Can you swap a SIM out on Nexus 5 between T Mobile & Sprint?

turtleparadise

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I am a Sprint customer and activated my N5 without any problems. I used the phone for a week, and wanted to test out T-Mobile. I activated the T-Mobile SIM without hassle and was able to use my N5 on T-Mobile.

Now when I put my Sprint SIM back in I am unable to get service. I did an online chat session to get my phone activated again, but to no avail. I called the Technical Support number and he was unable to get the phone activated.
My next step will be visiting a corporate store.

I was under the impression that you were able to swap SIM cards at will. Has anybody been able to successfully use both Sprint and T-Mobile simultaneously?
 

scorpiodsu

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

I am a Sprint customer and activated my N5 without any problems. I used the phone for a week, and wanted to test out T-Mobile. I activated the T-Mobile SIM without hassle and was able to use my N5 on T-Mobile.

Now when I put my Sprint SIM back in I am unable to get service. I did an online chat session to get my phone activated again, but to no avail. I called the Technical Support number and he was unable to get the phone activated.
My next step will be visiting a corporate store.

I was under the impression that you were able to swap SIM cards at will. Has anybody been able to successfully use both Sprint and T-Mobile simultaneously?

Are your mobile network settings correct for Sprint? I would assume the rep you worked with would have had these things checked but not sure if they knew what they were doing. I also assume that your Sprint sim was never deactivated. You may just want to stop in a Sprint store if the mobile network settings are correct and you know the sim to still be active. Good luck.
 

Robbie317

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

I am a Sprint customer and activated my N5 without any problems. I used the phone for a week, and wanted to test out T-Mobile. I activated the T-Mobile SIM without hassle and was able to use my N5 on T-Mobile.

Now when I put my Sprint SIM back in I am unable to get service. I did an online chat session to get my phone activated again, but to no avail. I called the Technical Support number and he was unable to get the phone activated.
My next step will be visiting a corporate store.

I was under the impression that you were able to swap SIM cards at will. Has anybody been able to successfully use both Sprint and T-Mobile simultaneously?

I'd like to know how this comes out.. I was thinking of doing the same thing.. Trying the T-Mobile plan out with the SIM card and if I liked it switching away from Sprint.. They told me I could just swap out the SIM but I'd like to know how much of a pain it is to switch back.
 

Infinity

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

I'd like to know how this comes out.. I was thinking of doing the same thing.. Trying the T-Mobile plan out with the SIM card and if I liked it switching away from Sprint.. They told me I could just swap out the SIM but I'd like to know how much of a pain it is to switch back.

Same here.
 

patruns

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

My initial impression is that because you are mixing CDMA and GSM carrier SIMs something is getting left over and mucking it up. If it were my phone I would just do a factory reset. I have never experienced this going from one GSM carrier to another.
 

Robbie317

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

My initial impression is that because you are mixing CDMA and GSM carrier SIMs something is getting left over and mucking it up. If it were my phone I would just do a factory reset. I have never experienced this going from one GSM carrier to another.

Exactly why I was worried about it in the first place.. I knew going from T-Mobile to AT&T and back wasn't a big deal but with CDMA the SIM is just for the LTE service according to Sprint and the ESN for the phone gives you your phone calls and text messaging service.... I am guessing with GSM the SIM card applies both???
 

patruns

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

Yes, with CDMA the SIM is for just the LTE. I think you end up with a phone with APN settings all mixed up. Try the factory reset and see if that helps.
 

benhmadison

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

I would think it would work just fine. I purchased my n5 at best buy which meant it had a sprint sim card in it. I popped out the sprint sim and replaced it with my Att sim and had instant LTE and perfect service.

You are trying to go to T-Mobile from Sprint correct?

Sent from my Nexus 5
 

dan1431

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

While I have no idea how Sprint works, it is possible that the Sprint SIM controls both sides (CDMA/LTE) as that was my understanding of how CDMA/LTE carriers were handling things with the transition to LTE.

One other thing to check is in the phone's testing menu ( enter *#*#4636#*#*), select Phone Information and then scroll down to Select Preferred Network Type and ensure that LTE/CDMA auto (PRL) is selected.

n.b. LTE/GSM/CDMA auto (PRL) may also be acceptable (unsure of that), but Sprint would definitely work with LTE/CDMA auto (PRL).

Dan

Posted via Android Central App
 

anon(871934)

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

Is this as simple as doing both a PRL update and a profile update immediately upon inserting a new sim? I would think the sim would control the APN settings but perhaps the sim does not auto update the PRL or the profile?
 

mxmarcus

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

This is interesting as i have Nexus 5 & using it on t-mobile for the moment. I plan to move to sprint in 6 weeks. Please let us know how things go.

Sent from my MZ609 using Tapatalk
 

mxmarcus

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

Did you try *#*#4636#*#* to see the settings on phone information?

Sent from my MZ609 using Tapatalk
 

turtleparadise

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

After a weekend of tinkering and talking to techs at Sprint here is my story.

Sprint tried activating online unsuccessfully.
Putting in the #*#*4636*#*# revealed that the correct information was already in place.

The tech told me some nonsense about needing to contact Sprint when using a SIM other than a Sprint SIM. I let him know that the phone is unlocked, but he insisted they still needed to unlock something on their end. Of course that is not the case.

After using the T-Mobile SIM and putting the Sprint SIM back in, Sprint is no longer listed under networks in the settings, so of course that is a major problem.

The only solution is a factory reset, which allowed me to get right back on the Sprint network. A quick profile and PRL update and I'm good to go.

I've tried swapping a couple more times with the same results, so yes you can use T-Mobile or AT&T without hassle, buy need a factory reset when going back to Sprint.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
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anon(871934)

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Jul 24, 2012
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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

After a weekend of tinkering and talking to techs at Sprint here is my story.

Sprint tried activating online unsuccessfully.
Putting in the #*#*4636*#*# revealed that the correct information was already in place.

The tech told me some nonsense about needing to contact Sprint when using a SIM other than a Sprint SIM. I let him know that the phone is unlocked, but he insisted they still needed to unlock something on their end. Of course that is not the case.

After using the T-Mobile SIM and putting the Sprint SIM back in, Sprint is no longer listed under networks in the settings, so of course that is a major problem.

The only solution is a factory reset, which allowed me to get right back on the Sprint network. A quick profile and PRL update and I'm good to go.

I've tried swapping a couple more times with the same results, so yes you can use T-Mobile or AT&T without hassle, buy need a factory reset when going back to Sprint.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Where does your network settings list Sprint? I can't find any such setting on my phone.
 

turtleparadise

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

Where does your network settings list Sprint? I can't find any such setting on my phone.

Under settings-> more-> mobile networks-> network operators.

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Sprint is not currently listed because I'm using T-Mobile now, but after putting my Sprint SIM back in and factory resetting, it would be listed.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 

lizard123

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

I just had my Nexus 5 activated by Sprint. Before that I was using T-Mobile prepaid on the Nexus 5 before I got my Sprint sim card. I am able to switch from Sprint sim to T-Mobile sim without any problem. I tried that many times. I don't need to do anything. When I switch the sim, a message appeared on the screen asking me to restart the phone, that's it.
 

whitenack

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Re: Swapping Nexus 5 SIM from Sprint to T-Mobile

The folks over at Ting (Sprint MVNO) said that when you switch back to Sprint, it helps if your network mode selection is set to "Global".