Network Compatibility

[silversolver 849]

On 12/25/2019 at 1:10 AM, ddark-il said:

Israel:

Pelephone - LTE/WCDMA network (No VoLTE)

Partner (ex Orange)  - Global network (No VoLTE)

Need to try the mule method.

 

Roaming at Netherlands worked flawlessly for both SIMs, can't remember the networks.

VoLTE is turned off by default on the phone. Try *#*#4636#*#* and flip all the switches and reboot.

Please let us know if this makes VoLTE work so others can know. Also, it sounds hairy over there. Stay safe!

[Spider-Dan 25]

On 12/21/2019 at 8:27 PM, abielins said:

Google fi has a very limited selection of supported phones. You can check compatibility here: https://fi.google.com/compatibility

However, unsupported phones can still work, they just won't help you set them up. See here for details: https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6330195?hl=en

Unfortunately, this will not solve the problem.  The steps linked are for activating a Google Fi SIM without a Fi-compatible device, so that the "account will be activated and the sim can be used in any GSM device compatible with T-Mobile's network from then on."  However, my SIM was activated long ago (with my Fi-supported Nexus 5X), and the exact thing that I tried to do was use my activated SIM in a GSM device compatible with T-Mobile's network (i.e. the Pro1).  That is precisely what did not work.

[Spider-Dan 25]

On 12/23/2019 at 10:03 AM, silversolver said:

@EskeRahn time to update, and your assistance would be wonderfully appreciated. 🙂 Changing it up a bit. Please replace the top post with what's between the dotted lines here.

Google Fi (T-mobile) (US): SIM transfer resulted in error ID B042 (1 report)

 

Just FYI: Google Fi auto-switches between 3 networks in the US: T-Mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular.

[silversolver 849]

2 hours ago, Spider-Dan said:

Just FYI: Google Fi auto-switches between 3 networks in the US: T-Mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular.

Pretty sure that's only on supported devices; the BYOD info I saw said that BYODs can only use T-Mobile. Interestingly the Pro1 speaks all the required languages for all 3, so perhaps it will be supported eventually.

[fxtec5 18]

I was able to activate mine on Verizon with VoLTE, using my existing droid 4 sim on a pay-as-you-go plan.

I just punched the sim down from the micro sizes in my droid 4 down to a the nano size that the pro1 needs, ran the *#*#4636#*#* trick, and it worked.

That said - if you are looking for a provider to use with the phone, so far I would not recommend verizon. Due to the fact that it is _only_ on LTE, the performance of the phone in marginal coverage areas is... poor... since it cannot drop back down to 3g or lesser networks. Fingers crossed that fxtec gets off their butts and gets the phones officially listed on verizon so the cdma bands start working because my house has marginal coverage and being LTE only is miserable.

Disclaimer - my droid 4 sim has spent some time in a galaxy S5 which has been using VoLTE, so the sim was known to be VoLTE provisioned before the swap. The sim itself is about a year old, and was used with VoLTE in the S5 basically immediately after I got the sim. But it was not a 'fresh' sim by any reasonable definition. If anyone is curious, the APN was automatically detected correctly as "VZWINTERNET", but only after setting the VoLTE sliders in the testing menu. Before activating VoLTE I briefly got service, but shortly after the phone went into 911 only mode as if the sim were not active. After enabling VoLTE and rebooting the APN was correctly detected and my missed SMS messages were delivered immediately after the 4G logo appeared on the status bar.

 

 

[Polaris 423]

12 minutes ago, fxtec5 said:

I was able to activate mine on Verizon with VoLTE, using my existing droid 4 sim on a pay-as-you-go plan.

I just punched the sim down from the micro sizes in my droid 4 down to a the nano size that the pro1 needs, ran the *#*#4636#*#* trick, and it worked.

[center removed for space as not germane to my comment]

Disclaimer - my droid 4 sim has spent some time in a galaxy S5 which has been using VoLTE, so the sim was known to be VoLTE provisioned before the swap. The sim itself is about a year old, and was used with VoLTE in the S5 basically immediately after I got the sim. But it was not a 'fresh' sim by any reasonable definition.

Thanks for the update, it's very helpful.  The key here is that your SIM was only about a year old and spent time in a VoLTE phone.  I have tried multiple old (as in original from when I originally got my D4s) SIMs from Droid 4s, and not one was able to be provisioned for VoLTE; instead, all of them required replacement.

Edit: In thinking about it further, I don't believe any of my original SIMs, as provided by Verizon, were anything but micro SIMs, they couldn't be 'punched down' to a nano SIM.

Edited December 27, 2019 by Polaris

[Craig 1,435]

Any SIM can be punched down... there's a hole punch type tool one can buy (I bought one years ago for sim-mod PQ) or carefully with a razor...

[Polaris 423]

2 hours ago, Craig said:

Any SIM can be punched down... there's a hole punch type tool one can buy (I bought one years ago for sim-mod PQ) or carefully with a razor...

Right, but, in this context, we were referring to punched out of a pre-perforated card; as in made to be done by the end user w/o tools.

[silversolver 849]

16 hours ago, fxtec5 said:

I was able to activate mine on Verizon with VoLTE, using my existing droid 4 sim on a pay-as-you-go plan.

I just punched the sim down from the micro sizes in my droid 4 down to a the nano size that the pro1 needs, ran the *#*#4636#*#* trick, and it worked.

That said - if you are looking for a provider to use with the phone, so far I would not recommend verizon. Due to the fact that it is _only_ on LTE, the performance of the phone in marginal coverage areas is... poor... since it cannot drop back down to 3g or lesser networks. Fingers crossed that fxtec gets off their butts and gets the phones officially listed on verizon so the cdma bands start working because my house has marginal coverage and being LTE only is miserable.

Disclaimer - my droid 4 sim has spent some time in a galaxy S5 which has been using VoLTE, so the sim was known to be VoLTE provisioned before the swap. The sim itself is about a year old, and was used with VoLTE in the S5 basically immediately after I got the sim. But it was not a 'fresh' sim by any reasonable definition. If anyone is curious, the APN was automatically detected correctly as "VZWINTERNET", but only after setting the VoLTE sliders in the testing menu. Before activating VoLTE I briefly got service, but shortly after the phone went into 911 only mode as if the sim were not active. After enabling VoLTE and rebooting the APN was correctly detected and my missed SMS messages were delivered immediately after the 4G logo appeared on the status bar.

 

 

I have a report of VoWiFi working on Verizon. Perhaps that will help you at home?

[ddark-il 100]

On 12/26/2019 at 11:42 PM, silversolver said:

VoLTE is turned off by default on the phone. Try *#*#4636#*#* and flip all the switches and reboot.

Please let us know if this makes VoLTE work so others can know. Also, it sounds hairy over there. Stay safe!

Switches are greyed out  😞

[david 918]

39 minutes ago, ddark-il said:

Switches are greyed out  😞

Do you have a SIM in it?  Was the SIM in a VoLTE phone before?

[ddark-il 100]

25 minutes ago, david said:

Do you have a SIM in it?  Was the SIM in a VoLTE phone before?

Yes and yes. Both SIMs.

[silversolver 849]

I imagine that would indicate either an incompatibility or that those network operators do not support VoLTE. As long as they continue to support traditional methods of voice delivery it's not a big problem.

[Spider-Dan 25]

 

So, an update for Google Fi:

I went to try to make the APN changes suggested by Hook, but those settings were not available for the Google Fi network; the option to change APNs is simply not available for that network.  So on a hunch, I decided to try making calls and sending texts.

- I can make and receive calls
- I can send and receive SMS texts (but they come through with extra garbage characters added to the end
- I cannot receive MMS texts (pictures etc.), but I can send them

That's the status as of now.  The phone mostly works, but the Google Fi app does not (so no account management) and you can't receive MMS texts.

[silversolver 849]

On 12/31/2019 at 10:53 PM, Spider-Dan said:

 

So, an update for Google Fi:

I went to try to make the APN changes suggested by Hook, but those settings were not available for the Google Fi network; the option to change APNs is simply not available for that network.  So on a hunch, I decided to try making calls and sending texts.

- I can make and receive calls
- I can send and receive SMS texts (but they come through with extra garbage characters added to the end
- I cannot receive MMS texts (pictures etc.), but I can send them

That's the status as of now.  The phone mostly works, but the Google Fi app does not (so no account management) and you can't receive MMS texts.

I will add that to my next update. Thank you for sharing this.

[Chris 27]

@Spider-Dan thanks for the update!! ... I am much less nervous about ordering mine now 🙂 ...

have you tried any msg'ing apps like hangouts for MMS replacement?

Or reached out to their support system to see where the issue might be?

I need to troubleshoot vicariously through you!! 🙂

[DonFire 2]

For Germany 1&1 LTE- and E-Net: I had to add-in the APN, which can easily found on the carriers website. Took a while until I figured out this was causing my initial problem: Phone calls working, SMS working, but no data service at all.

Now it's seems like this was the only missing gap regarding network configuration. 😃

 

[windraver 63]

I got Verizon working:

 

Quote

Got the Pro1 working on Verizon.

Context: I have an existing account with Verizon. I've been swapping my sim to new devices for years. I've been carrying my sim from Droid Turbo, Turbo 2, Moto Z force, Moto Z2 force, Pixel 3 and now to the FXtec Pro1.

Steps I took:

1. Insert existing active sim from Pixel 3.
2. Skip initial setup step to setup network
3. Connect to wifi
4. Update to latest update
5. go to dialer
6. enter *#*#4636#*#*
7. Enable all toggles under phone 1
8. Set network to LTE only
9. Restart

It now shows it is connect to 4G.

• Data confirmed working. Web browsing, connected to Google account, downloaded apps.
• SMS sent and received
• MMS sent and received
• Call made and received 

 

[Spider-Dan 25]

On 1/3/2020 at 8:55 AM, Chris said:

@Spider-Dan thanks for the update!! ... I am much less nervous about ordering mine now 🙂 ...

have you tried any msg'ing apps like hangouts for MMS replacement?

Or reached out to their support system to see where the issue might be?

I need to troubleshoot vicariously through you!! 🙂

I wasn't interested in a replacement app for messaging, and (after some troubleshooting attempts) Google Fi's support concluded that the Pro1 isn't supported.  I ended up simply switching to T-Mobile, which activated without any problems.  That was back on the 5th, and I haven't had any issues with T-Mobile so far (other than their poor coverage in my area).

Edited January 28, 2020 by Spider-Dan

[Chris 27]

2 hours ago, Spider-Dan said:

I wasn't interested in a replacement app for messaging, and (after some troubleshooting attempts) Google Fi's support concluded that the Pro1 isn't supported.  I ended up simply switching to T-Mobile, which activated without any problems.  That was back on the 5th, and I haven't had any issues with T-Mobile so far (other than their poor coverage in my area).

Thanks for the update ... that was my thoughts as well !!

Glad to hear it works on T-Mobile ... unlimited data for a fixed fee should fit nicely 🙂

[Pete 12]

Just got mine (in Los Angeles) and transferred my Google Fi SIM from a Blackberry Key2 into the Pro1 and had the same experience.  Everything seems to work (LTE data, voice calls) but the app will not activate and the tech said it is not compatible.  I have been sticking to using Hangouts for my SMS and MMS, so that still seems to work fine, but who knows how long Google will let Fi subscribers continue to use hangouts for SMS / MMS...

[Pete 12]

So in experimenting with Google Fi, I discovered that, at my work, the T-Mobile connection when I insert my Google Fi SIM into my old phone (Blackberry Key2) shows full signal LTE, whereas when I insert the same SIM into the Pro1, it shows 1 bar at best of LTE.

Considering that both phones are considered "Un-supported" by Google, and thus relegated to only the T-Mobile connection, why is one of these T-Mobile only phones getting full signal and one of them getting almost nothing?

If anyone has any suggestions of settings to mess with or quick codes to type in, I'm willing to experiment.

[sdx 45]

Telia Sweden 4G/2G: Tested on both LTE and GSM, works

APN for Internet and MMS were correct by default.

VoLTE (in the *#blabla#* settings) were enabled by default

Wifi calling in the regular settings menu was turned off by default. Turning it on allowed me to place a phone call over Wifi while having the device in airplane mode. So VoLTE/VoWifi works.

[zurvan2 125]

13 hours ago, Pete said:

why is one of these T-Mobile only phones getting full signal and one of them getting almost nothing?

Compare lists of LTE bands on the two phones and t-mobile. You could also try an app like LTE Discovery on each device to show you which bands are in use.

[Spider-Dan 25]

I can already tell you from memory that the Pro1 does not support all of T-Mobile's bands.