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Preowned, unlocked phone from Verizon Network wont accept my Fido SIM card

MamaB63
I'm a participant level 1
I'm a participant level 1

So, I bought my husband a very nice, like new Galaxy S10e for Christmas.  It is currently trying to  boot up with the Verizon Network and doesn't recognize my Fido SIM card. How can I fix this?? I've downloaded all of the latest updates that were available, but still keeps wanting to connect to the Verizon network and wine recognize the Fido network. How can I fix this issue so my husband can finally enjoy his gift?

1 REPLY 1

Cawtau
Senior MVP Senior MVP
Senior MVP

Hello MamaB63,

 

  Welcome to the community!

 

  Firstly, as far as I can tell, these are the band/frequency specifications for that particular version:

 

2G GSM: GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900

2G CDMA 1x: B13/B4/B2/B5/B66

3G UMTS: B1(2100), B2(1900), B5(850), B8(900)

3G CDMA: BC0(800), BC1(1900)

TD-SCDMA: Bands 34, 39

4G FDD LTE: B3(1800), B7(2600), B8(900), B18(800), B19(800), B20(800), B26(800), B28(700)

4G TDD LTE: B38(2600), B39(1900), B40(2300), B41(2500)

~taken from here.

 

  From those specifications, that version would have the compatible band/frequency for 2G and '3G' networks. With regards to LTE, that phone would only have one compatible band/frequency. You can verify the compatible bands/frequencies here. While the device should work on the networks based on the specifications, coverage would depend on the bands/frequenies used at your surrounding cellular towers. You can get an idea of your area cellular towers here.

 

  You should also note that since the device is not the Canadian version of the Galaxy S10e, certain features (ie Wifi-calling and/or voLTE) won't likely work with that phone as they would not be supported on the Verizon version of the device.

 

  That said, Verizon phones have been notorious for being rather difficult to get to work properly off their network. There have been many issues attempting to use them on other networks. Unlike the Canadian providers, each US provider has their own version of device models (see link above). In order to prevent cross usage, each provider might change make slight changes to their device. Verizon tends to make things more difficult to use on other networks than the other providers. Unfortunately, I'm not sure whether solutions were ever found so most of this is speculation.

 

  I understand it is a pre-owned phone so it had most likely been activated on the Verizon network. However, if it was factory-reset prior to your purchase, it may need to be re-activated. It is still a CDMA-based phone and may need activation on their network before allowing use on other networks. Regrettably, the only way to do so would be for it to actually connect to their network in the US. There is no way to remotely activate it from a different network.

 

  Since Verizon's main network is CDMA (not compatible with GSM), have you verified that your Network mode is set to GSM/UMTS/LTE? Have you tried to enable roaming? Some devices might think they are roaming when they are not used within their intended market area, even though they use a local SIM. It's possible switching the Network mode may allow the device to connect to the Fido network.

 

Not what you wanted to hear, but hope this helps 😀

 

Cheers