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I've reached the end of my patience with phones purchased from AT&T and their (lack of) upgrades. So I'm considering buying a new Samsung S& edge unlocked (SM-G935F) from an eBay seller. I have some questions about this process. I looked online but didn't find answers to my questions. If there's an online resource, feel free to redirect me.
Assumptions:
1) I'm satisfied with AT&T as a carrier.
2) Customer in good standing. No contract commitments.
3) I have as S6 with working AT&T nano-sim.
4) I'm fine purchasing for cash. I'm not interested in AT&T's Next plans.
Questions:
1) Do I simply move the sim to the new phone? Is any registration of the new phone/IMEI required with AT&T? Do I have to setup a new APN? Does call forwarding function the same?
2) Are there any features I lose vs. an AT&T branded phone? Samsung Pay? Any others?
3) AT&T uses LTE bands 2,4,5,17. So does the SM-G935F. So I should get the same LTE performance I would get with an AT&T branded phone, right?
4) How do I get system updates? With an AT&T branded phone, I get them OTA thru Settings>About Device>Software Update. How does this work with an unbranded phone when Samsung releases an update?
5) Do I get any support of the phone from AT&T or Samsung? No warranty, correct?
6) Are there any other pluses or minuses to this approach.
I will be going this route for the S7 as well. It's an expensive option but at least I won't have AT&T crapware and faster updates.
In my experience with previous unlocked phones, the SIM card can just be inserted into the new phone and it will automatically configure the data, mms, and voicemail settings.
Provided the phone you are purchasing supports the required LTE bands, there should be no difference in speed.
There will be no support from AT&T and the warranty is not valid within the U.S.
AFAIK Samsung Pay does not work on the international versions in the U.S. This is what will suck because I happen to like Samsung Pay.
AFAIK, your understanding is correct on all your points. I have an unlocked US Cellular moto e that I use as an alternate to my S6, I swap my SIM back and forth with no issues, and there is no official ATT support for the version of moto e that I have, so I can't imagine you'd have any issues getting the phone up and running. You may have to manually enter your APN, but that info is widely available and it's easy to do. Not sure how updates would work.
Only other consideration is that the int'l version uses an Exynos processor rather than the Snapdragon in the ATT version. From the reviews I've seen, the exynos beats the snapdragon slightly in performance and battery life. It's likely going to make development of custom ROMs for the S7 considerably slower than if it were snapdragon based though. However, the locked bootloader on the ATT one will = zero development unless it gets unlocked (I'm guessing that's very unlikely). So this probably doesn't matter too much.
There will also be no Voice over LTE (HD voice ) on the international version should that be a priority for you
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk
VoLTE would be nice. Any idea when AT&T plans to make that available for non-iPhones?
How are software updates delivered?
VoLTE is available on certain phone already. S6 and others support it. Depends on your area, so you will have to check the map.
iceman4357 said:
VoLTE is available on certain phone already. S6 and others support it. Depends on your area, so you will have to check the map.
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Yes but only on AT&T branded Android phones and iphones. The OP was speaking of an unbranded international version Galaxy S6 S7 which does not support volte
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk
I'm the OP. It appears that AT&T-branded S7's support VoLTE (HDVoice) as does (somewhat to my surprise) my S6, though I've never been aware of it based on any calls I've made or received. HDVoice appears to be available throughout my SF Bay Area. But, if I understand correctly, this would be a feature I would lose with an unbranded international phone (or, presumably, with an unlocked phone from, say, T-Mobile with an AT&T sim). Correct?
What about features that AT&T removed? Like download booster, simple sharing, and smart manager? These appear to be Samsung additions that were removed from AT&T-branded S6's. Would they be available on an unlocked, unbranded international version? (I'm not sure I would use these, but it's annoying to have them stripped by the carrier.)
And the remaining question that I haven't heard an answer to: how do I get upgrades? OTA (from who)? Download from somewhere & install with Smart Switch (or some other software)? Something Else?
Thanks for your help so far.
If I remember correctly you can download updated ota just like you do now. It just comes from Samsung not at&t.
All the carrier bloat is gone, and all factory apps will be there because there is no one to strip it from the phone.
BUT
If you buy an unlocked t-mobile phone you will have to Odin the updates. I used a verizon s4 with t-mobile I had to manually update everything myself through XDA and odin.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using XDA Premium HD app
I sold my S6 Edge in December and swapped it with a Tmobile unlocked S6 Edge and what a good decision. Got my Marshmallow update this week and the phone felt new again. So much quicker and boosted my Antutu scores too.
8 year AT&T customer and I'm not coming back. LTE speeds and signal is great with Tmobile and unlimited video streaming.
https://store.google.com/product/nexus_6p Starts at $449. Monthly updates. Easy rooting. Easy everything. Great phone.
Came back here to see if any progress made on S6 bootloader unlock and/or rooting (for a friend), and saw this.
Switched to a Nexus when the Nexus 5 came out. I will never, ever, buy a non-Nexus phone ever again. You should be in full control of whatever hardware you buy. Control should never be dictated by a carrier.
Just thought I'd toss in my own perspective (from a former original Galaxy S then S3 owner). Never had any issues at all with my Nexus 5 or 6P. If you have the money, you won't regret a 6P purchase.
If you don't have that kind of money, I think the 4th Gen Moto G (soon to be released, leaks everywhere this week) will probably be the strongest choice.
Pig Vomit said:
https://store.google.com/product/nexus_6p Starts at $449. Monthly updates. Easy rooting. Easy everything. Great phone.
Came back here to see if any progress made on S6 bootloader unlock and/or rooting (for a friend), and saw this.
Switched to a Nexus when the Nexus 5 came out. I will never, ever, buy a non-Nexus phone ever again. You should be in full control of whatever hardware you buy. Control should never be dictated by a carrier.
Just thought I'd toss in my own perspective (from a former original Galaxy S then S3 owner). Never had any issues at all with my Nexus 5 or 6P. If you have the money, you won't regret a 6P purchase.
If you don't have that kind of money, I think the 4th Gen Moto G (soon to be released, leaks everywhere this week) will probably be the strongest choice.
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Except there's no Smart Stay or Samsung Pay, both features I use and rely on. I'd buy an unlocked Samsung before a a Nexus.
I ordered a T-Mobile sim to test out the carrier where I live, I need to unlock my AT&T S6 Edge first but after that I plan on getting the new Nexus and selling my S6. I simply can't take AT&T's horrible service anymore.
I'm the OP and am back to report. I bought an S7E (G935F) on Amazon (from one of their Marketplace sellers), complete with Prime 2-day free shipping (& no tax). All works as expected:
1) dropping in my old AT&T SIM works fine. No need to call AT&T. No need to configure APNs. Voice calls, SMS, MMS, and LTE data all seem to work correctly. My LTE connection appeared to be on Band 2 in my area.
2) Of course, no AT&T crapware. Features deleted by AT&T are available (download booster, simple sharing, etc.) and work correctly. The Samsung-bundled Microsoft apps (and free 100GB OneDrive) are present.
3) OTA system software updates appear to be available, but there haven't been any.
4) Mine came with Arabic (?!) (and English) printed instructions but the phone sets up fine in English. The (apparently original, sealed) box included a European (Type-C) 2 pin power adapter (with a European-to-US adapter packed separately).
The only unexpected things I've encountered are:
1) changing the VoiceMail configuration. VM works (calls forward to VM as expected and I can retrieve VMs both by calling and using Visual VM app). The only thing I so far unable to do is CHANGE the VM configuration. I can't change the number I forward to (like Call Forward Always to another number, like a colleague). I get a Network Error message when loading the Phone/More Settings page or trying to set a new number. My wife has an AT&T LG G3 that has exactly the same problem. The HTC One M8 (where the S7E SIM came from) VM configuration worked correctly. But an AT&T Samsung S6 works correctly. I haven't found a way around this for any of the phones. I'm wondering if this is some kind of security provision (so that I can't "borrow" your SIM and change the call forwarding to re-route your incoming calls).
2) When I view my AT&T account online, the picture of the phone changed from it's previous model (HTC One M8) to Device Unknown. A minor detail, to be sure, but curious.
So, after a week, I would not hesitate to do this again in the future.
Glad It Worked out For you, I considered an unlocked model but don't want to loose HD Voice and wifi calling (once it arrives). I personally can hear an incredible differnce with HD voice enabled. couldnt care less about it, but video calling would also be lost with unlocked varient.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk
You are correct & I neglected to mention that HDVoice, WiFi Calling, and Video Calling are absent in the International version. It would be nice to have those, but not critical for me. Voice, in general, is less and less important for me. There is video call button in my dialer but it doesn't appear to do anything useful, at least that I've been able to uncover. I have HDVoice on my AT&T S6 and in the few instances that I've had a potential HDVoice call (to a friend's AT&T S7E), I frankly couldn't detect a noticeable difference. I don't know how to see an indication of whether a call is HDVoice or not.
jc95 said:
You are correct & I neglected to mention that HDVoice, WiFi Calling, and Video Calling are absent in the International version. It would be nice to have those, but not critical for me. Voice, in general, is less and less important for me. There is video call button in my dialer but it doesn't appear to do anything useful, at least that I've been able to uncover. I have HDVoice on my AT&T S6 and in the few instances that I've had a potential HDVoice call (to a friend's AT&T S7E), I frankly couldn't detect a noticeable difference. I don't know how to see an indication of whether a call is HDVoice or not.
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Click to collapse
On AT&T with an international version you typically loose the HDvoice, Wifi calling and video calling. I have seen people on Verizon with unlocked phones (Galaxy series, htc 10, 6P) that report you can use those features on their network. I think the ideal situation is to have an unlocked phone on Verizon at this point.
OP again with an update... Got a 2nd G935F for wife. Running G935FXXU1APD with AT&T SIM. Call forwarding worked fine on this one. (Not sure why it doesn't work on my other one.) Also, sideloaded Samsung Pay & Samsung Pay Framework from APK Mirror. Installed and works fine. So my list of things that don't work is just HD Voice, WiFi calling and Video calling.
OP again. I'm now more confused. I now have 2 unlocked S7 Edge (one G935F and one G935FD). Both unlocked. Both using AT&T sims. Identical software on both. On the FD, things work better than I was expecting: Samsung Pay works. I can add cards and use it to pay. I can also change the Call Forwarding settings (in particular CF All). But the 935F can't add a card to Samsung Pay (server connection error) and I can't change the CF settings. There are a number of online references complaining about server connection error and many seem related to device encryption (can't add cards to encrypted devices). I also have an S6 that's working with SPay and was encrypted with Lollipop. With Marshmallow, the Lock Screen settings have changed and it's no longer encrypt/decrypt device, only Require screen lock to decrypt data when device turned on. There doesn't seem to be an obvious way to decrypt a Marshmallow device. But even with this set, I can add cards to me S6 and S7E (FD), but not my S7E (F).
I suppose I should be grateful that SP works at all on one of my unlocked S7Es. But it's frustrating to have them behave differently.
Do NOT buy this phone in the US unless Sony gets its phones approved to work with T-Mobile & AT&T
Sadly Sony is the only phone maker that offers a NORMAL sized phone with the Compact series.
Please show me ANY other options for an Android phone with a 4.6"-4.8" screen with a good camera. THERE ARE NONE! The battery life is also beyond incredible. I easily get 1+ (up to 2) days battery life with heavy usage. Standby time (screen off) is easily 7 days (no greenify or any of that crap needed).
I have a Sony Xperia X Compact and it is the BEST ANDROID PHONE I have ever had.
Despite that I have to say that NOBODY SHOULD BUY ANY SONY PHONES.
The phone is awesome and supports pretty much any 3G and 4G band out there but Sony refuses to get these phones approved by AT&T and T-Mobile for VoLTE.
That means (for T-Mobile as an example) that the Xperia X Compact technically supports T-Mobile's super-duper Band 12 LTE which has almost better coverage than Verizon, BUT because the phone is not approved for VoLTE, Sony phones will almost immediately get disconnected from that T-Mobile tower. You may be standing next to someone with an approved phone that has 100% coverage, yet the Sony Xperia phones will show NO RECEPTION.
Sony phones should be able to at least connect to Band 12 for data but they don't. It may technically have the ability to connect to Band 12 and even use VoLTE, but the tower refusal to keep the connection. Sony then apparently also screwed up the band prioritization, because Sony phones even have issues connecting to non VoLTE networks (eg Band 4).
As a result, ALL SONY PHONES ARE PRETTY MUCH UNUSABLE on T-Mobile and AT&T AS A PHONE.
Do NOT buy any Sony phones if you want to use them on T-Mobile and AT&T, though I can tell you that they are the BEST phones otherwise - just not as a phone.
This is pathetic and there is no response from Sony.
But the press releases say these 2 phones will work with t-mobile VOLTE and WiFi Calling.
lobo4806 said:
But the press releases say these 2 phones will work with t-mobile VOLTE and WiFi Calling.
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Click to collapse
Yea it will.
https://www.androidheadlines.com/20...z1-compact-support-t-mobile-wifi-calling.html
Lol yes first compact phone they certified I think. If someone figures out how to retain the volte functions and gain fingerprint sensor, I'm in.
I've had several Sony phones (Z1C, Z3, Z5C, all international single-SIM versions) and since at least the Z3, they all supported LTE on AT&T. I'm not sure anything changed since the Z5 era, so I'm hoping the XZ1C works fine on AT&T.
Can someone confirm this phone will work on at&t in the us? God I want it to do bad.
texaslegend said:
Can someone confirm this phone will work on at&t in the us? God I want it to do bad.
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Unproven rumors that it will be voLTE certified. NO CONFIRMATION FROM SONY OR T-MOBILE.
Even so, you won't be able to use the fingerprint sensor, since the international ROM won't support it.
Do NOT buy!!!!
Cool story but I'll be buying. Can't wait!
Btw, it also not confirmed that it WON'T work. Don't you think it would be a good idea to wait and see.
Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk
It seems you have some sort of personal agenda against Sony and/or this particular phone. An idealistic preference for what network(s) should be supported.
I don't know that I care if VoLTE is possible. I want to know if I can make/receive calls, text, access data for app and internet use.
The fingerprint scanner is irrelevant for me, it's there or not.
So simply said, will this work on US networks although some features may not be compatible.
Sent from my SM-G930V using XDA Free mobile app
Should be fine like every other Sony Compact I've had. Best Buy and Amazon will be selling it here shortly so one would logically assume they would be US carrier compatible in terms of calling/ data. I could give a crap about VoLTE.
From what I understand T-Mobile was sued a few years ago when someone couldn't make a 911 call in an area where there was only Band 12 LTE (since Band 12 goes through walls better than the 1900 MHz 2G and 1700 MHz 3G that T-Mo uses, apparently legally you are better off with no cell service than with only data service), because of that lawsuit T-Mobile asked phone makers to disable Band 12 on US devices that do not have VoLTE. (I can't post a source because I'm a new member but you can google this). It looks like the Band 12 blocking is done at the phone firmware level, not from T-Mobiles end, so there is a decent chance that the European firmware will not have Band 12 disabled. Though it will most likely also not support VoLTE on T-Mobile. You should still get good LTE data, you just might have to drop back to 3G or 2G for calls.
That said, this would need to be tested. It would be a shame if you had to choose between band 12 coverage without the fingerprint sensor, or a fingerprint sensor with band 12 coverage.
Either way I'm pretty psyched for this phone. I wish there was more competition in this space, but since Sony is the only game in town when it comes to non-phablet smartphones we really don't have much of a choice do we?
Phones re in and ... I am sadly correct.
Maybe if people spent more time to complain to T-Mobile, Sony, the FCC, the FTC and their Senator/congressman we would not have this issue.
Cell phone networks were supposed to let unlocked phones on ... VoLTE violates that.
Currently using my phone on tmobile just fine.
Getting LTE for data and no voice disconnects.
Could care less about volte; most people don't use their phones to talk anymore, myself included. Normal voice works fine for my needs. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
christogold said:
That said, this would need to be tested. It would be a shame if you had to choose between band 12 coverage without the fingerprint sensor, or a fingerprint sensor with band 12 coverage.
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Sadly, some of us do.
theplasmastorm said:
Currently using my phone on tmobile just fine.
Getting LTE for data and no voice disconnects.
Could care less about volte; most people don't use their phones to talk anymore, myself included. Normal voice works fine for my needs. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Dont assume too much. Since band 12 is much better than bands 2 and 4 in many ways, t-mobile is often not only adding band 12 but using it to replace bands 2 and 4 (kinda makes sense, why would you upkeep obsolete bands). I have had T-Mobile for about a year with an older unlocked phone and they recently switched to a lot of band 12 all over my area/region and now I have lots of total deadzones (including my house). I need to be able to make/receive phone calls, as I'm sure many do. But, for your point, I do still have data, sometimes, it seems to be much weaker a lot of the time compared to what it used to though, but maybe that's just me. I recall coming across a list of cities/places where t-mobile plans to switch things to band 12 and the timeline.
Edit: I am not sure this was the exact article I originally viewed, but here's a link < http://www.prepaidphonenews.com/2017/07/tmo-lte-spectrum-update.html?m=1 >.
theplasmastorm said:
Currently using my phone on tmobile just fine.
Getting LTE for data and no voice disconnects.
Could care less about volte; most people don't use their phones to talk anymore, myself included. Normal voice works fine for my needs. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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So to clarify, if it doesn’t have VoLTE, it just drops to LTE?
So if I flash UK firmware to get the fingerprint scanner (with AT&T) I just get LTE?
I don’t see why this is such a huge issue then, at least for me where I live I’ve never seen anyone with anything more than LTE anyway, it’ll be just business as usual. I also don’t make many phone calls so this doesn’t seem like anything that will hurt me with this phone one bit.
kobold98 said:
So to clarify, if it doesn’t have VoLTE, it just drops to LTE?
So if I flash UK firmware to get the fingerprint scanner (with AT&T) I just get LTE?
I don’t see why this is such a huge issue then, at least for me where I live I’ve never seen anyone with anything more than LTE anyway, it’ll be just business as usual. I also don’t make many phone calls so this doesn’t seem like anything that will hurt me with this phone one bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To clarify,
On AT&T, with US firmware, you can:
1] You get LTE data.
2] You can make calls over GSM or UMTS, but not over LTE. This will also drop your data rate to 3G if you are using voice and data simultaneously.
3] You get no fingerprint reader.
On AT&T, with European firmware, you can:
1] You get LTE data.
2] You can make calls over GSM or UMTS, but not over LTE. This will also drop your data rate to 3G if you are using voice and data simultaneously.
3] You get a working fingerprint reader.
The VoLTE certification and modem configurations are only for T-Mobile on US firmware and other operators on specific, non-US firmware variants.
pbarrette said:
To clarify,
On AT&T, with US firmware, you can:
1] You get LTE data.
2] You can make calls over GSM or UMTS, but not over LTE. This will also drop your data rate to 3G if you are using voice and data simultaneously.
3] You get no fingerprint reader.
On AT&T, with European firmware, you can:
1] You get LTE data.
2] You can make calls over GSM or UMTS, but not over LTE. This will also drop your data rate to 3G if you are using voice and data simultaneously.
3] You get a working fingerprint reader.
The VoLTE certification and modem configurations are only for T-Mobile on US firmware and other operators on specific, non-US firmware variants.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much, it’s been hard to find a totally clear picture of this. As someone who doesn’t make a lot of phone calls (but does rely on LTE data) and never uses data during phone calls it sounds like I’ll be good to go with European firmware.
Thank you, that is a good summary for a fellow AT&T user. But one thing I am curious about. Does AT&T have VoLTE at all? Or is tmo the only one with that ability? Basically, if I bought a totally different phone specifically for AT&T would I get VoLTE?
Frontier3 said:
Thank you, that is a good summary for a fellow AT&T user. But one thing I am curious about. Does AT&T have VoLTE at all? Or is tmo the only one with that ability? Basically, if I bought a totally different phone specifically for AT&T would I get VoLTE?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T only offers VoLTE (they brand it: HD Voice) via their own branded handsets (ones bought through them) or any iPhone 6 or newer (as i recall).
andTab said:
Phones re in and ... I am sadly correct.
Maybe if people spent more time to complain to T-Mobile, Sony, the FCC, the FTC and their Senator/congressman we would not have this issue.
Cell phone networks were supposed to let unlocked phones on ... VoLTE violates that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you?
Hello Is it possible to enable all the T-mobile US carrier features on the Exynos N960F/DS ?
Yes, when I reach 10 posts. I will be able to make a new thread with step by step images.
HERE is the guide, I got to 10 post
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-9/how-to/note-9-n960fd-dual-sim-csc-change-oxm-t3841000
jgoorn said:
Yes, when I reach 10 posts. I will be able to make a new thread with step by step images.
HERE is the guide, I got to 10 post
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-9/how-to/note-9-n960fd-dual-sim-csc-change-oxm-t3841000
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there absolutely any way to do it without root? Can't I take the home CSC of a desired rom and flash just that in Odin, keeping everything else as it originally was?
hkalltheway said:
Is there absolutely any way to do it without root? Can't I take the home CSC of a desired rom and flash just that in Odin, keeping everything else as it originally was?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure, I saw something like that on another post but then it was updated 4 pages later to say that method was not functioning. I assume you don't want to trip knox, but if you just don't want root but want custom CSC flash twrp and custom rom with root. Edit files to change csc as shown in my guide, or others guides. then factory reset rom, and reflash without root, and then make odin reset the recovery to stock recovery.
This is all speculation however.
I was very excited to see this as I've been wanting an international Exynos variant due to absolutely 'needing' to have root.
The Million dollar question is "Does the carrier aggregation still exist? ie... Does ALL the bands work perfectly on T-Mobiles network just as it would 1:1 on a TM variant Note 9?"
I along with some other fellow Note 8 owners got the (F) model of the Note 8 last year and we had discovered that the international variants on T-Mobile / US network suffered from carrier aggregation, where it would connect fine to one single frequency, but it would not aggregate properly to where it would not be able to 'hand off' / 'connect to multiple frequencies at once' with the (F) variants....
For those that remember, I went as far as completely disassembling my Note 8 and testing varies antenna cables thinking that it was hardware related, however, it has been concluded that it is a software issues that causes the international variant of the Note 8 to not work properly on US carriers....
Note: If one is in an area with good signal in the US with a (F) variant, it may look like everything is fine and well, however, it is not. Due to the good reception, the (F) variant is connecting only to that one band, whereas with other devices the domestic US variant would have the ability to pick up several bands and aggregate accordingly, where the (F) can't ...
Therefore, the Million dollar question is "Does this carrier aggregation issue still exist on the Note 9?"
The only way to be able to properly test this is for one to have both the T-Mobile Note 9 + the International (F) variant Note 9 and test the bands side by side in multiple areas ... along with checking in the hidden settings to see exactly what bands it is connected to. If they match, great.... if not, then the carrier aggregation still exists.....
While at it, I'll tag my fellow OG partners in Android Fanatics @DeeXii , @butchieboy , @KennyLG123 ....
I doubt it. It will probably be another year or two to get full or near full capability on Samsung modems. Look at all the weird spectrums going up in different countries. And TMobile just got band 71. It will be awhile before we start seeing noticeable effects nationwide for 71. Your optimism is obsessive. When the galaxy note 2 came out all were Exynos chipsets but some had LTE radios. I opted for without mainly because LTE was not fleshed out yet. (and the LTE radios were add on chips and not fully integrated meaning they were battery drainers). I made a good call as did Apple. You also have to consider Qualcomm has a lot more experience than Samsung and Intel in modems and radios. People are so focused on the results or what they can get without thinking through the whole front end of it and what is plausible, necessary and time needed. I am not saying no but again your optimism is obsessive to a fault. Qualcomm hasn't even made a truly international modem yet. (More bands than they can fit in their design and still too many different techs.) How would Samsung do it? It could be done but your battery life would suffer. That's why there are regional phones. Alsooooo, 2g bands are being deprecated in a few places (I think hspa too but nowhere near as much as GPRS/EDGE). To be honest I think it won't be until 2021 at the very least where there will be a few mainstream phones that you could pop in a sim anywhere and get good service across those regions. For now, you have to compromise. LTE is thankfully dropping in the GSM bucket but it needs to be sorted out.
iunlock said:
I was very excited to see this as I've been wanting an international Exynos variant due to absolutely 'needing' to have root.
The Million dollar question is "Does the carrier aggregation still exist? ie... Does ALL the bands work perfectly on T-Mobiles network just as it would 1:1 on a TM variant Note 9?"
I along with some other fellow Note 8 owners got the (F) model of the Note 8 last year and we had discovered that the international variants on T-Mobile / US network suffered from carrier aggregation, where it would connect fine to one single frequency, but it would not aggregate properly to where it would not be able to 'hand off' / 'connect to multiple frequencies at once' with the (F) variants....
For those that remember, I went as far as completely disassembling my Note 8 and testing varies antenna cables thinking that it was hardware related, however, it has been concluded that it is a software issues that causes the international variant of the Note 8 to not work properly on US carriers....
Note: If one is in an area with good signal in the US with a (F) variant, it may look like everything is fine and well, however, it is not. Due to the good reception, the (F) variant is connecting only to that one band, whereas with other devices the domestic US variant would have the ability to pick up several bands and aggregate accordingly, where the (F) can't ...
Therefore, the Million dollar question is "Does this carrier aggregation issue still exist on the Note 9?"
The only way to be able to properly test this is for one to have both the T-Mobile Note 9 + the International (F) variant Note 9 and test the bands side by side in multiple areas ... along with checking in the hidden settings to see exactly what bands it is connected to. If they match, great.... if not, then the carrier aggregation still exists.....
While at it, I'll tag my fellow OG partners in Android Fanatics @DeeXii , @butchieboy , @KennyLG123 ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I remember that thread very well, kalm_traveller also made adjustments to the antenna . I recall that ultimately carrier aggregation didn't work on international models when used on the USA networks.
Sent from my SM-N960U1 using Tapatalk
@rbiter said:
I doubt it. It will probably be another year or two to get full or near full capability on Samsung modems. Look at all the weird spectrums going up in different countries. And TMobile just got band 71. It will be awhile before we start seeing noticeable effects nationwide for 71. Your optimism is obsessive. When the galaxy note 2 came out all were Exynos chipsets but some had LTE radios. I opted for without mainly because LTE was not fleshed out yet. (and the LTE radios were add on chips and not fully integrated meaning they were battery drainers). I made a good call as did Apple. You also have to consider Qualcomm has a lot more experience than Samsung and Intel in modems and radios. People are so focused on the results or what they can get without thinking through the whole front end of it and what is plausible, necessary and time needed. I am not saying no but again your optimism is obsessive to a fault. Qualcomm hasn't even made a truly international modem yet. (More bands than they can fit in their design and still too many different techs.) How would Samsung do it? It could be done but your battery life would suffer. That's why there are regional phones. Alsooooo, 2g bands are being deprecated in a few places (I think hspa too but nowhere near as much as GPRS/EDGE). To be honest I think it won't be until 2021 at the very least where there will be a few mainstream phones that you could pop in a sim anywhere and get good service across those regions. For now, you have to compromise. LTE is thankfully dropping in the GSM bucket but it needs to be sorted out.
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Click to collapse
So how come Apple is doing that since the iPhone 6s unlocked version? Qualcomm Modem and a truly a word.
Doing what?
I would almost guarantee no ca working. Does it really matter? My s8+ still got 12mb download speeds.
Yakuzahi said:
So how come Apple is doing that since the iPhone 6s unlocked version? Qualcomm Modem and a truly a word.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doing what?
iunlock said:
I was very excited to see this as I've been wanting an international Exynos variant due to absolutely 'needing' to have root.
The Million dollar question is "Does the carrier aggregation still exist? ie... Does ALL the bands work perfectly on T-Mobiles network just as it would 1:1 on a TM variant Note 9?"
I along with some other fellow Note 8 owners got the (F) model of the Note 8 last year and we had discovered that the international variants on T-Mobile / US network suffered from carrier aggregation, where it would connect fine to one single frequency, but it would not aggregate properly to where it would not be able to 'hand off' / 'connect to multiple frequencies at once' with the (F) variants....
For those that remember, I went as far as completely disassembling my Note 8 and testing varies antenna cables thinking that it was hardware related, however, it has been concluded that it is a software issues that causes the international variant of the Note 8 to not work properly on US carriers....
Note: If one is in an area with good signal in the US with a (F) variant, it may look like everything is fine and well, however, it is not. Due to the good reception, the (F) variant is connecting only to that one band, whereas with other devices the domestic US variant would have the ability to pick up several bands and aggregate accordingly, where the (F) can't ...
Therefore, the Million dollar question is "Does this carrier aggregation issue still exist on the Note 9?"
The only way to be able to properly test this is for one to have both the T-Mobile Note 9 + the International (F) variant Note 9 and test the bands side by side in multiple areas ... along with checking in the hidden settings to see exactly what bands it is connected to. If they match, great.... if not, then the carrier aggregation still exists.....
While at it, I'll tag my fellow OG partners in Android Fanatics @DeeXii , @butchieboy , @KennyLG123 ....
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Click to collapse
I have the F model and tested with both AT&T and T-Mobile. Carrier aggregation works with 2 bands on AT&T (12+2) and while it supports all the other AT&T bands it will not aggregate them. No carrier aggregation at all on T-Mobile (single band only).
You can see the supported CA combos the F model has by looking at the FCC filing of the device (do a google search).
Sent from my SM-N960U1 using Tapatalk
@rbiter said:
Doing what?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doing a world phone with smaller battery than the Note line.
So basically it can be done. Samsung can make a world if they want to.
Apple doesn't have a world phone. They have a minimum of 2 phones to do the world. You have to pick your poison of which part. If they do have one, it probably has you covered for calls but not data. Heck any phone has this if data is less a priority and making calls and texts are a higher priority.
There might be obscure world phones but we probably are not privy to it. Satellite phones too of course but price. I actually read an article about Qualcomm's modem and the increase of LTE bands that came out recently talking about RF360 and Intel and Samsung probably not having anything to compete for at least a couple of years. They don't have an all in one solution yet. Close but not world yet. You have China, US and I forgot what part of South America that messes it up. Even though LTE falls under GSM standards I wish they would tighten it up. So many bands across different countries now and you can't keep up. Band 71 for TMobile is not relevant yet unless you live in a market that is getting it because of low or no coverage.
@rbiter said:
I doubt it. It will probably be another year or two to get full or near full capability on Samsung modems. Look at all the weird spectrums going up in different countries. And TMobile just got band 71. It will be awhile before we start seeing noticeable effects nationwide for 71. Your optimism is obsessive. When the galaxy note 2 came out all were Exynos chipsets but some had LTE radios. I opted for without mainly because LTE was not fleshed out yet. (and the LTE radios were add on chips and not fully integrated meaning they were battery drainers). I made a good call as did Apple. You also have to consider Qualcomm has a lot more experience than Samsung and Intel in modems and radios. People are so focused on the results or what they can get without thinking through the whole front end of it and what is plausible, necessary and time needed. I am not saying no but again your optimism is obsessive to a fault. Qualcomm hasn't even made a truly international modem yet. (More bands than they can fit in their design and still too many different techs.) How would Samsung do it? It could be done but your battery life would suffer. That's why there are regional phones. Alsooooo, 2g bands are being deprecated in a few places (I think hspa too but nowhere near as much as GPRS/EDGE). To be honest I think it won't be until 2021 at the very least where there will be a few mainstream phones that you could pop in a sim anywhere and get good service across those regions. For now, you have to compromise. LTE is thankfully dropping in the GSM bucket but it needs to be sorted out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think your lack of optimism is obsessive and at fault. What's wrong with being optimistic and having hope? Most of us are just wanting a simple root on the SD variant of the Note 9, whether it be a samfail method or whatever, we'll take it.
The US variant Note 5 was Exynos and worked just fine, so its not impossible for an Exynos equipped phone to work on US carriers. After all, most of the newer phones have a wide range of frequencies that it can support. Sure some phones are set regionally, but you're aware that there are dual SIM phones right?
If you were familiar with the F model Note 8 that some of us got and have tested last year, then my post would have made more sense to you.
suzook said:
I would almost guarantee no ca working. Does it really matter? My s8+ still got 12mb download speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it does matter, because with out the ability for the phone to hand off and/or merge the signals, for those in areas where the reception is sketchy, it'd become major headache.
clubtech said:
I have the F model and tested with both AT&T and T-Mobile. Carrier aggregation works with 2 bands on AT&T (12+2) and while it supports all the other AT&T bands it will not aggregate them. No carrier aggregation at all on T-Mobile (single band only).
You can see the supported CA combos the F model has by looking at the FCC filing of the device (do a google search).
Sent from my SM-N960U1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey @clubtech, thanks for reiterating. Yea that was the case exactly as you've described.... I was getting the same results on TM on the F variant. I'm aware of the fcc filings, but the curiosity stems from the potential possibility...
Is this a possible lead to get CA working on N960F/DS?
https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyS8/comments/75ru94/root_exynos_galaxy_s8_how_to_get_carrier/
I've tried this method but just get these two lines without the menu popping up as instructed.
Broadcasting: Intent { act=android.provider.Telephony.SECRET_CODE dat=android_secret_code://27663368378 flg=0x400000 }
Broadcast completed: result=0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am most likely doing something wrong or these devices are somehow further locked down. I'm rooted, connected adb, etc. as the instructions say with no success.
Techronico said:
Is this a possible lead to get CA working on N960F/DS?
https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyS8/comments/75ru94/root_exynos_galaxy_s8_how_to_get_carrier/
I've tried this method but just get these two lines without the menu popping up as instructed.
I am most likely doing something wrong or these devices are somehow further locked down. I'm rooted, connected adb, etc. as the instructions say with no success.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mind sharing more info? I'm willing to try it with my device, I'll make a full backup and give it a go! Anything for even better reception!
jgoorn said:
Mind sharing more info? I'm willing to try it with my device, I'll make a full backup and give it a go! Anything for even better reception!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried using the dialer codes *#0011# and *#2263# first to get an idea of what I was looking at. These are mentioned further down in the Reddit thread by other users.
Apparently the code mentioned in the Reddit thread OP is a more advanced code that was removed/disabled from being activated from the dialer several iterations of Samsung devices ago...(ie. It now requires root, can only be activated from adb or terminal).
My theory is that Samsung has now fully gimped it or further hid the activation method. This method apparently worked on the Note 8...
Techronico said:
I tried using the dialer codes *#0011# and *#2263# first to get an idea of what I was looking at. These are mentioned further down in the Reddit thread by other users.
Apparently the code mentioned in the Reddit thread OP is a more advanced code that was removed/disabled from being activated from the dialer several iterations of Samsung devices ago...(ie. It now requires root, can only be activated from adb or terminal).
My theory is that Samsung has now fully gimped it or further hid the activation method. This method apparently worked on the Note 8...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, I'm the author of that thread and I also have an Exynos s9+ which is same as the Note 9.
The menu is indeed completely disabled, you can't get to it even with adb or root.
There is a way to activate it, but it will not fix our issue. I've been trying for weeks.
We have a problem that started out on the Note 8, and that is the phone is not reporting the correct supported aggregation combos to the cell tower.
Using the menu, my phone does not support 4+12 however it reports 2+12 and I get carrier aggregation when I disable B4.
So far j haven't found a way to change those combos. At this point I'm very sure it grabs them from the CSC. I've been experimenting and have been unsuccessful so far
The S8 reported the correct combos out of the box, however the ill configured 3xCA was stopping it from working, disabling 3xCA made 2xCA work perfectly.
Our issue here is just were missing those combos so no matter what the phone will not do 4+12 even though the hardware is fully capable.
If anyone knows how to change combos, pm me or reply here, thanks.
Interceptor777 said:
Hey, I'm the author of that thread and I also have an Exynos s9+ which is same as the Note 9.
The menu is indeed completely disabled, you can't get to it even with adb or root.
There is a way to activate it, but it will not fix our issue. I've been trying for weeks.
We have a problem that started out on the Note 8, and that is the phone is not reporting the correct supported aggregation combos to the cell tower.
Using the menu, my phone does not support 4+12 however it reports 2+12 and I get carrier aggregation when I disable B4.
So far j haven't found a way to change those combos. At this point I'm very sure it grabs them from the CSC. I've been experimenting and have been unsuccessful so far
The S8 reported the correct combos out of the box, however the ill configured 3xCA was stopping it from working, disabling 3xCA made 2xCA work perfectly.
Our issue here is just were missing those combos so no matter what the phone will not do 4+12 even though the hardware is fully capable.
If anyone knows how to change combos, pm me or reply here, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will totally donate to you if you can get this to work some how! It's pretty much the last feature I'm looking at as a "This phone is perfect except for X".
This phone sounds amazing, but theres some conflicting information i've heard on it from multiple different sources.
1. Does the phone work on verizon? My current phone plan is on verizon, and it would be so much easier to just change out phones rather than move my entire wireless company to get this phone. I've heard that it does and it doesn't. Is it the chinese versions that don't? I'm american, so do the versions sold in America work with verizon? I went to my local verizon store, and they said it wouldn't, but the lady had to look it up on her phone but the article she saw might have been talking about the tencent version or something.
2. If it doesn't work on verizon, what other network would work better? I've heard that T-Mobile wouldn't work well for this phone, so maybe AT&T? Again, I would greatly prefer to just stick with Verizon.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE answer my questions, I've asked these questions in multiple places but no one has answered a reliable answer in any of them.
JegusChrist said:
This phone sounds amazing, but theres some conflicting information i've heard on it from multiple different sources.
1. Does the phone work on verizon? My current phone plan is on verizon, and it would be so much easier to just change out phones rather than move my entire wireless company to get this phone. I've heard that it does and it doesn't. Is it the chinese versions that don't? I'm american, so do the versions sold in America work with verizon? I went to my local verizon store, and they said it wouldn't, but the lady had to look it up on her phone but the article she saw might have been talking about the tencent version or something.
2. If it doesn't work on verizon, what other network would work better? I've heard that T-Mobile wouldn't work well for this phone, so maybe AT&T? Again, I would greatly prefer to just stick with Verizon.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE answer my questions, I've asked these questions in multiple places but no one has answered a reliable answer in any of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No on Verizon. Yes to tmobile and att. Chinese and international versions have different lte band support. Talk to your local tmobile and att reps to see which bands you need and verify on the Asus site for rog phone 2.
A few users here say they got it working on Verizon as a data only device, and it does support their LTE bands. For calls, they mostly use Google Voice but one buys a cheap subscription on an AT&T MVNO for calls.
It doesn't have band 71 support for TMO, which could make coverage an issue. AT&T has the best support from what I've seen.
Something else to note is this is not VoLTE certified in the U.S. It can only make calls on the GSM networks, and those will be shutting over the next few years. If you plan to keep the phone long term, expect to lose the ability to make any phone calls. You could move to Google Voice at that point, but you'd still be left with no 911 access. Asus has so far indicated they have no plans to certify it for VoLTE in the U.S. (even other region versions that do have VoLTE wouldn't be able to use it here).
Mr_Mooncatt said:
A few users here say they got it working on Verizon as a data only device, and it does support their LTE bands. For calls, they mostly use Google Voice but one buys a cheap subscription on an AT&T MVNO for calls.
It doesn't have band 71 support for TMO, which could make coverage an issue. AT&T has the best support from what I've seen.
Something else to note is this is not VoLTE certified in the U.S. It can only make calls on the GSM networks, and those will be shutting over the next few years. If you plan to keep the phone long term, expect to lose the ability to make any phone calls. You could move to Google Voice at that point, but you'd still be left with no 911 access. Asus has so far indicated they have no plans to certify it for VoLTE in the U.S. (even other region versions that do have VoLTE wouldn't be able to use it here).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not exactly the best at phone lingo, i just stumbled across this website while looking up things about the phone.
That being said, can you tell me whether or not the phone is worth it? It seems like theres wayy too many disadvantages to this phone, and that kinda bugs me. I've been wanting this phone for a while, so I'd much rather get this than anything else.
If it's not really worth it, can you mention any other phones that are similar? mainly one that can emulate games just as good if not better than the ROG 2?
"Is it worth it?"
That is such a loaded question if you're in the U.S. That's something you'll have to decide for yourself based on your needs. If it had VoLTE here, then it would be worth every penny. All I can say is that for me, it isn't worth it. Yes, you get a ton of value for the phone. I'm on Verizon and would've been ok switching calls and texts to Google Voice. I also planned to keep it long term, likely after the GSM network shutdowns. I also drive for a living, hauling hazardous materials. So in my case, the inability to make a 911 call once those networks shut down is a very big concern. For me, that one reason alone is why I've decided to hold off on it.
On the flip side, if you don't have a problem with the 911 issue, or plan to switch phones in a year or two anyway, then this may very well be worth it in your case.
As for other options, I think the Nubia Red Magic 3s is likely the closest in terms of features and performance. It's not quite as bleeding edge as the ROG 2, but it's also a lot cheaper and has VoLTE calling. The Razer Phone 2 is another known option, but it's a generation older too and support may be questionable (rumor has it there may not be a Razer 3). I don't know a ton about either phone other than what I've read on their specs.
Long time lurker, first time poster here. First of all, a massive THANK YOU to everyone here. You guys and gals are Awesome! <3
So, I bought a Samsung S10 (SM-G973F/DS) on Ebay recently and flashed it to Lineage OS 19.1. All was fine until I tried to activate it. We did everything...manually changing the ASP settings, and a bunch of other stuff to try and get this thing to connect to the mobile network. Even placed the SIM card in another phone just to confirm the SIM card was fine, which it was.
Long story short, I think the device was perhaps locked even though the seller claimed it was unlocked. Whatever, I'm over it. I flashed stock back on it and re-locked the boot loader, sent it back. Not worth the aggravation. However, I am questioning if there wasn't something else I could have done?
I was trying to activate the S10 on Mint Mobile USA (a T-Mobile reseller, so GSM) it should have been fine. The default language on the device was German. I don't think that should matter, but maybe it does? Do European phones have problems activating in North America?
My question is: If I decide to get another S10 (SM-G973F/DS) from the secondary market (if its even worth it at this point, since the SM-G973F/DS is really hard to find), is there anything I can find out from the seller first so I don't end up having to send it back?
Or, should I just give up my dream of having an S10 installed with Lineage OS and it's glorious headphone jack and expandable storage forever? If so, are there any worthy alternatives to the S10 worth considering, given my affinity for headphone jacks and expandable storage?
Hello PhonePerfection, all a novel why you speak S10 G973F / DS in the United States.
Already your model S10 G973F/DS exynos 5G or the first 4G model so if these this Europe chip model, if now installed Samsung phone info look at who is scoring at worst take screenshots.
I don't understand your question United States, locked unlocked the seller.
You buy in the back market refurbished and unlocked telephone all operator therefore for sim card, the concern these the chip to install network either US or ASIA controls your model if these good SM-G973F/DS and not SM-G973U or G973U1.
Don't forget to say hello
I think what @meric57 is trying to say is that your phone doesn't have the right chips to communicate on the frequencies in the USA. It's made for other markets and other frequencies... so it won't work here.
If you use FrequencyCheck you can see what carriers support what frequencies on your specific model: https://www.frequencycheck.com/comp...m-td-lte-512gb-samsung-beyond-1/united-states
Scroll down to the "United States" area and you'll see it doesn't support the frequencies used in the USA (except for GSM 2.5, which is old and dead here in the USA). The US is primarily on LTE... and you can see that phone model doesn't support ANY of the available frequencies.
Bottom line "GSM" doesn't tell you enough. You have an incomatible phone model for the USA market. No SIM card will fix that.
Note, in SOME cases, you can activate other frequencies by loading different ROMs into the phone. My old LG V30 did this, for example. I have heard that you can run some Exynos phones here in the USA, but I don't know the details to help. FrequencyCheck may help you figure that out. Be sure the look for the complete model number, not just "Galaxy S10" or something... the naming is worthless for figuring this out.
schwinn8 said:
I think what @meric57 is trying to say is that your phone doesn't have the right chips to communicate on the frequencies in the USA. It's made for other markets and other frequencies... so it won't work here.
If you use FrequencyCheck you can see what carriers support what frequencies on your specific model: https://www.frequencycheck.com/compsomethingatibility/RdEkS7k/samsung-sm-g973f-ds-galaxy-s10-global-dual-sim-td-lte-512gb-samsung-beyond-1/united-states
Scroll down to the "United States" area and you'll see it doesn't support the frequencies used in the USA (except for GSM 2.5, which is old and dead here in the USA). The US is primarily on LTE... and you can see that phone model doesn't support ANY of the available frequencies.
Bottom line "GSM" doesn't tell you enough. You have an incomatible phone model for the USA market. No SIM card will fix that.
Note, in SOME cases, you can activate other frequencies by loading different ROMs into the phone. My old LG V30 did this, for example. I have heard that you can run some Exynos phones here in the USA, but I don't know the details to help. FrequencyCheck may help you figure that out. Be sure the look for the complete model number, not just "Galaxy S10" or something... the naming is worthless for figuring this out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
schwinn8 said:
I think what @meric57 is trying to say is that your phone doesn't have the right chips to communicate on the frequencies in the USA. It's made for other markets and other frequencies... so it won't work here.
If you use FrequencyCheck you can see what carriers support what frequencies on your specific model: https://www.frequencycheck.com/comp...m-td-lte-512gb-samsung-beyond-1/united-states
Scroll down to the "United States" area and you'll see it doesn't support the frequencies used in the USA (except for GSM 2.5, which is old and dead here in the USA). The US is primarily on LTE... and you can see that phone model doesn't support ANY of the available frequencies.
Bottom line "GSM" doesn't tell you enough. You have an incomatible phone model for the USA market. No SIM card will fix that.
Note, in SOME cases, you can activate other frequencies by loading different ROMs into the phone. My old LG V30 did this, for example. I have heard that you can run some Exynos phones here in the USA, but I don't know the details to help. FrequencyCheck may help you figure that out. Be sure the look for the complete model number, not just "Galaxy S10" or something... the naming is worthless for figuring this out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, this is great info. Good to know. It looks like that S10 could only communicate on 1 of 8 bands used by Mint/T-Mobile. That 1 usable band appears to have been deprecated by T-Mobile as it is. I think that explains it perfectly. Thank You!
You're welcome.
Yeah, frequencies/bands are very important to watch, particularly if you're buying out of market devices. You have to know model numbers and carriers to be sure of anything, and unfortunately this info is relatively hidden.
schwinn8 said:
You're welcome.
Yeah, frequencies/bands are very important to watch, particularly if you're buying out of market devices. You have to know model numbers and carriers to be sure of anything, and unfortunately this info is relatively hidden.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The CSC on that device was DBT (Germany). I had to find that out in order to put the correct stock OS back on there.
Makes me wonder if the ebay seller even knows this. They appear to specialize in mobile phones with tens of thousands of transactions, so I would hope they've encountered this situation before. They were more than happy to accept a return on the device. Sent me a prepaid shipping label immediately.
Back to the CSC... Let's say I look for another S10 (SM-G973F/DS) but I ask what the CSC is for that device. Are there any regions outside the lower 48 states with reasonably good chances of it working? I suppose I would need to study the mobile frequency website for the answer to that.
I did some quick searching, and supposedly there are websites that say the 973F/DS will work on MM (mint mobile)... but they don't detail how. For example: https://de-googled.com/blogs/news/a-word-on-network-compatibility-of-our-degoogled-phones
and https://www.ebay.com/p/15030406771 (in the description).
So, maybe it is possible? I don't know, so maybe someone else can chime in.
Personally, I stuck with U-version phones and gave up rooting/romming. It's just getting too hard to find phones that offer this, so I figured I'd just adapt back to a stock ROM, since choices are limited. I had done a bunch of that in the past, but I found that stock roms (today) are pretty good... and allow enough customization that made root/rom unnecessary... for me. My current is an SM-G975U1 (unlocked, USA, Snapdragon S10+) on Total Wireless (VZ MVNO)... it works great and I don't miss root/rom at all.
Rumor is that the Galaxy S23 will only be offered as Snapdragon, so maybe that will open up more options... but I doubt it. Samsung loves it's Knox system, and will likely lock down the phone even more with every generation.
schwinn8 said:
I did some quick searching, and supposedly there are websites that say the 973F/DS will work on MM (mint mobile)... but they don't detail how. For example: https://de-googled.com/blogs/news/a-word-on-network-compatibility-of-our-degoogled-phones
and https://www.ebay.com/p/15030406771 (in the description).
So, maybe it is possible? I don't know, so maybe someone else can chime in.
Personally, I stuck with U-version phones and gave up rooting/romming. It's just getting too hard to find phones that offer this, so I figured I'd just adapt back to a stock ROM, since choices are limited. I had done a bunch of that in the past, but I found that stock roms (today) are pretty good... and allow enough customization that made root/rom unnecessary... for me. My current is an SM-G975U1 (unlocked, USA, Snapdragon S10+) on Total Wireless (VZ MVNO)... it works great and I don't miss root/rom at all.
Rumor is that the Galaxy S23 will only be offered as Snapdragon, so maybe that will open up more options... but I doubt it. Samsung loves it's Knox system, and will likely lock down the phone even more with every generation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the link. I think I may try for an S10 again if the seller can tell me what the CSC is. That page on De-googled.com affirms that American devices are more restrictive than their European counterparts.
It just doesn't make any sense to me personally to use a device with an open source OS that has loads of telemetry, spyware, bloat, etc. Which is a contradiction that I am not comfortable with. It's like installing a Linux distro that comes bundled with Facebook.
To me, being proactive about privacy is the equivalent to standing up for yourself in the real world. Sure, you can use a stock ROM and there is nothing wrong with that. It's having the freedom to choose which is most important. So long as that choice is available, I will happily go that route.
I like the added bonus of an Android device that seems faster with a longer lasting battery as well. I mean, I paid for this device. I should have the right to decide what apps are running on it.
No argument there... I agree with why we should be allowed to root/rom. Unfortunately, the carriers pull the strings in the USA (business over people) so we are losing options. Frankly, it pisses me off that they can still prevent phones from connecting to their network just because the IMEI doesn't match (even if the software is correct). In the end, if the device CAN work on the network, the carrier should have no say in allowing/disallowing it on the network. They like to claim that a "bad" device could "hurt" the network, but if that happens, they can lock out that phone and figure it out. I doubt that's even ever happened, but whatever. (They prevented me from using my already-working V30 US998 phone on the network, even though it ran as VS996 with no issues for years... they only later saw the IMEI wasn't "theirs" (original SIM card failed) so they prevented me from re-registering it. So stupid.)
Good luck, and let us know if you figure it out... I'm always curious to learn!
yes, most japan and europe phones do not have the correct radios channels in them for 4g and 5g. i ran into this same problem with my xperia phones that i bought overseas. this is a common problem that can happen.
The S10 and all it's variants is a world compatible GSM phone. So yes, the F variant should work with most GSM carriers and resellers in N. America.
There are various websites that will tell you what frequencies and carriers any particular model will work with if you do a search. Like this one.
WillMyPhoneWork.net - Check if your phone works on a network
Check 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE Network Frequency Compatibility for a Smartphone, Tablet, and Mobile Device in any Country and Mobile Network Carrier
willmyphonework.net
According to that site the SM-G973F/DS supports all 2G, 3G, and 4G frequencies used by Mint.