I'm stuck on AT&T for the next two years (stupid contracts), and right now I'm using an N1 (which I'm really happy with). I had an iPhone for two years before that, and now I find myself wanting to try out a phone with a physical keyboard. I'm looking at maybe selling the N1 and using the cash to pick up one of these or the Merge off-contract. The question is: how exactly does one go about getting a phone carrier unlocked? Can I just root it and flash a new ROM, or is the carrier lock deeper in the device? And is it compatible with AT&T's 3G bands? I know it's early to be thinking about this stuff: the phones aren't even released yet! But still...
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Do you think that this will work on AT&T?
- Thread starter Sgroh87
- Start date
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- motorola droid pro
Right! Google GSM and CDMA. If it were GSM you could swap SIM cards but that is not possible on CDMA phones.
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It should support AT&T 3G if it has a quad-band HSDPA radio set like the D2 Global:
http://www.droid-life.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/droid2globalspecs.jpg
http://www.droid-life.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/droid2globalspecs.jpg
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I understand the difference between GSM and CDMA, but I was thinking: if it has a SIM card slot so that it can work in the GSM frequencies, then what's to stop me from buying the phone off contract and putting in an AT&T SIM card? I mean, if the phone is designed to use SIM cards and travel internationally, why would it be carrier locked to a technology that only has a major hold in the US?
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Previous VZW dual "World Phones" used the CDMA in US and GSM abroad. Don't know if the CDMA would override even the GSM radio when in US. I guess you could try. IMHO if you want ATT they have some OK phones--or will have--just get one of theirs.
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The thing is, I'm already on AT&T. I wanted to leave, but my parents have a family plan on AT&T and don't want to switch. It would cost me about $40 a month more to leave the family line and go anywhere else. Basically I'm stuck on AT&T for at least two more years, unless I want to pay an ETF.
And I disagree about AT&T's android lineup. I have had a Captivate (two actually, neither one worked correctly), the Backflip sucks, all the new Moto phones are midrange at best, and the Aria is too small for me (my girlfriend loves hers, though). I'm using a Tmobile N1 right now, and I think I've found an AT&T N1 I can trade for in the next few weeks. I just wanted to see what my options were.
And I disagree about AT&T's android lineup. I have had a Captivate (two actually, neither one worked correctly), the Backflip sucks, all the new Moto phones are midrange at best, and the Aria is too small for me (my girlfriend loves hers, though). I'm using a Tmobile N1 right now, and I think I've found an AT&T N1 I can trade for in the next few weeks. I just wanted to see what my options were.
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im sorry, but why in the world would you buy a tmobile nexus one and use it on at&t?
that is the dumbest idea ive ever heard of. you get ****ed over because your stuck on 2g rather than 3g. for that reason alone i would have just bought a captivate and stuck with it. you can put roms on that too and have fun.
or i would wait for the "glacier" i think thats what its called but i dont remember.
but i do know how you feel having an iphone for a few years. i went from the original iphone in late 2007, so a few months after it came out thinking it was the best thing in the world. then upgraded to the iphone 3gs when i graduated high school in 2009. now i just went to the epic 4g on august 31st when it first came back and im never looking back.
what i did was sell my iphone to pay the ETF and then buy the epic on contract so it ptetty much paid itself. because for some reason people pay up the ass for a jailbroken/unlocked iphone
that is the dumbest idea ive ever heard of. you get ****ed over because your stuck on 2g rather than 3g. for that reason alone i would have just bought a captivate and stuck with it. you can put roms on that too and have fun.
or i would wait for the "glacier" i think thats what its called but i dont remember.
but i do know how you feel having an iphone for a few years. i went from the original iphone in late 2007, so a few months after it came out thinking it was the best thing in the world. then upgraded to the iphone 3gs when i graduated high school in 2009. now i just went to the epic 4g on august 31st when it first came back and im never looking back.
what i did was sell my iphone to pay the ETF and then buy the epic on contract so it ptetty much paid itself. because for some reason people pay up the ass for a jailbroken/unlocked iphone
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on winblows mobil some firmware versions locked out GSM when in the US- unsure if they use GPS or some tower signatures or something to tell. On other versions people have used ATT sims in Samsung saga's (winblows 6.1). On winblows the MMS settings need to get hacked as they seem to be hard coded in the registry for verizon- not sure how that all works with android.
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You may have to wait to unlock it. I've read that the account needs to be active for 6 months before they will unlock.
Now, are there other ways, sure. But they're not supported
without a verizon account then probably the 'other ways' need to be investigated.
But i think if your account is in good standing you can call and tell them you are traveling and want to use prepaid sims and they will unlock it no questions asked. Of course you would need to have a year or 2 contract to get that done and then buy that out to leave. So probably the other ways are the ways to go.
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FWIW, I got my T-Mo "Defy" last night at full price for $379 (still on non-contract T-Mo, and AT&T as well) and got it unlocked without too much trouble (T-Mo had to escalate to engineers, but willing to give out unlock code). Working well on AT&T's 850 band:
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All - the Droid Pro does have all of the radio bands, including the US GSM frequencies. I have the phone and can confirm that I obtained the unlock code from VZW Tech Support, then I put in my AT&T sim card. The Pro recognizes that it's "on" AT&T, as evidenced by the lock screen and the task notification bar. The problem is that Verizon has locked it down somewhere in the software, so it cannot use the US GSM frequencies in the USA. I am no engineer, but I'm guessing that it's using GPS (the same way E911 GPS is always running in the background) to do this, but it could well be something else. I did try messing with all the settings, menus, etc but could not find any way to make it work on AT&T. I even rooted (used z4root from Marketplace) but I can't find where it's locked down.
Mine is likely going back and I'll return to the Droid X.
Best,
Hoppy
Mine is likely going back and I'll return to the Droid X.
Best,
Hoppy
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I'm wondering if its pulling the same location data that the Skype app is using. I tried setting the phone's "Time/Date" settings to another zone (London), and disabling GPS, but no joy. If not those, then it may be associated w/APN config. I even tried renaming the APN name (both T-Mo and AT&T had "US" as part of the name). Is the D2G using Motoblur?
If a workaround can be found, it may kill two birds with one stone. I wonder if under the Applications settings, the "enable mock locations" could be used to set an "outside the US" trigger.
If a workaround can be found, it may kill two birds with one stone. I wonder if under the Applications settings, the "enable mock locations" could be used to set an "outside the US" trigger.
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Have you tried this:
Go to dialpad, and enter *#*#4636#*#*
Click on Phone Information, and then scroll down to bottom. Set preferred network type from "CDMA auto(PRL)" to "WCDMA preferred"
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Can somebody tell me Verizons return policy on phones purchased outright? or is this phone sold at a retail store?
The wife is really getting tired of her BB, so I was hoping to mover her to this phone but I don't feel like waiting the 6-8 months for it to come to Canada, so I'm more than willing to purchase it outright and purchase an unlock code(assuming I can do that) and move the phone to Canada which would work on the same frequencies as AT&T in the U.S., but I wouldn't be in the U.S.(except for when I go cross border shopping) so it *shoudln't* be an issue.
The wife is really getting tired of her BB, so I was hoping to mover her to this phone but I don't feel like waiting the 6-8 months for it to come to Canada, so I'm more than willing to purchase it outright and purchase an unlock code(assuming I can do that) and move the phone to Canada which would work on the same frequencies as AT&T in the U.S., but I wouldn't be in the U.S.(except for when I go cross border shopping) so it *shoudln't* be an issue.
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Two options:
1.) Activate the device on a Verizon line that has been in good standing for at least 6 months. Call Verizon Global Support and they will give you an unlock code.
2.) Use a third party unlocking service. There are lots of sites that charge you 10 bucks or so and will provide an unlock code. But since the Droid Pro/Droid 2 Global devices are so new, I'm not sure if any third party unlockers have the codes yet.
Verizon's radio firmware has restricted the AT&T bands in the USA, even though the hardware supports them. There are devs currently working on hacking the firmware so hopefully we'll have a workaround soon.
Carriers just enjoy crippling phones for some reason. If you ask me, mobile service providers need to get out of the phone sales business and let us buy uncrippled devices...but that's a different conversation lol
In the case of the Droid Pro/Droid 2 Global, there is a menu to switch between Global, CDMA only, and GSM only modes. When in GSM only mode, the phone will not detect VZW and will only look for GSM networks. But because of the aformentioned restriction, US GSM networks aren't working at the moment.
If you haven't returned it yet, hold out till the 30 day period is over. We might have a hacked radio firmware by then that will unrestrict the AT&T/T-Mobile bands. Check out this thread at xdadevelopers: “Answered but not Perfected” Getting to Droid 2 Global to work on USA GSM - xda-developers
30 day return policy ($35 restocking fee)
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Thanks for the informative info. $35 restocking fee seems reasonable to me. Do you know if the Verizon firmware restrictions are just in place in the U.S. or is it across the 850/1900 bands altogether?
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EDIT: Looks like it's just in the US...someone just posted on droidforums that he was able to use the D2G with two GSM 1900 providers in Chile.
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Well that is stupid. There are other counties that use that frequency besides the U.S. where Verizon would be challenged
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Well that is stupid. There are other counties that use that frequency besides the U.S. where Verizon would be challenged
I think the jury is still out...at least until a few more people start using them under different conditions.
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A bit OT but there are rumors of the HTC Merge maybe coming this week(or at least announced) and that is a also suppose to be a global phone. There might be some setting or something on that phone that could allow use on AT&T, or just easier to hack for AT&T.
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The phone supports AT&T 3G, but the baseband/radio software is set to block the MCC or Mobile Country Code of 310 on GSM which is the United States. That's why people have been able to get them to work with SIMs and networks outside the US. Until someone figures out how to remove this limitation it's stuck that way.
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