Trophy 'world phone' has no data service on return to US

[ms960]

It works just fine. Don't bother with a BB.

Good to know. I have heard that the antenna on this phone is not as good as some others, so was just curious of that affected things. I know BB's have some of the best reception. This is kind of important as I won't be in or near any large cities, but also in some more remote towns and villages.

Thanks!

 

[kburgoyne]

Headed to the UK in a couple weeks with a couple HTC Trophys. I've been reading through this thread with some concern. It "appears" that the GSM->CDMA problem has been resolved, but the version numbers on my phone are inconsistent with what I'm reading here.

I have:

OS Version
7.10.8107.79

Firmware revision number
2305.13.20402.605

**Radio software version**
1.53.00.02.15_23.17w.05.13U

The OS version appears to be correct for the last WinPhone OS version. The firmware version seems to be newer than what I've been reading on threads associated with the GSM->CDMA problem. But here's the real distrubing issue: The radio version appears to be OLDER.

I haven't done any "force updates" or anything else. The updates have only been the ones for which the phone has received announcements.

Does anyone have any insight about the relationship of the radio version to the GSM->CDMA problem. Does anyone have any insight about why some people appear to be reporting newer radio versions?

Thanks!

 

[kburgoyne]

Hey world travelers, this will be my first time traveling outside the US where I'm thinking about trying to use my cell phone. As I said above, Verizon HTC Trophy and we're headed to the UK.

I understand the phone needs to be "unlocked" in order to use a UK SIMM. I also understand this is something that Verizon tells you how to do. Am I correct in this understanding?

Anybody have any recommendation on a UK SIMM supplier -- both voice and data. Preferably one I can get before leaving since we may be on the run right away when landing at Heathrow. We'll be on a tour of England, Scotland and Wales (not Ireland).

What is this "HTC Connection Setup" app? It sounds like I'll need it. Is that correct? What task does it perform that apparently the base phone won't do by itself. BTW... I'm nervous about installing it until I better understand my situation as described in my immediately prior posting.

Any other words of wisdom you HTC Trophy world travelers would be so kind to impart upon me?

Thanks!

 

[romant56]

Hey, I happen to be in the UK right now with my Trophy, so maybe I can help you out.

First of all, I'm not sure about different version numbers for the radio, but I assume everything should work if you've done the updates for which you were notified. I did the same thing.

Call Verizon before you leave and ask to speak to the "global" department. Tell them that you're going to the UK for about a month or whatever and that you need your SIM unlocked. I had to call three times before I actually got someone who knew what I was talking about. The first two people told me that my phone would just work when I get there, which is completely wrong. When you find the right person, they will send you a text with the SIM unlock code. There is an individual one for every single phone, so if you have more than one Trophy you need more than one code. This code is very important because when you put in a British SIM it will ask you for the code. The good news is that once you enter the code once, your phone is now unlocked forever, allowing you to use it on any network you want that uses a SIM. (Verizon will not tell you this because they aren't really happy about it.)

I would keep HTC Connection Setup installed on your phone. When I put in a prepaid SIM that program automatically opened and configured everything properly. I don't know if its necessary (it may be), but it seemed to help.

I asked around and decided to go with "3" network. 3 sells a SIM that lasts for 30 days with 300 minutes, 3000 texts, and UNLIMITED data. It has been very reliable for me (in the Cambridge area). When you put the SIM in you get a local UK number, so you won't be able to call or text international numbers with that card. You can always use Skype though with the unlimited data.

Overall, I'm very happy with my Trophy and it made my trip so much easier not having to buy a new phone. Good luck!

 

[kburgoyne]

Hey, I happen to be in the UK right now with my Trophy, so maybe I can help you out.

First of all, I'm not sure about different version numbers for the radio, but I assume everything should work if you've done the updates for which you were notified. I did the same thing.

Call Verizon before you leave and ask to speak to the "global" department. Tell them that you're going to the UK for about a month or whatever and that you need your SIM unlocked. I had to call three times before I actually got someone who knew what I was talking about. The first two people told me that my phone would just work when I get there, which is completely wrong. When you find the right person, they will send you a text with the SIM unlock code. There is an individual one for every single phone, so if you have more than one Trophy you need more than one code. This code is very important because when you put in a British SIM it will ask you for the code. The good news is that once you enter the code once, your phone is now unlocked forever, allowing you to use it on any network you want that uses a SIM. (Verizon will not tell you this because they aren't really happy about it.)

I would keep HTC Connection Setup installed on your phone. When I put in a prepaid SIM that program automatically opened and configured everything properly. I don't know if its necessary (it may be), but it seemed to help.

I asked around and decided to go with "3" network. 3 sells a SIM that lasts for 30 days with 300 minutes, 3000 texts, and UNLIMITED data. It has been very reliable for me (in the Cambridge area). When you put the SIM in you get a local UK number, so you won't be able to call or text international numbers with that card. You can always use Skype though with the unlimited data.

Overall, I'm very happy with my Trophy and it made my trip so much easier not having to buy a new phone. Good luck!

Hi Romant56, thank you SO much for the reply. As you can probably guess, everything is a big "unknown" to me until I actually make the trip and see pieces start working (or not).

Your "3" with unlimited data is great feedback. I've heard of "3". I'll see if I can track down a coverage map to make sure have good coverage in Scotland and Wales.

Also thank you for the feedback about maybe needed to keep beating on Verizon until somebody sends the unlock code. Without your feedback, if the first person at Verizon said "your phone doesn't need it" then I might have been inclined to believe them.

I'll have to look into Skype on the phone. I've only toyed with it on the PC, but haven't personally had a strong need to use it before now. I'm assuming that since Skype is Microsoft that using it on the WinPhone works.

If you find this, would you be so kind as to post some info off your phone? Go to Settings > System (tab) > About. Tap the "more info" button. Along with other things, it will show "OS version", "Firmware revision number", and "Radio software version". To save time typing, can you just let me know if any of those three version numbers are different on your phone from the version numbers I listed a couple posts above? I'd just like to make sure that my phone didn't partially skip some portion of an update or something.

Have you previously travelled back from the UK to the US and not had any problems with your data (not voice) service when returning back to the US? THANKS!

 

[romant56]

My numbers are exactly the same as yours, even the radio. And I forgot to mention that the 3 plan is only 15 pounds, which is another reason I chose it.

I have not taken my phone out of the country and then back so I can't comment on the data loss problem, but I read somewhere that one of the updates took care of it.

 

[psiu_glen]

Okay, I haven't gone out of the country (US) yet but from what I've been able to decipher:

your radio is up to date (matches mine);
the Connection Setup app helps get all the network settings right for things like messaging;
I believe you are limited to one "unlock" per LINE for every 10 months, just a heads up on that;

From earlier in the thread all you will need to do with the Connection Setup is switch to GSM when you are leaving. When you get there, run the setup (or it will run), then enjoy. Then when you get back here, switch to CDMA and run setup again and you should be good.

Verizon doesn't want to unlock the phones because they can otherwise let you use their SIM and charge you mega-$$$ for the privilege.