Phone stuck in roaming mode (help!!)

[fuzionrain]

After a phone freeze, The event came where I had to take off the back casing of the phone and pull the battery out. Along the process of doing so, somehow one the two antenna prongs was damaged. It is pretty small so I tried just pushing it back to its original placement, then it completely came off. I barely applied the smallest bit of pressure too x.x I continued as usual and I noticed that I was constantly on roaming mode. No calls or messages or data. I rebooted, thought it was an app or somethin that i downloaded, so I saved my songs n pictures on my sd card and did a factory reset on the phone. Still roaming. I put my sim card in my sisters s3 and it worked just fine, I put hers into mine, and roaming. What should I do? Help anyone? x.x I used my phone as a camera, so posting a pic of my phone is gonna be a bit tricky if u guys want to see it. The antenna prongs things are on the bottom right of the back of the phone below the battery. Wifi on the phone still works, along with every other option in the phone (apps, music, ect). I cant make any calls,messages, or get data because it says im in roaming mode. It cannot be disabled either x.x, ive looked in the settings everywhere. Any way you guys can help me out, or can I go to the verizon store and have them fix it for me/replace what needs to be replaced? Ive only had my phone for 5 months, and if it is done for sure right now, this is gonna be a longgggggggg year and a half till my next upgrade :l

[demmo86rt]

The reason you are in roaming is exactly why you stated, you broke the antenna.  Without the connection there, you will never pick up a very good signal.  Typically you can find the backplates for phones on Ebay pretty cheap, so I would start there.

[breezex]

Do you mean the two little gold pins next to the SIM card?

I don't know what those are, but they do not interact with the back in any way and a new back will not help.  I think that they are test points.  If you have broken one off, you must have been trying to do something other than removing the back and battery.  At this point you have several options; all will cost you money.

1. Do nothing.
2. Call Samsung. get a cost estimate,  and then send your phone to Samsung for repair.
3. Call Verizon, explain your problem, and ask if they will sell you a reconditioned GS3 or any other phone at a reduced price.
4. Try to find a local repair shop that will fix it for you.  Many local shops are more expensive than Samsung repair.
5. Buy another phone on Craigslist, Ebay, etc.  Buyer Beware!
6. Sell your phone for parts to recover a little of your costs.

[breezex]

After looking online at various Galaxy S3's with the back removed (mostly international version), it appears that only the Verizon version has those gold pins.