Unlocked T-Mobile Note 8 can't connect to VZW network

[JVIPER88]

I have an Unlocked T-Mobile Galaxy Note 8 that I'm trying to use on Verizon, but no matter what I do, I can't seem to get the phone to connect. When I called customer support about it, they told me that Note 8 phones are not on the "approved" list for BYOD, for whatever reason, so the phone can't be activated. I've tried doing it myself with no success. I also called T-Mobile to ensure that the phone was properly unlocked, which they say it is.

So why would this phone not work on Verizon? Could it really be possible that VZW doesn't allow activation of Note 8's on their network? I thought we had left issues like that in the past.

Any help would be appreciated, or if anyone has experience with trying something similar, I'd like to hear the feedback. Thanks!

[Ann154 · Accepted solution]

According to the specifications listed on the T-Mobile website, there isn't a single CDMA radio in the T-Mobile model of the Note 8. So that is one strike against it. The LTE bands however do suggest that it might function as a VoLTE only device if you can load the right APN and VoLTE calls could be completed. Unfortunately there might be more to it than what I'm aware of and the phone model just isn't certified as a BYOD device for Verizon Wireless and can't be activated. Were you trying to activate the phone with a SIM card that was previously used in a Verizon Wireless branded device?

Tech specs: Samsung Galaxy Note8 | T-Mobile Support

[JVIPER88]

Thank you for the reply. I wasn't aware that there weren't any CDMA bands

in the T-Mobile version of the phone. I thought that almost all phones that

came out these days had bands that supported all of the major networks. I'm

pretty sure the previous Note phones did as well. But if that is indeed

true, then it would explain why the phone won't work on Verizon.

Yes, I was trying to activate the phone with a SIM card that I was actively

using in a Verizon-branded phone.

[Ann154]

It is also possible the T-Mobile model had the LTE frequencies not used on their network shut off with software. Even if the hardware supports the full list of LTE frequencies as noted in the specifications, that phone model would only utilize certain frequencies. Frequencies that wouldn't necessarily work with the Verizon Wireless network either.

[thewagdy]

WRONG. All Note 8 variants have the same hardware but different firmware. You need to flash unlocked firmware or verizon firmware.

[rcschnoor]

thewagdy wrote:

WRONG. All Note 8 variants have the same hardware but different firmware. You need to flash unlocked firmware or verizon firmware.

IF this were true, how do you explain a dual SIM model and a single SIM model. That certainly sounds as if there is different hardware between those 2 models.