The fun of buying an International phone in the US.

[pitzerwm]

I thought I would give what I have learned so far. I'm in the US but travel outside and I dislike ATT, but they have the best coverage IMO in the US. My contract was up and I wanted a Note 3, that was unlocked and would work anywhere in the world. I found that an N900W8 does that. I found a new, unlocked one in Puerto Rico. Good price.

I go with Straight Talk, as I have friends with it and they use the ATT towers supposedly. I try to register the phone on the US site, no can do, says my model number is invalid. I email them, I'm told to "just register it". Well, you only have drop downs there is no place for you to put in your specific info. I call and am told that it is an International phone and I have to register it in Latin America. I find their site, but there is no place to register it. I email them. I'm told that in Latin America you don't register the phone.

I talk with US support again, they send me to the Turkey Site, no place to register, send an email and I'm told that I need to go to the PR site. So far it's not registered, and apparently Samsung US, doesn't have a clue or a solution.

I have other Samsung products and have never has a problem with them, so I'm hoping that I won't have any issues with this phone.

 

[FBA]

Straight talk is garbage. Their CSR's are amongst the most moronic I have ever seen and are totally useless. You should simply be able to pop in your straight talk SIM card and use the phone. You do not have to register the actual phone. The site is very unclear as to what to do, but I had my 9008 on Straight talk for a day before I returned the SIM to WalMart. I had the same issue as you. You have to choose the other option to activate your SIM.

 

[dpham00]

Fyi, Verizon sells most of their current 4GLTE phones factory sim unlocked. My Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II has been used abroad with no issues.

If having a factory sim unlocked phone with all the bands supported for att is important, then you can get the Verizon iPhone 5s or 5c,it would support all the bands that the att version supports, and is factory sim unlocked.


Att will also unlock the phone, once you meet the conditions for unlocking
dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3