gsm or cdma? and unlocking

[ajrenee]

I have the inc 2, and my husband and I want to leader Verizon and try the smart talk plan. I was reading that if you unlock your gsm phone, you can just buy a new sim card and keep your phone. My question is what kind of phone do I have? And can I do this? Thanks

 

[goffredo]

The short of it is this: In the United States, your Verizon Droid Incredible 2 (DINC2) will only work on Verizon. It will never work on AT&T / Cingular / T-Mobile.

It is possible to SIM-unlock your phone (Verizon will do this for you for free if you call their international services department, provided you have been a good customer for 6 months with them). Once you've done this, you can put other carriers' SIM cards in your phone and switch it to global mode (aka 'use the SIM card' mode) and you are no longer using Verizon; you'll be using whatever carrier corresponds to the SIM card in your phone. This is great if you're traveling to Europe or Asia, since you can get prepaid SIM where you're staying and use it. But it doesn't work in the USA.

As I understand it, there is a radio lock (i.e., a hardware lock that cannot be overridden by rooting / unlocking / jail-breaking etc) that prevents you from using AT&T / Cingular / T-Mobile SIM cards in your DINC2 when you are in the US, and the reason is explicitly to prevent you from using non-Verizon networks in the US. It sounds like this is what you're trying to do, so I'm sad to say, as far as I know, it won't work. You must use Verizon service while you are in the USA; if you want to switch to a different carrier in the USA, you must buy a different phone, because your Verizon DINC2 is radio-locked to the Verizon network. Pretty lame, huh?

(again, if you are outside of the USA, you can certainly use different GSM carriers provided you've SIM-unlocked your phone with Verizon. I do this all the time).

Hope this helps.

 

[goffredo]

Mostly correct goffredo.
You can use other carrier's sim cards BUT the only features that will work are the voice calls and txt.
So there will be NO DATA!!
Whats the point of a smartphone with no data?

Are you saying I can take my SIM-unlocked Verizon DINC2, put an AT&T SIM card in it, and make voice calls and send text messages in the USA?

 

[goffredo]

S klabit87 told is correct, i also have unlocked my droid and using it with AT&T network.

Great, I stand corrected. Thanks for the info!

 

[dada]

I have an HTC DROID Incredible 2 currently active on Page Plus
(which is a verizon mvno). It is an unlocked phone. I want to
try the new cellular service offered by lycamobile (I have heard
they are a TMobile MVNO). They say that
all you need to try their service is an unlocked GSM phone.

Can I pop in a Lycamobile SIM into my DROID Incredible 2 SIM slot to try
their service temporarily without losing my PP service?

 

[manetas]

Thanks all for the info posted above. Here is what I am trying to find out.
I am buying a new Incredible One, and want to keep my old Incredible 2 as a seldom used second phone, and for traveling. I will go through Verizon to get it unlocked. Do I remove the vodaphone/verizon sim card before I can unlock? Do I need a new sim card in the phone before I can get it unlocked, or can I get the unlock code and do that at a later time when I get a sim?. Can I get a US sim card and use it here, and then get an international card and put it in when I go abroad? Is there an international card that will also work here in the Us and Canada? I appreciate any answers.

 

[327amc]

Thanks all for the info posted above. Here is what I am trying to find out.
I am buying a new Incredible One, and want to keep my old Incredible 2 as a seldom used second phone, and for traveling. I will go through Verizon to get it unlocked. Do I remove the vodaphone/verizon sim card before I can unlock? Do I need a new sim card in the phone before I can get it unlocked, or can I get the unlock code and do that at a later time when I get a sim?. Can I get a US sim card and use it here, and then get an international card and put it in when I go abroad? Is there an international card that will also work here in the Us and Canada? I appreciate any answers.

You dont have to remove the Ver sim when you get it unlocked. You dont need a new sim in the fone before you get it unlocked. Once you unlock it, it doesnt really change anything obvious. And if you want to throw in an ATT sim at some point, it will work fine. But you will not be able to use the internet, or even send MMS messages (text pictures). I know this all for a fact because thats exactly what im doing right now. I got an Inc2. unlocked it. Put my ATT sim in and can text and talk. But thats all. Hope this helps.

 

[manetas]

thanks...what I needed to know.

 

[dada]

You dont have to remove the Ver sim when you get it unlocked. You dont need a new sim in the fone before you get it unlocked. Once you unlock it, it doesnt really change anything obvious. And if you want to throw in an ATT sim at some point, it will work fine. But you will not be able to use the internet, or even send MMS messages (text pictures). I know this all for a fact because thats exactly what im doing right now. I got an Inc2. unlocked it. Put my ATT sim in and can text and talk. But thats all. Hope this helps.

On My Dinc2, I have PagePlus service, but I wanted to test lycamobile (its a Tmobile MVNO). When I popped in the Lycamobile SIM and switched the preferred network to GSM, it says unable to find a network. The person from whom I purchased this phone claimed that it is GSM unlocked. Is there a way to confirm that my Dinc2 is GSM unlocked? I know for a fact that my Lycamobile SIM is activated because it works on a different unlocked GSM phone.

 

[eek88dj]

My Droid Ultra is already unlock for international so I can buy Att Sim card it will work here I live in Ohio so it will work here then?? Just text and talk...