Ditching T-Mobile for AT&T

LumiaGuy

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So, my Brother trashed his AT&T Lumia 635 a few months back & I suggested the L640 as its replacement. He ended up buying a T-Mobile 640 at Walmart and while he has been happy with the phone, T-Mobile's coverage here in NorCal and less than stellar customer service has him wanting to switch back to AT&T.

He just refilled his account which puts him over $100 in refills so should be able to request the phone be unlocked per T-Mobiles unlock policy. Before he jumps ship, He would like to know if his phone will be fully functional with AT&T. I know he will lose WiFi Calling but will there be any other issues like will Visual Voicemail be functional with AT&T?
 
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LumiaGuy

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Thanks - curious as to why you're considering going from the L640 to a L532? Comparing the specs between the two phones, it looks like that would be somewhat of a downgrade to me?
 

libra89

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Thanks - curious as to why you're considering going from the L640 to a L532? Comparing the specs between the two phones, it looks like that would be somewhat of a downgrade to me?
I'll still have the 640, but the 532 would be a backup/alternate phone. I kind of miss the smaller size phones, and also the 640 doesn't have a green back. :/
So the 532 hits both marks, and it looks like it would be fun to play with. From what I see, there aren't many choices for Lumias with green backs, and if I was to get an unlocked 735, that would mean replacing my 640 and I still like it so I don't want to do that. The 435 is too low of specs (for my personal preference), so the 532 is kind of in the middle. Also, I'm used to Glance now so not having it would be kind of odd. Also very used to Denim too, so it just checks a lot of boxes.

TL;DR: Not a replacement, needing a Lumia with a green back (always wanted one).
 

oryan_dunn

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I think the AT&T, T-Mobile, and Cricket 640 are all RM-1073 phones. If that's the case, then it should work just fine. If they are indeed the same hardware version, you could also flash the AT&T software for the 640 on the T-Mo version with NCS (if NCS supports the 640, which I'm not sure if it does or not). I used NCS to flash the UK version software to my AIO 620 (which was forever stuck on Amber).
 

neodk

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It's been stated in the past that you can't flash non-AT&T firmware on AT&T Windows Phones but you can on T-Mobile branded devices? Just curious. And no, this isn't thread hijacking because it's relevant to anyone switching from T-Mobile to AT&T and plans on using their 640 they got from T-Mobile.
 

oryan_dunn

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It's been stated in the past that you can't flash non-AT&T firmware on AT&T Windows Phones but you can on T-Mobile branded devices? Just curious. And no, this isn't thread hijacking because it's relevant to anyone switching from T-Mobile to AT&T and plans on using their 640 they got from T-Mobile.

I was under the impression that as long as the hardware version was the same, you could cross flash the software from any other phone with that hardware. I know for a phone like my AT&T 830, it's not possible since the AT&T version is an RM-983, and the international versions were RM-984 or RM-985.

I know I flashed my RM-846 Lumia 620 from aio/Cricket with the British country version RM-846, and everything works just fine (except visual voicemail).
 

PepperdotNet

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I was under the impression that as long as the hardware version was the same, you could cross flash the software from any other phone with that hardware. I know for a phone like my AT&T 830, it's not possible since the AT&T version is an RM-983, and the international versions were RM-984 or RM-985.

I know I flashed my RM-846 Lumia 620 from aio/Cricket with the British country version RM-846, and everything works just fine (except visual voicemail).
Not quite. AT&T uses a different signature/certificate in the bootloader, so unless you are a l33t hax0R you won't be flashing it with anything but the stock AT&T firmware. Found this out the hard way with an AT&T branded Lumia 1020 (RM-877) that won't accept other RM-877 roms. There are ways around it, for example the quite detailed and convoluted Lumia 920 unbranding tutorial, but only successful with certain devices.
 
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oryan_dunn

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Not quite. AT&T uses a different signature/certificate in the bootloader, so unless you are a l33t hax0R you won't be flashing it with anything but the stock AT&T firmware. Found this out the hard way with an AT&T branded Lumia 1020 (RM-877) that won't accept other RM-877 roms.

Color me not surprised.... how very AT&T of them.

Since AT&T owns aio/Cricket, somewhat surprised the flash worked on my 620 then.
 

neodk

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Color me not surprised.... how very AT&T of them.

Since AT&T owns aio/Cricket, somewhat surprised the flash worked on my 620 then.

In the last 72 hours I have had AT&T unlock my 635 (backup) and 640 phones that I had with them to potentially use on T-Mobile. Because you can't flash non-AT&T firmware on these devices, it's pretty much a lost cause to try and use them elsewhere. Plus the logo....

And if you do manage to install a non-AT&T firmware on your phone, you pretty much prevent the Windows Phone Recovery Tool from working properly. But if you are of the level that you are flashing firmware from other countries, you already know this and how to flash with other tools. I had this issue with my 635. Now only choose to use the 8.1 build for its stability on my phone.
 

HoosierDaddy

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I'll still have the 640, but the 532 would be a backup/alternate phone. I kind of miss the smaller size phones, and also the 640 doesn't have a green back. :/.
FWIW Was looking for a blue back for a 640 and found an eBay seller with the whole rainbow. Obviously 3rd party but....
 

libra89

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FWIW Was looking for a blue back for a 640 and found an eBay seller with the whole rainbow. Obviously 3rd party but....
Thank you for sharing that info with me. I have tried the third party green back from there, but sadly, it was too small. At first, it seemed like it could fit, but then I put it on and it almost broke my sd card and my phone kept turning on and off. Ugh.

Edit: I see the one with the many colors have put up their listing again, and they were the one I bought from :/
 
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HoosierDaddy

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Thank you for sharing that info with me. I have tried the third party green back from there, but sadly, it was too small. At first, it seemed like it could fit, but then I put it on and it almost broke my sd card and my phone kept turning on and off. Ugh.

Edit: I see the one with the many colors have put up their listing again, and they were the one I bought from :/
Thanks! My wife was thinking about getting a purple back.
 

neodk

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This is why I wish Microsoft would just release the different colored battery covers to prevent people from getting third-party knockoffs.
 

HoosierDaddy

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This is why I wish Microsoft would just release the different colored battery covers to prevent people from getting third-party knockoffs.
Never happen. Two reasons: (1) humans can see millions of colors, (2) a good percent of the people who want another color is simply to be different.

I would MUCH rather have 3rd parties making them. The marketplace will get rid of the bad ones.

Back cover colors are a secondary consideration for a phone maker but a primary one for a cover maker. Who will do a better job?
 

neodk

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Can't we have four base colors - White, Black, Orange, and Cyan?

If someone wants a lime green battery cover and a third-party can produce one that's great. I won't be buying it. I just want a cyan 640 cover. And a black one to keep around in case the blue gets too scratched up.
 

LumiaGuy

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What a Nightmare!

I've been trying to for a week to get T-Mobile to send my Brother an unlock code for his Lumia 640. Was told he has met TM's requirements and they have said three times that the code has been sent out and to wait up to 24 hours but nothing happens. I have checked my ISP Graymail box to see if it got caught there & have double checked with TM to see if they sent it to the correct email address.

T-Mobile Customer Service is a Joke :eck:
 

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