Can LG G4 (from vz) work on ATT?

Mike2401

If I pay off the LG G4 purchased from verizon, and get it UNLOCKED from verizon, could it be used on ATT?

Thanks,
Mike

smith6612

A hybrid PRL may or may not help. It all depends on the contents of the file Verizon plans to load to your device. In some cases one would have to disable individual LTE bands from some hidden menu in the phone, often locked down, and not permanent without voiding the device's warranty by rooting. Forget about doing this on iPhone. Typically these can be changed by the carrier or OEM through a software update, but since Verizon is adding Band 2 as an XLTE high density band, it's likely not going to be undone.

Instead, what Verizon may do, as they continue to fine tune the network and band 2 is still new, is steer devices towards Band 2 or Band 4 where appropriate and according to load. For example, make Band 2 have less power but more gain so devices truly near the tower latch on, but then turn up the power (license / FCC permitting) / gain on Band 4 to help perfect the coverage a bit more. That in addition to collaboration with handset manufacturers to adjust the radio profiles on each phone, can help to optimize the network. Verizon can also ensure back-haul on the same towers remains adequate, and if Verizon holds enough of a license, to increase the bandwidth of Band 2 to 10, 15, or 20Mhz, which will deliver some awesome speeds, especially if using carrier aggregation with Band 4 and Band 2 working together (10x10x10x10 and 4T4R could achieve in theory around 400Mbps down,80Mbps up). Otherwise, microcells with just Band 2 and Band 4 on them, which is another goal of Verizon in order to add to network capacity, using only Band 13 to keep coverage.

You'll generally find that support tailors towards the common denominator, and usually the second denominator. Advanced troubleshooting such as correlating the speeds to bands, or doing cell handover/signal to reporting engineering-grade data like leakage, noise, and reflection values from a spectrum analyzer, is generally left to the engineering and network department. This department is rather hard to get a hold of directly unless you are a large government or enterprise customer with such contacts at hand. The most front line support can do is drop in tickets, which may or may not be addressed. Verizon has to subcontract a good amount of work out, which takes planning to do, if something cannot be fixed or addressed remotely. The same goes for any other company out there.

An example of how long it can take to get a network issue fixed: In September, I submitted a Network Repair ticket with Verizon, reporting the Avionics beacon on one of their towers was malfunctioning and damaged, and getting worse with the impending cold weather. I verified the tower was indeed a Verizon Wireless owned tower by looking up the Tower registration against the FCC, and validating the ownership. In the past few weeks when our temperatures tanked, the Avionics beacon failed, and no progress has been seen to repair the device at the top of the tower. The tower sits on the edge of a hill, fortunately in a low air-traffic area, and still has a working beacon, however it needs to be repaired despite the backup as there are regulations as to how bright those beacons can be at night. eg: You can't have the main strobe flashing all day, all night for weeks on end. Unsurprisingly, the tower gained Band 2 LTE broadcast just a few weeks ago, so that was added before the beacon was replaced...