SIM card needed on Verizon Note 2, Note 3, S4 to get 3G data working on Boost?

[OdyMan]

I'm trying to figure out whether or not a SIM card is necessary to get 3G data working on a Verizon Note 2, Note 3, or S4 that is flashed to Boost.


What I've seen so far:

Three Verizon S4's flashed to Boost - no SIM card, everything working including 3G and MMS (MMS via 3rd party app).

Four Verizon Note 2's flashed to Boost - no SIM card, everything working including 3G and MMS (MMS via 3rd party app).

One Verizon Note 2 flashed to Boost - can't get 3G working w/o SIM card. Must install inactive SIM card to get 3G to work. MMS not working with or without SIM card (No MMS via stock or 3rd party app).

One Verizon Note 3 flashed to Boost - can't get 3G working w/o SIM card. Must install inactive SIM card to get 3G to work. MMS not working with or without SIM card (No MMS via stock or 3rd party app).


The results I'm seeing are inconsistent. Not sure if there was a missed step somewhere. Has anyone seen this before?

[elisa191]

You need to look at the Software version they are running

My experience is that anything 4.1.1 does not need a sim card but anything over that may

We buy the cards in bulk now and just use them but I know its the OS

[OdyMan]

Thanks for the reply! This is what each one has:

Note 2: 4.1.2 stock ROM
Note 3: 4.3 stock ROM
S4: 4.2.2 stock ROM

All the Note 2's work without SIM card except for that single Note 2. All have the same OS, however.

Have you gotten MMS to work for those with SIM card? Send/receive photos?

[rich hathaway]

you can edit the phones to make mms work with a couple simple edits to the filesys,you will need root and a database editor to see and edit the files(some will require build.prop edit also).look in /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/telephony.db/carriers there may be another db file around the somewhere in the same directory or close to it that will need an edit,once in there you will see more than one mmsc but shouldnt be to hard to figure out which ones to edit (will require more than one edit) and also fyi this may revert upon hard reset,for a permanent edit look in framework-res.apk,but that is much more of a time consuming edit.

also any phone can be edited to work with data and basic functions with no sim required but that will require a different filesys edit.
good luck.

[OdyMan]

Wow! Thanks for all the info guys! This is indeed cdmagurus. :)

[OdyMan]

BTW, is there a carrier-specific SIM card that works best for these Verizon phones flashed to Boost? Only tried Lycamobile. Thanks.

[rich hathaway]

lol ya the vzw lte sim that come in it

[OdyMan]

Really? I tried a couple of old Verizon LTE SIM cards (used/deactivated) but voice, SMS, 3G data don't work. But when I put in a Red Pocket or Lycamobile SIM...voice, SMS, 3G data work fine.

[rich hathaway]

well i guess that would depend on how the phone was set up,i do not flash to boost but it shouldnt make any diff unless you mod filesys,calls and text work without the lte sim but data does not without the card,but we dont go to the trouble of rooting and filesys edits to flash to cricket,pp or next g,we only change the phone to cdma & evdo and set vzw int. timer to 10 in the service menu,for boost you have root i assume, and make some edits and use values from donar phone.

[OdyMan]

I finally got the MMS ironed out. It turns out that on Verizon variants of the Note 2, Note 3, S4, etc, the flashed phone's MDN isn't being passed correctly in the stock messaging app when there's a SIM card inserted in the phone. So you must modify the stock messaging app to allow you to insert your MDN. An alternative solution is to use the app "8sms" available free from Google Play store. This messaging app can take the place of the phone's stock messaging app. You can configure the following settings:
1) MMSC
2) MMS Proxy
3) MMS Port
4) Phone Number (MDN)

Without all 4 configured, I couldn't send MMS. Most messaging apps can only be configured to set the first 3 items above. When you insert a SIM card in a Verizon phone, the SIM card tells the phone its MDN. Even if you flash the correct MDN in the phone, it will still use the MDN from the SIM card. Therefore when you send an MMS message, you're sending it the wrong MDN...and thus the MMS send attempt is being rejected. With 8sms app, you're able to set your desired MDN and MMS goes through.

I spent hours and hours looking at build.prop, telephony.db, etc., etc., and no matter what I did I couldn't get MMS to work. Luckily I found a clue as to what was happening with these Verizon phones.


Rich, can you explain a little bit what you meant when you wrote "vzw int. timer to 10 in the service menu "

Thanks again!

[rich hathaway]

hmm,8sms i have not seen that one,i will have to look it up.
[Only registered and activated users can see links] ([Only registered and activated users can see links])
that one was compiled by dexter,and works on the vzw lte phones for most carriers as you can see.
it is the one i am using when i need to bypass sim mdn

that service menu is accessible via (##program or ##program#) some of the phones will need to have hidden menus enabled before the phone will respect that code.
Once in there simply change lte mode(lte test settings/SIM type) to off/disable or 3g and where you see lte,cdma,evdo and gsm/wcdma (in test mode tab)change that to cdma and evdo only then vzw interactive timer from -1 to 10 you can also turn off ehrpd there is no use for it since lte will be disabled and no need for fallback.the less processes running on your phone the better.
but like i said if you disable lte and sim required via filesystem edits then you can use native mms,but it is much more work,but a nicer finished product when native functions work.anyway glad you got it going

[rdwelker]

Is there another name for this interactive timer?

I'm having trouble getting 3G on Page Plus on my vzw note 2. I have 1xRTT/3G I know its only 2G.

I have researched alot about OTA authentication. Clear keys, ESN change ect...

Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying my hardest not to smash this phone into tiny pieces.

Thanks,
Ryan

[rich hathaway]

if you cant ota send me your meid via pm and i can help you to get true 3g.dont post it in the public part of the forum.