Greetings. I'm looking to confirm if I should go with a 405QA7 or if 405UA will do. (Or...?)
My requirements:
- Phone needs to work on VZW for now (don't need WiFi calling or anything exotic);
- Maybe on T-Mobile later. It's a serious possibility.
- MUST be bootloader-unlockable and/or (at least) rootable.
- Might need to downgrade one I buy from 10 to Pie (or lower), understanding ofc that ARB is always a potential issue. (I'm familiar with LG V30, assume V40 is much the same.) I always ask sellers what Android version is on a particular phone; 9 out of 10 tell me they don't know, even on unboxed/used phones.
One reason I'm asking is because I see lots of 405UAs for sale, advertised as "unlocked! will work on everything but Sprint!" or whatever. Yes or no? Not nearly as many QA7s available, especially not "New In Box".
Any clarification will be greatly appreciated. T.I.A.
Moondroid said:
Greetings. I'm looking to confirm if I should go with a 405QA7 or if 405UA will do. (Or...?)
My requirements:
- Phone needs to work on VZW for now (don't need WiFi calling or anything exotic);
- Maybe on T-Mobile later. It's a serious possibility.
- MUST be bootloader-unlockable and/or (at least) rootable.
- Might need to downgrade one I buy from 10 to Pie (or lower), understanding ofc that ARB is always a potential issue. (I'm familiar with LG V30, assume V40 is much the same.) I always ask sellers what Android version is on a particular phone; 9 out of 10 tell me they don't know, even on unboxed/used phones.
One reason I'm asking is because I see lots of 405UAs for sale, advertised as "unlocked! will work on everything but Sprint!" or whatever. Yes or no? Not nearly as many QA7s available, especially not "New In Box".
Any clarification will be greatly appreciated. T.I.A.
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Click to collapse
I guess for me it's fun to try to figure out what makes you think, or assume what, to ask this question.
So, the QA is the us open version. It's not tied to any carrier (no chance of it being locked to a carrier then, obviously).
The UA is the version that Sprint, at&t, Vzw (maybe more) use. They would certainly have a chance of being carrier locked. But, if you buy one and it say's not carrier locked... then... what's the difference?
Well, sure, it could actually be carrier locked, but if it was advertised as not, and it is, send it back?
It gets a little more complicated when you want to use it with a specific carrier, such as vzw (or sprint or at&t etc), then, you have to check with them what phones they will allow on their network and what capabilities it will have (for instance, at&t allows other (than their) phones, but only allows their phones to have capabilities like vowifi (and I think) volte).
Assuming it's a necessity you stay with vzw (at least for awhile), and you need the additional capabilities only allowed to their specific phones (determined by imei), then get a vzw UA phone. Vzw does make their kdz available (where sprint and at&t don't - but that's only really relevant if u were on vzw, crossflashed to something else, and wanted to go back - keep in mind, just crossflashing to the kdz isn't enough for carrier extra features, it has to be their phone / imei).
But, to answer your question, QA? UA? why do u think that matters? in your situation?
cheers
Thanks for replying. First I want to reduce as much as possible the risk of having to send a phone back. As for ads, I see varying info especially for the UA, and I also know that quite a few sellers don't really know what they're selling. I've had my share of "wtf" transactions especially with phone buys, and I'm really tired of wasting time that way. The more I know about a particular model/variant up front, the better.
I simply don't want a branded phone, especially one filled with VZW (or any other) junk. Had my fill of those too. (I would not do custom ROM on this phone, so need relatively clean stock firmware.) I have tons of APN info for VZW and T-Mobile, can mod settings as I might need to... as long as the bands/etc are there. One thing I know from my V30 is that even crossflashing firmware is a relatively safe and sometimes even advisable thing to do. Like my carrier-unlocked US998 was actually born as a Sprint LS998 (or at least that's how it shows on imei-checker websites), but as it is, that means pretty much nothing to me.
There was one other question I probably should've included -- which variants have Android 10 OTAs out there, or not. If not for a particular variant (or brand), then I wouldn't have to worry about downgrading that variant.
Especially thanks for confirming that the QA is in fact the US wide-open version. Honestly, it seems to be getting harder and harder to find just simple statements of detail on various points, and even reading through XDA any more (I'm sorry to say) often has me turning in circles for hours and even days at a time, looking for simple, clearly and fully stated facts. But there are still (of course) a number of very expert (and willing) folks to assist and guide the rest us not-so-expert users (and players, and experimenters) in crunch times. XDA is still gold on that score. I've unlocked/rooted/ROM'd a big handful of phones and couldn't have done any of it, wouldn't have even known possibilties, without XDA.
Way too wordy I'm sure. I'll shut up now.
Cheers mate.
Moondroid said:
Thanks for replying. First I want to reduce as much as possible the risk of
<brevity>
Way too wordy I'm sure. I'll shut up now.
Cheers mate.
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oh no, that's fine, it helps to be able to answer the questions. It *sounds* like yer not really tied to any carrier, but trying to avoid hassle / bad experiences.
I'd suggest this, go with a UA version and crossflash it to one of the 'open' variants. The US Open kdz is only 9, but 10 will hopefully come out. I personally have an at&t ua crossflashed to Korean Open 10 (30e). But after copying over my OP partition (from US Open 9), it now behaves much like us open 10. It's of course bootloader unlocked and magisk, etc.
My mvno is mint mobile, and that allows for, with slight mods to the device, volte and vowifi.
Also, swappa is a good place to look for a device. Many sellers (volume, not individual) have them new or even better, open box. And their guarantee they are unlocked can't be beat. They have a reputation and the ability to sell on swappa to protect.
I still have a v30 with us998 on it doesn't get any use anymore though...
cheers
Yeah swappa! I've bought (and sold) a bunch of phones there. But no LGs to speak of lately. Actually I sold another V30 (US998) in, get this, less than an hour -- at my full asking price. It was the only one listed. But (duh) I didn't think to check there for a V40, will do that right after posting this.
Not on contract to anybody, nope, I'm free for whatever. I've been on Vz for 20+ years, family plan more or less, done just fine with them but if I can save $10-15/mo somewhere else... why not..... (I'm not a big data user, don't need unlimited, so that's one higher cost I don't worry about.)
I've seen a lot of refs for Mint lately. But I'll be getting fiber from Ting (mvno) soon and maybe could get a discount by going mobile with them too. If they can just settle the dust on their new pricing scheme.
So back to point: No real risk in going with a UA? And crossflash it. There are defo more UAs available. OTOH, I prefer not to deal with 10 at all, so no kdz for 10 would be ok with me.
Confession: One reason I needed to ask about this phone is cuz I'm purely burnt out from scouring XDA regarding 3 other phones in the past month. (Actually more, but 3 in exhaustive detail.) So I super-appreciate your willingness to help me out. You've saved me hours I'm sure.
Moondroid said:
Yeah swappa! I've bought (and sold) a bunch of phones there. But no LGs to speak of lately. Actually I sold another V30 (US998) in, get this, less than an hour -- at my full asking price. It was the only one listed. But (duh) I didn't think to check there for a V40, will do that right after posting this.
Not on contract to anybody, nope, I'm free for whatever. I've been on Vz for 20+ years, family plan more or less, done just fine with them but if I can save $10-15/mo somewhere else... why not..... (I'm not a big data user, don't need unlimited, so that's one higher cost I don't worry about.)
I've seen a lot of refs for Mint lately. But I'll be getting fiber from Ting (mvno) soon and maybe could get a discount by going mobile with them too. If they can just settle the dust on their new pricing scheme.
So back to point: No real risk in going with a UA? And crossflash it. There are defo more UAs available. OTOH, I prefer not to deal with 10 at all, so no kdz for 10 would be ok with me.
Confession: One reason I needed to ask about this phone is cuz I'm purely burnt out from scouring XDA regarding 3 other phones in the past month. (Actually more, but 3 in exhaustive detail.) So I super-appreciate your willingness to help me out. You've saved me hours I'm sure.
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Click to collapse
hey no probs. Yeah basically, the UA is perfectly fine. The only caveat would be that if u want to be carrier specific, then it gets into have to use their specific phone for specific svcs etc.
You can crossflash any of them (except t-mo, don't buy t-mo). It seems the only ones that result in probs cross flashing are the ones (ebw) that have dual sim, and they sometimes lose one or both sims working. But US carriers don't have that variant, so no worries for us.
really the only thing to be aware of, with carriers moving to do away with 3G, you want to be sure that which phone u end with, what it's cross flashed to, and the carrier, will volte work? Because if that doesn't work, in the not to distant future u might not be able to make a call!
be aware though, if u buy at&t or sprint, they don't make their kdz available, so if u think u might want to go back to their OS, back it up first.
cheers
AsItLies said:
...
really the only thing to be aware of, with carriers moving to do away with 3G, you want to be sure that which phone u end with, what it's cross flashed to, and the carrier, will volte work? Because if that doesn't work, in the not to distant future u might not be able to make a call!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that always sits in the back of my mind these days. Checking around it looks like the V40 might be a little safer than the V30.
Oh and I already had a note that I had grabbed from somewhere, "NOT the t-mo variant" ... but didn't know about the ebw's, so thanks for that.
First I'll see if I can find a decent QA at a decent price. If not, then I'll grab a UA. Again mucho mega thanks, and have a great weekend!
Cheers and out.
Related
I currently want to try windows phone 8 because I'm a bit tired of android and I would like a smaller device while it looks like all the top android phones are going 5+ inches.
So I found out that metropcs has the Lumia 521 for $99 but I'm on T-Mobile. I searched online without finding any info so I'm asking you (the experts), will this version of the 521 work on Tmo? Are the two hardware the same?
Cheers to whoever answers me
By the way sorry for posting this here, I can't think of a better section on the forum.
Believe it or not, the "Q&A" section of the WP8 forum is actually the correct place for questions about WP8... It's OK though, I'm sure you searched really hard, but you couldn't really be expected to find it. After all, the link must be at *least* 12 pixels from the one for this sub-forum... (Sorry, not normally this snarky, but... really?)
A *very* quick online search showed that T-Mobile owns what was formerly a separate company called MetroPCS, and that MPCS has been using TMoUS's GSM/LTE network since June (they were formerly a CDMA provider, which would not have worked, so it was good to check). Seriously through, basic search, click the Wikipedia link, read the one-line section under "Network Coverage" if the rest of the page was TL;DR for you. It's vaguely possible that the phone will be SIM-locked and you'll need to unlock it to use TMo's network instead of MetroPCS', but I'm honestly not even sure if there's a difference (if there is. it's probably in things like roaming coverage and the like).
Oh, by the way, the Lumia 52x line is one of the lowest-end sets of WP8 devices. It's a great budget smartphone, but it's not going to compete with the high-end Android phones you seem to have been comparing it to.
GoodDayToDie said:
Believe it or not, the "Q&A" section of the WP8 forum is actually the correct place for questions about WP8... It's OK though, I'm sure you searched really hard, but you couldn't really be expected to find it. After all, the link must be at *least* 12 pixels from the one for this sub-forum... (Sorry, not normally this snarky, but... really?)
A *very* quick online search showed that T-Mobile owns what was formerly a separate company called MetroPCS, and that MPCS has been using TMoUS's GSM/LTE network since June (they were formerly a CDMA provider, which would not have worked, so it was good to check). Seriously through, basic search, click the Wikipedia link, read the one-line section under "Network Coverage" if the rest of the page was TL;DR for you. It's vaguely possible that the phone will be SIM-locked and you'll need to unlock it to use TMo's network instead of MetroPCS', but I'm honestly not even sure if there's a difference (if there is. it's probably in things like roaming coverage and the like).
Oh, by the way, the Lumia 52x line is one of the lowest-end sets of WP8 devices. It's a great budget smartphone, but it's not going to compete with the high-end Android phones you seem to have been comparing it to.
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Click to collapse
Thanks, you appeased my insecurities.
I wasn't comparing it, I'm just noticing small android phones have very modest hardware and I know android gives a very miserable experience on it. So maybe another OS does better.
Extra question: If it bothered you so much why did you help me? :silly:
From what I can see from the firmware releases, it's almost identical except the file sizes is smaller for Metro version.
I would not advise buying a Metro PCS one if you are using T-Mobile because the phone could be SIM Locked. There aren't cheap ways to get it unlocked liked the 520
Sent from my Nexus 4
killer23d said:
From what I can see from the firmware releases, it's almost identical except the file sizes is smaller for Metro version.
I would not advise buying a Metro PCS one if you are using T-Mobile because the phone could be SIM Locked. There aren't cheap ways to get it unlocked liked the 520
Sent from my Nexus 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just did a whole lot of reading on metro pcs. It will be locked to metro and they don't like to unlock easily. You could buy an unlock code from one of the online services. I heard they go as much as $40. Also, you can't sim swap- the phones need to be pared to their sim. To change phones you have to go to the store and have them change it :*( Their plans are $10 cheaper, but really inconvenient.
I have some really good android phones- Gnex- note 1, and I really love this lumia 521. Totally different, but really nice to learn and use.
If your on t-mobile its like 60 bucks to get one going, no need to fuss with unlocked statues etc.
for the challenged - http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phones/nokia-lumia-521.html
Nicolfa said:
If your on t-mobile its like 60 bucks to get one going, no need to fuss with unlocked statues etc.
for the challenged - http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phones/nokia-lumia-521.html
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You can also do the $30 prepaid plan- but to get it unlocked you need 2 months of service or $50 in refils. Same for PAYG. Shorter unlock time on the prepaid plans but you need the $50 refils. Just make sure if you are sim swapping you call tmo and have the lumia added to your account as the user phone- imei needs to be official.
I am coming from my last few phones being Samsung models , the Galaxy Nexus, Note 2 and 3, and the S4. The last Motorola phone I had was a Droid Razr. I left Moto because the hardware specks started to decline, no sd-slot, no removable battery, less desirable construction. I came back due to Samsung's questionable antenna and radio package. I never really had good strong signal with Samsung though. So, Motorola finally comes out with a beast of a phone in the specs catagory, although still no sd or battery pull but my signal is amazing, reception just about everywhere. So I'm confused why is there no development for the US Verizon Turbo? To me it seems like a no brainer.
That one is easy to answer... Until a vulnerability is found and exploited and root is achieved there is no platform to develop on. That doesn't mean that there isn't anyone working on it, just that not much is going to happen until root is achieved.
Then how do we get some of the heavy hitting android minds on this thing? It really is the best specimen out there currently.
PerCompLLC said:
That one is easy to answer... Until a vulnerability is found and exploited and root is achieved there is no platform to develop on. That doesn't mean that there isn't anyone working on it, just that not much is going to happen until root is achieved.
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Click to collapse
I'm sorry, maybe I'm being a newbie here, but I never understood the software difference between Droid Turbo and Moto Maxx that makes the last rootable and the first not. Is it just the bootloader?
You can unlock the Moto Maxx bootloader. You cannot unlock the Turbo's. Plain and simple.
DarkLey said:
I'm sorry, maybe I'm being a newbie here, but I never understood the software difference between Droid Turbo and Moto Maxx that makes the last rootable and the first not. Is it just the bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Two words. Unlockable bootloader.
DarkLey said:
I'm sorry, maybe I'm being a newbie here, but I never understood the software difference between Droid Turbo and Moto Maxx that makes the last rootable and the first not. Is it just the bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All bootloaders can be unlocked by the manufacturer. But in the case of the Verizon variant (Droid Turbo) Verizon has asked/told Motorola to keep the bootloader locked. Ergo the need for a vulnerability - and someone who knows how to exploit it.
Everything I've been reading indicates that root for the Turbo is a long shot, since the folks that do that stuff really don't want to spend the efforts on a phone that's strictly on only one carryier, Verizon in this case.
this_is_nascar said:
Everything I've been reading indicates that root for the Turbo is a long shot, since the folks that do that stuff really don't want to spend the efforts on a phone that's strictly on only one carryier, Verizon in this case.
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Click to collapse
Don't blame it on that. The Thunderbolt was exclusive and had root before it even was officially released.
It more boils down to that those who can do it have day jobs and probably don't have the phone nor care to have it.
adrynalyne said:
Don't blame it on that. The Thunderbolt was exclusive and had root before it even was officially released.
It more boils down to that those who can do it have day jobs and probably don't have the phone nor care to have it.
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Click to collapse
Like I said, I really don't know. I'm just repeating what I've said, however I can understand your point as well.
Are there any recognized developers that even have the phone? I know its a bad idea to purchase devices and "loan" them to developers, but I feel like we should donate a few. Something like the bounty for root, but the money funds devices ahead of time. Find a few devs that would be interested and give them the device. It would have to be no strings attached though, if the Dev had no success people couldn't demand their money back. You would know ahead of time that you were donating for the chance at root, not a guarantee. Probably would just end up being an ordeal, but we really need capable devs with the device to take a look. I feel like at this point were just waiting for another moto device to get rooted that happens to work for us.
No root, no recovery, but moto maxx its same device basic "quark" have root and recovery too, but no roms or kernel, the real problem is device dont sell in all countrys, so no devs until now.
georgiadog3 said:
I am coming from my last few phones being Samsung models , the Galaxy Nexus, Note 2 and 3, and the S4. The last Motorola phone I had was a Droid Razr. I left Moto because the hardware specks started to decline, no sd-slot, no removable battery, less desirable construction. I came back due to Samsung's questionable antenna and radio package. I never really had good strong signal with Samsung though. So, Motorola finally comes out with a beast of a phone in the specs catagory, although still no sd or battery pull but my signal is amazing, reception just about everywhere. So I'm confused why is there no development for the US Verizon Turbo? To me it seems like a no brainer.
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Click to collapse
I know this thread isnt about sd card slot, but why not go and use a otg usb sd mount stick? Its like having a sd card.
I am guessing that since Verizon is furnishing mobile and internet to some major corporations, the corporate environment wants to have phones secure. Hence that is why they want the bootloader locked as to appeal to the major companies and sell more phones. That was the reason it was when I worked for a major company.
web_ninja said:
I am guessing that since Verizon is furnishing mobile and internet to some major corporations, the corporate environment wants to have phones secure. Hence that is why they want the bootloader locked as to appeal to the major companies and sell more phones. That was the reason it was when I worked for a major company.
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That is not the reason. All carriers have deals like that and not all of them are locking bootloaders.
Verizon is doing it for warranty, support, and insurance reasons.
adrynalyne said:
That is not the reason. All carriers have deals like that and not all of them are locking bootloaders.
Verizon is doing it for warranty, support, and insurance reasons.
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Click to collapse
I am making the switch to tmobile at the end of the day today because verizon straight out is trying to over charge for stuff on the bill that shouldnt be there. No one on my account has ever used the visual voicemail paid version nor gone over usage and my fiancees line is said to be 600 dollars or more a month. Not happening. I called tmobile and talked to them for a bit, and explained to her about the bill she gave me the best deal plus with unlimited data for 70 a month. Bringing over my nexus 6. After that was all done I just randomly asked questions about locked bootloaders and root, and the lady spoken clear as day is we are not verizon or att. We support the development community (root and unlocked bootloaders), and that all devices are unlockable in that sense. Tmobile is a go to company for me. Yes some of the service is spotty but still its well worth it for having to deal with verizon since 1998. She even brought up that she is currently using an s5 with cyanogenmod. They actually allow their employees to do that stuff to their work phones as long as they know how to return to stock. Verizon you have been ok in the past but i am out.
Have a good day guys. Happy flashing
the_rooter said:
I am making the switch to tmobile at the end of the day today because verizon straight out is trying to over charge for stuff on the bill that shouldnt be there. No one on my account has ever used the visual voicemail paid version nor gone over usage and my fiancees line is said to be 600 dollars or more a month. Not happening. I called tmobile and talked to them for a bit, and explained to her about the bill she gave me the best deal plus with unlimited data for 70 a month. Bringing over my nexus 6. After that was all done I just randomly asked questions about locked bootloaders and root, and the lady spoken clear as day is we are not verizon or att. We support the development community (root and unlocked bootloaders), and that all devices are unlockable in that sense. Tmobile is a go to company for me. Yes some of the service is spotty but still its well worth it for having to deal with verizon since 1998. She even brought up that she is currently using an s5 with cyanogenmod. They actually allow their employees to do that stuff to their work phones as long as they know how to return to stock. Verizon you have been ok in the past but i am out.
Have a good day guys. Happy flashing
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Click to collapse
I tried T-Mobile a couple of months ago for exactly the reasons you described. I wanted to stay with them so badly but I just couldn't deal the spotty coverage. Ended up back with Verizon. Hopefully you have better luck!
the_rooter said:
I am making the switch to tmobile at the end of the day today because verizon straight out is trying to over charge for stuff on the bill that shouldnt be there. No one on my account has ever used the visual voicemail paid version nor gone over usage and my fiancees line is said to be 600 dollars or more a month. Not happening. I called tmobile and talked to them for a bit, and explained to her about the bill she gave me the best deal plus with unlimited data for 70 a month. Bringing over my nexus 6. After that was all done I just randomly asked questions about locked bootloaders and root, and the lady spoken clear as day is we are not verizon or att. We support the development community (root and unlocked bootloaders), and that all devices are unlockable in that sense. Tmobile is a go to company for me. Yes some of the service is spotty but still its well worth it for having to deal with verizon since 1998. She even brought up that she is currently using an s5 with cyanogenmod. They actually allow their employees to do that stuff to their work phones as long as they know how to return to stock. Verizon you have been ok in the past but i am out.
Have a good day guys. Happy flashing
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Click to collapse
As far as T-Mobile is concerned I hope you live in a better coverage area than I. Typically if you only stick to cities then your good but if your on the out skirts or in rural areas your screwed on signal. Even though the coverage map said to be strong network coverage where I lived it just wasn't so.
I happened to purchase this phone expecting the development to be near non existent. I was wanting to see if I could use a phone that was non-rooted and bootloader locked for a period of time as I have never done this before in all the years I have used smart phones.
good luck with T-Mobile though.. love what they are doing just hated the service coverage areas.....
bkeaver said:
As far as T-Mobile is concerned I hope you live in a better coverage area than I. Typically if you only stick to cities then your good but if your on the out skirts or in rural areas your screwed on signal. Even though the coverage map said to be strong network coverage where I lived it just wasn't so.
I happened to purchase this phone expecting the development to be near non existent. I was wanting to see if I could use a phone that was non-rooted and bootloader locked for a period of time as I have never done this before in all the years I have used smart phones.
good luck with T-Mobile though.. love what they are doing just hated the service coverage areas.....
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Click to collapse
Don't switch trust me, I just switched from managing T-maybe to managing Verizon I switched all my lines and have never been happier with the choice. T-Mobile even in a metro area constantly drops calls.
kwyrt said:
I tried T-Mobile a couple of months ago for exactly the reasons you described. I wanted to stay with them so badly but I just couldn't deal the spotty coverage. Ended up back with Verizon. Hopefully you have better luck!
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I switched as well a few months ago and the coverage was so spotty I had to switch back. Good luck though.
Hi!
First off, I didn't know where this belongs, so I'm sorry in advance if this is the wrong part of the forum.
My wife and I are moving to Santa Monica in August, and one of my biggest struggles right now is figuring out what American carrier to go with (yep, this is MY issue to handle, since I'm the phonegeek in the family). I'll start off with telling you what we're used to here in Sweden, and I hope you can help us pick a carrier and maybe even a plan that will fit our usage after the big move.
We always buy our phones unlocked from electronics stores, ALWAYS. I'm currently using the OnePlus One which should be working fine in the U.S., but I am planning on getting an LG G4 in a few months. Wifey's got an iPhone 5S (European version, guessing she'll have to replace it in order to use 4G/LTE IB the U.S?) I suppose it depends on what carrier we choose, but if signing up for a plan and getting the phone along with it is a better option than cashing it we're of course willing to do so (I have absolutely no idea how this stuff works in America, as you might've understood by now...).
We're currently using Telenor, on a shared family plan. The cost for this is roughly $85 a month. It includes a shared 24GB of data, unlimited calls and unlimited texts. To be honest, this is way beyond what we ever use, so cutting the data amount in half should be no problem at all. We don't text or call that much either, but it's nice to have the ability to do so if needed.
From what I understand, Verizon locks their phones down tight. Locked bootloaders, SIM locked and whatnot. If this really is the case Verizon really isn't a viable option considering the fact that I'm an avid flasher of roms. My wife doesn't really care much about that stuff though, she's all iPhone all the way.
Any advice, thought or opinion is welcome and highly appreciated!
UPS or Fedex
Sent from my LG-E610 using XDA Free mobile app
Tmobile. I hate verizon for the same reasons. But, I've heard people in that part of Cali say it's got good service.
But, if no verizon. Then tmobile
And, yes verizon does that.
Karakoram2 said:
Tmobile. I hate verizon for the same reasons. But, I've heard people in that part of Cali say it's got good service.
But, if no verizon. Then tmobile
And, yes verizon does that.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply! I've read good stuff about T-Mobile so I think that's what I'll go with. Apparently I'll get 4G with a European LG G4 with them aswell so that suits me great.
Upgrading from a very buggy Galaxy S4 here. (The bugs are my fault and I'm not savvy enough to fix them, so I just deal with them.) Have a few questions about which version of the S6 I should get because I'm seeing a lot of info and I'm not really sure what all of it means, so hopefully you guys can give me straight and simple answers.
1. I'm currently on Straight Talk using AT&T. However, Verizon is overall the best in my area, so if I get switched to a new client where AT&T doesn't work I may need to change back to Page Plus quickly. I'm seeing conflicting information on the unlocked versions of these phones, but there does seem to be hope out there that it's possible for some versions to be able to switch between the two easily. Which version do I want if I want to be able to switch between AT&T and Verizon? If you're bored and want to look or know of a handy link where I can buy one of these phones, please feel free to toss it at me. eBay sellers 75% of the time don't seem to know what they're selling when it comes to unlocked phones.
2. An out-of-the-box, working mobile hotspot feature is extremely important to me. My S4 is messed up primarily because my attempt at making the hotspot work didn't go as easily as it was supposed to. I've seen on these forums that some users are saying that at least the Verizon version will work if you use FoxFi, no rooting or tether file hacking required (so no risk of me breaking my phone, yay). I have the paid version of FoxFi already, so that's good news if it's true. Confirm/deny and is the same true for the AT&T version if I had to get that instead?
In case it makes any difference: I'm not really set on getting the Edge if I have to get the regular S6 for the above features, I just couldn't decide which forum to post this in.
Thanks all!
Hello,
Apologies in advance if this is discussed already. I tried but couldn't find this specific question discussed.
I bought this USA unlocked, carrier-agnostic version of LG V40 ThinQ (LM-V405QA) from a reputed warehouse club in US. Has been working fine with AT&T since January 2020. I had to get it because previous Samsung phone would not get Android 9. But I had used it for 4 years.
Now I must have Android 10 for my company apps to work. AT&T tried but could not push Android 10 to my phone. Probably because their version of this phone is different by a letter or digit.
Am I at the mercy of LG and must wait until they release Android 10 to USA unlocked version?
Thanks
You are right, it has been discussed many many times already, and unfortunately, you are not going to find a specific question because people tend to use their own way of asking.
There is no easy and fast way, if you want to wait for LG to update it may take a long time or
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v40/how-to/sprint-crossflash-to-unlocked-pie-t3989149
I suggest you use the Verizon rom, that's the one that gets the fastest updates ...
There are, as mentioned, other options than waiting for LG (I do wish they would make that available soon). Another options besides vzw would be the Korean Open V409N (android 10), that's what I'm using, in the states. It does have a few more idiosyncrasies compared to say vzw, but it's an 'Open' version, thus not tied to any carrier, so only LG's bloatware.
I'm using the V409n myself now and the only thing I've not got to work is vowifi, but volte does work. Everything else seems to function normally. A major consideration when crossflashing is 'which rom supports the bands I need'? For at&t I think the vzw rom has all those bands, but if u want b71 for t-mo, then you'd need the us OP (a10 not out yet) OR, amazingly, the Korean v409n has b71.
keep in mind, crossflashing can lead to issues. I'd suggest backing up vital partitions **before** u do any crossflashing, just having the kdz **will not** restore it to factory.
cheers
AsItLies said:
There are, as mentioned, other options than waiting for LG (I do wish they would make that available soon). Another options besides vzw would be the Korean Open V409N (android 10), that's what I'm using, in the states. It does have a few more idiosyncrasies compared to say vzw, but it's an 'Open' version, thus not tied to any carrier, so only LG's bloatware.
I'm using the V409n myself now and the only thing I've not got to work is vowifi, but volte does work. Everything else seems to function normally. A major consideration when crossflashing is 'which rom supports the bands I need'? For at&t I think the vzw rom has all those bands, but if u want b71 for t-mo, then you'd need the us OP (a10 not out yet) OR, amazingly, the Korean v409n has b71.
keep in mind, crossflashing can lead to issues. I'd suggest backing up vital partitions **before** u do any crossflashing, just having the kdz **will not** restore it to factory.
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Question, you have an actual V409N or some other 405 crossflashed like one.
Asking cause I have a UA (Sprint) crossflashed to QA that I use on T-Mobile. Okay without VoWifi, need VoLTE. I saw this V409NO30d_00_OPEN_KR_OP_0716.kdz. Wondering if it will work well with T-Mo in the US on a V405. That jump from 5 to 9 makes me doubtful.
Omizuke said:
Question, you have an actual V409N or some other 405 crossflashed like one.
Asking cause I have a UA (Sprint) crossflashed to QA that I use on T-Mobile. Okay without VoWifi, need VoLTE. I saw this V409NO30d_00_OPEN_KR_OP_0716.kdz. Wondering if it will work well with T-Mo in the US on a V405. That jump from 5 to 9 makes me doubtful.
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Click to collapse
Mine was (is) originally an UA at&t, not the korean. I'm in the states also, so no way I'd buy an oem Korean phone. The thing about volte and vowifi on t-mo, they allow it even with byo phones, but your sim (mvno types) have to be capable of it. I use Mint Mobile and had vowifi and volte - when I was using the US Open (QA) Pie rom. But I had to add (free) that feature (vowifi) on my mint mobile account.
Since you have qa, I would think volte would be working, what sim (t-mo) do u have? Not an mvno? As far as the korean rom goes, the 405 vs 409 isn't due to some incremental aspect, so there's no issue there. It's just an identifying Korea type number. But, I'd say if you don't have volte with QA Pie, then it's questionable you would get it working with korean rom.
do you know why volte isn't working for you now? Have you been given some 'official' explanation for that?
AsItLies said:
Mine was (is) originally an UA at&t, not the korean. I'm in the states also, so no way I'd buy an oem Korean phone. The thing about volte and vowifi on t-mo, they allow it even with byo phones, but your sim (mvno types) have to be capable of it. I use Mint Mobile and had vowifi and volte - when I was using the US Open (QA) Pie rom. But I had to add (free) that feature (vowifi) on my mint mobile account.
Since you have qa, I would think volte would be working, what sim (t-mo) do u have? Not an mvno? As far as the korean rom goes, the 405 vs 409 isn't due to some incremental aspect, so there's no issue there. It's just an identifying Korea type number. But, I'd say if you don't have volte with QA Pie, then it's questionable you would get it working with korean rom.
do you know why volte isn't working for you now? Have you been given some 'official' explanation for that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh no, my VoLTE is currently working fine. Just pointing out that is something I can't lose. Where I am I have amazing LTE coverage. The 2/3G is not so great so phones that don't support it suffer on the calls. And I'm on a official T-mo Sim. Although coincidently I was recently looking at Mint, I came across this $90 all unlimited for 3 months. But it said it would reduce to 128 Kbps after 35GB and might further reduce it. And I use way over that. This last 2 months I went over 80GB... Wish carriers would start releasing plans base on speed not amount. I wouldn't mind 3-8 Mbps capped speed if it was cheap. I digress....
Phone, yeah, so to summarize. You got a UA, that you crossflashed to QA at some point (like me). But then to get Android 10 you cf to a 9N Open Kr and everything works fine except for the VoWiFi.
I did come across a reddit post of someone that also has a working 409N OS working on a UA it seems it does gets the 71. Was skeptical since it's not written on its specs on any site.
I know have 2 other questions. Did you went straight from QA Pie to 9N 10?
Thing is I am currently testing HavocOS. (Frankly, not impressed. Not Havoc, Android 10 in general. I think I like Android less and less with every update) Anyway. Not sure if jump directly to latest Kr kdz. The last Open is only 1 GB, which is about 1/4 of the last Pie. Wondering if something is missing. So thinking of going to last Pie kdz first and then update to the V409NO30d_00_OPEN_KR_OP_0716.kdz.
My second question would be: Are you experience any particular noticeable bug? I read that for some people the ATT/VZ update brought some problems. But unclear if its just an update problem from the carriers, a problem that don't happen if you factory reset. Or problems involving Android 10 on the V40, potentially affecting all V40. Although latest Kor Open been from August, they had enough time to fix any issues.
Omizuke said:
Oh no, my VoLTE is currently working fine. Just pointing out that is something I can't lose. Where I am I have amazing LTE coverage. The 2/3G is not so great so phones that don't support it suffer on the calls. And I'm on a official T-mo Sim. Although coincidently I was recently looking at Mint, I came across this $90 all unlimited for 3 months. But it said it would reduce to 128 Kbps after 35GB and might further reduce it. And I use way over that. This last 2 months I went over 80GB... Wish carriers would start releasing plans base on speed not amount. I wouldn't mind 3-8 Mbps capped speed if it was cheap. I digress....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well then, the thing to know about getting volte on 409N is that it's a kind of a hack. It's not officially supported. So, because this isn't my daily driver phone, I've messed around with it trying to get vowifi and now volte isn't working, for some reason. Thus, I hesitate to recommend it if you depend on volte working consistently.
Omizuke said:
Phone, yeah, so to summarize. You got a UA, that you crossflashed to QA at some point (like me). But then to get Android 10 you cf to a 9N Open Kr and everything works fine except for the VoWiFi.
I did come across a reddit post of someone that also has a working 409N OS working on a UA it seems it does gets the 71. Was skeptical since it's not written on its specs on any site.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's what I did. 71 does def work, surprisingly (saw the specs it would not also). I used LTE discovery and in the SVC / Field Test menu selected ONLY band71, it connected to a nearby 71 tower. So the 409N does support it, although it's not available in Korea :-|
Omizuke said:
I know have 2 other questions. Did you went straight from QA Pie to 9N 10?
Thing is I am currently testing HavocOS. (Frankly, not impressed. Not Havoc, Android 10 in general. I think I like Android less and less with every update) Anyway. Not sure if jump directly to latest Kr kdz. The last Open is only 1 GB, which is about 1/4 of the last Pie. Wondering if something is missing. So thinking of going to last Pie kdz first and then update to the V409NO30d_00_OPEN_KR_OP_0716.kdz.
My second question would be: Are you experience any particular noticeable bug? I read that for some people the ATT/VZ update brought some problems. But unclear if its just an update problem from the carriers, a problem that don't happen if you factory reset. Or problems involving Android 10 on the V40, potentially affecting all V40. Although latest Kor Open been from August, they had enough time to fix any issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Havoc is lineage based right? Thus it doesn't have vowifi or volte? Not sure how that would meet your needs? And that 1GB indication on the firmware site is wrong, it will be about 4GB when downloaded. It's the full rom. CF does seem to cause issues, but I found with the 409N anyway, if initially did a partition DL, then, before changing anything in the phone, do a refurbish with the same kdz, and it didn't have any problems with nt-code, but I did have to enter the S/N in the ftm partition, for that to show up in the 'about' menu.
It seems though, if you want to be on 10 and have reliable volte, it's either wait for the NA OP to become available, or get a carrier specific device and use their network. I think I'm going back to NA OP 9, as everything works no issues at all.
cheers
Well, I should add, I did a bit of a refurbish this morning, actually a Part DL of everything I might have changed, inadvertently, trying to get vowifi to work. And now, volte is working just fine again.
So, it isn't 'officially' working, as mentioned. That may not be the way some want to go if they depend on it to always work...
cheers
AsItLies said:
Well then, the thing to know about getting volte on 409N is that it's a kind of a hack. It's not officially supported. So, because this isn't my daily driver phone, I've messed around with it trying to get vowifi and now volte isn't working, for some reason. Thus, I hesitate to recommend it if you depend on volte working consistently.
Yes, that's what I did. 71 does def work, surprisingly (saw the specs it would not also). I used LTE discovery and in the SVC / Field Test menu selected ONLY band71, it connected to a nearby 71 tower. So the 409N does support it, although it's not available in Korea :-|
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah, I'm constantly messing with the Bands to force it to connect to specific towers. Sometime it will keep connecting to some nearby that are constantly congested. So I just turn those off. But when I go to the next town I have to re-enable them. I use Lte Discovery and Network Cell Info Lite.
AsItLies said:
Havoc is lineage based right? Thus it doesn't have vowifi or volte? Not sure how that would meet your needs? And that 1GB indication on the firmware site is wrong, it will be about 4GB when downloaded. It's the full rom. CF does seem to cause issues, but I found with the 409N anyway, if initially did a partition DL, then, before changing anything in the phone, do a refurbish with the same kdz, and it didn't have any problems with nt-code, but I did have to enter the S/N in the ftm partition, for that to show up in the 'about' menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe so, and as far as I know there are no AOSP with VoLTE. But it doesn't affect me, I'm just playing with it while I decide what to do since I had to format it. Taking advantage before I refill it. My SIM is on my V20. Still going strong, on it's third battery thou. So glad is replaceable. It lacks some bands that the V40 has, particularly the new towers in my area. But otherwise I like it better. The actual second screen for notifications and shortcuts, the IR for the TV and a removable battery. Latest V phones are just too similar to the rest. But I'll stick with them for the Quad-DAC and Amp.
And thanks for the info. I'll keep it in mind.
AsItLies said:
It seems though, if you want to be on 10 and have reliable volte, it's either wait for the NA OP to become available, or get a carrier specific device and use their network. I think I'm going back to NA OP 9, as everything works no issues at all.
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I honestly don't think there will be an NA OP 10. And I wasn't sure you could downgrade from 10 to 9 without tripping something. Didn't looked it up. Got too used that some of my other new devices all have anti-rollback. Limiting how high you can go before locking you up. And as stated before the newer the Android the less I like it. It has turn me off of the modding, seems more restrictive every generation. Had I know I would've just test it myself. lol Hence why I was asking so many questions, I was looking at it as a permanent step up. And the custom ROM for the v40, or well LG in general, is lack luster. Once 10 I'd be stuck between stock or LineageOS. Think I'll just give it a go. If you downgrade let me know how it turned out.
Omizuke said:
Oh yeah, I
brevity...
d out.
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Hey! thought I should let you know as you're interested in exactly this also. I just tried something I thought would simply not boot and would have to re-flash all over again. But no! I copied over the OPEN_US partition from us open Pie, into the V409N korean open directory. There was one cfg file I had to change to point to it rather than the old OPEN_KR directory (renamed it to OPEN_KR_ori).
Boom! Now I have vowifi and volte and they work exactly as they do on us open Pie! Get the HD and wifi indication icons on the little dialer phone symbol as well!!
pretty damn awesome, so it can be made to work wooohooo hahahaha
AsItLies said:
Hey! thought I should let you know as you're interested in exactly this also. I just tried something I thought would simply not boot and would have to re-flash all over again. But no! I copied over the OPEN_US partition from us open Pie, into the V409N korean open directory. There was one cfg file I had to change to point to it rather than the old OPEN_KR directory (renamed it to OPEN_KR_ori).
Boom! Now I have vowifi and volte and they work exactly as they do on us open Pie! Get the HD and wifi indication icons on the little dialer phone symbol as well!!
pretty damn awesome, so it can be made to work wooohooo hahahaha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for letting me know. I had just noticed your post on the [Crossflash] AT&T tread and was trying it. When I did whoever build the android for the US devices decided to violated my device, uninstall the LG Messaging app and install the google messaging app. Without my consent, and make it so that the LG one wouldn't work even if you tried installing it. Along with other apps like LGPay and LGUpdateCenter. That pissed me off.
Something I hated from the V40 vs the V20 was the googlefing everything. For one, the SMS app on the V20 is many times better, including the customization and independent sizing. You can have you system with one font size but on the sms app you can pinch to soom and increase everything if you need. The one on OpenKR Android 10 also has this feature. Google messenger doesn't. And second, really hate google forcing their everything down your throat. If i wanted a closed ecosystem I'd used iOS. My main reason for rooting is to get rid of bloatware, including most of what google now add on phones. Google folder has more crap than the carriers one lol.
BUT it was an easy fix and I ended up learning something. So I'll call it a win.
In the config folder, the featureset xml files there's a line with "set_default_sms_app_to_googlemessenger" it'll allow for the LG/Android Messaging to work. I had already backed up the apk because I had tried to use in on other the other kdz, didn't worked then, now I know why. But apkpure has it. AND the phone still do. On that same config folder there is the custom_apk_list.cfg file. It shows the apps it removed and the one it install. And you can fallow the path on that cfg file to the apk. (/system/product/priv-app/LGMessage) for the SMS app. Gotta delete the "featureset" line and reboot to get it to run. Oh, and the line on the cfg line file. Tho I just deleted the whole file altogether. With this new found info if I go back to 9 I'll know what to look for to get the stock Android sms app to work. There's more info among those xml. And the boot and power off sounds. So yay for custom sounds.
That said, tried the T-Mo sim and I'm not getting VoLTE. I did the FTM and everything. I'm gonna try one more time. But using Kor refurbish and see how it goes from there. If it doesn't work I'll just go back to Open US Pie and leave it be. I really did like the look on it. Native dark theme work so much better than the themes I had.
AsItLies said:
Deleted
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