Unlock S5 From Sprint To Tmobile?

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darknatas

Member
Aug 21, 2009
43
1
I recently got the S5 on sprint and im beyond disappointed with sprints new spark and lte network out here in NY. Im considering going to Tmobile since there lte speeds are crazy good and connection is steady out here. My question is can i get my phone unlocked and bring my sprint version phone over to Tmobile? I was told by a Tmobile rep that my phone would go down to 2g speeds and its not guaranteed to even get lte. Which i find hard to believe since since my phone has the option to also go on GSM/UMTS. Whats your guys thoughts on this?
 
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darknatas

Member
Aug 21, 2009
43
1
I recently got the S5 on sprint and im beyond disappointed with sprints new spark and lte network out here in NY. Im considering going to Tmobile since there lte speeds are crazy good and connection is steady out here. My question is can i get my phone unlocked and bring my sprint version phone over to Tmobile? I was told by a Tmobile rep that my phone would go down to 2g speeds and its not guaranteed to even get lte. Which i find hard to believe since since my phone has the option to also go on GSM/UMTS. Whats your guys thoughts on this?

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SeaFractor

Senior Member
Jun 16, 2011
370
78
SeaTac
So even if i get the phone unlocked i wont be able to use it on tmobile?

Correct. Sprint uses different frequency ranges, so unlocked or not it's just not going to communicate.

ATT and T-Mobile work due to the overlap. In fact, for a while there ATT was going to purchase T-Mobile before the FCC put a halt to that.

Glad too as T-Mobile is now shaking up the market and forcing (encouraging?) Verzion and ATT to try and adopt similar measures in order to maintain customer base.
 

bcas9472

Member
Dec 8, 2011
13
12
Motorola Razr 5G
OnePlus 9 Pro
Sprint phones cant work with T-Mobile, Sprint blocks other US GSM carriers from using their phone.
Sprint phones can only be used outside of the states

I dont think this is correct. Albeit S5 is a different phone, but I unlocked 4 SPH-L720 S4's from Sprint to Tmobile no problem using the following thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2530610

If S5 could use the same methods, you would get 3G and HSPA+ on the Sprint S5 using a TMobile SIM.

I was able to get LTE using a TMobile SIM on a Sprint S4 by using DFS to edit the NV to enable AWS 1700 LTE Band in NV items, then flashing the TMobile HOS and MODEM bin files - along with copying the *ril*.so libraries to the system/lib directory. This ultimately allowed me to select the LTE/WCDMA/GSM option in Mobile Networks.

Not many people know about this but I found it in an i337 thread on how to unlock AWS on a S4.
 

kidjolly

Senior Member
Jan 18, 2011
484
194
I dont think this is correct. Albeit S5 is a different phone, but I unlocked 4 SPH-L720 S4's from Sprint to Tmobile no problem using the following thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2530610

If S5 could use the same methods, you would get 3G and HSPA+ on the Sprint S5 using a TMobile SIM.

I was able to get LTE using a TMobile SIM on a Sprint S4 by using DFS to edit the NV to enable AWS 1700 LTE Band in NV items, then flashing the TMobile HOS and MODEM bin files - along with copying the *ril*.so libraries to the system/lib directory. This ultimately allowed me to select the LTE/WCDMA/GSM option in Mobile Networks.

Not many people know about this but I found it in an i337 thread on how to unlock AWS on a S4.

So you can get full speeds on gsm networks with the sprint version? in the US or out?

Is that right?
 

daluke

Member
Jul 22, 2013
26
2
I dont think this is correct. Albeit S5 is a different phone, but I unlocked 4 SPH-L720 S4's from Sprint to Tmobile no problem using the following thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2530610

If S5 could use the same methods, you would get 3G and HSPA+ on the Sprint S5 using a TMobile SIM.

I was able to get LTE using a TMobile SIM on a Sprint S4 by using DFS to edit the NV to enable AWS 1700 LTE Band in NV items, then flashing the TMobile HOS and MODEM bin files - along with copying the *ril*.so libraries to the system/lib directory. This ultimately allowed me to select the LTE/WCDMA/GSM option in Mobile Networks.

Not many people know about this but I found it in an i337 thread on how to unlock AWS on a S4.

Has anyone comfermed this? To my knowledge the Sprint/Verizon phones are not cross compatable with AT&T and T-mobile. Some verizon phones are the exception but basicily its a no go from CDMA phone to GSM tech.
 

ashabanf8

Member
Mar 2, 2009
27
0
confirm

i can confirm the sprint s4 does work on tmobile with a bit of editing and following the gsm domestic tutorial on xda, however this part about the modem.bin and hlos isnt confirmed and i have done this and ended up hard bricking my devices and had to jtag to repair them. ive tried many times and always bricked so i say no go.

this forum is for the sprint s5 and i would hope we can find a loophole to get it gsm unlocked. any ideas? ive tried a few things but no luck
 

Crossvxm

Senior Member
May 26, 2013
598
144
30
New York
Theres alot of incorrect information here. The latest Sprint phones using sim cards ARE ABLE to use T-Mobile and AT&T as long as GSM is in the hardware. I dont own the S5 but for those blinding others with frequency talk I'm tired of seeing, read it and weep:

http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=4408

Sprint S5 supports GSM. Now of course no LTE on T-Mobile due to the lack of the 1700 frequency,
but your 4G will be fine. Depending on where you live, you may not even care about LTE over 4G.
Sure, Sprint locks the darn thing up to avoid it getting into the hands of other domestic carriers, but
just as the Sprint Note 3 and my Sprint LG G2, a workaround has been invented. For the G2 it was as
"borrowing" the stock T-Mobile LG G2 firmware and tweaking it to boot up on our LS980. We have
about 3 different tastes of working unlocked roms, not only sticking to T-Mobile, but other carriers
reported working such as Metro PCS and AT&T. So my guess is that the S5 may need a similar
treatment, nobody wants Sprint honestly. The first 14 days (brought in my own LG Optimus G LS970)
I was with them service was glorious here in NYC. But after the 14 day "trial period" ended I was
DAMNED into horrible service, constant 3G instead of 4G, etc. Thanks to refusing to make payments
due to the disgusting service, my GS4's IMEI is basically crap, so I sold it in the same week I got it.
I should have never swapped it out for the LG OG...

Honestly, I'll thank every OP I see that "unlocks" the Sprint version of any phone for domestic GSM
use. Their silly Sprint Spark is useless, why introduce something new when they dont even have full
4G coverage here in the USA? And their agents sound like "AI" controlled cyborgs: "Oh we're sorry to
hear that, your zone is scheduled to be recieving 4G soon." Yeah right. I feel sorry for those who suffer
in other states.

ANYWAYS sorry for drifting off topic. The recap here is that the Sprint S5 IS capable of domestic GSM with some modding.
And also that I hate Sprint.
 

ervis1

New member
Mar 8, 2011
2
0
Any Updates on this

Does anyone have any news on this? I have a S5 from sprint and want to use it with tmobile or other gsm carrier. any1 have any updates on the UCCI deal i read about somewhere? I have the spc phone is rooted what do i need to do? cant bring up the service menu to change things there.. kind a lost pls help
 

NightsSPIDER

Senior Member
Jul 28, 2011
63
9
lease has anyone found a solution for enabling aws bands on galaxy s5? i have the at&t active version unlocked and rooted using on tmobile but i get only edge :/
 

Juliofundora

Member
Jul 18, 2014
6
0
What is the verdict? Is there anyone who knows you can use it on any network? :) I am getting mine tomorrow and am unlocking it. Is there a way to test if they will work on any network? I have many sim cards from diff carriers.
 

variance

Senior Member
Dec 3, 2007
98
15
Google Pixel 2
Xiaomi Mi Pad 4
There have been a lot of threads about this, so clearly few are even bothering to search the forum for existing threads and the wealth of information in them.

Sprint is a CDMA system like Verizon & USC. CDMA per se is incompatible with GSM, which is what most of the world uses. The Sprint S5 only supports some of the most common GSM frequency bands and moreover will have a locked bootloader and SIM.

Sprint will not unlock the SIM (actually SPC code) to allow using it with other domestic carriers. You can find third party vendors that will "SPC unlock" your Sprint phone. But then you will find that Sprint's S5 won't support any of the LTE bands on other CDMA or GSM carriers and misses some GSM bands too.

Nor can you use custom ROMs, kernels or recoveries in the normal manner due to the locked bootloader. You could probably use the Verizon Safestrap method to emulate a limited palette of custom ROMs, but you would have to do your due dilligence there and look into the details.

In short, if you jump through enough hoops, you can use a Sprint S5 on another carrier like TMobile. But it will always be marginal. You won't get LTE data speeds, you will see more congestion than those using native handsets, due to your reduced number of bands. And you may have no coverage at all in some fringe areas served by a TMB band that your handset doesn't have.

.

The limitation of what "bands" the radio will cover are software defined. if you look around. you can find a way to modify those defined rules.
to allow it to use 1700 LTE. although the legality may be questionable as the FCC approval for that model was not tested with the LTE. The baseband chip/radio still supports the band with the software changes
 
Last edited:

Crossvxm

Senior Member
May 26, 2013
598
144
30
New York
There have been a lot of threads about this, so clearly few are even bothering to search the forum for existing threads and the wealth of information in them.

Sprint is a CDMA system like Verizon & USC. CDMA per se is incompatible with GSM, which is what most of the world uses. The Sprint S5 only supports some of the most common GSM frequency bands and moreover will have a locked bootloader and SIM.

Sprint will not unlock the SIM (actually SPC code) to allow using it with other domestic carriers. You can find third party vendors that will "SPC unlock" your Sprint phone. But then you will find that Sprint's S5 won't support any of the LTE bands on other CDMA or GSM carriers and misses some GSM bands too.

Nor can you use custom ROMs, kernels or recoveries in the normal manner due to the locked bootloader. You could probably use the Verizon Safestrap method to emulate a limited palette of custom ROMs, but you would have to do your due dilligence there and look into the details.

In short, if you jump through enough hoops, you can use a Sprint S5 on another carrier like TMobile. But it will always be marginal. You won't get LTE data speeds, you will see more congestion than those using native handsets, due to your reduced number of bands. And you may have no coverage at all in some fringe areas served by a TMB band that your handset doesn't have.

.

What in the heck? Who fed you this bologna? Do you work for Sprint? Cause I have various complaints for you if you do. My SPRINT G2 running a T-Mobile G2 stock rom which is unlocked DOMESTICALLY works perfectly fine with T-Mobile's 4G. I don't think many people care about LTE, getting off of Sprint alone is a huge leap for mankind (in this case G900P owners). And as it was mentioned, there are ways to get that nice LTE band for various devices with simple mods, problem is that it is NOT widely recognized yet and very few people know that the possibility exists because of various misleading posts that "its all in the hardware" and fingers being pointed at Qualcomm's techniques. Yes there is a possibility for a domestic unlock, sure there might not be LTE for it, but most people will be content with the fact that they can use their expensive locked down phone with another carrier. Honesty Sprint devices would be better off being sold for less than carriers that actually DO allow domestic unlocks. Why do we pay over half a "K" for a phone that in reality we do not completely have full rights over? Why do other carriers alow domestic unlocks and Sprint wants to be greedy and lock in all of their customers with shady contracts and decieving bills?

Thats why many of us including myself would be beyond grateful if we even get some 3G with another carrier. We have CDMA capabilities, we have GSM capabilities, all we need is some sort of domestic unlock.

There is NO third party unlock code of any sorts that will unlock a phone that is unlocked OTA. Check around for many posts from various foreign users who have gotten stuck with a useless Galaxy S5 that can only be used with wifi thanks to Sprint. Is it their fault? No. It is purely Sprint's fault for being so damn greedy. Thankfully I am hearing news that by February of 2015 all devices will be GSM and have the capabilities to be unlocked for domestic use.

Custom roms, honestly most of us are just unsatisfied with the average and like to go to the unique side. But is Cyanogenmod going to allow us to use Air Gestures and all the other cool features of the S5? Not really. Custom kernels would be nice, but many people only seek then in order to overclock their device, which this device is in particular really doesn't need any more added power (or battery drain) than it already has. Optimization tweaks might be worth it but I dont see it helping. If someone could fix the delayed multitasking transitions (switching from one app to the other at times is delayed a second or two) or the crashing browser without custom roms or kernels, then it is best not to waste time on the development of such things. But then again there are those who prefer stock android in combination with other features such as the AMOLED screen technology, but it is best to look for another device.
 
Last edited:

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  • 5
    Theres alot of incorrect information here. The latest Sprint phones using sim cards ARE ABLE to use T-Mobile and AT&T as long as GSM is in the hardware. I dont own the S5 but for those blinding others with frequency talk I'm tired of seeing, read it and weep:

    http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=4408

    Sprint S5 supports GSM. Now of course no LTE on T-Mobile due to the lack of the 1700 frequency,
    but your 4G will be fine. Depending on where you live, you may not even care about LTE over 4G.
    Sure, Sprint locks the darn thing up to avoid it getting into the hands of other domestic carriers, but
    just as the Sprint Note 3 and my Sprint LG G2, a workaround has been invented. For the G2 it was as
    "borrowing" the stock T-Mobile LG G2 firmware and tweaking it to boot up on our LS980. We have
    about 3 different tastes of working unlocked roms, not only sticking to T-Mobile, but other carriers
    reported working such as Metro PCS and AT&T. So my guess is that the S5 may need a similar
    treatment, nobody wants Sprint honestly. The first 14 days (brought in my own LG Optimus G LS970)
    I was with them service was glorious here in NYC. But after the 14 day "trial period" ended I was
    DAMNED into horrible service, constant 3G instead of 4G, etc. Thanks to refusing to make payments
    due to the disgusting service, my GS4's IMEI is basically crap, so I sold it in the same week I got it.
    I should have never swapped it out for the LG OG...

    Honestly, I'll thank every OP I see that "unlocks" the Sprint version of any phone for domestic GSM
    use. Their silly Sprint Spark is useless, why introduce something new when they dont even have full
    4G coverage here in the USA? And their agents sound like "AI" controlled cyborgs: "Oh we're sorry to
    hear that, your zone is scheduled to be recieving 4G soon." Yeah right. I feel sorry for those who suffer
    in other states.

    ANYWAYS sorry for drifting off topic. The recap here is that the Sprint S5 IS capable of domestic GSM with some modding.
    And also that I hate Sprint.
    5
    OK, I'll finally post it

    Guys, everyone has been pming me for this, figure I'd make it public.

    To enable TMOBILE 1700 AWS LTE on an Sprint Phone.

    Example:

    On a SPH-L720 you first need to flash the M919 modem.bin and NON-HLOS.bin. Then, replace the SPH-L720 files libril.so,libril-qcril-hook-oem.so,libril-qc-qmi-1.so with the Tmobile M919 ones.

    Once you have done that and rebooted, you can actually go into the Debug Menu and select AWS 1700 for LTE and LTE/WCDMA/GSM for selection.
    Use adb shel, su -, am broadcast -a android.provider.Telephony.SECRET_CODE -d android_secret_code://27663368378 to get into debug menu.

    Once that is done, enable Modem Mode by executing
    am broadcast -a android.provider.Telephony.SECRET_CODE -d android_secret_code://0808
    and set to rmnet , dm, modem, fire up DFS, add port, spc unlock with your msl (get using MSLUtility.apk - must have wifi on). Final step in DFS, Go to Band Tab, select Nam1, select the little radio button RF BC COnfig in the lower right, click read to see your bands. Checkbox the WCDMA IV (AWS 1700) USA and click the write button. Repeat for Nam2.
    4
    Sprint phones cant work with T-Mobile, Sprint blocks other US GSM carriers from using their phone.
    Sprint phones can only be used outside of the states

    I dont think this is correct. Albeit S5 is a different phone, but I unlocked 4 SPH-L720 S4's from Sprint to Tmobile no problem using the following thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2530610

    If S5 could use the same methods, you would get 3G and HSPA+ on the Sprint S5 using a TMobile SIM.

    I was able to get LTE using a TMobile SIM on a Sprint S4 by using DFS to edit the NV to enable AWS 1700 LTE Band in NV items, then flashing the TMobile HOS and MODEM bin files - along with copying the *ril*.so libraries to the system/lib directory. This ultimately allowed me to select the LTE/WCDMA/GSM option in Mobile Networks.

    Not many people know about this but I found it in an i337 thread on how to unlock AWS on a S4.
    3
    Sprint phones cant work with T-Mobile, Sprint blocks other US GSM carriers from using their phone.
    Sprint phones can only be used outside of the states
    This is absolutely incorrect. I have a Sprint S5 in my hand with the moar 2.0 ROM on it and I popped both an att and tmob sim card in it and calls worked without any finagleing at all. Data is another story as it requires you to add an APN network connection. The freq speak is also incorrect, anyone sho can do something as simple as going to phonescoop and comparing a sprint s5 against something like a tmob s4 will see the exact same mhz ratings of the gsm radio capabilities...
    2
    There have been a lot of threads about this, so clearly few are even bothering to search the forum for existing threads and the wealth of information in them.

    Sprint is a CDMA system like Verizon & USC. CDMA per se is incompatible with GSM, which is what most of the world uses. The Sprint S5 only supports some of the most common GSM frequency bands and moreover will have a locked bootloader and SIM.

    Sprint will not unlock the SIM (actually SPC code) to allow using it with other domestic carriers. You can find third party vendors that will "SPC unlock" your Sprint phone. But then you will find that Sprint's S5 won't support any of the LTE bands on other CDMA or GSM carriers and misses some GSM bands too.

    Nor can you use custom ROMs, kernels or recoveries in the normal manner due to the locked bootloader. You could probably use the Verizon Safestrap method to emulate a limited palette of custom ROMs, but you would have to do your due dilligence there and look into the details.

    In short, if you jump through enough hoops, you can use a Sprint S5 on another carrier like TMobile. But it will always be marginal. You won't get LTE data speeds, you will see more congestion than those using native handsets, due to your reduced number of bands. And you may have no coverage at all in some fringe areas served by a TMB band that your handset doesn't have.

    .

    What in the heck? Who fed you this bologna? Do you work for Sprint? Cause I have various complaints for you if you do. My SPRINT G2 running a T-Mobile G2 stock rom which is unlocked DOMESTICALLY works perfectly fine with T-Mobile's 4G. I don't think many people care about LTE, getting off of Sprint alone is a huge leap for mankind (in this case G900P owners). And as it was mentioned, there are ways to get that nice LTE band for various devices with simple mods, problem is that it is NOT widely recognized yet and very few people know that the possibility exists because of various misleading posts that "its all in the hardware" and fingers being pointed at Qualcomm's techniques. Yes there is a possibility for a domestic unlock, sure there might not be LTE for it, but most people will be content with the fact that they can use their expensive locked down phone with another carrier. Honesty Sprint devices would be better off being sold for less than carriers that actually DO allow domestic unlocks. Why do we pay over half a "K" for a phone that in reality we do not completely have full rights over? Why do other carriers alow domestic unlocks and Sprint wants to be greedy and lock in all of their customers with shady contracts and decieving bills?

    Thats why many of us including myself would be beyond grateful if we even get some 3G with another carrier. We have CDMA capabilities, we have GSM capabilities, all we need is some sort of domestic unlock.

    There is NO third party unlock code of any sorts that will unlock a phone that is unlocked OTA. Check around for many posts from various foreign users who have gotten stuck with a useless Galaxy S5 that can only be used with wifi thanks to Sprint. Is it their fault? No. It is purely Sprint's fault for being so damn greedy. Thankfully I am hearing news that by February of 2015 all devices will be GSM and have the capabilities to be unlocked for domestic use.

    Custom roms, honestly most of us are just unsatisfied with the average and like to go to the unique side. But is Cyanogenmod going to allow us to use Air Gestures and all the other cool features of the S5? Not really. Custom kernels would be nice, but many people only seek then in order to overclock their device, which this device is in particular really doesn't need any more added power (or battery drain) than it already has. Optimization tweaks might be worth it but I dont see it helping. If someone could fix the delayed multitasking transitions (switching from one app to the other at times is delayed a second or two) or the crashing browser without custom roms or kernels, then it is best not to waste time on the development of such things. But then again there are those who prefer stock android in combination with other features such as the AMOLED screen technology, but it is best to look for another device.