Global options for Verizon phones (Galaxy s4 specifically)

[sonac36]

I'm looking into buying a Galaxy S4 on verizon over the summer, as part of my family plan. I'm also going to be studying in the UK for the next few years, spending about half my time in England. I was looking at sim card monthly plans like these from t-mobile and was wondering if those would work with the verizon s4 in England. Would my number change? Would I be able to disable using verizon roaming? Anything else I should know about?

[Jax_Omen]

If it's like Verizon's past samsung Galaxy 4g phones, it probably will not allow data roaming with an international sim.

[sonac36]

What does that mean? Would I be able to turn off roaming and still use it on the t-mobile voice/sms networks?

[Jax_Omen]

most likely, yes.

When you use a sim from another provider, you are operating on their network, with a phone number issued by them, and paying them for the service. essentially, until you put your VzW LTE sim back in your phone, it is not a verizon phone.

I don't actually know if the S4 will allow data services with international sims, I know most VzW phones do, but the S3 and Note 2 did not.

[sonac36]

Do you know when/how I'll be able to find out if international data services will work?

[euro43]

I had an iPhone 5 for which things worked just great. I bought a one month for 20 pound unlimited data, 300 minutes SIM at London airport, popped out the VZ SIM and put that one in (three com).  Worked like a charm - but I changed the iphone for an S4 - popped the SIM again and all I get is

Non Verizon SIM - the sim card is from an unknown source.

I presume that this means that the phone is NOT unlocked which is very, very annoying since I specifially asked this when making the change and was told at the VZ ztore that all new VZ 4G phones were unlocked - any ideas anyone?

[msturgis]

iPhone 5 is the only phone verizon that comes unlocked. All other compatible phones can be unlocked by customer care if you meet certain conditions like how long you've been a customer, if you owe anything to them etc.

Verizon is notorious when it comes to restricting device capabilities. Even though some of its phones can be unlocked, the unlocking is partial and opens up only certain device features when used with another carrier.

[Jax_Omen]

It all depends on if you can enter your own APN settings. the Verizon versions of the S3 and Note 2 did not have that function. I have no idea if the VzW S4 has it.

[Jax_Omen]

Did some hunting through the manual (

http://support.verizonwireless.com/clc/devices/index.html?p=6754&m= then click Device Manual)

Page 136 of the manual (page 143 of the pdf) mentions the Access Point Names function.

Can someone with a Verizon S4 confirm that this menu is accessible on the VzW phone?

[vzw_customer_support]

@euro43,

I know being able to use your phone while outside the USA is important especially when trying to stay connected with family and friends.

You need to have the phone unlocked before leaving the USA so you're able to use a SIM card from another carrier in London. Unlike the iPhone 5 this phone does not come unlocked.

If you need to unlock your phone you can contact our Global Support team at (800) 711-8300 if in the USA or  (908) 559-4899 if outside the country.


John_VZW
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