Google Nexus 5 by LG Users Thread!

[WiWavelength]

I think when Sprint looks up the IMEI/MEID, they probably see it's a tmobile phone and getting it added into the white list is nearly impossible.

 

No, Sprint is not blackballing you because it is a "T-Mobile phone."  Sprint has no idea that your Nexus 5 was purchased from T-Mobile.  Sprint has no record of it -- that is the problem.

 

AJ

[spoolinspoon]

I believe that only the Google sold and Sprint sold N5's have been put into the Sprint database. The ones sold by Tmo directly to their customers apparently are not in the Sprint database. And Sprint probably would think that's a good idea, in general, because it creates a way for people who bought Tmo N5's who have not paid off their device from leaving their unpaid device balance behind on Tmo.

 

Typically the people who buy the N5 from their wireless provider it is because they want it to be financed/subsidized. I know that most Sprint customers who bought the N5 from Sprint did so under contract. People who paid full cash price bought them from Google (because they were cheaper in most instances).

 

This could cause havoc on the resale market. How many Tmo purchased N5's are going to end up being sold by their original customers to people who think that they can take that device and use with Sprint?

 

I think we should no longer say any N5 can be used on the Sprint network. We need to be saying only N5's purchased from Google or Sprint can be used on the Sprint network.

 

Sprint should reconsider and find a way to add N5 MEIDs to their system like AT&T and Tmo do. They are at a disadvantage. Basically they are saying they don't want Tmo N5 customers to switch to Sprint...ever. But the reverse is not true. Sprint N5 customers can freely move to Tmo. This is going to bite them in the derriere. But it's hard to imagine if this will end up affecting 1,000 or 500,000 people. It could be pretty limited. Not sure.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

This is what I believe the issue is. Thanks for the input.

[spoolinspoon]

No, Sprint is not blackballing you because it is a "T-Mobile phone."  Sprint has no idea that your Nexus 5 was purchased from T-Mobile.  Sprint has no record of it -- that is the problem.

 

AJ

Are you sure?  If a IMEI is looked up in a manufacture system (LG in this case, it shows its a Tmobile device), I would think that every carrier would have the same capability to do so.

 

To your point, it is also true that Sprint's policy is that no phones are allowed to be added in the system.

Edited January 15, 2014 by spoolinspoon

[S4GRU]

Are you sure?  If a IMEI is looked up in a manufacture system (LG in this case, it shows its a Tmobile device), I would think that every carrier would have the same capability to do so.

 

To your point, it is also true that Sprint's policy is that no phones are allowed to be added in the system.

 

Sprint only adds MEIDs for devices it purchases from the OEM.  Not ones sold by the OEM to anyone else.  Sprint has a closed network, by design.  Just like Verizon.  

 

The only exception to this is Apple and Google.  Apple provides the data to Sprint for Apple devices bound for the Sprint network.  Google provides MEIDs for all the Nexus 5's it sells directly to consumers to Sprint to add to their MEID database.  That's it.

 

We used to believe that Google provided MEID's to Sprint for all North American N5's.  But it turns out they only provide the ones Google sells, not the ones sold by other carriers.  To my knowledge, the only other American provider that sells the N5 directly is T-Mobile.  AT&T does not sell the N5.  AT&T customers have to buy directly from Google.

 

Robert

[cletus]

Weird issue I am having:

I get a "Failed to open selected file" error when trying to upload pictures from my gallery on Facebook or craigslist's mobile websites. Going to camera and taking the picture seems to work just fine though. Pretty annoying. Does anyone else have this issue?

 

ES File Explorer is not even an option that appears when trying this and I absolutely refuse to download the abomination that is the Facebook App.

[coorsleftfield]

I've always wondered why the carriers don't provide their own wifi. I'm pretty sure that AT&T has a nice sized wifi network. I imagine that having wifi in major areas would help people with the negative perceptions of slow or unusable data during events and in big tourist attractions while keeping the network stable and usable for voice and text traffic.

I was over in Thailand and this was common there. If you paid for wireless you could access many hotspots put up by the wireless provider.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[mikejeep]

This could cause havoc on the resale market. How many Tmo purchased N5's are going to end up being sold by their original customers to people who think that they can take that device and use with Sprint?

Exactly what my first thought was when I saw Dan@Sprint's response and read your post. If someone buys one off Swappa, Sprint is apparently going to initially tell them the device is defective. Then they will eventually learn that their N5 has the same hardware and software as one sold by Sprint or Google.. but because of where it was initially purchased, a company policy is preventing activation.

 

Don't get me wrong, Sprint has every right to decide what does and does not operate on their network. But it seems foolish to implement something that only prevents people from becoming customers. The very "un-CDMA"-like nature of using a SIM to choose a provider is very appealing and has probably increased the number of users subscribing to more than one network.

 

Pretty sure I can guess the answer to this already, but is T-Mobile doing anything to prevent Sprint-purchased N5's on their network? I don't believe there is a parallel "activation" process other than a SIM, correct?

 

-Mike

[S4GRU]

Exactly what my first thought was when I saw Dan@Sprint's response and read your post. If someone buys one off Swappa, Sprint is apparently going to initially tell them the device is defective. Then they will eventually learn that their N5 has the same hardware and software as one sold by Sprint or Google.. but because of where it was initially purchased, a company policy is preventing activation.

 

Don't get me wrong, Sprint has every right to decide what does and does not operate on their network. But it seems foolish to implement something that only prevents people from becoming customers. The very "un-CDMA"-like nature of using a SIM to choose a provider is very appealing and has probably increased the number of users subscribing to more than one network.

 

Pretty sure I can guess the answer to this already, but is T-Mobile doing anything to prevent Sprint-purchased N5's on their network? I don't believe there is a parallel "activation" process other than a SIM, correct?

 

-Mike

I can tell you that on AT&T, you can put the SIM in a Nexus 5 and it will work on EDGE, GPRS, HSPA and HSPA+. However it will not work on LTE. You have to call AT&T or go into an AT&T store and have them add the MEID to their system for it to work on AT&T LTE. But AT&T will add any MEID to their system, no questions asked.

 

With Tmo, I have only used the Nexus 5 and Nexus 4. Neither of these did I need to call and have the MEID added to use LTE. But then again, Google may have supplied them the MEIDs and they already had them in the network.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[digiblur]

For AT&T MVNO Straight Talk, all I did was swap the SIM put in the APN settings and that's it. Didn't call anyone. This was with a Sprint provided Nexus5.

[S4GRU]

For AT&T MVNO Straight Talk, all I did was swap the SIM put in the APN settings and that's it. Didn't call anyone. This was with a Sprint provided Nexus5.

I wonder if AT&T has since added Google MEIDs into their database? Although with AT&T, they didn't hesitate to add an MEID to the system for me. Mine was added at a store. And my wife's was added on a phone call with customer service while we were in Wyoming.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[always_learner]

I can tell you that on AT&T, you can put the SIM in a Nexus 5 and it will work on EDGE, GPRS, HSPA and HSPA+. However it will not work on LTE. You have to call AT&T or go into an AT&T store and have them add the MEID to their system for it to work on AT&T LTE. But AT&T will add any MEID to their system, no questions asked.

 

With Tmo, I have only used the Nexus 5 and Nexus 4. Neither of these did I need to call and have the MEID added to use LTE. But then again, Google may have supplied them the MEIDs and they already had them in the network.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

It seems hard to consider all Nexus 5 devices are the same regardless of place of purchase.  From reading some of this forum, this has been a moot point seeings as all Nexus 5 devices do share identical software and hardware characteristics.  However, there seems to be a little bit of a blunder with how Sprint handles the MEIDs in its database even from the beginning when the Nexus 5 came out and people who bought the 32gb from the Play Store could not activate their device on Sprint.  Now it appears that people buying their Nexus 5 devices from T-Mobile cannot activate them on Sprint.

 

With regards to this Spark update for the Nexus 5, the MEIDs play no part, correct?  That is, Google will roll out the update to every Nexus 5 manufactured?

[S4GRU]

With regards to this Spark update for the Nexus 5, the MEIDs play no part, correct?  That is, Google will roll out the update to every Nexus 5 manufactured?

 

This is our understanding.  Google provides the update.  However, we also would have told you a few days ago that you should have no problem using a Tmo Nexus 5 on Sprint.  So, take that for what it's worth.

 

Robert

[cdk]

.....or that guy in the white van parked in the back of the Home Depot lot.

 

I believe that only the Google sold and Sprint sold N5's have been put into the Sprint database. The ones sold by Tmo directly to their customers apparently are not in the Sprint database.

 

 

What about the white van N5s? :jester:

[spoolinspoon]

^lol. As much as I want to continue on getting this resolved. I ended up selling the N5. Maybe in the future this will be fixed by sprint but ive been dealing with them for weeks and I need to replace my s3. I ended up ordering from google play store. Now if I can't activate that one. I'm going to throw the phone at sprint hq building. Lol

[S4GRU]

Now if I can't activate that one. I'm going to throw the phone at sprint hq building. Lol

 

You shouldn't have a problem.  I didn't with mine.  I take it you already have your SIM card?

 

Robert

[metayoshi]

^lol. As much as I want to continue on getting this resolved. I ended up selling the N5. Maybe in the future this will be fixed by sprint but ive been dealing with them for weeks and I need to replace my s3. I ended up ordering from google play store. Now if I can't activate that one. I'm going to throw the phone at sprint hq building. Lol

I think most of us bought ours from the play store, save for the few who wanted to use an upgrade to get it from Sprint. If you can't activate that one, you have every right to throw it at the Sprint HQ building. 

[WiWavelength]

What about the white van N5s? :jester:

 

No, that is the Ng Lexus 5.  It is from Vietnam.

 

AJ

[WiWavelength]

Now it appears that people buying their Nexus 5 devices from T-Mobile cannot activate them on Sprint.

 

This may be a magenta problem.  If T-Mobile now owns that lot of Nexus 5s for sale, it has no incentive to share those MEIDs with Sprint for database inclusion.

 

AJ

[digiblur]

This may be a magenta problem.  If T-Mobile now owns that lot of Nexus 5s for sale, it has no incentive to share those MEIDs with Sprint for database inclusion.

 

AJ

 

Unfortunately Sprint needs to get their head unstuck on this one and do what they can to obtain and/or keep customers no matter if it is only a handful.  Any customers using that Nexus5 on Sprint is better than them using it on Tmobile or AT&T.

[WiWavelength]

Unfortunately Sprint needs to get their head unstuck on this one and do what they can to obtain and/or keep customers no matter if it is only a handful.  Any customers using that Nexus5 on Sprint is better than them using it on Tmobile or AT&T.

 

I have no problem with Sprint sticking to its guns on the no MEID addition policy.  Since Sprint is primarily a 3GPP2 operator, it is just simpler this way -- if it is listed in the database, then it is guaranteed compatible.  Otherwise, Sprint is going to have to deal with thousands of stupid people who think that they can now activate anything with a SIM slot.  That works on magenta and those other Euro loving 3GPP bandwagon jumpers, but it will not work on Sprint.

 

AJ

[jadedchameleon]

I have no problem with Sprint sticking to its guns on the no MEID addition policy.  Since Sprint is primarily a 3GPP2 operator, it is just simpler this way -- if it is listed in the database, then it is guaranteed compatible.  Otherwise, Sprint is going to have to deal with thousands of stupid people who think that they can now activate anything with a SIM slot.  That works on magenta and those other Euro loving 3GPP bandwagon jumpers, but it will not work on Sprint.

 

AJ

 

But they don't have to open it up to any potentially incompatible MEID in this case.  Sprint can get the T-Mobile Nexus 5 MEIDs anytime they want to.  Google certainly did not intend for certain Nexus 5s to have different activation characteristics than others.

[WiWavelength]

Sprint can get the T-Mobile Nexus 5 MEIDs anytime they want to.

 

How?  You need to substantiate this with solid evidence before you make such an assertion.

 

AJ

[mikejeep]

How?  You need to substantiate this with solid evidence before you make such an assertion.

 

Are IMEI's issued similar to how MAC addresses are for Wi-Fi? You can identify a manufacturer and sometimes a device just by having a MAC address.

 

It looks like there is a standard range that is assigned to a device, since there are publicly-accessible databases (http://www.imei.info for example) that seem to have all of the information. It doesn't seem like the issue is Sprint's inability to get their hands on Tmo's IMEI list.

 

EDIT: After further research, I suppose Sprint would need to know the exact serial numbers too. But my opinion still stands, it still seems like a policy decision, not a "we have no idea what ID's to put in our database" decision.

 

-Mike

[HTCandroid]

Sorry if this was already said. I don't think there is a specific way to se where the phone was purchased. That being said, the only thing I can think of is Sprint only loads imei's from their inventory and Google's into their system to be accepted.

[coorsleftfield]

Sprint should not make it difficult to become their customer.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk