[LG V30 Questions & Answers] ChazzMatt:
You have somewhat a point, if you are a brand new V30 owner who bought a US998 expecting it to work on Sprint.

1) Until relatively recently -- sometime last year, I don't have time to look it up now when we discovered the policy change -- you could NOT activate a US998 on Sprint network. Because of those missing LTE bands. Sprint would not allow US998 Open Market on their network, only LS998 (their own branded phone), in spite of the US998 Open Market V30/V30+/V30S ostensibly being made to work on all carriers in North America.

Yes, the US998 variants don't have "all" the bands of all the North American carriers, but US998 is supposed to have the major ones (CDMA, HSPA, LTE) to work on all U.S./Canada carriers.

There are three "minor" AT&T LTE bands missing. I have AT&T and don't notice.

LTE band 66 is missing for T-mobile; but the dev who rooted the T-mobile H932 now uses a US998 with no issues on T-mobile, etc.

Yet, for Sprint also missing three missing LTE bands is NOT minor...

And as a result of that, from the very beginning Sprint would not allow US998 to be activated on their network. So, Sprint users would have to buy LS998 off eBay (or carrier store, but eBay was cheaper), activate it, THEN convert to US998 for bootloader unlock and root. The [MENTION=2732656]JWnSC[/MENTION] Sprint thread you link is also thread I link in WTF, besides the JohnFawkes Sprint firmware TWRP-flashable zip thread. Because until dev JohnFawkes (who happens to be a Sprint customer) started making those Sprint stock ROMS (it's magic, I tell you because Sprint doesn't publicly release KDZ) Sprint users had to flash back LTE bands using [MENTION=2732656]JWnSC[/MENTION] instructions onto their "converted" LS998 to US998. Now, they merely flash JohnFawkes stock ROM to get LS998 firmware, modem and LTE bands.

For those uses who didn't read carefully and converted to US998 first before "activating" their LS998 on Sprint, [MENTION=2732656]JWnSC[/MENTION] also made a "return for warranty" zip that also works as "return to LS998 for activation" zip. It flashes stock firmware and wipes out TWRP. (It doesn't re-lock the bootloader, but that's not necessary.) Users could then activate their native LS998 with Sprint, and then use WTF to reinstall TWRP and root again.

Besides Sprint firmware, you had to have native LS998, as Sprint checked both IMEI and firmware. US998 (or any other V30) was forbidden. If you peruse older threads, you will see lots of admonitions for Sprint users to buy ONLY LS998 and to make sure they activate first before going through the WTF instructions. THEN flash to JohnFawkes Sprint stock ROM (TWRP-flashable zip) to get the Sprint LTE bands back.

But 2nd half of 2019 (last year) sometime, now Sprint DOES allow native US998 to be activated on Sprint network. :rolleyes:

2) I can't easily change WTF Instructions to reflect that change of status. I'm up again the character limit of one post. Anything I add, I have to delete something else. So, by saying Sprint users need to get those bands "back" I would hope that conveys to people they are missing something important -- even if they didn't start out with LS998 to begin with. I link to [MENTION=2732656]JWnSC[/MENTION] excellent thread and I link to JohnFawkes ROM thread, for them to read more. My advice also quotes a Sprint user about VoLTE -- which I think you need Sprint firmware for. You can tell me if this is true or not, but if you started with US998, to get Sprint VoLTE you may still need to flash the Sprint firmware? (I know that's true for AT&T, but I don't care about AT&T VoLTE. I stay on US998 firmware on purpose.)

I know WTF post seems very lengthy but believe me, every word and comma has been parsed a hundred times. ;) I use URL shorteners and I offload sidebar instructions (like Frankenstein or downgrading to early Oreo) to other posts. Last summer, I had to re-write the WTF Instructions for Pie (if bootloader is already unlocked) and yet also still work for Oreo, so other explanatory verbiage had to be further condensed. I still leave my "intro" in, to compare V30 against other 2017/early 2018 phones, because that's my personal commentary against Samsung, OnePlus, and Google decisions at the time -- and how the V30 was the Best Phone of the Year -- and still pretty good even in 2020. People say I should cut that entirely, but it's my thoughts -- the only place I can share my views.