Help Taking VZW GS4 internationally

[Adara]

OK, I have a lovely GS4 from VZW (SCH-I545). I've travelled with it plenty times and I always pay Verizon's somewhat extortionate rates for international data. (Also calls and texts, but, honestly, it's mostly data as far as I'm concerned.)

I'm considering braving the world of "screw it, I'm putting in another network's SIM card."

After much Googling, I have come to the provisional conclusions that:
1. My phone is unlocked.
2. I can go to another country, buy a local pay-as-you-go SIM card, and insert it in the phone.
3. The phone will, most likely, function on the local network.
4. For data, I will probably have to change the APN settings, which is easy to do. (I needn't be rooted or anything like that.)
5. When I'm on someone else's network, calls to my VZW number will go straight to VoiceMail.
(6. When I'm on someone else's network, my family (also with VZW) can text me from the U.S. for about a quarter a text, since VZW recently added those rates.)
7. When I come home and reinsert the VZW card, VZW will love me again.

This is all provisional, because some folks have reported that their allegedly unlocked SCH-I545 gives them a "Non-Verizon SIM Card" warning and won't work; others report the option to add APN settings are greyed-out; someone said that might just be during the first 60 days you have the phone; one person said if I try to use 4G abroad, the foreign network might try to "flash" something to my phone which will end up bricking it for VZW purposes, and so forth.

I trust you folks. Do I have it (basically) right? Will this work the way I expect it to?

Bonus question: Will the damn thing work on the UK's Three network? They look to have the best plan that would suit my needs, but not if the phone won't play well with their network. (Again, random googling looks like Three is on 3G 2100 which this phone can do, but I'd like confirmation.)

 

[dynomot]

In the UK.

Unlocked phones can take anyone else's SIM card and work. Usually if you insert a different SIM that SIM's carrier sends a text message you "save upon opening" it with the APN settings for that network, the same when you swap back to your usual SIM.

Now phones from the states here in the UK might use different frequencies for LTE, HSPDA etc. And won't work on our networks. Calls using GSM (2G) should work, but data may well be useless or at best EDGE (2.5G) which is (just about) equally useless. I think it depends.

Here you go for the UK at least comparing your phones frequencies with UK networks. This data is applicable for the UK but a little out of date Orange and T-Mobile are now EE (Everything Everywhere) and are one and the same. Looking at it all should work, but I doubt LTE/4G would. The phone should (I emphasise should) act as exactly as you state once back home with its normal Verizon SIM in it

http://www.signalboostuk.com/networkinfo.asp

And your phone is a VZW SCH-I545 :

http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones/SCH-I545ZWAVZW-specs

 

[ironass]

The Verizon, G900V, CDMA will be fine on 2G and 3G networks but 4G/LTE is not possible in Europe for it. Here is a comparison between the Verizon G900V and the International, used in the UK, G900F...

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=6338&idPhone2=6033

 

[Adara]

Thanks!

I'm going to work on the assumption that the data speeds I'm going to get with a UK sim card are going to be the exact same data speeds I got when I was using a Verizon sim card roaming on the UK networks. (Because, I mean, same phone.) I wish I'd paid closer attention to which networks were giving me the best data speeds last time I was there, but, of course, I didn't.

 

[dynomot]

Get a '3' pay as you go SIM. Their 3G (actually HSPDA+ rather than UTMS) is regarded as the best for speed and coverage. As confirmed by @ironass 4G/LTE is not going to be a consideration for you. Do not get Vodafone or O2 one, both are pretty average. EE have gone 4G mad and I'm not sure about their 3G coverage and speeds, any other SIMs use any one of these four networks whatever they are branded. (Virgin, Gif-Gaf, Tesco etc)

Most newsagents and petrol stations (Gas stations) sell them for about £1 (approx $1.65 US) ask nicely and add some credit at a '3' store and you'll probably get one for free. They come with complete instructions.

 

[Adara]

Awesome, thanks! 3 Pay As You go was exactly my plan of action.

 

[dynomot]

This thread reminds me of me studiously turning OFF mobile data when I went to Florida on holiday only for my (then) ten year old to somehow turn it back ON (on my Galaxy S3 back then) . I looked at my phone while waiting for "The Hulk" in Universal Orlando, and Play Store was busy just installing the first of many updates. Never has mobile data been turned off so quickly. It still cost me £18.50 for 20meg or so of data, three two minute calls back home and one received text from my bank. All under "roaming" on my bill. Roaming charges are nothing but rip offs. Even in the EU we Brits get ripped off. Greece and Spain (two of the most popular holiday spots for the British) are absurdly expensive for roaming.

 

[Frank Grimes]

I have a Verizon S4 and use it internationally. Currently using it in Afghanistan on the Roshan network but have used the 3 pre-paid SIM in the UK a few times as well. It's really nice for the price. Limited minutes and texting but unlimited data. I had great coverage from London to Norwich. The thing you need to do to get data working was go into Settings > More networks > Mobile Networks

Once there change Network mode to Global then go to Access Point Names and add an APN. Give it the name of 3UK and the APN Internet and it'll work just fine. If you follow the directions on the package, it won't work. It says you'll get a greeting text, which I did, and that was it. It says after about 30 minutes it'll configure data and it'll work but I got tired of waiting and did that and data worked immediately. As soon as you clear customs, there's a vending machine full of the SIM cards and you can grab it there.

 

[ironass]

The Verizon, G900V, CDMA will be fine on 2G and 3G networks but 4G/LTE is not possible in Europe for it. Here is a comparison between the Verizon G900V and the International, used in the UK, G900F...

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=6338&idPhone2=6033

How drunk was I yesterday at the Cheltenham Gold Cup??? None of you spotted my deliberate error. Lets try again...

The Verizon, SCH-i545, CDMA will be fine on 2G and 3G networks but 4G/LTE is not possible in Europe for it. Here is a comparison between the Verizon SCH-i545 and the International, used in the UK, i9505...

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=5371&idPhone2=5388

 

[Adara]

Yes, that version of your post makes way more sense.

 

[Adara]

I'm back.

This post was one reboot away from a "oh please help me" post, but it has somehow turned into a "holy crap, it worked" post.

First, the good news. The plan worked when I was abroad. The dude from 3 messed with/reset my APN settings and internet happened. The 3 network worked great for me. Much joy.

Came back to the US and much less joy. Phone did not want to connect to the internet. No 4G at all. (Intermittent 1X for some reason.) Was pretty sure the problem was the APN settings.

Could not make the old settings come back. Even did a "Reset Settings," which still left the troublesome APN settings untouched (it was this weird hybrid was called "Verizon -- Three.co.uk") and otherwise annoyed me by forgetting everything else. There was a tempting "reset" button in the APN settings, but it was, of course, greyed out.

It wasn't greyed out for the 3 SIM card, though. Insert here much back-and-forth between the 3 SIM and the VZW SIM -- using the 3 SIM to have the options to mess with the APN settings and the VZW SIM to see if it worked. And it wasn't working. The "reset" -- even when not greyed -- did not solve the problem. I came online and found what VZW's APN settings were. (Mostly -- each website I found had them slightly different.) Weird problem though -- I'd type 'em all in as a new APN, but when I'd hit "save," it wouldn't save. It was at this point when I was about to come here and throw myself on your mercy/collected wisdom when, upon putting the VZW card back in one last time, 4G magically appeared. The APN now calls itself "Verizon Internet - vzwinternet" and the settings do not match EITHER the 3 settings OR the VZW settings I found online. I'm not asking. It works, and that's all I care about.

Well, not really. I'm going to be trying this experiment again (because using 3 in the UK is a wonderful thing) and I'd sort of like to know what I have to do in the future so that I won't lose VZW 4G upon my return. D'you think the problem was that maybe the 3 guy MODIFIED my APN settings rather than adding 3 as a NEW setting? (And how on earth did it get back? It doesn't look like anything I did to it actually made a difference.)

(Perhaps if/when I upgrade my phone, I'll just keep the s4 as my international-use phone, and not have to mess with this anymore. Although, really, it was SO CLOSE to working seamlessly, I'd really like to fix this plan so I can rely on it.)