[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] BeansTown106:
they will be the exact same builds so rom wise they would be cross compatible but the firmware aboot,sbl1-3,tz,rpm,modems are signed differently so they wont be cross compatible

yup

this is true but usually the signature checks for recovery and kernel are in the aboot= application secondary bootloader, but the odin checks are in the tz which iirc is how ralekdev did the irom unlock on the verizon note2. they basically made download mode completely insecure and let it flash anything ex a hex edited sboot with checks removed

this used to be that easy worked on the note2 and s3 but since the s4 they have new protection on odin/download mode and how the tar is compiled. so it doesnt work anymore thats also why [MENTION=2348906]designgears[/MENTION] root method is soo intriguing :P

an unlocked bootloader is the "holy grail" here dont get me wrong its just how samsung is implementing certain things now more or less intentionnaly so if we have an unlocked bootloader without it being a dev edition stuff breaks. i will explain it deeper in the next qoute

u basically summed it up to a T and are fully understanding it. in theory right now at least on the s4 samsung is linking the kernels somehow to the sbl's(secondary bootloaders, which are now linked to the aboot application layer bootloader) basically it goes like this i am on mdk aboot on the s4 but im using a me7 system and me7 radio if i want to use the me7 kernel which is required for some things in the system to function 100%(smart scroll etc.) wifi doesnt work without flashing the me7 sbls. and when u flash the me7 sbls and still keep the mdk aboot for the unlock method on s4 you get a nice 700$ paperweight lol(happened to me) i can use the me7 rpm,tz,and modems on the s4 so its not those it is solely the sbls and aboot that are breaking things and these are also what need to be exploited and worked around. this is what leads me to believe samsung is doing this intentionally for verizon and att so if we get a unlock we end up with a muddled up frankenstein rom to get things to work. that will end up working for a couple releases but when a new os comes out ex. kitkat we are screwed.. right now the only workaround for this on the s4 to get wifi to work is to use the mdk kernel which is just crazy because more things changed in the rom so u get half functing smart scroll and random kernel dependent features.

i hope i explained this good. im just trying to inform on my current standing with the s4 and its bound to be the same on the note3 that is why i am so adament about getting a dev edition because my bootloader will always be unlocked and always be on the latest firmware so this wont become a issue. the above issues imho makes the s4 a horrible device to work with i personally like running the note2 and s3 more than the s4 because samsung didnt have the kernel tied to the sbls on those devices they had ALOT less security.

i really wish [MENTION=3682533]AdamOutler[/MENTION] or [MENTION=2376614]jcase[/MENTION] or [MENTION=2918486]Ralekdev[/MENTION] would explain what im saying in a better and easier to understand nature i guess? lol

ya vzw is gay like that, i remember when we bought adam the note2 he like couldnt get any store to sell him the verizon variant because he diddnt have a contract. i think the only way is to have a friend with verizon service buy it outright at the vzw store or get it on swappa or ebay :/