UK Carriers - Locked Bootloader (Again) - Xperia Z2 Tablet General

So I trust Vodafone UK again to supply me with what I would consider a decent Tablet blah blah...
Oh look, The bootloader cant be unlocked... again!... :sigh:
Ive lost the will to care with Sony & Vodafone...

fkofilee said:
So I trust Vodafone UK again to supply me with what I would consider a decent Tablet blah blah...
Oh look, The bootloader cant be unlocked... again!... :sigh:
Ive lost the will to care with Sony & Vodafone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So annoying that the phone networks play about with devices. I bought mine outright for these reasons. From now on I buy my phones and tablets away from the mobile network. I put them on a credit card and pay it off. That's all you end up doing anyway through the contract. Its not worth being tied in to a contract anymore.

Problem is that most carriers do it with a Data Plan and Included SIM...
I prefer the 4G flexibility / 3G / GSM Radio options because I can sit on a bus and just listen to the world go by while accessing the net.
I prefer to remove Ads on a device and thats the main issue that I need root for.
But then again for Warranty purposes for those "Special Golden Monkeys" they need to lock it down, but I know what im doing, Ive been head high in designing my own personal custom ROMs for over 4 years with over 40 devices... Cumon Guys!

fkofilee said:
Problem is that most carriers do it with a Data Plan and Included SIM...
I prefer the 4G flexibility / 3G / GSM Radio options because I can sit on a bus and just listen to the world go by while accessing the net.
I prefer to remove Ads on a device and thats the main issue that I need root for.
But then again for Warranty purposes for those "Special Golden Monkeys" they need to lock it down, but I know what im doing, Ive been head high in designing my own personal custom ROMs for over 4 years with over 40 devices... Cumon Guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a sim only plan with Three. Its 10Gb of 4G for 15 quid a mont.h. Its a one mnth rolling contract so free to end it at anytime. Its a good deal!
Im still deciding whether to root yet. I hear rooting will wipe out some of the Sony stuff and I actually quite like what they have done. This is the first stock rom I dnt mind sticking with. But root would be nice for a few things though..

tumpin said:
I have a sim only plan with Three. Its 10Gb of 4G for 15 quid a mont.h. Its a one mnth rolling contract so free to end it at anytime. Its a good deal!
Im still deciding whether to root yet. I hear rooting will wipe out some of the Sony stuff and I actually quite like what they have done. This is the first stock rom I dnt mind sticking with. But root would be nice for a few things though..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See If i could unlock my Sony Tab, i would MAYBE think about H3G but their service is crap!
Well i can unlock my sony tab, just depends how much i want to pay Hehe.

Related

help me decide my phone

hi guys,i'm new to android and htc and xda too.previously i didnt had any android device so im not familiar with it.also i live in Nepal and they dont have htc in nepal....only nokias ,samsungs,SE and all..and yes ive read this forum for about 1 months now
now my brother in US is willing to send me a cell phone.
he is no tech guy so i think he will take a cell phone from tmobile subsidized and send it to me and buy any cheap cell phone in ebay for his use
also i love modding my device to use it to its full potential(i am familiar with rockbox for modding my mp3 players)
so guys here are my few questions on nexus one:
1>ill be getting it rooted the day it comes to my hand .but ive read somewhere that rooting might cause wifi problems..is it true??also majority of people have rooted their nexus here....so is there any problem??
2>the most important....i read that many of people had to deal bad costumer support for replacement...BUT why are they replacing their about-1-month-old phone??does it have common problems??
3>i think it is unlocked...but heard that we need a t mobile dataplan for activating the device for the first time.is this true?here in nepal no 3g..only gprs hehe.so will activate from nepal??is there anything else that might stop me from using this device here
as my brother will have to ship the phone to nepal and after that for me the warranty is void. because i have to pay around 150$ to send it back to US for repairs or replacements.so i need a solid phone with no major issues(i can live with the dust on the screen scenario and i may be able to open it and clean myself)BUT i cannot repair a non functional wifi here.
so the question is...
4>should i go with nexus one with 1ghz and lots of feature or buy a mytouch 3g fender LE(the only point considering it is it has 32a board and i play Drums hehe).help me guys.....
5>what is the price difference of mytouch3g le and nexus one in reality?....my brother quiet stupid so he may end up buying a 530$ phone for 1000$ with 2 yr contact(including 2 yr monthly charge too).i want to prevent it ...with contract they are both about 180$ i guess.
could someone explain this to me??
Rooting will not effect your WiFi. You can activate it without a tmo data plan as long as you buy the unlocked version for $530 from google. The dust issue is an easy fix if you catch it early, and not as wide spread as it seems, but worth checking out.
As for price difference, not much really when buying unlocked. Get the N1, you will be much happier!
Welcome to XDA...Read, Research & Search this Nexus section for all the good scoop! Then U make up your mind if you want to have the best device or not
cant i use the subsidized set in other networks??i heard ALL nexus are unlocked

A few questions about the HTC Legend from a Dream owner

hey guys, i currently have an htc dream. I am on fido
I am thinking about a new phone and the legend comes up as an option.
1) I read that i can get a legend for $400 from bell or $350 from virgin.
I looked around at virgin's website and i could only find an option to buy the legend for $350+ a 30 day plan (the cheapest brings the price to $350+$25)
is there any way to get it at $350 with no contract? am i overlooking anything?
2) does the virgin phone work on the same network as fido/rogers? will it work?
3) if answer to #2 is yes, would i need to get it unlocked even though i bought it outright?
4) What regrets do you have with buying this phone (everyone has regrets about every phone)
thanks a lot for your answers, current owners are the only ones who can give you true answers! Please try and answer back in a
1)
2)
kind of format for any of the questions you are able to answer.
thanks
To answer your questions:
1) YMMV as some people have been able to get it for $349.99 without activating. But technically it's supposed to be $349.99 on a 30 day plan at the very least. So if you don't have a Virgin plan already, they may require you to sign up for a plan. $35 activation fee and the lowest plan is $25.
2) Yes the Virgin Mobile HTC Legend is model A6365 which is the North American version that will utilize HSPA 3G 850/1900 on all the major Canadian carriers, sans Wind.
3) Yes you will need to get it unlocked if you are planning on using it on a network other than Virgin Mobile. I got mine unlocked from MobileInCanada.com for $20 no problems.
4) No regrets about buying this phone. I sold my X10 because it was too big for my liking and it felt cheap with a creaky battery case. I love the build quality on the Legend and it is the most SOLID phone I've ever used in a great form factor. I don't mind the lower specs because I'm not a power user and it does everything I want without lag. The only quirk I don't like is the lack of bluetooth voice dialing (missing in Android 2.1) but I'm hoping for an update.
asb123 said:
hey guys, i currently have an htc dream. I am on fido
I am thinking about a new phone and the legend comes up as an option.
1) I read that i can get a legend for $400 from bell or $350 from virgin.
I looked around at virgin's website and i could only find an option to buy the legend for $350+ a 30 day plan (the cheapest brings the price to $350+$25)
is there any way to get it at $350 with no contract? am i overlooking anything?
2) does the virgin phone work on the same network as fido/rogers? will it work?
3) if answer to #2 is yes, would i need to get it unlocked even though i bought it outright?
4) What regrets do you have with buying this phone (everyone has regrets about every phone)
thanks a lot for your answers, current owners are the only ones who can give you true answers! Please try and answer back in a
1)
2)
kind of format for any of the questions you are able to answer.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
da_hool said:
To answer your questions:
1) YMMV as some people have been able to get it for $349.99 without activating. But technically it's supposed to be $349.99 on a 30 day plan at the very least. So if you don't have a Virgin plan already, they may require you to sign up for a plan. $35 activation fee and the lowest plan is $25.
2) Yes the Virgin Mobile HTC Legend is model A6365 which is the North American version that will utilize HSPA 3G 850/1900 on all the major Canadian carriers, sans Wind.
3) Yes you will need to get it unlocked if you are planning on using it on a network other than Virgin Mobile. I got mine unlocked from MobileInCanada.com for $20 no problems.
4) No regrets about buying this phone. I sold my X10 because it was too big for my liking and it felt cheap with a creaky battery case. I love the build quality on the Legend and it is the most SOLID phone I've ever used in a great form factor. I don't mind the lower specs because I'm not a power user and it does everything I want without lag. The only quirk I don't like is the lack of bluetooth voice dialing (missing in Android 2.1) but I'm hoping for an update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks a lot for the reply, unfortunately for me, i do not have a virgin account. This means that it would cost me $447 to get one and get it unlocked, thats edging very close to the price of an n1. Of course this would be a lot cheaper if you are a virgin user.
I think the thing that sets it apart from the N1 (amongst other phones) is the superb build quality and form factor. It really is a thing of beauty!
da_hool said:
I think the thing that sets it apart from the N1 (amongst other phones) is the superb build quality and form factor. It really is a thing of beauty!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, it definitely LOOKS both beautiful and solid, my dream definitely doesnt feel so solid.
The way i see it is that the only way i would get one of these would be if there is someone in the lowermainland area in BC with virgin who could buy it for me, and have me pay them.
a guy told me that he called his local Future Shop they said they would sell the Virgin mobile Legend with no need to activate or buy a month's plan. I don't know for sure, but you could try going to your local Future Shop and see what they say. Unlocking can be done for $10 at cellunlock.net with coupon code crackb50.
I think that The Source is also selling (Bell+Virgin) phones without activation.
I picked a Legend up at a Virgin Mobile kiosk, no Virgin account and no need to activate anything. It is quite YMMV, but you just have to try around, and usually you'll find a place that'll sell it outright for $350+tax. I unlocked it at cellunlock.net for $10 with the 'crackb' code as mentioned by echow and am currently using it on Rogers (3G).
It's a beautiful device. I thought the Bold 9000 I had was well built, but this thing is in another league. I also have an HD2, and while the large screen is absolutely fantastic, Android plus the smaller form factor simply make more sense sometimes. Plus, the MSM7227 is quite a significant upgrade from the Dream's MSM720x(A). You get VFP and the Adreno 200 GPU, which were two big features of Snapdragon.

SIM unlock: iPhone vs. SG4 - and the winner is...

...iPhone by the 1000 miles.
Well, before the fan boys start throwing feces at me, here is the story.
I know that it is different hardware and OS and all that, but the problem is not in this.
The problem is the way Apple and Samsung approach the demands from the carriers to lock down their devices and how is the unlocking process handled.
So to SIM unlock the iPhone you call Sprint Customer Service (SCC) and after usual crap about 90 days they say, ok we submitted the request to unlock to Apple you should receive an e-mail shortly. In about 30 minutes the e-mail comes where it instructs you to backup-factory-reset-restore your iPhone. You do that, and that's it. It is unlocked for _ALL_ GSM carriers, foreign and domestic alike.
It is that simple.
Now to SIM unlock the SG4 you call SCC and after usual crap about 90 days you are told that your phone is unlocked, and it will magically work when you abroad but there is absolutely no way for you to see if it works with a foreign SIM while you are in the US. Moreover there is absolutely no way you can use it with any of the US GSM carriers. Most likely when you finally get abroad it will still not work.
Pain and disappointment.
So what happened here?
The answer is simple, Apple gives a middle finger to all carriers who ask it to give them control over the device. Have you seen any bloatware from Sprint, Verizon, ATT or TMO on the iPhone? No!
The Samsung, on the other hand, bands over backwards for carriers and it turns everything in to the theater of the absurd.
One would think: "...well if Sprint made Samsung to lock down the device in a certain way they must be able to ask Samsung to do the SIM unlock"; nop, no such luck, the SCC will tell you that Samsung has nothing to do with this and at Samsung they will tell you to go to your carrier.
Ok, fine, then apparently if this is the OS modification made by Sprint, one would try to reason: "...the SCC must have some internal tool to unlock the device and check that it is unlocked"; well this is also not the case.
What Sprint is obviously happy about is that they bravely disallowed you to use local GSM carriers.
So it is an interesting situation, actually Samsung and Sprint are equally to be blamed for our pain with SIM unlock and non will take a blame.
I'm pretty sure the ATT and TMO customers just laughing at us right about now the SG4 on their networks can be unlocked with a simple app from the market or even with some service menu.
There was a guy from SCC here, or so he claimed, it would be nice if he could comment on this, and given something more of an answer than just: "...well those are different devices and different OS". Who's really doing the unlocking? Is it Sprint is it Samsung? Why are there no tools to check this on the phone? Why the phone says "Invalid SIM" when it was "unlocked" while it should just refuse to connect to ATT and TMO while here in the US?
Well, I'm pretty sure those are the questions that we never get answers to...
Yea, I agree that it sucks the way things are right now and I wish it wasn't so. Hopefully, Samsung will continuebto be so successful that in the next round (S5), they too can give the middle finger to the carriers and end the unlocking lunacy.
Please explain to me how you got your iphone unlocked for domestic use. I got my old one unlocked by sprint did everything and still had to buy a rsim to use it in the states.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
optimummind said:
Yea, I agree that it sucks the way things are right now and I wish it wasn't so. Hopefully, Samsung will continuebto be so successful that in the next round (S5), they too can give the middle finger to the carriers and end the unlocking lunacy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I hope so too. For my Samsung Galaxy Discover (s730m) that I got because my Samsung Galaxy Q ( T589r ) has a cracked screen , I tried phoning Telus & Fido to get it unlocked..neither of them would do anything..if Samsung were to do this so that I could just ask Samsung, that'd be very great, and I'd be able to use my new phone. :/
I'll be nice so I won't call troll. TL;DR. If your intention was to run a phone on gsm, why would you buy a CDMA phone? As for bringing up the subject of why a iPhone is better in an android forum, what the hell are you doing here?! We don't care if you think iPhone is better! Go elsewhere and post to people that actually agree with your point of view. Sorry for being so blunt, I've had a few... Still, the few months I had an iPhone, before I had sprint buy it back because I hated the apple experience, I didn't go on apple forums and spout how android was so much better. I may have honestly shared my experience but I didn't do it in a way that rubbed smugness in other people's face. I'm sorry that I'm coming across like I'm flaming you but, in all reasonableness, this isn't the place to do it.
oscarthegrouch said:
I'll be nice so I won't call troll. TL;DR. If your intention was to run a phone on gsm, why would you buy a CDMA phone? As for bringing up the subject of why a iPhone is better in an android forum, what the hell are you doing here?! We don't care if you think iPhone is better! Go elsewhere and post to people that actually agree with your point of view. Sorry for being so blunt, I've had a few... Still, the few months I had an iPhone, before I had sprint buy it back because I hated the apple experience, I didn't go on apple forums and spout how android was so much better. I may have honestly shared my experience but I didn't do it in a way that rubbed smugness in other people's face. I'm sorry that I'm coming across like I'm flaming you but, in all reasonableness, this isn't the place to do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Prob because he has nothing better to do other than play angry birds on that lil 4 inch screen, isn't that all its capable of?
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
The title was intentionally provocative, because I'm really pissed with the way things going with sg4 sprint sim unlocking process. I'm not an iPhone user though, I have and use sg4, but I need to be able to use it on my trips overseas, this is why I bought it in the first place, because it is a world phone, or at least it is advertised as such. This was my attempt to analyze why this whole sim unlocking for sg4 is a outright failure.
obender said:
The title was intentionally provocative, because I'm really pissed with the way things going with sg4 sprint sim unlocking process. I'm not an iPhone user though, I have and use sg4, but I need to be able to use it on my trips overseas, this is why I bought it in the first place, because it is a world phone, or at least it is advertised as such. This was my attempt to analyze why this whole sim unlocking for sg4 is a outright failure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Two things then...
If you need it for overseas trips then what's all the hoopla about? Just get it unlocked by Sprint. Yes, at the beginning they had issues with the unlock because it is a brand new process they've never used before (and yes, unfortunately very unprepared for). But now supposedly it's fixed so chill.
It is not true that Sprint's iPhone unlocking process makes it usable on US GSM carriers.
Anyway, I am not sure why you claim that "the iPhone beats the S4 by a 1000 miles". Sprint gives you a method to unlock both phones for international use so that you don't have pay their exorbitant intl roaming rates. That seems fair to me and I don't see what obligation they (or even Samsung) have towards you as a Sprint subscriber beyond that. If you want a device that will work on one of Sprint's domestic competitors, go buy an unlock phone, or one from one of those carriers.
myphone12345 said:
It is not true that Sprint's iPhone unlocking process makes it usable on US GSM carriers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You obviously don't know the subject that well, it is true, I've unlocked my wife's iPhone and it works roams to ATT and TMO now with a _foreign_ SIM inserted, but you right, what I care is the outside US use and this is still an issue unfortunately.
obender said:
You obviously don't know the subject that well, it is true, I've unlocked my wife's iPhone and it works roams to ATT and TMO now with a _foreign_ SIM inserted, but you right, what I care is the outside US use and this is still an issue unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the same boat.
When I get back to the states I will be perma-roaming 24/7 in order to get the service termination letter.
ehaalandtluk said:
I'm in the same boat.
When I get back to the states I will be perma-roaming 24/7 in order to get the service termination letter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you saying that u unlocked with sprint and traveled overseas to only find your are screwed and can't use your sg4?
That's why I upgraded to be able to use when go to home country. Might look into htc.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2
galexandr said:
Are you saying that u unlocked with sprint and traveled overseas to only find your are screwed and can't use your sg4?
That's why I upgraded to be able to use when go to home country. Might look into htc.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, precisely.
Nah, I don't want to buy another HTC phone after what they did with the EVO 3D. Samsung has a great phone, I just don't like sprint at all.

8XT vs. ATIV S Neo

Ive been reading on some stuff regarding HTC and their lack of providing a true root unlock on their Android devices. So im wondering if its the same for their WP8 offerings? The main thing i want to do once i dev unlock the 8XT is to be able to get wifi sharing working, but im a bit worried that things like that would be locked down. Im not worried about the usage as it would be minimal at best, 1-2 megs a month prob at most.
Then, onto the Samsung issue... ive heard they are quite a bit more open to full rooting/unlocking and then theres the better resolution over the 8XT.
Then you have the price point, the 8XT is at Sams Club, Radio Shack and other places for $80 while at Sprint stores its $150 before $50 rebate. The ATIV S Neo will be $200 out the door and a $50 rebate.
So, your thoughts?
Talon Pro said:
Ive been reading on some stuff regarding HTC and their lack of providing a true root unlock on their Android devices. So im wondering if its the same for their WP8 offerings? The main thing i want to do once i dev unlock the 8XT is to be able to get wifi sharing working, but im a bit worried that things like that would be locked down. Im not worried about the usage as it would be minimal at best, 1-2 megs a month prob at most.
Then, onto the Samsung issue... ive heard they are quite a bit more open to full rooting/unlocking and then theres the better resolution over the 8XT.
Then you have the price point, the 8XT is at Sams Club, Radio Shack and other places for $80 while at Sprint stores its $150 before $50 rebate. The ATIV S Neo will be $200 out the door and a $50 rebate.
So, your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WiFi sharing is locked down. The only method available to unlock it involves sim swapping with different carriers.
WiFi sharing is a built-in feature of the OS, but it will check your data plan for approval before you can use it. If your plan doesn't allow it, then there's no way I know of to reliably work around the restriction. However, we do have wired tethering for Samsung phone (haven't tested the Neo, but it should work) and that seems to bypass the carrier restrictions.
No WP8 phone has a "true root unlock" at all. The OEM policies for Android are quite irrelevant here (and FWIW, HTC does offer a bootloader unlock, which allows completely rooting the phone, on Android). We're working on "rooting" WP8, but so far, no dice except for isolated reports of success on specific models of phone, mostly the Huawei Ascend W1.
The Neo is more expensive than the XT because it's a better phone. Look at the specs; the Neo has a better (and bigger) display, better storage, bigger battery (and it's removable; not sure about that on the XT), and probably better cameras too. The XT will have better audio, but that's probably about it.
I keep using rooting in place of 'being able to unlock and flash' I guess. But an article I read today was complaining about HTC and their 'unlocking' issues.
I'm aware the ATIV does have better specs, but I haven't liked the feel of their HW since the Moment, it just feels cheap and light. Not that the XT isn't light and I don't like that either, coming from the likes of the Touch Pro and Touch Pro2 I currently use. I also don't really want a tablet for a phone lol, but I am disappointed that Sprint keeps wanting WVGA devices from HTC
The reason in looking for the WiFi tether is I'm putting Is Galaxy Tab 2 in my Mazda 6 and would like to use it occasionally for nav, and I doubt it has native USB hosting.
So having said all that, what's the SIM trick?
Talon Pro said:
I keep using rooting in place of 'being able to unlock and flash' I guess. But an article I read today was complaining about HTC and their 'unlocking' issues.
I'm aware the ATIV does have better specs, but I haven't liked the feel of their HW since the Moment, it just feels cheap and light. Not that the XT isn't light and I don't like that either, coming from the likes of the Touch Pro and Touch Pro2 I currently use. I also don't really want a tablet for a phone lol, but I am disappointed that Sprint keeps wanting WVGA devices from HTC
The reason in looking for the WiFi tether is I'm putting Is Galaxy Tab 2 in my Mazda 6 and would like to use it occasionally for nav, and I doubt it has native USB hosting.
So having said all that, what's the SIM trick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no "SIM trick".
you just need a data plan which allows tethering.
thals1992 said:
WiFi sharing is locked down. The only method available to unlock it involves sim swapping with different carriers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mcosmin222 said:
There is no "SIM trick".
you just need a data plan which allows tethering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what i was talking about.
Talon Pro said:
This is what i was talking about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought I had heard some success with having your primary MO's SIM in first, turn it off, place second MO's SIM in, turn back on, go to your mo config app (on nokia its access point in settings, on HTC its Connection Setup, I have no idea where its at on Samsung.) check if internet sharing is on, and repeat the process to go back to the first MO's settings.
I just didn't recall many people getting it working doing that, because I don't know if Internet Sharing can be relocked; hence I didn't reply in detail at first.
If you pay for it in your plan then it should be automatically enabled anyways......
Ok, so heres a stupid question that im sure i know the answer to.. but... here goes anyways...
Are the days of flashing a phone to another provider like WinMo gone? If you can flash a WP8 phone to work on Page Plus, could you theoretically get it on Sprint too?
It seems that if i want a decent handset that isnt the size of a tablet then a used Nokia is my best bet. 810/820/822's are all over eBay for around $150 and in my area i have T-Mo and Cinci Bell for GSM carriers, but T-Mo is the only one with unlimited data. Which brings up another point. I consider myself a fairly heavy data user, but these days its mostly email and the occasional Twitter website bombing using Opera Mini. I use an average of <300megs/month. So theoretically, i could go to Verizon with the 1GB plan and not worry about it, i just dont know how much more data i would use. Of the apps i mess around with on my wifi Arrive, i use Twitter and Words with Friends the most. Sometimes the eBay app, but i find its cumbersome when i have a real computer within reach nearly all day at work or home.
My biggest concern/***** is that as of Oct 19th ill have been with Sprint for 13 years and they really dont care to keep me that much. Ive had more than one person tell me that, yet despite the ones who say they value my loyalty, cant seem to prove it by offering a free handset, moving my upgrade period up 18 days or offering a 'special plan' like in the past. And they dont have good offerings like in the past and the plans.. ugh. Wheres the carrier that will let me get 200 mins/month with unlimited text/data for around $50 like you used to be able to get?
Talon Pro said:
Ok, so heres a stupid question that im sure i know the answer to.. but... here goes anyways...
Are the days of flashing a phone to another provider like WinMo gone? If you can flash a WP8 phone to work on Page Plus, could you theoretically get it on Sprint too?
It seems that if i want a decent handset that isnt the size of a tablet then a used Nokia is my best bet. 810/820/822's are all over eBay for around $150 and in my area i have T-Mo and Cinci Bell for GSM carriers, but T-Mo is the only one with unlimited data. Which brings up another point. I consider myself a fairly heavy data user, but these days its mostly email and the occasional Twitter website bombing using Opera Mini. I use an average of <300megs/month. So theoretically, i could go to Verizon with the 1GB plan and not worry about it, i just dont know how much more data i would use. Of the apps i mess around with on my wifi Arrive, i use Twitter and Words with Friends the most. Sometimes the eBay app, but i find its cumbersome when i have a real computer within reach nearly all day at work or home.
My biggest concern/***** is that as of Oct 19th ill have been with Sprint for 13 years and they really dont care to keep me that much. Ive had more than one person tell me that, yet despite the ones who say they value my loyalty, cant seem to prove it by offering a free handset, moving my upgrade period up 18 days or offering a 'special plan' like in the past. And they dont have good offerings like in the past and the plans.. ugh. Wheres the carrier that will let me get 200 mins/month with unlimited text/data for around $50 like you used to be able to get?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing Nokia's - YES! Anything else... idk, I haven't tested.
With having Sprint/PagePlus, you don't have much of a choice, because there aren't any unbranded CDMA phones on the market, there's usually one or variants for the carrier (usually just color options, but sometimes different models) and thats it. I'd personally recommend Verizon (awesome speed, but meh datacaps) for their stable network covering areas that Sprint/AT&T(Or cincinnati-bell for that matter and I'm in cinci )/T-Mobile can't cover. I'd personally just recommend follow whichever has the fastest, but that might not be very friendly on the wallet.
All in all, just stick with a 500mb plan, I usually use that much and I even use metrotube (3rd party youtube app) fairly often. I can't say though, I'm on my mother's plan still and its 20GBs shared with the HomeFusion thingy (VZW is our home ISP, still better than satellite though.)
Or, have you thought of a pay as you go phone? I thought I saw one for AT&T and one for T-Mobile. I can't really recommend anything on price though.
Hope that helps a bit.
Talon Pro said:
I keep using rooting in place of 'being able to unlock and flash' I guess. But an article I read today was complaining about HTC and their 'unlocking' issues.
I'm aware the ATIV does have better specs, but I haven't liked the feel of their HW since the Moment, it just feels cheap and light. Not that the XT isn't light and I don't like that either, coming from the likes of the Touch Pro and Touch Pro2 I currently use. I also don't really want a tablet for a phone lol, but I am disappointed that Sprint keeps wanting WVGA devices from HTC
The reason in looking for the WiFi tether is I'm putting Is Galaxy Tab 2 in my Mazda 6 and would like to use it occasionally for nav, and I doubt it has native USB hosting.
So having said all that, what's the SIM trick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did I read correctly... you're currently using a HTC Touch Pro 2?
What service plan do you currently have with Sprint?
I'm curious since I'm having a similar dilemma you are facing.
Well, as of that post, yes. I just dumped Sprint after 13 years cause i wanted a Nokia and the 810 was exactly what i wanted. I was on the Everything Talk/Text 450 with a special $3.50 unlimited data plan. If you can look past the internet programming itself into Opera's oblivion and the lack of apps for things you have to use the website for, stay with Sprint. I do NOT recommend the 8XT and the ATIV S Neo just wasnt grabbing anything on the 'like' column. So far with T-Mo ive only found one spot i dont have full 4G coverage at and all i need to do is walk out the door to get it back.
Whats crazy is i still only use around 250megs of data and i have Twitter, WWF, 4 emails accounts 2 of which check every 30 mins. Now that i finally got Sims Free installed ill probably use more data, but still, no where near the 2.5gigs i pay for. Also, for two lines, i pay $100/month for unlimited talk/text and 2.5 gigs of data for 2 lines and thats before my 15% discount. Beat that Sprint. Oh, wait, you cant.
Stupid website...
if you're interested in hacking your phone, get the ATIV. Samsung's diagnosis app (built into the phone) is making messing with WP8 easy. You're able to directly edit the registry and do all sorts of stuff

Note 3 blocked by T-Mobile, need advice

Hey guys, i've got a problem and I need some advice/options.
Long story short, as some of you may know, I bought my T-Mobile branded Note 3 on Swappa in November. Of course, Swappa says that they check IMEIs and the seller assured me that the phone was fully paid for, but a few days ago my Note 3 was blocked/blacklisted (whatever you call it) by T-Mobile for non-payment of EIP.
I have tried to resolve the issue through communicating with the seller and Swappa, but there's really nothing to be done. The seller won't refund my money, Swappa is powerless, and Paypal says the transaction is past their 45 day dispute period. The phone isn't even unlocked, so I can't even try and use it on another carrier right now.
So at this point i'm trying to minimize my losses. I am open to any suggestions as to how I can either:
1. find a way to get the phone unlocked and use it on another carrier (I know that when a T-Mobile phone is blocked or blacklisted, they share that info now with AT&T, but i'm hoping I can use it on Simple Mobile or Straight Talk or Walmart's service)
or
2. sell the phone internationally (with full disclosure of the fact that the phone is blocked on T-Mobile/AT&T of course, but it shouldn't matter if someone wants to use it outside of the US, right?)
or
3. sell the phone as a 'dev' device (at a substantial loss i'm sure), but I have no idea how to do this or even whether a dev would want a phone that is blocked (don't they need to test network stuff?).
I'm trying to find a way to make the best of a bad situation. Any one who reads this post and wants to give me some decent advice is welcome. But if you just want to start trolling PLEASE JUST GO AWAY. I have enough problems as it is right now.
In any case, i've learned my lesson. No more Craigslist, no more Negri, no more Swappa. I'm just gonna pony up the money and get my phones directly from T-Mobile. The money I thought I was saving doesn't look like such a deal anymore.
Ah damn, yeah seems a lot of people have fallen into the same trap you have unfortunately.
Well you could try another network. . However the chances are high that it'll be blocked all over the US. - yes you could sell it internationally and disclose the issue but the frequency has a different range(?) - this would probably be your best option.
If not then you'd just have to take the hit on it, toss it away or use as a media device. And put it down to a very bad lesson learnt the hard way :-/
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
radicalisto said:
Ah damn, yeah seems a lot of people have fallen into the same trap you have unfortunately.
Well you could try another network. . However the chances are high that it'll be blocked all over the US. - yes you could sell it internationally and disclose the issue but the frequency has a different range(?) - this would probably be your best option.
If not then you'd just have to take the hit on it, toss it away or use as a media device. And put it down to a very bad lesson learnt the hard way :-/
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appreciate the response, but now way I could toss $650 away. It took me a few months to save that up. That's why i'm trying to salvage whatever I can of this situation.
Perhaps there's a Canadian carrier uses the same frequencies as T-Mobile? Anyone know a site that would help me compare GSM bands/frequencies to see which countries would be the best option for reselling?
You could have a scan on gsmarena they detail frequencies on the different models.
Yeah it's definitely an expensive error for sure, assume T - Mobile aren't too keen to help at all then?
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
radicalisto said:
You could have a scan on gsmarena they detail frequencies on the different models.
Yeah it's definitely an expensive error for sure, assume T - Mobile aren't too keen to help at all then?
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, T-Mobile won't give me any info because i'm not the original account holder for the phone. T-Mobile will probably go after that person, but it's probably just a tax write off for them.
Try RegionLock away on Play store or buy an unlock code then try with a pre-paid service. GL
RMXO said:
Try RegionLock away on Play store or buy an unlock code then try with a pre-paid service. GL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Won't help.... Phone has been blacklisted...
Unless you can get the carrier to take it off the blacklist it won't be allowed to connect to any network in that country (theoretically)...
Just a thought though - if the phone hasn't been paid for to the carrier, it's on the blacklist and you are caught trying to use it, you may find yourself charged with possession of stolen goods... Unless you have a receipt that states it was sold to you. Either way though you will loose the phone...
Techngro said:
Hey guys, i've got a problem and I need some advice/options.
Long story short, as some of you may know, I bought my T-Mobile branded Note 3 on Swappa in November. Of course, Swappa says that they check IMEIs and the seller assured me that the phone was fully paid for, but a few days ago my Note 3 was blocked/blacklisted (whatever you call it) by T-Mobile for non-payment of EIP.
I have tried to resolve the issue through communicating with the seller and Swappa, but there's really nothing to be done. The seller won't refund my money, Swappa is powerless, and Paypal says the transaction is past their 45 day dispute period. The phone isn't even unlocked, so I can't even try and use it on another carrier right now.
So at this point i'm trying to minimize my losses. I am open to any suggestions as to how I can either:
1. find a way to get the phone unlocked and use it on another carrier (I know that when a T-Mobile phone is blocked or blacklisted, they share that info now with AT&T, but i'm hoping I can use it on Simple Mobile or Straight Talk or Walmart's service)
or
2. sell the phone internationally (with full disclosure of the fact that the phone is blocked on T-Mobile/AT&T of course, but it shouldn't matter if someone wants to use it outside of the US, right?)
or
3. sell the phone as a 'dev' device (at a substantial loss i'm sure), but I have no idea how to do this or even whether a dev would want a phone that is blocked (don't they need to test network stuff?).
I'm trying to find a way to make the best of a bad situation. Any one who reads this post and wants to give me some decent advice is welcome. But if you just want to start trolling PLEASE JUST GO AWAY. I have enough problems as it is right now.
In any case, i've learned my lesson. No more Craigslist, no more Negri, no more Swappa. I'm just gonna pony up the money and get my phones directly from T-Mobile. The money I thought I was saving doesn't look like such a deal anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bad luck for you.
But i can tell you a thing or 2 about selling phone internationally.
your t-mobile fone can be used here in SEA region and for the N3 its probably multi band.so selling it internationally shouldn't be an issue for you.but you'll probably want to sell it at a huge discount.
from past experience,t-mobile's GSM frequency is the same as those in my country and i have no issues using T-mo fone here.my signature should tell you what t-mo fones i had.but i cannot say if the 4g band is the same though.so dun worry about the GSM band being compatible or not,that's the buyer's responsibility.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_frequency_bands)
i am not sure if there is a way to sim unlock your fone without having to buy a unlock code(i noe the sensation 4g had a way to remove sim lock altogether),if you do find a way,there is no harm testing to see if you can still use the fone on other networks.
take it as a hard lesson learned bro but dun give up trying other ways to use your fone,i am pretty sure the journey is educational.like how i tried to make t-mo fones work in my country.
I might be wrong but its only blacklisted IMEI NUMBER? in UK its illegal to change it. But I think you end up selling it OK on ebay
with NO RETURNS OR REFUND!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
ultramag69 said:
Won't help.... Phone has been blacklisted...
Unless you can get the carrier to take it off the blacklist it won't be allowed to connect to any network in that country (theoretically)...
Just a thought though - if the phone hasn't been paid for to the carrier, it's on the blacklist and you are caught trying to use it, you may find yourself charged with possession of stolen goods... Unless you have a receipt that states it was sold to you. Either way though you will loose the phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I do have a receipt from both Paypal and Swappa. But I think would only work if it has been reported lost or stolen by the original owner. I don't think that's the case. T-Mobile said it was blocked for non-payment of EIP. Guess the guy just flipped the phone as soon as he signed the contract. People suck.
frostmore said:
bad luck for you.
But i can tell you a thing or 2 about selling phone internationally.
your t-mobile fone can be used here in SEA region and for the N3 its probably multi band.so selling it internationally shouldn't be an issue for you.but you'll probably want to sell it at a huge discount.
from past experience,t-mobile's GSM frequency is the same as those in my country and i have no issues using T-mo fone here.my signature should tell you what t-mo fones i had.but i cannot say if the 4g band is the same though.so dun worry about the GSM band being compatible or not,that's the buyer's responsibility.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_frequency_bands)
i am not sure if there is a way to sim unlock your fone without having to buy a unlock code(i noe the sensation 4g had a way to remove sim lock altogether),if you do find a way,there is no harm testing to see if you can still use the fone on other networks.
take it as a hard lesson learned bro but dun give up trying other ways to use your fone,i am pretty sure the journey is educational.like how i tried to make t-mo fones work in my country.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, very educational. I used to buy my phone on Craigslist. I never once got scammed. But then Craigslist turned into Scam Central Station. So I went to Swappa because they use Paypal and I thought that would give me some protection. Turns out, the only way to ensure that you won't get a phone that will be blocked or blacklisted later is to get it directly from the source. It's turning out to be an expensive lesson. :crying:
How much of a discount do you normally get when you purchase a T-Mobile phone? I don't want to lose $200. It would make more sense to just get a cheap 4G phone and tether it to my Note 3 and use it as a little tablet.
jowett69 said:
I might be wrong but its only blacklisted IMEI NUMBER? in UK its illegal to change it. But I think you end up selling it OK on ebay
with NO RETURNS OR REFUND!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I would have to do it that way, but i'm worried now about losing too much money trying to sell it. If I sell it internationally, I don't see why I should lose that much, since the T-Mobile block only applies to the US.
Another option?
I really don't want to lose my $30 5GB plan. I've been looking on Amazon and saw that they have some cheap T-Mobile 4G phones like this Nokia Lumia 521: http://goo.gl/KgvOgR
My thought is, I can purchase that, tether my Note 3 to it and keep using it. 90% of what I do on my Note 3 is data/browsing, gaming, etc. So if I can tether to the Lumia, I guess it would work.
Any thoughts?
Was the Paypal transaction a credit card one? If so, I would contact them directly (you may have recourse for up to 3 months?). I use Paypal but always use my credit card to pay for items and never my bank account because Paypal will not stand behind the purchase if they have a way out.
FedUpx2 said:
Was the Paypal transaction a credit card one? If so, I would contact them directly (you may have recourse for up to 3 months?). I use Paypal but always use my credit card to pay for items and never my bank account because Paypal will not stand behind the purchase if they have a way out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, unfortunately, it was a bank account. Sigh...
UPDATE
So here's an update on my situation.
After considering my options, I ordered a Straight Talk AT&T sim card a few days ago. It was only $7 with free shipping, so I figured I might as well give it a try. It got here today, so I got Chainfire's RegionLock Away app and followed the instructions here (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2471742) to unlock my Note 3 using the Straight Talk sim card. Didn't have a single problem getting it unlocked. Total cost to unlock ~ $10.
Once it was unlocked, I signed up for the $45 Straight Talk plan (which ends up around $50 with taxes/fees), and after a couple of reboots, I have service. The service seems pretty fast, but I don't want to do a speedtest because it's just a waste of my limited data allotment. It shows as being 4G LTE, but I don't know if that's the case.
So, I pay $20 more for half the data, and I have a Note 3 that is worth considerably less than what I paid for it only a couple of months ago on Swappa. I've definitely learned a valuable lesson here. But at least I have a working phone, so there's that.
Thanks for all of the suggestions guys.
That's awesome and glad you are able to use the phone normally.
Techngro said:
So here's an update on my situation.
After considering my options, I ordered a Straight Talk AT&T sim card a few days ago. It was only $7 with free shipping, so I figured I might as well give it a try. It got here today, so I got Chainfire's RegionLock Away app and followed the instructions here (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2471742) to unlock my Note 3 using the Straight Talk sim card. Didn't have a single problem getting it unlocked. Total cost to unlock ~ $10.
Once it was unlocked, I signed up for the $45 Straight Talk plan (which ends up around $50 with taxes/fees), and after a couple of reboots, I have service. The service seems pretty fast, but I don't want to do a speedtest because it's just a waste of my limited data allotment. It shows as being 4G LTE, but I don't know if that's the case.
So, I pay $20 more for half the data, and I have a Note 3 that is worth considerably less than what I paid for it only a couple of months ago on Swappa. I've definitely learned a valuable lesson here. But at least I have a working phone, so there's that.
Thanks for all of the suggestions guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear about your problems. Even though a couple people had the same issue with phones from Negri Electronics, mine purchased from Negri still says that the IMEI is not recognized when checked and it works fine on T-Mobile or AT&T (tested with sister's T-Mobile SIM and daily use with AT&T grandfathered Unlimited) with LTE. I am very happy. T-Mobile was going to make me spend $791 + at least 45 days of unwanted service before I could even request an unlock and they have 7 days to respond (52 days of unwanted service?). That's not a deal.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
CZroe said:
Sorry to hear about your problems. Even though a couple people had the same issue with phones from Negri Electronics, mine purchased from Negri still says that the IMEI is not recognized when checked and it works fine on T-Mobile or AT&T (tested with sister's T-Mobile SIM and daily use with AT&T grandfathered Unlimited) with LTE. I am very happy. T-Mobile was going to make me spend $791 + at least 45 days of unwanted service before I could even request an unlock and they have 7 days to respond (52 days of unwanted service?). That's not a deal.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, i'm glad that Negri made someone happy. There were plenty of people on this forum who felt they were getting scammed by them and had to cancel preorders after waiting 3 weeks for a shipment that never happened.
You might feel you're getting a deal, and maybe you are, and i'm glad for you. But for me, as I said, I learned a very expensive lesson from my experiences with both Negri and Swappa. It's only a deal when it works out the way you want it to. When you get screwed like I did, it stops being a deal. Not only did my phone get blocked, I now pay more money for less service. The extra $100 in savings isn't worth the risk for me anymore.

Categories

Resources