GoWireless

What wifi issue? Haven't noticed any wifi issues at all on mine.

Great, though I think to be certain, still need confirmation you can make a call or use the web on UMTS 900 or 850 (or for it not to display "limited service" on the band screen), so what you might find out in Israel would still be beneficial to know. I say this because Sprint's idea of "disabling" GSM means to cripple a band such that it is available for emergency use only.

Actually, GSM850 support was never in question. Quadband GSM support was publically known and acknowledged. It is specifically UMTS850 and 900 that were not confirmed. If anything, what you found out concerns me a bit because if AT&T has UMTS 850 deployed at a certain area, I think they tend to to try to have users with capable handsets connect to it rather than GSM 850 due to spectral efficiency issues (in fact, because of this, they want at some point in the future to completely shut down GSM). Also, note that you got "limited service" (i.e., not a usable signal, only good for making emergency calls, as expcted in the US), and also that that no company in Israel has GSM 850 deployed, only UMTS 850; Orange does have GSM 900 deployed though). As for an S4 for Israel... I think you'd be much better off buying the intl 9505 version. One, I do not believe either company will unlock the handset for you if you are not a subscriber (and even then with all sorts of restrictions) and two, as I mentioned previously, the AT&T and TMO versions do not support UMTS 900 which is used by Orange in some places. Also, there's the issue of firmware updates, which in Israel would probably be easier to get for the intl version. BTW, if any of your relatives have Pelephone (preferably) or Cellcom (or their MVNOs), try to to see if you can use their SIM for a bit just to check if you can get a non-limited UMTS850 signal (because like I said earlier, Orange's UMTS 900 is not that widely deployed). As an aside, if you were able to get on AT&T's UMTS850 service, it should have said something like "band5" instead of GSM850.

Yes, it looks like they are doing a 50% mark-up. The actual cost of this package "on the street" is 150 NIS (last item on this page: http://www.orange.co.il/he-il/cellular/service_plans/bigtalk_cards/ ) plus, they are also charging 50%-100% more for the SIM card. Not too bad for them For a one month's stay, Orange's deal is probably the best around. (Post-paid, a similar package goes for about 100 NIS but for one month it's not worth messing with that. The post paid packages do generally include a larger data allotment and free unlimited international calls though.) All of this is thanks to a new company called Golan Telecom ( https://www.golantelecom.co.il/web/index.php , also known as "Free Mobile" in France) which started providing services in Israel last year and completely upended the entire wireless market there, bringing prices down across all providers by 60%-70%. They do not do prepaid at this point, but will sell post-paid packages to tourists - convenient if you were going to stay a while. Orange's UMTS 900 deployment is fairly recent and thus not that widely deployed but if you do pick up a usable signal, do let us know as that will confirm UMTS 900 support. The AT&T and T-Mobile S4 variants BTW do not support UMTS 900. Anyhoo, hope you have a nice trip!

Attached is what I see on stock when I issue *#0011#. This is with the Sprint SIM left in the device and after changing the the network type to GSM/UMTS. As you can see, the phone is getting on AT&T's network using UMTS1900. You can tell by it saying "Band 2", occasionally I will get it to go on T-Mobile and it will say "PCS 1900", meaning GSM 1900. As you can see though, it says limited service, meaning I can only make emergency calls. I have also tried it with a provisioned AT&T SIM and it still said "limited". What does it show for you on CM10? As for Israel and UMTS 850... There are three main cell providers in Israel. These are their 3G UMTS bands: Pelephone: 850 (primary), 2100 (secondary). BTW, they do not do 2G GSM, also I think they may still have their old CDMA network up so if you leave your phone on CDMA it will try to roam on it. Cellcom: 2100 (primary), 850 (secondary). Orange: 2100 (primary), 900 (secondary). If you could get your phone to provide you with coverage with which you could make a call there and you could figure out how to show which band you are on using CM, please let us know if you can get on UMTS 850 or 900. On Cellcom or Orange you may need to be deep inside a building for that to happen since the "low" bands are secondary for them. On Pelephone I would think it would happen most of the time since UMTS 850 is their primary band. BTW, all three providers have excellent and inexpensive prepaid options, though depending on how long you'd be there, one provider's offerings may be better than another's. I would recommend getting a "plan" refill card rather than a value/amount refill card. Depending on the company and card, they can usually give you unlimited usage for a certain number of days, say 2, 7, 14 or 30 days which is more convienent than trying to figure out how many minutes+bonus minutes you'd be getting with the stored value cards. For example, on Cellcom you can get a 7-day unlimited domestic calls and texts + 250MB web for $13 (49NIS). SIMs can be purchased in many kiosks and post offices and usually run around $10-$15. All three companies have excellent coverage thoroughout the country. For calling back to the 'States I would recommend localphone.com (I would recommend them for intl' calls from the US too). They give you free local numbers for each of your contacts and they also have a traditional pin/pinless calling option. They also support SIP calling and have their own android app.

If you just did it this recently then you should be fine. You could even put an AT&T or T-Mobile SIM in there and you will no longer get the "invalid SIM" warning. However, while the phone will register on T-Mobile or AT&T, you will only be allowed to make emergency calls. How did you tell you we're on UMTS 850? Did you change the mode to GSM/UMTS and then run the RF menu? If so, did it say "GSM850" or "Band 4"? In any case, unfortunately, that still doesn't prove 100% that Sprint didn't set the band to allow something besides emergency only use. The only way to tell 100% I think would be to use the phone on a foriegn carrier that uses UMTS 850 and see that you can get on that band in unrestricted mode. Unfortunately, I don't know a full proof way to say for sure that your phone is unlocked until you get overseas. One would hope that with the fiasco they went through with the unlock that they did in fact fix this problem once and for all. BTW, what country are you going to?

How long ago did you get the unlock done? I ask because Sprint only recently fixed the unlock issue. Prior to that users got the confirmation that their device was unlocked after pressing 'unlock UICC' after reciving the OTA but the device actually remained locked (to the dismay of several folks on the XDA forum who went overseas thinking that they were unlocked when in fact they weren't).

Update: Sprint seems to have finally managed to figure out how to unlock the S4 and the One. Henceforth, I have gotten my S4 unlocked. I do have a foreign carrier's SIM I can try but in my area (SE Va.), Verizon hogs the entire cellular band (as a reult of the Alltel acquisition) and so even if I could get the device to pick up American providers' signals, it'd be on 1900 and so I wouldn't be able to tell if UMTS 850 is disabled.

Initially the Samsung spec. page omitted UMTS 850 and 900 and has since been updated. However, several sources did confirm to me that 850 was disabled and 900 not included so at this point I am not sure what the device truly supports. All of this is sort of moot and impossible to confirm anyway because Sprint doesn't appear to have a working method to GSM unlock the S4 (or HTC One for that matter) yet.

Thanks!

What's the code to get into the engineering screen on the SGS4 (stock unrooted ROM). I tried puching in *#*#4636#*#* on the dial pad but nothing happens. Do I need to enable some special mode or something? Do I need to press something after the last *? Am I missing something?

Sorry, but this is not an Apples to Apples comparison because $70 on TMO includes unlimited talk. The same publicly available plan on Sprint costs $110 which is significantly more! 900 minutes is $100, also more. As for "special" pricing like EPRP... Fist of all, not everyone knows about it and second, I believe what's available to the public now is $80 for 1000 minutes + $10 magic data fee = $90 which is $20 more than T-Mobile, which is about the average subsidy out there. Plus, this doesn't count any workplace, association or other discounts a person may have on T-Mobile.

It IS different because with T-Mobile you get the benefit of the subsidy (which with T-Mobile now means a lower wireless plan cost in lieu of a device subsidy/lower device cost) regardless of where you buy the device, which applies specifically to a device like the one the OP is talking about (i.e. a device not purchased from the carrier). With the other three wireless companies however, the ONLY way to receive the benefit of a subsidy or equivalnet is to buy the device from the carrier. So yes, it is different; with T-Mobile's new pricing scheme the subscriber has more flexibility in choosing from where they get their device without losing out on the subsidy (or equivalent thereof). Also, T-Mobile has changed their policy recently whereby they will under certain circumstances unlock the device even before it is fully paid for: http://www.tmonews.com/2013/05/t-mobile-updates-sim-unlock-policy-to-allow-exceptions-for-international-travelers/

Actually this argument doesn't apply to T-Mobile anymore since under their new pricing model they no longer subsidize devices and in return they've lowered the price of their plans. Therefore, it does you no harm with them to buy a device from someone else and use on their network (your "benefit" is the lower price of the plan in lieu of device subsidy). So given that they are GSM, under this new model, they are probably the most third party purchase friendly carrier because you get the benefit of the lower priced plan regardless of where you bought the device, plus you are not bound to a contract like with other carriers.

As gonowhere noted, the EVO 3D is a CDMA/WiMax phone only. Clearwire was going to build a full 4G WiMax network in Hampton Roads (like they did in Richmond and most other large cities) which Sprint uses also but Hampton Roads was one of the last markets they got to and they ran out of money while only completing a small portion of the network. Since Clear has no customers in this area since they never officially launched service, the network is mainly used by Sprint users. Since Sprint now has its own 4G network, it wouldn't surprise me if they decided to shut down Clear's WiMax network. They are never going to complete it anyway. So... you may need a new phone if you want 4G. The good news is though that you should have considerably more coverage with Sprint's 4G LTE than with WiMax because the LTE network is much more widely deployed and supposedly being expanded.

It all depends on which phone you have, there are three different models: HTC EVO 3D HTC EVO 4G HTC EVO 4G LTE Which of these is yours?

See my EDIT above. He may have been talking about the old WiMax network that was up in portions of downtown Norfolk. I think there was also a tower broadcasting WiMax up in NN too. Sprint/Clearwire may have shut that down.

There's a Sprint corp. store over near the northwest corner of Greenbriar and Eden Way. You might wanna pop in there and see if they know something about this. If you find out anything, please let us know. EDIT: wait, are you talking about LTE or the little WiMax network that was up in small parts of Norfolk and a couple of other places? If so, Sprint may have decided to shut that network down since it was never really up officially in Hamton Roads and the coverage on it was extremely limited.

How does your reception compare to the Sprint 4G LTE maps on Sensorly?

I meant no disrespect in my post, just trying to inform what the correct usage is as I have seen "the" used in front of the name on posts here before. Oh, and just so that people don't get confused, saying "THE Tidewater" is not proper usage either; it's just "Tidewater", as in "all of the folks in Tidewater [or Hampton Roads] have been waiting for some sort of Sprint 4G service for a long, long time..." It's true that some out of towners call it "Virginia Beach", however the area extends all the way to Williamsburg (another "tourist" city), which is an hour away (or about an hour and a half drive with no traffic from the populated edge of Virginia Beach to the edge of Williamsburg). As I mentioned once before, it's the largest metro area on the East Coast where Sprint didn't launch WiMax. Consequently, 3G speeds are very slow throughout the region.

Yeah, maybe his device really isn't capable or he has it set on CDMA only instead of CDMA/LTE or maybe he has an old PRL that he needs to update or maybe it's a bad device. BTW, it's referred to as just "Hampton Roads", without the "the" .

The Canadian CDMA carriers for example have realized this years ago and I believe have all made the switch to UMTS (though they continue to support their CDMA networks to some degree). At this stage in the game however, it is simply too late for Sprint to take this up. The narrow nature of 1x channels are a good, flexible voice solution for Sprint until VoLTE comes around. LTE is the future. The investment required doesn't make sense at this point.

Careful, if you keep changing your devices too often because the newer models always look sexier, you may get an STD-LTE.

Not likely. What is likely is that the device will come SIM locked like the HTC One is and you would need to call Sprint to request an unlock code for it. That would unlock all the available GSM/WCDMA functions on the phone for use overseas but there isn't a specific unlock code to unlock one particular band.

As far as 3G is concerned, those are the only two bands available in the device. It does have quadband GSM, but the data is only 2G speeds, meaning it's not a viable solution for data on a smartphone but it'd do for voice. There are also some operators out there that are UMTS/WCDMA-only. If those rely heavily on UMTS 850, that means they wouldn't be a viable carrier for both voice and data to roam or use a foreign SIM on. The device also doesn't have UMTS 900 but I would say it is less widely deployed compared to UMTS 850. It is true that in many networks that have UMTS 850 also have UMTS 1900 or 2100 but the lower frequency's longer cell reach and better building penetration makes it the main band that carriers rely on in many places. Verizon for example does not disable this band in their UMTS capable devices and neither did Sprint in those SIM possesing devices which supported it before LTE. UMTS/WCDMA 850/1900/2100 is a very common triband combination for US-based GSM capable devices. Not sure why Sprint has decided to buck that common functionality.