linglingfool

I've never had Sprint before, so their whole unlocking process is a bit of a mystery to me. I spoke to their online chat people, who pushed through an unlock to the phone. Phone no longer says invalid SIM when foreign SIM is inserted. Great.

The problem comes when trying to register on a GSM network with the foreign SIM. Phone is set to GSM/UMTS mode, but will not find any networks while trying to test it at home -- it either silently fails or errors out.

For those who have successfully used an unlocked Sprint S5 before, are there any tricks to get this working? My only thought is that because the phone is not domestically unlocked, only internationally, that it will not register on AT&T or T-Mobile, regardless of what kind of SIM is inserted. I'd like to get this working before going on the trip, if possible, since I spent many frustrating hours trying to get a Japanese SIM working in this phone to no avail.

I'll probably x-post this to HoFo, but as there is a larger percentage of international travelers here, I figured I'd ask FT first.

pinniped

I'm going to have my Sprint S5 unlocked for Europe this summer. The way I understand it, however, is that since I'm still inside my contract period they will unlock for international but not for domestic. I'd have to complete the 2-year contract, and then they'd unlock for AT&T/T-Mobile.

I'm with you in that it's still a semi-mystery to me, but I do know that the foreign unlock will be more convenient than the former approach - carrying a 2nd phone dedicated to pay-as-you-go SIM's.

Are you still inside the 2-yr period? Maybe they unlocked you for int'l but not for domestic? (Although somebody out there is probably figured out a way around this, perhaps even doing what you did - having a foreign SIM imported to the U.S.)

linglingfool

I should make clear the ultimate goal is to roam internationally; I simply wanted to test the SIM before leaving. (I have not asked for a domestic unlock yet, as I'm under the impression that Sprint is currently only capable of domestically unlocking iPhones.) I'm trying to figure out if the phone will work abroad by inserting the foreign SIM and trying to register on a US roaming partner to make sure there won't be any issues when we land. The phone doesn't even give me an option of networks to try registering on -- when I click search networks, it appears to search, but no list appears.

WIRunner

With an international unlock, you won't be able to use the phone in the US unless you're on Sprint's SIM card. (which means that you'll be able to scan for GSM networks, but not register on them.) An international unlock is meant for outside of the US. Sprint won't do a domestic unlock unless the device is paid for.

jamar

Additionally, they won't domestic-unlock non-iPhones launched before this February, so it's no-go on the S5.

linglingfool

But I should at least be able to see the networks, even though I can't register on them, correct?

WIRunner

In theory, yes. If the SIM card isn't activated it won't do anything though, you'll likely just get a registration issue. Even though the roaming carrier will know what network the card belongs to it won't even bother trying to register it if there's not MDN attached to the card.

linglingfool

That's what worries me, as the card was sent activated. When searching for networks manually, the phone acts like it's searching for 30 seconds or so, before erroring out with something to the effect of, "error, please try again later."

Given my recent inability to get this phone working in Japan, I'd prefer not to get to Portugal to find that my SO is going to be without cell service for a month. (Why can't she just get T-Mobile?) I suspect Sprint will be generally useless on the subject, so I'm not sure what else to try.

WIRunner

Switch her to T-Mobile anyway?

I would try to find an unlocked GSM phone to check if it activated. There could be something strange in the software that it "knows" that it is in the US preventing it from scanning on the GSM side. (I wouldn't put it past sprint to do this.)

pinniped

Worst case, she can always fall back to the low-tech solution: get a cheap unlocked dumb phone (probably 10-20 Euro) and a pay-as-you-go SIM. Not elegant, but she shouldn't have to go without cell service for a month.

For data or longer international calls, she'd just need to find Wifi and use the S5.

And yes, Sprint is generally useless on any subject.