Problem not picking up 4G - Sprint tech can't figure it out - Sprint Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshoot

Posting here to see if anyone has heard or had this issue with their Sprint GS4. I'm currently on my *4th* GS4. The 1st phone picked up 4G perfectly and all was great until I had to change it out due to some issues (non reception related) and was given another GS4. From that phone on I have *NOT* been able to pull 4G at all. The next 2 phones were swapped out because of the inability to connect. During the hands free system setup the phone shows that it's picking up 4G just fine but as soon as the setup is over I'm sent right back to 3G and it stays there. Sprint has done EVERYTHING to the phone that they can and it still will not pull. It's not a 4G issue as we provisioned a brand new phone at the same time my GS4 was being set back up and the new GS4 picked up 4G just fine. I'm thinking there is something wrong with my account setup but tech support says they see everything as being ok. This has been going on for over a month now and I'm at wits end with Sprint not being able to correct this issue. Does anyone have an idea of what could be wrong that the phone does not pick up 4G? I have to call Sprint engineering again tomorrow so they can try and do more troubleshooting that most likely won't fix the issue. They all start out with the same excuse about 4G towers being down etc until they check and see that everything in my area is ok. If anyone has an idea of what could be wrong please let me know.
Thanks
Rico

Rican_S4 said:
Posting here to see if anyone has heard or had this issue with their Sprint GS4. I'm currently on my *4th* GS4. The 1st phone picked up 4G perfectly and all was great until I had to change it out due to some issues (non reception related) and was given another GS4. From that phone on I have *NOT* been able to pull 4G at all. The next 2 phones were swapped out because of the inability to connect. During the hands free system setup the phone shows that it's picking up 4G just fine but as soon as the setup is over I'm sent right back to 3G and it stays there. Sprint has done EVERYTHING to the phone that they can and it still will not pull. It's not a 4G issue as we provisioned a brand new phone at the same time my GS4 was being set back up and the new GS4 picked up 4G just fine. I'm thinking there is something wrong with my account setup but tech support says they see everything as being ok. This has been going on for over a month now and I'm at wits end with Sprint not being able to correct this issue. Does anyone have an idea of what could be wrong that the phone does not pick up 4G? I have to call Sprint engineering again tomorrow so they can try and do more troubleshooting that most likely won't fix the issue. They all start out with the same excuse about 4G towers being down etc until they check and see that everything in my area is ok. If anyone has an idea of what could be wrong please let me know.
Thanks
Rico
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It;s a problem with the SIM card not being switched over right. They didn't do the transfer correctly when switching phones. If you could get your hands on your original SIM it would work. Since the SIMs are new to Sprint the "techs" are having issues when switching phones. It is a problem they need to reactivate the SIM or correctly switch it to your new phone in thew system.
---------- Post added at 07:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:17 PM ----------
I feel your pain and it's ridiculous that these Sprint employees aren't trained properly to deal with switching SIMs correctly in their system. But I guarantee thats your problem.

GiantJay said:
It;s a problem with the SIM card not being switched over right. They didn't do the transfer correctly when switching phones. If you could get your hands on your original SIM it would work. Since the SIMs are new to Sprint the "techs" are having issues when switching phones. It is a problem they need to reactivate the SIM or correctly switch it to your new phone in thew system.
---------- Post added at 07:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:17 PM ----------
I feel your pain and it's ridiculous that these Sprint employees aren't trained properly to deal with switching SIMs correctly in their system. But I guarantee thats your problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just out of curiosity, is there a checklist they are supposed to follow to do this or do they just do what they think is best?

GH0 said:
Just out of curiosity, is there a checklist they are supposed to follow to do this or do they just do what they think is best?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No idea I don't work for Sprint. But if there is a check list they don't follow it.

I'm not an employee but here's what I would suggest. Tell the tech, just to humor you and see if it corrects the problem, ask them nicely to assume all the information in their system is incorrect. Have them reprogram the phone completely and not use data they already have and assume it's correct. My thinking is that even though it looks okay to them, there could be something that is corrupted somewhere. If they do a full reprogram from square one, and the phone is still malfunctioning, then there's something wrong with the phone. By reprogramming from the very beginning, they can rule out that their data is incorrect somewhere along the line and determine it is the phone which is at fault. Process of elimination. Maybe their reprogramming can flush out the snafu and make the phone operate correctly? Have them assume the phone is totally borked with programming and needs to be redone completely. If that doesn't flush out whatever is wrong then I'd try a brand new s4 sim. If that doesn't work then I'd ask for a new virgin phone.

Now I wouldn't put it past Sprint to screw something up.. but it seems unlikely that the sim card and phone arent matched correctly. Sprint MEID and ICCID from sim card are tied together from the factory and put on a list... this is the list Sprint uses. If you asked Sprint what ICCID they have in the system that is paired with your phone MEID.. the two should match... and that would rule out the incorrect sim or improper setup. Unless they've asked you to keep the original sim card for whatever reason.. or a sim card that did not come with the phone.. I suspect that the MEID and ICCID in their system matches your info. You can confirm your ICCID by going to settings > more tab > about device > status.
another thing to confirm... you need your MSL/SPC.. go to ##DATA# hidden menu.. select "Edit".. scroll down to "more/others" then select "LTE APN Settings". How many APNs do you have listed in that menu? only 2? or 5? If you only have two.. then I'm 100% sure this is the issue and that for some reason or another the phone isnt being provisioned properly. If you have all 5... then it's not an APN issue. But if you do only have 2 apns listed... what I would do is hop on wifi... ##786# reset your device and try to activate over wifi after the phone reboots and erases itself. After the phone activates.. it will attempt to also upgrade PRL... and maybe even check for firmware. It may also even start to do another reset. Don't interrupt anything and just let it do its thing(while being on wifi the entire time).
If you can update anything I've asked about that may help.

GiantJay said:
It;s a problem with the SIM card not being switched over right. They didn't do the transfer correctly when switching phones. If you could get your hands on your original SIM it would work. Since the SIMs are new to Sprint the "techs" are having issues when switching phones. It is a problem they need to reactivate the SIM or correctly switch it to your new phone in thew system.
---------- Post added at 07:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:17 PM ----------
I feel your pain and it's ridiculous that these Sprint employees aren't trained properly to deal with switching SIMs correctly in their system. But I guarantee thats your problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been on the phone with some higher level engineering tech support 3 times today and They had me try all sorts of new things. There was no SIM swapping on any of the phones that I've had. There is no way to get the original SIM as it was 3 phones ago and that one was swapped in a different state. I'll see what they think about it being a SIM issue though.

oscarthegrouch said:
I'm not an employee but here's what I would suggest. Tell the tech, just to humor you and see if it corrects the problem, ask them nicely to assume all the information in their system is incorrect. Have them reprogram the phone completely and not use data they already have and assume it's correct. My thinking is that even though it looks okay to them, there could be something that is corrupted somewhere. If they do a full reprogram from square one, and the phone is still malfunctioning, then there's something wrong with the phone. By reprogramming from the very beginning, they can rule out that their data is incorrect somewhere along the line and determine it is the phone which is at fault. Process of elimination. Maybe their reprogramming can flush out the snafu and make the phone operate correctly? Have them assume the phone is totally borked with programming and needs to be redone completely. If that doesn't flush out whatever is wrong then I'd try a brand new s4 sim. If that doesn't work then I'd ask for a new virgin phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We've done this several times. I was at a Sprint store on Saturday for over 4 hours as we provisioned a brand new out of the box phone which is what I have right now. New phones were pulling 4G 100% and this one would only pull during the hands free provisioning then jump right back to 3G once it was all done. I know it's something in my account settings somewhere but nobody can seem to figure it out. We even tried to set me up with a non LTE phone and then swap back to the new S4 and nothing worked.

autoprime said:
Now I wouldn't put it past Sprint to screw something up.. but it seems unlikely that the sim card and phone arent matched correctly. Sprint MEID and ICCID from sim card are tied together from the factory and put on a list... this is the list Sprint uses. If you asked Sprint what ICCID they have in the system that is paired with your phone MEID.. the two should match... and that would rule out the incorrect sim or improper setup. Unless they've asked you to keep the original sim card for whatever reason.. or a sim card that did not come with the phone.. I suspect that the MEID and ICCID in their system matches your info. You can confirm your ICCID by going to settings > more tab > about device > status.
another thing to confirm... you need your MSL/SPC.. go to ##DATA# hidden menu.. select "Edit".. scroll down to "more/others" then select "LTE APN Settings". How many APNs do you have listed in that menu? only 2? or 5? If you only have two.. then I'm 100% sure this is the issue and that for some reason or another the phone isnt being provisioned properly. If you have all 5... then it's not an APN issue. But if you do only have 2 apns listed... what I would do is hop on wifi... ##786# reset your device and try to activate over wifi after the phone reboots and erases itself. After the phone activates.. it will attempt to also upgrade PRL... and maybe even check for firmware. It may also even start to do another reset. Don't interrupt anything and just let it do its thing(while being on wifi the entire time).
If you can update anything I've asked about that may help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was confirmed today that the MEID and ICCID are 100% matched up. The 3rd person to call me and work on the issue had me check all of it and it's correct. I will have to try the ##DATA## and the rest tomorrow as I don't get service in my house (I have to use an airvana that is horrible) Once I get to work I'd be able to attempt. I will say that we've tried the entire reset and doing it on Wifi but I still only ever pull 3G after everything is said and done.

Did you pay the $10 data fee?

joe.stay said:
Did you pay the $10 data fee?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup! That $10 has bought me a 497ms ping, 791kbps download and a 173kbps upload. I feel like I've won the lotto
So the phone sucks ass with the 3G here and I can't access 4G. Looking at the contract to see what I can find about them breaching their commitment.

Rican_S4 said:
yup! That $10 has bought me a 497ms ping, 791kbps download and a 173kbps upload. I feel like I've won the lotto
So the phone sucks ass with the 3G here and I can't access 4G. Looking at the contract to see what I can find about them breaching their commitment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Data speeds aren't guaranteed. It clearly states that in your contract, or I have a feeling Sprint would have been bankrupt by now.
Sent from my Sprint Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 2

Think you could get a higher level tech on the phone maybe that could practically wipe your account completely blank and start all over? I don't remember, I might have suggested this. What if they could make a new account for you? They might have to change your number but maybe the bug is buried so deep in your settings in their computers that they can't find it.

GiantJay said:
Data speeds aren't guaranteed. It clearly states that in your contract, or I have a feeling Sprint would have been bankrupt by now.
Sent from my Sprint Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not talking about a breach of contract due to speeds. More so the lack of resolving the issue for a prolonged period of time.

oscarthegrouch said:
Think you could get a higher level tech on the phone maybe that could practically wipe your account completely blank and start all over? I don't remember, I might have suggested this. What if they could make a new account for you? They might have to change your number but maybe the bug is buried so deep in your settings in their computers that they can't find it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've suggested a complete wipe if the account and was told that's not possible. Changing my number is not a possibility. I have another call with tech today at 11 and hopefully someone can figure out what's going on. Wiping the phone over and over sure isn't fixing anything.

Rican_S4 said:
Not talking about a breach of contract due to speeds. More so the lack of resolving the issue for a prolonged period of time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck.
Sent from my Sprint Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 2

Reactivation dial code is ##72786#, I had the same problem the sprint tech couldnt get 4g, so I hung up on her and rebooted my phone into 3g and let it reactivate and worked, does the trick
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium HD app

same
That also happend to me but it stayed like that for 2 weeks the renstalled the mf9 update then it satarted working for me it has to do with the system file

GiantJay said:
Good luck.
Sent from my Sprint Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The lady in retention was really nice and 100% on my side about the issues since it was all thoroughly documented. I was given the ok to port my # away if I choose to.

gotablunt said:
Reactivation dial code is ##72786#, I had the same problem the sprint tech couldnt get 4g, so I hung up on her and rebooted my phone into 3g and let it reactivate and worked, does the trick
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately we've tried all of that and it still will never pull up 4G.

Related

Fun With AT&T

Some strange events happened to me yesterday. I've had my g1 since december of 2008. I bought it off someone at craigslist because I am on a AT&T family plan and didn't want to switch carriers. I unlocked the phone soon after and have been using my phone happily since then. I also do no have a data plan and make sure to remove all APN information after each flash.
I have been happily flashing roms going from 1.1 to 1.5 and to 1.6. Lately I was using "NonSense Cupcake revolution" but yesterday I decided to update to cyanogen 5. Right after the upgrade, I got a text from AT&T congratulating me on my new smartphone and telling me that I now need a data plan. 10 minutes later we found out that AT&T deactivated all our sim cards and none of my family were able to make phone calls.
Does anyone have any idea what the heck happened? How did AT&T know all of a sudden I was using a smartphone. Is there something about android 2.1 that raises a red flag? I really DO NOT want a data plan and will rather stop using my g1 than pay $350+/year on one. My current plan is to give them my old Nokia IMEI when I get my new SIM card and then pop it into my g1 after downgrading back to the 1.5 rom I was using.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing your ideas.
Edit: New theory; found this elsewhere:
"Note: If an AT&T customer puts their SIM card into a Nexus One device, our smartphone data requirement policy and control rules will apply; this allows customers to enjoy the benefit of using data services from AT&T. The following welcome message will be delivered:
Your Smartphone is active! A data plan is required and if omitted, will be added to your account. For details, see your sales rep or att.com/smartphoneplans."
So AT&T thinks I put my sim in a nexus one so I think if I downgrade I should be fine. Any way to make a 2.1 rom look like a 1.6 one? build.prop maybe? I cant test anything myself until I get my new sim.
Call them and tell them you put your sim card in a borrowed phone lol. Push a build.prop from any 1.6 to change your id. For fun, open the build.prop with notepad and change g1 to Nokia 1100. If you don't use data they can't charge you
mejorguille said:
Call them and tell them you put your sim card in a borrowed phone lol. Push a build.prop from any 1.6 to change your id. For fun, open the build.prop with notepad and change g1 to Nokia 1100. If you don't use data they can't charge you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha we think alike; I told them exactly that yesterday. What value of the build.prop would I need to change to make it look like a nokia?
There you go=p I just changed every time it said dream, htc, or passion and changed it to nokia=p I don't think that market will work right though. You could try pushing the build.prop from a 1.6 build to cm5 but then i don't think video would work, so you will probably need to merge the 1.6 build.prop with the 2.1 build.prop.
Rename to build.prop and push to /system/
mejorguille said:
There you go=p I just changed every time it said dream, htc, or passion and changed it to nokia=p I don't think that market will work right though. You could try pushing the build.prop from a 1.6 build to cm5 but then i don't think video would work, so you will probably need to merge the 1.6 build.prop with the 2.1 build.prop.
Rename to build.prop and push to /system/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks dude. I'll be sure to report back on Tuesday or Wednesday and tell you guys what happened.
Odd. I never had this issue.
I've been using my G1 with AT&T for some time now.
The update to 2.1 (CyanogenMod) didn't result in any variation for me.
Of course, I am using AT&T's "dumb-phone" unlimited internet... even still, there appears to be no indication on their side that I have a smart phone let alone a Nexus One.
Same with me. I am also using the $15 dumb phone data plan and a switch to CM5 did not trigger any notification from AT&T's side.
Quick update: I wussed out and flashed the backup I made of the 1.5 rom I was using. I didn't feel like risking getting "caught" again. I got to play with cyanogen's new rom for a few days and while great it did not drastically give me anything I didn't have before. I ended up giving them an old nokia imei as my phone and putting the new sim in my g1 shortly after. No texts forcing me to get a smartphone plan yet. I doubt I'm the only one that will have this problem so I'll just give a warning:
If you have AT&T with a g1 without any kind of data plan, after updating to android 2.1 they might try to force one on you.
Thanks for the help and ideas. I'll post again if they try to get me to get a plan again.
If AT&T actually offered 3G coverage in my area (a major city, imo) I might consider it. Otherwise, they can polish my knob.
This doesn't have anything to do with the version of android you are running. They can't detect that. They CAN detect your IMEI and compare it to the database to determine if it is a smartphone or not.
Alternatively, the thing tried to connect to a data service when you plugged your card into it, and they looked at the data and determined that it was consistent with a smartphone, i.e., dumbphones don't try to connect to google on port 5228.
Very likely the reason this happened so suddenly is one of the two things;
1) it corresponds to the end of their infinite data plans.
2) it corresponds to you "activating" your google account on your phone.
lbcoder said:
This doesn't have anything to do with the version of android you are running. They can't detect that. They CAN detect your IMEI and compare it to the database to determine if it is a smartphone or not.
Alternatively, the thing tried to connect to a data service when you plugged your card into it, and they looked at the data and determined that it was consistent with a smartphone, i.e., dumbphones don't try to connect to google on port 5228.
Very likely the reason this happened so suddenly is one of the two things;
1) it corresponds to the end of their infinite data plans.
2) it corresponds to you "activating" your google account on your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I'm not sure about the IMEI thing since it is a t-mobile phone runnning on an AT&T network. I just find it too much of a coincidence that the problem occured right after updating so I doubt its that. They also haven't reported anything since putting my new sim in my phone 2 days ago.
I guess you're right about them not knowing what version of android I'm running but there must be something in 2.1 that raised a red flag. I deleted an APN file from /system/ before I even booted the rom for the first time so I don't even think its possible that it tried to connect to them. Strange stuff.
d00m said:
Interesting. I'm not sure about the IMEI thing since it is a t-mobile phone runnning on an AT&T network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't think that ATT can read the IMEI from a phone sold by tmobile? I can guarantee that they can. Or if you're worried about ATT being able to link up an IMEI to a type of phone... they can link the IMEI to a lot more than that.... I'm not sure if you realize this, but the IMEI exists ***FOR A REASON*** and it isn't just to look pretty....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Allocation_Code
wikipedia said:
The Type Allocation Code (TAC) is a portion of the 15-digit IMEI code used to uniquely identify wireless devices.
The Type Allocation Code is an 8-digit number that identifies a particular model (and often revision) of wireless telephone for use on a GSM, UMTS, or other IMEI-supporting wireless network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.radioraiders.com/gsm-IMEI-TAC.php
I just find it too much of a coincidence that the problem occured right after updating so I doubt its that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The coincidence is that you happen to be updating your phone when ATT happened to be changing their policies.
They also haven't reported anything since putting my new sim in my phone 2 days ago.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's because they probably do it cyclically, or they put your account into a freeze period after a manual adjustment.
It may ALSO have related to rebooting the device -- connecting to their network that first time after they initiated a policy change may have triggered a routine.
I guess you're right about them not knowing what version of android I'm running but there must be something in 2.1 that raised a red flag. I deleted an APN file from /system/ before I even booted the rom for the first time so I don't even think its possible that it tried to connect to them. Strange stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Nothing special in 2.1. In fact, it would be quite a security violation if it were to broadcast itself out to them.
So I guess it's only a matter of time before they detect my g1. Pitty since I was using my phone for over a year before all this happened. It's weird that they make you read out your IMEI to them while activating a sim card as if they can't see it. I'm just going to keep using my phone as is for as long as I can. The vibration on it no longer functions so I won't be supper crushed if I have to change phones to avoid a data plan.
I have 3-4 friends who have t-mobile branded blackberrys and android phones without a data plan on AT&T. Our school has wifi everywhere so it is truly unneeded. I guess their "check" cycle is fairly slow as none of them have had problems yet. Maybe the process isn't automated yet.
I really do appreciate the information although it's not exactly what I wanted to hear.
edit: http://androidandme.com/2010/06/carriers/att-introduces-new-lower-priced-tiered-data-plans-june-7th/
This isn't terrible. I can always do this but there's no rush I guess.
edit 2: Is it possible that an attempted apn connection (data) is what caused the detection? I said I deleted a file but looking back on it, it may not have been the correct one to prevent connections.
d00m said:
edit: http://androidandme.com/2010/06/carriers/att-introduces-new-lower-priced-tiered-data-plans-june-7th/
This isn't terrible. I can always do this but there's no rush I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, that's what I was referring to.
edit 2: Is it possible that an attempted apn connection (data) is what caused the detection? I said I deleted a file but looking back on it, it may not have been the correct one to prevent connections.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is possible.
Note that the rep you read the IMEI out to may NOT have had a read-out of the device model ID. In fact, doing that might freak some people out -- you know, the whole big brother knows too much thing.
Finally some resolution. Turns out a woman stole my mom's identity and went to a wal-mart and bought 5 blackberries under our AT&T account (probably to sell on the black market). Our SIMs where soon deactivated like I said in the OP and the smart phone text had to do with those phones rather than my phone. Upgrading to android 2.1 had NOTHING to do with it (of course). It was all just a coincidence. The strange thing is that AT&T never told us about these new numbers, even when we were reactivating our new SIMs, and we found out when checking our monthly bill.
Now we have to go to the wal-mart where the people committed fraud and try to find out who did it and file a police report. We might end up being charged $400 in deactivation fees. Well that's how it all went down. Funny. I upgraded to android 2.1 at 4:30 on that day and booted my phone at the EXACT moment they bought the fraud blackberries. Ugh. I know this is largely unrelated to android or my g1 but I thought I would let you guys know in case you were curious.
Sorry to hear about that. Your mom might have to pay the fees but as long as the individual(s) in question are found, you can always take civil action.
Surprised no one brought this up but, ATT and all the other services can't turn your service off just because you're using a smartphone and don't have a data plan. That is an optional addition to your monthly bill and as long as you are not using data, they can't charge you or force you to buy the data.
If you're dumb enough to sign a two year contract that requires a data charge monthly for the duration of the contract..well, yeah.
If the phones were added by someone other than the account owner, the service provider has no legal grounds to hold you accountable for it. Fact is that this was a failure in THEIR security and/or walmart's. The service provider should have some procedure to make sure that the person adding the phones is actually who they claim to be.
If not, then you sue ATT AND WALMART for this.

The Samsung Epic 4G Flashing Guide (for alternative carriers)

The following is a guide I put together over the course of today about flashing the Samsung Epic 4G to both Cricket and Page Plus. This will work with phones that have bad ESN's (at least, Page Plus and Cricket) -- and with phones that are totally fine and saintly, but maybe you want to go to another carrier for a cheaper rate?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E4nNITQnzEoEkkVp4j7k_N_yghvNh_SozuKe3az_Nx4/edit?hl=en_US
In the future, as more information becomes available, I'd like to incorporate other carriers that people are flashing (Metro PCS, Boost), as I find out more. The idea is to build a one-source guide for everything you need from start to finish.
The guide takes you from the very beginning to the very end. PRL's, etc, are all inclusive. I've flashed my Epic to both Cricket and Page Plus successfully -- just like Page Plus's coverage/quality better (and cheaper... but hardly any data -- user Wifi). Even if you don't want to flash, it still has useful things like unlocking your phone for use on any carrier that will take it.
Any comments/suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Just as a note, I'm no longer involved in the Epic community. I migrated on to a newer device. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=34802383&postcount=72 If you need any help, I will still be available through PM's to the best of my ability.
The HA/AAA shared secrets for Page Plus are not "vzw", trust me. I'm running with full 3G on Page Plus right now and after many late nights I realized the only way to get it was a temporary clone to a Verizon phone so that I could get the proper keys through OTA programming. Unfortunately posting a guide to that would probably get XDA on my/your ass. With the "vzw" password you will technically get 3G but it will be throttled to 1xRTT speed (about .1 Mbps). I don't know if the same is true for cricket or not...
Nevertheless I'm sure someone out there will very much appreciate the time and effort you put into this; props!
So using this guide i can unlock the epic meaning ill still be on sprint, but if i suddenly wanted metro i can just take it to the store and have em flash it?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
I request a stickey
I haven't flashed to Metro, but if I can find someone that supports all the features I want, I may give it a shot and write a guide. Does Metro support bad ESN's? (Long story short, got scammed by a Samsung Epic on CraigsList, Sprint said ESN was clear, but is still linked to scammer's account, who refuses to remove, etc, and commit insurance fraud... Talked to insurance and he's in jail now, apparently, but phone will probably be forever blacklisted on Sprint).
Currently, I'm trying to find a provider who can give Google Voice support and Data... MMS I'm not so concerned about. Page Plus is my only "good" option now (a step above cricket, but limited data). Any thoughts? Metro PCS apparently doesn't support Houston, TX when I try to find a plan, either.
EDIT: I may try to give Cricket another go. I've been reading a little bit more and have learned a bit about making Cricket work. Would be nice to try the $45 plan on Cricket to save some $$$. I've talked with some people who claim MMS and Google Voice CAN happen, but it's a little more tricky. Will let you know as I figure it out (must wait a month to not lose $30 from PagePlus).
im confused i dont have these MDN and MIN and your guide says i should have gotten them when i got the phone? is this from sprint and am i supposed to call?
also i got the phone replaced by another epic today. the phone kept trying to auto activate. it still is trying to autoactivate. i swapped the epic out for a nexus the other day. what should i do. if you can pm me and talk over the phone that would be great. my mom is going to new york wednesday and i want to pageplus this phone before she leaves.
I've gotten a couple PMs regarding the HA/AAA keys so I'm going to say this. I would gladly provide them for you guys but that's just not how it works. The keys change every time I (re)activate. They are probably tied to the time and the MEID of the phone, possibly more than that. My keys wouldn't do any of you any good.
It sucks, but the only way that I know to get them is to use a Verizon phone.
duh ask from carrier. now i followed all the steps including the manual update because auto won't happen. afterwards i autoupdated but it aint working? or am i supposed to buy airtime now?
not getting any help. please someone
i completed all the instructions and i can't dial out. i have a triangle at the top. when i call pageplus they are asking for a esn. what the heck am i supposed to do
What happens when you try to dial out? Have you bought/activated your service yet?
yesh i just activated a service using crap motorola. the prl on the page gave me a triangle on the bar i switched it to an older modified one for sprint. when i dial out i get the message welcome to verizon wireless your mobile number is not active or ....
---------- Post added at 05:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:04 PM ----------
Poryhack said:
What happens when you try to dial out? Have you bought/activated your service yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i switched back to the prl on his thread. i wonder if he switched the prls from cricket to pageplus on accident? this sucks i been working all day got school soon and no help for my mom. ahh
So, the PRL isn't working for you, eh? The PRL for Page Plus is 51--- something -- Cricket is 42700.
Are you sure that your phone is unlocked? Are you sure you're reading from phone to get current settings before writing PRL, phone number, etc, back to the phone? (it should prompt you for your MSL -- which should now be 000000) Then make sure you fill out the data correctly. You should be able to get your MIN/MDN by asking for them from Page Plus. I openly told the rep on the phone I was trying to flash the phone myself and he gave me all of the information (and then a little bit more -- unfortunately, not the HA/AAA secret). I was actually originally using my Motorola Droid and asked them to try putting ONE OTHER phone on, to test it out (my Epic). Long story short, it did.
Page Plus uses Verizon's towers -- so it's OK if you're getting that. My phone apparently "roams" as well, but I have yet to have any issues. It's just what shows up.
I've heard that Cricket (prior carrier) can be configured to work 100% with the Samsung Epic for the $45 plan. When my month of minutes runs out, I'll try swapping back and seeing what all I can do... I learned a lot while working on this, so I think I have a little more expertise on this. Prior, I had never unlocked my device, so auto-activation never worked with Cricket! Eeek!
Anyway I will of course write something up about that.
terinfire said:
So, the PRL isn't working for you, eh? The PRL for Page Plus is 51--- something
yup its 51529... in short it was shiet
Are you sure that your phone is unlocked? yes
Are you sure you're reading from phone to get current settings before writing PRL, phone number, etc, back to the phone? yup(it should prompt you for your MSL -- which should now be 000000)
Then make sure you fill out the data correctly. You should be able to get your MIN/MDN by asking for them from Page Plus. I openly told the rep on the phone I was trying to flash the phone myself and he gave me all of the information (and then a little bit more -- unfortunately, not the HA/AAA secret). I was actually originally using my Motorola Droid and asked them to try putting ONE OTHER phone on, to test it out (my Epic). Long story short, it did.
Page Plus uses Verizon's towers -- so it's OK if you're getting that. My phone apparently "roams" as well, but I have yet to have any issues. It's just what shows up.
I've heard that Cricket (prior carrier) can be configured to work 100% with the Samsung Epic for the $45 plan. When my month of minutes runs out, I'll try swapping back and seeing what all I can do... I learned a lot while working on this, so I think I have a little more expertise on this. Prior, I had never unlocked my device, so auto-activation never worked with Cricket! Eeek!
Anyway I will of course write something up about that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool. i will stick to sero truly duly unlim 4g wimax. anyways. roaming is normal? where did you get the prl? i am using an older prl i found online. i was getting the message you might be charged for roaming prior to each call.
I do not get that message for my PRL. If I remember correctly, PRL's are just how your phone knows which tower to connect to. I've heard they vary based on where you live. In any case, since PP offers nationwide coverage, I'm not thinking I'm roaming and no charges have shown on my phone yet.
terinfire said:
I do not get that message for my PRL. If I remember correctly, PRL's are just how your phone knows which tower to connect to. I've heard they vary based on where you live. In any case, since PP offers nationwide coverage, I'm not thinking I'm roaming and no charges have shown on my phone yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah that's what i am guessing. i flashed different prl's and i still get the same message. can you please check to see if the prl wasn't switched or renamed incorrectly or better yet can you give me the source? prl's get updated and i have an older one. too bad my parents already left for new york i hope everything works out well for them
Poryhack said:
What happens when you try to dial out? Have you bought/activated your service yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah its activated. i had your prl when i activated it and i was getting the roaming message per call. there was the roaming signal on the signal bar throughout. i switched the prl and it went away.
can you check the prl out and the source can you pm it?
Newbie question. I have an unactivated sprint epic. I can't seem to get QPST to recognize the phone. The phone shows up as a modem in the device manager but QPST appears to see something connected but doesn't see the phone as modem. I've rebooted and switched USB ports as well. Any ideas on what could be wrong?
Reboot
Keep. Trying its a pain
feihoon said:
Newbie question. I have an unactivated sprint epic. I can't seem to get QPST to recognize the phone. The phone shows up as a modem in the device manager but QPST appears to see something connected but doesn't see the phone as modem. I've rebooted and switched USB ports as well. Any ideas on what could be wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have the drivers for the Samsung Epic 4G installed for sure? What OS? May want to potentially try running as an Administrator, just in case (I don't have this issue, but I know some folks at MS have told me their hardware-heavy programs don't work when they aren't in Admin mode).
Make sure to uncheck the box in QPST about diagnostic/etc ports. Just enable all the ports you can in QPST Configuration and you should hopefully see it.
Are you absolutely sure it shows up as a Samsung Modem?
terinfire said:
Do you have the drivers for the Samsung Epic 4G installed for sure? What OS? May want to potentially try running as an Administrator, just in case (I don't have this issue, but I know some folks at MS have told me their hardware-heavy programs don't work when they aren't in Admin mode).
Make sure to uncheck the box in QPST about diagnostic/etc ports. Just enable all the ports you can in QPST Configuration and you should hopefully see it.
Are you absolutely sure it shows up as a Samsung Modem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using XP. Under Device Manager -> Modems, it reads "Samsung Mobile Modem #2". I also installed the drivers from the Samsung support site. For ports, QPST reads "COM5-USB/QC Data Modem" in the "Add New Port" window with the box unchecked. In the "Ports" window it reads "No Phone" under the "Phone" column.
Thanks

Epic 4G Sprint works fine, won't provision properly or update profile

Got my phone back from insurance a while ago. They sent me an entirely new or refurbished unit but didn't bother changing the sticker on the back to reflect my ESN. Luckily, I was able to remember my ESN from my original box and matched it up to what the OS is telling me. The phone works fine but I have a problem with voicemail notifications not showing up and provisioning not working properly. The phone always fails to update profile, update PRL, or update firmware. Also, the Sprint automatic setup always failed so we manually set it up. I'm thinking they changed the ESN of the phone they replaced mine with but somehow it's not working- some settings may have failed to be transferred? The ESN, MSID, MEID, and settings for data provisioning all look correct. Anything that could cause the right ESN phone not to provision on the network properly? For what it's worth, the data works but seems slower than usual, so it seems some settings may not be agreeable to the network keeping the phone from fully provisioning its connection.
I should have checked this before my insurance lapsed since they refuse to help now. Please help!
It is a problem with certain phones and sprints network in general. Show sprint and they could probably help or give you another phone.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Are you on a custom ROM? If you are missing sprintandroidextensions.apk or Srint_app_updater.apk, that will happen.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
nope, bone stock. never rooted or custom rom installed. did a hard reset as well to factory os settings.
nauticalx said:
nope, bone stock. never rooted or custom rom installed. did a hard reset as well to factory os settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Easy way out is to have them send you another replacement. Hard way would be to try an EFS clear, make sure you have good 3G signal and try it again.
Insurance refuses to help and sprint store more interested in selling me a new one than replacing it.
Will the EFS clear remove the data from the previous ESN so that the phone can provision properly? What's the best way or program for doing this? Thanks
Sounds like your new handset did not provision properly on their end. The slow data would lead me to believe that your AAA password or esn corupted when being writen to the database of the evdo radius server. I would go to sprint.com and swap to another device/esn wait 5min and swap back to my new device.
I would also go to the dial pad and enter ##72786#, enter MSL, reset. This will make sure all of those fields are clear and not corrupt on the device itself. Have seen that happen on reconditioned devices too. When the device comes back up, it should provision properly without you having to manually program anything.
Sent from my gTablet using Tapatalk
nauticalx said:
Insurance refuses to help and sprint store more interested in selling me a new one than replacing it.
Will the EFS clear remove the data from the previous ESN so that the phone can provision properly? What's the best way or program for doing this? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It clears out all modem data and goes through hands-free activation. This screws up phones flashed to other carriers so must clear out data. Here is Noobnl's thread for it:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1226074&highlight=efs+clear+modem
Okay guys, thanks for all your help. I swapped to another phone and then back and it seems to work fine, still wont update profile but everything works.
Only one thing wrong, voicemail notifications going to old phone even though it has no service. Any idea what could be causing that??
Old phone has the MDN and MSID programed. That is all that's needed to verify the handset for notifications. ##msl and enter in any 10 digit number for MSID. The notifications will stop. This can also interfere when trying to update profile since that handset will also receive the notification for IOTA.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

Verizon no LTE

Got my new Nexus 6P, went to the Verizon store and got a nano LTE SIM. Ever since it's been plugged in, all features except LTE seem to work fine. Spoke to Verizon tech support and they see that everything seems to be setup correctly and the device activated in their systems.
One thing I did notice is that in the list of APN's, I have 6 of them. The one that says VZWINTERNET seems to have the right setup for what seems to be working for rest of the folks here. However, when I switch to using it, the signal is still stuck on 3G. Also after a couple of minutes when I look back at the APN list, it seems to fall back to the one that says "internet" which definitely seems to have the EvDo-rev A settings.
Has anyone experienced similar issue? Any suggestions?
I'm going to try to go back to the store again to try a different SIM card later today.
Quick update. First I tried switching the radio band first to Band 6, that's when it went to 1x and stayed that way. Then I switched it to USA Band and within a minute was able to lock onto LTE! Hoping it stays this way!
Said too soon. Side effect, no cellular connection available. Data transfer is at LTE speeds but can't make calls now
Here is the APN I'm using. Truth is I never changed a thing when I put the sim in. Factory reset it and find it a few minutes to get cellular working before messing with it. Sometimes it takes a while especially with a new sim.
Thanks static. That's the first thing I tried. Just let it be on 3G. Since nothing changed till this morning I decided to tinker a bit. For me the second to last APN keeps getting selected no matter how many times I switch it to the one you have.
Do you have another phone you can put the sim in and see if it works?
Nothing that takes a nano. I was able to get LTE to work just with data but it's pointless with no calling available. So at the moment it's like one or the other which is strange.
Attaching 2 screenshots. One with band 6 where calling works but data is 1x. Another with USA band where LTE data works but no calling. Looking closely it's set to emergency calls only.
I'm not sure if you are rooted or stock. I had a similar issue when I had an HTC M8. When I placed my Verizon sim card it would only connect at 3G speeds and not LTE. I tried to factory reset the phone through the menu multiple times but still no change. What worked for me was to go into the bootloader and then recovery mode and "wipe data/factory reset" with the Verizon sim card in the slot. After that reboot the phone and hopefully it will connect at LTE speeds. Obviously the reset will erase your phone so backup any important documents. Just a thought.
emmittobie said:
I'm not sure if you are rooted or stock. I had a similar issue when I had an HTC M8. When I placed my Verizon sim card it would only connect at 3G speeds and not LTE. I tried to factory reset the phone through the menu multiple times but still no change. What worked for me was to go into the bootloader and then recovery mode and "wipe data/factory reset" with the Verizon sim card in the slot. After that reboot the phone and hopefully it will connect at LTE speeds. Obviously the reset will erase your phone so backup any important documents. Just a thought.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried the hard reset. No change. I'm on stock.
mymac80 said:
Just tried the hard reset. No change. I'm on stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you able to get another sim card from Verizon? Wondering if that is the issue. Otherwise I'm not sure what would help. Sorry.
They allowed you to activate it on the phone itself? I brought in a borrowed iPhone 6 plus (because I was coming from a Galaxy S5) and activated it on that, then put it into the Nexus 6P. As far as I know, changing the APN doesn't fix anything except some MMS not properly transferring and has nothing to do with getting LTE itself.
If you have another phone that can be used on Verizon, test it out on that. Or try a new sim card.
I had the same issue, I tried my Sim in a different phone and LTE worked so then I decided to try my project Fi Sim in the 6p and that one had LTE. Then I put my Verizon Sim back and LTE worked. Maybe it needed a different Sim card to reset it or something.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
I had this same issue after letting my wife borrow my phone one day. Come to find out she did a *228 to update the roaming for some retarded reason and it pretty much fried my SIM. A quick visit to Verizon and a new SIM solved it for me. Hope this helps.
Is mobile data set to Global or LTE/CDMA?
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 05:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:45 AM ----------
Both are working for me, but switching could make a change.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Spartan117H3 said:
They allowed you to activate it on the phone itself? I brought in a borrowed iPhone 6 plus (because I was coming from a Galaxy S5) and activated it on that, then put it into the Nexus 6P. As far as I know, changing the APN doesn't fix anything except some MMS not properly transferring and has nothing to do with getting LTE itself.
If you have another phone that can be used on Verizon, test it out on that. Or try a new sim card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can activate a Verizon sim with a 6P.
staticx57 said:
You can activate a Verizon sim with a 6P.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah I see, I wasn't aware that they already added the IMEI's to their whitelist. But I got my phone on 10/29 and activated it then, so I had to use another phone.
Spartan117H3 said:
Ah I see, I wasn't aware that they already added the IMEI's to their whitelist. But I got my phone on 10/29 and activated it then, so I had to use another phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange, I got mine the same day and had no trouble activating on my 6P.
staticx57 said:
Strange, I got mine the same day and had no trouble activating on my 6P.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, I didn't even try because I read the stories about it, I guess people were saying it because the previous gen 6 was not whitelisted until a few months after release. I also didn't want them looking too deep into my account because I had upgraded and stayed on UDP through the loophole, so I didn't want to get booted off that.
So I got a replacement Nexus 6P, plugged the same SIM card in and voila, LTE and voice works. Thanks all for your suggestions. Seems like it was a defective device.

S10+ Cellular Connection Failure

I have a new S10+ and the phone can no longer connect to my carriers cellular network. I bought the phone directly from Samsung but put in on the TELUS (Canadian) network. It worked fine until yesterday when I noticed I had no network connection. I rebooted the phone and still no network. I took it to TELUS and they replaced the SIM card and it connected for about 10 minutes and then dropped the connection again. I tried the SIM in my old Note and it seems to work fine. I factory reset my S10+ and this did not solve the issue. Tried to submit a warranty claim to Samsung only to have their web page refuse the request, keep getting and OOPS, something went wrong message!!??
So,,, Everyone listen to this. My brand new S10+ worked for a total of 2 weeks and then wouldn't connect to any carrier network. I called Samsung and they gave me a place to take it to see if it could be repaired. I was told the phone needs a new motherboard. I said no, I need a new phone. You are not selling me a repaired phone for $1800 when it was only two weeks old. They said there was nothing I could do about and on top of that, it would take two weeks before they could repair it. I called Samsung back to discuss and was told that's the way it works, you don't get a new phone just because it doesn't work. Nice customer service SAMSUNG!!!
Sword Fish said:
I have a new S10+ and the phone can no longer connect to my carriers cellular network. I bought the phone directly from Samsung but put in on the TELUS (Canadian) network. It worked fine until yesterday when I noticed I had no network connection. I rebooted the phone and still no network. I took it to TELUS and they replaced the SIM card and it connected for about 10 minutes and then dropped the connection again. I tried the SIM in my old Note and it seems to work fine. I factory reset my S10+ and this did not solve the issue. Tried to submit a warranty claim to Samsung only to have their web page refuse the request, keep getting and OOPS, something went wrong message!!??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read this article, don't know if it also affects Canadian Tellus, but it might give you some clues:
https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/...nal-and-connectivity-issues-on-some-carriers/
Omg this is the same issue i had, i posted in the forst sticky thread under Noobs QnA page 2. Till now nothing can be done just wait for the software updates but if still not resolved will send in
fiqueudrue said:
Omg this is the same issue i had, i posted in the forst sticky thread under Noobs QnA page 2. Till now nothing can be done just wait for the software updates but if still not resolved will send in
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here in Australia
I am unable to get any codes using the dialer working.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Mine was more than 4G icon is available, with full service reception, yet cant be able to connect to the internet. Been dropping data connectivity once in like 15 20 mins for a good 40sec to 1 min
If you are on Sprint, this will fix it until a real fix comes:
You must disable Band 41 AND Band 25!. Enter Data Programming Mode: ##3282# Edit -> Enter MSL: 000000 -> OK -> LTE -> Band41 Enabled -> Deselect -> Band25 Enabled - Deselect then Reboot. So far seems to fix the issue. Again, you must disable both Band41 and Band25! Works like a charm Smiley Happy
mzsquared said:
Read this article, don't know if it also affects Canadian Tellus, but it might give you some clues:
https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/...nal-and-connectivity-issues-on-some-carriers/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this. I sent this link to the shop that is supposed to repair my phone and they said this isn't the same issue as my phone is experiencing. I am not sure how they can say it because it sounds exactly like what my phone is doing. I did try the SIM from my work phone which is on a different carriers network and it wouldn't work either. It would connect at times, at least it would display it was connected but then you wouldn't be able to connect to anything. It even said it was connected once when we had removed the SIM???
dhonzik said:
If you are on Sprint, this will fix it until a real fix comes:
You must disable Band 41 AND Band 25!. Enter Data Programming Mode: ##3282# Edit -> Enter MSL: 000000 -> OK -> LTE -> Band41 Enabled -> Deselect -> Band25 Enabled - Deselect then Reboot. So far seems to fix the issue. Again, you must disable both Band41 and Band25! Works like a charm Smiley Happy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any idea on how to do this for US Cellular?
So this experience turned into one of the worst I have ever had with any consumer product. I tried calling Samsung to see if I could get a new phone and felt like I was talking to some kid in his basement. He had no idea what I was talking about and just kept saying Sorry, I can't do anything about that. So, I let the recommended service center handle the repair of my phone. After having my phone for a week they called and said come get it. When I got there, the tech said, and I quote "Your phone is conditionally fixed". So what does that mean?? He said they put a new motherboard in it, but they put the wrong one in. The one they put in only had 128 gig and was for the non ceramic versions. He asked me if that was ok???? I told him to fix it properly!! So my phone stayed another week with these guys and I finally got it back this past weekend. First thing I noticed was I have all this bloatware from Rogers on my phone. Big problem because I use TELUS, not Rogers, so they loaded the wrong software on my phone and I can't seem to remove it, I can hide it but not remove it. Also, about twice per day, my phone randomly reboots. I start wondering why I am not getting any calls or texts and find my phone rebooted and wants me to type my pin in to enable apps.
So, I called Samsung today to complain again, and I swear I got the same immature brat on the phone again. He told me to take it back to the service guys again. I told him I was going to buy a new phone and it wouldn't be a Samsung. I will file a claim in small claims court to recoup my money I paid for this phone ($1851 CDN).

Categories

Resources