Is my Verizon S5 unlocked or not??? Trouble using other network sims, NOT BLACKLISTED/BLOCKED

[AC Question]

I just bought a secondhand Galaxy S5, checked out the ESN/IMEI before I bought and everything has checked out. It's been a few days now and it is still clean, not blocked or blacklisted.

I bought it with plans to unlock it for T-mobiles network, not knowing that Verizon apparently sells their phones unlocked to begin with now. So I skipped on purchasing an unlock code and just went to pop an old T-mobile sim into it.

Now I am just getting a message on my phone stating "SIM not for Verizon Wireless" and no network bars? Is there something I am missing? I tried my bf's MetroPCS sim right after and same results...

I have also tried going into the mobile network settings, changing it from CDMA/LTE to the GSM option, tried to manually connect to the T-mobile & AT&T networks one right after the other and both came up saying they couldnt connect and I have no network access... Hitting a big brick wall here and could use advice!

A few additional details:

- The phone IS NOT MINE ORIGINALLY, it was bought second hand from someone on offerup (yes I know the risks). It does not show up as lost/stolen/blocked and says activation ready so I assume this is a clean phone? But since it's not mine originally I have no idea on the original account info and have no idea if I am able to call Verizon and ask if it is unlocked or request it to be unlocked.

- I generated a report on IMEIPro this shows it is not blacklisted and the date it was manufactured, phone age, carrier, and model code if this helps at all with some answers!
Report ID: 4b6a2dbbcf6f4ba9b3f90d27e06f7509

IMEI:[removed by moderator]
Brand:Samsung
Phone model:Galaxy S5 G900V
Model code:SM-G900VZKAVZW
Estimated manufacture date:September 12, 2016
Estimated phone age:5 month(s) 1 week(s) 6 day(s)
Country:United States
Carrier:Verizon - USA
Blacklist status*:CLEAN

 

[nahoku]

Verizon phones are supposed to be unlocked. The reason you see the sim warning is because the phone is a Verizon branded phone and you're using a non-verizon sim. That warning will never go away as far as I know. You should be able to use the phone on TMO, but have you spoken to them to have them help you with the APN settings. Give TMO a call.

By the way, you should never post your IMEI publicly. I've reported the thread so a mod should remove it soon.

 

[hallux]

The other consideration - while Verizon sells devices as unlocked, the Verizon-branded devices may not contain all the necessary radios to connect to other carrier networks with full support.

For example - band 12. This band is a big deal for T-Mobile, and is NOT supported on that device.