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Hi everyone,
I have my Atrix unlocked, rooted, etc etc.
I realize that my Motorola warranty was voided a long time ago, but I'm still paying $7 a month to Bell for their smartphone replacement plan.
http://www.bell.ca/Mobility/Promotions/SmartPhone_Care_warranty_plans
I'm so sick of paying so much for this garbage, but they've still got me scared I'll break my phone one day and not have an alternative without their stupid plan.
If something happens to my phone and they see the "Unlocked" on my boot screen or something like that , would they not honour their replacement plan?
Does anyone have any experience with Bell and this SPC plan?
jakis39 said:
Hi everyone,
I have my Atrix unlocked, rooted, etc etc.
I realize that my Motorola warranty was voided a long time ago, but I'm still paying $7 a month to Bell for their smartphone replacement plan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You haven't voided your Motorola warranty for sure by unlocking. When you unlocked it said "MAY" void your warranty.
As for your replacement plan, I haven't heard of anyone yet with any service provider being denied a replacement/warranty service because of an unlocked bootloader.
CaelanT said:
You haven't voided your Motorola warranty for sure by unlocking. When you unlocked it said "MAY" void your warranty.
As for your replacement plan, I haven't heard of anyone yet with any service provider being denied a replacement/warranty service because of an unlocked bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your quick reply. That's reassuring. But it means I still have reason to cough up $7/month ...
jakis39 said:
But it means I still have reason to cough up $7/month ...
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Click to collapse
I feel your pain. I have 5 phones on my plan with AT&T, so I am paying a wee bit more! LOL
plan seems to work
My Atrix just started having the problem with the touch screen freaking out (Google it). Anyhow, I called and was offered a choice of 2 replacement phones:
Samsung Galaxy S2
HTC Raider LTE
They didn't ask for any information regarding the serviceability of my present phone. I was fine sticking with the Atrix but will enjoy a bit of an upgrade to the S2 especially since it should get ICS by June and the Atrix definitely will not be upgraded.
With the S2 HD launching in a week, I would sure like to get that one...not so much for the LTE but rather the increase in screen size and resolution.
I wonder if I can take the unused replacement S2 to a Bell store and switch for the S2 HD as they are looking to be at the same price point...
That's actually really awesome! It's a good thing I'm still paying for this stupid plan.
Maybe there's a way I can intentionally bust my Atrix. It would be sad to see it go (especially since I have 2 docks for it), but I just want a phone with functioning ICS...
kevyh said:
I wonder if I can take the unused replacement S2 to a Bell store and switch for the S2 HD as they are looking to be at the same price point...
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Click to collapse
Most likely not. I just have a feeling.
you could always just take the sim out and call them and say you lost it...
I think the $7 plan covers loses for $50?
Wow... I never thought about that. The website says it does cover loss or theft (but for $150).
Their Terms and Conditions document link leads to a 404 right now though, so I can't really triple-check...
I am glad I switched over even though the 4G service isn't great where I live, I can sacrifice that for being able to customize MY phone/tablet/computer/anything any day. ...
If any one sees or hears anything about root/recovery for the other service providers, let them know. I know I would greatly appreciate any information to get my phone working the way I intend it to.
Thanks.
Sent from my rooted 'beaned' SM-G900T using Tapatalk Premium
em0ney14 said:
I am glad I switched over even though the 4G service isn't great where I live, I can sacrifice that for being able to customize MY phone/tablet/computer/anything any day. ...
If any one sees or hears anything about root/recovery for the other service providers, let them know. I know I would greatly appreciate any information to get my phone working the way I intend it to.
Thanks.
Sent from my rooted 'beaned' SM-G900T using Tapatalk Premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you. I had five lines with Verizon, all with unlimited data that I only paid 9.99 a month for because I got in on some discount; I switched them all to T-Mobile. It was a tough decision at first, but I had such a terrible time with my note 3 on Verizon, I just couldn't do it again.
Admittedly, the service isn't better, but it is good enough and now I can actually do things with my phone.
Sent from my SM-G900T using xda app-developers app
So true! I just left Verizon yesterday and signed up for TMobile! SO happy so far. I just feel good
I left Verizon for TMO 5 1/2 months ago, not long after the Note 3 came out. I had a Note 2, and my upgrade date was 4 months away. I was 20 months into my contract, and they used to do upgrades at 18 months. I was with Verizon for years, ever since they first came around. I called customer service to see if I could get my date moved and get a Note 3. The rep told me I qualified for something called Pre-Edge, so if I signed up for Edge, I could get a new phone that day. He gave me his name in case there were issues and made notes on my account. I went to the store, and no one had ever heard of Pre-Edge, nor did they see any notes on my account. When I called CS and asked for him, I was told he'd call back. I never got a call and had to leave the store because they were closing. I called back multiple times over the next 2 days and no one knew what Pre-Edge was or who I was talking about. Needless to say, I was angry. The same day, I went to T-Mobile and switched. I still have no idea what happened with that guy or what he was talking about.
I just signed up with T-Mobile yesterday and got the S5. I have been very interested in them the last couple of months. I have tried on them on pre-paid and its good enough. Much better with an actual T-Mobile branded phone. I am so disgusted with AT&T's BS on locking bootloaders and everything else that goes with that. AT&T is good for those who travel. I do not travel and so far I'd give T-Mobile about an 8/10.
Things I've noticed so far:
Generally weaker signal versus AT&T (most likely due to the high bands) Still works though.
HSPA+ is very fast, but when you hit -105dbm or greater it starts to go.
LTE is not as fast as I thought, but still very good.
Call quality is SO much better than AT&T.
LTE on Band 4 is pretty weak overall, but still usable.
13 more days to see if they work for me.
I hear ya OP. I have been watching here and the ATT forums. I am feeling really sorry for the guys over there right now. I am almost betting they will be lucky to get safestrap working and that for me personally is NOT enough. It feels like a ghost town. Since I have had my S1,S2, S3, and S4 there almost always have been a ROM or more on the first day I owned the devices (usually within a few days to a month of release).
I just called T-Mobile about switching my 4 lines from ATT over to T-Mobile. Checking prices and plans. Looks like I could save some money per month. Soecially if I just bring a few of my devices onto Tmobile (My daughters S3 and Wife's S4. I would pass her S4 to my son and get her the S5 while I get the S5 as well.
No guarantee yet that I will be over here though. Just weighing out my options. I am waiting for the 32Gb version if and when...
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337
...yeah, Verizon user here
I hate being locked down by Verizon. I have a T-mobile sim that I used to test T-Mobile(prepaid) in my Verizon Note 3. T-Mobile LTE is fast, but coverage is pretty sub-par compared to Verizon. When my contract is up in July I am probably going to sacrifice coverage for freedom, I mean come on still no KitKat, Verizon sucks.
I don't know about Verizon but I just left at&t for T-Mobile this past Tuesday and couldn't be happier. Their LTE is averaging about 30MB down where I live, work, and all points in between. With at&t I was averaging about 3 or 4MB on LTE at home. I'm loving this S5 but I think I'm loving T-Mobile even more. I checked the at&t forums and it is really quite over there.
TL;DR Recent family Sprint convert and so far we couldn't be happier with the S5 and TM!
I just switched my whole family (me, wife and two kids) over to TM from Sprint... we'd actually been happy with Sprint for about 6 years, weird as that may sound, but they were now trying to force us to change plans and not give us any deals on upgrades and basically it was going to cost more to stay with them monthly and we wouldn't be able to get reasonably cheap upgrades like before... for the past few years, because my kids' phones were bought almost exactly a month after mine and my wife's, we'd go in once a year, swap our phones to the kids and me and the wife would get new ones... well, they said no dice to this now. Sure, we give up unlimited data (sort of- TM is technically "unlimited" if you don't count throttling) but as it happens, that's a total worth it tradeoff.
After looking at all the options, I could have gotten away a little cheaper with Verizon (surprisingly!), and AT&T wasn't going to be much different than Verizon, but TM made it a deal we couldn't refuse: pay the Sprint ETF's, everyone got S5's financed, and we actually walked out of the store with the phones, Otter Boxes for three of them (I keep my phones "naked") and we actually had a $16 CREDIT on our first bill Yep, no money out-of-pocket whatsoever!
So far, we're loving it... had a minor snafu getting one phone switched over, but that was fixed quick and easy... the S5 itself is of course fantastic, which is no surprise... but so far, for the first time ever we actually get GREAT cell reception in our house even without IP calling (which we do use though), and it's 4G no less! (of course we're on wi-fi to save data, but still, we could barely get a Sprint signal before let alone a strong 4G signal like now). I also love that we get Hotspot for no extra charge, unlike Sprint... call quality thus far has been fine, though we frankly only use about 20 minutes a month COMBINED talk time so it's really not important anyway... coverage seems no different than Sprint so far overall... 4G speeds have been very good, about on-par with Sprint, maybe a hair better even. We only got the 1Gb plan because in looking at the past year with Sprint, only my son and I have ever gone over that line, twice each, and only once was more than a hundred Mb over... so 1Gb should be fine 99% of the time... we'll take the throttling after that if need be but no overage concerns is sweet.
And, of course, I rooted all four phones (screw the warranty, JUMP includes the handset insurance anyway and even though that costs something it makes the warranty a moot point to me) and I wouldn't give up that freedom for anything, so Verizon was a non-starter anyway (which is a shame really because we have FiOS and Verizon home phone and it would have been nice to have one provider for it all)... gotta have my root for Greenify and the mod to make the SD card writable!
Yeah, absolutely nothing to complain about at this point. I suppose things could go south at some point... until I see the ETFs paid off and the first bill to make sure nothing got screwed up I'm a little concerned... but assuming no surprises with either of those things I think this has been the best decision we've ever made WRT cell service (we had previously been on Verizon years ago, and AT&T before that, so we have some experience with all of them).
Verizon has never been a terribly bad deal for big families, but they hate single people with a vengeance
willbur73 said:
So true! I just left Verizon yesterday and signed up for TMobile! SO happy so far. I just feel good
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So did I! But I made sure to get an iPhone 5s from Verizon the day before so that I could sell it and get reimbursed from T-Mo for breaking the 1 day old contract. :laugh: Also sold my S4 and bought a junk phone to use as my trade in to T-Mo. Now the money I made off the iPhone and the S4 will pay for the T-Mo S5. So got the S5 for next to nothing.
I am on ATT - but starting with my NOTE 3 and now my S5 - I don't buy ATT PHONES. I buy TMOBILE PHONES and use them on the ATT Network. They work beautifully well.
I actually signed up for TMobile for about 2 days - but I was so dissapointed with the speeds I got - compared to ATT they were horribly slow - ATT gives me phenomenal speeds around town and inside my house. The final straw was that I found the only way I could make calls from inside my house is if I used WIFI CALLING. I started thinking the reason that TMOBILE Came up with WIFI CALLING was because so many people had trouble getting signals in their house. I don't know if that is why they did it, but It sure seemed that way to me.
Anyway - I have never been happier - I get the best of both worlds - an ulocked device I can use - and a network that provides lightening fast speeds..
it works for me - and I hope whatever you guys are doing works for you as well...
mocsab said:
I am on ATT - but starting with my NOTE 3 and now my S5 - I don't buy ATT PHONES. I buy TMOBILE PHONES and use them on the ATT Network. They work beautifully well.
I actually signed up for TMobile for about 2 days - but I was so dissapointed with the speeds I got - compared to ATT they were horribly slow - ATT gives me phenomenal speeds around town and inside my house. The final straw was that I found the only way I could make calls from inside my house is if I used WIFI CALLING. I started thinking the reason that TMOBILE Came up with WIFI CALLING was because so many people had trouble getting signals in their house. I don't know if that is why they did it, but It sure seemed that way to me.
Anyway - I have never been happier - I get the best of both worlds - an ulocked device I can use - and a network that provides lightening fast speeds..
it works for me - and I hope whatever you guys are doing works for you as well...
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Click to collapse
I do the same. Unlocked T-Mobile phone on ATT.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
Super Sam Galaxy said:
So did I! But I made sure to get an iPhone 5s from Verizon the day before so that I could sell it and get reimbursed from T-Mo for breaking the 1 day old contract. :laugh: Also sold my S4 and bought a junk phone to use as my trade in to T-Mo. Now the money I made off the iPhone and teh S4 will pay for the T-Mo S5. So got the S5 for next to nothing.
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Click to collapse
haha tha'ts messed up but a good idea.
This actually is the first time I had to buy a TMo version to use on ATT due to the locked BL in nature...If you can afford it, then its the best way to go in regards to the S5.
Guess I'm lucky, T-Mobile is awesome in my area. Slightly less coverage than AT&T, but the data connection is very stable and consistent.
Just took a look over there finding bounty thread - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2728051
I donated 20.00 to the cause , If anyone has extra $ they can throw their way please do.
sling said:
Just took a look over there finding bounty thread - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2728051
I donated 20.00 to the cause , If anyone has extra $ they can throw their way please do.
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Click to collapse
Here was my post over there cause I donated too... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=52145012&postcount=60 I have Verizon and T-Mobile so I grabbed the M8 on Verizon and the S5 on T-mobile. Best of both worlds, although the M8 is waaaay snappier in pretty much every task. I wish Samsung would slim this damn TouchWiz down. Look at your available ram and tell me that this baby don't NEED 3gb of ram like the Note 3. WoW! Anyways, the more devs we all have the better if you think about it. Look how many roms and mods get ported over from different carrier variants. Yes, I am a crack flasher for sure. Glad to see you donate too though. :good:
I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile the week before the S5 came out, I was paying $125 for a single phone on Verizon with 4GB data. Now on T-Mobile I get the same 4G coverage (in come cases better) as I did with Verizon, yet my girlfriend joined my account and together we get 3GB high speed data per month each, and its $100/month plus paying for the phones per month, I got the S5, she got the Note 3. Verizon is too expensive and controlling. I am very happy switching to T-Mobile.
Those who got the TMO S5, can you comment on performance? One guy on here feels it is not optimized for AT&T. He said it can be stubborn and prefer H+ in LTE areas.
Hey, Im kinda new to Galaxy devices and i was wondering, how does this usually go based on what has happened in the past for Galaxy Devices, because coming from a Nexus (I know why would i ever leave a nexus) i really didn't think anything of the OTA update because on a Nexus, it really doesn't matter if you update or not, but will there ever be some sort of Downgrade from the NC5 Kitkat update? Will i ever be able to get Root? or will i be stuck with this so called safe strap which makes no sense to me. Im sorry im seeming like a noob, but all this extra stuff to aquire root is new to me. Do i wait for some sorta exploit? Do I try a Downgrade method? or could i possibly return my device for another one? Cuz its brand-new and its not rooted at all and it has warranty... What are my options because i'm totally lost admist the millions of posts. All i need is root and ability to get rid of these bloatware apps (and twrp would be nice, but i'm fine with stock rooted & xposed)
Device:
VZW Galaxy S4 SCH-i545 16Gb
Stock 4.4.2 I545VRUFNC5
spongeyperson said:
Hey, Im kinda new to Galaxy devices and i was wondering, how does this usually go based on what has happened in the past for Galaxy Devices, because coming from a Nexus (I know why would i ever leave a nexus) i really didn't think anything of the OTA update because on a Nexus, it really doesn't matter if you update or not, but will there ever be some sort of Downgrade from the NC5 Kitkat update? Will i ever be able to get Root? or will i be stuck with this so called safe strap which makes no sense to me. Im sorry im seeming like a noob, but all this extra stuff to aquire root is new to me. Do i wait for some sorta exploit? Do I try a Downgrade method? or could i possibly return my device for another one? Cuz its brand-new and its not rooted at all and it has warranty... What are my options because i'm totally lost admist the millions of posts. All i need is root and ability to get rid of these bloatware apps (and twrp would be nice, but i'm fine with stock rooted & xposed)
Device:
VZW Galaxy S4 SCH-i545 16Gb
Stock 4.4.2 I545VRUFNC5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is possible to do a partial downgrade, root, and return to Kitkat with root. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2726868
If you're really fine with TouchWiz then that may be all you want.
Personally, I'd return it though. If you ever want AOSP or updates before Verizon decides to release them, you'll need a different phone. You can get an MDK (pretty much unlocked, loki exploit) or Developer Edition (unlocked) S4 on Swappa for $300-$335.
Oishikatta said:
It is possible to do a partial downgrade, root, and return to Kitkat with root. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2726868
If you're really fine with TouchWiz then that may be all you want.
Personally, I'd return it though. If you ever want AOSP or updates before Verizon decides to release them, you'll need a different phone. You can get an MDK (pretty much unlocked, loki exploit) or Developer Edition (unlocked) S4 on Swappa for $300-$335.
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Click to collapse
Well i bought my phone under contract and i'm kinda stuck with it in their system. Do you think verizon would replace it with a brand-new replacement with MDK bootloader on it? Because when i originally got the device a few weeks ago, it unfortunately had MDK bootloader on it, but i was stupid and i updated. I have no money to replace it so i don't know what i could do. If i did sell the one thats setup thru my contract, wouldn't that give it a bad esn? Also, i am fine with touchwiz as long as i can have xposed and root to change what i don't like, and if i really wanted to install a custom rom, i can use my N7 for that. The biggest problem i probably would have though is waiting for verizon updates. Because i know that sucks
spongeyperson said:
Well i bought my phone under contract and i'm kinda stuck with it in their system. I have no money to replace it so i don't know what i could do.
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Click to collapse
If you just bought it, I think you have 14 days to return and cancel the contract. I don't think the Verizon S4 is worth a 2 year contract at all - if you're content with a locked one, you can easily get one for around $250 (e.g. this one that just sold) in good/great condition.
You could get an S5 for $99, sell it on Swappa for $500 - $10 Swappa Fee, -$15 Paypal Fee, -$15 Shipping.
So 500 in, 140 out. About $360 net profit. (Note this is just an estimate.)
Then buy a locked S4 on Swappa for $250 and still have over $100 profit. Or an MDK/Dev one and a bit less profit.
Do note that you have to be careful about where you buy a contract phone, many places will sneak in their own secondary contract with its own ETF if you change anything within x months. Bestbuy doesn't have any nonsense like that. Verizon directly also doesn't, of course.
However, that does take a bit of effort so it's definitely not as simple as just buying at Verizon. Swappa is pretty nice about making buying and selling safely easy though.
spongeyperson said:
If i did sell the one thats setup thru my contract, wouldn't that give it a bad esn?
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Click to collapse
No, many people buy under contract and then sell when new phones are released (e.g. S5, M8) if they're happy with their current phone and just want to make a bit of money off the contract for service they'd use anyways. The phone would only become bad ESN if you reported it lost/stolen. (Also maybe if you later defaulted on the contract, but I'm not sure on that.)
spongeyperson said:
Do you think verizon would replace it with a brand-new replacement with MDK bootloader on it? Because when i originally got the device a few weeks ago, it unfortunately had MDK bootloader on it, but i was stupid and i updated.
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Click to collapse
Are you sure it was MDK? More likely to be MI1 or MK2. I suppose it would be possible, but probably very unlikely.
spongeyperson said:
Also, i am fine with touchwiz as long as i can have xposed and root to change what i don't like, and if i really wanted to install a custom rom, i can use my N7 for that. The biggest problem i probably would have though is waiting for verizon updates. Because i know that sucks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks to Surge1223 and k1mu, you can have root even on the newest OTA (so far). Verizon updates do suck though - it looks pretty clear that they held back the S4's kitkat update for a long time just so that they could advertise the S5 as having newer software.
Oishikatta said:
If you just bought it, I think you have 14 days to return and cancel the contract. I don't think the Verizon S4 is worth a 2 year contract at all - if you're content with a locked one, you can easily get one for around $250 (e.g. this one that just sold) in good/great condition.
You could get an S5 for $99, sell it on Swappa for $500 - $10 Swappa Fee, -$15 Paypal Fee, -$15 Shipping.
So 500 in, 140 out. About $360 net profit. (Note this is just an estimate.)
Then buy a locked S4 on Swappa for $250 and still have over $100 profit. Or an MDK/Dev one and a bit less profit.
Do note that you have to be careful about where you buy a contract phone, many places will sneak in their own secondary contract with its own ETF if you change anything within x months. Bestbuy doesn't have any nonsense like that. Verizon directly also doesn't, of course.
However, that does take a bit of effort so it's definitely not as simple as just buying at Verizon. Swappa is pretty nice about making buying and selling safely easy though.
No, many people buy under contract and then sell when new phones are released (e.g. S5, M8) if they're happy with their current phone and just want to make a bit of money off the contract for service they'd use anyways. The phone would only become bad ESN if you reported it lost/stolen. (Also maybe if you later defaulted on the contract, but I'm not sure on that.)
Are you sure it was MDK? More likely to be MI1 or MK2. I suppose it would be possible, but probably very unlikely.
Thanks to Surge1223 and k1mu, you can have root even on the newest OTA (so far). Verizon updates do suck though - it looks pretty clear that they held back the S4's kitkat update for a long time just so that they could advertise the S5 as having newer software.
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Problem Solved. (at least for me anyway) i was able to trade in my phone at verizon and i exchanged it for a HTC one M8... that i rooted within the first 2 hours of getting it.. lol. Anyway, if any Moderator or admin wants to delete this post, they can
I've tried to grab two (G500T) now and both refuse to connect to T-Mobile unless I'm in their store. The reps figured it was a SIM issue and didn't bother to look up the IMEI. At home I tried my and my wife's sims from a rooted S3 and a rooted Core Prime and I get the same thing.... they won't attach to T-Mobile even though the other phones do.
So when I used TMo's IMEI tool both report as being overdue on accounts. So how are supposedly "Manufacturer refurbs" coming out with this flag? Is there any way to get these G500T's and know before purchase that the IMEI is clean and that it will just work on Tmo?
-gmolds
Am i missing something here... this Amazon post for the G900T even states that the device is only partially usable on TMo. Isn't that the Tmo variant? I mean the two I receieved booted to 4.4.2 or maybe 4.4.4 with the TMo graphinc and Jingle yet wouldn't grab a TMo tower outside of their store.
Add to that if I turned on WiFi calling I was recognized as the correct number and could send and receive calls/sms just fine.
gmolds said:
Am i missing something here... this Amazon post for the G900T even states that the device is only partially usable on TMo. Isn't that the Tmo variant? I mean the two I receieved booted to 4.4.2 or maybe 4.4.4 with the TMo graphinc and Jingle yet wouldn't grab a TMo tower outside of their store.
Add to that if I turned on WiFi calling I was recognized as the correct number and could send and receive calls/sms just fine.
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Click to collapse
There has been tons and tons of rebranded att devices people are selling as unlocked g900f and g900t devices as att has locked bootloader and nobody wants them. Could be your problem.
I wouldn't trust amazon nor eBay. Try swappa.com 100% and guaranteed to not be black listed
ShinySide said:
There has been tons and tons of rebranded att devices people are selling as unlocked g900f and g900t devices as att has locked bootloader and nobody wants them. Could be your problem.
I wouldn't trust amazon nor eBay. Try swappa.com 100% and guaranteed to not be black listed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll look at swappa... but would AT&T locked ones root and take TMo kernels/ROMs becasue I was able to do exactly that and as stated, in the TMo store, it linked up instantly with full LTE (WiFi off) but outside of the stores reach it wouldn't connect. And again, the phone's IMEI according to TMo's lookup tool (both of them) had outstanding bills associated with them.
Isn't the Amazon link odd in that it is listed as a T but claims partial TMo functionality?
Or you could just buy straight from T-Mobile! I got two for $200 each. They're also eligible for T-Mobile's interest free credit system and come with a 90 day warranty which they will honour even if rooted.
invisiblewave said:
Or you could just buy straight from T-Mobile! I got two for $200 each. They're also eligible for T-Mobile's interest free credit system and come with a 90 day warranty which they will honour even if rooted.
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Click to collapse
Currently showing $250... a bit high for this model used IMO.
Worth a bit extra for some peace of mind, imo. As the T-Mobile rep I spoke to pointed out, the CPO devices go through an 80 point check which the new phones don't, at least not by TM. Both ours look brand new, and I'm guessing that both the glass & battery, and probably the outer cover too, were replaced. There's a difference between used & CPO. And I'm guessing $250 is less than you paid for the two you bought that you can't use outside the store??
invisiblewave said:
Worth a bit extra for some peace of mind, imo. As the T-Mobile rep I spoke to pointed out, the CPO devices go through an 80 point check which the new phones don't, at least not by TM. Both ours look brand new, and I'm guessing that both the glass & battery, and probably the outer cover too, were replaced. There's a difference between used & CPO. And I'm guessing $250 is less than you paid for the two you bought that you can't use outside the store??
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Click to collapse
Actually they were $140 apiece via Woot (Amazon subsidiary) and were listed as AT&T and T-Mobile friendly. One wouldn't charge and the other had the bad IMEI. I'd go as high as $200 I think. I'll keep an eye on Swappa and maybe call a TMo rep to see if they'll come down. I'm in no hurry... just getting ready for our next phones. I can't let Shiny get too far ahead or I'll miss out on all of his great work and their derivatives
As I said, when I bought ours they were $200, they'd previously been $250, so you may get lucky if you keep your eye on T-Mobile. I did their interest-free plan, so it's $8/month each, which seems like a hell of a deal now I've seen how good the phone is. Add a $10 wireless charging coil and you've got a phone that's indistinguishable from a $700 current model.
gmolds said:
Actually they were $140 apiece via Woot (Amazon subsidiary) and were listed as AT&T and T-Mobile friendly. One wouldn't charge and the other had the bad IMEI. I'd go as high as $200 I think. I'll keep an eye on Swappa and maybe call a TMo rep to see if they'll come down. I'm in no hurry... just getting ready for our next phones. I can't let Shiny get too far ahead or I'll miss out on all of his great work and their derivatives
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those are TMo friendly phones, in that you can put a TMo SIM in them and they will work. However, that's not the same as a 900T. I bought a S5 through Woot back in January, and it was described as a 900T and it was a 900T.
rlichtefeld said:
Those are TMo friendly phones, in that you can put a TMo SIM in them and they will work. However, that's not the same as a 900T. I bought a S5 through Woot back in January, and it was described as a 900T and it was a 900T.
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It is/was (http://www.woot.com/offers/samsung-galaxy-s5-unlocked-16gb-sd-23) in fact a 900T. It reported as much. I've laid out pretty specifically what the problem was and got confirmation from TMo. The real problem is the resellers putting these phones out there as able to be used when the IMEI clearly reports as a phone in arrears on it's account.
If I had been willing to pay the account that the pay as you go phone had been bought on, it would have started working. TMo had taht IMEI blacklisted.
Maybe they're generic specs, but they don't list the AWS bands for T-Mobile, which is the usual problem with buying phones that may or may not be T-Mobile devices.
Readily admitting that I don't know what you're talking about but the fact that I connected to TMo with full bars when at the Tmo shop but dropped out as soon as I drove away and the fact that the phone is in Tmo's system seems to me to be a fairly clear indication that is was a proper model.
In any case.. got one off of swappa and watching for another in my price range and in a condition I will accept. Thanks all for the comments and pointers.
It's not an indication that it's a proper model. Speaking very generally, an AT&T phone will work on T-Mobile because they're both GSM/LTE phones. However, the GSM bands they use aren't identical. There's some overlap, but in some areas there are bands used on T-Mobile that AT&T phones can't use. What that means in practice is that in some places the AT&T phones won't get a signal on T-Mobile and may use 3G rather than LTE. AWS is GSM 1700/2100. It's the same reason why my T-Mobile phones work in the UK but the data over there is slow.
So in this case when the phone is reporting that knox hadn't been tripped and the phone info claimed to be a 900T is still may be an AT&T?
I just bought this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MF64PSK/ on Amazon. Clean IMEI and a 90 day money back guarantee. Looks brand new.
magdelaine said:
I just bought this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MF64PSK/ on Amazon. Clean IMEI and a 90 day money back guarantee. Looks brand new.
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Awesome to hear that real ones are out there... seems hit or miss on Amazon. I have gotten full refunds from W00T and now have two "good" condition phones from swappa and am happy with their conditions and the prices paid.
gmolds said:
Awesome to hear that real ones are out there... seems hit or miss on Amazon. I have gotten full refunds from W00T and now have two "good" condition phones from swappa and am happy with their conditions and the prices paid.
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I have really liked what I've purchased from Swappa too, but this time I went with Amazon. I read your post and was worried...I had to check the IMEI!
I ordered an unlocked S9+ from Samsung for my wife last night since it was cheaper, and the articles I was reading said it was the way to go as the US carriers were screwing everyone over with their price increases. Unfortunately, I started looking into it more after I bought it, and I'm concerned that I'll regret this. It sounds like things like WiFi calling, video calling, HD voice, Visual Voicemail, etc. don't work on the unlocked version. Additionally, it sounds like updates are even slower than Verizon.
Basically, these are going to be non-starters with my wife. She doesn't care about the VZW bloat and would much rather have those features. Is it possible to flash the unlocked firmware to be VZW stock firmware? I think I saw this done on the S8, but I'm not sure if that was available on release day or if she is going to have to wait months for the VZW stock firmware to be leaked or something. Should I just return this and pay more for the Verizon version, or can I get this to work without pulling my hair out? Thanks for any help!
Probably, but not immediately
I face the same dilemma - I have pre-ordered the unlocked version from Samsung, because it really annoys me to be gouged by VZW, but I would like the VZW features you mention. As you say, the GS8/GS8+ unlocked could be flashed to the VZW firmware, so I expect that it will also be possible to flash the VZW firmware to unlocked GS9/GS9+. The catch is that that's not likely to be day 1. And if you do it later, it will probably be a hassle, because you may lose settings, etc. I.e. your wife will not be happy.
Frankly, for the $90 difference, it's probably not worth the hassle. If you value your time more than burger-flipping hourly pay, you'll probably do better holding your nose and paying the VZW gouge. Of course, you could just be patient and wait a couple of months for the price to come down/BOGO deals to emerge, etc. and/or the VZW firmware to be available to flash, but that's un-American - we want gratification NOW, dammit!
While I didn't get the unlocked one I did save money by getting in on the Best Buy deal for $100 off the phone! Verizon at the time was listed at $915 on the site, got $100 off so $815 out the door Beat Samsung's price from the get go... awesome. Verizon version of the 9+.
Same here
firefox15 said:
I ordered an unlocked S9+ from Samsung for my wife last night since it was cheaper, and the articles I was reading said it was the way to go as the US carriers were screwing everyone over with their price increases. Unfortunately, I started looking into it more after I bought it, and I'm concerned that I'll regret this. It sounds like things like WiFi calling, video calling, HD voice, Visual Voicemail, etc. don't work on the unlocked version. Additionally, it sounds like updates are even slower than Verizon.
Basically, these are going to be non-starters with my wife. She doesn't care about the VZW bloat and would much rather have those features. Is it possible to flash the unlocked firmware to be VZW stock firmware? I think I saw this done on the S8, but I'm not sure if that was available on release day or if she is going to have to wait months for the VZW stock firmware to be leaked or something. Should I just return this and pay more for the Verizon version, or can I get this to work without pulling my hair out? Thanks for any help!
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I am having the same issue with my unlocked s9+ i got directly from samsung. besides duo, is there another workaround for video calling?
galaxys9plus said:
I am having the same issue with my unlocked s9+ i got directly from samsung. besides duo, is there another workaround for video calling?
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I believe that people have had success flashing it to VZW if you want to go that route.
Deathman20 said:
While I didn't get the unlocked one I did save money by getting in on the Best Buy deal for $100 off the phone! Verizon at the time was listed at $915 on the site, got $100 off so $815 out the door Beat Samsung's price from the get go... awesome. Verizon version of the 9+.
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Don't forget the upgrade fee though if you did it on device payments
geoff5093 said:
Don't forget the upgrade fee though if you did it on device payments
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Oh yeah lovely upgrade fee/line activation fee. I think its waved on the phone I upgraded, my new line I got nailed with it... wahooo.
Deathman20 said:
Oh yeah lovely upgrade fee/line activation fee. I think its waved on the phone I upgraded, my new line I got nailed with it... wahooo.
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The only way to escape that stupid fee is to buy an unlocked phone and swap SIM from an old phone. They should waive that fee if you buy at full cost from them or if you don't need to have a Verizon employee switch your SIM for you.
firefox15 said:
I ordered an unlocked S9+ from Samsung for my wife last night since it was cheaper, and the articles I was reading said it was the way to go as the US carriers were screwing everyone over with their price increases. Unfortunately, I started looking into it more after I bought it, and I'm concerned that I'll regret this. It sounds like things like WiFi calling, video calling, HD voice, Visual Voicemail, etc. don't work on the unlocked version. Additionally, it sounds like updates are even slower than Verizon.
Basically, these are going to be non-starters with my wife. She doesn't care about the VZW bloat and would much rather have those features. Is it possible to flash the unlocked firmware to be VZW stock firmware? I think I saw this done on the S8, but I'm not sure if that was available on release day or if she is going to have to wait months for the VZW stock firmware to be leaked or something. Should I just return this and pay more for the Verizon version, or can I get this to work without pulling my hair out? Thanks for any help!
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firefox15 said:
I believe that people have had success flashing it to VZW if you want to go that route.
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Flashing for the most part has been only partially successful. Most can not get Video Calling to work all other features seem to work. 1 guy in the these forums claims everything works on his. I haven't been sucessful with getting the integrated Video Calling to work, My account blocks it and won't let me unblock it for the Galaxy S9 my other lines with carrier phones the don't have blocks when I switch SIMS the block switches to whichever line the Galaxy S9 is on.
I would say this, save yourself the hassle and keep the wife happy, buy the VZW version from Samsung Directly. If you buy it outright just make sure VZW releases your IMEI since the phone is paid off. Then if you want to leave VZW or sell the phone everything is good to go and your not handing the money directly to those greedy blood suckers at VZW. For myself I'm willing to go without their features, besides the service I won't buy anything from them anymore I last bought a phone through them 4 years ago, and now that Tmob has got real 4G I'm gonna port my number out.