Toggle sidebar

Need help finding a specific phone

  • Thread starter Thread starter Roomsaver
  • Start date Start date
  • Views Views 1,590
  • Replies Replies 15
Roomsaver

Roomsaver

Well-Known Member
Member
Level 4
Joined
Sep 7, 2015
Messages
951
Reaction score
245
Trophies
0
Location
garfield kart grand prix
XP
509
Country
United States
Hi all! I'm getting a new phone but I haven't been able to find this anywhere. I'm looking for a Virgin Mobile Samsung Galaxy S6 (preferably not edge). I was also wondering if a CDMA phone be "unlocked"? So, for instance, can I buy an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S6 with a CDMA antenna and use it with Virgin Mobile? I'd also like to know if, if I were to buy a Canadian Virgin Mobile (Virgin Mobile uses CDMA, not GSM) phone, could I use my American SIM card in it? Thanks and sorry about my probably-very-easy-to-answer questions.
 
I'm with Bell, Canada. I went to the states for a few weeks and bought an prepaid sim from T-Mobile. My phone is unlocked and it worked great.

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk
 
OfficialBrony said:
I'm with Bell, Canada. I went to the states for a few weeks and bought an prepaid sim from T-Mobile. My phone is unlocked and it worked great.

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
T-Mobile is GSM, though. I know that if your phone is GSM and unlocked you can use different GSM carriers but I wanted to know about CDMA phones.
 
Roomsaver said:
T-Mobile is GSM, though. I know that if your phone is GSM and unlocked you can use different GSM carriers but I wanted to know about CDMA phones.
Click to expand...
I'm not that tech savvy with phones, but what is the difference between them? Shouldn't it be the same?

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk
 
In the US, Verizon 4G phones are all unlocked as per some requirement in a spectrum auction a while back. Verizon uses CDMA, so any Verizon 4G phone will work with any carrier. (The phones all support GSM, but may have issues with different carriers' 4G service due to supporting different bands.)

That having been said, Verizon models are also usually bootloader locked, so you can't install a custom ROM unless they've been hacked.
 
GerbilSoft said:
In the US, Verizon 4G phones are all unlocked as per some requirement in a spectrum auction a while back. Verizon uses CDMA, so any Verizon 4G phone will work with any carrier. (The phones all support GSM, but may have issues with different carriers' 4G service due to supporting different bands.)

That having been said, Verizon models are also usually bootloader locked, so you can't install a custom ROM unless they've been hacked.
Click to expand...
So If I purchased a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S6 and put my Virgin Mobile SIM in it it would work? Just checking.
 
Roomsaver said:
So If I purchased a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S6 and put my Virgin Mobile SIM in it it would work? Just checking.
Click to expand...
This site says yes: https://www.frequencycheck.com/carr...t]=G920V&q[device_brand_id_eq]=&commit=Search

Technical details: The Verizon Galaxy S6 (G920V) supports CDMA 800/1900, HSDPA (UMTS, aka GSM) 850/900/1900/2100, and LTE bands 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 13.

Virgin Mobile in Canada uses UMTS 850/1900 and LTE 4, 7. All four of those bands are supproted by the Verizon Galaxy S6.
 
If it works on sprint's network it 'should' be able to be used. Virgin Mobile USA uses Sprint's networks. I would dig around and see if they support BYOP(Bring your own Phone) because even if a phone can use sprint's towers, Virgin may tie IMEI numbers with SIM cards, but I'm not sure.
 
GerbilSoft said:
This site says yes: https://www.frequencycheck.com/carrier-compatibility/52xbn/virgin-mobile-canada/devices?utf8=✓&q[full_name_cont]=G920V&q[device_brand_id_eq]=&commit=Search

Technical details: The Verizon Galaxy S6 (G920V) supports CDMA 800/1900, HSDPA (UMTS, aka GSM) 850/900/1900/2100, and LTE bands 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 13.

Virgin Mobile in Canada uses UMTS 850/1900 and LTE 4, 7. All four of those bands are supproted by the Verizon Galaxy S6.
Click to expand...
Do you know if the bands Virgin Mobile USA uses are supported? I'm in the US with a US SIM card.
 
GerbilSoft said:
Virgin Mobile USA uses Sprint's network: https://www.frequencycheck.com/carriers/sprint-united-states

CDMA: 800/1900
LTE: 25, 26, 41

The CDMA portion *might* work, but Sprint is usually a bit finicky with activating non-Sprint devices. I don't know if that would be the same with Virgin Mobile USA.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for everything but after calling Virgin Mobile (which I do not recommend, it took me 12 minutes just to talk to a human) I was told that they wouldn't activate the device even though it uses the same frequencies.
 
Bell and Virgin mobile uses GSM now, and their framework uses CDMA as well, but all newer phones you buy unlocked will work. I work for Rogers and my phone is a phone i got from Bell, and after i unlocked it i switched to Koodo, and they all work fine with different sim cards.

I use a Nexus 6P incase you wondered.
 
Durelle said:
Bell and Virgin mobile uses GSM now, and their framework uses CDMA as well, but all newer phones you buy unlocked will work. I work for Rogers and my phone is a phone i got from Bell, and after i unlocked it i switched to Koodo, and they all work fine with different sim cards.

I use a Nexus 6P incase you wondered.
Click to expand...
He is using VM USA, not VM Canada. VM in USA still operates on CDMA. either way sadly VM and sprint are horrible when it comes to BYOP activation, so they wouldn't activate it for him anyways. the 6P also has bands for all four major US carriers, CDMA and GSM
 
  • Like
Reactions: mamalira
The best would be just to root it and do most stuff yourself like SIM-unlocking it.
I did it three times [and broke warranty 3 times with Orange] because they put a SIM-lock on a Dual-SIM phone ._.
 

Site & Scene News

Go to forum More news