Verizon lumia 822 with straight talk

[saltybp]

Hi, I won a Verizon Nokia Lumia 822. It arrived a few weeks ago and we have been using it in the house on wifi and love it. It has no sim and I was looking to use it on straight talk. Before I order the sim and $45 air time I want to confirm that this will actually work. I have searched all over and found some threads suggesting that it does not need to be unlocked but I would really like a definitive answer.

Will the Verizon Lumia 822 work on straight talk without unlocking?
If it needs to be unlocked, what is the best way to unlock? Download software? Beg Verizon?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[palandri]

It's been reported that the GSM band on the phone is unlocked which means it should be able to work on Straight Talk. Of course that doesn't mean Verizon won't lock it in the future. Check out this thread: http://forums.windowscentral.com/nokia-lumia-822/209998-anyone-using-verizon-822-tmobile-t-u-s.html

I make no claim or guarantee that it will work.

 

[saltybp]

Yes, I saw that thread but it didn't seem to definitively answer the question. I would like confirmation from someone who has done this before spending the $$ for the straight talk sim

 

[saltybp]

Ok, I may have answered my own question.... I popped the AT&T nano sim out of my iPhone 5 and taped it in to the micro sim slot and fired up the phone. I can send and receive calls and text messages. I can browse the web, but I seem to be unable to download apps from the market. The icon for service switches between 3G and H. I don't know if it is my location or because the phone assumes I am roaming and data get shut off if I'm roaming. I think it is safe to get the unlimited straight talk and allow roaming.

I hope my little experiment can help others.....

 

[saltybp]

Ok, perhaps the issue with the App Store was something different, I did a speed test and it came in at 1.1 mbit/sec. Placing order for straight talk....

 

[saltybp]

Just as a comparison, I put the AT&T sim back in the iPhone 5 and ran a speed test, down load was 3.2 mbit/second. Almost 3 x as fast. Upload was the same.

 

[palandri]

Just as a comparison, I put the AT&T sim back in the iPhone 5 and ran a speed test, down load was 3.2 mbit/second. Almost 3 x as fast. Upload was the same.

Doesn't your iPhone 5 use LTE? hence the difference in the speed test.

 

[saltybp]

Yes... So will the 822 not support 4g? The specs say it supports fdd-lte and lte

 

[hopmedic]

Yes... So will the 822 not support 4g? The specs say it supports fdd-lte and lte

822 will support 4G, but StraightTalk won't.

 

[aximtreo]

822 will support 4G, but StraightTalk won't.

Not sure this is a true statement. I just got my Straight Talk SIM for my 920 and I get 4G LTE with no problem. Curiously, when I was doing the research for Straight Talk, I had both the 822 and the 920. When I finally got to a real person at Straight Talk, I was told that either would work on their network. Give it a try; it's cheaper than Verizon and there is not contract.

 

[hopmedic]

Not sure this is a true statement. I just got my Straight Talk SIM for my 920 and I get 4G LTE with no problem. Curiously, when I was doing the research for Straight Talk, I had both the 822 and the 920. When I finally got to a real person at Straight Talk, I was told that either would work on their network. Give it a try; it's cheaper than Verizon and there is not contract.

Hmmm... Interesting. I've read that actual LTE was not available on any of the MVNOs, but if you're actually getting it, kewl. Now, if only StraightTalk would get back on Verizon's network, and be able to use VZW phones.....

 

[saltybp]

I figured I would follow up on this thread. I recieved my straight talk sim yesterday, installed and activated it in about 2 minutes. It works great. As soon as I turned the phone on it said " entering gsm mode". Download speeds in my house are about 2 meg a second.

I'm a happy camper so far.... So in conclusion, Verizon branded 822 works fine with straight talk.

 

[hopmedic]

That's AWESOME! I may just end up paying some early termination fees, but not until I pick up that next flagship phone.

Oh, but wait...... That's going to be in GSM mode, which means either ATT or TMO networks, of which neither is worth a hoot where I live. On second thought, I'm still stuck with VZW.......

Out of curiosity, though, does it pick up LTE or just HSPA (are you in an advertised 4G area?)?

 

[willied]

That's awesome to hear! Sadly, I can't use it because I go up to Canada every year and it would cost a lot to use my phone there with ST. And I'm used to Verizon's superior network.

 

[kstacks]

I'm wanting to buy Verizon Lumia 822 and wonder if I can toggle between using Verizon (my current carrier) and Straighttalk using the SIM card slot. Can I use it in CDMA mode most of the time and then when needed switch to Straightalk sim? What would be required? Verizon says that GSM sim card slot doesn't work in US but based on this thread it seems that it would. I have 2 phones now and would love to have 1. Thanks very much.

 

[aximtreo]

Not sure this is a true statement. I just got my Straight Talk SIM for my 920 and I get 4G LTE with no problem. Curiously, when I was doing the research for Straight Talk, I had both the 822 and the 920. When I finally got to a real person at Straight Talk, I was told that either would work on their network. Give it a try; it's cheaper than Verizon and there is not contract.

Update to the above post. I was getting 4G signal on Straight Talk and 920; not LTE. I decided to go back to Verizon for the family plan pricing so I had my original 822. I put the Straight Talk Sim in the 822 and was able to call, text and download from the store. My signal strength was 2 -3 bars and alsway had a H showing. Not sure what H is but it did work but was noticeably slower. Activated the 822 on Verizon and now have LTE.

 

[hopmedic]

Update to the above post. I was getting 4G signal on Straight Talk and 920; not LTE. I decided to go back to Verizon for the family plan pricing so I had my original 822. I put the Straight Talk Sim in the 822 and was able to call, text and download from the store. My signal strength was 2 -3 bars and alsway had a H showing. Not sure what H is but it did work but was noticeably slower. Activated the 822 on Verizon and now have LTE.

That's what I thought... I'd read that none of the real providers were letting any of the MVNOs have LTE speeds. Kind of keeps down the competition.

 

[slick5150]

None of the providers are allowing LTE on MNVOs yet because they need to get their LTE networks up to snuff before allowing even more people on them (and at lower profits for them). It'll come, probably before too much longer. There are already rumors of Verizon having this in the planning stages so it wouldn't surprise me to see it happen before the end of the year anyway.

That said, I have my Lumia 920 on Net10 and am happy enough with the service. I spend most of my time around WiFi anyway so the lack of LTE isn't a huge issue.

 

[xirsteon]

My carrier is with Tmob and I have been considering the 810 but the 8gb (5.06gb usable for apps) isn't cutting it for me. In fact I have a 32gb mcard that I bought to use with the 810. However, over the last few days, i've been considering the 822. I've been reading the forums here and there and I'd like to know if anyone has successfully used the 822 on Tmob. If so, what settings did u had to change to make text/sms/mms/ 3g work?

As much as I'm also considering the 920, i think the 822 is what really fits my need. i'd have to have a knife in my neck to switch to ATT so. If anyone knows anyone who has used the 822 on tmob, pls. post here.

 

[hopmedic]

My carrier is with Tmob and I have been considering the 810 but the 8gb (5.06gb usable for apps) isn't cutting it for me. In fact I have a 32gb mcard that I bought to use with the 810. However, over the last few days, i've been considering the 822. I've been reading the forums here and there and I'd like to know if anyone has successfully used the 822 on Tmob. If so, what settings did u had to change to make text/sms/mms/ 3g work?

As much as I'm also considering the 920, i think the 822 is what really fits my need. i'd have to have a knife in my neck to switch to ATT so. If anyone knows anyone who has used the 822 on tmob, pls. post here.

Well, someone got the 822 working on StraightTalk, which means it is not locked to Verizon. So it will work with TMO, but be aware that you won't get LTE on it. Hmmm.... Or maybe you will? Thinking about this now, since TMO is not an MVNO, I think it might be possible that it could work. Hmmm.....

What I really wish, though, is that there would be some way of making the 920 work on VZW. Without the CDMA radio, though.... I do have to wonder, though, since LTE uses a SIM, and the 920 has a SIM slot, I wonder if it would work on Verizon if you put your Verizon LTE SIM into it. For sure wouldn't work in areas that didn't have LTE, but this is an interesting question......