Have some phones bought from Cricket. Wanted to port them to Spectrum (Verizon). Was told they couldn't be moved and I would need new phones so I didn't make the switch. Apparently all the carriers put something in their phones so you can't move them. The phones are unlocked - we used them with other sim cards in Belize. I recall buying phones from Best Buy several cycles ago for use with ATT. ATT had some feature (think it might have been wifi calling before it became more widespread) and I couldn't do it because only the phones (of that particular model at least) that were bought from ATT could do it. So I need to do some more reading. Read something about carrier locks and SIM card locks. I think you save a little money buying phones from the carrier but may not do that next time.
Unlocked cell phones still carrier locked???
- Thread starter JimS
- Start date
Cricket should be able to remove this lock, assuming you meet their criteria, you just have to request it. Many other carriers have these same restrictions. I haven't bought a phone from a carrier in many years, just not worth the hassle/restrictions.
As I said the phones are unlocked. They were originally locked but about a year ago we got them unlocked. We used them with other carriers when out of the USA. I just checked using the directions you linked to and instead of showing a link to unlock it shows "phone is unlocked". It's seems to be something that prevents other US carriers from taking the phone - not sure exactly how that is done but it is tied to the phone IMEI.
I just put the IMEI into Tmobile compatibility checker and it said it was fine for them - they just wanted the IMEI. Went to Verizon compatibility checker and they had drop down menus for make and model of phone before entering the IMEI. The A32 wasn't on the list. In the A line they only had A42, A51 and A71 - all were noted as 5G and my A32 is 5G. Would be interesting to know if this is a technical limitation or a self imposed Verizon limitation but there doesn't seem to be a way around it. So if I buy a phone from some non-carrier place next time like Best Buy how do I know the model will work with various carriers?
If you can use other company's SIM cards, then the phone is definitely SIM card unlocked. This should allow you to use the phone with another carrier. However in the US, the different carriers use different frequencies and data transfer methods. For example, Verizon is still the "odd ball" network that uses different technology than the majority of the service providers. Phones must have the correct hardware/chips to work on each network. It is very common that phones will work on some networks, but not others. I have to assume this is why companies now ask for the IMEI or brand/model information before they will say if the phone can be used on their network.
This web page might help you understand the problem with verizon. The A32 does not support all of the frequency bands that Verizon uses, so they don't allow it on their network.
www.frequencycheck.com
Samsung SM-A326B/DS Galaxy A32 5G 2021 Standard Edition Global Dual SIM TD-LTE 128GB (Samsung A326) Compatibility on Verizon Wireless (United States) Mobile Network
Find out if the Samsung SM-A326B/DS Galaxy A32 5G 2021 Standard Edition Global Dual SIM TD-LTE 128GB (Samsung A326) will work on Verizon Wireless (United States). See which frequency bands are compatible.
The cellular networks are a real hodge-podge mess. There are at least 15 frequencies used buy the big three providers (Verizon, T-Mobile, ATT). There are also many smaller regional providers like US Cellular, and Dish Networks. Then there are MANY MANY Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) that use the other carrier's actual networks. These MVNO's don't have any physical network themselves.
Older phones were designed for one network only and were sold by that carrier only. A few years ago, even when you bought a phone from Apple or Samsung, it still was a Verizon, T-Mobile or ATT phone. But in the last few years, most modern phones have gotten universal where one phone supports enough frequencies to work on all three major networks. Still I'm not aware of any phone supporting all frequencies and technologies for all networks, but many are good enough. In the end its up to the carrier to decide if phone X covers enough bands and technologies on carrier Y to be acceptable.
If you don't have the newest phone, and were on a MVNO or ATT (Cricket) you'll have the best luck going to ATT or an MVNO of ATT like Boost Mobile, Consumer Cellular, FreedomPop, FreeUP Mobile, Good2Go Mobile, H2O Wireless, PureTalk, Straight Talk or TracFone, to name a few, but still, its not an exact science. If you are a person that wants the absolute best speeds, then only the very latest phones will do it, because they keep adding frequencies and technologies. Like if you want Verizon's UWB technology, only the iPhone 14 and 15 support it, same for Samsung.
Older phones were designed for one network only and were sold by that carrier only. A few years ago, even when you bought a phone from Apple or Samsung, it still was a Verizon, T-Mobile or ATT phone. But in the last few years, most modern phones have gotten universal where one phone supports enough frequencies to work on all three major networks. Still I'm not aware of any phone supporting all frequencies and technologies for all networks, but many are good enough. In the end its up to the carrier to decide if phone X covers enough bands and technologies on carrier Y to be acceptable.
If you don't have the newest phone, and were on a MVNO or ATT (Cricket) you'll have the best luck going to ATT or an MVNO of ATT like Boost Mobile, Consumer Cellular, FreedomPop, FreeUP Mobile, Good2Go Mobile, H2O Wireless, PureTalk, Straight Talk or TracFone, to name a few, but still, its not an exact science. If you are a person that wants the absolute best speeds, then only the very latest phones will do it, because they keep adding frequencies and technologies. Like if you want Verizon's UWB technology, only the iPhone 14 and 15 support it, same for Samsung.
Years back I had a phone unlocked so I could port it over to another provider. Trouble with that is, the original provider had their own custom patches in the phone and the updates from the new provider never updated my firmware making my phone grow obsolete with an old android firmware version.
We just stuck with Cingular a few months ago when I originally posted but wife's phone battery is going bad so we need to change phones anyway and looking at this again. She really likes the Samsung A52 she has - one thing is the earphone jack - so got the battery replaced at a local phone repair place in order to keep the phone. Battery worked ok for a few months but now the battery life has really decreased and phone is reporting overheating sometimes when it seems it should be ok (a bit warm but didn't seem overly hot) and having trouble charging - gives the yellow triangle with exclamation point but does still charge. Thinking all may be battery issues.
Would like to get a reasonable universal phone (realize that total universality is probably impossible) and keep the cost under about $200. I see there are USB-C to headphone jack adapters but seems like that is going to put more use and stress on the USB-C connector - maybe not a great route. I need to do some reading on this - seems like a bit of a rabbit hole. Any insights or suggestions welcome...
Would like to get a reasonable universal phone (realize that total universality is probably impossible) and keep the cost under about $200. I see there are USB-C to headphone jack adapters but seems like that is going to put more use and stress on the USB-C connector - maybe not a great route. I need to do some reading on this - seems like a bit of a rabbit hole. Any insights or suggestions welcome...
In Ontario there are tonne of used phones for sale now, about a year old and most reports indicate a good deal. Some people just have the latest and greatest every year and don't feel they are paying for them buried inside their $120 per month service plans. Some are paid for by business plans as perks for their employess.
I have two Samsung S23 SE units, bought new for about $700 CAD, with all the latest camera technology. I jumped for that after my son, with his S24 Ultra, took photos of the moon, full frame at 100x zoom, without any blur or pixels showing. Apparently, they must use the shake of your hands to layer snaps, and get more resolution similar to how celestial photos are made, via Hubble etc. That one convinced me to upgrade with Samsung. I fought the tech for decades on mobile phones but now I am an addict.
This moon photo....
Moon Photo
Moon Photo
pvrfan
Active Member
Samsung caught faking zoom photos of the Moon
A photo of a blurry image of the Moon revealed some telling results.
www.theverge.com
??
Very interesting. I wonder how they fake the other high powered zooms. More research needed to prove which scam is real. LOL
I know Samsung claims AI in many of their new phones but when researched, their "AI" means "advanced intelligence" and not the commonly accepted acronym meaning. Who ya' gonna call?
I know Samsung claims AI in many of their new phones but when researched, their "AI" means "advanced intelligence" and not the commonly accepted acronym meaning. Who ya' gonna call?
