Verizon Galaxy S5

[neg0202]

Hey yall
i have a galaxy s5 from verizon and somehow i am able to use the phone internationally. can someone please explain how the verizon phone which normally only runs on CDMA has this Global option and can be used internationally. will this effect any rooting i do to my phone? if i have a choice to download something from say cyanogenmod (when it becomes available) would i download something involving CDMA or GSM?

 

[ironass]

Hey yall
i have a galaxy s5 from verizon and somehow i am able to use the phone internationally. can someone please explain how the verizon phone which normally only runs on CDMA has this Global option and can be used internationally. will this effect any rooting i do to my phone? if i have a choice to download something from say cyanogenmod (when it becomes available) would i download something involving CDMA or GSM?

Hello and welcome to Android Central neg0202!

This should answer all your questions...

Verizon's new OE1 & OG5 updates prevent downgrading or rooting

To see if your G900V model phone will work on specific international networks, (it has dual CDMA & GSM for 2G & 3G and GSM for 4G/LTE, see, here), go to...

Will My Phone Work?


See, also, 41 Galaxy S5 models - Dummies Guide

 

[Feldon]

When they put in the CDMA support, I don't think they ripped out/disable all the 3G/GPRS/4G/LTE/HSPA functionality. I think this is due to the choice of the 801 Snapdragon chip. Beyond that, as per ironass, rooting Verizon and AT&T versions of the Samsung S5 has been impossible for about 6 months now.

I don't know the technical details beyond that, as far as the logistics of unlocking your phone, putting in a microSIM card, and having it actually work on 3G/4G/LTE which is the International and US AT&T standard.

 

[BlurryEyed]

The Verizon Galaxy S5 is a great travelers phone, as it supports CDMA and GSM networks. Some other variants of the S5, do not. If I were traveling abroad, a Galaxy S5 or (gasp) an iPhone 5 would be my top choices for their broad network support.

 

[BlurryEyed]

To see if your G900V model phone will work on specific international networks, (it has dual CDMA & GSM for 2G & 3G and GSM for 4G/LTE, see, here), go to...

Will My Phone Work?

That's a great site Ironass, thanks for sharing.

 

[ironass]

The Verizon Galaxy S5 is a great travelers phone, as it supports CDMA and GSM networks. Some other variants of the S5, do not. If I were traveling abroad, a Galaxy S5 or (gasp) an iPhone 5 would be my top choices for their broad network support.

The Verizon model, G900V, is OK on most 2G and 3G networks but totally useless on the GSM 4G/LTE European and most other countries networks worldwide, as a colleague of mine found out.

 

[BlurryEyed]

The Verizon model, G900V, is OK on most 2G and 3G networks but totally useless on the GSM 4G/LTE European and most other countries networks worldwide, as a colleague of mine found out.

Yea...I quickly discovered that using your site you provided! Drats..

 

[ironass]

Yea...I quickly discovered that using your site you provided! Drats..

Very few networks outside of the United States now use CDMA and those that were have either switched over to GSM or are considering it and in some cases, have just closed altogether. I am afraid that CDMA, worldwide, is, if not dead, then slowly dying.

Source.