Droid 2 Global Unlock & foreign SIM?

[foglifter]

Gary, thank you for your very helpful feedback on the compatibility of OneSimCard with your Droid 2 Global. We have added this phone to our compatibility page.

Since we're not able to test every phone model that's out there, we really appreciate it when customers let us know which models they have successfully used with our service, especially when they are Verizon/Android phones.

We encourage others to post on this forum about which phone models they have used with our global SIM card so we can provide this information to all customers. Thank you again!

OneSimCard Team

Thanks for joining, OneSimCard! I've recently bought your card and already unlocked my phone. Since Verizon blocks GSM bands in the US I can't connect and make a test call. Thanks to Gary now I know that the phone will work with the European GSM bands so I will definitely share my experience as soon as I get back from my trip.

I just got back from my trip and can happily report that the phone worked perfectly the minute I landed in Moscow. I turned on the phone with OneSimCard installed and it picked up the local provider MTS. An interesting detail: I was able to place calls without dialing 00 prefix before the country code, + sign worked perfectly. So I actually used my phone's address book entries in the format +<country code><phone#> and the calls were connected without any issues - that is the call is connected, then it drops and I get a callback. I can't report on OneSimCard performance with data and SMS messaging because I only used this SIM card the day I arrived.

I bought a local SIM card from MTS the same day and used it for calls and data both in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Data connection was mostly GRPS (G) or HDSPA (H), I could only get 3G sporadically. But still I was pleased with data connection quality as I was able to place Skype calls to regular phones from my D2G and I used Google maps extensively.

Overall I'm satisfied with using my D2G overseas.

 

[Gasai Yuno]

Data connection was mostly GRPS (G) or HDSPA (H), I could only get 3G sporadically.

JFYI:

GPRS < EDGE < UMTS < HSPA.

EDGE is 2.5G.
UMTS is 3G.
HSPA is 3.5G, and HSPA+ is marketed as 4G by AT&T Wireless.

 

[foglifter]

Data connection was mostly GRPS (G) or HDSPA (H), I could only get 3G sporadically.

JFYI:

GPRS < EDGE < UMTS < HSPA.

EDGE is 2.5G.
UMTS is 3G.
HSPA is 3.5G, and HSPA+ is marketed as 4G by AT&T Wireless.

So when the phone showed H that meant HDSPA, right? That's weird, because H showed when I was in a remote suburban area. Maybe I'm confused with the meaning of the letters displayed on the status bar.

 

[Gasai Yuno]

H is indeed HSPA. You can get up to about 7Mbps on MTS's network in lowly populated areas. In the middle of Moscow, however, the towers are usually overloaded and sometimes there are just no free slots on WCDMA (3G) so you're stuck with 2G data.

I work for our consulate in StPetersburg and my experience shows that the best carrier around the city and the surrounding region is NWGSM (currently MegaFon); I see “H” 99% of the time on NWGSM while with MTS it's 70% “E”, 28% “G”, 1.5% “3G” and 0.5% “H”.

Also, almost entire Moscow region is covered with 3G networks. Same with StPetersburg. Just the “most reliable” carriers are different for these cities.

The entire local thing about “national roaming” within one carrier's network is pretty much a load of crap, too. I mean, f.ex. with a SIM card bought in Moscow, you have to pay several times more for all calls and data usage when you're in NW Russia (StPetersburg etc).

 

[foglifter]

H is indeed HSPA. You can get up to about 7Mbps on MTS's network in lowly populated areas. In the middle of Moscow, however, the towers are usually overloaded and sometimes there are just no free slots on WCDMA (3G) so you're stuck with 2G data.

I work for our consulate in StPetersburg and my experience shows that the best carrier around the city and the surrounding region is NWGSM (currently MegaFon); I see “H” 99% of the time on NWGSM while with MTS it's 70% “E”, 28% “G”, 1.5% “3G” and 0.5% “H”.

Yep, I noticed that my SpB-located friends mostly used MegaFon. But since I bought the SIM card in Moscow I went with MTS to have free calls with my relatives, who are also on MTS.

The entire local thing about “national roaming” within one carrier's network is pretty much a load of crap, too. I mean, f.ex. with a SIM card bought in Moscow, you have to pay several times more for all calls and data usage when you're in NW Russia (StPetersburg etc).

I got hit with this too, but then I subscribed to MTS service option called "Home everywhere" which sets flat rate of ~11cent/min for calls anywhere in Russia. This really helped.

Thanks for your input, something to keep in mind next time I travel.

 

[Gasai Yuno]

You're welcome. I'm becoming a bit of an expert on choosing carriers here...

Russian carriers are a pain in the ass when talking about data. The prices on it are, honestly, atrocious, and MTS is the only carrier with a nice and affordable “flat rate” option (Unmetered Phone Data Access, which isn't really “unmetered”) — but with the quality of their coverage here, I just have to use NWGSM instead (and I just used NWGSM since I came to the country, too).

 

[mickrg123]

I have unlocked thousands of global phones like BlackBerry Htc Motorola etc. and locked to different carriers around the world. I have a Droid 2 global that I unlocked and it will not connect to and ATT sim card in the US. Verizon and Motorola are telling me that it will only work on foreign sims cards. I have used unlocked Blackberries myself with T Mobile and Att here in US. Anyone using an unlocked Droiud 2 global with US ATT or TMobile sim cards.

 

[Gasai Yuno]

AT&T and T-Mobile networks are blacklisted in the baseband.

Team Black Hat provides a hardware unlock service that is $100 or so, and requires that you send your phone to them. The phone also must be on stock 2.4.29 and installing updates breaks the unlock setup.

 

[mickrg123]

You are telling me Verizon blacklists att and tmobile on motorola phones but not on blackberry phones?

 

[Gasai Yuno]

I'm telling you that on Droid 2 Global, AT&T and T-Mobile networks are blacklisted. That's a known fact. This lock currently can only be removed by contacting Team Black Hat. There is no other data on this issue.

I didn't state anything related to BlackBerry.

 

[Aixelsyd]

You are telling me Verizon blacklists att and tmobile on motorola phones but not on blackberry phones?

FYI VZW didn't do anything. The FCC required Moto/VZW to block the use of state side SIM cards like AT&T and T-Mobile. As mention tho it can be beaten by contacting TBH. They can also unlock the Droid PRO as well fyi as I own both phones and have them unlocked. Keep in mind tho T-Mobile will NOT get 3G service do to the fatc they use a band that is not usable on the Droid devices. However on AT&T you will get 3g ( ie HDSPA). I can and will vouch for TBH there are a great bunch of guys as I have known then for yrs. They will take care of you no questions asked.

 

[leobg]

Yes - that's what G.Y. is telling you. They do and they will keep doing this. D3 sports the same "feature".

 

[silver6054]

You are telling me Verizon blacklists att and tmobile on motorola phones but not on blackberry phones?

FYI VZW didn't do anything. The FCC required Moto/VZW to block the use of state side SIM cards like AT&T and T-Mobile. As mention tho it can be beaten by contacting TBH. They can also unlock the Droid PRO as well fyi as I own both phones and have them unlocked. Keep in mind tho T-Mobile will NOT get 3G service do to the fatc they use a band that is not usable on the Droid devices. However on AT&T you will get 3g ( ie HDSPA). I can and will vouch for TBH there are a great bunch of guys as I have known then for yrs. They will take care of you no questions asked.

Well, no questions asked but still $100, right!


Also, are you sure that it was the FCC. I just checked again on my daughter's HTC Incredible II. Putting in a TalkMobile (UK) SIM, I can make calls (in this case on TMobile but at other times on AT&T). The same SIM simply gets No Service on my D2G (although it shows T-Mobile/TalkMobile on the lock screen!)

So why one FCC rule for the Droid 2G and another for the Incredible II?

 

[cabrerachaparro]

Hello,

I have the same problem with Motorola Droid 2 Global. I bought it on ebay and the phone was sent to Peru. I inserted my carrier SIM card and show me the message "SIM network unlock PIN" so I bought an unlock code from Carrierunlock.com but the code never worked.

Why didn't the code work? and what should I do in that case?

Thanks in advance.

 

[leobg]

I hate to bring the bad news to you, but if you can't get the seller obtain the codes for you from Verizon, you will be stuck with a nice PDA.
What happened is Verizon altered the unlock codes of some D2g's so only they know the right code. They will provide the code free of charge, but certain criteria must be met. Since you are not Verizon client with a postpaid account with a good account standing for at least 6 months, you are not eligible.
If the ebay seller refuses to cooperate, you can dispute the transaction if it was stated phone comes unlocked. If you can return it, buy another one, but make sure you pick one that states is SIM unlocked for networks outside USA. Or better get Milestone 2 that is good for your region.
Good luck!

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