Unlocking T-Mobile for AT&T service - T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII

hi everyone:
I have been looking via numerous thread online on many Android forums especially here and have been unsuccessful for the past 2 days now. So I figured I would need to create a thread and finally give in and ask for some help. I have a T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy 3 phone and I need to unlock it so that it will work on my AT&T service. Now i understand about rooting the phone and being able to play with themes etc, but its not that great if I can't use the phone itself.
Now without coming up with some kind of answer I must have watched about 40 youtube video's hoping to find out some kind of information. Mostly what I got out of it was numerous website that offer unlocking for phones at a certain price.
unlockcodesource(.)com
unlock2go(.)com
mobileunlockcodes(.)co.uk
Has anyone ever used any of these website or can someone give me some good advise on how I can get this phone unlocked please/
~Aqua

I think the toolkit stickied in the development forum has an option to SIM unlock the GS3. I have not tried this, and do not know if it works, but if the option is there, you might want to give it a shot.

If you're on contract with t mobile and your account is in good standing with them. Call them tell them you're going over seas and need to unlock your phone so you can use it. They will send you unlock code ... then pop in an att sim card and it will prompt you to enter the unlock code t Mobil gave you. Done
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

thanks _
Crisisx1 said:
If you're on contract with t mobile and your account is in good standing with them. Call them tell them you're going over seas and need to unlock your phone so you can use it. They will send you unlock code ... then pop in an att sim card and it will prompt you to enter the unlock code t Mobil gave you. Done
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
OK thank you. I followed your instructions and they said it would take up to maybe 24 hrs for the phone to be unlocked. If it isn't unlocked than she said to call back with the conformation number she gave me. If that doesn't work than they would have to give Samsung my info and could take up to 14 days. She said when you buy phones almost all stands and corp stores have already unlocked phones.
she also said it would be auto unlocked for good. Can they lock the phone back up once it is be unlocked?
~Aqua
edited: Once I have it unlocked ( if all goes good ) do i use the same APN settings that I needed to put into the phone in order for my phone to work on the AT&T network as I did with my S2 that I got unlocked ?

Don't they use different frequencies for HSPA+
You would be relegated to edge speeds, correct me if I'm wrong

speed issue
five40 said:
Don't they use different frequencies for HSPA+
You would be relegated to edge speeds, correct me if I'm wrong
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Click to collapse
I really don't know. That would be a great question if someone would be nice enough to help me with this information? Again i have a T mobile S3 hopefully its unlocked would I be losing speeds by being on the AT&T network?
thanks
~Aqua

AquaWater said:
I really don't know. That would be a great question if someone would be nice enough to help me with this information? Again i have a T mobile S3 hopefully its unlocked would I be losing speeds by being on the AT&T network?
thanks
~Aqua
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The T-Mobile S3 has the 850/1900 3G bands so it will work on AT&T's 3G network. It will not get LTE though.
You can unlock either by paying for a code from the various resellers online or requesting an unlock code from T-Mobile if you have an account in good standing with them. If you can't get the code from T-Mobile I suggest searching 'T999 unlock' on eBay and you'll find some good options.

The tmobile galaxy s3 will work on the ATnT HSPA+21 frequency. Same frequency the International version runs on for that network.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Edge network and 3/4G Question
I found an excellent place so far on eBay for buying unlock codes. they have almost 3800 sells with a 99% positive feedback. Great customer service. The guy answered numerous questions of mine and made sure i did everything correctly. Payment was $24.95 US, so hopefullly everything will go good.
He was talking about being on something called an " Edge " network which is a little slower, but he said you won't notice a difference between your unlocked S2 and the unlocked S3 now. Right now my S2 says I have 3G service when I use it. I dont understand how i had a inspire4G, what is the 4G for if AT&T only gives you 3G service? And where I am in United States I should have 4G service no matter what. I'm confused on that.,

AquaWater said:
I found an excellent place so far on eBay for buying unlock codes. they have almost 3800 sells with a 99% positive feedback. Great customer service. The guy answered numerous questions of mine and made sure i did everything correctly. Payment was $24.95 US, so hopefullly everything will go good.
He was talking about being on something called an " Edge " network which is a little slower, but he said you won't notice a difference between your unlocked S2 and the unlocked S3 now. Right now my S2 says I have 3G service when I use it. I dont understand how i had a inspire4G, what is the 4G for if AT&T only gives you 3G service? And where I am in United States I should have 4G service no matter what. I'm confused on that.,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edge is 2G speeds, which are substantially slower than 3G speeds. IMHO, 3G speeds are livable, 2G/Edge is not.
Different phones have different radios which work on different frequencies. Some phones are not compatible with other services at all, and some will work on other carriers but often not at optimal speeds.

Darmokk said:
Edge is 2G speeds, which are substantially slower than 3G speeds. IMHO, 3G speeds are livable, 2G/Edge is not.
Different phones have different radios which work on different frequencies. Some phones are not compatible with other services at all, and some will work on other carriers but often not at optimal speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So than why would someone suggest that I would get "edge" instead of what i have now? I'm getting 3G now with my T-Mobile S2 unlocked on AT&T, but now I'm going to have an unlocked S3, why wouldn't it be the same?

Because the radios in the devices are different.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

So than why would someone suggest that I would get "edge" instead of what i have now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because he/she doesn't know what he/she is talking about. You will be fine with a T-Mobile S3 on AT&T.

That's what I said earlier in not so many words.
Voice willl work fine you will not see HSPA+ speeds on At&t with a T-Mobile Galaxy SIII.
If the T-Mobile SIII has the hardware capability to support the At&t HSPA+ bands you would need modified radio software to unlock this ability.
I believe this was done on the Galaxy Note to tun on T-Mobile HSPA+ network before it was officially launched on T-Mobile.
kmdub I believe your the one that's wrong.

five40 said:
That's what I said earlier in not so many words.
Voice willl work fine you will not see HSPA+ speeds on At&t with a T-Mobile Galaxy SIII.
If the T-Mobile SIII has the hardware capability to support the At&t HSPA+ bands you would need modified radio software to unlock this ability.
I believe this was done on the Galaxy Note to tun on T-Mobile HSPA+ network before it was officially launched on T-Mobile.
kmdub I believe your the one that's wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I unlocked my t999 and am using an att straight talk sim getting HSPA speeds. Going to switch back to tmobile prepay because it is way faster than att HSPA with better latency. Although coverage may be lacking, i may just switch to an att ST sim.
To answer your question, a Tmobile S3 will work on ATT HSPA+ network with the HSPA+ Speeds of up to 6-7mbps in NYC area. The average I've been getting is around 2-3.5 mbps. With the tmobile prepay sim I have, it's usually around 2-18mbps down in NYC area.
The T-mobile S3 will not work on the ATT LTE network because it lacks that radio (or so they say for now); there have been other threads suspecting it's just a matter of flashing the right radio to "turn on" the ATT LTE radio. However, if all you want is HSPA+ speeds, rest assured it will work fine.
The ATT S3 is lacking the AWS bands for TMobile so it will not get the HSPA+ on Tmobile.
Best regards.

radio issue
First off, I would like to thank everyone who has been helping me along with my issues with my phone. I appreciate it a lot and I'm picking up more knowledge more and more everyday from you guys and reading heavily on the forums.
if the hardware in the phone doesn't support HSPA+ 1) will i have to root the phone and 2) change the radio? And 3 ) if I change the radio does that mean I would need to install a custom ROM i order for it to work properly?
Also, from one of the post they said "The T-Mobile S3 has the 850/1900 3G bands " - of that is true will than I should be able to have the 3G speeds correct?
I really hope I am not making some people angry, I'm new to this and trying my hardest to understand everything so I don't make mistakes. Please bare with me. Again, thank you so much everyone who has contributed so far. I still have a lot to learn. The reason why is because I just don't want it to work ( I do, want it to work ) but I want to understand why everything is working they way it is and I've over the past almost month have been picking up a lot of knowledge. Can't wait to hear from you guys

kmdub I believe your the one that's wrong.
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Click to collapse
No, actually, you are wrong. The T-Mobile S3 does not need any modification to work properly on AT&T's HSPA network. Seems you are confusing something else with frequency. Quit spreading bad information.
OP: Don't worry about it. Some are making this way more complicated than it needs to be. As said before, if you have the T999, you will be fine on AT&T's HSPA network without any modifications (other than an account...lol). Just get the phone SIM-unlocked, pop in the right SIM, you are good to go. Seriously, it is that easy.

Well there it is, I stand corrected!
I had no idea the T-Mobile SIII supports At&t HSPA+ bands.
Is the same true to all T-Mobile HSPA+ phones?

Sorry for any issues, just learning
Hi everyone,
thanks so much for the info. Will the S2 I needed to put in certain APN settings inorder to receive MMS ( picture ) via texts. Do i use the same settings for the Samsung Galaxy 3?

kmdub said:
No, actually, you are wrong. The T-Mobile S3 does not need any modification to work properly on AT&T's HSPA network. Seems you are confusing something else with frequency. Quit spreading bad information.
OP: Don't worry about it. Some are making this way more complicated than it needs to be. As said before, if you have the T999, you will be fine on AT&T's HSPA network without any modifications (other than an account...lol). Just get the phone SIM-unlocked, pop in the right SIM, you are good to go. Seriously, it is that easy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too have learned from this thread

Related

[Q] GT-N7100 incorrectly shows roaming on T-Mobile USA

Hi,
I just received an unlocked International Galaxy Note II in the US. Ordered from Handtec in the UK, and the phone appears to be the French model. I have observed what I think is a problem when trying to use the phone on T-Mobile USA.
I put my T-Mobile USA SIM card in the phone, and the phone thinks I am roaming. Uhhhh no. It's a T-Mobile USA SIM card on the T-Mobile USA network. It is NOT roaming. Now, it probably doesn't have any impact beyond the "R" notifier, and a "Roaming" page which shows up on TouchWiz, but it DOES make me feel very uneasy. I have to enable "Data use while roaming" to be able to use data while on my home network!! It's crazy!
To those who will point out, yes, I know that T-Mobile USA has their 3G currently on the AWS 1700/2100 band, which the Note II does not support. I am therefore using EDGE with this phone. (Yes the data speeds suck, but T-Mobile's refarming will make this problem go away in the next few months). Even though I am on EDGE, I am not "roaming" unless the Note II's definition of roaming is different from mine. I am still on the home network, regardless of whether I am on 2G or 3G.
Has anyone else seen a problem like this?
If I can't figure this out in the next day or two, I may return the Note II and just wait another month or so for the T-Mobile US version. (Probably that's what I should do anyway, but I figured the GT-N7100 would get more developer support).
Hope someone can help!
Thanks!
Edit: I forgot to add - I also have and unlocked international Note 1 GT-N7000 and an unlocked iPhone 4. Neither possess the T-Mobile USA 3G band, and neither of which show roaming when I'm using T-Mobile USA. So, either T-Mobile did some funky network work today which changed something, or there is something different (and possibly a bug) about how the Galaxy Note II determines if it's roaming.
Unfortunately I cannot be of any assistance to your issue, just wanted to comment however. I find it very odd that ALL Note II's don't work on every frequency. Bear with me, I'm under the impression that they are identical hardware wise, every version. So, maybe it's a simple matter of flashing a different radio.img? Not that there are any available currently, but there will be shortly. I hope (think) it will be similar to the ATT Note on Tmo. Hopefully it works out better though. We still don't know if the Tmo Note II will be HSPA+42 or not, but it will support next years Tmo LTE.
So, as of now, this is a little bit of a disappointment for Tmo customers looking for the N7100. Hope you can find a workaround for at least HSPA+21 soon :good:
ccampbell1 said:
Hi,
I just received an unlocked International Galaxy Note II in the US. Ordered from Handtec in the UK, and the phone appears to be the French model. I have observed what I think is a problem when trying to use the phone on T-Mobile USA.
I put my T-Mobile USA SIM card in the phone, and the phone thinks I am roaming. Uhhhh no. It's a T-Mobile USA SIM card on the T-Mobile USA network. It is NOT roaming. Now, it probably doesn't have any impact beyond the "R" notifier, and a "Roaming" page which shows up on TouchWiz, but it DOES make me feel very uneasy. I have to enable "Data use while roaming" to be able to use data while on my home network!! It's crazy!
To those who will point out, yes, I know that T-Mobile USA has their 3G currently on the AWS 1700/2100 band, which the Note II does not support. I am therefore using EDGE with this phone. (Yes the data speeds suck, but T-Mobile's refarming will make this problem go away in the next few months). Even though I am on EDGE, I am not "roaming" unless the Note II's definition of roaming is different from mine. I am still on the home network, regardless of whether I am on 2G or 3G.
Has anyone else seen a problem like this?
If I can't figure this out in the next day or two, I may return the Note II and just wait another month or so for the T-Mobile US version. (Probably that's what I should do anyway, but I figured the GT-N7100 would get more developer support).
Hope someone can help!
Thanks!
Edit: I forgot to add - I also have and unlocked international Note 1 GT-N7000 and an unlocked iPhone 4. Neither possess the T-Mobile USA 3G band, and neither of which show roaming when I'm using T-Mobile USA. So, either T-Mobile did some funky network work today which changed something, or there is something different (and possibly a bug) about how the Galaxy Note II determines if it's roaming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That happened to me as well using my International Galaxy S3, I dug into it for about a month and trust me, it's something with the phone detecting that it can't connect to the HSPA+ bands it supports, and when it "defaults" down to EDGE it considers it "Roaming". Stop digging for answers, I was at it for weeks, this is the reason.
You wont get charged for roaming or anything though, so use EDGE until T-Mobile's refarming finally happens; I waited for 2 months and nothing, so I jumped ship and got Straight Talk. I use over 15 GB of data a month, no throttling, $45 bucks. :good:
Hope this helps, because NO ONE gave me a straight answer, Dont even bother calling T-Mobile, they're of absolutely no help. I flashed all sorts of custom ROMs, Kernels, Network Tools, Diagnostics, etc. trying to figure it out. It's just the way these Samsung phones (GT-I9300 and N7100 by the looks of it) work when their 3G/HSPA+ bands are not supported.
Cheers!
farfromovin said:
Unfortunately I cannot be of any assistance to your issue, just wanted to comment however. I find it very odd that ALL Note II's don't work on every frequency. Bear with me, I'm under the impression that they are identical hardware wise, every version. So, maybe it's a simple matter of flashing a different radio.img? Not that there are any available currently, but there will be shortly. I hope (think) it will be similar to the ATT Note on Tmo. Hopefully it works out better though. We still don't know if the Tmo Note II will be HSPA+42 or not, but it will support next years Tmo LTE.
So, as of now, this is a little bit of a disappointment for Tmo customers looking for the N7100. Hope you can find a workaround for at least HSPA+21 soon :good:
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Click to collapse
farfromovin,
I agree it's a complete pain why one model can't work worldwide - or even between carriers in one country, the US!! I'm not sure that all the revisions are the exact same hardware though. Certainly the different revisions will support different LTE bands from one another, different 3G bands (ie T-Mobile USA) and even different technologies (VZW, Sprint, US Cellular CDMA). Whether there is one uber radio chip that's the same in all versions, with different bits enabled here and there, I don't know. I would doubt that a chip currently exists to support all GSM, UMTS, LTE and CDMA bands in the one, but you never know.
I really cannot wait (getting super sick of it) until T-Mobile's 1900MHz refarming, and finally all UMTS/HSPA phones will work on pretty much any UMTS/HSPA network worldwide. But just as we finally get 3G harmony, LTE comes along with a zillion different bands, and we're back to where we were at the start of GSM, and the start of UMTS - all over again.
As far as getting the GT-N7100 to work on T-Mobile AWS bands - unless the radio supports that band somewhere, and can be enabled by some hacky flashing, I don't think there's much chance. I followed a thread for a while which was trying to do that for the original GT-N7000 and it ended up nowhere unfortunately.
I'd be very, very surprised if the T-Mobile US official Note II did not support DC-HSPA +42. Given how TMO pushes that, I don't think they'd sell a phone without it these days. I'm kind of surprised the GT-N7100 doesn't have it, to be honest, but I guess it's not yet that widespread, and most carriers will bypass it to go to LTE.
Cheers!
Ars-Hexis said:
That happened to me as well using my International Galaxy S3, I dug into it for about a month and trust me, it's something with the phone detecting that it can't connect to the HSPA+ bands it supports, and when it "defaults" down to EDGE it considers it "Roaming". Stop digging for answers, I was at it for weeks, this is the reason.
You wont get charged for roaming or anything though, so use EDGE until T-Mobile's refarming finally happens; I waited for 2 months and nothing, so I jumped ship and got Straight Talk. I use over 15 GB of data a month, no throttling, $45 bucks. :good:
Hope this helps, because NO ONE gave me a straight answer, Dont even bother calling T-Mobile, they're of absolutely no help. I flashed all sorts of custom ROMs, Kernels, Network Tools, Diagnostics, etc. trying to figure it out. It's just the way these Samsung phones (GT-I9300 and N7100 by the looks of it) work when their 3G/HSPA+ bands are not supported.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Ars-Hexis,
Thanks so much for the reply. I googled about the same issue on the i9300 as you mentioned - and sure enough a couple of threads on androidcentral, and tmobile support - and all with pretty much a bunch of people going "what?" I think you're right, and this is either some crazy change which Samsung has made to the "S3" generation of phones, or it's an unintended bug which was introduced. I contacted Samsung support on twitter but I'm sure they'll tell me to go away since this is an international model and not sold or supported in the US.
I would love to have this properly reported to Samsung though because it is NOT correct behaviour, and I'm sure it does not meet the 3GPP standard behaviour. These phones' definition of "roaming" is frankly wrong. It's possible they know about the bug but don't care about it too much, because it only affects the minority of importers or travelers, and then only on the very few networks which use AWS band for 3G.
The phone and data works fine of course, so it's really a cosmetic annoyance. However, if I was actually outside TMO's network without knowing it (maybe camping on to some network on the Canadian border or something) then I'd never know if I was actually roaming or not. So the phone's roaming indicator, by being permanently false, is useless in the times when I'm actually roaming. Since this is not a likely scenario for me to be on the Canadian border and roaming onto an AWS-only network any time soon, I'll not worry too much about it.
Yes, I'm really sick waiting on this refarming. It's a huge undertaking of course, so I understand why. I do have a Straight Talk AT&T SIM which I got for my Galaxy Note 1, however I don't use it often for several reasons: haven't ported my number to it, am wary about data throttling or cut-off, and I find the data hit or miss on Straight Talk anyway. I heard stories about people being warned or cut off after 100MB in any day, but if you're saying 15GB and no throttling, it may be something I want to put to the test!
Thanks a lot for your reply! It's nice to know I'm not crazy!
Cheers!
ccampbell1 said:
Hey Ars-Hexis,
Thanks so much for the reply. I googled about the same issue on the i9300 as you mentioned - and sure enough a couple of threads on androidcentral, and tmobile support - and all with pretty much a bunch of people going "what?" I think you're right, and this is either some crazy change which Samsung has made to the "S3" generation of phones, or it's an unintended bug which was introduced. I contacted Samsung support on twitter but I'm sure they'll tell me to go away since this is an international model and not sold or supported in the US.
I would love to have this properly reported to Samsung though because it is NOT correct behaviour, and I'm sure it does not meet the 3GPP standard behaviour. These phones' definition of "roaming" is frankly wrong. It's possible they know about the bug but don't care about it too much, because it only affects the minority of importers or travelers, and then only on the very few networks which use AWS band for 3G.
The phone and data works fine of course, so it's really a cosmetic annoyance. However, if I was actually outside TMO's network without knowing it (maybe camping on to some network on the Canadian border or something) then I'd never know if I was actually roaming or not. So the phone's roaming indicator, by being permanently false, is useless in the times when I'm actually roaming. Since this is not a likely scenario for me to be on the Canadian border and roaming onto an AWS-only network any time soon, I'll not worry too much about it.
Yes, I'm really sick waiting on this refarming. It's a huge undertaking of course, so I understand why. I do have a Straight Talk AT&T SIM which I got for my Galaxy Note 1, however I don't use it often for several reasons: haven't ported my number to it, am wary about data throttling or cut-off, and I find the data hit or miss on Straight Talk anyway. I heard stories about people being warned or cut off after 100MB in any day, but if you're saying 15GB and no throttling, it may be something I want to put to the test!
Thanks a lot for your reply! It's nice to know I'm not crazy!
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey there! Sorry I hadn't answered in such a long time. We'll actually I've found that the S3 (sold it) and the Note 2 (own it) some how cannot be tracked for data usage correctly by straight talk. It's quite interesting... I ported my number over from T-Mobile, so if you have an S3 with a T-mobile prepaid sim... I think you have nothing to lose! I'm in Dallas and regularly get around 3-4Mbits/S during high usage hours and 6-7Mbits/S after 7 pm when network usage goes down.
There have been 2 occasions over the past 2 months where I'm throttled for like an hour and suddenly it gets uncapped on its own (?!?!?) lol. Last month I used about 25 GB... It's insane. Btw, if you if get throttled for real (happened to me once), you can just call them and say your "Internets is slow" (act technologically challenged) and they'll reset it.
Ah 1 last thing: I got the at&T ST sim card when I switched.
Cheers!
Sent from my GT-N7100 using XDA Premium HD app
I just got my International Note 2 today, and I am using it on the T-Mobile network also. I am seeing that I am roaming but my data is off and I am just using wifi. I have turned off my phone and back on again and its still showing. But after reading this whole thread I am getting that is a bug or something along those lines is that correct? Thanks.
I really need to know
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
roaming
I am on prepaid tmobile and I have Roaming sign only in areas where I used to loose signal with my old phone . Basically when I go in Garage underground my signal starts getting weaker and weaker and then roaming kiks in and signal is up all the way . T-mobile does not charges for local roaming . If you use USA tmobile and you are in usa you are fine . My texts and voice are still the same rate for me . When I had Chinese rom it was showing all the time , now I flashed German t-mobile and R shows only sometime , but it does not bother me .
Hope this helps .
I too have a Note II (GT-N7100) I purchased in Thailand in December. I use it on the T-Mobile network and have the same issues with the "R" symbol. I am located in Tampa Bay area, Florida.
T-Mobile was indicating to me in January that this was an issue in weaker signal areas for their data network as they prepare to refarm it. Don't know if this explanation is entirely accurate, but I find in my local area that the R symbol goes away in certain areas and it behaves "normally". This includes the area where my T-Mobile office is located. It seems to be somewhat of a patchwork network, and for some reasons certain areas cause it to go into the Roaming mode.
I was just on a trip with stops in Los Amgeles, San Francisco, and Philadelphia and noted the same behavior in some of those cities: Getting normal signal indications in some places, and Roaming in others.

Will this phone work with T-Mobile HSPA+/4g?

I have an s3 but I may be getting this phone but I'm on T-Mobile network..I know with the gti9100 I had 4g wasn't possible.. but is it the same deal with this phone or did they make the phone compatible with every network? Thanks in advance.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
pezlomd said:
I have an s3 but I may be getting this phone but I'm on T-Mobile network..I know with the gti9100 I had 4g wasn't possible.. but is it the same deal with this phone or did they make the phone compatible with every network? Thanks in advance.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I made the mistake of buying this phone assuming the same thing... Right now the international Note 2 will only get EDGE in the vast majority of places, because T-Mobile runs most of its 3G on the 1700 frequency which the N7100 doesn't support. T-Mobile is in the process of changing to 1900 (mostly for iPhone users), but who knows how long that'll take. I'm mostly fine with EDGE since I'm on WIFI a lot, but I definitely wish I had known before buying.
Riio said:
I made the mistake of buying this phone assuming the same thing... Right now the international Note 2 will only get EDGE in the vast majority of places, because T-Mobile runs most of its 3G on the 1700 frequency which the N7100 doesn't support. T-Mobile is in the process of changing to 1900 (mostly for iPhone users), but who knows how long that'll take. I'm mostly fine with EDGE since I'm on WIFI a lot, but I definitely wish I had known before buying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I had the exact same question and you answered it perfectly. I was going to buy the GT-N7100 to use on T-Mobile, but if it only gets edge, I won't. Maybe it would work on another carrier, though, like AT&T straight-talk?
Just FYI, I do get HSPA+ while driving to work here in Northern VA although some sites suggest T-Mobile is work to upgrade their 850 to 1900. I do get pretty good speed (5Mbps down/2Mbps up). Check this site if you want to confirm your area but for sure it will work currently only on EDGE: http://www.airportal.de/
I just ordered a Straight Talk SIM card because I know lots of people have constant 3G/4G connection on it since it runs on AT&T. The only draw back with AT&T/Straight Talk is the prohibit unlimited international SMS which I use A LOT.
"E"??
Hi, I just got my N7100 yesterday and upon booting it up with a T-Mobile sim all I get is the "E" for edge network. Like you guys mentioned I guess this is normal for right now correct? Also do any of you get the "R" icon next to your signal strength bar? I opens up the "Roaming" page buddy and thinks I'm roaming. How do you get rid of this "R" icon or can you? Please help newbie here.
Thanks,
John
glad i live in an area where we have the 1900mhz band. its faster than my ATT speed. with my gf tmobile sim i was getting 7mbps and with my att its like 3mbp
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Note2.. yep
i dont get it.. if your going to spend $600+ why not just get the T-Mo version?
YoungAceAtlanta said:
i dont get it.. if your going to spend $600+ why not just get the T-Mo version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
people are impatient. .
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Note2.. yep
Carrier branded versions of phones are often sim-locked and significantly slower to receive software updates. They're also more expensive in the long-run once you factor in the cost of a contract, even with the discounts. And carrier bloatware is usually a negative, too.
Is the T-Mobile Note II free of any of these disadvantages?
2 thumbs up!
strumcat said:
Carrier branded versions of phones are often sim-locked and significantly slower to receive software updates. They're also more expensive in the long-run once you factor in the cost of a contract, even with the discounts. And carrier bloatware is usually a negative, too.
Is the T-Mobile Note II free of any of these disadvantages?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:good::good: Couldn't have explained my reason better! Thanks!
strumcat said:
Carrier branded versions of phones are often sim-locked and significantly slower to receive software updates. They're also more expensive in the long-run once you factor in the cost of a contract, even with the discounts. And carrier bloatware is usually a negative, too.
Is the T-Mobile Note II free of any of these disadvantages?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1.) SIM Unlocking is dirt cheap (even free sometimes).
2.) ROM upgrade availability is just as quick if not quicker if you use custom ROMS (and if you're on this site you likely know how to flash them).
3.) Carrier branded devices can be bought off contract.
4.) Carrier bloatware can be frozen and/or removed quite easily.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

AT&T S3 on Tmobile

Hey guys I'm about to buy an at&t galaxy s3 but my service is under tmobile so I have a few questions. As for making it run all I need to do is unlock the phone and put my tmobile sim in right? I also have seen that the 3g won't work, does this mean I have no internet access (other than wifi)? Also is there any way around this?
And any other issues I should know about before buying the att version?
I realize some of these have been answered already, but I am very new to the smartphone game so a lot of the terms I see in other posts confuse me :silly:
You can run edge which is pretty slow internet.
You can unlock for free. Look into general section.
I guess you need to change apn but not sure on that
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
dsljk2009 said:
Hey guys I'm about to buy an at&t galaxy s3 but my service is under tmobile so I have a few questions. As for making it run all I need to do is unlock the phone and put my tmobile sim in right? I also have seen that the 3g won't work, does this mean I have no internet access (other than wifi)? Also is there any way around this?
And any other issues I should know about before buying the att version?
I realize some of these have been answered already, but I am very new to the smartphone game so a lot of the terms I see in other posts confuse me :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlock the phone
You can get 2g/edge speeds whatever you want to call it, just in put the tmobile apn. If there is 1900 service on tmobile you would get the 4g. I'm using an iphone 5 on 2g speeds, it gets the job done for basic browsing and email.

T-Mobile and AT&T Note 2 cross-compatibility

After a pretty serious amount of searching, I still haven't been able to find a straightforward explanation of what works on which Note 2 on which network as far as 3G/4G service goes. (There was only one that came close, and it still didn't seem to actually be complete.) While the consensus seems to be that the T-Mo phone is the most flexible, what I've been able to cobble together is that the answer is much closer to "depends on what you want to use it for." (Duh, right?) So here's what I understand so far -- please feel free to correct me if I have any of this wrong, and I'll update (or if you think carriers/devices should be added to the list, comment with sources and I'll add on the info):
----
T-Mo T889 (stock unlocked): up to 42 MBps DC-HSPA+ on T-Mobile network (1900MHz); up to HSPA on AT&T network (trying to verify)
AT&T i317 (stock, unlocked): LTE on 700MHz on AT&T network (and future AWS when AT&T gets around to deploying); EDGE on T-Mobile network
T889 with T-Mo LTE unlock (est. Spring 2013): may possibly also enable LTE on AT&T network.
T889 with flashed AT&T radio (or NV partition edit): unknown -- no success to date. Hypothesized that it may enable LTE on AT&T network.
i317 with flashed T889 radio (or NV partition edit): loses AT&T LTE capability; gains HSPA+ (non-DC) on T-Mobile network (DC yet to be verified?)
No idea as to what would happen if/when an i317 can be flashed with a post-Spring 2013 T-Mo radio.
----
So the conclusions I seem to draw from this are:
If you want guaranteed highest speeds out of either service today, and some possibility of T-Mo LTE support in the future, get the AT&T phone and get used to playing around with radio swaps.
If you want the guaranteed highest speed out of T-Mo in a few months (and now, obviously), and some possibility of getting the highest speed out of AT&T (aka LTE) whenever xda-developers' ingenuity figures it out, get the T-Mo phone.
How does this sound to you guys?
Bewn looking into the same thing looks as the t889 should somehow be able to get lte on att but still cant find how
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
slinkygn said:
After a pretty serious amount of searching, I still haven't been able to find a straightforward explanation of what works on which Note 2 on which network as far as 3G/4G service goes. (There was only one that came close, and it still didn't seem to actually be complete.) While the consensus seems to be that the T-Mo phone is the most flexible, what I've been able to cobble together is that the answer is much closer to "depends on what you want to use it for." (Duh, right?) So here's what I understand so far -- please feel free to correct me if I have any of this wrong, and I'll update (or if you think carriers/devices should be added to the list, comment with sources and I'll add on the info):
----
T-Mo T889 (stock unlocked): up to 42 MBps DC-HSPA+ on T-Mobile network (1900MHz); up to HSPA on AT&T network (trying to verify)
AT&T i317 (stock, unlocked): LTE on 700MHz on AT&T network (and future AWS when AT&T gets around to deploying); EDGE on T-Mobile network
T889 with T-Mo LTE unlock (est. Spring 2013): may possibly also enable LTE on AT&T network.
T889 with flashed AT&T radio: unknown -- no success to date. Hypothesized that it may enable LTE on AT&T network.
i317 with flashed T889 radio: loses AT&T LTE capability; gains HSPA+ (non-DC) on T-Mobile network (DC yet to be verified?)
No idea as to what would happen if/when an i317 can be flashed with a post-Spring 2013 T-Mo radio.
----
So the conclusions I seem to draw from this are:
If you want guaranteed highest speeds out of either service today, and some possibility of T-Mo LTE support in the future, get the AT&T phone and get used to playing around with radio swaps.
If you want the guaranteed highest speed out of T-Mo in a few months (and now, obviously), and some possibility of getting the highest speed out of AT&T (aka LTE) whenever xda-developers' ingenuity figures it out, get the T-Mo phone.
How does this sound to you guys?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Short answer, AT&T Note 2 can get full speed HSPA+ on T-Mobile and LTE on AT&T... I currently have it that way... You need to activate AWS bands on NV partition... I also have the T889 and the T889 can do the same... Remember what I have been telling since day 1... They are both the same phone... Just with different signals pre activated by their respective carriers...
Your search was not too serious, lol
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2068041
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using XDA Premium HD app
As I understand it the note 2 is the first phone to have all the different model have the same physical design and the software is very close to the same as well. I beleive that there are two internatinal ones the gsm and lte. All the us versions are based off the lte one so they are all very similar. I think we even have a few roms in the dev section now that are based off sprints rom. I could be wrong though. I was a little confused at first because usually on tmo our phone would be based off the gsm interntinal but not this time.
I gotta say I am really happy with samsung. And I am impressed with what they have accomplished with this phone and the sgs3. They told the carriers to go to hell and did it their way this time. I think they were able to do it because android is like 60% of the worlds cell phone market and samsung is like 75% of android sales. I am sure the numbers are off but I remember reading about that last year. Sorry to go off topic a little bit.
TEKHD said:
Short answer, AT&T Note 2 can get full speed HSPA+ on T-Mobile and LTE on AT&T... I currently have it that way... You need to activate AWS bands on NV partition... I also have the T889 and the T889 can do the same... Remember what I have been telling since day 1... They are both the same phone... Just with different signals pre activated by their respective carriers...
Your search was not too serious, lol
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2068041
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've done this with the T889? Sounded like you haven't yet from the linked thread.
Keep us up to date on exact steps and success here in the T mobile forum section please.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
distortedloop said:
You've done this with the T889? Sounded like you haven't yet from the linked thread.
Keep us up to date on exact steps and success here in the T mobile forum section please.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What steps ? It's for the AT&T version......use the search feature dude.
KillaHurtz said:
What steps ? It's for the AT&T version......use the search feature dude.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uh, that's his point. And mine, for that matter. AT&T only so far - meaning my OP is currently correct. Nobody has done it on T-Mo (at least that has reported it here). "Hardware is the same," yeah, we all know that, but we also know the software isn't, so it's a matter of what we've actually tried and succeeded with and have confirmation of.
When somebody actually reports a success with T-Mo they can confirm, I'll update.
TEKHD said:
Short answer, AT&T Note 2 can get full speed HSPA+ on T-Mobile and LTE on AT&T... I currently have it that way... You need to activate AWS bands on NV partition... I also have the T889 and the T889 can do the same... Remember what I have been telling since day 1... They are both the same phone... Just with different signals pre activated by their respective carriers...
Your search was not too serious, lol
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2068041
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, poor assumption on your part. I found that. Did you read past the first post? First post says DC works (which was an edit, apparently yesterday) but post 3 says it only indicates DC, no actual speed bump to DC or 42 speeds. Lots of failures on that thread too. So I listed what worked for the OP. If you'd like to confirm dual-5MHz operation (which you didn't explicitly when you posted your success in that post), maybe some screenshots of the speed change if you have them, that should be fine and I'll edit.
slinkygn said:
Sorry, poor assumption on your part. I found that. Did you read past the first post? First post says DC works (which was an edit, apparently yesterday) but post 3 says it only indicates DC, no actual speed bump to DC or 42 speeds. Lots of failures on that thread too. So I listed what worked for the OP. If you'd like to confirm dual-5MHz operation (which you didn't explicitly when you posted your success in that post), maybe some screenshots of the speed change if you have them, that should be fine and I'll edit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plain and easy... Follow sjravi's post... Restore T889 NV backup to I317 or viceversa in your case... And voila! LTE enabled on T889...
OP Updated... Even easier...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2068041
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using XDA Premium HD app
TEKHD said:
Plain and easy... Follow sjravi's post... Restore T889 NV backup to I317 or viceversa in your case... And voila! LTE enabled on T889...
OP Updated... Even easier...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2068041
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, like I said, as soon as someone's actually done it successfully I'll update.
I can add the NV method to the radio method, I suppose, since both seem to work on AT&T.
KillaHurtz said:
What steps ? It's for the AT&T version......use the search feature dude.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Posts like yours aren't much better than trolling. What did it add to the conversation? Search for what?
If you'd actually searched and read the numerous threads across both the i317 and T889 forums, including both the General and Q&A sections, like I have, you'd see multiple claims of it works, or it doesn't work, and varying methods described with people saying they work and don't work. TEKHD has bounced back and forth multiple times on this, along with a few others.
I was just asking for clarification that this was done on a T889 or not, since TEKHD said in the post I was replying to that it does, but in the thread he linked he said it didn't.
This is a T889 forum, isn't it? What do the users of the T889 care about an i317 hack unless the same hack will work for us?
LTE on T889 Phone
Searched and found conflicting repoerts. Is it possible to get the LTE working on AT&T using the Tmobile T889 model of the note 2?
It is thought so, but no one's done it yet.
slinkygn said:
It is thought so, but no one's done it yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah ok... so i just got ATT today and am using it on my tmobile note 2. DO I need to do anything at all to be getting the best speeds or is it getting the fastest it can right now until someone gets LTE working>?
I hope you guys can help me, I'm frustrated already, I bought an AT&T SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 and also purchased an unlock code, phone was working just fine with 4g on AT&T ( Tested ) but after unlocking I just don't get service when I use a T Mobile or Simple Mobile SIM.
On the About Phone -> Status I do get "Network: T-Mobile/Simple Mobile" ( Depending on the SIM I use ), but I don't even get EDGE, I cant make calls, I get the annoying emergency calls only, its making me crazy. Is there a way to fix this issue?
( I already added the APN settings, but im sure I don't need that to make calls, or get EDGE, I don't know what else to do to fix this ).
Thanks
maybe try factory reset? Possibly flash a different modem as well.
papabear said:
maybe try factory reset? Possibly flash a different modem as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory reset would do nothing, the phone connects to AT&T with no problems, 4G and everything, but not even EDGE on T Mobile.
You already have a thread asking that question. .alot of people get mad when you clutter the forums.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda appdevelopers app
HELP so confused =[
I have a TMobile Note 2 N-7100, its now unlocked to use with my AT&T sim. it shows that i have 4G speeds, i am searching the threads and getting mixed messages about enabling LTE. i came across this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2068041 but it was non-specific about working on At&t, even though if it works which i have not yet confirmed is there another way to enable it without running the risk of "bricking" my phone?
tlee2189 said:
I have a TMobile Note 2 N-7100, its now unlocked to use with my AT&T sim. it shows that i have 4G speeds, i am searching the threads and getting mixed messages about enabling LTE. i came across this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2068041 but it was non-specific about working on At&t, even though if it works which i have not yet confirmed is there another way to enable it without running the risk of "bricking" my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im confused... do you have a T-mobile Note 2? or a N7100? I beleieve the N7100 is the AWS International one, the Tmobile Note 2 is T889... or you could have an N7100 ROM flashed on a T889 (which existed in order to get 4.1.2 before the Tmo release).

AT&T Samsung SGH-i317 Galaxy Note II LTE on Simple Mobile

Morning guys...
This is my very first thread on this forum so please bear with me if something was not done the right way.
Since I couldn't find an specific thread for this specific topic that's why I decided to post a new thread on this.
This thread will help you get a Stock AT&T Samsung SGH-i317 Galaxy Note II LTE phone with a stock ROM into Simple Mobile network with working 4G.
I can't guarantee this method would work on other Galaxy Note II models so please make sure your phone is exactly the same as the specs described on this link.
Also please be aware I cannot and will not be responsible for any damage this thread could cause to your phone. All I can say is, I tried this myself on my own phone and it worked for me and my only intention here is to share my experience to other users on my same situation.
So let's get into business!
Verify the phone specs. Please make sure your phone is an AT&T Samsung SGH-i317 Galaxy Note II LTE phone and that it matches the specs described here.
Get your phone unlocked. On a personal note this appears to be a must, so if you can't get it unlocked for some reason don't even bother moving forward down the list. I followed this thread to unlock my phone. Yes, the thread is for a Galaxy Note I, but it still worked for me.
Get it rooted. That can be done here.
Flash a stock T-Mobile ROM. That also can be done here which is the same thread as of step 3.
Enable AWS band. Is worth mentioning if you made it here successfully, then you already can use Simple Mobile just fine!, however you'll be stuck on 2G/EDGE unless you Enable AWS band here. This will let you enable 3G and 4G on your phone!.
Now at this point I'm sure you may be able to use another ROM of your desire, but I'm not 100% sure if that would work. On my personal recommendation I would first try the 5 steps EXACTLY as described above. Then if you still want to use another ROM, then you may need to repeat steps 4 and 5 with another ROM.
Now I also want to say, the credit is not all mine here. All I did was to compile the information altogether for you guys. Please don't forget to thank me, as well as the original thread owners compiled in this list.
Good luck in the Kitchen!
Reserved!
^^^Thanks, thread moved to general and stuck for easy reference.
D.O.C
XDA Senior Moderator​
Wait, You Menchtened LTE and 4G, And in which T-Mobile doesnt have. T-Mobile has 3G/3.5G HSPA+ but not 4G..
U dont need aws band on at&t phonez lmao noobs all u need is your phone unlocked and youll get on t-mobiles fake 4g .its cause t-mobile now shares at&t spectrum stop giveing people false info.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
That is not entirely true sir. Not ALL areas have the 1900mhz Tmobile yet. You do need to unlock the AWS band for some areas to get the 4g. In my area (South Florida) they happen to have the 1900mhz 4g. I know because I sold an unlocked Infuse 4g (AT&T phone) to a buddy with a tmobile sim card and he got 4g on his phone.
rootyourphones said:
U dont need aws band on at&t phonez lmao noobs all u need is your phone unlocked and youll get on t-mobiles fake 4g .its cause t-mobile now shares at&t spectrum stop giveing people false info.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol ignorance speaks. People, dont listen to this clown.
MrBooMY said:
That is not entirely true sir. Not ALL areas have the 1900mhz Tmobile yet. You do need to unlock the AWS band for some areas to get the 4g. In my area (South Florida) they happen to have the 1900mhz 4g. I know because I sold an unlocked Infuse 4g (AT&T phone) to a buddy with a tmobile sim card and he got 4g on his phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good information man. Ignore the OTHER GUY that is giving false information.
Everything worked for me, except one thing: CDMA VS GSM preference.
My CDMA signal is weak, so 4g cuts out. The phone just wants to default to EDGE as a first priority. How can I make CDMA the default preference so I always get 4g when available?
thanks!
inspron said:
lol ignorance speaks. People, dont listen to this clown.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah who listening to you.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
I have a sgh-i317 with at&t radio uamc3 or something like that and jedi master 14 with aws mod. I also restored my friends nv item backup from his sgh-t889 with jedi master 14. I am getting the 4g bands but my phone will not connect to the lte bands of t mobile. is anyone else having this problem? I have tried everything to get lte includes odin to stock wich should allow me to connect to tmobiles lte but wont. other people are connecting with no problem. can anyonw help me think of more ways to fix this. or is this particular phone not support 1700mhzaws. I really dont get it as the specs everyware state it does. also when I select all lte bands and selct t mobile it say unable to connect, try again later. I put my sim in a s4 t mobile and lte works so it cant be the sim. I also put at&t sim in my phone and lte works so my lte chip/radio is working fine. is maybe the free unlock methode not unlocking my phone completely? any way to relock and do it with an an unlock code. franky I am puzzled. I am in an area getting t mobile lte, confirmed on both my friends with a note 2 and s4 from t mobile.

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