HTC Rezound to Straight Talk carrier

[Meyla]

Hi Everyone
Sorry if this is in the wrong subforum, but I wasn't sure which one best suited my situation.

I currently have a VZW contract and am using a HTC Rezound that I purchased from them. This coming Sunday, I will be out of contract and will be renewing with a new phone. I intend to mod my Rezound so that my mother can use it with Straight Talk. She currently has a Nokia Lumia that she bought pre-unlocked and is using it with her unlimited everything Straight Talk plan. I've found a few threads that are very helpful with my situation, but not having done this before I wanted to find out what I need in order to begin and what my consequences might be.

This thread has been helpful in getting me started. My phone is on software version 4.05.605.14 but my phone is not already "unlocked" like this OP's was, so I understand that I need one of the global roms such as this one. My questions lie more on the Straight Talk side. Can I use my mom's existing SIM card from her Nokia? Can she keep her current number? Are the problems with picture messaging/3G still going to occur? Will I need to call Straight Talk and pretend to be her for any reason?

Does anyone have experience that will be able to guide me, should I run into problems?

 

[acejavelin]

OK... first let me straighten out a few misconceptions here with "unlocking"

Carrier Lock/Unlock - This is what locks a phone to a specific carrier, like AT&T or T-Mobile, the Rezound is NOT carrier locked.
Bootloader Lock/Unlock - The typical use of "unlocked" with the Rezound, it is locked from HTC/Verizon and can be unlocked via HTCDev.com and is to allow the bootloader/recovery to be modified to install a non-stock ROM (like CyanogenMod). This is NOT needed to use a GSM SIM card from any compatible carrier.

That being said, you (or your mother) will likely be very disappointed using the Rezound on any TracFone GSM service (Straight Talk/Net10), voice and SMS (text) will work, and data and MMS MAY work, although at EDGE speeds. If you don't know what EDGE speeds are, they are slow, not normal slow but like molasses at 20 below zero running down a slight incline slow. Sending or receiving a MMS message will take several minutes per message, web browsing is almost impossible.

An after-market Global Mode ROM is not needed any longer, not since HTC officially released the Global Mode update, but it is still far from acceptable even for the light user who does anything other than talk and text.

Honestly, your best bet is to look for a slightly used AT&T (or T-Mobile depending on your SIM) phone as a replacement, or look at a Google Nexus 4 if you want any kind of a decent experience using any TracFone service.

My two cents, take it for what's worth... from someone who tried this and has lots of technical experience modding phones and has worked in the industry for 20+ years. My answer honestly was Net10 and a Google Nexus 4.

 

[Jaba108]

Thanks for the explanation. I just started a thread on the Rezound modding forums for this very same issue. Was considering moving to Straight Talk with my Rezound. I'll look around for another option then.

 

[MrSmith317]

Isn't straight talk also a Verizon MVNO? If so you should be able to take the Rezound as is to Straight Talk

 

[acejavelin]

Isn't straight talk also a Verizon MVNO? If so you should be able to take the Rezound as is to Straight Talk

They are, but they will not activate a 4G/LTE Verizon phone on their network, only a 3G phone... I am not even sure they will activate a smartphone at all. Of course, one could always use the Page Plus method and get a standard Verizon Straight Talk phone and clone the MEID, the legality of that is questionable, but it should work in theory for 3G service.