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Switching SIMs between accounts/devices doesn't work


irev210

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I thought I would state what most probably already know... but I tried it and sadly, you can't switch SIM cards between devices.

 

The removable SIM only allows 4G to work.

 

I tried switching SIM cards between a GS4 and HTC One on different accounts and everything works for a few minutes until it can't authenticate the SIM and blocks data.

 

Bummer :(

 

I hope that Sprint takes a friendlier stand to enable this feature moving forward. All new devices I've activated on my account now takes about 30 minutes for someone via chat to switch - it no longer allows me to enter the ESN online.

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Unfortunately what you state as a problem the mass majority probably doesn't experience. I could be one of those people, I only have two phones on my account, one per line. I don't have other phones lying around that I switch around, so I don't see this as a problem, just a shortcoming. I would definitely love to be able to just switch SIMs in the future to switch devices. I'll admit it's much easier that way than how Sprint does it. When I was at T-mobile I could use any T-mobile enabled phone without problem, and activating a new device was as simple as just turning the device on and popping your SIM inside.

 

 

-Luis

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I thought I would state what most probably already know... but I tried it and sadly, you can't switch SIM cards between devices.

 

The removable SIM only allows 4G to work.

 

I tried switching SIM cards between a GS4 and HTC One on different accounts and everything works for a few minutes until it can't authenticate the SIM and blocks data.

 

Bummer :(

 

I hope that Sprint takes a friendlier stand to enable this feature moving forward. All new devices I've activated on my account now takes about 30 minutes for someone via chat to switch - it no longer allows me to enter the ESN online.

O Sprint has a sim card for the GS4? You actually need it ?
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Switching SIM cards in my VZW devices only enables LTE. I still have to go online or call to switch the CDMA side over. This is likely going to be the case at Sprint with removable SIM's too until CDMA is phased out. But VZW does have data only plans.

 

Robert

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So, uh, what's the point of the SIM card being removable, then?

 

It opens up the possibility of using a local SIM for those "world travelers" who think that they might go overseas, then do so once every 15 years.

 

;)

 

AJ

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It opens up the possibility of using a local SIM for those "world travelers" who think that they might go overseas, then do so once every 15 years.

 

;)

 

AJ

So if I grab me a GS4, pop out the UICC, go to Europe, and throw in a cheapo prepaid one from a local carrier, it's gonna work?
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Has this always been the case? From what I've heard, you can switch between LTE devices by just putting the SIM in the device. In the case of LTE phones, the SIM provisions both CDMA & LTE services on the device.

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Switching SIM cards in my VZW devices only enables LTE. I still have to go online or call to switch the CDMA side over. This is likely going to be the case at Sprint with removable SIM's too until CDMA is phased out. But VZW does have data only plans.

 

Robert

 

Strange. The verizon account I've messed arround with would allow you to swap SIMS and it would carry CDMA as well. Swap and done - on multiple phones/devices.

 

O Sprint has a sim card for the GS4? You actually need it ?

 

Yup, no SIM, no 4G. 3G/voice works fine though.

I figured it would only change the LTE and had nothing to do with the cdma side of provisioning.

 

Sent from my little Note2

 

On Verizon it does CDMA as well, which is cool.

Theres some issue going from non lte to lte soc codes/ plans online. Ive had the same issue before.

 

Sent from my LG-LS970 using Tapatalk 2

 

Going from LTE to LTE doesn't let me switch online anymore. It sucks.

 

 

Having to call/chat to change devices has become very annoying. I hope sprint allows customers to be 100% SIM based in the near future.

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So if I grab me a GS4, pop out the UICC, go to Europe, and throw in a cheapo prepaid one from a local carrier, it's gonna work?

 

Yes, if you get sprint to unlock before you travel.

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Strange. The verizon account I've messed arround with would allow you to swap SIMS and it would carry CDMA as well. Swap and done - on multiple phones/devices.

 

Yup, no SIM, no 4G. 3G/voice works fine though.

 

On Verizon it does CDMA as well, which is cool.

 

Going from LTE to LTE doesn't let me switch online anymore. It sucks.

 

Having to call/chat to change devices has become very annoying. I hope sprint allows customers to be 100% SIM based in the near future.

 

I am not going to use VZW as a model of how to integrate CDMA2000 and LTE. Maybe it has nothing to do with SIM authentication, but the VZW network has been beset with outages, and the LTE overlay is a slapdash job. So, even if SIM swapping on Sprint is out of the question, I will gladly take what Sprint has accomplished in CDMA2000 and LTE integration thus far over that of VZW.

 

AJ

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Maybe it has nothing to do with SIM authentication, but I am not going to use VZW as a model of how to integrate CDMA2000 and LTE. The VZW network has been beset with outages, and the LTE overlay is a slapdash job. So, even if SIM swapping on Sprint is out of the question, I will gladly take what Sprint has accomplished in CDMA2000 and LTE integration thus far over that of VZW.

 

AJ

 

Just a comment on the convenience of swapping sims on their CDMA/LTE network. Now that sprint no longer allows me to swap ESN's online, changing phones has turned into a major headache. Obviously Sprint could have the capability to allow customers to swap SIMs (hence my reference to VZN).

 

Comparing Sprint's LTE build-out to Verizon's is a different (but very interesting) discussion.

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Just a comment on the convenience of swapping sims on their CDMA/LTE network.

 

yeah I miss swapping sims on ATT.

 

Now that sprint no longer allows me to swap ESN's online, changing phones has turned into a major headache.

 

I just checked my account, you can still activate a different phone online, unless you are referring to something specific on your account where they have blocked it.

 

 

Obviously Sprint could have the capability to allow customers to swap SIMs (hence my reference to VZN).

 

I would imagine it has something (or everything) to do with how sprint authenticates each device esn at the network level.

 

Comparing Sprint's LTE build-out to Verizon's is a different (but very interesting) discussion.

 

Agreed, while no doubt vz can make some nice speed test numbers, I don't think anyone wants vz's prices or (lack of) reliability.

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I don't know if my VZW SIM issue is related to having business accounts, but only LTE works when I do it.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

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Just a comment on the convenience of swapping sims on their CDMA/LTE network. Now that sprint no longer allows me to swap ESN's online, changing phones has turned into a major headache. Obviously Sprint could have the capability to allow customers to swap SIMs (hence my reference to VZN).

 

Comparing Sprint's LTE build-out to Verizon's is a different (but very interesting) discussion.

 

Is this new? I just did an online change 2 weeks ago.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

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Is this new? I just did an online change 2 weeks ago.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

Not sure - once I got the HTC One it stopped letting me swap online.

 

Swapping from HTC one to EVO, or HTC One to GS4 etc all spits out an error message on sprint.com telling me to chat or call to change phones.

 

No idea why - it used to work fantastic (with the exception of when I moved from a WiMAX device to an LTE device).

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It's not shocking that VZW had issues in retrospect. They only added LTE base stations to overlay, they didn't replace their old legacy base stations with new Ericsson or Alcatel-Lucent base stations.

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Comparing Sprint's LTE build-out to Verizon's is a different (but very interesting) discussion.

 

Well, I think the network issue may be germane to this discussion, and that is why I brought it up. VZW is obviously doing something different from the way that Sprint is integrating CDMA2000 and LTE. And I could be dead wrong, but I leave open the possibility that VZW's adoption of removable SIMs has contributed to its network outage woes, which have been due to authentication problems.

 

AJ

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It's not shocking that VZW had issues in retrospect. They only added LTE base stations to overlay, they didn't replace their old legacy base stations with new Ericsson or Alcatel-Lucent base stations.

 

They had problems with their IMS Core. It had nothing to do with the base stations.

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And I could be dead wrong, but I leave open the possibility that VZW's adoption of removable SIMs has contributed to its network outage woes, which have been due to authentication problems.

 

In prior network outages, Verizon has isolated problems to eHRPD, diameter authentication, and IP Multimedia System. I suspect the three don't play well together. Specifically, I think eHRPD sucks because it's trying to glue two completely different systems (3GPP and 3GPP2) together. When you do that you're asking for problems.

 

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They had problems with their IMS Core. It had nothing to do with the base stations.

 

I suspect having legacy base stations didn't help. If they had just went with RBS 6000's like Sprint and just replaced everything I suspect they'd have less of an issue.

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I didn't know you could switch phones online. For the 4 years I have been with Sprint I have always called to switch phones and it's always a pain to do so. Having a family plan of 5 phones doesn't help since we are always switching phones etc.

 

You don't know the times I have contemplated switching to AT&T or T-Mobile just for the simplicity of being able to switch phones by simply swapping SIMs.

 

I certainly don't want the problems that AJ talks about but if those could be avoided, I so would want to be able to swap SIMs on LTE phones and have it switch everything (CDMA and LTE) and hence avoid the hassle of having to call to switch phones.

 

I understand how this could be a non-issue for some people but for me, and I'm sure for others as well, this would be such a welcomed addition...

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