Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge US Cellular phone to use on Cricket or AT&T

[AC Question]

I just bought a new US Cellular Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. (Note: Newer US Cellular phones like the Galaxy S6, S7 etc are network unlocked). I wish to use this on Cricket (verified on Cricket page that this phone is supported).

Now, I changed the APN settings (automatically received from Cricket via sms config). The phone works fine - cellular works and 4G works.

Issue: In normal condition, phone shows 4G but has no signal bars. When I get a call, signal bars automatically appear and suddenly my 4G changes to H. Any ideas how I can rectify this?

Note: I'm not in a US cellular coverage zone (NYC - yeah US cellular does not have coverage in NYC!) so each time I try to activate the phone, it leads to 'Welcome to Verizon Wireless' call that doesnt let me activate. I don't think this has to do with my problem because I understand the activation is more to do with using the phone on US Cellular network.

 

[Echwe]

Does anyone know about this? Please help reply, else I plan to return the phone. Thanks!

 

[Rukbat]

The phone might be SIM-locked to Cricket - or AT&T. It's not clear which network operator, AT&T or Cricket, you're trying to use, and what happens when you try to. You say "The phone works fine - cellular works and 4G works.", then you say "In normal condition, phone shows 4G but has no signal bars." It sounds as if you're in a 3G coverage area (the H), not in a 4G coverage area.

(The phone may be "network unlocked" in CDMA, but still SIM-locked in GSM.) See if a Cricket store can help you.