How to determine if a mobile is compatible with Spark network

Forums › Android › How to determine if a mobile is compatible with Spark network

LesF

176 posts

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#152085 15-Sep-2014 17:17

Have just received a shiny new Android 4.4.2 mobile, was hoping it would work on Spark but putting my wife's SIM card into it was a failure; man at the Spark store just said it is not compatible cos it doesn't do 850.

I gave this one a try as its specs are:

Networking WCDMA , GSM
Frequency 2G: GSM850/GSM900/DCS1800/PCS1900; 3G: WCDMA850MHz/2100MHz
Data Transfer GPRS , HSPA , EDGE

But it seems Sparkecom do not use WCDMA?

So my main question is, how do you determine if a phone is compatible with the Spark network before buying?

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#1129255 15-Sep-2014 17:20

WCDMA 850/2100 is exactly what you need. The "only supporting phones bought from us" policy was lifted in 2009 so that's not the issue either.

Did you get those specs from the phone box or from somewhere like GSMArena? Sometimes the details on there are wrong.

LesF

176 posts

Master Geek

#1129259 15-Sep-2014 17:23

The specs are from:
http://www.dx.com/p/thl-t6s-mtk6582m-quad-core-android-4-4-phone-w-5-0-ips-8gb-rom-gps-ota-black-presale-336737#.VBZ0FPmSxD1

and the hardware appears to match the description.

I did get the feeling that the Spark man did not try very hard to find a solution, so I don't know if it is actually incompatible or just not worth the effort.

graemeh

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#1129261 15-Sep-2014 17:26

LesF: Have just received a shiny new Android 4.4.2 mobile, was hoping it would work on Spark but putting my wife's SIM card into it was a failure;

Can you tell us how it failed.

I assume it just didn't connect to the network. Did it connect to any other network (in emergency mode)? If you do a scan for networks what do you see? Have you been able to test it with another SIM card (ideally another from Spark or Skinny and another from Vodafone or 2 Degrees or similar).

johntynz

119 posts

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#1129263 15-Sep-2014 17:27

looks like it would work, does it have 2 sim slots? have you tried both?

LesF

176 posts

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#1129266 15-Sep-2014 17:31

Telecom SIM card is recognized but as soon as it tries to connect it crashes:
Unfortunately the process com.android.phone has stopped
Then tries to connect again immediately, so effectively every 2 seconds an error box pops up.

Trying it with a 2 Degrees SIM now (which I expect will work as the last time I upgraded to a similar mob I had to change to 2 Degrees, was hoping to keep my wife on her current account).

Ok... same error on 2 Degrees connection.

nathan

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#1129270 15-Sep-2014 17:35

It's not uncommon for stuff listed on DX to not match the specs listed on the site. Abu software updates available?

jeffnz

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#1129301 15-Sep-2014 18:20

try going to 'settings'
'apps'
"all'
look for phone, tap to enter then info, 'clear data'
look for "sim toolkit"and do the same then reboot

if it still happens try factory reset

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LesF

176 posts

Master Geek

#1129304 15-Sep-2014 18:22

Know what you are saying, but have not personally had problems with DX orders before.

No software updates available.
No I haven't tried SIM slot 1 as I don't have a micro SIM to fit in there.
No go on either 2 Degrees or Spark SIMs, same error when it tries to connect.

Suspect its a faulty device at this stage.

freitasm

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#1129323 15-Sep-2014 18:44

LesF: Telecom SIM card is recognized but as soon as it tries to connect it crashes:
Unfortunately the process com.android.phone has stopped
Then tries to connect again immediately, so effectively every 2 seconds an error box pops up.

Trying it with a 2 Degrees SIM now (which I expect will work as the last time I upgraded to a similar mob I had to change to 2 Degrees, was hoping to keep my wife on her current account).

Ok... same error on 2 Degrees connection.

I'd say is more the case of being a low quality Android device with poor integration than a network compatibility problem.

jeffnz

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#1129342 15-Sep-2014 19:25

if clearing data under phone app doesn't work nor does factory reset have a read here for similar issue on Vodafone forum with suggestion it may be locked.

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freitasm

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#1129344 15-Sep-2014 19:28

It happens a lot of times those cheap phones all share the same IMEI. If one of these handsets come into the country and is later locked (lost, stolen) then *ALL devices* with the same IMEI will automatically be locked.

You can check the IMEI status in the TCF website here.

scottjpalmer

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#1129474 15-Sep-2014 21:41

LesF: No I haven't tried SIM slot 1 as I don't have a micro SIM to fit in there.

Lots of dual SIM phones only do full network support on SIM 1 with only 2G on SIM 2.

LesF

176 posts

Master Geek

#1129676 16-Sep-2014 10:09

freitasm: I'd say is more the case of being a low quality Android device with poor integration than a network compatibility problem.

Yeah well I took that risk, have had reasonable success in the past with a tablet and phone.
IMEI numbers are not blocked in NZ.
Clearing app data has no effect.

What's the easiest way to get a micro SIM to try in slot 1? And with my 2 Degrees SIM in slot 2, I expect it should have connected to something at least.

Guess this may be my first unhappy return to DX...

andrewNZ

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#1129718 16-Sep-2014 10:42

You could get a 2degrees sim for @$5 to test with. Or find someone with a newish phone and borrow theirs.

graemeh

2078 posts

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#1129721 16-Sep-2014 10:47

LesF: Guess this may be my first unhappy return to DX...

I've had to do returns to DX before, they are pretty good with returns.

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