Hi all, I am new to this so please bear with me. I need some advice and hope someone can help me cause Im totally lost on what to do. I purchased a international galaxy note N7000(not a samsung, a knock off..has android branding on the back...i was aware of this when i bought it) it is a unlocked gsm phone that is compatible with the frequencies here in the U.S. however, i recieved the phone and I am not able to get the phone to connect to a mobile network here at all....I have put a verizon, at&t, and straight talk sim in the phone and it will not connect to a mobile network....ive tried to search for a network and it gives me a error that says"error searching for mobile network" every time and will not pick up. Also i noticed the phone is missing one of the settings...when I go to settings and wireless and networks to edit the settings, it does not have the allow data packet setting in it, its completely gone(im thinking maybe this is why its not connecting to a network)...when I go to the phone settings ...network status says disconnected,...and will not let me connect to it or edit it to try to connect to a network...i was going to try to install a updated version of the firmware on the phone but cannot find any usb drivers for the phone since its a knock off. Any ideas...everything else wifi, bluetooth works great on the phone....im just not able to connect to any mobile network...please help...i really wanna use this phone, i paid $160 for the phone and the company i bought it from wants me to ship it back for a exchange but want to to pay over 100 bucks to ship it back and i refuse to pay that when its not my fault the phone isnt working....so now they have agreed to only refund me 32.00 of the 160.00 i spent.....any ideas??????
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International Galaxy Note
- Thread starter sfinney12
- Start date
You've more than likely got a 900/1800 GSM/EDGE only one. It doesn't have the US bands. There's quite a few cheapo knock-offs like that. They will never work in the US. Basically you were ripped off. Ebay was it? Most people I know who have these things, their carrier is China Mobile.
It might say it's international or it has US bands, but the peeps in Shenzhen or Hong Kong who sold it to you don't know for sure, or they're just lying.
It might say it's international or it has US bands, but the peeps in Shenzhen or Hong Kong who sold it to you don't know for sure, or they're just lying.
If its anything like the Kliton one I've got, it might be OK as a KIRF Galaxy Player, or a small tablet. Although on some of them, I think the audio quality from the headphone jack can be rather crappy due to the cheapo analogue components used. The screen is OK, think it's around 960x540, it's not AMOLED. The cameras are often the worse things about them, some are truly dreadful. I wouldn't use them as a general camera, maybe OK for Instagrams or some kind of Lomograhy type thing.
The main issues might be, as with most cheapo knock-offs, is possible bricking, crappy WiFi, lag, crashes and general unreliability. Although the one I've got seems to be OK so far. Forget manufacturer's software upgrades or custom ROMs as well. The build quality of mine seems to be on a par with some Samsung Galaxy phones, i.e. it feels plasticy and it creeks.
Without packet data you should still be able to connect to voice, provided it supports ATT GSM bands (850 and 1900). No chance with Verizon as that's not a GSM network - Verizon SIMs are for LTE only, and it certainly won't support that.
You say it supports US frequencies - can you give us the details? Then we'll at least know whether you've misunderstood and it could never work, or whether this particular handset is not functioning as described. Not sure it will make much difference though.
Unfortunately I don't know what your consumer protection rights are. If you bought it from a US-based importer you may have some comeback (you would in Europe), but if you bought it from a Chinese-based outfit I suspect there's not much you can do.
You say it supports US frequencies - can you give us the details? Then we'll at least know whether you've misunderstood and it could never work, or whether this particular handset is not functioning as described. Not sure it will make much difference though.
Unfortunately I don't know what your consumer protection rights are. If you bought it from a US-based importer you may have some comeback (you would in Europe), but if you bought it from a Chinese-based outfit I suspect there's not much you can do.
LiveWallpapers
Member
Keeping my fingers crossed for you... Hope you can get your issue resolved 
I'm thinking it's just not going to work at all Stateside. Many fakes are 900/1800 GSM/EDGE only, NO 3G at all. Despite what they might tell you. There's always a chance it might have the bands, but it's actually duff. There's so many of these KIRF Galaxy Notes now, can be difficult to tell what it might be.
The vendor is more than likely in China, from what the OP described. They don't know or really care if what they sell works in the US on AT&T or not. It works with a China Mobile SIM, so it must be OK then.
