De-brand your AT&T Lumia 640 LTE.

[Twisted Fate]

If I were to unlock a phone like this, would I be able to use it in europe?

 

[libra89]

If I were to unlock a phone like this, would I be able to use it in europe?

You should be able to, as long as it has the bands needed on your network.

 

[kosmiko]

If I were to unlock a phone like this, would I be able to use it in europe?

The 4G connection won't work as there are 2 different Lumia 640, one for the American market and another one for the European market. The 4G/LTE bands are different, so it will not work (I have tried).

 

[boonesmi]

That's really nice but I don't typically like running bat files that people have assembled where I'm not doing every step myself. Does anyone know which published instructions are best to use if the xda one is out of date?

the xda method is fine, its only missing the NVI portion (and it has lots of extra steps just used to verify previous steps were implemented correctly, those extra steps can be skipped if you want)

for more info on the NVI update: when viewing the xda method, the right side of the page has a "most thanked" section. click on "all time" (since its no longer a recent post) and its the most thanked post in that thread

basically its just adding a parameter "-do_full_nvi_update" when you flash the new rom

 

[Twisted Fate]

The 4G connection won't work as there are 2 different Lumia 640, one for the American market and another one for the European market. The 4G/LTE bands are different, so it will not work (I have tried).

Hello, I have just checked, our service providers use this standard:

900/1800*MHz -*2G*(GPRS,EDGE) gsm
900/2100*MHz -*3G*(HSPA+) wcdma
800/1800*MHz -*4G*(FDD LTE)

 

[kosmiko]

Hello, I have just checked, our service providers use this standard:

900/1800*MHz -*2G*(GPRS,EDGE) gsm
900/2100*MHz -*3G*(HSPA+) wcdma
800/1800*MHz -*4G*(FDD LTE)

Lumia 640 4G/LTE bands
Europe: LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 8(900), 20(800)

USA: LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 12(700), 17(700)

I think the 640 dual SIM would work as it can work on more bands by default (not sure).

 

[tpapictures]

So, 2 questions for anyone, having successfully completed the whole process and being on the setup of the new unbranded Argentina CV ROM...
1. To do a second phone, will I need to reinstall all these things again or are they all ready to go on my computer a second time?
2. What do I do to get Win10 without it being the Insider Preview?
Thanks!

 

[dlalonde]

So, 2 questions for anyone, having successfully completed the whole process and being on the setup of the new unbranded Argentina CV ROM...
1. To do a second phone, will I need to reinstall all these things again or are they all ready to go on my computer a second time?
2. What do I do to get Win10 without it being the Insider Preview?
Thanks!

1- The only process you will have to do again is what you do to the phone itself. The software used should still be on your computer.

2- If you want it now, you'll need to get in the Insider Preview to get the latest production version. What you'll need to do is install Windows Insider, subscribe to, say, Release Preview ring. Once installed, you'll have access to the Production ring in the Windows Insider app. Subscribe to that one, update and you'll have the latest production version of WM10. Perform a hard reset and you'll be set! After that you'll be getting updates directly from Microsoft.

 

[tpapictures]

If you want it now, you'll need to get in the Insider Preview to get the latest production version..

But I was under the impression that with the unbranded Argentina CV, you could just run the upgrade advisor app and it would find the offical 10 release in this particular case. Is that wrong?

 

[dlalonde]

But I was under the impression that with the unbranded Argentina CV, you could just run the upgrade advisor app and it would find the offical 10 release in this particular case. Is that wrong?

Oh no if you're using the Argentina or Mexican ROM you should get it in your updates without the Insider app.

 

[tpapictures]

Thanks. What happens if I hard reset the phone in future for things like refreshing the system, etc? I imagine it will just go back to what it is right now, a non-set up Argentina CV? Can it ever go back to being SIM locked or have I permanently removed that already by putting in the unlock code?

 

[dlalonde]

Thanks. What happens if I hard reset the phone in future for things like refreshing the system, etc? I imagine it will just go back to what it is right now, a non-set up Argentina CV? Can it ever go back to being SIM locked or have I permanently removed that already by putting in the unlock code?

The unlocking and the unbranded are both permanent. You won't even be able to go back to the AT&T ROM. You can then hard reset as you wish and you won't have to redo everything again.

 

[shikhanshu]

I have tried both Argentina and Mexican CV roms and ended up with AR one. Nothing important except no bloatware. I received w10m official update on AR rom but not tried to do that on the other one.

I remember seeing someone mention rm-1072 roms don't work on rm-1073 model.

Any particular reason you chose Argentina ROM over Mexico ROM? I was told that Mexico ROM will be the best option if I want the phone to work in India on 3G networks there.

 

[shikhanshu]

How do I find out which ROMs support which 2G/3G/LTE bands?

Sorry if I am posting a question that has already been answered elsewhere. I tried searching but could not get a reliable answer.

My unlocked AT&T GoPhone Lumia 640 (unlocked, not de-branded or re-flashed) supports:
3G - UMTS 850/900/1900/2100MHz
GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz
4G-LTE Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 17

This phone will be used in India eventually. India bands are:
GSM 900/1800
3G - UMTS 2100
4G-LTE Bands 3, 5, 40

So with the AT&T ROM which is installed presently, I am fully covered.

If I de-brand this phone and go for AR or 7R CV ROM, will I lose any of the above band support, thereby making the phone unusable for 2G/3G/4G (any)?

Also, which is a 'better' ROM among the Argentina variant and Mexico variant and why? If both are exactly the same in terms of firmware and band-support, which one would you go for?

Thanks!

 

[pankaj981]

Re: How do I find out which ROMs support which 2G/3G/LTE bands?

Sorry if I am posting a question that has already been answered elsewhere...

Threads merged. Please continue your discussion here.


To answer your questions, you won't be losing or gaining any bands by flashing the Mexico or Argentina ROMs. Both are country variants so won't have carrier dependency for updates.

 

[ma678]

Any particular reason you chose Argentina ROM over Mexico ROM? I was told that Mexico ROM will be the best option if I want the phone to work in India on 3G networks there.

No specific reason. I flashed Mexico CV and then AR CV. I was tired of testing any more and stay with AR CV. IMO, they are the same.

 

[tpapictures]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone happen to know why English (United States) isn't an option when you set up the phone on the Argentina CV? I was trying to select it when I was setting up my father's phone but couldn't find it.

 

[shikhanshu]

No specific reason. I flashed Mexico CV and then AR CV. I was tired of testing any more and stay with AR CV. IMO, they are the same.

Actually I looked at the "official" supported bands (2g/3g/4g) for both ROMs and AR ROM has many more supported out of the box as compared to 7R.
So I too decided to go for AR ROM.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone happen to know why English (United States) isn't an option when you set up the phone on the Argentina CV? I was trying to select it when I was setting up my father's phone but couldn't find it.

English (US) is not available on AR ROM by default. Choose any English (UK for example) to finish the set up. And then later just download US English.

Threads merged. Please continue your discussion here.


To answer your questions, you won't be losing or gaining any bands by flashing the Mexico or Argentina ROMs. Both are country variants so won't have carrier dependency for updates.

I did look at Microsoft's country specific page for Lumia 640 LTE.
Argentina: https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...ia640-lte%2Fcaracteristicas%2F&token=SYR-8EuR
GSM network: 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 1,900 MHz
GSM, maximum data rate DL: EGPRS 296.0 kbps
GSM, maximum data rate UL: EGPRS 236.8 kbps
WCDMA network: Band 5 (850 MHz), Band 1 (2100 MHz), Band 2 (1.900 MHz), Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz)
WCDMA, maximum data rate DL: 42.2 Mbps (Cat 24)
WCDMA, maximum data rate UL: 5.76 Mbps (Cat 6)
LTE FDD network: Band 5 (850MHz), Band 17 (700MHz), Band 12 (700 MHz), Band 28 (700 MHz), Band 2 (1.900 MHz) band 7 (2600 MHz), Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz)
LTE maximum data rate DL: 150 Mbps (Cat 4)
LTE maximum data rate UL: 50 Mbps (Cat 4)

Mexico: https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...ia640-lte%2Fcaracteristicas%2F&token=Raq8AmuI
GSM network: 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 1,900 MHz
GSM, maximum data rate DL: EGPRS 296.0 kbps
GSM, maximum data rate UL: EGPRS 236.8 kbps
WCDMA network: 850 MHz (band 5), 900 MHz (band 8), 2100 MHz (band 1)
WCDMA, maximum data rate DL: 42.2 Mbps (Cat 24)
WCDMA, maximum data rate UL: 5.76 Mbps (Cat 6)
LTE FDD network: 900MHz (lane 8), 800MHz (band 20), 1800 MHz (band 3), 2100 MHz (band 1), 2600 MHz (band 7)
LTE maximum data rate DL: 150 Mbps (Cat 4)
LTE maximum data rate UL: 50 Mbps (Cat 4)

Looks like AR has more bands supported?

In any case, I did end up de-branding using iutools and flashing the AR rom using thor2 and had a wonderful and smooth experience in the whole process. I found AR rom (8.1) to be a bit smoother than AT&T rom (perhaps because of no system level bloat). I then installed Upgrade Advisor and was instantly able to upgrade to Win10 officially (now on .218). I am free of AT&T completely!

Oh and I just wanted to say a whole lot of THANK YOUs to you pankaj981 for patiently answering my repeated questions time and again. People like you make forums like these a place worth visiting. Thanks!

 

[pankaj981]

Re: How do I find out which ROMs support which 2G/3G/LTE bands?

Looks like AR has more bands supported?

Yes that is correct. My comment was towards the bands the AT&T version has. Flashing either of these ROMs would not have affected those. And thanks for the nice words!

 

[dlalonde]

Re: How do I find out which ROMs support which 2G/3G/LTE bands?

Oh and I just wanted to say a whole lot of THANK YOUs to you pankaj981 for patiently answering my repeated questions time and again. People like you make forums like these a place worth visiting. Thanks!

Agreed, he's been a great help!