how to unlock galaxy note 2 to use data plan with an intl. sim card?

[arnabc]

i confirmed before leaving the u.s that the phone was unlocked. voice and text work fine with the local sim i inserted in new delhi but i cannot get the data plan to work. is this a known issue? is there a solution?

[Tidbits]

Depends on spectrum and APN credentials. You have to check with Delhi first and find out spectrum needed and the APN credentials.

[arnabc]

i have all the apn settings etc. edited as per airtel tech support. staff at an airtel store have looked at it themselves. the sim works for data if inserted into any other phone.

[Tidbits]

The spectrums of the phone match up?

[arnabc]

what spectrums are you referring to? there is nothing for "spectrum" in the wireless settings menus.

[Tidbits]

Spectrum is the frequency used to connect.  If your phone doesn't support their spectrums then the phone will not connect.  So make sure you have the right frequencies(spectrum) support.

[arnabc]

well, the note 2 is a global phone. it's set to gsm which is what every provider in india uses. and voice and text are working fine at any rate--so that's obviously not the problem.

is there anybody reading who's actually had and dealt with this problem?

[Tidbits]

It may be a global phone, but it doesn't mean it supports all spectrum.

[arnabc]

forgive me, but do you actually know anything about this or are you just typing?

[Tidbits]

Voice, text, and data run off different spectrums for a little tidbit(no pun intended) of information.

[arnabc]

it's a quad-band phone.

[Tidbits]

Let me explain...

Let's assume Delhi uses band 5.

The Phone supports band 1,2,3,4(quad band) for data.

The phone won't work for data because it doesn't support Band 5.

So find out which spectrums they use for their data and check to make sure the phone supports that spectrum.

[arnabc]

okay--how do i find out which bands the phone supports?

[Tidbits]

I am guessing this is your provider.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharti_Airtel

I am assuming you are using a Verizon Galaxy Note 2?

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note_ii_cdma-5152.php

2G spectrum support

GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

CDMA 800 / 1900

3G spectrum support

HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100

CDMA2000 1xEV-DO

LTE spectrum support

LTE 700 MHz Class 13

[arnabc]

yes. airtel uses gsm-900/1800 which the phone supports.

[Tidbits]

So you can get speeds up to 128kbps.

No 3G or 4G support.

So exactly what message are you getting when trying to access data?

[arnabc]

i can't get a data connection at all. as i said, the airtel techs have looked at it--all the settings are fine; it should work but doesn't. their theory--corroborated by other reports online--is that verizon puts a hard lock on the data settings on this phone. verizon global support denies this but then cannot explain why it doesn't work.

anyway--i'll try putting in a sim from a different carrier here and see if that works. i don't want to be rooting the phone while on vacation.

[Tidbits]

If you can modify the APN then there is no lock on the data settings...

[CFW4FCBayern]

Were you able to get it working? Am interested to find out as I'm planning a trip to Ireland in August. When I initially got the Note 2 from VZW a year ago you could not add a APN. After a VZW software update to the phone that occurred beginning of 2014 I am now able to add an APN with an old Intl. Sim Card I have from a previous trip, unable to test its functionality due to it not being topped up. Thanks.