provider. This isn't Yelp. It seriously showcases the most ignorant and uneducated. Look at a service map. Do some math. You're making an investment for crying out loud. So on to the point of this thread.
The HTC M8 Harman Kardon is currently $230 in most retailers on a 2 year contract. Also known as subsidy. The minimum rate plan for a single line with unlimited service is $80. 24 months of service is $1920 plus the $230 investment of the phone itself.
The same phone under the EZ Pay monthly installment plan is $0 down. The minimum rate plan for a single line with unlimited service is $60. 24 months of service including the $15 a month installment is $1800.
That is big time savings both up front at zero down and total two years savings. Even if you find a sale or promotion on subsidy the total two year investment is more. Period. This also doesn't take into account if you are eligible for membership or employer discounts. Credit Union members get waived activation fees and 10% off a month! No one else can touch this plan. Even T-Mobile. The installment plan is a complete and total win. Stop the belly aching about paying for a phone. You were always paying for a phone over subsidy it was simply masked in the rate plan cost. Remember when Sprint was charing $10 for "premium data"?
Sprint is just way more transparent now. More so than ever, maybe as a result of T-Mobile being aggressive. But it is flat out the most cost effective way to get a flagship phone and unlimited service. AT&T and Verizon don't even bother with unlimited service and T-Mobile short of their more expensive $70 plan will throttle you straight to the stone age. If you can't do homework over coverage or think the middle of Arkansas is as important as the Mid Atlantic then I'm sorry. Use Wi-Fi or look at a coverage map!!!
Sprint. Now and forever.

The only thing I don't like is sprint forces you to buy through them when you have 5 or more lines on your account. Tried to get my m8 on Amazon a few months ago and that was the case

mreniigma said:
I will never understand people who cry and complain about a service provider. This isn't Yelp. It seriously showcases the most ignorant and uneducated. Look at a service map. Do some math. You're making an investment for crying out loud. So on to the point of this thread.
The HTC M8 Harman Kardon is currently $230 in most retailers on a 2 year contract. Also known as subsidy. The minimum rate plan for a single line with unlimited service is $80. 24 months of service is $1920 plus the $230 investment of the phone itself.
The same phone under the EZ Pay monthly installment plan is $0 down. The minimum rate plan for a single line with unlimited service is $60. 24 months of service including the $15 a month installment is $1800.
That is big time savings both up front at zero down and total two years savings. Even if you find a sale or promotion on subsidy the total two year investment is more. Period. This also doesn't take into account if you are eligible for membership or employer discounts. Credit Union members get waived activation fees and 10% off a month! No one else can touch this plan. Even T-Mobile. The installment plan is a complete and total win. Stop the belly aching about paying for a phone. You were always paying for a phone over subsidy it was simply masked in the rate plan cost. Remember when Sprint was charing $10 for "premium data"?
Sprint is just way more transparent now. More so than ever, maybe as a result of T-Mobile being aggressive. But it is flat out the most cost effective way to get a flagship phone and unlimited service. AT&T and Verizon don't even bother with unlimited service and T-Mobile short of their more expensive $70 plan will throttle you straight to the stone age. If you can't do homework over coverage or think the middle of Arkansas is as important as the Mid Atlantic then I'm sorry. Use Wi-Fi or look at a coverage map!!!
Sprint. Now and forever.
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Click to collapse
Are you referring to me? I would love for you to point out where I'm crying. And maybe before you assume things and start calling people ignorant and uneducated you might want to instead assume that maybe you don't have all of the information.
So let me break it down for your simple mind. I have been a Sprint customer for 12 years, I moved 3 years ago and no longer had cell reception at my house, no biggy I got an airrave, and I basically only used my phone at home or work and both places I had reception. In the last month I have started doing a lot of driving for work and have been making a lot more phone calls, and after one phone call dropping for the fourth time I drove to the nearest verizon store looked at their coverage map and switched that same day. No more issues with dropped calls and I have reception everywhere I have gone so far.
As far as living in the middle of no where is concerned, I think not. I live 30 minutes north of Los Angeles. I hope berating others on internet forums makes you feel better about yourself. Have a wonderful day.

Considering switching carriers from Verizon to T-Mobile & Note 4

Looking for some possible advise, help, and encouragement to switch to T-Mobile from being a long time Verizon customer. I did some research but limited thus far. My main reasons for considering are to hopefully save some money on my monthly bill (although this aspect seems a bit of a reach at this point, see my paragraph below) & get a "rootable" Note 4 (which I understand T-Mobiles vs. Verizon is...)
So I called T-Mobile's Sales number via there website today. I first checked my address via their map/coverage page and verified that I am within a "good" to "excellent" area via my home regarding their service including full 4G LTE bandwidth. The conversation with the sales rep was lengthy as I pointed out that with Verizon, I am currently receiving a 20% discount on my bill along with a -$10 per month loyalty discount. With taxes, my bill with Verizon Wireless is aprox $84 total which includes Unlimited Talk & Text and 4GB monthly data. Bottom line, the best the T-Mobile rep could do after applying an additional $50 credit to the purchase of their Note 4 is basically $82 BEFORE the extra taxing and fees which they for some reason couldn't even tell me. So I estimated roughly based on the extra added to my current Verizon bill of apox $8 in Fed/State/Regulatory/911 ect fees which would bring me to paying T-mobile $90 total per month. Now with that said, I realize this isn't a large increase but albeit an increase that I honestly wasn't expecting. Yes, I would get the ETF payed via a debit card they would get to me in 6 to 8 weeks. Yes, according to the rep and my Verizon Note 4 being in good condition with no screen breakage/cracks or water damage, they would also be giving me a $260 trade in which would start applying to T-Mobile bills around the 2nd or 3rd month and beyond until that credit was used up which in essence should give me aprox 3 months paid for service when that were to take effect. BUT, also, the plan chosen to keep within the range of what I am paying Verizon is their "Simple Starter Kit" plan only coming with 2GB data and after reaching that point, simply cuts off my data completely which I wasn't real thrilled about. I did mention that I had heard T-Mobile doesn't cut off or charge overages for data, however, was then attempted to be talked into their $50+ plan that includes the throttle down option. Another thing I noted in the conversation was the desired and ironically same Assuron Insurance for Smartphones but Verizon's being $5 something on my current bill and T-Mobile charging $8 for same said coverage.
So all and all, I am obviously a little discouraged in switching other than the benefit in obtaining a "rootable" Note 4 in the process.
Any possible suggestions, tips, or words of encouragement since I am a bit on the fence by anyone that was in a similar situation OR knowledge of T-Mobile is appreciated.
I would also prefer doing the switch in a local T-Mobile outlet or store, however, as noted by the sales rep over the phone, if I did that at this point I would not only lose their offer of the $50 phone discount but also incur another "credit check" which along with them not being able to give me an actual total bill expectation including fees & taxes, ect... and the presumed billing increase in switching carriers along with half the data allowance has me thinking what is it worth...
Basically I would be paying $45 for the plan + $8 Assuron Ins. + $29.15 for the note 4 per month = $82.15 BEFORE taxes, ect... which is an unknown. :silly:
Oh, and just to add, my initial cost would be $57.89 which is for (I think), downpayment on Note 4, Sim Card, and free 2 to 4 business days shipping.

Sell note 4 on swappa or eBay trade in any phone u have in dresser
Sent from my LG-D415 using XDA Free mobile app

This thread talks about that:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4-tmobile/help/stitched-verizon-note-4-t2954764
---------- Post added at 06:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:39 AM ----------
This one 2:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4-tmobile/help/thinking-moving-verizon-note-4-t2918348
---------- Post added at 06:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:42 AM ----------
This is the Google search I'm using.
https://www.google.com/search?site=......1c..61.mobile-gws-hp..0.1.30.3.iILEVeNym9w
---------- Post added at 06:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:43 AM ----------
BTW just do it.

Don't trade in your phone. Sell it somewhere else like ebay or craigslist and get more money out of it. Probably max you can get is $500 if its in excellent condition.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

Had droid turbo, sold on Craigslist for 450. Bought lg g2 on Craigslist for cheap and traded that in. They gave me 70 for trade in, that 70 covered everything that day and gave me a 5 credit on bill. And of course, t-mobile paying etf.

Thanks for the suggestions and I will do some more research along with following the posted links. The ONLY other phone I would have to potentially trade in to get the ETF for leaving Verizon paid as I understand T-Mobile requires the trade in order to give this out, would be an older "Windows" phone from years back. I am sure it would give me NO value for actual trade but possibly qualify good enough for T-Mobile and paying off my ETF?
arielovin said:
Don't trade in your phone. Sell it somewhere else like ebay or craigslist and get more money out of it. Probably max you can get is $500 if its in excellent condition.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought about this angle, however, I am almost certain T-Mobile requires a trade-in of what I presumed before had to be my actual current Verizon SmartPhone - Note 4, recently bought on my 2yr renewal discount in Oct last year and thus renewed my contract so getting the "ETF payoff credit" is a big deal to me. Otherwise, I will just ride it out another 2 years and not incur any fees if then deciding to re-investigate.
PS: Sorry, I should have knew better as to where to post this type of scenario which basically did end up being a question(s)... Thank's Mod for moving to appropriate forum.

lazer9 said:
Thanks for the suggestions and I will do some more research along with following the posted links. The ONLY other phone I would have to potentially trade in to get the ETF for leaving Verizon paid as I understand T-Mobile requires the trade in order to give this out, would be an older "Windows" phone from years back. I am sure it would give me NO value for actual trade but possibly qualify good enough for T-Mobile and paying off my ETF?
I thought about this angle, however, I am almost certain T-Mobile requires a trade-in of what I presumed before had to be my actual current Verizon SmartPhone - Note 4, recently bought on my 2yr renewal discount in Oct last year and thus renewed my contract so getting the "ETF payoff credit" is a big deal to me. Otherwise, I will just ride it out another 2 years and not incur any fees if then deciding to re-investigate.
PS: Sorry, I should have knew better as to where to post this type of scenario which basically did end up being a question(s)... Thank's Mod for moving to appropriate forum.
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Click to collapse
You mentioned the nokia phone was old. I doubt they will give you anything for the phone as phone company's are a-holes like that. You could always buy a note off someone online for cheaper and not pay the month for month.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

Please don't take this a discouragement but my experience switching from ATT. I live in the dreaded "dead spot" so I had 1 bar signal from ATT in my home. Wifi calling was and is a huge plus for me. Ends up I have full bars in my house from Tmobile so that was a nice surprise. Now the crappy part. I live in philly but grew up in pittsburgh and frequently make the 300 mile trip across the state on the turnpike. For bout 200 of those miles I have 1 to none bars and no data. When I can't check my fantasy football scores coming home on sunday is not a good and I may have taught my kids some words I shouldn't have. So , for me , it was important to havve a rootable phone but at a cost of service quality I didn't expect. I would do what you can to check your service in areas you frequent when you switch over. I'm sure it'll be fine for you but this was how I felt about switching.
All that said, I like my pimped out phone more than fantasy football!

arielovin said:
You mentioned the nokia phone was old. I doubt they will give you anything for the phone as phone company's are a-holes like that. You could always buy a note off someone online for cheaper and not pay the month for month.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
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Click to collapse
Yea, I just checked, the Nokia is only valued at $22 via T-Mobiles Trade in check online. I am currently exploring the purchasing of a used T-Mobile Note 4 via either swappa or ebay and since as I looked up the value of me Verizon Note 4 according to listings on Swappa to be around $500+ as it's in excellent condition, will likely pursue this avenue, thus hopefully be able to come close to breaking even regarding my Note 4 (selling) and acquiring a pre-owned T-Mobile Note 4 on my own.
The slight catch to this as I called the local T-Mobile store is in order to qualify to having my ETF paid off by T-Mobile is not only requiring the trade of ANY smartphone + the purchase of one of their phones. However, with that said, according to the rep I spoke with, I could simply buy a cheap T-Mobile phone at aprox $30 to $40 and not activate it but instead have my own T-Mobile (purchased at said above site(s)) to be the one activated.
Lol, can you tell I'm penny pinching? :silly: Guess being unemployed currently puts a person like me in that position.... blah

lazer9 said:
Yea, I just checked, the Nokia is only valued at $22 via T-Mobiles Trade in check online. I am currently exploring the purchasing of a used T-Mobile Note 4 via either swappa or ebay and since as I looked up the value of me Verizon Note 4 according to listings on Swappa to be around $500+ as it's in excellent condition, will likely pursue this avenue, thus hopefully be able to come close to breaking even regarding my Note 4 (selling) and acquiring a pre-owned T-Mobile Note 4 on my own.
The slight catch to this as I called the local T-Mobile store is in order to qualify to having my ETF paid off by T-Mobile is not only requiring the trade of ANY smartphone + the purchase of one of their phones. However, with that said, according to the rep I spoke with, I could simply buy a cheap T-Mobile phone at aprox $30 to $40 and not activate it but instead have my own T-Mobile (purchased at said above site(s)) to be the one activated.
Lol, can you tell I'm penny pinching? :silly: Guess being unemployed currently puts a person like me in that position.... blah
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Click to collapse
You could do that, but how much is verizon charging you for your early termination fees? But like bubba fett said you should check your area first and see which carrier has the strongest signal in your area then make your decisions from there.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

arielovin said:
You could do that, but how much is verizon charging you for your early termination fees? But like bubba fett said you should check your area first and see which carrier has the strongest signal in your area then make your decisions from there.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I understand, Verizon will charge me $350 - whatever credited usage since Oct 23rd, 2014 new contract purchase. With that said, I am being told no mattter the ETF payoff, as long as I meet said requirements, T-Mobile will pay the ETF via a debit card refund in 6 - 8 weeks.
Now a little bit more confusion. The local rep I have been verifying things with as of late may be telling me some wrong information. I simply tried to call him to ask the question if I could still purchase insurance to cover presumed used T-Mobile Note 4 I would purchase and bring on my own. He was busy with another customer so I started to explain situation to another Rep at said store and was told that NO, a $30 to $40 purchase of one of their phones would not qualify me. It would have to be a minimum of $100 retail phone and have to be charged onto my plan at aprox $4 a month (I guess no big deal...) except for the fact that I am now becoming a bit discouraged at who knows what at T-Mobile.
And I'm awaiting a call back from original rep as I didn't get a chance to ask my question regarding insurance on my own T-Mobile Note 4 if I go this route as once the 2nd rep realized I've been in initial conversation with 1st rep, he decided to have him call me back to handle my questions.
Update: Ok, first rep called me back and verified to me that a simple purchase of a $30 phone w/o having to activate it would qualify me along with ANY smartphone trade to get my total ETF paid off, however, he did have a little bit of discouraging news to give me regarding my ability to buy insurance on plan on a T-Mobile (used) Note 4 I would be bringing in if I purchase via ebay, swappa, ect... This is a no go. They ONLY offer this insurance if purchasing directly through them. I know with Verizon, my previous Galaxy S4 I purchased on my own during contract via craigslist and was able to have Assuron at $5 something added even with it being one I brought in myself. Hrmmm... Decisions, Decisions.....

lazer9 said:
As I understand, Verizon will charge me $350 - whatever credited usage since Oct 23rd, 2014 new contract purchase. With that said, I am being told no mattter the ETF payoff, as long as I meet said requirements, T-Mobile will pay the ETF via a debit card refund in 6 - 8 weeks.
Now a little bit more confusion. The local rep I have been verifying things with as of late may be telling me some wrong information. I simply tried to call him to ask the question if I could still purchase insurance to cover presumed used T-Mobile Note 4 I would purchase and bring on my own. He was busy with another customer so I started to explain situation to another Rep at said store and was told that NO, a $30 to $40 purchase of one of their phones would not qualify me. It would have to be a minimum of $100 retail phone and have to be charged onto my plan at aprox $4 a month (I guess no big deal...) except for the fact that I am now becoming a bit discouraged at who knows what at T-Mobile.
And I'm awaiting a call back from original rep as I didn't get a chance to ask my question regarding insurance on my own T-Mobile Note 4 if I go this route as once the 2nd rep realized I've been in initial conversation with 1st rep, he decided to have him call me back to handle my questions.
Update: Ok, first rep called me back and verified to me that a simple purchase of a $30 phone w/o having to activate it would qualify me along with ANY smartphone trade to get my total ETF paid off, however, he did have a little bit of discouraging news to give me regarding my ability to buy insurance on plan on a T-Mobile (used) Note 4 I would be bringing in if I purchase via ebay, swappa, ect... This is a no go. They ONLY offer this insurance if purchasing directly through them. I know with Verizon, my previous Galaxy S4 I purchased on my own during contract via craigslist and was able to have Assuron at $5 something added even with it being one I brought in myself. Hrmmm... Decisions, Decisions.....
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Click to collapse
That's a bummer usually carriers give you the option for insurance like for say i have sprint, if i buy a used from someone else it still gives me the option to put insurance on it. Your still going to be losing money because you paid a lot for the note on verizon and your going to be giving it to tmobile for the early termination, but then you have to purchase it again from them and pay monthly for it. Tough decision, chat with tmobile rep. on their site to get more info and see if your satisfied from there.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

arielovin said:
That's a bummer usually carriers give you the option for insurance like for say i have sprint, if i buy a used from someone else it still gives me the option to put insurance on it. Your still going to be losing money because you paid a lot for the note on verizon and your going to be giving it to tmobile for the early termination, but then you have to purchase it again from them and pay monthly for it. Tough decision, chat with tmobile rep. on their site to get more info and see if your satisfied from there.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
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Click to collapse
Thanks, Actually the part about giving them my Verizon Note 4 is not going to be the case. I have another "cheap" Nokia windows phone to trade and have confirmed ANY smartphone is acceptable as the trade-in clause of getting my ETF paid off, regardless if it is not my particular Verizon one, working, ect... I plan on trying to re-coup my expenses somewhat in IF I purchase a used T-Mobile Note 4 via ebay/swappa by the resale of my Verizon Note 4 on my own via the same method.

lazer9 said:
Thanks, Actually the part about giving them my Verizon Note 4 is not going to be the case. I have another "cheap" Nokia windows phone to trade and have confirmed ANY smartphone is acceptable as the trade-in clause of getting my ETF paid off, regardless if it is not my particular Verizon one, working, ect... I plan on trying to re-coup my expenses somewhat in IF I purchase a used T-Mobile Note 4 via ebay/swappa by the resale of my Verizon Note 4 on my own via the same method.
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Click to collapse
Cool. Good luck on the switch. Inform us on what happens :thumbup:
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

arielovin said:
Cool. Good luck on the switch. Inform us on what happens :thumbup:
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. For now I believe I am going to hold out a bit.
- I was outbid on ebay.
- Concern about insurance coverage and inability to get through carrier (T-Mobile) since would be considered a "used" phone.
- Potential progress as posted in the Verizon "Let's Talk Root" thread.

Carrying through with original OP plan.
Update:
Found one on swappa and won it. Just awaiting it to be shipped. :highfive:
Also, just prior to doing that, I signed up for T-Mobile's "Test Drive" program to confirm reception, ect... - sending me a stupid I-phone as test phone, lol - never messed with one of them and never had any desire to. Oh well
Hoping I didn't put the cart ahead of the horse in regards to last two sentences before having real life opportunity to test but according to reception map and talks with local T-Mobile store, feel fairly confident.
Next steps after receiving my T-Mobile Note 4 will be to proceed with rooting - recovery - and choosing a ROM... So many decisions. :laugh:

i'm not understanding this portion " the extra taxing and fees"
All carriers charge the same surcharges and taxes (variable only depending on state)
btw i was a former verizon corp employee and i made the switch once my employment ended, wouldn't look back as i would not be paying consumer pricing with verizon. I have not noticed a diff in service, if anything wifi calling makes things a lot better everywhere i go
also http://blog.laptopmag.com/tmobile-phones-longer-battery-life

masri1987 said:
i'm not understanding this portion " the extra taxing and fees"
All carriers charge the same surcharges and taxes (variable only depending on state)
btw i was a former verizon corp employee and i made the switch once my employment ended, wouldn't look back as i would not be paying consumer pricing with verizon. I have not noticed a diff in service, if anything wifi calling makes things a lot better everywhere i go
also http://blog.laptopmag.com/tmobile-phones-longer-battery-life
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Click to collapse
I sort of get where T-Mobile is coming from regarding not being able to tell me the Fed/State/Regulatory/911/ect.... fees since it is based on given state, however, it is clearly broken down on my current Verizon Wireless Bills at the end in two separate areas.
- In regards to this though, they (T-Mobile) did try to say something about they only charge tax on the actual plan rate and this differs from how Verizon Wireless charges the taxing, ect...
- Also, regarding the "Regulatory" fee part, it is like .68 cents on my Verizon bill, whereas ironically, this was the only part of the extra fees T-Mobile could confirm to me and they claim theirs comes out to $1.60 something.
Not the end of the world really as long as they pretty much match up the same. Just concerns when trying to tally up the actual expected bill to compare a bit and especially when I'm currently Unemployed.

Looking at my most recently bill right. T-Mobile charges me the following Miscellaneous fees,
Federal Universal Service Fund
Regulatory Programs Fee
State & Local Sales Tax
Sales Telecom Excise
County Telecom Excise
MCTD Surcharge
Public Safety Communication Surcharge
County 911
lazer9 said:
I sort of get where T-Mobile is coming from regarding not being able to tell me the Fed/State/Regulatory/911/ect.... fees since it is based on given state, however, it is clearly broken down on my current Verizon Wireless Bills at the end in two separate areas.
- In regards to this though, they (T-Mobile) did try to say something about they only charge tax on the actual plan rate and this differs from how Verizon Wireless charges the taxing, ect...
- Also, regarding the "Regulatory" fee part, it is like .68 cents on my Verizon bill, whereas ironically, this was the only part of the extra fees T-Mobile could confirm to me and they claim theirs comes out to $1.60 something.
Not the end of the world really as long as they pretty much match up the same. Just concerns when trying to tally up the actual expected bill to compare a bit and especially when I'm currently Unemployed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

arjun90 said:
Looking at my most recently bill right. T-Mobile charges me the following Miscellaneous fees,
Federal Universal Service Fund
Regulatory Programs Fee
State & Local Sales Tax
Sales Telecom Excise
County Telecom Excise
MCTD Surcharge
Public Safety Communication Surcharge
County 911
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odd. I guess maybe things differ per State charges.
Example off my latest Verizon bill:
Code:
Verizon Wireless' Surcharges+
Fed Universal Service Charge 1.00
Regulatory Charge .18
Administrative Charge .95
PA Gross Receipt Surchg 2.39
Total: $4.52
Taxes, Governmental Surcharges and Fees+
PA State Wireless E911 Surchg 1.00
PA State Sales Tax 2.87
Total: $3.87