Switching from Verizon to Vodafone

[GaryRad]

Hello all -

Did a search and found no references close to this so please excuse if it has been asked and answered.

I currently live in Spain and have two phones, a Samsung Note8 (SM-N950U) and an LG Nexus 5. The Note8 has a Verizon chip and a International plan to be usable here (business) and I bought a Vodafone Sim card for the Nexus. Nexus worked fine from day 1 and the Note8 does also.

Recently I had the idea that I would much rather use the Note8 (what a surprise!) here as my everyday phone so I popped the sim card and dropped in the Vodafone sim. Booted up fine but I noticed the "Verizon" logo appeared after booting and sure enough the phone did not get on the Vodafone network or assign the phone number (Phone Number field in settings was blank). Looking in the APN settings I see that the Verizon Network is still there. I don't want to do anything irreversible, especially since i'm not sure the Nexus is going to work as my US phone (haven't got that far), so any input is appreciated!

 

[j_hansen]

if it's a case that the Note 8 is network locked maybe you could get the unlock code from Verizon but they seem to be the most difficult and contrary network on the planet.
If you can get that then I don't see any reason the snapdragon version shouldn't work with a Vodafone sim in Spain

 

[Trees]

Details below may help. Seems like Global Mode may be a key, and j_hansen has a good point. My understanding is that Verizon phones are unlocked, but would be good to get Verizon to verify per your particular situation. Also, you may get more responses on your XDA post.
https://forums.androidcentral.com/s...n-note-8-international-lte-compatibility.html

I had a similar question about using a Verizon Note 8 in the UK. My wife has one and we are planning a visit to UK later this summer. Don't want to have any surprises with her phone not working fully with LTE on 3, or only getting 3G.
https://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-note-8/844110-using-verizon-note-8-uk-sim.html

As a last resort, you could consider getting a Vodafone Note 8, and then when in USA use the Verizon one. Or get a US unlocked Note 8, and sell your Verizon Note 8 if your work may not provide an option for a Vodafone or model that has the bands needed for Vodafone and other non-Verizon (no CDMA) global networks. Appreciate that may be cost prohibitive, but if your business is providing an allowance for work mobile, then may be feasible.
https://www.vodafone.es/tienda/part...-note-8/?subtipoContrato=1&idPrecio=948398690

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...hones%2Funlocked-by-samsung%2F&token=7YFdX4vT

 

[anon(7901790)]

Hello all -

Did a search and found no references close to this so please excuse if it has been asked and answered.

I currently live in Spain and have two phones, a Samsung Note8 (SM-N950U) and an LG Nexus 5. The Note8 has a Verizon chip and a International plan to be usable here (business) and I bought a Vodafone Sim card for the Nexus. Nexus worked fine from day 1 and the Note8 does also.

Recently I had the idea that I would much rather use the Note8 (what a surprise!) here as my everyday phone so I popped the sim card and dropped in the Vodafone sim. Booted up fine but I noticed the "Verizon" logo appeared after booting and sure enough the phone did not get on the Vodafone network or assign the phone number (Phone Number field in settings was blank). Looking in the APN settings I see that the Verizon Network is still there. I don't want to do anything irreversible, especially since i'm not sure the Nexus is going to work as my US phone (haven't got that far), so any input is appreciated!

Verizon phones are SIM unlocked and all LTE bands are enabled. They should work anywhere and any network. All you need is an activated SIM. I've had no problems while in Japan. And a coworker had no problems in Japan and New Zealand.

Changing the APN settings won't hurt the phone and are reversible. Once you get back in the US and pop in the Verizon SIM, it'll automatically set them back.

 

[GaryRad]

I'm not quite sure how or why, but armed with the correct APN data I went ahead and popped in my Vodafone Sim card and booted up the Note 8. It did show the Verizon logo and a message about the Sim not being a Verizon Sim but once fully booted it had the Vodafone APNs and was on the Vodafone 4G network! Only odd thing I can't seem to resolve is that in Settings/About Phone the phone number shows as "Unknown". I dialed a couple local numbers and the correct (Spain) phone number showed on their screens so the Unknown number is no big deal. Googled the issue and the steps shown to get it in there are not applicable for this phone.

Of course the cheapo LG Nexus 5 phone accepted the Verizon Sim and worked fine immediately!

Thanks!
Gary