Is Verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

[dylanear]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

Can someone is using a Verizon gs4 on T-mobile or Mobilicity post some Speedtest.net results or similar benchmark? Just a little apprehensive about expecting "4g" on GSM AWS frequencies. By the specs it looks like AWS frequencies are only supported on LTE. Which makes sense since Verizon has bought into those frequencies for their LTE expansion and has no GSM network of their own.

 

[dylanear]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

Anyone?

I just don't want to make a $600 experiment. Would love to hear "4g" speeds on T-mobile/Moblicity AWS/GSM connections confirmed. Verizon does have a return period, but getting to a Verizon store if far from trivial since I'm not in the US most of the time.

 

[NotJustAPhone]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

I'm in an area where T-Mobile has refarmed their 1900 MHz spectrum for HSPA and I get download speeds between 4-15 Mbps depending on location and time of day with my Verizon GS4. You'll need to be in a refarmed area to get better than EDGE speeds with a Verizon GS4. I also used my old Verizon GS3 on T-Mobile occasionally, but it was only good for EDGE on T-Mobile as it didn't support T-Mobile's HSPA network.

I won't have my T-Mobile SIM card until the weekend, but can post some speed tests when I have access to the SIM.

Sent from my Galaxy S4

 

[dylanear]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

Thanks for the added information. That is exactly what I feared, Mobilicity does not support HSPA(+) on anything but AWS (1700/2100). So I suspect while the SCH-I545 does list AWS bands in it's specs, sounds like that is for LTE only?

It may be time to move to a non AWS carrier. Sounds like Mobilicity's long term future is iffy and AWS is probably going to get moved to LTE in Canada just like it is in the US, eventually.

 

[derb65]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

Well Ive got a problem too--been trying to find an answer. I bought the S4 in the US because it was "unlocked out of the box." And I was on my way to China. And now...what a mess.

Now, needless to say, the phone is nowhere near "plug and play" unlocked out of the box. I have followed everyone's steps--at this stage, I have found a way to get Data working, and to receive incoming calls and SMS. I did that by setting up an APN--weirdest thing, it doesnt even matter what I enter to set it up. Any old APN name with any info (mine, literally, is entered as "killme") and it gets data working. Bam. Done.

But outgoing calls and SMS are still broken.

AND, whenever I try to enter the actual APN info, the ones everyone online promise are "correct," the port stuff especially, the phone actually DELETES the entry. Like, I enter allll the APN info. And it will not let me save it. I click save, and the phone instead deletes all the work I had just done. What a mess.

Anyway, life's too short--I will need to find another phone. What a mess, and Samsung should know better. But I was wondering in the meanwhile, if anyone out there has any idea what Im talkin about? Any old APN info seems to have fixed the data problem, but Im still stuck without SMS, MMS, or anything outgoing...since the phone will not allow me to save that data. Any help would be appreciated!!!!

 

[chetus91]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

This is correct. I just got off the phone with a rep from the Global Services department and she said I can use my phone with a local sim card right away, no technical interference/assistance needed. I asked her if I can use GSM or must I stick to CDMA only, she said you can use either without any problems. Since India has better GSM coverage, I'm off to get a GSM micro-sim *yaay*

 

[Jason Bosch]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

S44, you are 100% right. Thank you for the information. You literally changed my life for the next 2 years. I travel 8 months a year and didn't know that the new Note 2 firmware now allows me to edit my APN when I have a non Verizon SIM. I hadnt even bothered buying and inserting one because it used to not allow it. Just did it with a bmobile card in Japan, updated the APN, and it works like a charm. Thank you!

... and I know that other guy was talking [edited by moderator], but did you really have to be so mean to him?

It's not a law, it's FCC regulations, but yes. This is why every LTE device of theirs has come out SIM-unlocked.

Wrong. You rattle on and on like you have a clue, but you have literally no idea what you're talking about.

*EVERY* current Verizon LTE device can have the SIM swapped for carrier-native use on any GSM network -- here or abroad. The FCC literally forbids Verizon from SIM-locking these devices. That you don't know this shows your cluelessness. *Some* previous devices have played hide-the-ball with APN settings to require root for data access on non-VZ carriers. Again, this doesn't restrict voice or text use on other networks at all, only data. The Galaxy S3 and the original Note 2 firmware did (this has since been updated out on the Note!), while the iPhone 5, the DNA, and the Galaxy S4 were released with *no APN restrictions whatsoever*. The S4 doesn't let you change the APN if the original VZ SIM is inserted, but that's only sensible.

Get a clue.

- - - Updated - - -

S44, you are 100% right. Thank you for the information. You literally changed my life for the next 2 years. I travel 8 months a year and didn't know that the new Note 2 firmware now allows me to edit my APN when I have a non Verizon SIM. I hadnt even bothered buying and inserting one because it used to not allow it. Just did it with a bmobile card in Japan, updated the APN, and it works like a charm. Thank you!

... and I know that other guy was talking [edited by moderator], but did you really have to be so mean to him?

It's not a law, it's FCC regulations, but yes. This is why every LTE device of theirs has come out SIM-unlocked.

Wrong. You rattle on and on like you have a clue, but you have literally no idea what you're talking about.

*EVERY* current Verizon LTE device can have the SIM swapped for carrier-native use on any GSM network -- here or abroad. The FCC literally forbids Verizon from SIM-locking these devices. That you don't know this shows your cluelessness. *Some* previous devices have played hide-the-ball with APN settings to require root for data access on non-VZ carriers. Again, this doesn't restrict voice or text use on other networks at all, only data. The Galaxy S3 and the original Note 2 firmware did (this has since been updated out on the Note!), while the iPhone 5, the DNA, and the Galaxy S4 were released with *no APN restrictions whatsoever*. The S4 doesn't let you change the APN if the original VZ SIM is inserted, but that's only sensible.

Get a clue.

 

[NotJustAPhone]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

Please keep the discussion civil and be mindful of your language. Thanks.

Sent from my Galaxy S4

 

[apurva16]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

Hello, did the s4 work for you in India? What SIM did you use there and where did you get the APN details for data to work? Please let me know thanks for your help!

 

[TheRealone]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

Okay mister s44,since you're so brilliant and feel the need to be rude to other people tell me this:

Why do I have a S4 from Verizon, I pop in a Dutch Vodafone SIM card but still have no way of editing or adding APN's? The add button is just grayed out.

Thing came straight out of the box 2 days earlier, nothing special.

 

[AndyTravel]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

I spend time in the Philippines and if the phone is unlocked just add a local company's sim and you are ready to go. The new sim will have a new number for use while you are in country, this will work in any country the uses sims. If you want to call someone back in the states get viber on their and your phone and you are all set.

The US is way behind the rest of the world in the use of sims. You can contract yourself to a company but you can also sim it and change companies as you wish and just buy time as you need it. I loved it. I am not a big caller and just used it for family calls in-country and to do business. It works great and my trips are usually measured in months in-country not weeks.

 

[Hayden680]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

Just went to Korea and plugged in several sim cards and they dont work in the s4.
the error message is the sim is not a Verizon sim. And even with global settings picked it still did not like the new sim.
If the phone was really unlocked. Then why this error Message.

I need to resolve this issue quickly.

A relative just moved to Korea and is trying to get her Verizon Samsung S4 working on a Korean carrier.

Were you ever able to get this to work?

I read online that Verizon still has a 60 day waiting period before a phone is unlocked, but everyone says that most phones already come unlocked.

My relative went into a store, and went through the whole process of registering and getting a new SIM card, but when she turned it on, she got the "Not a Verizon SIM card" message, and they just told her that her phone was still locked and she needed to talk to Verizon in the U.S.

Also, I talked to a Verizon rep. and he said it's best to keep it at 3G. Foreign carriers might try to flash to phone and it might brick it whenever you try to use it in the U.S.

 

[S Hall]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

I used my galaxy s4 in Turkey with a local SIM card last summer. Voice and text worked but data did not. I am going to Japan next week and would like to know if i can get a local SIM card and use it for voice/text/data.
Thanks.

 

[rsdean0001#AC]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

How did this work out for you in New Zealand; I'm headed there next month

 

[tyklein1]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

thanks for the Help.
i'm in Australia, from the USA on verizon, using a virgin mobile prepaid sim card and this post worked. all that i had to do was put the phone on global mode and the text and phone worked but in order to get 4g to work i had to do what is stated by Ahmed:
Settings-Connections-More networks-Mobile networks- Access Point Names, click lower left corner of the phone to add then click "Add New Access Point" and then i walked to the gentleman at the virgin kiosk and he entered the access point parameters into my phone for me.

 

[toolworker]

Re: Is verizon Samsung GS4 GSM unlocked for international use ?

How does one get the proper APN? I am in France and my French SIM card works fine for voice and sms and also for using a WIFI but cannot access the mobile data system of the French system. And the technicians at the French company seemed stymied. Any help appreciated. Thanks.

A little late to help this poster, but for the record:

A couple years back I got a French SIM card in another smartphone. After going to several Orange stores, I found one where the tech knew how to set some VPN settings to get data.

And on the original question - I got a T-Mobile SIM card off their 800 number (usually $10 but the other day they were $1 on promo, including shipping), activated it online on a daily prepaid plan, and installed it in my Verizon S4. Voice worked immediately. Once I had set up an APN I had data as well. No problems.

 

[purcitron]

how can i find out the proper APN & how can i enter it please?
thanks

 

[toolworker]

how can i find out the proper APN & how can i enter it please?
thanks

If you google "t-mobile apn" you will find out the settings the same way I did.

APNs are under Connections / More Networks / Mobile Networks / Access Point Names on my Android version.

 

[amazondrone]

So I've read through this thread, and have a report and a question.

First, I chatted with a rep today at Verizon who told me my S4 is Global ready, no hardware needed. I just need to enable the global plan. Then he sent me info on the charges for the countries where I'll be traveling (in Europe). The rates are 99?/minute voice, 50? per sent text and 5? per received. There's also a plan to purchase Global Data for $25 for 100MB.
I'm not interested in the data, as I'll use WiFi for any data. I also asked specifically if the charges were the same whether I was calling my traveling companions' US phones or my local friends' phones (or texting) and was assured the rates for vx/txt are the same.

So here's my question that I forgot to ask the rep: in order to avoid global data roaming charges, how do I set my phone to not automatically grab data for things like notifications, etc that normally come via 4G if I'm not using wifi, which still being able to receive texts and voice calls?

 

[k2ldc10]

I think if you go into Settings, More Networks, Mobile Data and uncheck the box at the top your phone won't try to connect to any 3G or 4G networks. You can leave Wifi on and only use that for data. I am doing this right now to avoid going over my limit on data until my usage resets tomorrow.

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