Hi guys, new here. Used the place a lot when i needed help, then decided to make a account.
Anyway, i couldnt find a Straight Talk galaxy s4 specific forum so i figured the main s4 forum is where i should post this.
I have 2 Straight talk galaxy s4's i bought new, and im currently in cricket. Well i need to replace my old CDMA s4 with a new GSM one. The straight talk s4's i got are the ATT tower versions. Now, when i put a att or gsm cricket sim in, they say invalid sim. But read att sims fine. If i put the straight talk or gsm cricket sim in a att phone.. Theyre read fine. Which i dont understand. So my question is, can i flash a ATT stock touchwiz rom to them via odin to make them read the att and cricket sim's? Id just try it but dont want to brick them, figured i would ask first in case somebody already tried.
Both phones are identical. Specs are:
16gb black Straight talk galaxy s4
Model No: SM-S975L(GP)
Android 4.3
Touchwiz, un rooted, brand new barely even been powered on.
Thanks!
Current Straight Talk S4 units use T-Mobile towers, not AT&T. Flashing a new ROM won't make them read the SIM cards you're trying to use, and for the Straight Talk S4 will likely hard brick it. Your phones need to be carrier unlocked, which only Straight Talk, at their discretion, can do. As multiple users here have discovered, purchasing an unlock code does not permanently unlock the S4 and half the time doesn't even work.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Current Straight Talk S4 units use T-Mobile towers, not AT&T. Flashing a new ROM won't make them read the SIM cards you're trying to use, and for the Straight Talk S4 will likely hard brick it. Your phones need to be carrier unlocked, which only Straight Talk, at their discretion, can do. As multiple users here have discovered, purchasing an unlock code does not permanently unlock the S4 and half the time doesn't even work.
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Thanks for the reply!
I didnt think it would work but figured it couldnt hurt to ask. I'll contact straight talk, however from what ive hward they usually wont unlock phones. But, ill try. Thank you!
Related
Hey guys, I'm getting my hands on my friend's Galaxy S4. He is on an AT&T plan and got then phone from them through an upgrade. I personally prefer Verizon. I was wondering if I could get some help on making his phone work for me. I have a SIM card and everything, currently using a RAZR MAXX. I've done a little looking around, and from what I gathered, the phone is capable of working with verizon, but I'll have to load a different kernel and ROM onto it. I've looked through http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2295557 that thread and found some nice info, but I'm not yet confident enough in my knowledge to go through with it. I've decided on the http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2305781 CLEANROM 1.6.5, but I don't know what else I'm going to need to have in order to make this phone work for me. I also don't know if I'll need to download the Verizion or the AT&T version of this. Thanks for all the help, I'm really wanting to make this work for me so I can actually get a powerhouse of a phone.
Xray55 said:
Hey guys, I'm getting my hands on my friend's Galaxy S4. He is on an AT&T plan and got then phone from them through an upgrade. I personally prefer Verizon. I was wondering if I could get some help on making his phone work for me. I have a SIM card and everything, currently using a RAZR MAXX. I've done a little looking around, and from what I gathered, the phone is capable of working with verizon, but I'll have to load a different kernel and ROM onto it. I've looked through http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2295557 that thread and found some nice info, but I'm not yet confident enough in my knowledge to go through with it. I've decided on the http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2305781 CLEANROM 1.6.5, but I don't know what else I'm going to need to have in order to make this phone work for me. I also don't know if I'll need to download the Verizion or the AT&T version of this. Thanks for all the help, I'm really wanting to make this work for me so I can actually get a powerhouse of a phone.
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Nope. it won't work.
xuanphucn said:
Nope. it won't work.
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Is what I read about on the post I linked not true then?
Xray55 said:
Is what I read about on the post I linked not true then?
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Your link is to a thread regarding other variants of S4 roms. Although you can use other S4 roms on the i337, the phone wont work on verizon carrier.
Kaze105 said:
Your link is to a thread regarding other variants of S4 roms. Although you can use other S4 roms on the i337, the phone wont work on verizon carrier.
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I'm not sure about that. ROM shouldn't matter too much, you just have to have it SIM unlocked and I believe it won't work too well due to the different frequencies between carriers and so you may not get LTE or something. Maybe someone can correct me though.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app
Verizon/Sprint phones use CDMA.
ATT/T-Mobile use GSM
I don't think you can use a CDMA phone on a GSM network and vice versa.
EDIT:
Per the replies below, it looks like it ispossible.
Here is a thread from the Verizon forums.
Also, if this WIKI page is correct, the Verizon S4 has both CDMA and GSM radio's where the ATT S4 only has a GSM radio.
The first thing to identify on the phone is whether or not it is on the stock AT&T ROM and what version that ROM is. If it is I337UCUAMF3 then changing the bootloader/kernal/rom is not even an option to begin with which means there would be no way to change out the modem to support other carrier bands (such as those used by Verizon). On top of that, although I have heard that the modem hardware is the same on all versions of the S4 I have not heard anyone confirm that they have successfully enabled CDMA services on the I337.
rayburne said:
Verizon/Sprint phones use CDMA.
ATT/T-Mobile use GSM
I don't think you can use a CDMA phone on a GSM network and vice versa.
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There are some that work on other networks without the need for modem changes. I read about some using the Verizon on AT&T, and I used the droid Bionic, a Verizon exclusive with a locked boot loader, on AT&T.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
The strange thing is you can use a Verizon S4 on AT&T but you can't do it the other way around. Verizon phones all come unlocked, allowing you to use the phone anywhere around the world.
The AT&T S4 does not contain the CDMA chip allowing you to use it on the Verizon network, plus it has to do something with IMEI. If you give the IMEI to Verizon, they won't be able to locate which device you are trying to activate because it's not in the system. But if you use a Verizon S4 and put in a AT&T SIM card, you don't have to register the IMEI with AT&T or T-Mobile.
emckai said:
The strange thing is you can use a Verizon S4 on AT&T b.
you can't do it the other way around. Verizon phones all come unlocked, allowing you to use the phone anywhere around the world.
The AT&T S4 does not contain the CDMA chip allowing you to use it on the Verizon network, plus it has to do something with IMEI. If you give the IMEI to Verizon, they won't be able to locate which device you are trying to activate because it's not in the system. But if you use a Verizon S4 and put in a AT&T SIM card, you don't have to register the IMEI with AT&T or T-Mobile.
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I can confirm that this is true about the verizon s4. I have a Verizon s4 and have used AT&T and straight talk on it. My brother uses that phone daily on his AT&T account.
I will test my AT&T s4 when I get around to finding my sim card.
sundigen said:
I can confirm that this is true about the verizon s4. I have a Verizon s4 and have used AT&T and straight talk on it. My brother uses that phone daily on his AT&T account.
I will test my AT&T s4 when I get around to finding my sim card.
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I'm pretty sure you won't be able to use an AT&T S4 on Verizon because the AT&T S4 doesn't have the CDMA capabilities.
emckai said:
I'm pretty sure you won't be able to use an AT&T S4 on Verizon because the AT&T S4 doesn't have the CDMA capabilities.
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Yea I noticed that the ATT S4 doesn't have everything that the Verizon S4 has in the service menu. Like I can turn on all the different bands in the service menu, but on my ATT S4 I get restrictions on wcdma.
I'm new to all this. I traded a iPhone for the ATT version because I couldn't figure out how to make the Verizon version work on straight talk..
Not two days after I have the ATT I somehow got it working... Lol. So now I have two with unlocked bootloaders and sum unlocked...
sundigen said:
Yea I noticed that the ATT S4 doesn't have everything that the Verizon S4 has in the service menu. Like I can turn on all the different bands in the service menu, but on my ATT S4 I get restrictions on wcdma.
I'm new to all this. I traded a iPhone for the ATT version because I couldn't figure out how to make the Verizon version work on straight talk..
Not two days after I have the ATT I somehow got it working... Lol. So now I have two with unlocked bootloaders and sum unlocked...
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Methods used to obtain this?
I am I believe sim unlocked because I no longer see the prompt for password apon boot but the verizon doesn't connect.
Thank you in advance!
Please excuse my ignorance, I've been doing my best to find some info on unlocking a S4 SGH-i337 AT&T phone, and again please accept my apology if this is the wrong board. I've been doing some research but would like to know if this exact model is still lockable to this date.
I've come upon a great deal on this phone. I use Straight Talk and would like to be able to use it as a prepaid device as I'm doing with my nexus 4 right now.
I'd like to know if anyone could point me in the direction of unlocking this device or if it's possible at all to unlock and switch to straight talk?
Hope to hear some valid responses soon, take care you guy's.
PS: also if unlocked I should be able to root just fine, would it be possible to root to bare Android 4.3 on a s4 much like the google play edition, or would the cm custom rom be my best bet to that?
Thanks again take care!
I'll go ahead and order the phone since it comes with 30 day money back no reason needed!
kennethk1 said:
Please excuse my ignorance, I've been doing my best to find some info on unlocking a S4 SGH-i337 AT&T phone, and again please accept my apology if this is the wrong board. I've been doing some research but would like to know if this exact model is still lockable to this date.
I've come upon a great deal on this phone. I use Straight Talk and would like to be able to use it as a prepaid device as I'm doing with my nexus 4 right now.
I'd like to know if anyone could point me in the direction of unlocking this device or if it's possible at all to unlock and switch to straight talk?
Hope to hear some valid responses soon, take care you guy's.
PS: also if unlocked I should be able to root just fine, would it be possible to root to bare Android 4.3 on a s4 much like the google play edition, or would the cm custom rom be my best bet to that?
Thanks again take care!
I'll go ahead and order the phone since it comes with 30 day money back no reason needed!
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If I was you i would call at&t give them your imei number and if you have a nice customer service rep they will give you a unlock code or you can go on at&t website and apply for a unlock code and if they approve you after 2 weeks they will give you the unlock code in your email.What I did to unlock my phone was used ebay and payed like 3$ and got a unlock code or you can view many websites from google and look for one to unlock your phone the prices range from 10$-30$.If your switching to straight talk you wont even need to unlock your phone cause straight talk runs on at&t network so all you have to do is go on the website by a new 4glte at&t sim card for 6.99 and pay the 45$ for the service pop it in and your good to go and it comes with one day free shipping.And unlocking has nothing to do with rooting unlocking is being able to use your phone on other networks like tmobile.To run a custom rom your phone firmware in the about section has to be on MDB or MDL.If its on MF3 you can safestrap but i dont know anything about that but if you on MDB or MDL you can look for a 4.3 GPE custom rom. http://galaxys4root.com/t-mobile-galaxy-s4-roms/google-play-edition-rom-for-galaxy-s4/ this is where i got my GPE rom.
Doesn't need to be unlocked. Just buy the AT&T compatible SIM card from StraightTalk
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
Azzair113 said:
If I was you i would call at&t give them your imei number and if you have a nice customer service rep they will give you a unlock code or you can go on at&t website and apply for a unlock code and if they approve you after 2 weeks they will give you the unlock code in your email.What I did to unlock my phone was used ebay and payed like 3$ and got a unlock code or you can view many websites from google and look for one to unlock your phone the prices range from 10$-30$.If your switching to straight talk you wont even need to unlock your phone cause straight talk runs on at&t network so all you have to do is go on the website by a new 4glte at&t sim card for 6.99 and pay the 45$ for the service pop it in and your good to go and it comes with one day free shipping.And unlocking has nothing to do with rooting unlocking is being able to use your phone on other networks like tmobile.To run a custom rom your phone firmware in the about section has to be on MDB or MDL.If its on MF3 you can safestrap but i dont know anything about that but if you on MDB or MDL you can look for a 4.3 GPE custom rom. http://galaxys4root.com/t-mobile-galaxy-s4-roms/google-play-edition-rom-for-galaxy-s4/ this is where i got my GPE rom.
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Sorry I didn't get you quoted buddy had an appointment.
So I'd still be able to get lte speeds with a straight talk and use locked att phone with the sims?
That's great news for the future and I appreciate letting me know. I love gazelle now. Good thing I bought that s4 when I did because it's out of stock now. lol I think 350 is a steal for it either way!
As for the rooting part didn't mean to confuse the two, hopefully we'll be able to install 4.4 kitkat to an s4 soon. Though question if I did install a custom rom would I loose some of the features such as IR blaster?
I already have a straight talk sim card in my nexus 4 so I should be able to just transfer everything and my time to my new phone.
kennethk1 said:
Sorry I didn't get you quoted buddy had an appointment.
So I'd still be able to get lte speeds with a straight talk and use locked att phone with the sims?
That's great news for the future and I appreciate letting me know. I love gazelle now. Good thing I bought that s4 when I did because it's out of stock now. lol I think 350 is a steal for it either way!
As for the rooting part didn't mean to confuse the two, hopefully we'll be able to install 4.4 kitkat to an s4 soon. Though question if I did install a custom rom would I loose some of the features such as IR blaster?
I already have a straight talk sim card in my nexus 4 so I should be able to just transfer everything and my time to my new phone.
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Yes you will get lte speeds since straight talk supports lte on at&t network now and it deoends what rom you run if its a stock GPE rom u=you might lose it but you probably could find a app for that but if its a touchwiz rom you will still have all your IR features.And it depends you can try to switch the straight talk sim card and see if you get LTE but i think you will need to buy the new straight talk lte sim card on their website.http://www.shopstraighttalk.com/bpd...&locale=en&market=GSM4&productFamily=simcards
Azzair113 said:
Yes you will get lte speeds since straight talk supports lte on at&t network now and it deoends what rom you run if its a stock GPE rom u=you might lose it but you probably could find a app for that but if its a touchwiz rom you will still have all your IR features.And it depends you can try to switch the straight talk sim card and see if you get LTE but i think you will need to buy the new straight talk lte sim card on their website.http://www.shopstraighttalk.com/bpd...&locale=en&market=GSM4&productFamily=simcards
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Thanks again, I already have a straight sim card in my nexus 4 so it should be as simple as swapping it out. Do you think 350 was a good price paid for it used? It doesnt come with a battery so thats a worry but I bought it from gazelle
kennethk1 said:
Thanks again, I already have a straight sim card in my nexus 4 so it should be as simple as swapping it out. Do you think 350 was a good price paid for it used? It doesnt come with a battery so thats a worry but I bought it from gazelle
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Yes it is when you buy a battery it will only be like 10$ you only paid 360$ altogether.
I have been doing research and searching these forums for a few days now, I'm trying to not be one of those people who ask questions that have been answered. But at this point I'm at the end of the road.
I bought a Sprint Galaxy S4, model SPH-L720.
I unlocked it using this method Sprint Galaxy S IV SPH-L720 SIM Unlock Method
Reverted back to MDC baseband and all that good stuff, just as instructed. It seemed to have went well without a hitch.
My question now is:
I want to buy one of these Verizon 4G Sim Activation Kits from walmart
Is it possible that I can buy one of those, insert the SIM into my unlocked Sprint S4, and have a working phone? I ask because I don't want to drop $50 if it doesn't have a chance of working. The instructions for this say that it will work with a VERIZON S4, but since my SPRINT S4 is unlocked, should that be okay?
I don't know much, but in my reading I found that Sprint and Verizon both use CDMA, not GSM. So I figured I had a better chance of this phone working if I go with Verizon because of this.
I am in the United States.
If you need any other information or screen shots please let me know, thank you for taking the time to help me out!!
EDIT: would it be possible to test it out, if one of my friends has a verizon phone under contract, and I took their SIM and inserted it into my phone?
Try it.
Like the guy above me said. Try it. One way to find out. Personally I don't think it would work. As the whole point of unlocking the sprint Gs4 is to use it on GSM networks. From what I know you have to flash the sprint phone to Verizon. Plus you WONT get LTE on Verizon because the bands are not supported. So you'll only get 3g.
daniel4653 said:
Like the guy above me said. Try it. One way to find out. Personally I don't think it would work. As the whole point of unlocking the sprint Gs4 is to use it on GSM networks. From what I know you have to flash the sprint phone to Verizon. Plus you WONT get LTE on Verizon because the bands are not supported. So you'll only get 3g.
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thank you for the info! i'm just learning about all of this, so i don't have a firm grip on everything yet.
in the tutorial i used and linked above, the file I used with Odin was actually titled "S4 Flasher", so I believe I unlocked it and flashed it with this? Again, Im sorry, Ive tried searching and am just looking for verification if Im correct.
I'm not worried about LTE, 3G is fine really. Also, I'm not set on Verizon, I just want my phone to work, doesn't matter what network I'm using. If it would be "safer" or a better bet to get into a GSM prepaid, I will do that instead. I was just under the assumption (incorrectly probably lol) that since sprint is CDMA, that going to another CDMA carrier would be easier.
Cricket, Net10, StraightTalk, and AT&T etc are all available at the store I think if I go GSM
Again thanks for taking the time to help everyone!
Galaxy330 said:
thank you for the info! i'm just learning about all of this, so i don't have a firm grip on everything yet.
in the tutorial i used and linked above, the file I used with Odin was actually titled "S4 Flasher", so I believe I unlocked it and flashed it with this? Again, Im sorry, Ive tried searching and am just looking for verification if Im correct.
I'm not worried about LTE, 3G is fine really. Also, I'm not set on Verizon, I just want my phone to work, doesn't matter what network I'm using. If it would be "safer" or a better bet to get into a GSM prepaid, I will do that instead. I was just under the assumption (incorrectly probably lol) that since sprint is CDMA, that going to another CDMA carrier would be easier.
Cricket, Net10, StraightTalk, and AT&T etc are all available at the store I think if I go GSM
Again thanks for taking the time to help everyone!
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I unlocked my sprint GS4 and went to Cricket. And I've been happier than when i was with Sprint (service wise). I have signal in 98% of the places I go to. Which is a HUGE improvement over sprint. And even though this phone only connects to HSPA+ which is capped at 3.5 Mbps its plenty fast for all my daily activities. So I recommend a GSM prepaid.
Is it possible to put an s5 on another carrier? Such as straight talk.
Apologies if this is the incorrect place to post this I'm pretty inexperienced with forums in general
That is what I'm doing.
Warner66 said:
Is it possible to put an s5 on another carrier? Such as straight talk.
Apologies if this is the incorrect place to post this I'm pretty inexperienced with forums in general
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I know for a FACT that you can put it on PagePlus. As I had PagePlus as my carrier before I switched back to VZW. When I was researching what other carriers that I'd be able to use, Straight Talk and T-Mobile and, i believe AT&T(?) were the one's I was going to switch to. Don't know for sure AT&T but through my phone conversations with the carrier's and Google'n, i could use Straight Talk and T-Mobile as my mobile carrier. Just Google T-Mobile and Straight Talk. Their website has the information about bringing in your own device....
Another thing to be aware of is the bands that are enabled in your Verizon S5. While you may be able to use a carrier, you might not be able to get LTE data in some areas, for example, because of the bands enabled on the phone.
That may be true. Just check with the carrier as far as what their service areas are. I know that PagePlus uses Verizon towers and you're receiving the Verizon signal. They, PagePlus, had bought a tier of their(Verizon) towers to provide for their Network. Again just do some research and you'll find the best answer for your needs
Warner66 said:
Is it possible to put an s5 on another carrier? Such as straight talk.
Apologies if this is the incorrect place to post this I'm pretty inexperienced with forums in general
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I had a Motorola X (Developer Edition) that I've used on multiple carriers. It was very easy to switch it from Verizon Wireless to Straight Talk. All you have to do is put the correct SIM Card in from the CDMA section of the kit that you get from Straight Talk out at Walmart. One thing you might want to do though. If you buy the kit from Walmart, make sure to scan your phone at the Straight Talk display to make sure that your phone would be compatible with them. More than likely the Verizon Samsung Galaxy S5 would be compatible with Straight Talk, but doing this will remove any doubt. If you're ordering this online, go onto Straight Talk's web site (support section) and do a live chat with them. You'll need to tell them what kind of phone you want to bring over to Straight Talk and then give them the IMEI of the phone. They can also get you an answer quickly on this.
Cindy
Ok, I hope this isn't a totally stupid question, but here goes. My trusty old Galaxy S Blaze is, well, getting old, and I've decided after much research that I want a Galaxy S5. I'm also thinking to switch my carrier from Tmobile to Straight Talk, but would like to piggyback off the Verizon network as I've heard many good things about them. Tmobile is driving me nuts with dropped calls, coverage that sucks, etc.
Soooo....
Part One: can I use my Blaze's sim card in an new unlocked Verizon S5 that I may buy through ebay?
Part Two: Can I then take said new phone and hook up with Straight Talk? I'm just unsure because of the whole GSM/CDMA thing.
Thank you in advance!
-uesay