Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

[psiu_glen]

Can we all just agree that Verizon is an awful carrier (business wise) and show our displeasure by switching to a Windows Phone friendly carrier?

I am dropping my verizon internet / TV service when my contract is up unless they add new windows phones to their lineup. They have 6 months.

I'd agree to that...wait, why? Because has MS blocked their phones from working on Verizon at all? Makes sense. Who is a WP friendly carrier? (Hint: none of them.)

And you're going to drop your home services - and switch to what? One of the cable companies? Ahahahahahahah, if you have a decent connection/price, just begging for headaches with that plan.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Will an "unlocked" 950XL work on Verizon?

Apparently NOT but........

Interesting screen shot from my 950XL:



Does that mean it almost happened and they never removed this choice?

 

[xandros9]

maybe it just recognizes the Verizon signal in the area? I've had SIM locked phones acknowledge that T-Mo in the area I think.

 

[Bobvfr]

This thread has carried so many hopes and dreams and it is sad that it ends this way, in some ways it has become a companion, a friend and a source of so much inspiration.

Goodbye old friend, we will miss you...................................................................

 

[Generalheed]

Apparently NOT but........

Interesting screen shot from my 950XL:

View attachment 117431

Does that mean it almost happened and they never removed this choice?

That is certainly very interesting. Is your phone unlocked and have you tried putting a Verizon SIM in it and then selecting the Verizon option?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

That is certainly very interesting. Is your phone unlocked and have you tried putting a Verizon SIM in it and then selecting the Verizon option?

I think Xandros9 has it figured out. Those aren't in the phone but rather networks my phone could see at the time. The names came from those networks rather than the phone. Note the Verizon one was LTE only.

 

[Generalheed]

I think Xandros9 has it figured out. Those aren't in the phone but rather networks my phone could see at the time. The names came from those networks rather than the phone. Note the Verizon one was LTE only (or at least that's what Verizon put in the name).

Well at least the 950's can see Verizon's network. That's certainly interesting. But I guess it can't be activated on Verizon's network still :/

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Well at least the 950's can see Verizon's network.

But its just LTE. Is that enough to get voice service? And if so, in what percent of locations?

 

[DoctorPizza]

But its just LTE. Is that enough to get voice service? And if so, in what percent of locations?

Verizon supports VoLTE, which means that LTE is all you need for voice. I believe their VoLTE rollout is now nationwide, so in theory it's enough. This means Microsoft just needs to pass Verizon's Block C certification and then Verizon has to allow the phones onto its 700 MHz LTE.

Thus far, however, Microsoft has failed to get the certification.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Verizon supports VoLTE, which means that LTE is all you need for voice. I believe their VoLTE rollout is now nationwide, so in theory it's enough. This means Microsoft just needs to pass Verizon's Block C certification and then Verizon has to allow the phones onto its 700 MHz LTE.

Thus far, however, Microsoft has failed to get the certification.

I think there is more to it than that.

 

[MikeSo]

I think there is more to it than that.

Clearly. Remember, the Icon was supposed to come out in November of 2013. It was delayed for unknown reasons until February. My guess is that Microsoft knew the same thing would happen again with these phones...

 

[SMBowen]

I'll add my bit on this either to add to the confusion or to continue feeding those still with hope...

I have an Icon that I busted up pretty bad and going to insurance out, but I went back to my 928 for the time being.
(reminder: Icon = nano sim, 928 = micro sim, 950XL=nano sim)
I received my 950XL from MS and plugged the inactive Icon nano sim into the phone and it shows up in the options as Verizon Wireless LTE as posted by Hoosier and even shows Verizon Wireless L (TE likely cut off) under the cell strength of SIM 1 one the top left with the same amount of bars as my still active 928.

I decided to reactive the Icon sim online and then the device couldn't find the network in the status nor in the sim settings.

Just thought it was interesting that there was a difference between an activated Verizon sim and a non-activated sim.

Tomorrow I will be off to the AT&T store to leave my nearly 13 year Verizon account...

 

[RumoredNow]

Verizon supports VoLTE, which means that LTE is all you need for voice. I believe their VoLTE rollout is now nationwide, so in theory it's enough. This means Microsoft just needs to pass Verizon's Block C certification and then Verizon has to allow the phones onto its 700 MHz LTE.

Thus far, however, Microsoft has failed to get the certification.

Both phones need to be VoLTE enabled phone side and carrier enabled on the current tower they are connected to for a VoLTE call to take place.

They need a mutual handshake. Forcing the 950/XL through on Block C fails for users unless every handset and tower in the US is VoLTE enabled to channel the call, yes?

How do you use VoLTE when calling a landline? Or Grandma's flip phone?

Verizon starts rolling out VoLTE, but on only 2 phones to start - FierceWireless

 

[anon(7901790)]

Both phones need to be VoLTE enabled phone side and carrier enabled on the current tower they are connected to for a VoLTE call to take place.

They need a mutual handshake. Forcing the 950/XL through on Block C fails for users unless every handset and tower in the US is VoLTE enabled to channel the call, yes?

How do you use VoLTE when calling a landline? Or Grandma's flip phone?

Verizon starts rolling out VoLTE, but on only 2 phones to start - FierceWireless

Yes you are correct. That was something I stated a number of posts ago. Advanced Calling only works with other Advanced Calling enabled phones. Verizon has several now, but there are thousands, if not 10s of thousands of customers either using a non Advanced Calling enabled or capable handset. My mother-in-law is one of them.

Of the 59 handsets that Verizon offers, 40 of them are Advanced Calling capable, none of them basic flip phones (not everybody wants or can afford a smartphone). That means if they allowed the 950/950XL on it's network as VoLTE only, it would not be able to communicate with 1/3 of the handsets it offers (that is a lot of people). That defeats the purpose of what Verizon provides, the ability for a Verizon customer to fully use its network to communicate. Furthermore, just because an area has LTE coverage, doesn't mean you get LTE everywhere in that area. There are LTE dead spots within those areas. If you get into one of those dead spots, you lose ALL communication, because Verizon uses CDMA as it's 3G voice/SMS.

Until Verizon dumps its CDMA network (which it is in the process of doing), phones like the 950/950XL will not work.

I really wish people would stop and think. Verizon has millions of customers and it has to be able to provide its services to EVERYONE of those customers. Even though Verizon values ALL of its customers (and it does contrary to the rants you read in this and other forums), it's NOT going to offer a device that appeals to a small fraction of its customer base and is unable to communicate with EVERYONE of its customers.

 

[RumoredNow]

Yes you are correct. That was something I stated a number of posts ago.

Yep. And some users keep saying VoLTE will save us and the device will magically work. Just gotta keep restating the point apparently.

 

[anon(7901790)]

Verizon points the blame at Microsoft when asked about Lumia 950 availability

Nice little article. As to why Microsoft didn't send through Verizon's certification process? We can only speculate. I think it has to do with the thoroughness of Verizon's testing. The Icon was delayed for several months before being released; and WP8.1/Cyan was never released. The 928 and Icon went straight to WP8.1/Denim, which indicates Cyan didn't pass Verizon's testing; though the 928 and Icon were among the first phones in the US to get Denim.

Maybe Microsoft, just decided to not deal with that just now. Who knows, if it becomes a big hit on AT&T and other networks with the unlocked variant, they may run it through Verizon's certification process. Something that's also been mentioned here and in other forums.

Verizon's testing is very meticulous and demanding. It pushes reliability over everything else, which goes back to what I said previously. Verizon only allows devices on its network that it knows won't break it AND can communicate reliably. Just like the old "Can you hear me now?" commercials touted.

 

[DoctorPizza]

Both phones need to be VoLTE enabled phone side and carrier enabled on the current tower they are connected to for a VoLTE call to take place.

They need a mutual handshake. Forcing the 950/XL through on Block C fails for users unless every handset and tower in the US is VoLTE enabled to channel the call, yes?

How do you use VoLTE when calling a landline? Or Grandma's flip phone?

The same way that you use CDMA or GSM when calling a landline. The mobile operator has bridges that connect the wireless network to the wired one (http://lteuniversity.com/get_trained/video_tutorials/m/videotutorials/11771.aspx). Calls do not have to be VoLTE end-to-end (though I believe that VZW and AT&T have demonstrated cross-network end-to-end VoLTE calls).

It's possible that VZW's network is limited in some way (although I don't know why it would be), but VoLTE operators in other countries have managed to do this successfully. There's certainly no inherent limitation of the kind you describe. Good grief, there's even specs for how to hand off VoLTE calls to CDMA2000 and GSM networks to handle moving between cells and such (though VZW is on-record as saying they won't use them and won't need them).

 

[RumoredNow]

Color me highly skeptical that Vzw is going to hand your VoLTE call off to other providers to complete the call while you are on their network and unable to connect as other than VoLTE. The phone itself is incapable of CDMA for Vzw to complete the call and why would you expect to Roam onto GSM in presence of a Vzw Tower?

Roaming agreements kick in when your home tower is unavailable, yes? Not when you are on network.

 

[DoctorPizza]

Color me highly skeptical that Vzw is going to hand your VoLTE call off to other providers to complete the call while you are on their network and unable to connect as other than VoLTE. The phone itself is incapable of CDMA for Vzw to complete the call and why would you expect to Roam onto GSM in presence of a Vzw Tower?

Roaming agreements kick in when your home tower is unavailable, yes? Not when you are on network.

If you have VoLTE, why would VZW need to hand off the call to anyone else? You've already got a telephony connection. VZW is planning to ditch their 2G and 3G networks entirely in the 2020s; do you truly believe that they're going to abandon support for calling landlines when they do?

 

[anon(7901790)]

If you have VoLTE, why would VZW need to hand off the call to anyone else? You've already got a telephony connection. VZW is planning to ditch their 2G and 3G networks entirely in the 2020s; do you truly believe that they're going to abandon support for calling landlines when they do?

Easier said than done. VoLTE is essentially VoIP over a wireless connection. It is completely digital and it is all data versus 3G which is not. To do so, Verizon would need to install converters to convert an all digital signal to analog. This is adds expense and reduces reliability. It is easier and cheaper to ditch the 3G network. To do that though takes time; Verizon needs to eventually replace EVERY handset. That takes time, and there are always going to be holdouts. Just look at the issues we had here in the US when we switched from analog to digital TV.

Sure you can point to companies like Vonage who were on the leading edge of the VoIP phone wave. The difference is, Vonage started from the ground up and included in its network, the ability to call ANY phone regardless of whether it was VoIP or not. Wireless carriers such as Verizon had already established CDMA many years ago and its more complicated than just enabling a VoLTE phone to talk to a non-VoLTE phone.