Galaxy 7.0 tablet - no external SIM slot.

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eljefe

99 posts

Master Geek

#83689 20-May-2011 13:30

Hi there. I just picked up a Samsung Galaxy Tab from firstin.co.nz
Its a Telco branded "Sprint" model from the US, and as such it has NO external slot for a SIM card.

The "documentation" on the firstin site said that the phone could be "jail-broken" to work using 3G in NZ, but at the owners risk. It said it about 5 times.

I have never "jail-broken" or "rooted" a phone/tablet before, and I need to know, is there anything to be gained by using the z4root if I cannot put in a new SIM ?

>>- CDMA 800/1900 EVDO & GPRS/EDGE 3G wireless connectivity
>> (needs to be "jailbroken" at your own risk for NZ 3G compatibility)

Full link to firstin-fluff here: http://tinyurl.com/blerbblerb

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425 posts

Ultimate Geek

#471576 20-May-2011 13:55

I can't be entirely certain, but this looks like a CDMA device. Sprint is a CDMA provider and the text states it's CDMA 800/1900 EVDO. CDMA devices usually don't use SIM cards.

GPRS/EDGE are GSM related technologies (although 2.5G at best, not 3G), but it seems likely first-in has confused the specs of the CDMA and GSM versions of the tablet.

You might be able to get it connected to Telecom's old CDMA network, but it's unlikely. Even if you could the prices on that network are high, and it'll be turned off sooner or later.

I'd try to return it to firstin, but I'm not sure if you'll succeed. They clearly advertised it as wifi-only.

You could always try using a USB 3G modem, but it's not a very elegant solution.

eljefe

99 posts

Master Geek

#471580 20-May-2011 14:01

michaelt:
You might be able to get it connected to Telecom's old CDMA network, but it's unlikely. Even if you could the prices on that network are high, and it'll be turned off sooner or later.

Yes I think you are right, they maintain that they have it working on the Telecom CDMA network, but knowledge on how they did it is less forthcoming. To be honest, the main use of it would be for texting anyway : ) The data usage would be via wifi at home.

michaelt

425 posts

Ultimate Geek

#471585 20-May-2011 14:11

Probably best to use it via wifi at home, and use something a bit smaller for texting. A 7" tablet is a bit large to carry around and get out whenever you need to send a message.

If you're determined to do it, some of the USB modems do allow you to send and receive text messages. Not sure if you'll be able to get that working under Android though.

eljefe

99 posts

Master Geek

#471586 20-May-2011 14:14

A 7 inch tablet is exactly the right size for my wifes eyesight for texting : )
I am happy with my galaxy 5.

Thanks for your feedback.

Behodar

10508 posts

Uber Geek

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Lifetime subscriber

#471614 20-May-2011 15:20

michaelt: GPRS/EDGE are GSM related technologies (although 2.5G at best, not 3G), but it seems likely first-in has confused the specs of the CDMA and GSM versions of the tablet.

Actually, Samsung's site lists GPRS/EDGE for that model. I'm still trying to find information on how to use it with no SIM slot though...

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#471622 20-May-2011 15:29

a) Telecom won't hook up new connections to the old CDMA network any more.

b) They never hooked up CDMA devices that they didn't sell, unless you had a "mate" on the inside.

If FirstIn have in fact sold a CDMA unit, then they essentially should've sold it as a WiFi ONLY unit, as that's effectively what it'd be given that the cell radio in it is useless to you.

"Jailbreaking" a tab won't suddenly change the type of radio inside it to one that works in NZ.

There's 3 main versions of the SGT;

GT-P1000 GSM - The standard 16Gb 3G/HSDPA/WCDMA/GSM version.
The "T-Mobile" branded units had the phone functionality disabled, it can be hacked to enable it again, but you still won't get 3G data.

GT-P1000 CDMA - Standard 16Gb CDMA version (Usually "Sprint" branded)

GT-P1010 - WiFi only version (No cell radio).

@KnightNZ

Behodar

10508 posts

Uber Geek

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#471623 20-May-2011 15:30

After reading through the manual, it looks like the specs on Samsung's site - which have been copied by FirstIn - are wrong. There's no mention of connecting to GPRS or EDGE in the manual, which is what you'd expect with no SIM slot.

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eljefe

99 posts

Master Geek

#471630 20-May-2011 15:48

stevenz: a) Telecom won't hook up new connections to the old CDMA network any more.

b) They never hooked up CDMA devices that they didn't sell, unless you had a "mate" on the inside.

If FirstIn have in fact sold a CDMA unit, then they essentially should've sold it as a WiFi ONLY unit, as that's effectively what it'd be given that the cell radio in it is useless to you.

"Jailbreaking" a tab won't suddenly change the type of radio inside it to one that works in NZ.

There's 3 main versions of the SGT;

GT-P1000 GSM - The standard 16Gb 3G/HSDPA/WCDMA/GSM version.
The "T-Mobile" branded units had the phone functionality disabled, it can be hacked to enable it again, but you still won't get 3G data.

GT-P1000 CDMA - Standard 16Gb CDMA version (Usually "Sprint" branded)

GT-P1010 - WiFi only version (No cell radio).

>>The "T-Mobile" branded units had the phone functionality disabled,
>>it can be hacked to enable it again, but you still won't get 3G data.

Given that they said that the phone could be made to use 3g, then I think they were a tad dishonest. Yes I know it was sold as "wifi-only" but stated many many times that it could be "jail-broken".

I was never going to be a 3g data user anyway, pretty much txt only and wifi at home.
If its too hard core to hack it for CDMA texting (for a year or 2 ?) then I could evaluate it for a night and see if everything else is working on it before deciding what to do.

I would be interested if there are resources out there for hacking it to run on CDMA stevenz.

Thanks for all your replies.

michaelt

425 posts

Ultimate Geek

#471638 20-May-2011 16:04

The main problem isn't hacking it to run on CDMA. That's probably possible, and might not even require any hacking.

The problem is that since Telecom's CDMA network doesn't use SIM cards, the only way to connect is for them to connect it for you.

Stevenz stated that:
a) Telecom won't hook up new connections to the old CDMA network any more.
b) They never hooked up CDMA devices that they didn't sell, unless you had a "mate" on the inside.

I have no reason to believe that he's wrong. I don't think this is even worth trying. If you do feel the need to try though, I remember hearing about people having more success transferring an existing CDMA account (from an old CDMA phone) to a new device than creating a new account.

eljefe

99 posts

Master Geek

#471648 20-May-2011 16:17

michaelt: <snip>
I have no reason to believe that he's wrong. I don't think this is even worth trying. If you do feel the need to try though, I remember hearing about people having more success transferring an existing CDMA account (from an old CDMA phone) to a new device than creating a new account.

I can certainly try that !
XT coverage is complete cr^p at my house compared to my old CDMA phones anyway.
Cheers

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#471651 20-May-2011 16:21

The big problem with a CDMA device is that if it's not a Telecom device then they won't have the necessary details for it in their system, so you can't just take it into a Telecom store and get them to do it for you, someone higher up the food chain would need to have the physical device.

This is what I've had explained to me in the past anyway, someone else may be able to shed more light on this, general upshot is, don't expect to get a CDMA device working in NZ these days.

Also, bear in mind Telecom are shutting the CDMA network off completely at some stage, sometime next year I believe?

Reading the firstin page, they've actually largely covered themselves, although the CGA may disagree, the actual wording is:

"CDMA 800/1900 EVDO & GPRS/EDGE 3G wireless connectivity (needs to be "jailbroken" at your own risk for NZ 3G compatibility)"

Technically, they're not wrong. The device would be hardware _compatible_ with the Telecom CDMA network, the fact they they'd be _extremely_ unwilling to connect it to the old network is another story.

The price is ok for a wifi-only unit though. Just turn off anything in the settings related to the phone network and it'll still be a useful device, you could get a 2talk account and use it as a VoIP phone over WiFi.

@KnightNZ

Behodar

10508 posts

Uber Geek

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#471653 20-May-2011 16:24

Have a read of section 3 if you're interested.

ntsan

58 posts

Master Geek

#471684 20-May-2011 18:02

Even if it can only use wifi it is much better than the actual Galaxy TAB P1010 wifi version, which came with slower TI OMAP cpu and SGX530 gpu instead of Hummingbird gpu and SGX540 gpu

eljefe

99 posts

Master Geek

#471701 20-May-2011 18:56

ntsan: Even if it can only use wifi it is much better than the actual Galaxy TAB P1010 wifi version, which came with? slower TI OMAP cpu and SGX530 gpu instead of Hummingbird gpu and SGX540 gpu

cheers, that's good to know.

old3eyes

9120 posts

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Subscriber

#471702 20-May-2011 18:59

Even if you got it on Telecom's CDMA network EVDO has been turned off so you would get X1 and that's about as fast as GPRS or watching paint dry.

Regards,

Old3eyes

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