My VS995 not getting H+ or LTE

[GusLGV20]

I bought a new LGV20 VS995 off of Ebay shipped from Hong Kong for use in the UK. I checked the frequencies and all seemed fine on paper.
VS995 4G bands: LTE band 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 13(700), 20(800)
Vodafone UK 4G bands: 800 & 2600
O2 UK 4G bands: 800

So on the face of it according to the above info I should have no problem whatsoever getting 4G/LTE on the VS995.

I believe I've tried everything but I can't seem to get H+ or LTE reception on Vodafone UK or Giffgaff UK (O2 network), that's all I've tried so far. I've tried different APNs which mirror what I have on my Note 4 & Tab S both get LTE and I'm in the same geographical area. I haven't started to personalize the phone yet or log into Google as I want to make sure LTE works.

NETWORK SETTINGS ARE...
Mobile Date: ON
Roaming: Allow access for all trips
Network Mode: LTE/GSM/UMTS
Network Submode: LTE/Legacy 3GPP multi
Automatically select preferred network is selected

I'm baffled the VS995 is a 4G phone but all I can get is 2G/3G. I cannot get H+ or 4G/LTE how is that possible?
If I reboot the phone I get a message .."SIM card is not from Verizon Wireless" and if I factory reset I get a message "phone must be activated on Verizon Wireless". Phone isn't locked as my sim is recognised and I can use it.

 

[BrokerDadFL]

Download one (or all) of these apps:

"Network Cell Info lite", Cell Tower Locator, OpenSignal.

They give you more info and clues. Verizon can run band 13 on one side of town, but completely different frequency on another side of town. The apps should display the actual frequencies.

You may not get band 20 frequency as you think you do, on that particular location. Move to another side of town and see if that is changed.

 

[GusLGV20]

Will try this later thank you. Before I do what do you see in the notification bar when you are connected to 4G/LTE as all I ever see is "H".

 

[BrokerDadFL]

When connected, mine says "4G" with tiny letters "LTE" running vertical, right next to the G.

Then antenna strength bars, then battery percentage.

 

[flyingkytez]

I bought a new LGV20 VS995 off of Ebay shipped from Hong Kong for use in the UK. I checked the frequencies and all seemed fine on paper.
VS995 4G bands: LTE band 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 13(700), 20(800)
Vodafone UK 4G bands: 800 & 2600
O2 UK 4G bands: 800

So on the face of it according to the above info I should have no problem whatsoever getting 4G/LTE on the VS995.

I believe I've tried everything but I can't seem to get H+ or LTE reception on Vodafone UK or Giffgaff UK (O2 network), that's all I've tried so far. I've tried different APNs which mirror what I have on my Note 4 & Tab S both get LTE and I'm in the same geographical area. I haven't started to personalize the phone yet or log into Google as I want to make sure LTE works.

NETWORK SETTINGS ARE...
Mobile Date: ON
Roaming: Allow access for all trips
Network Mode: LTE/GSM/UMTS
Network Submode: LTE/Legacy 3GPP multi
Automatically select preferred network is selected

I'm baffled the VS995 is a 4G phone but all I can get is 2G/3G. I cannot get H+ or 4G/LTE how is that possible?
If I reboot the phone I get a message .."SIM card is not from Verizon Wireless" and if I factory reset I get a message "phone must be activated on Verizon Wireless". Phone isn't locked as my sim is recognised and I can use it.

Did you check settings > network> mobile data > system select > network mode ?

If all else fails, just resell it and buy the Verizon version, which is probably the cheapest out of all the models (not sure why but Verizon devices tend to have lower resell value).

 

[GusLGV20]

The app didn;t really impart anything new or offer any insights apart from it's inability to get 4g.
One of the sim cards I have only broadcasts 4G on the 800MHz band which I can get on all my other devices from home but the VS995 won't pick it up which on paper it should. Baffling