Now that I know my Droid 3 will work, I tested it with a ATT gophone SIM after doing the radio flash and such but now I'm trying to get real service with a dataplan and it is hell.
They say I need a certain sim card (W7 sim card) and they seem to think it is a micro sim which the droid 3 doesn't have that. the phone support told me they could not mail me this type of card and the store people can't seem to bring up my information from the phone order and keep saying I need something else.
Keep getting the 'its not going to work' thing but obviously it will.
Did any one else in the states run into this trying to get your D3 on ATT with service other than gophone service? Trying get a 550 sharte plan and 3gb data plans for 2 phones, both are Droid 3s
bigbacon said:
Now that I know my Droid 3 will work, I tested it with a ATT gophone SIM after doing the radio flash and such but now I'm trying to get real service with a dataplan and it is hell.
They say I need a certain sim card (W7 sim card) and they seem to think it is a micro sim which the droid 3 doesn't have that. the phone support told me they could not mail me this type of card and the store people can't seem to bring up my information from the phone order and keep saying I need something else.
Keep getting the 'its not going to work' thing but obviously it will.
Did any one else in the states run into this trying to get your D3 on ATT with service other than gophone service? Trying get a 550 sharte plan and 3gb data plans for 2 phones, both are Droid 3s
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Click to collapse
You can buy sim adapters fairly cheap, if they sent you a micro sim, grab an adapter on ebay for a few bucks (usually comes in 3 packs for micro mini, and standard). Don't ask any customer service/corporate if it'll work, as by 'stock' the D3 does NOT support ATT (the mnc block Verizon has in the radio prevents this).
I have Straight Talk's BYOP service using AT&T's network on my Droid 3 and it works just fine (albeit hating ST ). If you want a go-phone plan, your cheapest option would be grabbing an ATT SIM from ebay (I bought one for a penny, trolol free shipping), and activated it on gophone awhile back when I was just first testing the radio swap, worked great, but I never tried doing much beyond a 10 dollar card for talk/text while away.
If you're trying to get on a contract, etc etc, I'd suggest you just don't tell them you have a verizon droid 3, tell them you just have an unlocked GSM phone, and if they bug you about it, tell them it's an XT860 4g or an XT883.
EDIT: You can also try just buying a SIM on ebay (make sure to get the newer orange ones) and just activating that on your AT&T account.
I had a free or discounted feature phone / dumb phone with them, with the 2 year contract, and I've used that SIM in subsequent phones with no problem... the SIM had 3G branding. Currently that same SIM and same account are working fine in my XT860 from Bell Canada (unlocked).
If you don't mind a contract, go with the simplest 3G feature phone you can get from them, and add Media.net Unlimited if they still offer it. Sell the feature phone or keep it as a backup.
I ran into the problem also with them saying I can't transfer my line because I now live in a different state. So I was give nthe option to go and sign up in that state OR send the sims to someone in that state....
what a pain. I never thought it was would be so difficult. If I'm going to get into a contract, I'll just get a new phone, I just fear that even though it seems to work with the ATT gophone SIM that once I pop a normal SIM in there, it won't work and I'll be switching to a contract and paying the 'upgrade' charge (which is really jut anoher way to make you pay the activation again)
That was my main fear.
I'm hoping they will let me just test a sim from another device at the store. I was going to show up with our phones radio flashed and ready to go for GSM and then see what they will do for me. I hope they;ll let me test it some how and/or let me sign up month to month and if it doesn't work, let me switch to contract and wave the upgrade BS.
thats the only thing I'm unsure of if I reflash to the GSM radio, take out my verizon SIM and show up with no sim. new build prop and it set to GSM before I show up if it will work or not.
bigbacon said:
I ran into the problem also with them saying I can't transfer my line because I now live in a different state. So I was give nthe option to go and sign up in that state OR send the sims to someone in that state....
what a pain. I never thought it was would be so difficult. If I'm going to get into a contract, I'll just get a new phone, I just fear that even though it seems to work with the ATT gophone SIM that once I pop a normal SIM in there, it won't work and I'll be switching to a contract and paying the 'upgrade' charge (which is really jut anoher way to make you pay the activation again)
That was my main fear.
I'm hoping they will let me just test a sim from another device at the store. I was going to show up with our phones radio flashed and ready to go for GSM and then see what they will do for me. I hope they;ll let me test it some how and/or let me sign up month to month and if it doesn't work, let me switch to contract and wave the upgrade BS.
thats the only thing I'm unsure of if I reflash to the GSM radio, take out my verizon SIM and show up with no sim. new build prop and it set to GSM before I show up if it will work or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the world of AT&T! Where they win worst in customer satisfaction 3 years running by consumer reports.
"Each year, Consumer Reports ranks all manner of U.S. wireless carriers based on customer satisfaction in a number of different categories. AT&T ranked dead last in the customer satisfaction survey for the third year in a row. It was hit with the worst rankings for any major carrier in value, voice quality, and customer support."
I'd suggest you go with a prepaid like Page Plus. I've used them, good flexible plans, friendly customer support, free ESN changes via online chat, no bull. Any Verizon phone outside of 'new' inpulse and blackberries can be activated (I've got Page Plus on my CDMA side and a *shudder* Straight Talk AT&T SIM on GSM in my Droid 3)
If you call customer service, you can usually get it activated for free, or find a 3rd party page plus dealer (I have a couple that do free instant activations). They're an MVNO of Verizon, so same network, but very much lower price. Verizon prepaid smartphone plan; 70USD for unlim talk/text and 1GB data. PagePlus? 55USD For unlim talk/text and 2GBs data, or 69.95 for 5GB of data, and buying online, no taxes either.
Anyway, luck to you. If you decide to go in-store, make sure your phone is completely GSM ready, leave the Verizon/Vodafone sim at home. Tell them it's GSM unlocked and it works on AT&T's network (mention you tested it, or let you test a SIM. I've *yet* to find a store that lets me test a sim though.)
The Droid 3 supports up to HSPA 14.4 on AT&T's network, I can get ~5.5Mbps, but I have noticed it's not as stable as Verizon, and calls drop, due to CDMA having better hand-off than GSM (CDMA actually connects to multiple towers at once for seamless handoff, GSM has to toss between the towers). Been awhile since I've really read into it, and I'm likely getting a bit technical...
for me, I can't even use verizon at home or anywhere with in a 30 mile+ radius. The ONLY carrier that has coverage out here is ATT and oddly, they have 4g coverage. My neighbors use them and the signal strength and data speeds are superb. There isn't another carrier.
I know straight talk and such might use ATT towers but I worry about the so called unlimited data and everything that really isn't unlimited.
I guess if one of those carrier actually use ATT towers then I guess I'm ok but how would I know without trying them out some how?
looks like straight talk no longer does ATT
net10 seems like you can still get ATT sims
I'm in WV and, again, ATT is the only provider that has voice and data coverage out here.
bigbacon said:
looks like straight talk no longer does ATT
net10 seems like you can still get ATT sims
I'm in WV and, again, ATT is the only provider that has voice and data coverage out here.
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Click to collapse
Net10 at least came out and said there was a 1.5gb cap now on att. Albeit net10 and straighttalk are the exact same company. Outside of that, most any mvno of att is expensive, att itself is expensive, but you gotta use what you have to. Any that run on att will work on the d3 once modified to do so. Net10 and Red Pocket are the only two that come to mind at the moment, but do a bit of research and find a good one that fits your needs.
I have to search for a list since I'm reading now that some services like Net10 and such may use the ATT gohpone service area or they may use the normal service areas.
Can anyone confirm if Calls, SMS, MMS, and full Data and 3G coverage all work correctly on AT&T on the Droid 3 once unlocked?
think I'm going to try net10. $85 bucks a month to use the postpaid ATT network for 2 lines is alot better than 120 going with ATT and we don't use a lot of data. Looking back at our Verizon account over 6 months, we've never used even 1gb worth of data in a month. I can't find a chart or anything that shows which ones use the postpaid ATT network as I am up for other carriers other than net10 if they do.
seems like moving my number might be an issue though since I am no longer in PA.
braambo said:
Can anyone confirm if Calls, SMS, MMS, and full Data and 3G coverage all work correctly on AT&T on the Droid 3 once unlocked?
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I have a Bell Canada XT860, unlocked, and I use all of those except MMS, which I'm pretty sure would work too... I have the APN settings for it.
I am using a Droid 3 on At&t with the Medianet plan that only costs $10(if you're on an unlimited text plan).I'm getting speeds of
up to 5.5mb down and 1.5mb up. The speeds are better at night though.
If you want to use a prepaid GSM,the cheapest I've seen is Red Pockect that uses AT&T's network.They have unlimited talk,text &MMS.
PassingThruLife said:
I am using a Droid 3 on At&t with the Medianet plan that only costs $10(if you're on an unlimited text plan).I'm getting speeds of
up to 5.5mb down and 1.5mb up. The speeds are better at night though.
If you want to use a prepaid GSM,the cheapest I've seen is Red Pockect that uses AT&T's network.They have unlimited talk,text &MMS.
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Click to collapse
Do you have the XT860 or XT862?
I would be all over the XT862 if Jellybean was available in a ROM (100% working)
redsrule2500 said:
Do you have the XT860 or XT862?
I would be all over the XT862 if Jellybean was available in a ROM (100% working)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have an xt862 that i flashed with the chinese radio. I love it honestly,especially since I can have a decent android phone with keyboard + a cheap data plan.
id love to see ICS on the droid 3 but i know it wont happen,the phone is going on 2 years into its lifespan and that kind of age means DEATH in the phone industry .
PassingThruLife said:
i have an xt862 that i flashed with the chinese radio. I love it honestly,especially since I can have a decent android phone with keyboard + a cheap data plan.
id love to see ICS on the droid 3 but i know it wont happen,the phone is going on 2 years into its lifespan and that kind of age means DEATH in the phone industry .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah, that's my goal here in looking for a replacement for my Milestone 1. I just know that I won't be able to take full advantage of the device without the newer Android OS versions available, and that's too bad because everything else is perfect with this phone. So I'm basically sticking w/ the Milestone 1 on CM7 until something better becomes available. (Weird part is even my Milestone 1 can run JB 4.1 100%...!)
I honestly have no phone to get that meets my upgrade specifications for AT&T (JB, keyboard, global phone), aside from attempting the PhotonQ SIM Card Mod, which is a huge risk since I don't know if it will work on AT&T. Blah.
redsrule2500 said:
Oh yeah, that's my goal here in looking for a replacement for my Milestone 1. I just know that I won't be able to take full advantage of the device without the newer Android OS versions available, and that's too bad because everything else is perfect with this phone. So I'm basically sticking w/ the Milestone 1 on CM7 until something better becomes available. (Weird part is even my Milestone 1 can run JB 4.1 100%...!)
I honestly have no phone to get that meets my upgrade specifications for AT&T (JB, keyboard, global phone), aside from attempting the PhotonQ SIM Card Mod, which is a huge risk since I don't know if it will work on AT&T. Blah.
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Click to collapse
LOL I have spent some time thinking about the Photon Q,you can buy one with a bad ESN for around $120... but I am not that handy and taking apart the phone kind of scares me.
I'd be happy with a Photon Q for a while tho.
PassingThruLife said:
LOL I have spent some time thinking about the Photon Q,you can buy one with a bad ESN for around $120... but I am not that handy and taking apart the phone kind of scares me.
I'd be happy with a Photon Q for a while tho.
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Wow, that's so tempting. Didn't realize they would be that cheap.
It could be a fun project, as long as I don't screw it up completely....but I also would feel bad about owning a device which was most likely stolen.
redsrule2500 said:
Wow, that's so tempting. Didn't realize they would be that cheap.
It could be a fun project, as long as I don't screw it up completely....but I also would feel bad about owning a device which was most likely stolen.
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Click to collapse
Well "bad ESN" doesnt always mean stolen,could also mean the person owes money and the phone is blacklisted till they pay it.
My Droid 3 had a bad ESN but it was because I lost my job and couldn't afford to pay Verizon's ridiculous prices. My income was literally cut in half.
Hey guys, I've searched Google and the forums and I couldn't find my answer. I apologize if I overlooked anything.
I'm on Verizon and I understand that GSM phones cannot work with CDMA which made me bummed out since this phone is what I really want to use. I was even planning on going to a different carrier but decided not to.
Anyway, at Best Buy a mobile associate told me that as long as the phone supports Verizon's LTE bands, I can just slip in Verizon's sim card and I'll be able to use the phone. Now I told him that I'm sure he was wrong about it and he insisted that it's a fact and wouldn't change his mind about it at all.
So basically, since the Sony Xperia Z1 supports Verizon's LTE bands, can I just pop in a Verizon sim card and everything will work?
Thanks in advance.
Sorry, but you cannot simply slip a Verizon Sim card into a GSM phone and expect it to work 100%. You may get LTE but I don't believe you'll get anything else (such as phone calling capabilities and what not).
The Best Buy associate is only half right. It's unfortunate because it's guys like him that make us look like we don't know what we're talking about (I'm am employee as well).
Good luck though! At this point, Verizon can offer all the LTE they want, they can't provide customers with all the amazing phones that are available. The Nexus 5 will be another big deal breaker for Verizon customers, as it won't fully with with Verizon either.
Sent from my C6906 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Hey guys I am tired of waiting for Verizon to offer the Nexus 6 so I am looking into purchasing from alternative outlets. So I know that a T Mobile device will work on Verizon network due to reading this in numerous threads. So I would like to get the T Mobile version of the phone but will pay the full unsubsidized price for the phone in order to keep my unlimited data plan. I just want to confirm that purchasing from T Mobile that there is no way that Verizon will be able to take away my unlimited data plan as long as I just cut down my current micro sim and insert directly into the Nexus. I have confirmed that this would be fine through Play edition devices, but just wanted to make sure that the T Mobile version will also work as Motorola and the Play Store have been out of stock for awhile. Thanks!
You're not upgrading through Verizon so there shouldn't be a reason they could take it away anymore than they have now. Why not switch to T-Mobile all together? I just did from ATT and couldn't be happier with unlimited data and their network. I know its not for everyone and depending on where you live it could be worse or better for service. The T mobile version is he same as the PS and Moto one except it comes with a t mobile sim and quick start pamphlet.
yeah thats what i was thinking. just didnt know if verizon had any way of telling that the phone was a t mobile phone and then being able to screw me over somehow. also dont really wanna switch right now because i am lucky enough to have one of the rare family unlimited plans and am actually paying significantly less than any other carrier could offer, so i need to stick with verizon.
eww242 said:
yeah thats what i was thinking. just didnt know if verizon had any way of telling that the phone was a t mobile phone and then being able to screw me over somehow. also dont really wanna switch right now because i am lucky enough to have one of the rare family unlimited plans and am actually paying significantly less than any other carrier could offer, so i need to stick with verizon.
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Not that I know of, my mom who is in her late 50's had her unlimited data forever even through numerous upgrades. She then got sick of VZW and their bs, and switch to T-Mobile 4 months ago. I had Att and switched recently aswel. VZW can't so anything if you aren't subsidizing a phone through their stores (there are ways around this) because you are not changing your plan at all therefore not affecting your data. They can still take it away if they really want to because they want to make money and can always try for find a reason to get you off of it.
I can confirm that there is actually no possible way Verizon can change your plan when using this phone on their network.
Best Buy has preorders for both the carrier locked and unlocked versions of the Note 8. I am coming off of a Note 4, and am very interested in the Note 8. My question is, are there any real benefits to me for buying the unlocked version vs. the Verizon version.
In the area in which I live, cell service mostly sucks across the board, but Verizon sucks the least. So I will not be changing carriers. So far, this is the pros/cons list based on the information that I've been able to find. I might be incorrect about one or more of these.
Pros:
Can change carriers whenever.
No carrier bloat.
Might get future updates more quickly.
Cons:
Might lose wifi calling.
Might lose wireless hotspot
Insurance is more expensive.
Best Buy has deals on pre-orders. For any Note 8, you get either a free memory card and wireless charging dock, or a Gear 365 camera. If you have their Best Buy card, then they have 24 month no interest financing. If you buy a carrier version of the phone, in addition to the other freebies, you get up to $150 off. The price of a Verizon Note 8 is $33.78 per month. The price of the unlocked Note 8 is $38.74 per month. Verizon also has a trade-in on my Note 4 of $240, which knocks the price down to $22.75 per month.
So given all of this, is there a compelling reason to get an unlocked phone? I know that carrier bloatware sucks, but there are solutions for it. At least there are on my Note 4.
One other question is, if I got a phone not tied to a carrier, does that make it easier to root in the future?
I pre ordered the unlocked phone and the reason was what happened to me with the note 7 (both times) and the ability to switch from AT&T to Verizon if I want to. Also lack of carrier bloat. Samsung has insurance for 12 bucks a month that is better than the carrier crap insurance. Wifi calling is a non issue for me, didn't realize that I might not have hot spot, but unlocked will get root first, and then Hotspot no trouble.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using XDA-Developers Legacy app
I too pre ordered the unlocked version from samsung's website. I am with att right now and is planning to switch to t-mobile of project fi. not sure yet which of the two. but defintely a good plus having the unlocked version. I am not really concerned about wi fi calling since majority of the stuff i do to communicate is through text messages and through facebook messenger.
I have a unlock S8. I use it 100% fine on my T-mobile. But I can't do video call to another T-mobile customer. Thats the only difference.
I picked up the AT&T variant. My insurance is only $8.99 and if I call before 4pm I will have my phone the next day. Also if I need to warranty my phone they will send me another phone before I have to ship mine back to them. I'm not worried about bloat if that was the case I would just buy a OnePlus 5 or wait for the Pixel 2 you can uninstall or disable anything you don't want. I really don't see a need to root anymore. Im not all about flashing ROMs just to lose the features that make the Note the Note.
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app
i preordered ATT note8, i worry the unlocked note8 wont have all the att LTE bands.
on my att galaxy s8+ i getting 115mb down, 28mb up on att LTE Advanced
Speaking from my experience here in the UK, I have found that locked phones are a bad deal generally. They don't get the latest updates very quickly and you can only stick with one SIM card. They also devalue the phone when you want to sell it, and whilst you could use an unlocking service, they aren't always available for you phone or carrier combo.
You don't really get much (if any) carrier bloatware here however, so that's not a consideration. WiFi calling doesn't always deliver a good call connection and I have had occasional issues with this when using my hands-free car connection.
.
ahenderson223 said:
I picked up the AT&T variant. My insurance is only $8.99 and if I call before 4pm I will have my phone the next day. Also if I need to warranty my phone they will send me another phone before I have to ship mine back to them. I'm not worried about bloat if that was the case I would just buy a OnePlus 5 or wait for the Pixel 2 you can uninstall or disable anything you don't want. I really don't see a need to root anymore. Im not all about flashing ROMs just to lose the features that make the Note the Note.
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me, root is only useful for two reasons.
1. Ad blocking.
2. Tracking down the nuisance wakelocks that android always seems to have. I've had many android phones going back to the Evo, and the only ones that I didn't end up hating were the ones that I could root. My most current phone is a Note 4 and I blew it and lost root a couple of weeks ago and couldn't get it back. Now I can't tell what's keeping my phone awake all of the time.
I'm not into flashing anymore. When I had the Evo, I must have flashed it with 100 different ROMs. Now I just want a stable phone that doesn't get killed by wakelocks.
Battery life has been good to me on my last couple of Android devices. As far as updates on my S8+ I'm running the most current software and security patch that the unlocked unbranded has.
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app
My problem is, as a former note 7 user, I need to buy Note 8 direct from Samsung to get discount and it is a nightmare to SIM unlock the phone on Tmobile, if purchased from Samsung. Samsung can't unlock it, only T-mobile can and since the phone comes direct from Samsung, T-mo has no record of it. So you need to spend a lot of time talking to higher level support, they need to input your IMEI manually into their system, probably call Samsung to verify status of the phone etc. It's just too much headache. So I was wondering if I could buy unlocked phone and load T-mo software to get wifi calling back, but I just hope the phone will remain unlocked? Anybody knows?
pete4k said:
My problem is, as a former note 7 user, I need to buy Note 8 direct from Samsung to get discount and it is a nightmare to SIM unlock the phone on Tmobile, if purchased from Samsung. Samsung can't unlock it, only T-mobile can and since the phone comes direct from Samsung, T-mo has no record of it. So you need to spend a lot of time talking to higher level support, they need to input your IMEI manually into their system, probably call Samsung to verify status of the phone etc. It's just too much headache. So I was wondering if I could buy unlocked phone and load T-mo software to get wifi calling back, but I just hope the phone will remain unlocked? Anybody knows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been done many times over on s8 unlocked so I'd think yes.
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app
pete4k said:
My problem is, as a former note 7 user, I need to buy Note 8 direct from Samsung to get discount and it is a nightmare to SIM unlock the phone on Tmobile, if purchased from Samsung. Samsung can't unlock it, only T-mobile can and since the phone comes direct from Samsung, T-mo has no record of it. So you need to spend a lot of time talking to higher level support, they need to input your IMEI manually into their system, probably call Samsung to verify status of the phone etc. It's just too much headache. So I was wondering if I could buy unlocked phone and load T-mo software to get wifi calling back, but I just hope the phone will remain unlocked? Anybody knows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand all of this rhetoric about wifi calling not working. I had a mid level Samsung Grand Prime from Sprint that did not have ANY service hooked up to it. I think the previous owner that sold it on ebay left his sim card in it since he switched carriers but I never hooked it up to service and for a time of many months, went around making wifi calls anywhere there was a wifi connection just to go off the grid and remember what it was like when we didn't have mobile phones and the only communication when out-and-around town, was a pay phone on the corner gas station ...... if it didn't have two or three people waiting in line to use it.
I understand that some carriers software disable their wifi calling features in some models of phones because they don't want anyone to be able to make a call unless they are paying for service, but seams from my experience that it only requires network service provisioning which is probably why my GP worked with the SIM, even though it wasn't active which means that it SHOULD work on any phone with any carrier that has a network SIM regardless of it being active with service. I realize (although not personally experienced) that some carriers disable wifi calling in their branded phones even with provisioning and SIM unless there is active service and I think some disable it even with active service so as to charge extra for it, am I right? That should be fixable by a patch or something. Do not all ROM's correct that nad make wifi calling work?
---------- Post added at 05:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:21 PM ----------
PS. I think unlocked branded phones are the way to go just because of the lack of bloatware and ability to switch carriers at will and/or pop in a SIM from another carrier where you don't have good coverage or travel out of the country. To highlight, I just this year worked in two different towns where T-mobile had almost nonexistent coverage (one of which was instrumental in loosing a job) and being able to pop in a pre-paid sim would have corrected that. I thought this 2-3 years ago but didn't listen to myself and purchased a T-Mobile Note 8 last year and have been kicking myself for it ever since.
I prefer having a unlocked device that way I can use it with any Cell Provider I want.