Sprint Galaxy S3 on AT&T for LTE?

[schulzey3486]

Hi everyone I've finally given up on apple and decided to buy the galaxy s3 instead. I currently own an older android device that is far from spectacular and was waiting for iphone 5 which I was disappointed with. Anyway, to the point of my thread.

I'm currently on sprint and I've decided I no longer want to deal with contracts as phones get updated so fast and your stuck holding the back on a very outdated phone after 2 years. I have 4 more months on my contract at sprint and have decided to just buy a Samsung Galaxy S3 outright on ebay used (usually about $350-450) and then I can sell it and upgrade when the next model comes out.

I would like to switch carriers from Sprint (which blows and has no lte coverage anywhere near where I live) and AT&T or Verizon.

Are there differences in the phones depending on which version I buy or is it like iphone where you can use the same phone for any carrier? When my contract is up I'd like to use my Galaxy S3 from sprint and switch to AT&T to finally use some of the lte speeds!

Also, besides the antenna difference if there is one (CDMA or GSM thing) are there any hardware/software differences between the galaxy s3 on different carriers? I've been looking everywhere on google and can't find any answers.

Thanks all!!

 

[damewolf13]

Welcome to AF, Schulzey3486!

I have moved this thread into the SGS3 forum (American version), as it was originally posted in the SGS3 forum (Australian version).

I have this phone with both AT&T, and Verizon, and there are no visible physical differences, (they use the same cases/screen protectors, etc) however, the difference in technologies (GSM,CDMA) would be enough to keep you from using an AT&T phone on the Verizon network, and vice-versa.

 

[schulzey3486]

Thanks for the reply. So if I buy the Sprint version (cdma) I won't have the ability to switch to AT&T and use the same phone when I'm done with my contract? For the record I hate sprint and can't wait to go to a different cell provider.

Is it only the iphone then that has all the antenna capabilities inside the same phone? If I'm not mistaken iphones have cdma and gsm built in, I was assuming that the galaxy s3 also had all the different service options built in as well.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

You will not be able to use your Sprint phone on At&t's network, radios are different. I know the iPhone 4 and 4s had two different versions (CDMA and GSM) the iPhone 5 I am unsure about.

 

[hal1]

There may be small, hardly noticeable, software differences. For example, no silent camera shutter setting on the Verizon version. Like I said, small difference.

 

[jhawkkw]

If I remember correctly, the Verizon version has dormant GSM radios that can be activated with some hacking. However I'm pretty sure that they're only EDGE radios and aren't compatible with HSPA/+ or AT&T LTE. Don't know if the sprint one is the same or not though. Might be something to look for if you're that interested.