Samsung Galaxy S20 Compatibility

[brianr]

I have a Samsung Galaxy S205G (SM-G981V) that I checked for compatibility a week or so back and it was compatible.  Went to move to Visible last night and not it is not.  I already moved my wife to Visible and now I am stuck on my Verizon plan by myself.  Can you help?  When will my phone be back on the compatibility list?

[TheCellTower]

Take your wife's SIM stick it in into your phone check if it works, if it works you could order a SIM even it says not compatible 

[brianr]

I can't, I have a virtual Sim. 

[russellowens20]

You should try what the TheCellTower said. And if the sim card works but you don't have any data use these APN settings.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ymiWWmK9VyRi7qpS8

[brianr]

I don't have a physical sim, my phone used a virtual sim.

[dhd951]

Hello Brianr,

I have the same phone, and I've been a visible customer with them with the phone for over a year. I would do a backup and perhaps do a factory reset.  I'm no expert, but this might help.

[TheCellTower]

No! Absolutely no this will not make your phone compatible with visible.

[brianr]

That absolutely will not fix it.  They base compatibility on the IMEI only.

[russellowens20]

It is worth trying the APN settings.  The only way I could see this not working is if your APN settings are locked and you're not able to modify them. 

I had and Samsung s9+ that Visible said was incompatible but managed to get it working perfectly. I'll admit it was not easy just like my s20FE, and it is compatible. CS flounders and will just tell you a phone is not compatible when they can't figure something out. 

[brianr]

Okay, I found the setting.  The only thing there is Verizon Internet (VZWINTERNET).  I can select it but everything is greyed out.  The Add option is also greyed out add any additional APNs.  Is this an issue of calling Verizon to unlock the phone?

[russellowens20]

I was afraid of that. I buy my phone unlocked from Samsung. 

If the phone is paid off I would call Verizon and see if they will unlock it. 

That phone is not that old and certainly capable. 

[brianr]

I appreciate the help.  It is paid off.  I assumed it was unlocked bc of that.  I will call to get it unlocked.  Thanks again.  I will post if that works.

[russellowens20]

Good luck! If they say it is not locked you could try this.

https://xtrium.com/how-to-unlock-verizon-apn-settings/

[brianr]

I can't even do that.  The reset is greyed out too.

[russellowens20]

I wonder if the esim is causing issues editing the APNs?

[brianr]

Well it is unlocked and Verizon has no idea why it is not going thru.  Visible still shows it not compatible.  I found a list of Samsung phones they support and this one single S20 model is not supported. (SM-G981V)

[TheCellTower]

It doesn't mean the phone is locked this is how Verizon makes the phone, even unlocked virsion could have the same issue because the SIM will lock the APN settings 

[russellowens20]

Yup! Oh how carriers make life a PITA!

Can you remove the eSim?

[brianr]

No, it is built into the hardware of the phone.

[russellowens20]

I know you can remove it physically. Try this.

https://www.verizon.com/support/knowledge-base-240172/

[brianr]

Well I did a little more work and I guess there is no eSIM in my model.  I SWEAR that is what it told me when I first check compatibility.  Guess I am completely out of luck until they add my model if they ever do.

[russellowens20]

Did you try the Wife's sim in your phone?

[brianr]

That is next but the problem still exists that their app won't let me past the check for compatibility screen to even be able to order a SIM.

[russellowens20]

You should try this. It looks like this person with an eSim and a Note 20 was successful.

What I find crazy is that if Visible CS people could advise people what to do, or better yet have things setup that would populate the APNs as it should and does when they were on Verizon, or in my case. I was on Visible's $25 plan with my s20FE and when I first set it up the APNs populated and I did not do anything. After upgrading to the $30 plan that it when all the BS started.

Now that the right APNs are on my phone everything works as it should.

https://community.visible.com/t5/Need-help/Switched-Plans-and-now-no-internet-or-MMS/m-p/25179#M3593

[Docmac]

Hi. I also have an S9 Plus and Visable's website days mine is not compatible. Could you PLEASE tell me how you got yours working? Did you just order the sim card from them and it worked? You mentioned the APN settings. Could you tell me what you used? Any help would be very much appreciated!

[Docmac]

Hi Russell. I have an S9 plus also and Visible's website said my phone was not compatible. To get your's to work, did you just order a SIM card and input the APN? (saw your above message about changing the APN and the photos of your settings. Any help really appreciated. 

[mpilihp]

Hi found this older thread, FYI my wife and I brought our S20s (SM-G981V) and successfully passed the compatibility check and added eSIMs to the phones and they are working fine.

We now want to UPGRADE to a S20 Plus, buy them from a refurbished company but have not been successfully in getting one that is compatible!  

We have tried several different models of the S20 Plus, SM-G986U, SM-G986U1 and neither worked.

It seems to me the term UNLOCKED is used in a couple different ways.  First I think there are unlocked phones that are not loaded with firmware for a specific vendor.  IE the U indicates US version unlocked.  Whereas the V indicates its for Verizon Only.  Then a carrier can LOCK a IMEI so that it cannot be used by anyone else until the phone is paid off or they can keep it locked if its reported stolen, do people agree with that?

Trying to find what specific SM-G986 model works with Visible.