Unlocked pro in the US

mbd4524

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So here is my problem. I bought the pro in order to use overseas (where I spend most of the year) and unlocked the phone with Verizon. I use the phone with my foreign sim without any problems.
My problem starts when I come back to the US. I keep the sim in the pro in order to see my calls and sms's. But it seems that Verizon blocks all service while in the US for GSM. So I get no reception anywhere in the states (as soon as I went into canada it was fine).
This is a huge problem for me as I have to now buy another phone to pop my foreign sim into while in the US.

Anybody else encounter this issue?

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guidot

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Well verizon doesn't provide any GSM service. I don't know if I understand what you are asking?
 

bsweetness

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That's something you should have come across when you were looking into unlocking the Pro in the first place (if you did any research on it beyond calling Verizon to get it unlocked). Verizon has locked out the US GSM bands on the Pro (as they do with a lot of their world phones). It won't work with AT&T or T-Mobile's bands in the US. If you have a foreign SIM in the phone, and you try to use that SIM in the US, it won't work because it will attempt to roam on either AT&T or T-Mobile. To have service on the Droid Pro in the US is has to be activated on Verizon's CDMA network (or flash it to something like Page Plus). The GSM radio will not work through normal means. And if you think about it, that somewhat makes sense from Verizon's point of view. They paid a premium to have the phone exclusively in the US. They don't want you being able to use their phone on other carriers in the US. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but from a business point of view, it makes sense.

Now, if we're not talking about normal means, there is one way that I know of to get the Pro working with US GSM bands. You have to send your phone to Team Black Hat and pay them $100 to flash your phone and unlock the bands - GSM Unlock for Droid Pro. I have not done this, and I actually haven't read about anyone who has done this, so I can't vouch for it. But Team Black Hat has a good reputation in the leaks/hacks world for US Motorola devices.
 
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mbd4524

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I realize that now, however, what I always understood was that they lock out US sim cards, not the actual network.
I don't think they any business interest in locking foreign sim cards from working in the US as that is not a competition in any way.

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bsweetness

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I realize that now, however, what I always understood was that they lock out US sim cards, not the actual network.
I don't think they any business interest in locking foreign sim cards from working in the US as that is not a competition in any way.

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No, the only way to ensure the device isn't used with the US carriers is to lock out the bands. Just locking the SIM slot from being used in the US can be undone fairly easily, but locking the bands at more of a hardware level is a different story. That's where the business interest lies. I'm sure they weren't thinking "let's lock out foreign SIMs from roaming on AT&T and T-Mobile," but rather just locking those bands out altogether to prevent the US SIM cards from being used. If the bands aren't locked out, then a SIM from AT&T or T-Mobile could be used once the slot is unlocked. Foreign SIMs attempting to roam in the US are just collateral damage.
 

tennvol

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You may have a UK sim, let's say Orange that works here in the US. Well Orange roams on TMobile's US band and is therefore blocked.

Its not the SIM per say, but the network the SIM is roaming on

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