[LG V30 Guides, News, & Discussion] ChazzMatt:
All U.S. V30/V3O+/V30S will need stock firmware, not LOS-based custom ROMs. When?

3G CDMA and HSPA is going away. U.S. users will NEED VoLTE and/or Wi-Fi calling for carrier phone calls. V30 LOS-based ROMs do not have that and will never have that.

By "all", I mean customers of U.S. carriers Verizon, T-mobile (& Sprint), AT&T -- and all MVNOs (Straight Talk, Ting, etc) using those major carriers. There are some regional carriers (not MVNOs) who have their own towers and FCC bandwidth licenses, i.e. parts of Appalachia, upper Michigan peninsula, remote areas of Texas, parts of Alaska, for which this timetable ostensibly seems not to apply. BUT IT DOES. All these regional carriers have roaming agreements with at least one of the major national carriers for when their customers travel outside their isolated regional towers coverage. If you can't make phone calls in another state or even another part of your state, what good is roaming? :rolleyes:

No, this doesn't affect people outside the U.S., unless they come to visit U.S. (tourist, work, school).

In 6 months, you will not be able to use LOS-based custom ROMs with V30 on Verizon or T-mobile and T-mobile owned Sprint (that

brand is going away

).

In 18 months, you will not be able to use LOS-based custom ROMs with V30 on AT&T.

* As of

December 31, 2020 Verizon is dropping 3G CDMA to repurpose bandwidth for 5G

.

After that date, to make any phone calls on Verizon you will need Verizon VoLTE/Wi-Fi Calling. No V30 LOS-based custom ROMs have carrier VoLTE/Wi-Fi calling or will ever have those features. You will need stock Verizon firmware and an account with VoLTE enabled by Verizon. It can be rooted stock firmware; you can use Magisk modules to add custom ROM type features -- but it needs to be on Verizon firmware for VoLTE. Verizon calls it "HD Calling". That feature has to be enabled on a Verizon IMEI phone. People who have it enabled in their Verizon account can then use any North American variant flashed to Verizon VS996 (even rooted) firmware. Some people use older Verizon phones to enable the "HD Calling" (VoLTE) feature then switch SIM card to their non-Verizon V30 (like LS998 V30+ converted to VS996). Another workaround is to use a Verizon MVNO like

Total Wireless

which gives you "Enhanced 4G LTE Mode" (a.k.a. VoLTE) while using Verizon towers. You don't need Verizon's permission. However, if you have native Verizon VS996, you don't have to worry about such workarounds.

* T-mobile users are in the same predicament, almost same timeline.

In

January 2021, T-mobile will be dropping 3G HSPA for same reasons

. At that date, T-mobile users will need VoLTE or Wi-Fi Calling to make carrier phones calls. Those features only come with V30 stock firmware (or stock-based ROMs). However, T-mobile is less stingy than Verizon. They also allow V30 phones with US998 firmware to have VoLTE/Wi-Fi calling with T-mobile SIM. Whereas Verizon not only requires Verizon stock firmware, VoLTE needs to have been activated on a phone with Verizon IMEI at some point.

* AT&T will also eventually drop 3G HSPA -- but not until

February 2022

(18 months from now).

So, for U.S. V30 owners who wish to run V30 LOS custom ROMs a little longer, you should check out

AT&T Prepaid

. It's a lot cheaper than "regular" AT&T (Postpaid, a.k.a. contract AT&T), but AT&T Prepaid is only for people who own their phones (not financed). It you own your phone outright, it's a GREAT deal! AT&T Prepaid uses same AT&T servers as AT&T Postpaid. On the 8GB plan I am not throttled whatsoever (70 Mbps - 90 Mbps)and have very low pings (low lag). See plan rates at that link.

Right now, AT&T (Prepaid and Postpaid) still allows you to Bring Your Own Phone. I have three US998 on AT&T; two of them are on AT&T Prepaid, one on AT&T Postpaid. And AT&T won't shut down 3G HSPA for another 18 months!

What happens when AT&T finally does shut down HSPA? :confused:

AT&T only gives VoLTE to AT&T IMEI phones, as well as iPhones and some other phones I would never own. Even though I'm a long-time AT&T customer, I've never used an AT&T branded phone on AT&T. I always buy carrier-unlocked Android flagship phones with specific checklist of features I want. I'm an AT&T customer with three native US998 V30/V30+ for myself, my wife, my mother -- so I'll cross that bridge when I come to it in February 2022. Will probably give my mother a AT&T V35. Maybe my wife, too. (V35 is basically a V40 in a V30 case; no notch.) Also, by 2022 LG may get their act together and produce a good phone for the LG V70 or LG V80. I may not own V30 by then. Or AT&T may decide to

VoLTE whitelist

US998 V30 like they whitelisted carrier-unlocked V35...

18 months is a long time. Anything can happen in 18 months!

To reiterate, any MVNOs (Straight Talk, Ting, etc.) which use Verizon, T-mobile/Sprint, and AT&T will also be affected by these upcoming 3G shutdown/VoLTE required decisions.

_________

When the deadline does hit -- like for Verizon or T-mobile and you need to stay on that carrier for some reason -- you can flash back to stock firmware via KDZ with Dev Patched LGUP or via TWRP-flashable zips (stock ROMs) located in the V30 Development section.

Again, if you don't want to do this in the next six months (you still want to run V30 LOS-based ROMs), and you don't NEED Verizon or T-mobile (Sprint), simply switch to

AT&T Prepaid

and you can postpone until February 2022! Yes, you could also use an AT&T MVNO, but I'm not a fan of most AT&T MVNOs. Most MVNOs throttle to low speeds (like Cricket) and/or have high pings (lag). The only exception I'm aware of is

Red Pocket

MNVO, which is actually pretty good. Just make sure you choose their "GSMA" (AT&T) SIM card -- since they have a choice of carrier towers. You want AT&T to be the underlying provider, to keep 3G HPSA as long as possible.

_______

Yes, XDA News had a write up of this couple of days ago. See link below. But it was more general -- focusing on what phones you needed to have for each U.S. carrier's VoLTE. This post is more specific -- about not being able to use LOS-based custom ROMs on any LG V30 variant phone when the deadline hits, and how to DELAY that deadline. ;)

T-Mobile will require VoLTE for all phones starting January 2021, AT&T to follow suit in February 2022 – Here’s what that means for you

https://www.xda-developers.com/t-mobile-att-require-volte-phone-calls-shut-down-3g/