[fillossofer]

Just so you know, you do NOT have to buy an unlock code from anyone. Federal law says that carriers must unlock all phones that are out of contract. So, if that phone is yours free and clear and you need it unlocked, just call Verizon, they have to do it for free.

Posted via the Android Central App

I know this is an old thread and these are old devices, but what Travo79 says above is exactly correct. The FCC says carriers must leave devices unlocked (or unlock them upon request), so they can be used on any network. I am switching my family to T-Mobile from Verizon and I have three devices that appear to be carrier locked. Yes, the phone works for calls when I put in the T-mobile SIM, but soon after boot I get a "SIM card not from Verizon Wireless message and everything else stops working. I called Verizon and they say that the phones are unlocked, but clearly that is BS, since the message says "SIM card not from Verizon Wireless". Why else would that message appear? This is a violation of federal law. If anyone else is having this issue, please let me know. I have three such devices and I'm not going to use crippled devices, or buy new ones just because Verizon wants to be a ****.

[L0n3N1nja]

I know this is an old thread and these are old devices, but what Travo79 says above is exactly correct. The FCC says carriers must leave devices unlocked (or unlock them upon request), so they can be used on any network. I am switching my family to T-Mobile from Verizon and I have three devices that appear to be carrier locked. Yes, the phone works for calls when I put in the T-mobile SIM, but soon after boot I get a "SIM card not from Verizon Wireless message and everything else stops working. I called Verizon and they say that the phones are unlocked, but clearly that is BS, since the message says "SIM card not from Verizon Wireless". Why else would that message appear? This is a violation of federal law. If anyone else is having this issue, please let me know. I have three such devices and I'm not going to use crippled devices, or buy new ones just because Verizon wants to be a ****.

I was a Verizon rep for 4 years, they never locked their devices, and still don't according to their website.(unless it's prepaid) I've also personally ran my S7 on both Verizon and Tmobile swapping SIM cards back and forth while the phone had an active device payment plan.


Now with that said not all Verizon phones are network capable with Tmobile, it's a hardware limitation from different network technology. You're also required to configure the phone for the different network, which Tmobile should have the information needed.

[fillossofer]

Agreed that Verizon says they don't lock devices, but they certainly optimize them for use on Verizon. So when you pop in a T-Mobile SIM and update the APN settings, the phone takes longer than it should to connect to the network. The "SIM card is not from Verizon" message makes it obvious that some kind of check is happening periodically, and that clearly is not part of the "unlocked" phone's firmware. That was added by Verizon. I suspect that isn't done simply to nag you, but also affects the connectivity of the device each time the check is done. Also, on my Pixel XL, I am unable to set the preferred network type to "GSM", as it always reverts back to WCDMA. So maybe the phone technically works on T-Mobile, in that you can make and receive calls and texts, the data connections are crippled and cannot be modified by the user.

[CaLigUrL1216]

Hi ... i had the same problem then i did the folowing steps
Go SETTINGS > MORE NETWORKS > MOBILE NETWORKS >ACCESS POINT NAMES.
select (+) *top right corner* and ADD NEW
select (NAME), type INTERNET and press (Ok)
Select (APN) , type INTERNET and press (Ok)
Enter the (USER NAME) insert your own user name.
Same apply for (PASSWORD) insert your own password.
Now once you done with that ....
Press back
Under (MOBILE NETWORK) select on *INTERNET* and save ...
Press HOME KEY and enable your mobile data.
Enjoy

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!

For anyone who has a Samsung S7 Edge, this may save you a headache.
My situation was that I was traveling to Vietnam. Bought a prepaid sim card. Knows for a fact that my Verizon 4LTE phone is not locked. However I was only able to make calls and texts but not able to use internet and data which was the main purpose I purchased the sim card for. Changed my mobile network settings to local company, checked everything, reset couple of times. Force quit apps and setup wizard, everything but the internet seems to work. Did this finally have access to everything I need with foreign sim card.

[CNSHHT]

Lots of off-topic stuff in this thread so I don't mind confessing that I don't have an S5, but rather, an S4 (Verizon, SCH-I545). However, I had the same problem which is how my search landed here. I switched to AT&T via Tracfone. The original post asked: How do I get rid of this? (The SIM card not from Verizon message.) My solution was to use info in this thread to learn that it was Activation Agent generating this message. My phone is rooted so then I ran Titanium Backup, found Activation Agent and froze it. The annoying message immediately disappeared. If I don't start having problems after this, I'll someday delete Activation Agent. My phone will never work for voice calling again on Verizon anyway, because they killed CDMA earlier this month and won't give SCH-I545 owners a software fix to let them use VoLTE (even though the phone's hardware would support it.) Despite the warning above saying that the next reboot would be slow/hang and require steps to deal with it, the S4 rebooted with no delay or error messages. The SIM card message is gone after reboot, and every function, voice, data, MMS and SMS all work on AT&T. At least until 2022, when AT&T will be killing UMTS/HSPA. My data is now on HSPA and fast enough not to really annoy me, (though 4G/LTE on Verizon was a little faster....)

The annoying message has nothing to do with whether the phone will function with another carrier. Listen to the former Verizon rep, (key word *former*.) If you want to see responses to this question that are blatantly evasive or unhelpful and even scolding people for trying to use a different carrier, go look on the Verizon forum.