Gerald Glatt Posted March 29, 2015 Posted March 29, 2015 I've had my phone awhile and called the carrier here and they gave me codes to unlock our phones, then saud to get a sim card for whichever carrier we wished. Then can switch back when return/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottpush Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 I have Verizon now and wanted to switch my Note 2 to AT&T. AT&T told me it could be unlocked but still wouldn't work right for some reason. I'll probably go with a new cell phone with AT&T since they are a GSM carrier. Then no need to worry about unlocking when I get to the Philippines. I think I can use it as a regular phone there just by switching the SIM card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthdome Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 (edited) I have Verizon now and wanted to switch my Note 2 to AT&T. AT&T told me it could be unlocked but still wouldn't work right for some reason. I'll probably go with a new cell phone with AT&T since they are a GSM carrier. Then no need to worry about unlocking when I get to the Philippines. I think I can use it as a regular phone there just by switching the SIM card. Be careful. That phone you buy in the US with AT&T that can get you 20Mbs data speed very likely will be very very slow in the Philippines. This is because the US and Philippines use different frequency bands for data. Plus AT&T has custom phones tuned to their proprietary network and it is a hassle to unlock them. US mobile telco's now allow you to bring your own phone so you might consider getting an international unlocked phone via Amazon. Make sure you verify it has all the necessary bands. It will be slower than an AT&T phone on their network, I get 4.5Mbs with my international unlocked Samsung S5 mini. 4.5mbs is fast enough to watch neflix movies on my phone so that is plenty fast. But it will work just fine for data internationally and is unlocked. You should be able to find the same for the iPhone. International unlocked versions of the phone. Edited February 1, 2016 by earthdome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob33809 Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 Most Verizon phones are not locked anymore due to an agreement with the FCC Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert k Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 I have Verizon now and wanted to switch my Note 2 to AT&T. AT&T told me it could be unlocked but still wouldn't work right for some reason. I'll probably go with a new cell phone with AT&T since they are a GSM carrier. Then no need to worry about unlocking when I get to the Philippines. I think I can use it as a regular phone there just by switching the SIM card. If you are coming for a short visit you don't need to unlock an AT&T phone because AT&T has international roaming for the PH. For a longer stay I would get it unlocked because if you stick a local PH sim in it, you are going to get a message that your phone is locked to the AT&T network. Part of the process that I had to go through to enter the unlock code in my AT&T phone was to insert another company's sim card. I used an old T-Mobile sim card just to unlock it. If you pay cash for the cellphone AT&T is fairly good about unlocking your phone. AT&T e-mailed me the unlock code within 48 hours of me requesting it. My Microsoft Lumia 640 works on more than just AT&T frequencies but it is Windows phone and not everyone is into that. I think many phones are made now so that it is easier to migrate between one service provider and another. Last trip I bought my Huawei Mediapad X1 LTE at CMK Cellphones in Manila, it was CHEAPER than in the US and worked fine in the Philippines. You might check out their offerings, they have other branches (one in Cebu) and affiliated stores. The variety of LTE phones in the Ph has exploded over 1 year ago. If you are in a highly developed area where LTE is available I would want it. If you are spending virtually all your time in the province I wouldn't get an LTE phone because it makes the phone cost more for no benefit. Do look for HSPA+ 42MBPS not HSDPA 21MBPS as these are just theoretical speeds and if you get 10% of that you are doing pretty good. I wanted to include a link with frequencies right now as I had previously found a good page before that gave ALL of the frequencies listed by provider (without going to the Wiki page) but I can't find it at the moment. Definitely get an AT&T phone unlocked before traveling if the phone is paid for. I hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottpush Posted February 2, 2016 Posted February 2, 2016 Most Verizon phones are not locked anymore due to an agreement with the FCC Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk Interesting. I went to Cebu a year ago Xmas and used my cheap phone with the local SIM. It worked fine but then I got a text from the states on my Note 2! And I was able to text back. So I guess it must have been on roaming texts at the time. I never did try the SIM in the Note 2 but I should have. Anyhow it sounds like I'd be better off buying an unlocked phone from the web and using it with AT&T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve & Myrlita Posted February 7, 2016 Posted February 7, 2016 Unless Verizon's format changed recently, they use CDMA for their cellular service not SIMs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted February 7, 2016 Posted February 7, 2016 If you're wondering if your phone will work in another country or with another carrier it doesn't get any easier then this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now