Used my Razr Maxx in Hong Kong!!

[dylo22]

I was in Hong Kong last week and got to test out the razr maxx's gsm radios. The whole process was pretty painless. I purchased a prepaid (micro)sim card at HK airport, took out my 4G verizon sim, inserted the local sim card, switched mobile network to gsm/utms and I was connected to the carrier's 3g network.

Overall I was pretty pleased. The reception was good and I got decent speeds. There were a couple of dropped signals, but I always reconnected seconds later.

When I got back to the states, I popped back in my 4g sim card and reconnected to verizon's network with no problems what so ever. It was pretty sweet.

 

[ballroomdru]

How was your battery life while in Hong Kong?

 

[Sharondippity]

That's good to hear. What's your trick for opening that SIM door? I had a heck of a time opening it.

 

[Optid]

That's good to hear. What's your trick for opening that SIM door? I had a heck of a time opening it.

I just use my fingernails, a eye glass flat head screwdriver would work great.

 

[dylo22]

How was your battery life while in Hong Kong?

It was really good. Definately better than 4g lte. Keep in mind, HK is well covered with 3g. Every where i went I had a strong signal. I think this helped with preserving battery.

That's good to hear. What's your trick for opening that SIM door? I had a heck of a time opening it.

No real trick. Just have to use your finger nail to pry it open. I agree it's not easy.

 

[RBEmerson]

Has anyone tried their RAZR Maxx in the Bahamas with a Batelco SIM? Semi-informed rumor has it that Batelco is actually upgrading to 4G and is well along in the process. Further, said rumors go, smart phones like the RAZR can be used with a Batelco SIM.

FWIW, I've used an HTC Droid Incredible 2 and BB Storm in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and France without changing out the SIM; I was still effectively a VZW customer roaming in Euro-land, albeit with the VZW international plan (which is hellish expensive).

 

[Tutsumi]

Has anyone tried their RAZR Maxx in the Bahamas with a Batelco SIM? Semi-informed rumor has it that Batelco is actually upgrading to 4G and is well along in the process. Further, said rumors go, smart phones like the RAZR can be used with a Batelco SIM.

FWIW, I've used an HTC Droid Incredible 2 and BB Storm in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and France without changing out the SIM; I was still effectively a VZW customer roaming in Euro-land, albeit with the VZW international plan (which is hellish expensive).

Sorry for the necro, but:
For voice, they need the 850 MHz/1900 MHz frequency and for data, 850 MHz. So long as those are allowed, and the device isn't locked to a network...you should be good.

 

[RBEmerson]

I'll know more about the RAZR MAXX working in the Bahamas in the next couple of days. We'll sail our boat out of Miami and on to Nassau shortly.

 

[Adara]

dylo22, did you use it for data or just voice?

(Also, did you need to involve VZW in this process in any way, or was it totally without their knowledge/approval/etc.?)

 

[RBEmerson]

FWIW, to use my phone (voice & data) in Germany, I had to call VZW to set up Global Data Plan service @ $30 / 100 Mb / month (hint: use WiFi a lot).

 

[razrclive]

That's good to hear. What's your trick for opening that SIM door? I had a heck of a time opening it.

Don't bite your nails

 

[GTIMKV]

FWIW, to use my phone (voice & data) in Germany, I had to call VZW to set up Global Data Plan service @ $30 / 100 Mb / month (hint: use WiFi a lot).

It's because you are still using your Verizon 4G sim card (international roaming). It's an option, but an expensive one.

Alternatively you could buy a microSIM in Germany and use local GSM provider's prepaid voice/data plan, which is what OP described here.

 

[RBEmerson]

I'll know more about the RAZR MAXX working in the Bahamas in the next couple of days. We'll sail our boat out of Miami and on to Nassau shortly.

The short answer is "It works - sorta, maybe..." A BaTelCo SIM (cut down to micro format - the BaTelCo office in Nassau had a SIM cutter and did the cutting) will function in a RAZR MAXX. The problem is the phone, when confronted with a 3G (HSPA+ - spelling??) connection, begins to fail and ultimately locks up. The problem is that VZW RAZR MAXX phones use a feature called "Fast Disconnect", a technique to keep battery use down. Unfortunately BaTelCo doesn't support fast disconnect. In 2G mode, all is well. In fact, I'm writing this note via Ez-Tether and passing through a 2G connection here on Staniel Cay in the Exumas.

Bottom line: the phone has to be rooted to disable fast disconnect, which is needed to survive in the Bahamas.

EDIT: Replace "fast disconnect" with "fast dormancy" - my error

 

[RBEmerson]

I rooted my RAZR MAXX with EasyRootICS V1.5 and used Build Prop Editor to put in the three-line mod needed to deal with the fast dormancy issue that seems to plague Verizon smart phones using a [Bahamian] BaTelCo SIM.

The rooting process was painless (this process doesn't do anything with ROM's, etc., it just allows you to assert superuser status). Editing /system/build.prop took a little guessing and groping until I found the app Build Prop Editor, a good tool.

The magic three lines are:
ro.mot.ds.fastdormancy.disable=true
telephony.lteOnCdmaDevice=0
ro.telephony.default_network=3

They're added to the end of build.prop.

Whether all of this is going to work or not is unclear. Since leaving Nassau, all the BaTelCo towers have been 2G only. Go figure... At any rate, I still can use those towers; this post was entered here using EasyTether on my laptop, talking to BaTelCo. (BTW, anyone googling on BaTelCo - the main domain is btcbahamas.com - Bahrain Telephone Company owns batelco.com)

DISCLAIMER: Rooting and modifying /system/build.prop have the capability to brick your phone. Don't do anything described in this thread unless you're willing to accept that risk.

 

[RBEmerson]

I finally found an HSDA+ cell in Georgetown in the Exumas and... the phone hasn't collapsed yet. So far, so good.