Droid 3 SIM unlock discussion

droid3user

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hi, need some help here, bought a brand new droid 3 on craiglist, and also bought a unlock code, but it's not working. when I try to check droid 3 esn, it said not found.
anybody know why is this happening?
 

yastern

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hi, need some help here, bought a brand new droid 3 on craiglist, and also bought a unlock code, but it's not working. when I try to check droid 3 esn, it said not found.
anybody know why is this happening?

How was your unlock code generated? In my case Verizon generated it for me and needed specific information about my phone to do it, like the sim card number.
 

samevo8

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I upgraded to a D3 today from an original Droid(well, the replacement for that one)....

I need to use this phone in Germany with a non-Verizon Vodafone SIM at the beginning of September.

I was able to get Verizon to unlock the phone for the generic SIM.

That's the good news.

HOWEVER...

You can't TEST the GSM access while physically within the US.

Verizon won't allow GSM service on the phone domestically.

I know the SIM works(it works in a regular GSM phone), so I'm not worried about using it.

I WAS annoyed that it took two calls and a wasted 90 minutes to find this out.

In their defense, it is a new phone, etc.

............................

Just to clarify, you unlocked your Droid 3 and did you try to use another carrier's SIM chip (AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.) in your phone and you weren't able to test it out? What type of message did your phone or carrier give you?

I'm curious as to whether anyone has unlocked their Droid 3 and placed an AT&T SIM chip into it since the UMTS bands on the Droid 3 match the AT&T bands (850MHz/1900MHz) for 3G.
Also, if someone has tried the Droid 3 on AT&T, does AT&T detect the phone (via its IMEI number,) as AT&T does for the iPhone, Dell phones, and Galaxy S II?
 

bsweetness

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How do you unlock the phone for use on u.s. carriers?

Sent from my DROID2 using DroidForums

You can't. I don't believe they've ever been able to get the Droid 2 Global or the Droid Pro unlocked for US carriers, so the Droid 3 will probably be the same.
 

Byakushiki

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No, people have unlocked droid globals and pros to work on domestic gsm networks. It's definitely possible for the D3 if you have friends in Really High places.

Sent from a cyanoblurred Droid 2 Global
 

bsweetness

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No, people have unlocked droid globals and pros to work on domestic gsm networks. It's definitely possible for the D3 if you have friends in Really High places.

Sent from a cyanoblurred Droid 2 Global

All of the ones I've seen that are unlocked for domestic networks are pre-release or developer versions. I suppose it's also possible if you have access to the appropriate files/tools from Motorola, but as far as for the average person out there, it's not likely to happen.
 
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leobg

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Team Black Hat offers this service for D2G and DPro (i believe), but they support only the initial firmware and service is quite expensive.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk
 

bsweetness

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Team Black Hat offers this service for D2G and DPro (i believe), but they support only the initial firmware and service is quite expensive.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk

Yep, looks like they have the necessary files from Motorola. They do seem to get all of the good stuff. Quite pricey though - Band Unlocking
 

NickC

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I upgraded to a D3 today from an original Droid(well, the replacement for that one)....

I need to use this phone in Germany with a non-Verizon Vodafone SIM at the beginning of September.

I was able to get Verizon to unlock the phone for the generic SIM.

That's the good news.

HOWEVER...

You can't TEST the GSM access while physically within the US.

Verizon won't allow GSM service on the phone domestically.

I know the SIM works(it works in a regular GSM phone), so I'm not worried about using it.

I WAS annoyed that it took two calls and a wasted 90 minutes to find this out.

In their defense, it is a new phone, etc.

............................

Just to clarify, you unlocked your Droid 3 and did you try to use another carrier's SIM chip (AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.) in your phone and you weren't able to test it out? What type of message did your phone or carrier give you?

I'm curious as to whether anyone has unlocked their Droid 3 and placed an AT&T SIM chip into it since the UMTS bands on the Droid 3 match the AT&T bands (850MHz/1900MHz) for 3G.
Also, if someone has tried the Droid 3 on AT&T, does AT&T detect the phone (via its IMEI number,) as AT&T does for the iPhone, Dell phones, and Galaxy S II?

I used a Vodafone SIM and they unlocked the phone to use THAT SIM only and yes, you can NOT access GSM while within the US physically. Based on other replies, if you have superpowers, maybe.

It just says No service, does ask for the SIM unlock code, though.
 

alext77

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FYI - just to provide closure - phone works great in the UK. Ditched the Virgin Mobile SIM, and got one on the Three network here.

For £15 you get 300 minutes and 3000 texts and now all-you-can-eat data.

This of course includes Skype over 3G data. Apparently the data has no cap, and the company officially supports tethering.



Same here! SIM unlock codes have been loaded in the Verizon system for those customers that qualify.

However, my two foreign SIMS failed to find a network (both work properly on my other unlocked phones while in the USA - they both roam on T-mobile's network). Does Verizon typically program their phones NOT to use the 850 and 1900 Mhz bands?

edit: NM, apparently this is done via a separate mechanism which specifically disbars US GSM carriers using an MCC list (Mobile Country Code). Same story as the Droid 2 Global. 850 and 1900 Mhz frequencies DO work OUTSIDE of the United States ;-)
 
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leobg

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How is signal strength reported on "3" in the UK for you? Is it steady full bars or like the D2G, 1-2 bars at best and constantly disappearing

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk
 

willzzz88

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The data will work on the GSM/UMTS portion but YOU MUST CHANGE THE APN from the Verizon native Vodafone NL roaming SIM one to whatever provider your using prepaid.

This can be modified when the phone is in GSM/UMTS mode and the APN settings.

That's what the rep was talking about, for the 'average' non-technical user only the Voice/SMS (text) will automatically work with the inserted prepaid SIM once unlocked.
 

geobernd

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The data will work on the GSM/UMTS portion but YOU MUST CHANGE THE APN from the Verizon native Vodafone NL roaming SIM one to whatever provider your using prepaid.

This can be modified when the phone is in GSM/UMTS mode and the APN settings.

That's what the rep was talking about, for the 'average' non-technical user only the Voice/SMS (text) will automatically work with the inserted prepaid SIM once unlocked.
Interesting - I gotta try that. My G1 that I used for Europe previously would automatically take the APN from the sim card (I was surprised that it did)....
 

silver6054

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f) According to the rep I talked to, this will work on even USA carriers (my guess is that they made the phone this way so that they can actually release it anywhere in the world on any carrier without changing the hardware, just software, probably). So if you have a friend on a USA GSM carrier, you could probably borrow your SIM to test it out.

That part is not true, but the rest is spot-on. Verizon completely locks out the US GSM bands on their global Android phones, so it can't be used with AT&T or T-Mobile at all. You probably could use a US SIM card to get the unlock prompt though.

The lockout is certainly true on the Pro/ D2G, and it seems the D3, but I was able to get GSM in the US on my new HTC Incredible 2.
 
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