yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S III General] Zabalba:
I was in a very similar situation recently. I started my contract with ATT with the Note. Once I got wind of what kind of specs the S3 was going to have I could not stand to have outdated specs so soon to the next gen.

I ended up selling my Note on CL for about $650. Then I purchased the Skyrocket and the MicroSDless, removable batteryless, POS that is the ATT HOX. I returned the phones before the 30 days were up.

I was one of the first 50 Expansys USA S3 recipients. I ended up downgrading my dataplan like this thread instructed. I'm more than happy with my 7+ mbps speeds. If for whatever reason I actually need LTE I have a ATT 8.9 GTab I can tether from.

I have no regrets.

This is a monster of a phone and look at the development section. Heavy hitting kernel makers are dropping their wares.
[Galaxy S III General] tenkaishy:
From where do you people buy the international version? If possible is there a website with warranty? thank you
[Galaxy S III General] fucheeno:
expansys-USA.com
[Galaxy S III General] macuis:
negrielectronics.com is another good location.
[Galaxy S III General] tenkaishy:
Do they come with any warranty?
[Galaxy S III General] Zabalba:
Yea. 15 day return policy and 1 year warranty. If you end up having a hardware defect with the phone, you would end up shipping it to Expansys and they would ship it back to Sammy.
[Galaxy S III General] kim319:
they apparently very recently changed their stance on iphone unlocks.

and I confirmed the validity of this article by calling my local at&t store and also the at&t customer service.

as long as the iphone is off contract at&t will unlock the phone for you.

http://osxdaily.com/2012/04/21/unlock-iphone-att-web-technical-support/
[Galaxy S III General] mcvigo:
pm me, i know a guy that can unlock any iphone on att, contract or no, for 45 dollars.
[Galaxy S III General] kyan~:
? why would u pay to unlock an iphone. thats the dumbest thing i ever heard. its like easier than root.
[Galaxy S III General] lunercrab:
I recommend expansys. I'm returning phone due to bad overheating issues. They said I can exchange it with no probs.
[Galaxy S III General] garynsa:
Nicely and well written thread Op. The differences are well explained...
[Galaxy S III General] james11417:
$45. lol.

---------- Post added at 11:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:43 PM ----------

Thanks. I was worried they'd want to see my phone and flag it as a smartphone. Or they might ask too many questions.
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
You will be fine. They do not ask too many questions :)
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
Thank you!
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
I recommended expansys as well. I'll update a link to expansys in the op. I'm no way related to expansys tho. Someone did call me to be on their payroll once. Lol.

Edit: link in the second post. http://www.expansys-usa.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-android-smartphone-marble-white-unlocked-232311/
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
I preordered one att version from bestbuy for my friend today who is in my family plan and did not want to spend 650 right away for an international phone. I understand his point because it will be his first smartphone and he wanted it the plain simple way. Hopefully it will reach on 21st and then I can consolidate this thread even more by testing network speeds.
[Galaxy S III General] kremer4:
Sweet, I received my S3 from expansys yesterday and just called AT&T to switch me to the $10 unlimited not smartphone plan. AT&T was able to pull the EIM number automatically, the whole process took 5 minutes.

Just verified online that the switch was indeed made.

Now hopefully a better modem will come out because my download speeds are pretty horrible right now.
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
To accompany my device, I got a Square and Trade Warranty for %30 off for the Father's day sale. I think the best thing about it is if you cancel it you get what ever is left over refunded to you.
[Galaxy S III General] kim319:
hey kremer were u on a at&t smartphone with a smartphone data plan?

did you then switch over your sim to the international s3 before calling at&t and requesting the data plan switch?
[Galaxy S III General] jpalmerlee:
Firstly, I would like to thank your amazingly useful and detailed guide on this process! I am really eager to use a S3 and looking at how I can go about upgrading.

In your post you mentioned switching out your SIM card from you current smart phone to an international S3. Do you know if the iPhone 4 sim card works (because it uses a different variety correct?) If they are not compatible what are my options to get this?

My plan as it stands is to do this:

1) Buy an international GSIII

2) Buy a GS3 AT&T on contract then unlock and re-sell for profit.

3) Have AT&T unlock my Iphone 4 once I am out of contract and sell that as well.

4) Use my International GS3 with the 10$ / month unlimited data plan.

As it stands the only roadblock is that SIM card issue. Anyone have any suggestions on this?

Also, i looked at Expansys and Amazon for specs on the international phone and I could find them. From what I have read here though it seems the differences in HARDWARE are:

International has the EXYNOS processor (versus the snapdragon)

International has 1 gb of ram instead of 2

International does NOT do 4G but simply 3g HSPA+?

Are there any other differences to be aware of?

Thanks in advance for your help!
[Galaxy S III General] lhs2011:
How long do you guys think it will take for someone to bring the price down to 149? Sams club has it but with the primary line only with a 249 price for additional line upgrade:eek: But they also have the one x for 99 with upgrade. Just wondering if I should jump on that one x or wait for the price to go down to 149 as I do not like to buy something and price goes down few weeks later somewhere lol.
[Galaxy S III General] kim319:
why dont u buy the at&t S3 first? it comes with a micro sim that should for sure work in your international s3.
[Galaxy S III General] Toad858:
I dont understand why some people are so scared to walk into an att store and get a brand new microsim for free. At worst theyll put you on a smartphone plan and then you can just call cs and have em change it. And thats the worst case scenario. Most of you are already on smartphone data plan anyways
[Galaxy S III General] jpalmerlee:
They have it available for AT&T upgrades off of Amazon and Target! Sadly I am not able to post the link as I am a new member but simply go to Amazon's Wireless site and search for the Galaxy S3 and select "Individual Account for Upgrade" and you will see the price.
[Galaxy S III General] lhs2011:
Thanks! Saw that then clicked on family Family account and it went back to 199:mad: but guess that's a good sign!
[Galaxy S III General] be1ieve1111:
I'm using the same method as OP. Had it the same way with my International SGS II. I also didn't mess with any APN settings and get decent bars/free unlimited H+ for 10 a month with my SGS III IMEI. PM me if you need APN settings or have any questions.
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
I'm on with AT&T right now swapping to the medianet plan, I'll play with it for a bit and give some results.

Edit: Just got off live chat with the CSR, and am now on 10$/Unlimited

Still getting 3 down and 2 up in my house, which was typical. Speed seems identical. AWESOME!!!
[Galaxy S III General] Gu3ssWho:
SMS Go Pro Question?

Hello Everyone,

I received my S3 yesterday evening. It is a great phone, but you already know that. I have a question? On my Atrix, I used SMS Go Pro for my messaging. I installed it on the S3 and since this was installed, I have not been able to do any texting. The number for the first post is correct and I even manully entered the MMS settings, still no luck. I un-installed SMS Go and I can now text again. Has anyone else seen this and if so how was it resolved? If I have to use the stock text messager I will, but I would prefer SMS Go Pro. Thanks
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
I don't know if it means anything, but I just popped the sim from my iPhone in, did not change any settings and I'm having no issues with data or messaging. Maybe try resetting the phone and let all the settings go to default.
[Galaxy S III General] votum:
Hey guys, I've had my sgs3 for a couple of days now and holy hell. This is the first android device I've owned that felt right. I've own top tier at&t phones since the at&t tilt, fuze, captivate, iphones, infuse, etc. This is the first phone that has wowed me. The battery life is amazing to say the least. I've been burning in a pair of headphones and surfing for the past 5 hours and have 68%¡remaining. Awesome. Time to start looking for roms!
[Galaxy S III General] jpalmerlee:
Could anyone help clarify for me the differences between the International and the ATT versions of the S3?

Heres what im reading so far:

International

Quad Core Exynos

1gb ram

NO LTE / HSPA+ support?!

ATT

Snapdragon S4

2gb RAM

LTE + HSPA+ Support

Any other key differences I am missing? Trying to weigh my options and see what is the best bet.

Thanks!
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
The international has HSPA+ for North American bands. Except T-Mobile.

Sent from my GT-I9300 Galaxy S3.
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
You got the most part right.
[Galaxy S III General] kremer4:
Correct, I had a HTC One X, when my S3 I arrived I switched the sim from the HOX to the S3. I called AT&T the next day to make the switch no problems.
[Galaxy S III General] HaruSoul:
Tony: Thank you for contacting Business Data Support. My name is Tony. Before we begin, can I confirm the wireless number that we will be working with is ***-***-****?

Richard Curci: yes

Tony: Thanks. Let me help you with that. Please give me one minute so that I can bring up the account for you.

Richard Curci: ok

Tony: Thanks for waiting. So you would like to change your data plan, right?

Tony: Currently, you are using the $25 per month smartphone personal data plan, are you still using the smartphone now?

Richard Curci: correct, i recently broke my galaxy s2 and am now using an older phone, a friend informed me that there is an unlimited plan for $10 for non-smartphones

Richard Curci: no i am no longer using that phone

Tony: Yes.

Tony: Let me help you with that.

Tony: Please give me 3 minutes so that I can make the change for you.

Richard Curci: no problem

Tony: May I have the IMEI number of your phone that you are currently using? You can get the IMEI by pressing *#06#, thanks.

Richard Curci: sure one moment

Tony: Take your time.

Richard Curci: *************** (My S3 IMEI number)

Tony: Thanks.

Tony: Please give me 3 minutes.

Tony: Almost done.

Tony: Sorry about the wait.

Richard Curci: no problem

Tony: Thanks for waiting. I just removed your old $25 per month smartphone personal data plan, and then added the $10 per month non-smartphone unlimited data plan on the number **********. This feature will give you unlimited cellular data access within the United States. It will be prorated. Monthly recurring charges and services will be prorated due to the mid-month feature change. The next invoice will show: A partial MRC credit for the old feature. A partial MRC charge for the new feature. A full MRC charge for the next billing period. Any credits or charges will be less any applicable discounts. Unbilled usage information may be incorrect until the end of current bill cycle.

Tony: Do you want me to send you an e-mail about our interactive device tutorial and the e-mail about this feature change, just for your future reference?

Richard Curci: no thanks thats not needed

Tony: Okay.

Tony: Great! I think we are all set.

Tony: Have I fully resolved your issue today?

Richard Curci: yep that is all, thank you very much
[Galaxy S III General] NA 521":
Is anyone worried that ATT might catch on to this at some point? Can or will they? What do you think?
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
Who cares. I would have been paying for a data plan with the same speeds anyways. In the far future they probably will find ways to stop us.
[Galaxy S III General] ekiels:
People are continually talking about the GS3 on the straight talk network and how it is 3.5g ATT, but looking on the straight talk site their android coverage map is near nil. Perhaps the people writing are in a strong area? But am I missing something that the GS3 on the straight talk network is a great option?

Thanks.
[Galaxy S III General] varunkumars:
I have been using International GSIII for past 15 days, best phone ever. Flawless. GSI had GPS issue. GSII had hiss in the Muisc player. In every iteration of galaxy there is always a flaw. But this in this iteration its flawless. When we are talking about flaws you could find faults with any phone if you look into with a magnifying glass. Now talking about AT&T GS III they say it packs Snapdragon S4 i hope samsung implemented it the same(flawless) as international GSIII. It makes me keep my fingers crossed given the samsung's track record in the past. Anyway hope for the best.

2GB RAM is an exciting addition. Although i never had any RAM problems while multi-tasking on my i9300 GSIII.
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
I agree. No ram issues what so ever. Phone runs smoothly. This is a perfect device indeed.
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
Hmmm, AT&T texted me this morning and swapped me back to an iPhone data plan, I am on with them now trying to get it changed back to Medianet Unlimited.
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Did you, by chance, put the SIM back in the iPhone for any reason at all? Only takes 1 second for them to switch you back over.
[Galaxy S III General] ab26:
to people who got the $10 unlimited..

isnt that plan only for those who has messaging unlimited as well? (otherwise its $15)...

i signed up for $10 unlimited but after few days att automatically changed my plan to $15 unlimited since i did not have the messaging plan...
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
I don't even have an iPhone in my possession anymore :P I traded it yesterday on Craig's list before I got the GS3 and called AT&T to change it.

---------- Post added at 01:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:44 PM ----------

Probably true, I am on a family plan with unlimited messaging. I could see it being 5$ more without that.
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
Messaging unlimited is required for 10 bucks.
[Galaxy S III General] Toad858:
Theyre android phones are cdma. So the ST branded android phones actually use cdma while the rest of the network is on att
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
I am having no luck with AT&T now. They are saying they see an iPhone on my line, even though I honestly do not even have one in my possession.
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
Or you can just pay $15 for unlimited and use google voice for unlimited text. You should write that as another benefit.
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Take the phone to an AT&T store and have them switch you over.

I hope those of you who had iPhones, did the little iMessage fix before you switched over to the GSIII. If not, a lot of your received text messages will still go to your old iPhone.
[Galaxy S III General] kim319:
lol if you take the phone to an at&t store they will clearly be able to see that it is a smartphone. while you can finally get them to admit it is in fact not an iphone they will in turn point out that it is still a smartphone.

btw what exactly did you mean by "little iMessage fix"?

goto settings and turn off imessage?
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
ohhhhhh I still use iMessage on my iPad and Macbook, do you think this is somehow making ATT think I have an iPhone?
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Doesn't matter. It's not one of THEIR smartphones. They won't put you on a smartphone plan just because you are using an unbranded one.

As for the iMessage fix. This is mainly if you used to iMessage with other iPhone sers. Unless you do this fix, your old phone, not your new one, will receive all the messages.

1. Put the SIM card back in your iPhone.

2. Turn iMessage on in your settings if it isn't already.

3. Turn on airplane mode.

4. Turn off iMessage.

5. Turn off airplane mode.

6. Put your sim card back in your android device.
[Galaxy S III General] Totòòò:
Idk about att but iknow that tmobile has a system which automatically tracks what phone you are using(if it is tmobile phone) and even if u change it manually, still after 24 hrs the system tracks it automatically
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
Have you done this with success? I feel like they are going to see that it has Android and try to tell me it's a smartphone, regardless of whether it's theirs or not.

Edit: I don't think the iMessage thing should be a problem, as I am just receiving some messages on my iPad, and the rest are going right to SMS.
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Yes, I did it the first time with my GS2 in store.
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
Alright, I may just have to do that. Online, they are telling me it has to have a smartphone plan. Did you have to tell them anything in particular to get around them trying to convince you it needed a smartphone data plan?
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Why? Thy don't even know what kind of phone it is.
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
Thomas Roberson: I am sorry, but AT&T requires all smartphones to have a $20/month or higher smartphone data plan. This requirement applies whether the phone is AT&T branded or unlocked.

Thomas Roberson: Would you like to discuss your plan options for this device at this time Mr. Opdyke?
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Do you have an old dumb phone you can put your SIM in and call them back? Give them the IMEI number of the dumb phone and you'll be good to go. As far as they know, I'm still using an old RAZR V3x from 2006.
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
I can try and find one, I assume it does not matter that I am using a Micro SIM?
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Nope. That's what I am using.
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
Alright, we will see what they say. I gave them the IMEI from a very old phone I had that was branded with AT&T. I do not have an easy way to turn that on and use the SIM because it's a larger SIM, so hopefully that won't be an issue.

Edit:

He is changing the data :D hopefully it works with the GS3 even afterwards even though the other phones IMEI will be registered. Is there anything you had to do so that they did not realize it was a phone other than your Razr that you were using?
[Galaxy S III General] kim319:
*deleted*
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
"Thomas Roberson: Please be aware that if you swap your SIM back into the Galaxy S III, our system will detect the swap and automatically add the $30/month 3GB smartphone data plan."

We'll see what happens
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
The only way they would know you are using a Galaxy S III, is if you were using a AT&T branded Galaxy S III. These International GS3's have a totally different internal architecture.
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
I would think the same thing, I will be interested to see what happens in the next 24 hours or so. They did swap me over to the Non Smartphone Unlimited plan for now, so if I get a text in the next 24 hours or so then I'll have to see what else I can do.
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
They didn't even pick up on the International GS2, which was identical internally to the AT&T GS2.
[Galaxy S III General] chakra:
actually I think all that matters is if Samsung has given them a list or a range of IMEI numbers, if not then they wont be able to identify the device, but if they have a list then they will.

there is a hack to delete a file in your samsung device that will make the IMEI number some generic number not identifiable.
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
Yeah the part that I found interesting is that they thought I had an iPhone. I could see if they had swapped me to a 4G or even 3G generic smartphone plan, then maybe they somehow recognized it. I'll report back if it gets changed again.
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
Here's your problem. How do they even know you have a Galaxy S III? Why is he even talking about it? You shouldn't have told them anything about the phone you were using. They can flag your IMEI in their system.

If they detect an IMEI change, they will contact you about it later. If they already put your IMEI in the system as a smartphone you're kind of screwed.

I believe there is a way to hack the Android system to report a different IMEI, you're probably better off changing the IMEI to the dumbphone you reported.
[Galaxy S III General] kim319:
how easily can this be done? is it reversible?

wow are you saying that you can change the IMEI on the s3 to some specific IMEI you select?

if yes than couldn't you just change the IMEI on an at&t branded s3 to a dumbphone IMEI also?
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
Dude chill out. Samsung is not giving them any list, they didn't for the SGS1 or SGS2 or Skyrocket.
[Galaxy S III General] chakra:
its in this thread.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1696025&page=10

even if that is the case samsung smartphones you can just root and delete the EFS folder and your good to go, resets the IMEI to a generic IMEI
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
I heard about this procedure. I dont' know if it just displays to you or if it will dispaly on their system. It's not worth risking, just do what 100s of others are doing. Don't do what they guy above did and tell them you have a SGS3. Absolutely not, NO!

Just tell them you have a Samsung Flip Phone that has web access.

---------- Post added at 01:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:57 PM ----------

What's in that thread? That they're going to start collecting IMEI numbers from reported stolen phones?
[Galaxy S III General] kim319:
btw I wasn't the one who said anything about samsung handing over any lists.

I am just trying to find out what my available options are if I find myself in daveop's situation.

It seems sometimes at&t misidentifies unknown international phones as an iphone or some other smartphone. and even though they aren't able to identify that it is specifically an S3, it seems daveop is saying they wouldn't budge when he kept telling them that he didn't have an iphone.

Now in that situation what option does he have? I don't believe that bringing in the S3 to an at&t store to show it is not an iphone is a solution.
[Galaxy S III General] chakra:
try just clicking the link and see. this is in the thread

even if that is the case samsung smartphones you can just root and delete the EFS folder and your good to go, resets the IMEI to a generic IMEI

Nothing more, just that statement.
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
I know, I've been reading through this thread since day one. It's just misinforming for you to post that after someone bull ****s about "Samsung reporting IMEI numbers to ATT" because it makes it sound like you are giving a source for "Samsung reporting IMEI numbers to ATT" when the article is about stopping theft.

Nothing against you, I'm just trying to keep people from getting misinformed. Because you know what happens with he said, she said, then he said information. It gets twisted from one person to another.
[Galaxy S III General] chakra:
I didnt say they "did" report the numbers. I was responding to the post right before mine about how they may be able to tell, and a list being reported by the manufacturer is a way they can tell. I dont see how saying that could cause panic in anyone.

I also never said to change your number to another phone, that's not legal. However deleting a file in your phone is perfectly legal.

I definitely didn't want to confuse anyone, I was trying to way lay any confusion...
[Galaxy S III General] stuff:
Just want to let you know that this is ILLEGAL... I think