An Unhelpful Divergence Leading Nowhere from Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Veriizon?

DoctorPizza

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I started this thread on Oct 5 = 43 days ago and interestingly enough - as best I know - we have STILL not heard any "official word from eithers Microsoft nor Verizon? We heard that "Paul Thurrott HEARD for some trusted Microsoft sources" blah, blah, blah! We have seen all kinds off technical theories about VoLTE, etc. but WHY does the 950 list Band 13 and NOT CDMA ... yet, there is NO Band 13 for the 950XL?

I don't know why you're saying this.

Microsoft unambiguously stands by the spec sheet. The phone does not support Verizon's 2G or 3G networks, and the fault for this lies entirely with Microsoft; amid the turmoil of Windows 10, firing most of Nokia, and incorporating the rest, they elected not to finish CDMA/EVDO support.
 

TexasLabRat

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

I don't know why you're saying this.

Microsoft unambiguously stands by the spec sheet. The phone does not support Verizon's 2G or 3G networks, and the fault for this lies entirely with Microsoft; amid the turmoil of Windows 10, firing most of Nokia, and incorporating the rest, they elected not to finish CDMA/EVDO support.



I would suggest trying someone's Verizon SIM with the demo unit you have in your possession, but since you were unable to figure out how to activate a SIM I'm guessing that might be asking too much.

For those that didn't catch the reference, Dr. Pizza is the esteemed author of this:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015...-finally-has-a-new-flagship-will-anyone-care/
 

DoctorPizza

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

I would suggest trying someone's Verizon SIM with the demo unit you have in your possession, but since you were unable to figure out how to activate a SIM I'm guessing that might be asking too much.

For those that didn't catch the reference, Dr. Pizza is the esteemed author of this:
The units are carrier locked; even a T-Mobile SIM won't work.

As for your "reference": I can't use AT&T's online activation because I do not know the number allocated to the SIM (it was not supplied) nor the ZIP code the SIM was shipped to. Microsoft said that they would have the SIM activated; they failed to do so. It is not a question of being unable to "figure out" what to do.
 

TexasLabRat

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

The units are carrier locked; even a T-Mobile SIM won't work.

As for your "reference": I can't use AT&T's online activation because I do not know the number allocated to the SIM (it was not supplied) nor the ZIP code the SIM was shipped to. Microsoft said that they would have the SIM activated; they failed to do so. It is not a question of being unable to "figure out" what to do.

And I suppose neither Microsoft nor AT&T have a support number you could have called if you actually were interested in reviewing the device. I'd say you really phoned it in...but in this case, you literally didn't.
 

DoctorPizza

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

And I suppose neither Microsoft nor AT&T have a support number you could have called if you actually were interested in reviewing the device. I'd say you really phoned it in...but in this case, you literally didn't.

So to be clear: you think that Microsoft's front-line product support have anything useful to say about a product that hasn't been released yet, and that AT&T will help me activate a SIM that I don't even own? "Yeah I have this SIM that's billed to someone else's credit card and address, neither of which I even know, but I want you to enable it and let me slurp down a ton of data and rack up lots of call charges". Tell you what, you try it, see how it works out for you.

I don't deal with support staff. I deal with Microsoft and WaggEd's PR and marketing people. The only ones who can fix the SIM situation are Microsoft. They have people who manage review hardware, press relations, and such. I deal with them on a near-daily basis, and have talked to them on numerous occasions since receiving the review phone on Monday. They told me on Wednesday that they would fix the SIM issue. At the time of publication it still had not been addressed. The SIM is still not activated.

A less generous person might be inclined to make inferences about how seriously Microsoft is taking this product.
 

DoctorPizza

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

And I suppose neither Microsoft nor AT&T have a support number you could have called if you actually were interested in reviewing the device. I'd say you really phoned it in...but in this case, you literally didn't.

"Hi, Microsoft Support, I have this phone that hasn't been released yet and the AT&T SIM hasn't been activated pls help"

"Hi, AT&T Support, I have a SIM that's in someone else's name, paid for by someone else's credit card, and registered to someone else's address. Can you activate it for me? No, I don't know what name, address, credit card, or anything else."

Microsoft's PR/marketing/review people are the ones who need to get the SIM activated. They told me that they would. They did not.
 

TexasLabRat

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

"Hi, Microsoft Support, I have this phone that hasn't been released yet and the AT&T SIM hasn't been activated pls help"

"Hi, AT&T Support, I have a SIM that's in someone else's name, paid for by someone else's credit card, and registered to someone else's address. Can you activate it for me? No, I don't know what name, address, credit card, or anything else."

Microsoft's PR/marketing/review people are the ones who need to get the SIM activated. They told me that they would. They did not.


"Hi to the MS people who sent me the phone. The SIM you sent isn't activated. Can you send me another SIM or get this one activated so i can do a proper review of your phone that thousands of technical people with money to spend will read? k thx bye".

Twitter @panos_panay: Hey Panos, I'm trying to write a review of your new 950 Lumia and the SIM that was sent isn't activated. I'm having a problem getting that resolved. I can't write a proper review of a phone without a working SIM. Can you help me out?

*look around the office* Um, does anybody have a AT&T nano sim I could borrow for like 30 minutes?

Once again..if you can't be bothered to actually do your job, just say "no thank you" next time.
 

DoctorPizza

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

"Hi to the MS people who sent me the phone. The SIM you sent isn't activated. Can you send me another SIM or get this one activated so i can do a proper review of your phone that thousands of technical people with money to spend will read? k thx bye".
It's cute that you think I never bothered to talk to Microsoft to get the SIM working. I did. Several times. Guess what happened?

Once again..if you can't be bothered to actually do your job, just say "no thank you" next time.
I'm not the one who isn't doing my job properly.
 

HoosierDaddy

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

We need a Thunder Dome forum.

Two posters enter. One poster leaves. Two posters enter. One poster leaves. Two posters enter. One poster leaves.
 

DoctorPizza

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

You criticize my review because you think that I didn't try to get the SIM activated. You're mistaken in that belief. I'm really not clear why you're so desperate to defend this phone's honour.

I did my job. If Microsoft can't be bothered to send me a SIM that works with the phone that they're claiming is their flagship, that ain't my fault.
 
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Bobvfr

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

This thread has now been hijacked, shame I was enjoying it so much.
 

TexasLabRat

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

You criticize my review because you think that I didn't try to get the SIM activated. You're mistaken in that belief. I'm really not clear why you're so desperate to defend this phone's honour.

I did my job. If Microsoft can't be bothered to send me a SIM that works with the phone that they're claiming is their flagship, that ain't my fault.

I'm criticizing your review because you didn't follow through and get an activated SIM put in the phone for cellular function testing. You could have, you chose not to (I gave you hints on how you could have done so earlier..including alluding to the fact that the SIM shipped with the phone wasn't the only one in the world that could have worked). Also, you claimed that you couldn't set the screen timeout and that precluded you from running other tests when it clearly COULD be set (I have a picture I took in the MS store of the setting menu if you would like to see it)..then you belittled those who claimed otherwise. So yeah...you didn't do your job IMHO.

There are other items which are your opinion that I disagree with..others that I agree with. But that's not why I'm criticizing your review...it's the lack of effort and the lack of completeness that didn't do an Ars article justice...followed by your snide comments to others both on the Ars site and this one.
 
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Bobvfr

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

No point asking me I am in the UK and we don't even have Verizon, I am just here for the crack as they say in Ireland.
 

DoctorPizza

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

I'm criticizing your review because you didn't follow through and get an activated SIM put in the phone for cellular function testing. You could have, you chose not to (I gave you hints on how you could have done so earlier..including alluding to the fact that the SIM shipped with the phone wasn't the only one in the world that could have worked). Also, you claimed that you couldn't set the screen timeout and that precluded you from running other tests when it clearly COULD be set (I have a picture I took in the MS store of the setting menu if you would like to see it)..then you belittled those who claimed otherwise. So yeah...you didn't do your job IMHO.

There are other items which are your opinion that I disagree with..others that I agree with. But that's not why I'm criticizing your review...it's the lack of effort and the lack of completeness that didn't do an Ars article justice...followed by your snide comments to others both on the Ars site and this one.

dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4619191/wp_ss_20151122_0001.png
 

DoctorPizza

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

View attachment 117215

As a technology expert, I'm sure you're aware of group policies set through active sync which can restrict things like screen timeout limits and the like? right?

The review phone is not registered with any MDM software; not Intune, not EAS policies, not SCCM, not anything. It is exactly as Microsoft gave it to me, with no policy restrictions in place.
 

TexasLabRat

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

This phone is not registered with any MDM software; not Intune, not EAS policies, not SCCM, not anything. It is exactly as Microsoft gave it to me, with no policy restrictions in place.

While hard to believe, if that's the case then I withdraw that part of my argument. Seems funny that they would give you a "special" one that was set up differently than all others being manufactured, tho. I bet if you did a hard reset and went straight to the settings menu afterwards it would be just as I have posted above.
 

DoctorPizza

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Re: Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

While hard to believe, if that's the case then I withdraw that part of my argument. Seems funny that they would give you a "special" one that was set up differently than all others being manufactured, tho. I bet if you did a hard reset and went straight to the settings menu afterwards it would be just as I have posted above.

I have seen reports on reddit and elsewhere of other people finding the same thing (5 minute limit), so it's not just my phone. Various other Lumia handsets have had similar restrictions; my review Icon, at least some 1020s, and other odd ones. The weirdest part is that it seems to be carrier configurable; AT&T seems to have a particular habit of capping the timeout to 5 minutes.
 

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